and during Lent he explained to us some Catechisms that Louys de ste. Foy had translated for us last year upon the mystery of the life, death, and passion of Our Lord, which also greatly aided us, especially in this respect. We had intended to work this year upon the Dictionary, but God has placed us under the necessity of contenting ourselves with what we had. We have not failed, through his holy grace, to make great progress in the language, --so that now, if there is a question of making little trips to visit and instruct some Savage, the Father Superior finds persons all ready to go; and there is not one of us who does not consider himself happy to go and coöperate in the salvation of some soul. We have good reason to thank this infinite goodness which gives us so great a liking for this barbarous language. After our devotional exercises, we have no [187] greater consolation than to devote ourselves to this study; it is our most common subject of conversation, and we gather up all the words from the mouths of the Savages as so many precious stones, that we may use them afterwards to display before their eyes the beauty of our holy mysteries. Within a short time, the Father Superior has discovered excellent methods of distinguishing the conjugations of the verbs, in which the whole secret of the language lies; for the greater part of the words are conjugated. However far we advance, we shall still continue to discover new lands.

On the 2nd day of March, an old woman died in our village, whom the Father Superior had baptized a few days before. The next day, he baptized at Annonatea a young child between 9 and 10 years old. The disease still continued there, and has not yet departed thence.

auoient ouy sa voix come d'vne personne qui se mouroit, & estãs en resolution de l'aller chercher s'il eùt crié encor vne fois, mais les forces luy ayans manqué, & quelques Sauuages disans, les vns que c'estoit vne ame qui se plaignoit, les autres vn chien: ils auoient continué leur chemin sans se mettre dauantage en peine, [188] Nos Sauuages discoururent fort sur la mort de ce pauure ieune homme, entre autres choses plusieurs attribuerent la cause de la mort à vn larcin qu'il auoit fait aux Algonquins dont on le trouua saisi, ce qui les faisoit parler de la forte n'estoit pas la cognoissance qu'ils ont que Dieu deffend & punit le larcin, c'est à quoy ils ne pensoient gueres, mais ils fondoient leur opinion sur la parole du sorcier Tsondacoüane qui auoit dit quelque temps auparauant que quiconque déroberoit les lignes des Algonquins où les amorces de leurs ameçons, il ne manqueroit point d'estre incontinent saisi de la maladie. Le

9. Le Pere Superieur & le Pere Charles Garnier allerent visiter quelques malades au bourg d'Onnentisati où ils baptiserent vn petit enfant.

Le 12. Le Pere Garnier & moy nous baptisames vne femme à vne petite bourgade que nous appellons Arendaonatia; ce fut auec vne confolation toute particuliere; de fait Dieu luy ayant depuis rendu la fanté il luy est demeuré vn grand estime du fainct baptesme, nous à tesmoigné beaucoup de bonne volonté pour garder les commandemens de Dieu & à seruy mesme à instruire quelques autres Sauuages.

[189] Le 15. i'accompagnay le Pere Superieur à Anonatea, où il baptisa vne femme fort malade, de la nous allasmes visiter les Algonquins où nous auions apris qu'il y auoit aufli quantité de malades; nous On the 7th, a young man was found quite dead, stretched out upon the snow, within musket-range of our cabin. The Father Superior and François Petitpré, going that morning to Ouenrio, had heard his voice, as of a dying person, and resolved to go and seek him if he had called once more; but as his strength failed him, and as some of the Savages said it was a soul complaining, and others that it was a dog, they had continued on their way without giving themselves any further concern about it. [188] Our Savages dwelt at length upon the death of this poor young man, several attributing the cause of his death, among other things, to a theft he had committed among the Algonquins, in which they happened to catch him. What made them talk in this way was not the knowledge they possess that God forbids and punishes theft,- that was something for which they cared little; but they based their opinion upon the word of the sorcerer Tsondacouane, who had said some time before that whoever stole the Algonquins' lines, or the baits from their hooks, would, without fail, be immediately attacked by the disease.

On the gth, the Father Superior and Father Charles Garnier went to visit some sick people in the town of Onnentisati, where they baptized a little child.

On the 12th, Father Garnier and I baptized a woman in a little village that we call Arendaonatia, doing so with a very special feeling of consolation. In fact, God having since restored her health, she has conceived a very high opinion of holy baptism, and has evinced much good will in keeping the commandments of God and even in aiding to instruct some of the other Savages.

[189] On the 15th, I accompanied the Father Su

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vismes entre autres vn nommé Oraoüandindo, qui mourut deux où trois iours apres, nous auions vne particuliere obligation à ce Sauuage. Le P. Superieur fit tout son possible pour le rendre capable de nos mysteres & du baptesme, de fait il sembloit du commencement y vouloir prefter l'oreille, par apres neantmoins se voyant pressé de respondre distinctement il prit pour pretexte qu'il n'entendoit pas bien, on fait venir vn Sauuage de sa nation qui en effet entend & parle excellemment bien Huron qui luy repetoit fort fidelement en sa langue tout ce que disoit le pere. Apres tout cela nous ne pûmes tirer autre chose de luy, sinon qu'il ne sentoit aucune inclination d'aller au Ciel veu qu'il n'auoit là aucune cognoissance, & pour tout ce que le pere luy peut dire, iamais il ne fit autre responce. Nous eusmes tousiours cette confolation que le Capitaine, & plusieurs qui estoient là furent à cette occasion pleinement informez de ce que nous pretendons en ce pays, & qui nous sommes, car ils nous aduouërent [190] ingenuëment que iusques alors ils ne nous auoient pas pris pour des hommes engendrez à l'ordinaire des autres, mais pour de vrays demons incarnez, & nous dirent que ceux de l'isle les auoient mis dans cette creance. A entendre les vns & les autres ie veux dire les Hurons & les Algonquins, ces messieurs la nous prestent souuent de fem blables charitez.

Le 17. i'accompagné encor le P. S. à lahenhouton ou demeure le chef du conseil de cette pointe, le suiet de ce voyage estoit pour leur faire 3. propositions. La 1. s'ils n'estoiệt pas enfin en resolutiõ de croire ce que nous enseignons, & d'embrasser la foy, la 2. s'ils auroient pour agreable que quelques vns de nos Franperior to Anonatea, where he baptized a very sick woman; thence we went to visit the Algonquins, where, we had learned, there were also a number of sick people. We saw among others one Oraouandindo, who died two or three days afterwards.

We were under a special obligation to this Savage. The Father Superior did all in his power to fit him for our mysteries and for baptism; in fact, he seemed at first willing to lend an ear; but afterwards, seeing himself pressed to answer definitely, he made a pretext that he did not fully understand. They summoned a Savage of his own nation who, in fact, understands and speaks Huron extremely well, and who very faithfully repeated to him, in his own tongue, all that the father said. After all that, we could draw nothing else from him except that he did not feel any inclination to go to Heaven, seeing that he had no acquaintances there; and to all the father could say to him, he never made any other answer.

We always had this solace, that the Captain, and several who were there, were upon this occasion fully informed of what we are aiming at in this country, and who we are; for they confessed to us [190] ingenuously that until then they had taken us not for men engendered in the fashion common to others, but for real incarnate demons,— telling us that the people of the island had led them into this opinion. According to them, -I mean the Hurons and the Algonquins,—those gentlemen often render us similar kindnesses.

On the 17th, I again accompanied the Father Superior to lahenhouton, where resides the chief of the council of this place. The object of this journey was to make them 3 propositions: ist, whether they had