purposed to come, but had been prevented by the following representations
of an Iroquois prisoner, who had belonged to me, but had escaped to his own
country. He had reported, they said, that I had given him his liberty and
some merchandise, and that I purposed to go to the fall with six hundred
Iroquois to meet the Algonquins and kill them all, adding that the fear
aroused by this intelligence had alone prevented them from coming. I
replied that the prisoner in question had escaped without my leave, that
our savage knew very well how he went away, and that there was no thought
of abandoning their alliance, as they had heard, since I had engaged in war
with them, and sent my servant to their country to foster their friendship,
which was still farther confirmed by my keeping my promise to them in so
faithful a manner.

They replied that, so far as they were concerned, they had never thought of
this; that they were well aware that all this talk was far from the truth,
and that if they had believed the contrary they would not have come, but
that the others were afraid, never having seen a Frenchman except my
servant. They told me also that three hundred Algonquins would come in five
or six days, if we would wait for them, to unite with themselves in war
against the Iroquois; that, however, they would return without doing so
unless I went. I talked a great deal with them about the source of the
great river and their country, and they gave me detailed information about
their rivers, falls, lakes and lands, as also about the tribes living
there, and what is to be found in the region. Four of them assured me that
they had seen a sea at a great distance from their country, but that it was
difficult to go there, not only on account of the wars, but of the
intervening wilderness. They told me also that the winter before some
savages had come from the direction of Florida, beyond the country of the
Iroquois, who lived near our ocean, and were in alliance with these
savages. In a word, they made me a very exact statement, indicating by