voyage, four of whom were to remain at Quebec, the rest being bound for
Montreal. We again hired wagons to make the journey from Paris to La
Rochelle, and met with the same mishap as at Troyes, but finally arrived
at our destination, where I had the happiness once more to meet Mlle.
Mance, who was bringing with her three religieuses for the hospital of
Montreal. On the eve of embarkation an obstacle quite unexpectedly
presented itself. I had supposed that my companions and myself were to
be taken on board gratuitously, such certainly being the intention of M.
de Maisonneuve, the master of the ship had heard nothing of such an
arrangement, however; at least he said so, and refused to take us,
unless each one paid 175 livres for her passage, besides furnishing
provisions, and as we had no money, we were on the point of being left
behind. I fortunately thought of drawing a double letter of exchange on
M. Raisin, which was accepted. We finally set sail and found that the
commander, notwithstanding the trouble he had given us, was a very
honest man. The vessel was very large and convenient, but had served for
a floating hospital during the war, and the very timbers of it were
infected with disease. Perhaps this was not the only cause of sickness,
as we had a large number of passengers, among whom were two priests, M.
le Maitre, and M. Vignal, both bound for the Montreal seminary. These
holy men were afterwards murdered by the Indians, in cold blood. We took
care to have the priests near us during the voyage, as pestilence soon
broke out. Mlle. Mance and her religieuses were the first attacked, but
after a few days several of the secular girls succumbed. Eight persons
died of the plague, and would have been thrown into the sea, without the
decency of a shroud, but for the thoughtful exertions of M. le Maitre,
who constructed rough coffins on the spot, and took the precaution to
throw overboard everything belonging to the dead. A young mother among
the stricken left a nursing infant, which, with its father, was
prostrated by the pestilence. The babe's life was despaired of, as no