Voyages of Peter Esprit Radisson Part 11

"In continueing to converse upon several things touching trade, they arrived together in our house, reserving each time that but one of them should enter at once; which under a pretext of having forgotten something, one had returned upon his steps, saying to his comrades that they had leave to wait for him at the house of the French, where he arrived 2 days after, to be the witness of the good reception that I made to his brothers, whom I made also partic.i.p.ants in giving to him some tobacco; but I discovered that this savage had had quite another design than of going to seek that which he had lost, having learned that he had been heard telling the other savages that he had been to find the English, & that he was charged by them of making some enterprise against us. In fact, this villain, having seen me alone & without any defence, must set himself to execute his wicked design.

He seized me by the hand, & in telling me that I was of no value since I loved not the English, & that I had not paid him by a present for the possession of the country that I lived in to him who was the chief of all the nations, & the friend of the English at the bottom of the Bay, he let fall the robe which covered him, & standing all naked he struck me a blow with his poniard, which I luckily parried with the hand, where I received a light wound, which did not hinder me from seizing him by a necklace that he had around his neck, & of throwing him to the ground; which having given me the leisure of taking my sword & looking about, I perceived that the other savages had also poniards in their hands, with the exception of one, who cried out, 'Do not kill the French; for their death will be avenged, by all the nations from above, upon all our families.'

"The movement that I had made to take my sword did not prevent me from holding my foot upon the throat of my enemy, & knew that that posture on my sword had frightened the other conspirators. There was none of them there who dared approach; on the contrary, they all went out of the house armed with their poniards. But some Frenchmen who were near to us, having perceived things thus, they ran in a fury right to the house, where having entered, the savages threw their poniards upon the ground in saying to us that the English had promissed to their chief a barrel of powder & other merchandise to kill all the French; but that their chief being dead, for they believed in fact that he was so, we had nothing more to fear, because that they were men of courage, abhorring wicked actions. My people, having seen that I was wounded, put themselves into a state to lay violent hands on the savages; but I prevented any disturbance, wishing by that generousity, & in sparing his life to the chief, to give some proofs of my courage, & that I did not fear neither the English there nor themselves.

After which they left us, & we resolved to put ourselves better upon our guard in the future, & of making come to our relief the savages our allies.

"Some days after, these savages, by the smoke of our fires, which were our ordinary signals, arrived at our house. According to their custom, they having been apprised of my adventure, without saying anything to us, marched upon the track of the other savages, & having overtaken them, they invited them to a feast, in order to know from them the truth of the things; of which having been informed, the one among them who was my adopted brother-in-law spoke to the chief who had wished to a.s.sa.s.sinate me thus, as has been reported to me by him: 'Thou art not a man, because that, having about thee 15 of thy people thou hast tried to accomplish the end of killing a single man.' To which the other replied haughtily, & with impudence, 'It is true; but if I have missed him this autumn with the fifteen men, he shall not escape in the Spring by my own hand alone.' 'It is necessary,' then replied my adopted brother-in-law, 'that thou makest me die first; for without that I shall hinder thy wicked design.' Upon which, having come within reach, the chief whose life I had spared received a blow of a bayonet in the stomach, & another of a hatchet upon the head, upon which he fell dead upon the spot. In respect to the others, they did not retaliate with any kind of bad treatment, & they allowed them to retire with all liberty, in saying to them that if they were in the design of revenging the death of their chief, they had only to speak, & they would declare war upon them.

"After that expedition these same savages our allies divided into two parties, & without telling us their design descended to the place where the English made their establishment; they attacked them & killed some of them, of which they then came to inform me, in telling me that they had killed a great number of my enemies to avenge me of the conspiracy that they had done me & my brother, and that they were ready to sacrifice their lives for my service; in recognition of which I thanked them & made them a feast, begging them not to kill any more of them, & to await the return of my father & my uncle, who would revenge upon the English the insult which they had made me, without their tarnishing the glory that they had merited in chastising the English & the savages, their friends, of their perfidy. We were nevertheless always upon the defensive, & we apprehended being surprised at the place where we were as much on the part of the English, as of those of the savages, their friends; that is why we resolved of coming to establish ourselves in the place where we are at present, & which is, as you see, difficult enough of access for all those who have not been enslaved as we are amongst the savages. We built there this house in a few days with the a.s.sistance of the savages, & for still greater security we obliged several among them to pa.s.s the winter with us on the condition of our feeding them, which was the reason that our young men parted in the summer, having almost consumed all our provisions. During the winter nothing worthy of mention pa.s.sed, except that some savages made several juggles to know from our Manitou, who is their familiar spirit among them, if my father and my uncle would return in the spring; who answered them that they would not be missing there, and that they would bring with them all kinds of merchandise and of that which would avenge them on their enemies.

"At the beginning of April, 1684, some savages from the South coast arrived at our new house to trade for guns; but as we had none of them they went to the English, who had, as I afterwards learned, made them Some presents & promissed them many other things if they would undertake to kill me with the one of my men whom you saw still wounded, who spoke plainly the language of the country. These savages, encouraged by the hope of gain, accepted the proposition and promissed to execute it. For that means they found an opportunity of gaining over one of the savages who was among us, who served them as a spy, and informed them of all that we did.

Nevertheless they dared not attack us with open force, because they feared us, & that was the reason why they proceeded otherwise in it; and this is how it was to be done.

"The Frenchman that you saw wounded, having gone by my orders with one of his comrades to the place where these savages, our friends, made some smoked stag meat that they had killed, to tell them to bring me some of it, fell, in chasing a stag, upon the barrel of his gun, and bent it in such a manner that he could not kill anything with it without before having straightened it; which having done, after having arrived at the place where the savages were, he wished to make a test of it, firing blank at some distance from their cabin; but whilst he disposed himself to that, one of the savages who had promissed to the English his death & mine, who was unknown to several of his comrades amongst the others, fired a shot at him with his gun, which pierced his shoulder with a ball. He cried out directly that they had killed him, & that it was for the men who loved the French to avenge his death; which the Savages who were our friends having heard, went out of their cabins & followed the culprit without his adherents daring to declare themselves. But the pursuit was useless, for he saved himself in the wood after having thrown away his gun & taken in its place his bow & his quiver. This behaviour surprised our allies, the savages, exceedingly, & obliged them to swear, in their manner, vengeance for it, as much against that savage nation as against the English; but not having enough guns for that enterprise, they resolved to wait until my father and uncle had arrived. In the mean time they sent to entreat all the nations who had sworn friendship to my father & my uncle to come to make war upon the English & the savages on the southern coast, representing to them that they were obliged to take our side because that they had at other times accepted our presents in token of peace & of goodwill; that as to the rest, we were always men of courage, & their brothers.

"As soon as these other nations had received intelligence of the condition in which we were, they resolved to a.s.sist us with all their forces, & in waiting the return of my father or my uncle to send hostages for it to give a token of their courage, in the persons of two of their young men. One of the most considerable chiefs among these nations was deputed to conduct them. I received them as I ought. This chief was the adopted father of my uncle, & one of the best friends of the French, whom I found adapted to serve me to procure an interview with the English, to the end of knowing what could possibly be their resolution. For that purpose I deputed this chief savage towards the English, to persuade them to allow that I should visit them & take their word that they would not make me any insult, neither whilst with them nor along the route there, for which this chief stood security. The English accepted the proposition. I made them a visit with one of the French who carried the present that I had seat to make them, in the manner of the savages, & who received it on their part for me according to custom. We traded nothing in that interview regarding our business, because I remembered that the English attributed directly that which had been done against them to the savages. All the advantage that I received in that step was of making a trade for the savages, my friends, of guns which I wanted; although they cost me dear by the gratuity which I was obliged to make to those who I employed there; but it was important that I had in fact hindered the savages from it who came down from the country to trade, of pa.s.sing on as far as the English. The end of that invitation and that visit, was that I promissed to the solicitation of the Governor of the English of visiting there once again with my chief; after which we retired to our house, where I was informed by some discontented savages not to go any more to see the English, because that they had resolved either to arrest me prisoner or of killing me. Which my chief having also learned, he told me that he wished no more to be security with his word with a nation who had none of it; which obliged us to remain at home, keeping up a very strict guard. At the same time the river Hayes having become free, several detachments of the nations who were our allies arrived to a.s.sist us. The Asenipoetes [Footnote: _Asenipoetes, a.s.sinipoueles, a.s.senipoulacs,_ and, according to Dr. O'Callaghan, _a.s.siniboins_, or "Sioux of the Rocks."]

alone made more than 400 men. They were the descendants of the great Christionaux of the old acquaintance of my uncle, & all ready to make war with the English; but I did not find it desirable to interest them in it directly nor indirectly, because I did not wish to be held on the defensive in awaiting the return of my father or of my uncle, & that besides I knew that several other nations who loved the French, more particularly those who would come to our relief at the least signal. In the mean time the chief of the Asenipoetes did not wish us to leave his camp around our house, resolved to await up to the last moment the return of my uncle, of whom he always spoke, making himself break forth with the joy that he would have in seeing him by a thousand postures; & he often repeated that he wished to make it appear that he had been worthy of the presents that the Governor of Canada had made to him formerly in giving tokens of his zeal to serve the French.

"The necessity for stores which should arrive in their camp partly hindered the effects of that praiseworthy resolution, & obliged the chief of the Asenipoetes to send back into his country 40 canoes in which he embarked 200 men of the most feeble & of the least resolute. He kept with him a like number of them more robust, & those who were able to endure fatigue & hunger, and determined having them to content themselves with certain small fruits, which commenced to ripen, for their subsistence, in order to await the new moon, in which the spirit of the other savages had predicted the arrival of my uncle, which they believed infallible, because their superst.i.tious custom is of giving faith to all which their Manitou predicts. They remained in that state until the end of the first quarter of the moon, during which their oracles had a.s.sured them that my uncle would arrive; but the time having expired, they believed their Manitou had deceived them, & it was determined between them to join themselves with us & of separating in 2 bodys, so as to go attack the English & the savages at the south; resolved in case that the enterprise had the success that they expected, of pa.s.sing the winter with us, to burn the English ships in order to remove the means of defending themselves in the Spring & of effecting their return. That which contributed much to that deliberation was some information which was given to them that the English had formed a design of coming to seek the French to attack them, which they wished to prevent.

"These menaces on the part of the English were capable of producing bad effects, the genius of the savages being of never awaiting their enemies, but on the contrary of going to seek them. In this design the chief of the Asenipoetes disposed himself to march against the English with a party of his people; when 10 or 12 persons were seen on the northern side of the Hayes river seeking for these same fruits on which the savages had lived for some time, he believed that they were the advance guard of the English & of the savages from the South, whom he supposed united, who came to attack us; which obliged him to make all his men take their bows and arrows, after which he ranged them in order of battle & made this address in our presence: 'My design is to pa.s.s the river with 2 of the most courageous among you to go attack the enemy, & of disposing of you in a manner that you may be in a condition of relieving me or of receiving me, whilst the French will form the corps of reserve; that our women will load in our canoes all our effects, which they are to throw over in case necessity requires it But before undertaking this expedition I wish that you make choice of a chief to command you in my absence or in case of my death.' Which having been done at the moment, this brave chief addressing us said: 'We camp ourselves upon the edge of the wood with our guns, so as to hinder the approach of the enemy; & then it would be necessary to march the men upon the edge of the water, to the end that they should be in a condition to pa.s.s to support or to receive him, according to the necessity.'

"After that he pa.s.ses the river with 2 men of the most hardihood of his troops, who had greased themselves, like himself, from the feet up to the head. Having each only 2 poniards for arms, their design was to go right to the chief of the English, present to him a pipe of tobacco as a mark of union, & then, if he refused it, endeavour to kill him & make for themselves a pa.s.sage through his people with their poniards as far as the place where they would be able to pa.s.s the river to be supported by their men. But after having marched as far as the place where the persons were who they had seen, they recognized that it was some women; to whom having spoken, they returned upon their steps, & said to us that there was nothing to fear, & that it was a false alarm. This general proceeding on their part gave us proofs of their courage & of their amity in a manner that the confidence that we had placed in their help had put us in a condition of fearing nothing on the part of the English nor of those there of the savages of the South; and we were in that state when G.o.d, who is the author of all things, & who disposes of them according to his good pleasure, gave me the grace of my uncle's arrival in this country to arrest the course of the disorders, who could come & work for our reconciliation. That work so much desired on both sides is accomplished. It depends not upon me that it may not be permanent. Live henceforth like brothers in good union & without jealousy. As to myself, I am resolved, if the time should arrive, of sacrificing my life for the glory of the King of Great Britain, for the interest of the nation & the advantage of the Hudson's Bay Company, & of obeying in all thirds my uncle."

I found this with regard to repeating the recital that my nephew made us concerning what had pa.s.sed between him & the English & the savages, their allies, that although he had apprised me of the true state in which the 2 parties were at the time of my arrival, yet I also saw plainly the need that the English had of being succoured, & the necessity that the French had for provisions, of merchandise, and especially of guns, which could not come to them but by my means.

But it is time to resume the care of our affairs, & to continue to render an account of our conduct. Our people worked always with great application to transport the beaver skins a half league across the wood, for it was the road that it was necessary to make from the house as far as the place where the shallops were, & they carried them to the little frigate, which discharged them upon the ships. I was always present at the work, for the purpose of animating all our men, who gave themselves in this work no rest until it was done, & that against the experience of the Captains of our ships, whom some had made believe that the business would drag at length; but having gone to them I a.s.sured them that if they were ready to do so they could raise the anchor to-morrow.

There things thus disposed of, it only disturbed me yet more to execute a secret order that the company had given me, leaving it, however, to my prudence and discretion. It was of retaining in its service my nephew and some other Frenchmen, & above all the one who spoke the savage dialect, who was the wounded one, to remain in the country in my absence, which I dared not promise myself. In the meantime I resolved to make the proposition to my nephew, believing that after gaining him I should be able easily to add the others also. I caused to a.s.semble for that end 5 or 6 of the savages of the most consideration in the country with the Governor, & in their presence I said to him, that for the glory of the King & for the advantage of the company it was necessary that he should remain in the country. To which he was averse at first; but the Governor having a.s.sured him that he would trust him as his own nephew, & that he would divide the authority that he had with him, & myself on my part having reproached him that he was not loyal to the oath of allegiance that he had sworn to me, these reasons obliged him to determine, & he a.s.sured me that he was ready to do all that I wished of him. What contributed much was the discourse that the savages made to him, telling him that I left him amongst them to receive in my absence the marks of amity that they had sworn to me, & that they regarded him as the nephew of the one who had brought peace to the nations & made the union of the English & French in making by the same means the brothers of both.

This last success in my affairs was proof to me of the authority that I had over the French & the savages; for my nephew had no sooner declared that he submitted himself to do what I wished, than all the other Frenchmen offered themselves to risk the ennui of remaining in the country, although my design was only to leave but two of them; & the savages on their part burst out in cries of joy in such a manner that I no more considered after that but to put an end to all things.

All our beaver skins having been embarked, I resolved, after having put everything into tranquil & a.s.sured state for my return into England, where my presence was absolutely necessary, to make known to the Company in what manner it was necessary to act to profit advantageously the solid establishment that I came to do & the things which were of indispensible necessity in the country to facilitate the trade with the savages & hindering them from making any of it with foreigners, that is to say, with the French of Canada.

I was then for the last time with my nephew at the house of our Frenchmen, to the end of leaving there some Englishmen. I found there a number of savages arrived to visit me, who called my nephew & myself into one of their cabins, where a venerable old man spoke to me in these terms: "Porcupine's head, thy heart is good & thou hast great courage, having made peace with the English for the love of us. Behold, we have come towards thee, old & young, wives & daughters & little children, to thank thee for it, & to recognise thee for our father. We wish to be the children & adopt for our son thy nephew that thou lovest so much, & in fine to give thee an eternal mark of the obligation that we have to thee. We weep no more henceforth except for the memory of those of whom thou bearest the name."

After which, having told one of the young people to speak, he fell like as if in a swoon, & the other spoke after that same manner: "Men & women, young men & children, even those who are at the breast, remember this one here for your father. He is better than the sun who warms you. You will find always in him a protector who will help you in your needs & console you in your afflictions. Men, remember that he gave you guns during the course of the year for you to defend yourselves against your Enemies, & to kill the beasts who nourish you & your families. Wives, consider that he gave you hatchets & knives with which you banish hunger from your country; daughters & children, fear nothing more, since the one who is your father loves you always, & that he gave you from time to time all that is necessary for you to have your subsistance. We all together weep no more, on the contrary give evidence by cries of our mirth that we have beheld the man of courage;" & at the same time they set themselves to cry with all their might, weeping bitterly for the last time, in saying, "We have lost our father; [Footnote: "But here is one that you adopt for your father."

_Note by Radisson,_] we have lost our children." [Footnote: "Here is the nephew of your father, who will be your son; he remains with you & he will have care of his mothers." _Note by Radisson,_]

After that piteful music they all came to be acknowledged. To be acknowledged by our adoption with some presents, & covering us with robes of white beaver skins, giving us quant.i.ties of beavers' tails, Some bladders of stag's marrow, several tongues of the same animal smoked, that which is the most exquisite to eat among them. They also presented us two great copper boilers full of smoked & boiled flesh, of which we ate all together, they, the English, & ourselves, & it is what is called a feast among these nations. After that I said adieu to them, & having given charge in the house what should be embarked in the ship, I went down to the mouth of the River, where Captain Gazer worked to build a fort in the same place where the preceding year Sieur Bridger had made to be constructed his shallop. It was the most advantageous situation that he had been able to find, & I advised that he should make all the diligence possible; but he had some men who by their delicacy were incapable of responding to his vigilence. I made this observation because I hold it for a maxim that one should only employ men robust, skilful, & capable of serving, & that those who are of a complexion feeble, or who flatter themselves of having protection & favour, ought to be dismissed.

Then we pa.s.sed to the place where the ships were, because my design was to oblige by my presence the captains to return to their ships ready to make sail; but I was no sooner arrived there than a savage came to inform me that my adopted father, whom I had not seen because that he was at the wars, waited for me at the place where Captain Gazer was building the Fort of which I came to speak. That is why I resolved to go there, & I expressed the same hope to the savage whom I sent back to give information to my father that the Governor would come with me to make some friendship to him & protect him in my absence. It was with the consent of the Governor & upon his parole that I had told him that; nevertheless he did not wish to come, & I was for the first time found a liar among the savages, which is of a dangerous consequence, for these nations have in abomination this vice. He came to me, however, in no wise angry in that interview, & I received not even a reproach from him.

When I was at the rendezvous they told me that my adopted father was gone away from it because I had annoyed a savage, for he had been informed that I had arrived to see him. This savage having remembered the obligation to return, although very sad on account of some news that he had learned upon the road, which was that the chief of the nation who inhabited the height above the river Neosaverne, named "the bearded," & one of his sons, who were his relations, had been killed in going to insult those among the savages who were set to the duty of taking care of the Frenchman who had been wounded by a savage gained over by the English, after that he had embraced me, & that he had informed me of the circ.u.mstance of that affaire, & the number of people he had as followers, I wrote to the Governor to come to me in the place where we were, to make him know in effect that he must after my departure prevent the continuation of these disorders in virtue of the treaty of peace & of union that I had made in presence of the savages between the French & the English.

The Governor having arrived, I presented to him my adopted father, & said to him that as it was the chief who commanded the nation that inhabited in the place where they built the fort, I had made him some little presents by Captain Gazer, & that it was also desirable that he make some to him, because I had promissed some the preceeding year that I had not given; which the Governor found very bad, & he became irritated even against this chief without any cause for it; except that it might be because he was my adopted father, & I have learned since that he was angry that when I had arrived I had not given any present to a simple savage who served as a spy, who was the son of that chief called "the bearded." That was a horrible extravagence; for this Governor was inferior to me, & I was not under any obligation to recognize his favor; besides, I had never made any presents but to the chiefs of the nations. Moreover, it was not for our Governor to censure my conduct. I had received some independent orders, which had been given me on account of the outrage that he had committed; but acting for the service of my King and for those of the Company, I pa.s.sed it over in silence. I saw that it would be imprudent if I should speak my sentiments openly to a man who after my departure should command all those who remained in the country.[Footnote: "That would have perhaps drawn upon him some contempt." _Note by Radisson._ ] I contented myself then with letting him know the inconveniences which would happen from the indifference that he affected to have for the chief of the savage nations, & I exhorted him also to change at once his policy in regard to my adopted father; not by that consideration, but because that he was, as I said to him, the chief of the nations which inhabited the place where they built the fort, which he promissed me of undoing. After that I went on board our ship.

My nephew, who remained in the fort with the Governor, having learned that the ships were ready to leave, kept himself near me with the French whom I had resolved to leave in Canada, to say adieu to me, & it was in the company of this Governor that they made the journey, during which, as I have since learned from my nephew, he showed to them more good will than he had yet done, a.s.suring them that they should never want anything, & in consideration of me they would receive the same treatment as himself. The behaviour that my nephew & the other Frenchmen had shown gave no reason for doubting the sincerity of their protestations. They no longer believed that any one could have any mistrust of them. My nephew & his interpreter had been solicited to remain in the country to serve the company, & they had consented to it without a murmur because I had charged myself with the care of their interests in England. All that pa.s.sed in the presence and by the persuasions of the Governor. Nevertheless, behold a surprising change which came to pa.s.s by the inconstancy, the caprice, & the wicked behaviour of this same Governor.

I disposed myself to part with the other Frenchmen, when the Governor, having come aboard of the little frigate, caused a signal to be made to hold a council of war. Upon this the Captains of the ships & myself rendered ourselves on board, where my nephew followed us, remaining upon the p.o.o.p, whilst the officers & myself were in the room where this Governor demanded of us, at first, if we had any valid reasons why he should not send back in the ships all the Frenchmen who were in the country; to all which the others having said nothing, I was obliged to speak in these terms: "At my departure from England I received a verbal order from the company, in particular from Sir James Hayes, to leave in the country where we are as many of the Frenchmen as I should find desirable for the good & advantage of the company. I have upon that resolved to engage my nephew & his interpreter to remain in it, & I have come for that end, by my attendance, for the consent of the Governor, who demands to-day that they may be sent back as people who apparently are known to him as suspected. I have always believed, & I believe it still, that their presence is useful in this Country and also necessary to the Company, and it was difficult to be able to overlook two, because they are known to all the nations. It is also upon them that I have relied for the Security of the merchandises which are left behind at the houses of the French, because without their a.s.sistance or their presence they would be exposed to pillage. Nevertheless I do not pretend to oppose my self to the design that the Governor has put in execution & the proposition that he proposes making. He is free to undo what he pleases, but he cannot make me subscribe to his resolutions, because I see that they are directly opposed to those of the Company, to my instructions, and to my experience. On the contrary, I will protest before G.o.d and before men against all that he does, because, after what he has said to you, he is incapable of doing what is advantageous for his masters.

It is in vain that one should give him good councels, for he has not the spirit to understand them, that he may again deal a blow to which he would wish I opposed nothing."

This declaration had without doubt made some impression upon a spirit not antic.i.p.ated in an imaginary capacity of governor; but this one here, on the contrary, fortified himself in his resolution, & begged me to tell the French to embark themselves, without considering that my nephew had not time enough to go seek his clothes, nor several bonds that were due to him in Canada, which remained in the house of the French, and that I had abandoned to him, to yield whatever I was in a condition of giving satisfaction to him, & that in the hope that the Company would set up for him the way exclusively.

The Council after that broke up; but the Governor, apprehending that the Frenchmen would not obey, wished to give an order to the Captains to seize upon them and put them on board. He had even the insolence of putting me first on the lists, as if I was suspected or guilty of something, for which Captain Bond having perceived, said to him that he should not make a charge of that kind, as I must be excepted from it, because he remembered nothing in me but much of attachment for the service of his masters, & that they should take care of the establishment that we had made, & of the advantages that would accrue to the Company. They obliged the Governor to make another list, and thus finished a council of war held against the interests of those who had given power to a.s.semble them. The persons who had any knowledge of these savages of the north would be able to judge of the prejudice which the conduct of this imprudent Governor would without contradiction have caused the Company. Many would attribute his proceeding to his little experience, or to some particular hatred that he had conceived against the French. Be it as it may, I was not of his way of thinking; and I believed that his timidity & want of courage had prompted him to do all that he had done, by the apprehension that he had of the French undertaking something against him; & what confirmed me in that thought was the precaution that he had taken for preventing the French from speaking to any person since the day of council, for he put them away from the moment that we went away from them. I made out also that he had wanted but the occasion of putting to the sword my nephew if he had had the least pretext; but knowing his wicked designs, I made him understand, as well as the other Frenchmen, that we were to go to England, & that he must not leave the ship, because we were at any moment ready to depart.

Although this change surprised my nephew & his interpreter, nevertheless they appeared not discontented with it, especially when I had a.s.sured them, as well as the other Frenchmen, that they would receive all kinds of good treatment in England, and that it would do them no harm in their persons nor in their pretensions. I left them then in the ship, and having embarked myself in the frigate, we were put ash.o.r.e two leagues from the place where they were at anchor, to take on board some goods that remained on the sh.o.r.e, with more diligence than we had been able to make with the ships; which having succeeded in happily doing, we went to rejoin the ships at the place where they were at anchor, in one of which my nephew and the other Frenchmen were staying during this time without having taken the least step, although they were in a condition for any enterprise, because they could easily render themselves masters of the two ships and burn them, having there for both but two men and one boy in each; after which they could also, without danger, go on sh.o.r.e on the south side with the canoes of the savages, who were from the north, and then make themselves masters of their houses and their merchandise, which were guarded but by two men; but to go there to them, he made doubts of all that I had told him, and that it would be ill intentioned to the service of the company, as it was to the Governor. That is why they were not capable, neither those nor the others, after having submitted themselves & having taken the oath of fidelity as they had done.

At length, after having suffered in my honour and in my probity many things on the part of the Governor, [Footnote: "Before Radisson's arrival, Capt.

John Abraham had been to Port Nelson with supplies of stores, & finding Mr Bridgar was gone, he staid himself, & was continued Governor by the Company in 1684." _Oldmixon_.] and much fatigue and indisposition of trouble and of care in my person, to come to the end of my design, having happily succeeded, and all that was to be embarked in the ships being on board, we made sail the 4th day of September, 1684, and we arrived at the Downs, without anything pa.s.sing worth mentioning, the 23rd of October of the same year.

The impatience that I had of informing the Gentlemen of the Hudson's Bay Company of the happy success of my voyage, and our return, and that I had acquitted myself for the service of the King and their own interest in all the engagements into which I had entered, obliged me to mount a horse the same day, to present myself in London, where I arrived at midnight. All which did not hinder me, so the Sieur Ecuyer Young was informed, who was one of those interested, who having come to me on the morrow morning to take me, did me the honour to present me to His Majesty and to His Royal Highness, to whom I rendered an account of all which had been done; and I had the consolation of receiving some marks of the satisfaction of these great princes, who in token gave order to the Sieur Ecuyer Young to tell the company to have care of my interests, & to remember my services.

Some days after, I went before the Committee of the Hudson's Bay Company, to render to it an account of my conduct, hoping to receive their approbation of my proceeding as the first fruits of the just satisfaction & recompence which was my due; but in place of that I found the members of the Committee for the most part offended because I had had the honour of making my reverence to the King and to his Royal Highness, & these same persons continued even their bad intention to injure me, and, under pretext of refusing me the justice which is due to me, they oppose themselves also to the solid and useful resolutions that are necessary for the glory of his Majesty and the advantage of the Nation and their own Interest.

FINIS.