sei:>sSL^s?^«?^^2 
 
■r^ 
 
 X. I B R ^ R Y 
 
 II J- riu: 
 
 Theological Se mj 41^ r y , 
 
 PRINCETON, N. ^ 
 
 I Oi BV 2290 .K5 1875 
 
 I ,s7,, Kip, William Ingraham, 1811- 
 
 i Historical scenes from the 
 
 L r^^r\ .Togn-it m i c; c; -j on c; 
 
HISTORICAL SCENES 
 
 THE OLD JESUIT MISSIONS. 
 
Historical Scenes 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 Old Jesuit Missions. 
 
 BY THE" 
 
 / 
 
 Right Rev. WM. INGRAHAM KIP, D.D., LL.D,, 
 
 MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 3K«0 
 
 NEW "YORK: 
 
 ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH AND COMPANY, 
 
 770 Broadway. 
 
Copyright, 
 Anson D. F. Randolph and Company, 
 
 |prcs» of 
 
 ROBERT RUTTKR, 
 JOHN WILSON AND SON, 
 
 82 and 84 Beekntan St., 
 Canihridge. 
 
 New York. 
 
TO 
 
 LEONARD KIP, 
 
 OF ALBANY, N.Y., 
 HIS BROTHER INSCRIBES THIS VOLUME. 
 
,__ , .Hi.,. 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Many years ago, while the writer was in "England, 
 
 the library of the Bishop of Durham was sold. 
 
 Among the works offered was a set of the Lettres 
 
 ' . . . . . ' 
 
 Edijiantes et Ciirieuses ^crites des Missions Eiran- 
 
 gkres, in 47 volumes, containing the letters of the 
 Jesuit Missionaries from about 1650 to 1750. These 
 the writer purchased and brought to this country. 
 On his return, he selected those letters which relate 
 to the labors of the Jesuits within the bounds of our 
 own land ; and published a translation, with notes, 
 under the title of TJie Early Jesuit Missions in 
 North America. As these letters contain the first 
 notices of any intercourse between the white man 
 and the Indians, they have always been regarded as 
 having an historical value. 
 
 The missionary labors of the Society of Jesus were, 
 however, spread over the whole world. There was 
 no land where they thought souls could be won for 
 their hire into which they did not penetrate. Their 
 influence was traced in the courts of Oriental des- 
 pots, and in the depths of Western forests, among 
 
viil PREFA CE. 
 
 the most savage tribes, and where no white man had 
 been seen before them. From the snows of the 
 North, and the burning heats of the Tropics, — 
 
 " From many an ancient river, 
 From many a palmy plain," — 
 
 their letters were sent back to the old homes they 
 were never themselves again to see, giving strange 
 pictures of tribes of whom the civilized European 
 had never before heard. From Thibet and China 
 and Siam, and the islands of the Indian Archipelago, 
 where Xavier had already laid down his life on the 
 shores of Sancian, — from " India's coral strand," and 
 from the centre of Africa, where " Ethiopia was 
 stretching out her hands " for the Bread of Life, — 
 from the desolate wilderness in South America and 
 the ice-bound shores of Hudson's Bay, — came these 
 reports to the Head of their Order at Rome, telling 
 how his followers " counted not their lives dear unto 
 themselves," while they pressed on in the path he 
 had marked out for them. 
 
 In looking, therefore, over these volumes, — so 
 wide in their range, — the writer has been induced 
 to select for translation some of the letters from 
 opposite sides of the world, giving the contrast of 
 the worn-out civilization of the Eastern empires and 
 the savage life of the wilderness. They are not — 
 if we except those on the mission in Paraguay and 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 in Lower California — narratives which relate so 
 much to the direct labors of the Jesuits, or illustrate 
 their heroic self-denial, as those which furnish scenes 
 — like the account of the Jewish colony in China, 
 the cruise of the Rhode Island privateer, and the 
 picture of the earthquake at Lima — with which the 
 Fathers were incidentally brought into contact. 
 
 Still, we see the same spirit pervading all, and — 
 much as we may differ from them in many of the 
 doctrines they taught — there is a lofty lesson to be 
 learned from their voluntary endurance of those mis- 
 eries which wasted the heart and wore out the life. 
 In the principles to which they had pledged them- 
 selves, they never faltered ; and, whether on the lonely 
 seaside or in the crowded cities of the East, the fol- 
 lowers of Loyola seem gladly to have welcomed 
 martyrdom as their highest blessing, and to have 
 been ready to exclaim with St. Francis Xavier : 
 " If ever I forget thee, O Society of Jesus, may my 
 right hand forget its cunning ! " 
 
 More than a century has passed since these letters 
 were written ; the hands which penned them have 
 long since mouldered into dust, in their forgotten 
 graves on many a distant heathen shore ; yet it 
 seemed to the writer that these articles might fur- 
 nish a chapter in the history of our race which would 
 interest our readers. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 I. The Synagogue in China: 1720 ... 13 
 
 II. Missions in Lower California : 1702 . 50 
 
 III. Cape Horn in 1704 69 
 
 IV. The Monasteries of Mount Lebanon : 
 
 1721 83 
 
 V. The Knights of Malta: 17 ii . . . . 96 
 
 VI. The Grecian Islands: 17 ii 106 
 
 VII. Glimpses of the Court of China: 1773 115 
 
 VIII. Rhode Island Privateer: 1745 .... 153 
 
 IX. Fugitive Slaves of Cayenne: 1751 . . 206 
 X. Trials of the Hudson Bay Missionary : 
 
 1694 225 
 
 XI. Explorations in the Delta: 1712 . . 251 
 XII. Monasteries in the Thebaid Desert: 
 
 1716 282 
 
 XIII. The Paraguay Mission: 1726 .... 316 
 
 XIV. The Earthquake at Lima: 1746 . . . 360 
 
PEIITGSTOIT ^' 
 
 \\ 
 
 \THEOLOGIG>\Ii/ 
 HI^tORTcXi. -SCENES 
 
 THE OLD JESUIT MISSIONS. 
 
 I. 
 
 THE SYNAGOGUE IN CHINA. 
 
 1720. 
 
 [At the close of the seventeenth century the Jesuits in China 
 sent home to Europe the news that, in the centre of China was 
 a colony of Jews, who had resided there for many centuries, 
 preserving the forms of their ancient faith amid the surrounding 
 idolatry. As a mere historical fact, — that Judaism had thus 
 penetrated to the eastern side of Asia, — this was a curious 
 discovery. There was, however, a higher interest connected 
 with it. It was stated that they had a copy of the Pentateuch 
 three thousand years old. If so, it was the oldest copy known, 
 and it would be of inestimable value for collation with our 
 Hebrew Bibles, in determining disputed readings, and might, 
 perhaps, decide some controversies. 
 
 It seems to have been forty years before the Jesuits, notwith- 
 standing their repeated efforts, succeeded in obtaining any definite 
 information on this subject. At length, by estabhshing a mis- 
 sion at Cai-fong-Fou, they were brought into immediate contact 
 with these Jews, learned their history, and were permitted to 
 examine their copy of the Pentateuch. Although not believed 
 by the Fathers to have the antiquity claimed for it by those in 
 whose charge it was, still it is one of the oldest extant ; and it 
 is a source of satisfaction to learn that a comparison with our 
 
14 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 own Hebrew Bible showed no important variations in any of 
 the readings. The article which follows is the account given by 
 one of the Jesuits, gathered from all the different letters of his 
 brethren, and presenting every fact of importance connected 
 with this matter. 
 
 There was a similar excitement at the beginning of this cen- 
 tury with regard to the Black Jews of India. It was stated that 
 they, too, had copies of the Pentateuch of great antiquity. But 
 in 1807, the Rev. Claudius Buchanan gained access to them, 
 and, in his "Researches in India," he has given a narrative of 
 his visit. He procured some of these manuscripts, — "one 
 of them an old copy of the Books of Moses, written on a roll 
 of leather. The skins are sewed together, and the roll is about 
 forty-eight feet in length." But a comparison with our received 
 Hebrew Bible showed no important differences. 
 
 The story of the Synagogue in China is certainly a strange 
 one in a mere literary and historical point of view. It shows 
 the wonderful tenacity of the " peculiar people " in clinging to 
 their faith through so many centuries, in the midst of the out- 
 ward pressure of idolatry, even when the spirit which once 
 animated their worship had departed, and only the dead forms 
 remained. And now, even this has passed away for ever. 
 When the Jesuit wrote — more than a century ago — it is evi- 
 dent that the colony, confined in the marriages of its members to 
 their own people, was gradually diminishing. Since then, this 
 decrease has been going on, till it has entirely faded away from 
 the earth. In "China and the Chinese," by Rev. John L. 
 Nevins, in i860, we find this notice of the closing scene: 
 " Connected with this Synagogue were some Hebrew manu- 
 scripts, and a few worshippers who retained some of the forms 
 of their religion, but very little of its real character and spirit. 
 The remaining buildings and timbers of the Synagogue have 
 recently been sold ; and this little remnant, which has been pre- 
 served long enough to afford evidence that Jews and Judaism 
 have reached the extreme limits of the East, will probably soon 
 be extinct."] 
 
THE SYNAGOGUE IN CHINA. 15 
 
 Narrative of Father . • • • of the Society of yesus. 
 
 The news of the existence of a synagogue of Jews, 
 established in China for many centuries, was an an- 
 nouncement of the most interesting character to all 
 the scholars of Europe. They indulged the hope that 
 they would be able to find there a copy of the Sacred 
 Scriptures, which would serve to clear up their diffi- 
 culties and to end their disputes. But Father Ricci, 
 who made this happy discovery, was not able to derive 
 from it the advantages he had hoped. Confined to 
 the City of Pekin by the claims of that Mission, he 
 was not able to go to Cai-fong-Foii, the capital of 
 Honan, which is distant nearly two hundred leagues. 
 He was obliged to content himself with questioning 
 a young Jew of that synagogue whom he met at Pekin. 
 He learned from him, that at Cai-fong-Fou were to be 
 found ten or twelve families of Israelites, who had 
 come there to establish their synagogue, and that for 
 five or six hundred years they had preserved, with the 
 greatest respect, a very ancient copy of the Pentateuch. 
 Father Ricci immediately showed him a Hebrew Bible. 
 The young Jew recognized the characters ; but he 
 could not read it, because he had devoted himself 
 solely to the study of Chinese books, as he aspired to 
 take the degree of Scholar. 
 
 The pressing occupations of Father Ricci did not 
 permit him to push this discovery any farther. It 
 was not till three or four years afterwards that he 
 found it convenient to send thither a Chinese Jesuit, 
 
1 6 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 with ample instructions, to verify what he had learned 
 of the young Jew. He gave him a letter in Chinese 
 for the Ruler of the Synagogue, in which he informed 
 him that besides the books of the Old Testament he 
 had also those of the New, which showed that the 
 Messiah, whom they were expecting, had already 
 come. As soon as the Ruler of the Synagogue read 
 what related to the coming of the Messiah, he stopped, 
 and said, " that this could not be, as they did not ex- 
 pect him in ten thousand years." But he begged 
 Father Ricci, of the reputation of whose great talents 
 he had been apprised, to come to Cai-fong-Fou, where 
 he would be delighted to commit to him the care of 
 the synagogue, provided he would be willing to ab- 
 stain from those articles of food which are forbidden 
 to the Jews. The great age of the Ruler, and his 
 ignorance of who would succeed him, induced him to 
 make these offers to Father Ricci. This circumstance 
 was propitious for enabling them to gain information 
 with regard to their Pentateuch. The Ruler volun- 
 tarily consented to give them the beginning and the 
 end of all the sections. These were found to be 
 perfectly in agreement with the Hebrew Bible of 
 Plantin, except that the Chinese copy had no vowel 
 points. 
 
 In 1613, Father Aleni, whose profound erudition 
 and great wisdom have gained for him, among the 
 Chinese themselves, the title of the European Con- 
 fucius, received orders from his superiors to repair 
 to Cai-fong-Foji, and to push forward this discovery. 
 He was the man of all the world best adapted to sue- 
 
THE SYNAGOGUE IN CHINA. 1 7 
 
 ceed there, being an accomplished Hebrew scholar. 
 But times had changed. The old Ruler was dead ; 
 and while they readily showed Father Aleni the syna- 
 gogue, he yet could not obtain a sight of the books, 
 and they were not even willing to draw aside the 
 curtain which covered them. 
 
 Such were the feeble beginnings of this discovery, 
 which had been handed down to us by Fathers Tri- 
 gaut and Semedo ^ and by other missionaries. The 
 scholars have often spoken of it, often with but little 
 accuracy, ^ and they have always desired more exten- 
 sive information. 
 
 The residence which, in process of time, the Jesuits 
 established at Cai-fojig-Fou gave new hopes. Never- 
 theless, Fathers Rodriguez and Figueredo endeavored 
 in vain to profit by the advantages they had. Father 
 Gozani is the first who succeeded. Having obtained 
 admission, he made a copy of the inscriptions in the 
 synagogue, which are written on large tables of mar- 
 ble, and sent them to Rome. The Jews informed him 
 that they had a Bible at P.ekin, in the temple where 
 are preserved the Kings, that is, the Sacred Books of 
 foreigners. The French and Portuguese Jesuits ob- 
 tained from the Emperor a permission to enter the 
 temple and inspect these books. The Father Pa- 
 reniun was also present. But they found nothing. 
 Father Bouvet said that they discovered there some 
 Syriac letters, and they had good reason to believe 
 
 1 Trigaut, de Expedit. Sinica, lib. i., cap. ii., p. ii8. Semedo, Rela- 
 tione della China, part i., cap. xxx., p. 193. 
 
 2 Walton, Polyglott, Frolegomen., iii., sect. 4. Jablonski, Bibl. 
 Ilebr. Frees., sect. 38. 
 
1 8 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 that the Master of the Pagoda misled the Jesuits. 
 At the present time it would be very difficult to ob- 
 tain admission into this library, and the attempts 
 made by Father Gaubil have always been ineffectual. 
 He was never able to learn what were these Hebrew 
 and Syriac books. Nevertheless, a Tartar Christian, 
 to whom he had given a Hebrew Bible, again assured 
 him that he had seen books written in the same char- 
 acters ; but he could not tell what these books were, or 
 how greiat their antiquity. Only he confirmed to him 
 the fact that they had there a thora, that is, a book of 
 the Law. 
 
 While the Jesuits at Pekin were making these 
 fruitless searches, the Jews, less mysterious than the 
 Chinese, voluntarily informed Father Gozani of their 
 different customs ; and, at the commencement of this 
 century, he found himself prepared to publish an ac- 
 count as circumstantial as could be by a person who 
 was unacquainted with the Hebrew language. 
 
 These new revelations again awakened the attention 
 of the scholars. Father Etienne Souciet, who was 
 then engaged in a great work on the. Scriptures, in 
 reply to the Critici Sacri, was the most earnest in 
 pressing this discovery. It is from the letters which 
 Fathers Gozani, Domenge, and Gaubil wrote to him 
 on this subject that I have derived all I have reported 
 in this Memoir. The detailed account will be so much 
 the more curious, as it has often been asked for, and 
 as Father Halde has been pleased to promise it in his 
 great description of China.^ 
 
 1 Du Halde, Description de la Chine, torn, iii., p. 64. 
 
THE SYNAGOGUE IN CHINA. 1 9 
 
 The Chinese call the Jews who live among them 
 Hoai-Hoai. This name is common to them and the 
 Mahometans. But the Jews, among themselves, use 
 the name Tiao-Kin-Keao, that is to say, the law of 
 those who discard the sinews ; because they have a 
 law forbidding their eating them, in memory of the 
 wrestle of Jacob with the angel. A kind of blue cap, 
 which they wear in their synagogue during prayer, 
 has caused them again to receive the name of Lan- 
 maho-hoai-hoai, to distinguish them from the Ma- 
 hometans, who wear a red cap, and whom, for this 
 reason, they call Pe-maJio-Jioai-Jioai. 
 
 The Jews say they emigrated to China under the 
 dynasty of Ha7i, during the reign of Haii-ming-ti ; and 
 that they came from Si-yii, that is to say, the country 
 of the West. It appears by all that can be learned 
 from them, that this Western country is Persia, and 
 that they came by the way of Corassan and Samar- 
 kand. They have, besides, in their language, many 
 Persian words ; and they have preserved, during this 
 long lapse of time, intimate relations with that coun- 
 try- They believe that they are the only ones settled 
 on this vast continent, and know nothing of the other 
 Jews in India, Thibet, and Western Tartary. 
 
 For a long time they were in great honor in China. 
 Many have been governors of provinces, ministers of 
 state, bachelors, and doctors. There have been some 
 among them who possessed large landed property. 
 But at the present day nothing remains of this ancient 
 glory. Their settlements at Ham-TcJieou, Nimpo, Pc' 
 kin, and Nitig-Hia have even disappeared, most of them 
 
20 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 having embraced the Mahometan faith. We do not 
 now know of any but those at Cai-fong-Fou. 
 
 At their first settlement they numbered seventy 
 famihes, of the different tribes of Benjamin, Levi, 
 Judah, etc. Now they are reduced to seven famihes, 
 who number altogether over one thousand persons. 
 The various misfortunes by which this city has been 
 afflicted in past times have much contributed to their 
 wasting away. 
 
 During the reign of Van-Lie a great fire reduced 
 their synagogue to ashes. All their books were de- 
 stroyed, except one Pentateuch, which formerly they 
 had received of a Mahometan whom they found at 
 Ning-Hia, in the province of Chen-Si. A Jew of 
 Canton, being near death, had committed it to him as 
 a precious deposit. They rebuilt their synagogue ; but 
 it was again ruined, in 1642, by an inundation of the 
 Hoang-hOy or Yellow River, in which more than three 
 hundred thousand persons perished, 
 
 Tchao, z. Jewish mandarin, took upon himself the 
 restoration of the synagogue. It is the one which we 
 see at this day. They call it Li-pai-Si, that is to say, 
 the place of the Ceremonies. This Li-pai-Si is but 
 sixty feet long by forty wide. But all the different 
 buildings which are attached to it occupy a space on 
 the ground of one hundred and fifty feet in breadth 
 by three or four hundred in length. We recognize 
 there the same plan which Father Domenge drew 
 upon the spot 
 
 The entrance of the synagogue is at the East. It 
 opens with a pai-leou, that is to say, a triumphal arch. 
 
THE SYNAGOGUE IN CHINA. 21 
 
 which leads into a grand court. At the exit of this 
 court we find a new triumphal arch ; and at the sides 
 we see two stone monuments covered with inscrip- 
 tions, of which I will speak at the end of this narra- 
 tive. On advancing farther, we find two marble lions, 
 a large brazen vase in which to burn perfumes, two 
 basins of copper with their pedestals, and two large 
 vases of flowers. At last, we arrive at the square in 
 front of the Li-pai-Se, which is entirely surrounded 
 by a railing. It is here that they set up their great 
 tent for the Feast of Tabernacles. 
 
 The Li-pai-Si has two side aisles. The nave is di- 
 vided into three parts. The first contains the chair 
 of Moses ; the Van-soiii-Pai, that is to say, the tablet 
 of the Emperor ; and a great table for incense. Above 
 the tablet of the Emperor we see this Hebrew inscrip- 
 tion, in letters of gold: ''Hear, O Israel! yeJiovah, 
 one God., is the God alone. Blessed be His name, and 
 His reign be glorious throngh all eternity." The second 
 part forms a kind of tent, square outwardly and round 
 within. This is the Holy of Holies of the Jews in 
 China. They call it the Bethel, and in the Chinese 
 language Tien-Tang, that is to say, the Temple of 
 Heaven. On the front we read this Hebrew inscrip- 
 tion, written in golden characters : " Know that Je- 
 hovah is the God of Gods, the Lord, the great God, 
 strong and terrible!' ^ This place, so reverenced by the 
 Jews in China, contains their Takings, that is, their 
 Sacred Books of the Holy Scriptures. On the side 
 
 ^ The Jesuit writer gives the Hebrew of these two inscriptions. 
 It is without vowel points. — Trans. 
 
22 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 of the Bethel are presses, which contain the Takings 
 and other customary books. Behind the Bethel we 
 see the two tables of the Law, written in golden let- 
 ters. 
 
 Of all these monuments, the Takings were the most 
 interesting to the scholars of Europe. But to form a 
 just idea of them, we must know that the Chinese 
 Jews give the name of Takings, or the Great Script- 
 ures, to the Pentateuch alone. They have thirteen 
 copies of it in their Bethel, placed on thirteen tables, 
 in memory of the twelve tribes, and of Moses, the 
 founder of their Law. They are not written on 
 parchment, as Father Gozani stated ; but on paper, of 
 which they have pasted many leaves together, so that 
 they can be rolled without any danger of their tearing. 
 
 Each Taking in the Bethel is rolled on a pivot, and 
 forms a kind of tent, covered by a curtain of silk. 
 The Jews have the greatest veneration for these 
 books ; but there is nevertheless one which they rev- 
 erence more than all the others. They pretend that 
 it has an antiquity of three thousand years, and is the 
 only monument which remains to them. The other 
 books having been destroyed by the fires or inunda- 
 tions, they have restored them from the books of the 
 Persians. 
 
 All the Takings of the Bethel are without points. 
 They are divided into fifty-three paragraphs or sec- 
 tions. They read one section every Sabbath day. 
 In this way, the Jews in China, like the Jews in Eu- 
 rope, read the whole of the Law in the course of the 
 year. He who reads the lesson places the Taking in 
 
THE SYNAGOGUE IN CHINA. 23 
 
 the chair of Moses. He has his face covered with a 
 very dehcate cotton veil. At his side is a prompter, 
 and some steps further down is an official {mould) 
 whose business it is to correct the prompter, in case 
 he should make a mistake. 
 
 Father Domenge did not see in the Li-pai-S ^ Qiih^r 
 a censer, or instrument of music, or particular dresses 
 for ceremonies. All are obliged, while there, to put 
 off their shoes, and each one had his head covered 
 with a blue cap ; only at the Feast of Tabernacles, 
 when they made a procession with the Taking, each 
 one who carried it had a scarf of red silk, which he 
 wore above the right shoulder and below the left arm. 
 
 During the eight months that Father Domenge 
 passed at Cai-fong-Fou, he in vain resorted to every 
 imaginable means to obtain one of these books, or at 
 least to have permission to collate his own Bible with 
 one of these copies. But he could gain nothing from 
 men too ignorant not to be suspicious. The only 
 favor they granted him was to show him their books, 
 and to permit him to examine certain passages. The 
 following, then, is the information he gave us about 
 them. The Takings of the Bethel are written in 
 round characters and without points. The form of 
 the letters is very similar to the ancient German edi- 
 tions of the Hebrew. He did not find there either 
 Ph^thura or Sethuvia} There are no intervals in the 
 
 ^ The Phithura and Sithuma are the marks which are used in the 
 Hebrew Bibles to designate the divisions of the different sections. 
 The Phethura has for its mark the letter phS, repeated three times ; 
 the Sethuma has the letter samech, repeated also three times. There 
 are twelve of these sections in Genesis, eleven in Exodus, ten in 
 
24 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 text, except the space of a single line, which is inter- 
 posed between each of the fifty-three sections. When 
 we asked them why these copies had no punctuation 
 points, they replied, that God dictated the Law to 
 Moses with such rapidity that he had no time to 
 place the points ; but that their doctors at the West 
 had thought proper to insert them, to aid the reader. 
 
 On the Saturday, in the Octave of the Feast of 
 Tabernacles, Father Domenge having gone to the 
 synagogue, they showed him their ancient Taking. 
 It was about two feet in height and a little more in 
 diameter when it was rolled. It had the appearance 
 of great antiquity, but had been very much injured 
 by water. He asked what was the lesson for the 
 day, when they showed him the Song of Moses, 
 which, among the Jews, made part of the vajelec, that 
 is, of the fifty-second section. 
 
 Their fifty-third section is the same as the fifty- 
 fourth in our ordinary Bibles. He read in a loud 
 voice the Song of Moses, which was written in two 
 columns, as in our Bibles when they are accurate. 
 But the lines often ran the one into the other, which 
 seemed to confuse them. The only difference which 
 he found in all this Song, is that, in v. 25, in place of 
 thescacel, as in our ordinary Bibles, the Taking has 
 thocel} This difference, however, does not make any 
 change in the sense ; it is always the sword destroy- 
 
 Leviticus, ten in Numbers, and eleven in Deuteronomy. These form 
 the fifty-four parts of the Pentateuch. These large sections have 
 also subordinate divisions, but they are marked by a single letter/;^, 
 or a single letter samech. 
 1 Deut. xxxii. 25. 
 
THE SYNAGOGUE IN CHINA. 2$ 
 
 ing or devouring, which avenges the Lord on the sins 
 of Israel. 
 
 With regard to the Takings in the presses, they all 
 have the vowel points. The form of their letters very 
 much resembles that in the Bible of Athias, printed 
 at Amsterdam in 1705. They are, however, much 
 more beautiful, larger and blacker. All are written 
 by the hand, with pencils of bamboo, sharpened at 
 the point like our pens, and with good ink, which 
 they make themselves. With this they renew them 
 every year at the Feast of Tabernacles, for they have 
 great scruples with regard to using either the pencils 
 or the ink of the Chinese. Their paper has not the 
 same delicacy as that of the Chinese ; for, in place of 
 preparing it with alum water, so that they can write 
 on both sides, they prefer pasting a number of leaves 
 together, so as to make one having the thickness of 
 three or four ordinary leaves. 
 
 The Takings are all seven inches in length and 
 four or five in height. They contain the fifty-three 
 divisions. Each division contains one of the sections 
 of the Pentateuch. The first word of the section is 
 written without initial letter and without points, a 
 little above the middle of the margin of the first page, 
 in a little square formed of green or blue silk, or of 
 white taffety, in the form BercshitJi^ for the first 
 section and Noach'^ for the second, and so with the 
 others ; for these sections are the same as in the Am- 
 
 1 Bereshith, "in the beginning." This is the commencement of 
 Gen. i. It is, therefore, the initial word of the first section. — Trans. 
 
 2 That is, Noah. 
 
26 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 sterdam Bible, except that they have united the fifty- 
 second and fifty-third sections in one. The first word 
 written in the margin is not repeated at the beginning 
 of the section. Each page is marked by a noun of 
 number, and not by a numeral letter. It is always 
 placed in the middle of the book, above the first word. 
 As each section forms a separate division, they do 
 not mark at the end either the Phethura or the Seth- 
 uma. Nevertheless, separating marks are not entirely 
 unknown, although much more rare in their books than 
 in ours. They place theirs in the margin, and they 
 always join them together in one of two ways. ^ 
 There are four of them in the division Bereshith, that 
 is, in the first section of Genesis. The first is in the 
 first chapter, before the tenth verse, according to our 
 way of counting ; the second is in the same chapter, 
 before the twenty-seventh verse ; the third is in 
 chapter second, before the twenty-first verse ; the 
 fourth is in the third chapter, before the fourteenth 
 verse. Except in these four places, the first section 
 of Genesis has no marginal note, or interval, or inter- 
 linear separations. They know nothing of the Keri 
 and the Ketib. ^ They mark exactly at the end of the 
 
 1 Pe-Mem or Mem-Daleth. 
 
 2 The Ketib is a doubtful word adopted in the text and marked 
 with a small circle above it, which refers to a different reading in the 
 margin, called the Keri. These different readings are supposed to 
 have been inserted by Ezra and the other one hundred and nineteen 
 men of the Great Synagogue. Rabbi David Kimchi observes, that, 
 during the Captivity, the Sacred Books were lost or dispersed, and 
 wise men, who excelled in the knowledge of Scripture, were dead. 
 Hence it happened that the men of the Great Synagogue, who re- 
 stored the Law to its former state, found varieties in different books, 
 
THE SYNAGOGUE IN CHINA. 27 
 
 phrases the Pcsiikim} that is to say, the two points 
 which they call Kela. As to the number of verses, 
 they only mark them at the end of the section or di- 
 vision, below the last line, and in numeral letters. 
 Thus, they count a hundred and forty-six in ^^r^j-//zV/^, 
 or in the first division ; and a hundred and forty-three 
 in NoacJi, or the second division. ^ 
 
 They have large and small letters. For example, 
 the first word of Genesis, BcrcsJiitJi, has a large Beth ; 
 and in the fourteenth verse of the second chapter of 
 Genesis, the word H^hibai-ain has a small He. Father 
 Domenge did not think that these Jews had any 
 knowledge of those words which are divided into two ; 
 or of those of which two form one, or which take the 
 place of other words ; or, in fine, of those which they 
 read without being written, or those which they write 
 and do not read. However, he did not venture to de- 
 cide, because he had not time to enter into a suf- 
 ficiently minute detail on this point of criticism. 
 
 As to the unspeakable name of God, JeJwvah, they 
 pronounce it Hotoi. In place of Adonai, they say 
 Etunoi. They do not differ from us in the pronunci- 
 ation of the word Elohim. But when they translate 
 into Chinese the name of Jehovah, they do not say, 
 as do the missionaries, Tien-TcJm, but only Tieji, as 
 
 and employed the knowledge they possessed in adjusting them. But, 
 when their knowledge failed, they wrote one word in the text and 
 another in the margin. — Tratis. 
 
 1 Punctuation at the end of the verse. — Trans. 
 
 - The verses of Bereshith are marked by the letters, Vav-Mem- 
 Zoph, that is, 146 ; and those of Noach, by the letters, Gimel-Mem- 
 Zoph, that is, 143. 
 
28 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 the Chinese Hterary scholars do when they explain 
 their characters CJiang-Ti. 
 
 The greatest difference which Father Domenge dis- 
 covered between the Takings and the Bible of Am- 
 sterdam, consisted in the Raphi, or the horizontal line 
 which the Jews call Lofi. It is very common with 
 them, and often we find it on two or three letters of 
 the same word. The form of their accents is also a 
 little different in its position and shape, which in- 
 duced Father Domenge to conjecture that their 
 Bible was perhaps the Oriental Bible of Jacob Ben 
 Nephthali, who opened his schools in the land of 
 Babylon during the time that Ben Ascher held his in 
 Palestine. However, these Jews have no acquaint- 
 ance with this Rabbi, and their knowledge of punctu- 
 ation is very limited. They know nothing of all that 
 array of names which we find in our European books. 
 They have only the general word Siman to express 
 the points and accents. 
 
 We now come to the comparisons which Father 
 Domenge made of the Bible of Amsterdam with 
 these most ancient Takings of China. We had re- 
 quested him to verify certain passages in Genesis 
 which most occupied the attention of critics. He 
 examined them, but did not discover any difference. ^ 
 In the twenty-third chapter, verse second, he did not 
 see that the cJiapJi of the word libecJwtha ^ was appar- 
 
 1 The places which Father Domenge examined were, chap. ii. 17 ; 
 iii. 17 ; vii. 11 ; viii. 4, 7 ; xi. entire ; xiii. 3 ; xvii. 22 ; xxiii. 2 ; xxiv. 
 2; xxxiii. 4; xlvii., xlviii., xlix., entire. 
 
 2 Gen. xxiii. 2. Our Bibles mark with a very small c/ki/A this 
 word, which expresses the tears which Abraham shed on the death 
 of his wife Sarah. 
 
THE SYNAGOGUE IN CHINA. 29 
 
 ently smaller. Nevertheless, the chief of the syna- 
 gogue told him that it was. They seemed not to be 
 acquainted with the ancient manner of taking an 
 oath mentioned in chapter twenty-fourth, verse sec- 
 ond. It is not a custom among them. They say, that 
 they contented themselves, by not going to take an 
 oath in the idol temples. On the word vajiscakekoti} 
 of chapter thirty-third, verse fourth, there are six 
 points, the first apparently much larger than a single 
 point. 
 
 The twelfth section of their Takings begins, as in 
 the Bible of Amsterdam, with the word vcJcM, of 
 chapter forty-seventh, verse twenty-eighth. It con- 
 tains all the prophecies of Jacob to his children. They 
 are written together, without separations, without PM- 
 tJiiira and without SetJmma. 
 
 Father Domenge asked them what they understood 
 by the word SiloJi and by that of JcsatatJicca, which 
 so often occurs in their Scriptures ; but they did not 
 make any reply. These Jews, at the present day, are 
 so ignorant as not to understand their own entire text. 
 
 We had asked Father Domenge to see what was 
 the punctuation of the word Hamniitta, chapter forty- 
 seventh, verse thirty-first, to learn if they wrote it 
 Hamniitta or Hammatt^. He forgot it, but he thought 
 that, having found so great conformity with the Am- 
 sterdam Bible in other places, it was highly probable 
 there would be the same in this. 
 
 It only remains to make two observations on these 
 
 1 Gen. xxxiii. 4. It is in this singular way that it expresses the 
 kiss of peace which Esau gave to his brother Jacob. 
 
30 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 discoveries of Father Domenge. At the end of Bere- 
 shit/i, that is, the first division of this Taking, he 
 found an inscription which is very much defaced in 
 the copy which he sent. Nevertheless, we recognize 
 there the names of different rabbies. It seems to be 
 a record of remembrance of their doctors, and, in 
 particular, of one who had come from Medina, and 
 who, perhaps, had procured this Taking. It ends with 
 the words : ''Blessings rest on yon on your departure. 
 Blessings on you on your return. Abundant glory in 
 the possession of these treasures. Lord, I have waited 
 for Thy salvation. " ^ 
 
 Father Domenge saw also a scroll attached to one 
 of the columns of the Li-pai-si, which had marked on 
 it the Mineaha, that is to say, the order of the reading 
 of the sections of the Pentateuch. At the two ends 
 it made mention of two books with which I am unac- 
 quainted. The first is named Noumaha. It is divided 
 into twelve parts, and is read on the first day of each 
 great month and on the second of the small months. 
 The other, named Mouphtar, is also divided into 
 twelve parts. It is read on the fifteenth day of the 
 great months and the sixteenth of the small months. ^ 
 Father Domenge endeavored to learn what these 
 books contained ; but the pronunciation of these Jews 
 is so singular that he could not comprehend what they 
 said. 
 
 1 The Jesuit writer gives this inscription in the Hebrew. — Trans. 
 
 2 Every other month of the Jewish year contained thirty days, the 
 alternate one having but twenty-nine days. This constituted the 
 difference between the great and small months. — Trans. 
 
THE SYNAGOGUE IN CHINA. 3 1 
 
 In addition to what I have so far reported, we 
 thought that perhaps these Jews of China had no 
 other books of the Holy Scripture but the Penta- 
 teuch. But in this we were mistaken. They have 
 also many others ; but they do not give the title 
 of Canonical to any but the Pentateuch alone. The 
 other books they call San-tso, that is to say, supple- 
 mentary or detached books. Under this title they 
 comprehend Joshua and the Judges, which they have 
 not entire ; Schemoueul, or Samuel, which is entire ; 
 MelacJiini, or the last two books of Kings, which are 
 mutilated in several places ; David, or the Psalms, as 
 to the entireness of which he did not examine. This 
 first part of the San-tso makes more than thirty vol- 
 umes. The second part contains the Hafoutala, it 
 being thus that they call the Haphtaroth, or propheti- 
 cal sections. They say that they formerly had of 
 this more than eighty volumes. We find no difficulty 
 in believing this ; because their books never contain a 
 large number of chapters, and they unite with the 
 prophets the Chronicles, or the Paralypomenes. Isaiah, 
 whom they call Is^haha, and Jeremiah, whom they 
 name Javt^leioJmin, are almost entire. These they 
 read on festival days. They have nothing of Eze- 
 kiel, and nothing of Daniel but some verses of the 
 first chapter. 
 
 Of the minor prophets, they have remaining yu- 
 enaha, or Jonah ; Micaha, or Micah ; Nahouain, or 
 Nahum ; Hapacoiique, or Habakkuk ; Secaleio, or Zech- 
 ariah. The greater part of these minor prophets are 
 not entire, and they have nothing of the rest. The 
 
32 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 book of Chronicles, or the Paralypomenes, which they 
 call Tivdi-Haiamiim, is also badly mutilated ; they 
 have remaining of it only the four or five first chap- 
 ters. The books of Nehemiah and Esther are a little 
 less imperfect. The Jews of China have a very great 
 veneration for this princess : they always call her 
 Issetha Mama, or the Great Mother. Their respect 
 extends also to Mordecai, whom they call MoltogJii. 
 They regard them as the saviors of Israel. 
 
 Two of their books, which would be the most val- 
 ued in Europe, are the first two books of the Macca- 
 bees. It appeared that they call them Alantiio/min, 
 or Mathatias, and that they have but a single copy. 
 Father Domenge tried every imaginable way to pur- 
 chase it, or at least to procure a copy ; but they were 
 not willing to listen to any proposition. 
 
 To all these books of San-tso, the Jews add also 
 their Li-pai, that is to say, their rituals or books of 
 prayers. Each Li-pai contains fifty or fifty-two di- 
 visions. They are written in large characters. These 
 volumes are longer and larger than books in Europe 
 and China, and of an inch in thickness. These prayers 
 are almost all taken from Scripture, and particularly 
 from the Psalms. Besides these, they have four vol- 
 umes of the Mischna^ and different interpreters in 
 
 1 The Mischna consists of the traditions of the Jews and expla- 
 nations of several passages of Scripture. They are said to have been 
 delivered to Moses when on the Mount, and afterwards handed down 
 to the seventy elders, by whom they were communicated to the men 
 of the Great Sanhedrim, from whom the wise men of Jerusalem and 
 Babylon received them. 
 
 Dr. Prideaux, rejecting this fiction, says that, after the death of 
 
THE SYNAGOGUE IN CHINA. 33 
 
 equally bad order, which they call in Chinese Tiang- 
 tchang. 
 
 Notwithstanding the possession of all these books, 
 Father Domenge found these Jews in a state of great 
 ignorance. The most able among them did not un- 
 derstand certain parts of the Pentateuch, or of those 
 books which they read the most frequently. They 
 were very sensible of their deficiency on this point, 
 and excused themselves by saying that it was more 
 than a century since any doctor of Si-ya, that is, of 
 the West, had come to them ; and that it was a long 
 time since they had lost their Tou-king-pucn, that is, 
 their grammar, or their book for understanding the 
 Scriptures. 
 
 Father Gozani adds, that they used their sacred 
 books when they cast lots. They practised circum- 
 cision on the seventh day after birth. On the Sab- 
 bath days they did not even light a fire in their dwell- 
 ings. They observe the Passover and many other 
 solemnities. There is one day which they spend en- 
 tirely in their synagogue in weeping and wailing.^ 
 They are acquainted with the existence of angels, of 
 the cherubim and seraphim. Father Gozani could 
 draw nothing from them with regard to the Messiah, 
 though he often questioned them. They do not re- 
 Simon the Just, about 292 years before Christ, the Mischnial doctors 
 arose, so that towards the middle of the second century it became 
 necessary to commit their works to writing. The original has been 
 published, with a Latin translation from the learned Maimonides, in 
 6 vols., folio. Amsterdam, 169S-1703. — Trans. 
 
 1 This is a service introduced since the fall of Jerusalem, when 
 they thus lament the destruction of their temple. — Trans. 
 2* (• 
 
34 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 ceive proselytes, and never intermarry with strangers. 
 They have printed in Chinese a small volume explan- 
 atory of their religion, which they present to the 
 mandarins whenever there are any threats of perse- 
 cution. 
 
 Their scholars and doctors honor Confucius. They 
 pay reverence, also, to all their deceased ancestors, and 
 have their memorial tablets after the manner of the 
 Chinese. In the innermost part of their synagogue, 
 they have a hall where they preserve the tablets of 
 their departed benefactors. At the entrance of the 
 synagogue is an ancient pai-fa, or tablet, with the 
 inscription King-Tien. This is in the same charac- 
 ters which the Emperor Cang-Hi himself wrote, to 
 place on the church of the Jesuit missionaries. 
 
 In their prayers they turn in the direction of the 
 West. Their Li-pai-Se, or their synagogue, is built 
 in the same direction. This, without doubt, is in 
 memory of Jerusalem, which, with reference to them, 
 is in the West. The rich easily excuse themselves 
 from going to the synagogue. It is only necessary 
 to have made a copy of one Taking and to place it in 
 the presses. The consequence is, that, at ordinary 
 services, one does not see more than forty or fifty 
 persons in the Li-pai-S^. A Taking which has been 
 placed in the presses can never again be taken from 
 the synagogue. A Jew had agreed to sell his to 
 Father Domenge, but was surprised while he was 
 bringing it out. They arrested him, and heaped on 
 him great reproaches. 
 
 Such are the facts with which we had become ac- 
 
THE SYNAGOGUE IN CHINA. 35 
 
 qiiainted with regard to the Jews in China, when 
 Father Gaubil, so widely known in Europe for his 
 zeal to transmit to it every thing which could awaken 
 its interest with respect to the learning of Asia, made 
 a voyage to Cai-song-Foii. He was very well received, 
 and profited by this circumstance to obtain further 
 information. It is to him we are indebted for these 
 Chinese inscriptions which are in the synagogue. 
 
 The first was placed there in 1444, by a Jewish 
 scholar, named Kin-Tchong. This is the summary 
 of it as sent to us by Father Gaubil : — 
 
 " The author of the Law of Y-se-lo- Ye, Israel, is 
 Ha-vou-lo-Han, Abraham. This holy man lived a 
 hundred and forty-six years before the commence- 
 ment of Tckeou. His Law was handed down by tra- 
 dition to Nich^, Moses. He received his book on 
 Mount Sinai. He was always in unison with Heaven. 
 The doctrine which is contained there is almost the 
 same as that of the Chinese Kings." ^ The author 
 here draws a parallel between the doctrine of the Chi- 
 nese and that of the Jews. He brings forward many 
 passages to prove, in particular, that the worship which 
 they rendered to Heaven, the ceremonies which they 
 observed, their fasts, their prayers, their manner of 
 honoring the dead, are almost the same. He pretends 
 that we find in the book called Y-King some traces 
 of the sanctification of the Sabbath. He added that 
 Moses lived six hundred and thirty years before the 
 commencement of Tclieoii. He speaks of Gai-sse-La, 
 Esdras, and praises the zeal which induced him to re- 
 
 1 Sacred Books. — Trans. 
 
36 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 Store their books, to instruct and correct the people 
 of Israel. 
 
 Some one has appended to this inscription a de- 
 tailed account of the inundation which destroyed this 
 synagogue in 1462, and has noticed the fact that the 
 Jews of Nimpo and Ning-Hia gave their books to re- 
 place the losses they had suffered. 
 
 Tso-Tang, Grand Mandarin and Grand Treasurer of 
 the province of Se-TeJman, placed the second inscrip- 
 tion in 15 15, the tenth year of the Emperor Tching- 
 TV, named also Vou-Tsoiuig. 
 
 It begins with these words : " The Law of Israel, 
 Ha-Kan, Adam, is the first man. He was of Tieti- 
 Tcho in the West.^ The Jaws have one Law and 
 their traditions. The Law is contained in five books 
 and fifty-three sections." The Mandarin here gives 
 a grand eulogium on the Law. He then adds : " The 
 Jews reverence Heaven as we do. Abraham is the 
 author of their Law : he is their father. Moses pub- 
 lished this Law : he is their legislator. In the time 
 oiHaii, the Jews settled in China, and, in the twenti- 
 eth year of cycle 65,^ they offered to the Emperor 
 Hiao-Tsong 3. tr'ihnte of the workmanship of the In- 
 dies. He received them favorably, and permitted them 
 to remain at Cai-fong-Foii, which was called at that 
 time Pieii-Leang. They formed there seventy fins, 
 or families. They built a synagogue, where they 
 
 1 In the latter part of this article, where the residence of Adam 
 is again mentioned, Tien-Tcho is stated to mean some country to the 
 west of them, probably Syria. — Trans. 
 
 2 This year is 1163 after Christ, and the first of the reign of Hiao- 
 Tsonsc. 
 
THE SYNAGOGUE IN CHINA. 37 
 
 placed their Kings, that is to say, their Sacred 
 Books." 
 
 The mandarin goes on to say that these Kings 
 were not for the Jews of Cai-fong-Fon alone, but they 
 had reference to all men, the rulers and their subjects, 
 the fathers and their children, the old and the young, 
 as each might there learn his duties. 
 
 After this reflection, the mandarin shows that the 
 Law of the Jews is almost the same as that of the 
 Chinese, since the essential points of both are to wor- 
 ship Heaven, to reverence their parents, and to render 
 to the dead the honors which were due them. 
 
 These are the terms used by the mandarin, who 
 adds -a high commendation of the Jews. He affirms 
 that in the different countries, in commerce, in the 
 magistracy, in the armies, they are universally es- 
 teemed for their integrity, their fidelity, and the 
 exactness with which they observe their ceremonies. 
 He ends with saying that this Law passed from Adam 
 to Niiova, Noah, from Noah to Abraham, to Isaac, to 
 Jacob, to the twelve tribes, to Moses, to Aaron, to 
 Joshua, to Esdras, who had been their second legis- 
 lator. 
 
 In the second year of the Emperor Cang-Hi,^ a 
 great mandarin, who was a minister of the empire, 
 placed the third inscription. He there first speaks 
 of Adam, of Noah, of Abraham, and of Moses, He 
 highly praises the virtue of Abraham. He says that 
 he adored the Heaven, without figure, without image, 
 as the author and preserver of all things, being eternal 
 
 1 This second year of Cang-Hi answers to the years 1662 and 1663. 
 
38 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 and without beginning, and that his Law is observed 
 even to the present time. He then goes on to com- 
 pare the times of Abraham and of Moses with those 
 of the Chinese emperors ; but this part is full of errors. 
 
 He adds that Moses received the Law on Mount 
 Sinai ; that he fasted forty days and forty nights ; 
 that his heart was always elevated to God ; that the 
 Law was comprised in fifty-three sections ; and that 
 the whole of it is admirable. He gives a commenda- 
 tion of Esdras, the restorer of this Law. He praises 
 the Jews, and shows the conformity of their doctrine 
 with that of the Tukias, that is to say, the literary 
 scholars of China. He depends upon the authority 
 of the Kings to prove that anciently in China they 
 sanctified the Sabbath. He even goes so far as to 
 pretend that the Hebrew characters are much in ac- 
 cordance with the ancient Chinese characters. He 
 enters into minute detail with regard to the inunda- 
 tion which destroyed the synagogue of Cai-foug-Foii, 
 in 1462, the seventh year of the Emperor Ticn-Tchun, 
 who was formerly called Ing-Thong. The books were 
 very much injured. A Jew, of Ninipo, named Y71, 
 brought an entire Bible, in which he had copied all 
 the Kings. In 1490, the second year of Hong-TcJii, 
 they rebuilt the Li-pai-Se. Yen, Tonla bore the ex- 
 pense of the edifice. 
 
 The mandarin ends by speaking of the three differ- 
 ent sects of China. He repeats that the Law of the 
 Jews is entirely conformed to that of the Tnkias, or 
 the literary scholars, in every thing with respect to the 
 worship of Heaven, the submission and respect of 
 
THE SYNAGOGUE IN CHINA. 39 
 
 children for their fathers, of subjects for their princes, 
 and the honors which, at certain times, we should ren- 
 der to the dead. 
 
 The fourth and last inscription repeats again these 
 praises of Abraham, the nineteenth descendant of 
 Adam ; of Moses, of Esdras, of the Law which pre- 
 scribes the adoration of Heaven, the Creator of all 
 things, without any mingling of false gods on the part 
 of the Jews, who are most faithful observers of this 
 Law. The inundation of 1642 is there described at 
 length. The synagogue was destroyed. A multitude 
 of Jews perished. Twenty-six sections of their books 
 were lost. The rest were saved. Out of these relics 
 they formed, in 1654, one large volume. We find 
 there the names of those who restored these books 
 and who copied them. All were reviewed again by 
 Tc/ia?i-Kiao, th^X is, by the Ruler of the synagogue ; 
 and the inscription certifies that all was exact. It 
 ends with a general description of the new Li-pai-S^., 
 its different detached buildings, its halls, its courts, 
 and its gates. The names of the builders are given, 
 also of those persons who contributed to the expense 
 of the tablet of the Emperor and of the Bethel. We 
 find also there the names of the seven families who 
 resided at Cai-fong-Fou. 
 
 Father Gaubil did not content himself with obtain- 
 ing the exact copies of these monuments, but he made 
 himself intimate with these Jews. He informed him- 
 self of their belief and of their customs. He learned 
 by their conversation what they thought of purgatory, 
 of hell, of the judgment, of paradise, of the resurrec- 
 
40 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 tion of the body, and of the angels. But they had 
 no particular profession of their faith. He explained 
 to them the meaning which we commonly attach to 
 the word yehovah. All applauded him and assured 
 him that they had always recognized in this word the 
 eternity of God, that it signified to be, to have been, 
 and to continue to be. 
 
 He thought that this occasion was favorable to his 
 learning their explanation of the word Siloh, so cele- 
 brated in the prophecy of Jacob. He was the more 
 curious to learn what they thought of this word, be- 
 cause, some time before, there had happened to him a 
 most singular adventure connected with this subject. 
 Being one day at Han-Keoit, an important port of Hon- 
 qtiam, where Father Couteux was residing, he learned 
 that this father had living with him a Chinese, who 
 was a high literary scholar, and who had a remarkable 
 talent for deciphering ancient letters. In the belief 
 which he entertained that the letters of the word 
 SiloJi were anciently hieroglyphics, he asked this 
 Chinese, who had no acquaintance with Hebrew, to 
 give him his views on Siloh, which he wrote, after the 
 manner of the Chinese, the letters one above the 
 other. 1 As soon as the Chinese saw these characters, 
 he said that the first signified very high, the second, 
 Loi'd, the third 07ie, and the fourth ina?i. He added 
 
 1 Hebrew Letters 
 
 Chinese 
 
 Explanation of 
 
 of Siloh. 
 
 Explanation. 
 
 the Jews. 
 
 Schin. 
 
 Very high. 
 
 Grand. 
 
 Jod. 
 
 Lord. 
 
 One. 
 
 Lamed. 
 
 One. 
 
 Descending. 
 
 H^. 
 
 Man. 
 
 Man. 
 
THE SYNAGOGUE IN CHINA. 4 1 
 
 that in China they gave this name to him, whom they 
 called Ching-Ein^ that is, the holy man. The surprise 
 of Father Couteux, and of Father Jacques, who was 
 also present with Father Gaubil, was extreme. The 
 explanation of the Jews was not less remarkable ; for 
 Father Gaubil, having questioned them on this point, 
 at first all were silent. He went on to explain to 
 them what the Fathers and doctors understood by this 
 term. A young Jew, then, with much politeness, asked 
 permission to speak, and said that one of his great 
 uncles, who had now been dead for a long time, had 
 assured him that there was in this word something of 
 the Divinity : that the Sc/nn signified great ; the Jod., 
 one ; the Lamed, descending ; and the H^, man ; that it 
 signified in this very singular way the Divine Saviour, 
 who was to descend from heaven to earth. The young 
 Jew added that he did not know any other meaning. 
 He became much attached to Father Gaubil, followed 
 him, inquired of him his name, his residence, and as- 
 sured him that he would often hear from him. 
 
 But, having gone to the synagogue. Father Gaubil 
 asked to see their books. The Tchajtg-Kiao, or ruler 
 of the synagogue, consented. Besides the books of 
 which I have already spoken, they showed him one 
 which they had hitherto concealed from the mission- 
 aries, and which, by its singularity, arrested the entire 
 attention of the father. It was the remains of the 
 Pentateuch, which seemed to have been much dam- 
 aged by water. It was written on rolls, on paper of 
 a very uncommon kind ; the characters were large, 
 clear, and in their form something between the He- 
 
42 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 brew of the Bible of Antwerp and that which we see 
 in the Hebrew and Chaldaic grammar, printed at 
 Wiirtemberg in 1531. It had nothing below the let- 
 ters, but above them were accents and a peculiar kind 
 of points, "such," said Father Gaubil, "as I have 
 never seen elsewhere." He questioned the TcJiang- 
 Kiao about the manuscript, which seemed to have all 
 the air of antiquity. This is what he learned. 
 
 In the time of the Emperor Van-Lie., the synagogue 
 was burnt, and all their books were destroyed for 
 the second time. But some Jews of Si-yii having 
 arrived under these circumstances, they obtained of 
 them a Bible with the other books. The Pentateuch 
 is the only one of these books which they have pre- 
 served in the original. Of the others, which were 
 destroyed by the lapse of time, they have only copies. 
 Father Gaubil offered a large sum for this Pentateuch, 
 but it was refused. He agreed, nevertheless, on the 
 price for a copy, which they promised him. 
 
 He then asked the Jews who were present to 
 explain to him some passages in their books. They 
 excused themselves on the plea that it had been a 
 long time since any of their masters had come to them 
 from the West, and that they had lost their Ton-king- 
 Puen} and that except the Pentateuch, of which 
 they understood a little, they were not able to explain 
 the other books of Scripture, nor their commentators, 
 nor what remained to them of the Mischna. 
 
 In their turn they asked Father Gaubil to explain 
 
 1 In a previous part of the letter this is explained to be their 
 Grammar, or book to explain the Scriptures. — Trans. 
 
THE SYNAGOGUE IN CHINA. 43 
 
 some passage. He selected the prophecy of Jacob, 
 the Ten Commandments of God, and the command 
 to know but one God. He wished to explain to them 
 the passage of Isaiah on the advent of the Messiah ; 
 but he found the place torn off in the book which they 
 had given him. He informed them of its history, and 
 they seemed well contented with what he told them. 
 
 Then one of the Jews took the book, and explained 
 the verse, — Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is God 
 alone. He explained also the command of circum- 
 cision ; but the pronunciation of these Jews is so sin- 
 gular that the father would not have been able to 
 recognize what this Jew read in the Hebrew, unless 
 he had the book before his eyes. 
 
 One can readily conceive that these Jews, having 
 for so long a time lost all intercourse with the West- 
 ern Jews, and having been born in China, where one 
 is not able to catch many of our sounds, where they 
 even have not the letters B, D, E, and R, would be 
 obliged to pronounce P for B, T for D, ik for E, and 
 L for R. They also give a nasal sound to many syl- 
 lables, especially the hu. Thus, in place of pronounc- 
 ing, as we do, tohu ra boJm, they pronounce theohiim 
 ro pcohuni. They say thoulaha or thaulatfe for thora, 
 pielechitsee for beseschith, schemesse for scheinotJi, pie- 
 mitspaiil for bmidar, and teveliiin for debarim. 
 
 Father Gaubil, having satisfied himself on the points 
 with regard to which he had come to inquire, and 
 entirely content with the reception he had met with, 
 departed from Cai-fong-Foii to return to Pekin, with 
 the hope of shortly receiving a copy of the curious 
 
44 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 Pentateuch which he had seen, and already planning 
 a second voyage, when he would be able to accomplish 
 what he had begun so happily. But the religious 
 revolution which took place destroyed our residence 
 at Cai-fong-Fou, and broke up the intercourse which 
 we had with those Jews. 
 
 After having thus with care brought together the 
 different subjects which I have found scattered through 
 many manuscript letters of the missionaries, it only 
 remains for me to make some reflections on different 
 points which have appeared to me to merit some dis- 
 cussion. I have reserved these for the end of this 
 Memoir, so that the detail of these discoveries might 
 be better followed, and that my ideas, or my conject- 
 ures, might not be found to have been substituted for 
 the researches. 
 
 According to these monuments, Adam was created 
 in Tien-tcJ,.o. The Chinese give this name to five 
 different countries. The two most celebrated are 
 that part of India which is towards the kingdom of 
 Bengal, where Fo was born ; and Syria, with the king- 
 dom of Medina. It is, without doubt, of Syria that 
 we must understand these inscriptions. Anciently 
 they called this country Tien-tajtg, that is, the country 
 of Heaven. They have named it again at the present 
 day Tien-fang. 
 
 The Jews know nothing of Caenan, of whom Saint 
 Luke and the Septuagint have spoken, since they say 
 that Abraham was the nineteenth descendant from 
 Adam. 
 
 We find more difficulty in the epoch of the times of 
 
THE SYNAGOGUE IN CHINA. 45 
 
 Abraham, which they make to correspond with the 
 hundred and forty-sixth year of Tcheou. This dynasty 
 did not begin until the year 1122 before Christ, and 
 the death of Abraham was more than eighteen centu- 
 ries before the Christian era. I have found in a work 
 of Father Gaubil, on the Chinese chronology, a solu- 
 tion of this difficulty, which is very plausible. He 
 remarks that before the dynasty of Tcheoit ascended 
 the throne of China it had occupied one kingdom 
 there ; that Heoutsi, chief of this family, and his suc- 
 cessors, are spoken of in history by the title of kings. 
 But the times of Heoutsi went back even to those of 
 lao, who commenced to reign at least 1226 years 
 before Jesus Christ. The times of Abraham, then, 
 can coincide with the one hundred and forty-sixth 
 year of the family of Tcheou, the chief of which was 
 Heoutsi. 
 
 This solution equally explains what relates to the 
 times of Moses, which these monuments carry back to 
 the year 613 of Tc/ieou. There does not remain any 
 difficulty but with regard to the four hundred and 
 sixty-seven years which these inscriptions suppose to 
 have been between Abraham and Moses ; for between 
 the births of Abraham and of Moses there were but 
 four hundred and twenty-five years. This leaves forty- 
 two years. I could with equal willingness receive the 
 conjecture that this is the time that Moses remained 
 in the house of Pharaoh, while he informed himself in 
 all the sciences of the Egyptians. But these Jews of 
 China have followed some traditions, or some proba- 
 bilities, which marked the time when this great man 
 
46 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 began to show his zeal for the dehverance of his 
 people. 
 
 As to the antiquity of the Taking, which these 
 Jews told Father Domenge they had possessed for 
 three thousand years, it is evident that they did not 
 refer to a particular manuscript, which had an an- 
 tiquity of three thousand years, but to the Law which 
 had been given by Moses three thousand years before. 
 And, in fact, since the publication of the Law on 
 Mount Sinai, to the time when they conversed with 
 Father Domenge, there had elapsed, according to the 
 usual calculation of the Jews in Europe, three thou- 
 sand years. It is this which proves to us that the 
 chronology of the Jews of China is the same with 
 that of the Jews of Europe. 
 
 We come now to the period when these Jews 
 entered China. They always stated to all our mis- 
 sionaries that they made their entry there under the 
 family of Han, and their monuments say the same. 
 The dynasty of Han commenced in the year 206 
 before Jesus Christ. It is, then, during this period 
 that the Jews penetrated into China. They might 
 have gone there before the ruin of their country ; but 
 it is much more natural to believe that it was not till 
 after the frightful destruction of Jerusalem, when, 
 dispersed into all parts, those of Corassan and of the 
 Transoxan^ spread into China. This conjecture ap- 
 proaches even to a certainty, when I recall the fact 
 that many of these Jews have assured me that they 
 arrived under the reign of Uling-Ti. This prince 
 ascended the throne in the year 56 after Jesus Christ, 
 
THE SYNAGOGUE IN CHINA. 4/ 
 
 and did not die until the year J^. These dates could 
 not better agree with the destruction of Jerusalem, 
 which took place in the year 70. 
 
 The settlement of Cai-fong-Fou is much less an- 
 cient. We have the date of this in the second in- 
 scription, that it was in the twentieth year of the 
 Cycle 65, when they offered their tribute of the 
 workmanship of India to the Emperor Hia-Tsong. 
 All these characters agree with the year 1163 after 
 Jesus Christ, and the first of the reign of Hia-Tsong. 
 Hoa-Tso7ig had resigned the government to him in 
 the end of the preceding year. He could not have 
 selected a prince more active, more capable to resist 
 the formidable armies of the Tartars, and to push for- 
 ward the conquests which the Chinese had begun to 
 make to the east of Cai-fong-Fou. The misfortunes 
 of this synagogue are marked in their inscriptions. 
 In 146:? it was destroyed by the waters of the 
 Hoang-Jio, or Yellow River, — a river celebrated for 
 its ravages, and which commands this city. Almost 
 all their books were destroyed, and those which 
 remained were very much damaged by the water. 
 In 1642 the city was besieged by the Chinese them- 
 selves, who had revolted against their legitimate 
 prince ; but it made so brave a resistance that the 
 cruel Li-tsee-tching was twice obliged to raise the 
 siege. He returned a third time to blockade it, 
 and to force it to surrender through famine. The 
 governor, finding himself without resources, broke 
 down the banks of the river, and forced the enemy 
 to retire, burying himself under the waters. The 
 
48 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 synagogue again perished, and it destroyed many 
 books. 
 
 Between these two inundations it had been re- 
 duced to ashes in the end of the sixteenth century, 
 during the reign of the Emperor Van-Lie, who as- 
 cended the throne in 1572. The books perished for 
 the second time in this disaster. 
 
 Notwithstanding so great calamities, we are able 
 to obtain from these Jews valuable light on the sub- 
 ject of their customs and books. The accordance of 
 their Pentateuch with ours gives new force to the 
 proof in favor of our religion, which we have been 
 able to draw, even to the present time, with so much 
 advantage. The missionaries would place the crown 
 on the obligations under which they have laid us, if 
 they should be able to procure for Europe one of the 
 Takings of the Bethel, or at least a book exactly col- 
 lated with the most ancient of their manuscripts. 
 The Pentateuch which Father Gaubil has seen, in the 
 last place, requires a new and very thorough examina- 
 tion. One of the Takings, placed in the presses, 
 would also be a great acquisition, although much less 
 curious than those of the Bethel. The books of the 
 Maccabees would be very useful, and have a hearty 
 reception. Even the fragments of our own canonical 
 books are precious, for we cannot have too many of 
 them. It would be very proper to make some new 
 efforts for the books of which Father Domenge speaks, 
 and which they read at the beginning and in the mid- 
 dle of the great and the small months. On this point 
 we are not able to procure any information from the 
 
THE SYNAGOGUE IN CHINA. 49 
 
 Jews of Europe, who have not these customs. It is 
 necessary, then, to turn to those of China ; and we 
 should use the greatest dihgence, as it is too much 
 to be feared that this synagogue, now so feeble, may 
 end by uniting, as others have done, with the Ma- 
 hometan faith, or at least sink into an ignorance so 
 great as to place it beyond our power to instruct 
 them. 
 
50 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 / 
 
 11. 
 
 MISSIONS IN LOWER CALIFORNIA. 
 
 1702. 
 
 [The following letter contains an account of the only footing 
 which the Jesuits obtained on the Pacific coast, north of Mexico. 
 It was among the wild tribes of Lower California. We fre- 
 quently hear references to "the Jesuit Missions in California," 
 but this is incorrect. At an early day California proper was 
 taken possession of by the Franciscans, who obtained grants for 
 nineteen missions, stretching the whole length of the country. 
 These grants were sometimes eleven leagues in extent ; and it 
 is from these missionaries that San Francisco received the name 
 of their patron saint. The Jesuits did not enter California until 
 the annexation of the country by the Americans. 
 
 With this letter is published a map of the Peninsula of Lower 
 California, and part of Mexico on the opposite side of the Gulf, 
 executed in 1702. It is surprising how accurately it is drawn ; 
 and we read on it names which are even now familiar to us, — 
 Sonora, Rio Colorado, Yumas, Apaches, Moqui, Tucsani, Guai- 
 mas, &c.] 
 
 Memoir, with regard to the condition of the Missions lately 
 established in California, by the Fathers of the Society of 
 jfesus ; presented to the Royal Council of Guadalaxara, in 
 Mexico, the tenth day of February, in the year 1702, by 
 Father Francois Marie Picolo, of the same Society, and one 
 of the origi?ial founders of this Mission. 
 
 Reverend Fathers, — It is in obedience to the 
 orders which you did me the honor to give, some days 
 since, that I undertake to render an exact and faithful 
 
MISSIONS IN LOWER CALIFORNIA. 5 1 
 
 account of the discoveries we have made and the 
 establishments we have formed, — the Father Jean- 
 Marie de Salvatierra and myself, — in California, dur- 
 ing the five years that we have been in that vast 
 country. 
 
 It was in the month of October of the year 1697 
 that we embarked, and crossed the sea which separates 
 California from New Mexico, under the auspices and 
 protection of our Lady of Loretto, whose image we 
 carried with us. This "Star of the Sea" conducted 
 us safely to the port, with all the people who accom- 
 panied us. As soon as we had placed our feet on 
 land, we set up the image of the Holy Virgin in the 
 most appropriate place we could find ; and, after hav- 
 ing adorned it as much as our poverty allowed, we 
 offered our prayers to this powerful advocate, to be as 
 favorable to us on the land as she had been upon 
 the sea. 
 
 But the devil, whom our coming disturbed in the 
 peaceful possession he had enjoyed for so many ages, 
 made every effort to defeat our enterprise and prevent 
 our success. The people among whom we had landed 
 were not acquainted with our language ; and, having 
 no one among us who could understand theirs, we 
 could not inform them of our object, to relieve them 
 from the deep darkness of idolatry in which they were 
 involved, and to labor for their eternal salvation. They 
 imagined, therefore, that we had come into their coun- 
 try to trespass on their pearl-fisheries, as others had 
 attempted, more than once, in times past. With this 
 idea, they took up arms, and gathered in crowds about 
 
52 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 our habitation, where we had then but a very small 
 number of Spaniards. They attacked us with so much 
 violence, and the multitude of arrows and stones they 
 discharged were so great, that we should certainly have 
 suffered, had not the Holy Virgin, who was to us in 
 the place of an army arrayed for battle, protected us. 
 The people who were with us, aided by this succor 
 from on high, firmly received the attack, and repulsed 
 the enemy with so much success that in a short time 
 they took to flight. 
 
 The Indians, having been rendered more tractable 
 by their defeat, and seeing, besides, that they could 
 gain nothing by force, sent some of their number to 
 confer with us. We received them in a friendly way ; 
 and, in a short time, acquired sufficient knowledge of 
 their language to make them comprehend our object 
 in coming to their country. These deputies disabused 
 their countrymen of the error under which they had 
 labored ; so that, persuaded of our good intentions, 
 they came back to seek us in great numbers, and all 
 showed their joy on learning our strong desire to 
 instruct them in our holy religion, and to show them 
 the way to heaven. This happy disposition animated 
 us to learn thoroughly the Monqui language, which 
 they speak in this country. 
 
 The next two years were spent partly in study and 
 partly in catechising the people. Father de Salva- 
 tierra charged himself with the instruction of the 
 adults, and I of the children. The diligence of the 
 young people in coming to hear us speak of God, and 
 their application in learning the Christian doctrine, 
 
MISSIONS IN LOWER CALIFORNIA. 53 
 
 were so great that in a short time we found them per- 
 fectly instructed. Very many begged of me to ad- 
 minister to them holy baptism, and with so many 
 tears and such earnest entreaties that I was not able 
 to refuse them. Some sick persons and some old 
 people, who we thought were sufficiently instructed, 
 also received that rite, in the fear that, if delayed, they 
 might die unbaptized. And we had reason to believe, 
 with regard to many of them, that Providence had 
 prolonged their days to preserve them for this moment 
 of salvation. There were also about fifty infants at 
 the breast, who, from the arms of their mothers, 
 winged their flight to heaven, after having been re- 
 generated in Jesus Christ. 
 
 After having thus labored for the instruction of 
 these people, we earnestly desired to discover others 
 to whom we could render ourselves equally useful. 
 To gather in a greater harvest. Father de Salvatierra 
 and I were willing to separate, and thus deprive our- 
 selves of the satisfaction we had enjoyed of living and 
 laboring together. He therefore took the route to 
 the north, and I that through the middle and west. 
 We both received great consolation from following 
 this Apostolic example ; for, as we were well ac- 
 quainted with the language, and the Indians placed 
 entire confidence in us, they themselves invited us 
 to enter their villages, and it gave them pleasure to 
 receive us there, and to bring their children to us. 
 After instructing those with whom we first met, we 
 went on in search of others, to whom in succession 
 we unfolded the mysteries of our faith. It was in this 
 
54 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 way that Father de Salvatierra discovered all the set- 
 tlements which now compose the Mission of Loretto- 
 Concho, and that of Saint Jean de Londo ; while I 
 became acquainted with all the country which at pres- 
 ent is called the Mission of Saint Francois Xavier de 
 Biaundo, extending to the sea at the south. 
 
 In thus going forward, each on his own side, we 
 found that many tribes of different languages were 
 mingled together, some speaking the Monqui tongue, 
 which we knew, and others the Laymone language, 
 which we had not yet acquired. This rendered it 
 necessary for us to learn the Laymone, which is much 
 more widely extended than the Monqui, and which 
 prepared us for travelling through all this great coun- 
 try. We therefore applied ourselves so sedulously to 
 the study of this second language that we acquired it 
 in a short time, and then commenced preaching with 
 the same readiness, sometimes in the Laymone and 
 sometimes in the Monqui. God has blessed our la- 
 bors ; for we have already baptized more than a 
 thousand children, all well disposed, and so eager to 
 receive this grace that we were not able to resist their 
 earnest prayers. More than three thousand adults, 
 equally well instructed, desired and implored the same 
 blessing ; but we deemed it proper to postpone it, to 
 give time to prove our converts, and strengthen them 
 more in this holy resolution. For, as these people 
 have lived for a long time in idolatry, and in entire 
 subjection to their false priests, and as, besides, they 
 are naturally of a light and fickle disposition, we 
 feared, if they were precipitate, they might afterward 
 
MISSIONS IN LOWER CALIFORNIA. 55 
 
 fall away, or that, having become Christians without 
 fulfilling their duties, they might expose our holy faith 
 to the contempt of the idolaters. For this reason they 
 are content to be numbered with the catechumens. 
 On Saturday and Sunday of each week they come to 
 the church, and unite with the children, already bap- 
 tized, in the instructions which they receive there ; 
 and we have the satisfaction of seeing a large number 
 who persevere with fidelity in the resolution they 
 have made of becoming true disciples of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 Since our second discoveries, we have divided all 
 this country into four missions. The first is that of 
 Concho, or of our Lady of Loretto ; the second is 
 that of Biaundo, or of Saint Fran9ois Xavier ; the 
 third, that of Yodivinegge, or of our Lady of Sor- 
 rows ; and the fourth, which is not yet as well estab- 
 lished and founded as the other three, is that of Saint 
 Jean de Londo. Each mission comprises many set- 
 tlements. 
 
 We have built a chapel for the second mission ; but, 
 as it has already been found to be too small, we have 
 begun to erect a large church, the walls of which will 
 be of brick and the roof of wood. The garden which 
 belongs to the residence of the missionary furnishes 
 already all kinds of herbs and vegetables ; while the 
 Mexican trees we have planted are succeeding so well 
 that in a short time they will be loaded with excellent 
 fruits. The Bachelor Dom Juan Cavallero Scio, com- 
 missary of the Inquisition, and of this missionary 
 crusade, of whom one scarcely knows which to praise 
 
56 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 most, his zeal or piety, has founded these first two 
 missions, and has been the principal promoter of all 
 this great enterprise. 
 
 As it respects the Mission of our Lady of Sorrows, 
 it only comprises Unubb^, which is on the northern 
 side, Niumqui, or Saint Joseph, and Yodivinegg^, or 
 our Lady of Sorrows, which gives the name to the 
 whole mission. Niumqui and Yodivinegge are two 
 very populous settlements, quite near each other. The 
 Brethren of the Congregation of Saint Peter and Saint 
 Paul of our Society, formed in the city of Mexico, under 
 the title of the " Sorrows of the Holy Virgin," and 
 composed of the principal nobility of that great city, 
 have founded this mission, and shown, on all occasions, 
 a great ardor for the promotion of the faith, and for 
 the conversion of these poor heathen. 
 
 To conclude, the Mission of Saint Jean de Londo 
 contains five or six villages. The principal are Tcup- 
 non, or Saint Bruno, within three leagues of the coast 
 at the east ; Anchu, at an equal distance from the 
 coast at the north ; Tamouqui, which is at four leagues, 
 and Diutro, at six leagues distance, looking toward the 
 west. Father de Salvatierra, who burns with an ardent 
 zeal to extend the kingdom of God, cultivates these 
 two last missions with indefatigable care. I have left 
 with him Father Jean d'Ugarte, who, after having 
 rendered essential services to the missions in Mexico, 
 wished at length to devote himself in person, for one 
 year, to this work. He has made in a short time such 
 great progress that, besides being able to preach per- 
 fectly in the two languages I have mentioned, he has 
 
MISSIONS IN LOWER CALIFORNIA. 57 
 
 discovered on the southern side two villages, — Trip- 
 piie and Loppu, — where he has baptized twenty-three 
 children, and has applied himself without intermission 
 to the instruction of the others and of the adults. 
 
 Having thus given an account, Reverend Fathers, 
 of the state of religion in this new colony, I will now 
 endeavor to answer, as far as I am able, the other 
 points on which you did me the honor to inquire. I 
 will tell you, first, what we have been able to remark 
 of the customs and disposition of these people, and 
 the productions of the country. California is very 
 correctly placed on our ordinary maps. During the 
 summer the heat is great along the coast, and it rarely 
 rains ; but in the interior the climate is more mild, 
 and the heat never excessive. There is the same rela- 
 tive difference in winter. In the rainy season there 
 is a deluge of water ; but when it is over, in place of 
 the rain, the dew is found so abundantly every morn- 
 ing that one would suppose it had rained, and this 
 renders the earth very fertile. In the months of April, 
 May, and June, a kind of manna falls with the dew, 
 which congeals and hardens on the leaves of the reeds, 
 from which it is gathered. I have tasted it. It is a 
 little darker than sugar, but has all its sweetness. 
 
 The climate is healthy, if we can judge by our own 
 experience and that of those who were with us. For, 
 during the five years we passed in that country, we 
 were always well, notwithstanding the great fatigues 
 we endured ; and among the other Spaniards there 
 occurred the deaths of but two persons, one of whom 
 brought her illness on herself. It was the case of a 
 3* 
 
58 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 female, who had the imprudence to bathe when on the 
 eve of her confinement. 
 
 There are in California, as in all the fairest coun- 
 tries of the world, wide plains, beautiful valleys, and 
 grounds affording at all times excellent pasture for 
 great and small cattle. Springs, of living waters abound, 
 while the banks of the streams and rivers are covered 
 with willows, reeds, and wild vines The rivers are 
 full of fish, and there are found also plenty of crabs, 
 which are transported to a kind of reservoir, where 
 they are kept till needed. I have seen three of these 
 reservoirs, very fine and large. They have also plenty 
 of xicanies, which are of better flavor than those which 
 they eat through all Mexico. We can say, therefore, 
 that California is a very fertile country. They find in 
 the mountains the mcscalcs ^ during the whole year, 
 and at almost all seasons Izxge. pistachio nuts of differ- 
 ent kinds, and figs of various colors. The trees are 
 very beautiful, and among others those which the 
 Chinos, who are natives of the country, C2i\\ palo santo. 
 It bears abundance of fruit, from which we procure 
 excellent frankincense. 
 
 If the country is abounding in fruits, it is equally 
 so in grains. There are four kinds which are used by 
 the people for food. They use, also, the roots of trees 
 and of plants, and among others that of the y7ica, out 
 of which they make a kind of bread. They have also 
 excellent cJievis^ which is much used for food, and 
 
 1 This is a fruit indigenous to the country. 
 
 - The chcvis is a soup-herb, the root of which is like a turnip, of aa 
 excellent flavor, sweet, pleasant, and good for food. 
 
MISSIONS IN LOWER CALIFORNIA. 59 
 
 pumpkins and watermelons of an extraordinary size. 
 The country is so fertile that it is not uncommon for 
 many plants to bear fruit three times a year. This, 
 with the labor they bestow on the cultivation of the 
 earth, and some little skill they have in irrigation, ren- 
 ders all the land extremely productive, and every kind 
 of fruit and grain can be cultivated there in great 
 abundance. We have ourselves proved this ; for, hav- 
 ing bought from New Spain wheat, maize, pease, and 
 lentils, we have sown them, and raised an abundant 
 harvest, although we had not proper instruments for 
 turning up the earth, and had only the assistance in 
 our labors of an old mule and a miserable plow. 
 
 Besides many species of animals with which we 
 are acquainted, which are good for food, and are found 
 there in great numbers, — such. as stags, hares, rab- 
 bits, and others, — there are two species of fallow- 
 deer, with which we had never previously met. Wc 
 have called them sheep, because they are somewhat 
 of the same shape as our sheep. The first species is 
 of the size of a calf of one or two years of age, the 
 head more resembling that of a stag, while the horns, 
 which are exceedingly large, are like those of a ram. 
 It has a tail ; and the hair, which is spotted, is shorter 
 than that of the stag ; while the hoof is large, round, 
 and cloven, like that of the ox. I have eaten of these 
 animals, and found their flesh good and very delicate. 
 
 The other kind of sheep, some of which are white 
 and some black, differ less from ours. They are larger, 
 and have more wool ; it is easily spun, and can be used 
 in work. The other animals, besides those which are 
 
60 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 good for food, are lions, wildcats, and many others like 
 the different varieties which are found in New Spain. 
 We have carried into California some cows, and a 
 quantity of smaller cattle, as sheep and goats, which 
 would have multiplied very much, had not the extreme 
 want to which we were reduced at different times 
 obliged us to kill many of them. We have also taken 
 there some horses and young mares to stock the 
 country. We had commenced raising hogs ; but as 
 these animals are very destructive in the villages, and 
 the women of the country are afraid of them, we have 
 resolved to exterminate them. 
 
 As to birds, all those of Mexico, and almost all 
 those of Spain, are found in California. There are 
 pigeons, turtle-doves, larks, partridges of an excellent 
 flavor and in great numbers, geese, ducks, and many 
 other kinds of river and sea birds. 
 
 The sea is filled with fish, which are of a fine flavor. 
 They fish for sardines, anchovies, and tunny-fish, which 
 can be taken by the hand on the borders of the sea. 
 Whales are often seen there, and different kinds of 
 turtles. Quantities of shell-fish abound in the rivers, 
 much larger than those which contain the mother-of- 
 pearl. 
 
 They are not dependent on the sea for salt ; for 
 there are salt-springs, the salt of which is white and 
 clear as crystal, but at the same time so hard that it 
 is found necessary to break it with heavy blows of a 
 hammer. It would have a ready sale in New Spain, 
 where salt is so scarce. 
 
 During nearly two centuries that California has 
 
MISSIONS IN LOWER CALIFORNIA. 6 1 
 
 been known, the coast has been celebrated for its 
 pearl-fisheries, which have rendered it an object of the 
 most earnest desire to Europeans, who have often 
 made enterprises to establish themselves there. It is 
 certain that, if the king would defray the expenses of 
 this fishery, he would receive in return great wealth. 
 Neither have I more doubt that mines could be found 
 in many places, if they were sought for, since this 
 country is under the same climate as Cinaloa and 
 Sonora, which abound in this kind of riches. 
 
 Although Heaven has been so liberal to the inhabi- 
 tants of California, and the earth produces spontane- 
 ously all that in other places can only be gained by 
 great toil and labor, there is yet no instance of their 
 accumulating the wealth of the country. Content to 
 obtain what is necessary for the support of life, they 
 give themselves little care for any thing beyond it. 
 The country is thickl)'- inhabited in the interior and 
 along the northern coast ; and, although there are 
 scarcely any settlements but contain twenty, thirty, 
 forty, or fifty families, yet they have no dwellings. 
 The shade of the trees defends them from the heat of 
 the sun during the day, and they construct from the 
 branches and foliage a kind of roof to protect them 
 from unpleasant weather in the night. During the 
 winter they shut themselves up in caves, which are 
 hollowed out in the ground ; and there they remain, 
 many together, differing but little from the beasts. 
 The men are entirely naked, at least those whom we 
 have seen. They bind around their heads a band of 
 very delicate workmanship, or a kind of network ; and 
 
62 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 they carry around their necks, and sometimes in their 
 hands, for ornament, different figures of mother-of- 
 pearl, equally well executed, and with much taste 
 mingled with small berries, somewhat as we do the 
 beads of a rosary. Their arms are the bow and ar- 
 rows and the spear ; but these they always carry in 
 their hands, sometimes for the chase and sometimes 
 for defence against their enemies ; for the inhabitants 
 of the different villages are almost always at war with 
 each other. 
 
 The women are clothed a little more modestly, 
 wearing, from the waist to the knees, a kind of apron 
 woven of reeds, like a very fine mat. They cover 
 their shoulders with the skins of beasts, and have 
 upon their heads, like the men, a very delicate net- 
 work. These nets are so convenient that our soldiers 
 use them to fasten their hair. They have also, like 
 the men, collars of mother-of-pearl, mingled with the 
 stones of fruits and shells, hanging as low as their 
 belts, and bracelets of the same materials as the 
 collars. 
 
 The usual employment of both men and women is 
 spinning. The thread is formed from fibrous herbs, 
 which supply to them the place of linen or hemp ; or 
 from stringy substances, which they find in the rind 
 of certain fruits. Of the fine thread they make the 
 ornaments we have already mentioned, and of the 
 coarse kind they manufacture bags for different pur- 
 poses, and nets for fishing. Besides this, the men, 
 with different kinds of herbs, the fibres of which are 
 very close, and which they have great skill in using, 
 
Af/SS/O.VS IN LOWER CALIFORNIA. 63 
 
 make a kind of dish and kitchen utensils, very novel, 
 and of all sizes. The smallest pieces serve for cups, 
 the medium size for plates and dishes, and sometimes 
 for parasols, with which the women cover their heads ; 
 the largest are used as baskets to gather their fruits, 
 and sometimes as pots and basins in which to cook 
 them. But they take the precaution, while these ves- 
 sels are over the fire, to keep them constantly moving, 
 for fear the flames should touch them, in which case 
 they would be immediately burned. 
 
 The Californians are full of vivacity, and have a 
 natural talent for raillery. Of the latter they gave us 
 proofs when we commenced instructing them ; for, as 
 soon as we made any mistake in their language, they 
 began at once to banter and mock us. After they 
 had held more communication with us, they contented 
 themselves with honestly pointing out the errors which 
 had escaped us. And as to the meaning of a doctrine, 
 when the time came for us to explain the mysteries of 
 our faith, or certain points of morality which were at 
 variance with their prejudices or ancient errors, they 
 waited for the preacher after the sermon, and disputed 
 with him with both power and wit. If he advanced for- 
 cible arguments, they listened with docility ; and, if he 
 was able to convince them, they submitted, and followed 
 the instructions prescribed them. We have not found 
 among them any form of government, and scarcely 
 any of religion or of religious worship. They offer 
 prayers to the moon ; and cut off their hair, which 
 they give to their priests, who use it in different rites 
 of superstition. Each family makes its own laws, 
 
64 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 according to its taste ; and it is this, apparently, 
 which causes them so often to be engaged in con- 
 flicts with each other. 
 
 Finally, I will satisfy you on the last point which 
 you did me the honor to propose to me, and which 
 seems to me the most important of all. It is with 
 regard to the best way of extending and strengthen- 
 ing, more and more, the true faith in California, and 
 maintaining with these people a commerce, permanent 
 and useful, for the glory and interest of the nation. 
 On these points I will speak as I think, and as the 
 information I have been able to gain of the country 
 and the genius of its people leads me to believe. 
 
 First, it will be absolutely necessary to make two 
 shipments every year. The largest will be for New 
 Spain, with which a commerce can be maintained very 
 profitable to the two nations ; the other will be for the 
 provinces of Cinaloa and Sonora, and by this means 
 we shall be able to bring in new missionaries, and to 
 furnish each year what is necessary for the support of 
 those who are already there. The vessels used for 
 these shipments can easily, between their voyages, be 
 sent to the northern coast for new discoveries ; and 
 the expense will be less if we employ the same officers 
 and sailors whom we have hitherto used here ; be- 
 cause, living according to the customs of the country, 
 their provisions cost them almost nothing, and, being 
 well acquainted with the seas and coasts of California, 
 they can navigate them with more speed and security. 
 
 Another important point is with regard to the 
 defence and support of so many native-born Spaniards 
 
MISSIONS IN LOWER CALIFORNIA. 6$ 
 
 who are now here, and of the missionaries who will 
 come out with us and after us. As to the missionaries, 
 since my arrival I have learned, with much gratitude 
 and consolation, that our King Philip V. (whom may- 
 God preserve for many years) has already provided for 
 them by his liberality, so truly pious and royal, having 
 assigned to this mission a stipend of six thousand 
 crowns a year, in consequence of what he had learned 
 of the progress of the faith in this new colony. With 
 this we can support a large number of laborers, who 
 will undoubtedly come to our aid. 
 
 For the security of the Spaniards who are there, 
 the fort we have already built will serve in case of 
 need. It is situated in the quarter of St. Denis, in the 
 place called Concho by the Indians, but to which we 
 had given the name of our Lady of Loretto, and estab- 
 lished there our first mission. It has four small bas- 
 tions, and is surrounded by a good moat. We have 
 made a parade-ground, and built barracks for the ac- 
 commodation of the soldiers. The chapel of the Holy 
 Virgin and the residence of the missionaries are near 
 the fort. The walls of these buildings are of brick, 
 and the roofs of wood. I left in the fort eighteen sol- 
 diers, with their officers, two of whom are married and 
 have families, which will keep them more easily in this 
 country. They had with them for servants eight 
 Chinos Indians and negroes, and twelve sailors for 
 the two little vessels, " Saint Xavier " and " Rosary," 
 without counting twelve other sailors whom I have 
 taken with me in the " Saint Joseph." We have been 
 obhged to send back some soldiers, because, at first, 
 
66 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 we had not enough to feed and support them ; and 
 yet you see that this garrison is not sufficiently strong 
 to defend our countrymen for any length of time, should 
 the Indians determine to make a disturbance. It is 
 necessary, then, to establish there a post, like that at 
 New Biscay, and to place in one spot a force which 
 shall have strength enough to act efficiently when 
 necessary. This alone, without any violence, will be 
 sufficient to keep the country quiet, as it hitherto has 
 been, — thanks be to God ! — notwithstanding any 
 mistakes we may have made. 
 
 The other matters might appear less important, but 
 they are not really so, when examined more closely. 
 
 First, it would be proper to bestow some recom- 
 pense on the soldiers who first came out to the colony. 
 The good success with which we have hitherto met is 
 owing in part to their courage ; and the hope of a 
 similar distinction will influence others, and incite 
 them to imitate the valor and wisdom of these pio- 
 neers. 
 
 Secondly, it is necessary so to arrange matters that 
 some families of gentlemen and officers should come' 
 out to establish themselves here, to be able, by them- 
 selves and their children, to fill the different offices as 
 soon as they become vacant. 
 
 Thirdly, it is of the last importance that the mis- 
 sionaries, and those who command in California, 
 should always live in the most entire union. This 
 has been the case to the present time, through the 
 wise conduct and the judicious use which the Count 
 de Montezuma, Viceroy of New Spain, has made of 
 
MISSIONS IN LOWER CALIFORNIA. 6y 
 
 the intelligence he received from us. But, as the mis- 
 sionaries are entirely occupied with the work of their 
 ministry, it is necessary that they should be freed 
 from the care of the troops, and that the royal treas- 
 ury of Guadalaxara should furnish them with all that 
 is necessary. It is much to be wished that the king 
 himself should appoint some person of authority and 
 credit, with the title of intendant or commissary-gen- 
 eral, who would be willing, from his zeal and for the 
 single object of contributing to the conversion of this 
 country, to take upon himself the payment to each one 
 of what shall be assigned him by the court, and to 
 attend to the interests of the colonies. In this way 
 all may be able to apply themselves without distrac- 
 tion to their own peculiar duties ; and ambition and 
 interest will not, as often has happened, in a single 
 moment ruin a work which has been established at so 
 great an expense of time and labor and danger. 
 
 You have thus. Reverend Fathers, as it seems to 
 me, every point on which you wished me to write you. 
 It rests with your wisdom and judgment to decide 
 how much it is well to make known to the king our 
 master. It will be doubtless a great comfort to him 
 to learn that, on his coming to the crown, God had 
 opened to him so noble a career for his zeal. I had 
 come here seeking the aid without which it will be 
 impossible to preserve what we have already accom- 
 plished, or to advance much further this work of God. 
 But the liberality of the prince has anticipated and far 
 surpassed our demands. May the Lord protect his 
 kingdom, so that it shall be the kingdom of God ; and 
 
68 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 may he bestow on you, Reverend Fathers, a blessing 
 equal to your zeal to promote the establishment of the 
 faith in this vast country, which to the present time 
 seems to have been entirely neglected. 
 
 At GuADALAXARA, //^^ \oth day of February, in the year 1702. 
 
CAPE HORN IN 1704. 69 
 
 III. 
 
 CAPE HORN IN 1704. 
 
 [In the year 1703, a company of the Jesuit Fathers left France, 
 to double Cape Horn on their way to China to join the mission 
 in that country. After passing the cape, they sailed along the 
 western coast of South America, until they reached Lima. Here 
 the Father writes his letter to the authorities of his Order at home. 
 It is accompanied by a map of the southern extremity of South 
 America. We have translated it, because so many of our own 
 countrymen have made the same voyage that it may interest 
 them to read an account of the manner in which it was done one 
 hundred and seventy years ago.] 
 
 Letter of Father Nyel, Missionary of the Society of 
 Jesus, to the Revereiid Father de la Chaise, of the same 
 Society, Confessor of the King. 
 
 At Lima, the capital city of Perti, the 20th day of May, 1705. 
 
 My Most Reverend Father, — The protection 
 with which you have honored all the missionaries of 
 our society, and the zeal with which you have aided 
 the progress of the faith in the most distant regions, 
 place us under obligations to express to you our grati- 
 tude. It is to fulfil this duty, and to give you an 
 account of our voyage to China, of which we have so 
 far accomplished but a small portion, that I now take 
 the liberty of writing you. As the war going on at 
 that time between the English and Dutch had closed 
 
70 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 against us the passage of the Straits of Sonde and 
 Malaqiie,^ through one or the other of which it would 
 be necessary for us to sail, if we took the route of the 
 Indies by the East, we deemed it proper, in order to 
 avoid this danger, to go by way of the Strait of Ma- 
 gellan and the Southern Ocean. 
 
 It was in the year 1703 that we left Saint Malo, — 
 the Fathers de Brasles, de Rives, Hebrard, and myself, 
 — in two ships, the " Saint Charles " and the " Muri- 
 net," bound for China, and commanded by Messrs. du 
 Coudray-Peree and Fouquet, able men, and with much 
 experience in navigation. We set sail on the 26th of 
 December, with a favorable wind, which carried us in 
 five days to the Canary Islands, which we could not 
 fail to recognize. After having suffered from annoy- 
 ing calms under the line for an entire month, we 
 resumed our route, and, after a voyage of three 
 months, found ourselves about sixty leagues from the 
 Strait of Magellan, through which we wished to pass 
 to enter the Southern Ocean. 
 
 It seems to me entirely unnecessary to give you a 
 description of this famous Strait, of which Ferdinand 
 Magellan, so celebrated for his voyages around the 
 world, made the first discovery almost two hundred 
 years ago.^ I much prefer to send you a correct and 
 faithful map, made from the latest observations, which 
 are much more exact than the preceding ones. We 
 had already entered the first passage which presents 
 itself at the opening of the Strait, and were even 
 anchored in a nook on this side of Gregoire Bay, when 
 1 Sunda and Malacca. * It was in 1520. 
 
CAPE HORN IN 1704. 7 1 
 
 suddenly a terrible gale surprised us, which broke 
 successively four cables, and caused us to lose two 
 anchors. We were in great danger of suffering ship- 
 wreck ; but God, out of regard to our prayers and our 
 vows, was willing to deliver us, to reserve us, as we 
 hope, for more severe trials, and to suffer at last a 
 more glorious death for the honor of His name, and 
 in defence of our holy faith. 
 
 We remained for fifteen days in this first passage, 
 to search for the anchors we had lost, and to procure 
 water from a river which M. Baudran de Bellestre, 
 one of our officers, had discovered, and to which he 
 gave his own name. During this period, I had sev- 
 eral times the pleasure of landing, there to offer up 
 our praises to God in this part of the world, to which 
 the Gospel has never yet penetrated. We found the 
 country low and level, broken up by small hills. The 
 soil seemed to me to be very good, and well adapted 
 to cultivation. There is every probability that in this 
 very place, in the narrow part of the Strait, the Span- 
 iards, in the reign of Philip II., erected the fortress of 
 Nombre de Dios, when, having formed the rash and 
 impracticable plan of closing against all other na- 
 tions the passage of Magellan, they built there two vil- 
 lages. For this purpose they sent out a numerous 
 fleet, under the command of Sarmiento. But, the 
 tempest having battered and dispersed these ships, 
 the captain arrived at the Strait in a very bad condi- 
 tion. He erected two fortresses, one at the entrance 
 of the Strait, which, I think, was Nombre de Dios. 
 The other, which was a little further on, he called 
 
72 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 " Ciudad del Rey Philippe," apparently in the place 
 which to-day we have named " Port Famine," because 
 there these unfortunate Spaniards perished miserably, 
 in want of food and every other necessary of life. 
 We do not find, however, any vestige of these for- 
 tresses in either Strait. 
 
 We did not meet with any of the inhabitants of the 
 country, because these people, on the approach of 
 winter, are accustomed to retire further inland. But 
 some French ships which had preceded us, and some 
 which have followed us, have seen many of them fur- 
 ther up the Strait. They have informed us that these 
 people, who seemed docile and friendly, are for the 
 most part large and robust, very tall, and of a swarthy 
 complexion, similar to the other Americans. 
 
 I will not here speak to you, my Reverend Father, 
 either of their disposition or their customs, for I do not 
 wish to relate any thing uncertain or untrue ; but I 
 will take the liberty to unfold to you the sentiments of 
 compassion with which the grace and love of Jesus 
 Christ inspired me on their account, on seeing the 
 thick darkness which enveloped this forsaken country. 
 On the one hand, I considered the little probability 
 there was that we could undertake the conversion of 
 these poor people, and the immense difficulties which 
 would have to be overcome. On the other hand, the 
 prophetic declaration of Jesus Christ with regard to 
 the spread of the Gospel over the whole world often 
 occurred to my mind ; that God has His appointed 
 times and seasons to pour out on each country the 
 treasures of His mercy ; that for twenty years past 
 
CAPE HORN IN 1704. 73 
 
 our Fathers have carried the Gospel to places as far 
 distant from the light as these ; that perhaps our Lord 
 has not permitted us to accomplish our voyage to 
 China by this new route, so that some of us, touched 
 by the needs of these poor heathen, might determine 
 to remain here ; that some most flourishing missions 
 have owed their origin to a shipwreck, or some acci- 
 dental meeting which could not have happened by 
 chance. I prayed the Lord to hasten this happy 
 moment, and I would have ventured to offer myself, if 
 it be His will, for this noble enterprise. This was all 
 that I felt able to do at the present time. 
 
 But I have learned since that my wishes had been 
 anticipated, and, indeed, were not far from being 
 already fulfilled ; for, on arriving in Chile, I was told 
 that the Jesuits in that kingdom had resolved, on the 
 first opportunity, to penetrate as far as the Strait 
 of Magellan, from which some of their missions are 
 only distant about a hundred leagues. To accomplish 
 this will require the highest courage, for the crosses 
 will be abundant. They will have to encounter the 
 greatest severity of cold, to penetrate frightful des- 
 erts, and to follow the savages in their long journeys. 
 This would be, in truth, in the South, what the mis- 
 sion to the Iroquois and to the Hurons of Canada is 
 in the North, for those who shall have the glory to 
 accomplish here what has been doing in those coun- 
 tries for nearly a century, with so much toil and for- 
 titude. 
 
 After this little digression, I return to our voyage. 
 As the accident which had delayed us, by the loss of 
 4 
 
74 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 our cable and anchors, rendered it impossible for us 
 to pass through the Strait of Magellan (where one is 
 obliged to anchor every night), and as the winter of 
 this country was at hand, our captains resolved, with- 
 out further loss of time, to seek, by the Strait of Le 
 Maire, a passage to the Southern Ocean more sure 
 and easy. We therefore weighed anchor on the nth 
 of April, in the year 1704, to leave the Strait of Ma- 
 gellan, and seek that of Le Maire. Two days after- 
 wards, we found ourselves at the entrance of this 
 second Strait, through which we passed in five or six 
 hours, in beautiful weather. We coasted very near 
 the shore of the land of Del Fuego, or De Feu, which 
 seemed to me to be an archipelago of many islands, 
 rather than one single continent, as has been supposed 
 to the present time. 
 
 I ought here to remark, in passing, an error of con- 
 siderable importance in our maps, both ancient and 
 modern : that they give to Terre de Feu, which ex- 
 tends from the Strait of Magellan to that of Le Maire, 
 a much greater length than it really has ; for, accord- 
 ing to the exact observations we made, it appeared 
 certain that it is not more than sixty leagues, although 
 it has much more ascribed to it. The Terre de Feu 
 is inhabited by savages, of whom we know even less 
 than we do of those of the Terre Magellanique. It 
 has received the name of Terre de Feu on account of 
 the great number of fires which those who first dis- 
 covered it saw in the night. 
 
 Certain documents inform us that Garcius de Nodel, 
 having obtained of the King of Spain two frigates to 
 
CAPE HORN IN 1704. 75 
 
 explore this new Strait, anchored there in a bay, where 
 he found many of the islanders, who seemed to him 
 docile and of a good disposition. If we may credit 
 these narratives, those barbarians are as white as the 
 Europeans ; but they disfigure their bodies, and change 
 the natural color of their faces, by variegated paint- 
 ings. They are half covered with skins of ani- 
 mals, wearing around their necks a collar of white 
 and shining shells, and about their bodies a girdle of 
 leather. Their ordinary food is a species of bitter 
 herb, which grows in the country, the flower of which 
 is somewhat similar to that of our tulips. These 
 people rendered all sorts of service to the Spaniards ; 
 they labored with them, and brought them the fish 
 they had caught. They were armed with bows and 
 arrows, which they had ornamented with stones of 
 curious workmanship ; and they carried with them a 
 species of stone knife, which they laid on the ground 
 with their arms when they approached the Spaniards, 
 to show that they trusted in them. Their huts were 
 formed of trees, interlaced one with the other ; and 
 they had made in the roof, which terminated in a 
 point, an opening to give free passage to the smoke. 
 Their canoes, made of the bark of large trees, were 
 very properly constructed. They cannot hold more 
 than seven or eight men, being only twelve or fifteen 
 feet in length and two in breadth. In shape they are 
 nearly the same as the gondolas of Venice. These 
 Indians repeat often, " Hoo ! Hoo T' but it is impos- 
 sible to say whether it is a natural cry, or some par- 
 ticular word in their language. They appear to have 
 
y^ HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 quickness of mind, and some of them learned very 
 easily the Lord's Prayer. 
 
 To mention one thing more : this coast of Terre de 
 Feu is very elevated. The base of the mountains is 
 filled with large trees, and their summits are almost 
 always covered with snow. In many places we found 
 a secure anchorage, convenient for taking in wood 
 and water. In passing through the Strait, we saw at 
 our left, at a distance of about three leagues, the 
 island of the Etats de Hollande,^ which seemed to be 
 equally elevated and mountainous. 
 
 At last, having passed the Strait of Le Maire, and 
 seen numerous islands that are marked on our maps, 
 we began to experience the rigor of this climate dur- 
 ing winter, in the severe cold, hail, and unceasing 
 rains, and in the shortness of the days, which did not 
 last but eight hours, and which, being always very 
 gloomy, left us in a kind of continual night. Then 
 we entered the stormy sea, where we were subjected to 
 severe gales of wind, which separated our vessel from 
 that commanded by M. Fouquet, and where we en- 
 dured violent tempests, which made us fear, more 
 than once, that we should be wrecked upon some 
 unknown shore. We did not, however, go beyond 
 fifty-seven and a half degrees of South Latitude ; and, 
 after having battled for fifteen days against the vio- 
 lence of head winds in tacking, we doubled Cap de 
 Homes, which is the most southern point of Terre de 
 Feu, And here I must again point out an error in 
 our maps, which places Cap de Homes at fifty-seven 
 
 1 Now called Staten Land. — Trans. 
 
CAPE HORN IN 1704. TJ 
 
 and a half degrees. This cannot be ; for, although 
 we reached that height of latitude, as I have said, we 
 passed at a distance from the Cape, so that we did 
 not see it. It is this which induces me to decide that 
 its true situation should be fifty-six and a half degrees 
 at the utmost. 
 
 As the great peril of our voyage in this sea con- 
 sisted in doubling Cap de Homes, we now continued 
 our route with less difficulty. By degrees we found 
 ourselves in seas more smooth and tranquil ; so that, 
 after a voyage of four months and a half, we reached 
 the port of Conception, in the kingdom of Chile, where 
 we anchored on the 13th of May, being Whitsunday. 
 We have in this city a college of our Society, where 
 the Fathers received us with great demonstrations of 
 friendship. 
 
 Conception is a city which is the seat of a Bishop ; 
 but it is poor, and with a small population, although 
 the soil is fertile and yields abundantly. There is, 
 however, a much better market here than in Peru, 
 except for European commodities, which are sold very 
 dear. The houses are low and badly built, without 
 furniture or ornament. The churches show the effect 
 of the poverty of the country. The streets are like 
 those in our villages in France. The harbor is fine, 
 large, and secure, although the north wind often pre- 
 vails there, at least during the winter and autumn. 
 
 Eight days after our arrival at Conception, the 
 " Murinet," which had been separated from us, as I 
 have said, came to anchor in the same port, and we 
 were relieved of the fear we had felt that some unfor- 
 
78 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 tunate accident had happened to her. We did not 
 remain at Conception a longer time than was neces- 
 sary for us to lay in some supplies, and rest ourselves 
 a little from the fatigues of our voyage. Thus, fif- 
 teen days afterward, we sailed for Peru, having left 
 the " Murinet " at Conception, as they required more 
 time to repair the vessel and recruit themselves. 
 
 The first port of Peru in which we anchored was 
 Arica, in about nineteen degrees of South Latitude. 
 This city and its port, in former times, were very 
 celebrated, because there they embarked the immense 
 treasure which they took from the mines of Peru, to 
 carry it by sea to Lima. But since the English cor- 
 sairs have infested these seas with their cruises and 
 piracies, it has been thought best to convey it by 
 land, though attended with great expense. We re- 
 mained almost five months in this port and that of 
 Hilo, which is thirty leagues distant, but has nothing 
 about it worthy of mention. As we felt the most 
 earnest longings for our beloved mission in China, it 
 was with great regret that we endured so long and 
 annoying a delay ; and from that time we began to 
 fear that our ships would never accomplish the 
 voyage to China. 
 
 The most peculiar thing with regard to Peru is, 
 that there one never experiences rain, hail, thunder, 
 or lightning. The weather is always beautiful, serene, 
 and calm. A wind, which usually blows about the 
 middle of the day, and which has the same effect as 
 the north wind has in France, freshens the atmos- 
 phere, and renders it more endurable. But earth- 
 
CAPE HORN IN 1704. 79 
 
 quakes are frequent, and we have experienced two or 
 three since we have been here. 
 
 After having made so long a stay at Arica and at 
 Hilo, we resumed our voyage to Lima, and came to 
 anchor at Pisco, which is only forty leagues distant 
 from it. Near this port, in former times, was a cele- 
 brated city, situated on the sea-shore ; but it was 
 almost entirely ruined and destroyed by the earth- 
 quake which took place on the 19th of October, in 
 the year 1682, and which also did considerable injury 
 to Lima. The sea, overflowing its natural bounds, 
 engulfed that unfortunate city, which they have en- 
 deavored to re-establish somewhat further back, more 
 than a quarter of a league from the sea. We had 
 there a beautiful and extensive college, which they 
 have commenced rebuilding in the new city. 
 
 As the Reverend Father, the Rector of Lima, had 
 invited us to come by land to this capital city of Peru, 
 which is near Callao, where our ships would be, we 
 went thither — Father de Brasles and myself — to 
 take a little repose after our long and wearisome 
 voyage. Our Spanish Fathers, who had been impa- 
 tiently expecting us for so long a time, received us 
 with every demonstration of esteem, and tender and 
 sincere charity. 
 
 Lima, the capital of Peru, and the usual residence 
 of the viceroy, is a finer city than Orleans. The plan 
 of the city is beautiful and regular. It is situated on 
 a level plain at the foot of the mountains. A small 
 river runs by its side, which does not contain much 
 water, except in the summer, when it is swelled in an 
 
8o HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 extraordinary manner by the torrents which fall from 
 the neighboring mountains when the snows melt. 
 
 In the centre of Lima is a handsome and extensive 
 square, bordered on one side by the palace of the 
 Viceroy, which has nothing magnificent about it, and 
 on another by the cathedral church and the palace of 
 the Archbishop. The two other sides are occupied by 
 private houses and some merchants' shops. We trace 
 there, even at this day, the sad effects of the ruin and 
 general desolation produced by the earthquake of 
 which I have spoken. As these earthquakes are so 
 frequent in Peru, their houses are not built high. 
 Those at Lima are almost always of one story. They 
 are built of wood or earth, and covered with a fiat 
 roof, which serves for terraces. 
 
 But if the houses make little show, the streets are 
 beautiful, wide, and spacious. They are straight, and 
 intersected at regular distances by cross-streets not so 
 large, for the facility and convenience of commerce. 
 The churches of Lima are magnificent, and built in 
 accordance with the rules of art and the finest Italian 
 models. The altars are appropriate and superbly 
 ornamented ; and, although there is such a large 
 number of churches, they are, notwithstanding, all 
 admirably kept up. Gold and silver are not spared, 
 but the workmanship does not equal the richness of 
 the material ; for we see nothing there, in gold or 
 silver work, which can compare with the beauty and 
 delicacy of such work in France and Italy. We have 
 five Houses at Lima, the principal of which is the 
 College of St. Paul's. 
 
CAPE HORN IN 1704, 81 
 
 The harbor of Lima, v/hich usually goes by the 
 name of Callao, is two leagues distant. It is a very 
 excellent and safe port, large enough to hold a thou- 
 sand ships. Twenty or thirty are ordinarily lying 
 there, which are used by the merchants in trading to 
 Chile, Panama, and other ports of New Spain. 
 
 This would be the place, my Reverend Father, to 
 give you a particular account of this celebrated king- 
 dom, — its government, ancient and modern ; its 
 mines, so famous through all Europe ; the traits and 
 customs of its inhabitants ; the fruits and plants 
 which are peculiar to it, — but as this would require 
 more time and ability than I possess, you will excuse 
 me from this labor, and allow me here to finish my 
 narrative. 
 
 Several months had now elapsed, during which we 
 had been enjoying this repose at Lima, and we pre- 
 pared to return to the sea-shore, and embark for China, 
 when our captains informed us that, finding themselves 
 not in a condition to undertake so long a voyage, they 
 were obliged to return to France. This resolution 
 did not surprise us. They were right ; but their de- 
 cision deeply troubled us, for we saw ourselves frus- 
 trated, at least for a time, in our dearest hopes. 
 After having, therefore, earnestly commended this 
 matter to the Lord, and asked for the light of the 
 Holy Spirit to show us what we ought to do in so 
 sad a conjuncture, we formed the resolution of going 
 to Mexico, and passing over from thence to the Philip- 
 pine Islands, from which it would be easy for us to 
 reach China. Father de Rives, one of our dear asso- 
 
82 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 ciates, finding his constitution much impaired by the 
 exposures of so long a voyage, felt obliged to return to 
 France with the ships which had brought us to this 
 country. For ourselves, since God has preserved our 
 health even to this present time, although we are well 
 aware of all the difficulties which await us in the 
 fatiguing passage we have still to make, yet we will 
 undertake it, full of courage and hope that Heaven 
 will protect us, and conduct us happily to the end we 
 so much desire. It is this grace which all our Fathers 
 ask you to pray for us, that we may have strength 
 to sacrifice our lives in the glorious ministry of the 
 preaching of the Gospel, and the conversion of the 
 heathen, adopting always for the rule of our conduct 
 the holy maxims and counsels, so full of wisdom, 
 which you had the goodness to give us when we had 
 the honor to receive your orders. I am, with the 
 most lively gratitude and the most respectful attach- 
 ment, &c. 
 
MONASTERIES OF MOUNT LEBANON. ^Z 
 
 IV. 
 
 THE MONASTERIES OF MOUNT LEBANON. 
 1721. 
 
 [From the earliest ages a deep interest has invested the 
 mountains of Lebanon. Moses, in his closing days, when told 
 that he could not enter Canaan, prayed, "Let me go over and see 
 that goodly mountain, even Lebanon." Solomon, in the Canti- 
 cles, compares the bride to " a fountain of gardens, a well of 
 living waters, and streams from Lebanon." And Jeremiah al- 
 ludes to another feature of the scenery, mentioned in the follow- 
 ing letter, when he asks, " Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon, 
 which Cometh from the rock of the field ? " 
 
 Its cedars were world-renowned when Solomon built the first 
 temple. His own palace, probably supported by numerous pil- 
 lars of that wood, was called '• the house of the forest of Leb- 
 anon." And again they are alluded to, when that phrase is 
 used, " He cast forth his roots as Lebanon." 
 
 When monachism arose in the church, devotees turned to this 
 as -consecrated ground. For ages this range of mountains was 
 crowded with monasteries, and peopled by the dwellers in her- 
 mitages, till it had ceased to be a solitary retreat. The author 
 of the following letter visited it when, indeed, this system was 
 /n its wane, but still enough was left to show what it once had 
 been. It is the only picture we know of those long departed 
 scenes.] 
 
84 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 Narrative of a youmey to Cannobin, on Mount Lebanon, 
 sent to Father Fleurian by Father Fetitgueux, Jesuit Mis- 
 sio7iary. 
 
 I HAVE the honor to send you, my Reverend Father, 
 the account which you have asked of my journey to 
 Mount Lebanon. I know that others of our mission- 
 aries have made this before me, and that they have 
 not failed to give you a narrative of it. The desire 
 which I have to render mine agreeable to you im- 
 presses me with a strong belief that you will find in 
 my account some points which they have omitted in 
 theirs. In any case, my ready compliance will stand 
 in the place of merit in your eyes. 
 
 We left Tripoli ^ — the Father Bonamour and my- 
 self — on the 13th of October, 1 721, having for our 
 guides three Maronites of Mount Lebanon. We 
 travelled together for the next four days, to reach 
 Arges, a little village situated at the foot of the 
 mountains of Lebanon, and six leagues distant from 
 the Cedars. With all the speed we were able to 
 make, we did not arrive there until after six hours of 
 the night had passed, travelling by moonlight. We 
 were obliged to pass the rest of the night on the floor 
 
 1 This must not be confounded with a city of the same name on 
 the northern coast of Africa. Tripoli, in Syria, is near the mouth of 
 a small river, called Kadisha, at the foot of Mount Lebanon, and sev- 
 enty-five miles north-west of Damascus. In iioi it was taken by the 
 Crusaders, and held by Raymond, Count of Toulouse, till 1288, when 
 it was retaken by Melee Messor, sultan of Egypt, who ordered it to 
 be razed to its foundation. See " Volney's Travels," &c. — Trans. 
 
MONASTERIES OF MOUNT LEBANON. 85 
 
 of a miserable hovel, built of reeds, where we suffered 
 all the while from a high and piercing wind. 
 
 We set out the next day before light. Our guides 
 led us over the most rugged roads, in which we were 
 greatly fatigued, and made but little progress. We 
 passed a little village, named Antourin, the lord of 
 which, having seen us, came to meet us, and invited 
 us to dine with him. It would have been well for us 
 if we had accepted this invitation ; for scarcely had 
 we got half a league distant from his residence, when 
 we encountered a violent rain-storm, exceedingly cold, 
 accompanied by hail and thunder, which lasted with- 
 out cessation for two hours, during which we were 
 unable to find any place of shelter. Our clothes were 
 at once wet through ; and we travelled through mud 
 mid-leg deep, and over ravines filled with water, which 
 threatened to drown us. The rain, which formed a 
 stream under our feet, was changed to snow on the 
 neighboring mountains. 
 
 At length, after indescribable fatigues, we arrived 
 at Marserkis, a monastery of the Reverend Carmelite 
 Fathers, The succor of their charity came to us most 
 opportunely ; for they provided us, at their residence, 
 with every thing that was necessary to relieve the 
 pitiable state in which we were. We remained during 
 the 15th in their house to rest ourselves. The mon- 
 astery is situated at the foot of a rock of such fright- 
 ful height that it is inaccessible except to eagles or 
 vultures, which make it their resort. 
 
 The caves constructed in the rock, which forms 
 a large portion of the building, have been rendered 
 
86 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 equally beautiful and commodious by nature and art. 
 The chapel is a grotto of reasonable size, but as 
 appropriate as if it had been cut out of the stone by 
 the chisel. An abundant fountain of very clear and 
 pure water flows from the rock, which inngates the 
 garden after having passed through all those parts of 
 the building where water is necessary. The garden 
 abounds in vegetables. A residence at Marserkis is 
 delightful in summer, and the Carmelite Fathers pass 
 six months of the year there ; but the snow and the 
 severe cold of Lebanon render a sojourn there so 
 insupportable during the winter that they are obliged 
 to abandon their caves from the first cold until Easter, 
 and to retire to Tripoli. 
 
 The next day, the i6th, we were conducted to the 
 cedars of Lebanon. The roads not having again 
 dried up after the rains which had taken place, we had 
 much difficulty in accomplishing the single league 
 from Marserkis to the cedars, which we could see 
 at a distance. 
 
 We examined them at our leisure. They are situ- 
 ated on a small mountain, which forms at its summit 
 a somewhat extended plain. This plain is encom- 
 passed by mountains much higher than it, and which 
 are covered with snow. 
 
 These cedars, so famous through the whole world, 
 are in great numbers on this plain ; but those that are 
 small and young are much more numerous than those 
 that are large and ancient. I did not count more 
 than a dozen of extraordinary size. We measured 
 the largest, and found they were thirty-six feet in 
 
MONASTERIES OF MOUNT LEBANON. Sy 
 
 circumference.^ We found some which, after having 
 grown up some distance in one trunk, formed five or six 
 trees, which were each of such size that two men could 
 with difficulty clasp it around. But when these trees 
 reunited again at the height of their trunk, they were 
 of wonderful size. Their height is proportioned to 
 their width. Travellers, who have the habit of carv- 
 ing their names everywhere they go, have made great 
 incisions on the surface of the largest cedars to 
 inscribe them there. From these incisions there 
 flows out an excellent balsam in the form of a gum, 
 the effect of which is admirable in healing wounds, 
 and of which we at once made trial on the spot. 
 
 At the foot of the largest cedars are four stone 
 altars. On the festival of the Transfiguration of our 
 Lord, the Patriarch of the Maronites repairs thither, 
 accompanied by a large number of Bishops, priests, 
 and members of the Religious Orders, and followed by 
 five or six thousand Maronites, who come thither 
 from all parts to celebrate there the fete, which they 
 call the Festival of the Cedars. Although the Maron- 
 ites celebrate this Festival on the day of the Trans- 
 figuration of our Lord, this does not prove that they 
 believe, as some historians have said without any 
 foundation, that the Transfiguration took place on 
 this mountain. In the office which they use in the 
 services of this day, they say expressly that it took 
 place on Mount Tabor. 
 
 What has given occasion to this opinion of these 
 historians is, that they are able to state that Tabor 
 
 ^ "Six brasses de circuit." A brasse is six feet. — Tratts. 
 
88 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 forms part of the mountains which have one common 
 name, and whicli they call Lebanon and Anti-Leb- 
 anon. 
 
 These mountains of Lebanon extend from the bor- 
 ders of the sea to the sources of the Jordan, or to 
 Mount Carmel, even to one or two days' journey from 
 Damascus. The mountains of Anti-Lebanon are those 
 which extend farther into the country, and which are 
 separated from the mountains of Lebanon by a great 
 plain, which commences one or two days' journey from 
 Damascus, on the side towards Balbec, and which 
 they commonly call the Boque. The mountains of 
 Anti-Lebanon are so called because they are opposite 
 those of Lebanon, and look towards them. 
 
 The plain on which these grand cedars stand has 
 an atmosphere so cold that no one wishes to dwell 
 there, although the situation is very delightful. We 
 found there a great quantity of medicinal herbs and 
 of very rare simples. 
 
 Game of all kinds is common there. They have 
 nothing to fear but from the vultures and other birds 
 of prey. The land would be very fertile if it were 
 cultivated. It produces a great quantity of bushes, 
 which bear a kind of berry, black and of a very agree- 
 able taste. 
 
 Lebanon was formerly covered with cedars, which 
 to-day are only found on the plain I have mentioned, 
 and on one other mountain near Canobin. Joiners' 
 work, which is very handsomely executed, is made 
 here from the wood of the cedar. 
 
 On the 1 6th we left the Monastery of Marserkis to 
 
MONASTERIES OF MOUNT LEBANON. 89 
 
 go to that of Marelicha, which is only a league distant. 
 The Father Vicar and two other members of the Order 
 accompanied us. The Monastery of Marelicha, that 
 is to say, of Saint Elisa, is situated at the foot of a 
 frightful mountain, and on the bank of a river called 
 Nahr-Gadischa, which means the Holy River. It 
 runs into a deep valley, very narrow, the sides of 
 which are adorned with pine-trees, walnuts, oaks, and 
 vines. At thirty feet from the river, we see on each 
 side a chain of mountains rising, almost entirely cov- 
 ered with rocks. 
 
 These rocks form deep caves, which in old times 
 were the cells of a multitude of hermits, who had 
 chosen these retreats to be the sole witnesses on earth 
 of the severity of their unceasing penitence. It is the 
 tears of these holy penitents which have given to the 
 river we have mentioned the name of the Holy River. 
 Its source is in the mountains of Lebanon. The sight 
 of these caves and of this river in the frightful desert 
 inspired me with the feeling of contrition, with the 
 love of penitence, and with compassion for those sen- 
 sual and worldly souls who prefer a few days of enjoy- 
 ment and pleasure to an eternity of happiness. 
 
 The Superior of the Monastery of Saint Elisa 
 received us with great demonstrations of love. The 
 monastery is composed of twenty monks, who are 
 called Alepins. They are almost the only ones who 
 merit the name of being members of a religious 
 order. 
 
 A holy priest, named Abdalla, established them 
 there about twenty-five years ago. He particularly 
 
90 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 took counsel of the late Father Nicolas Bazire in 
 shaping the life and religious course of their brethren. 
 He was their first Superior. Afterwards they with- 
 drew him against his own wishes from his monastery 
 to make him a Bishop. Our mission of Antoura is in 
 his diocese. He left as his successor in his monastery 
 the Priest Gabriel, a monk of rare modesty and of 
 exemplary piety. He is universally esteemed and 
 honored by the Maronites, the Greeks, and even the 
 Turks, on account of his profound knowledge in the 
 Arabic language. 
 
 The members of the Order of the Alepins undergo 
 two years of novitiate. They never eat meat, are 
 poorly clothed, and chant the Office at midnight. We 
 took part in it three times, and were exceedingly edi- 
 fied by their modesty in thie church and the fervor of 
 their chanting. One part of the day they spend in 
 the cultivation of the ground and in domestic duties. 
 They confess every day, morning and evening, to their 
 Superiors. They observe their rules with the most 
 scrupulous exactness, and particularly that with re- 
 gard to silence and rigorous fasting. They rarely see 
 any thing of the outside world. Women are never 
 admitted into their church. If it should happen that 
 a member of the Order becomes remiss and wearies 
 in his vocation, the Superior counsels him to retire, 
 even though he had made the profession for ten years. 
 The Superior has power to free them from their vows. 
 
 We remained in this monastery till the i8th. On 
 the morning of that day we left with our guides to go 
 to Canobin, which is only two good leagues from the 
 
MONASTERIES OF MOUNT LEBANON. 91 
 
 Monastery of Saint Elisa. On our way we saw the 
 remains of many ancient monasteries, which the her- 
 mits had formerly inhabited, and which to-day are 
 deserted, having been ruined by the MetuaHs, the 
 heretical Turks. 
 
 We saw also the ruins of some of these monasteries 
 situated on rocks so steep that we could not compre- 
 hend how it was possible for any one to ascend to 
 them. 
 
 We entered a chapel, admirably excavated from the 
 rock, which contained two altars. On the one is an 
 image of the Holy Virgin, and on the other that of 
 St. Anthony. By the side of this chapel, and in the 
 same rock, we saw some deserted cells, where the 
 hermits once lived, passing a life which was cer- 
 tainly not one of ease. The Holy River flows at the 
 foot of these mountains for a course of five or six 
 leagues. 
 
 At Canobin, where we arrived, is the residence of 
 the Patriarch of the Maronites. We were received 
 there with great affection. There are only a small 
 number of monks, who are very poorly lodged and 
 equally poorly clothed and fed. The Patriarch, with 
 these monks and some Maronite Bishops who are with 
 him, all live together in a perfect union, and in a sim- 
 plicity and purity of manners very exemplary. The 
 lightest faults are very severely punished. The mon- 
 astery, poor as it is, receives strangers most charitably, 
 in the true spirit of hospitality. 
 
 The Patriarch was clothed in a dress of crimson, 
 with a border of fur. Under this habit he had a cas- 
 
92 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 sock of purple color. The modesty of this was very 
 marked. 
 
 The church of the monastery is dedicated to the 
 Holy Virgin. The Patriarch told us that it had an 
 antiquity of fourteen hundred years. It is one vast 
 cave, " out of which they have formed the church, 
 which is quite handsome, and ornamented with pict- 
 ures. The Patriarch pointed out to us the portraits 
 of Innocent XL and of Louis XIV. We assisted at 
 the performance of Service in the day and in the night. 
 Their liturgy is very ancient. It is composed in the 
 ancient Syriac, with a small part in Arabic, but writ- 
 ten in Syriac letters, which they call KercJiora. 
 
 The cells of the monks are in the caves near the 
 church. To remain there winter and summer neces- 
 sarily exposes them to the injurious effects of the 
 weather. The Patriarch caused us to see the chamber 
 which bears the name of the three Jesuits — that is, 
 the Fathers Jean Bruno, Jean Baptiste ^lien, and 
 Jerome Dandiric — who were sent, in 1581, by Gre- 
 gory XIII. , and afterwards by Clement VIII. Gre- 
 gory sent the first two to induce the Maronites to 
 accept the Council of Trent ; and Clement sent the 
 last to cause them to abjure, in a synod of the Patri- 
 arch, the Maronite bishops and priests, the errors 
 of a schismatic Council. The Council of Trent was 
 received, and the schism proscribed. 
 
 During our short stay at Canobin, the Patriarch 
 showed us the honor of always eating with himself 
 and the monks. The most perfect frugality is ob- 
 served there. Vegetables prepared with oil, some 
 
MONASTERIES OF MOUNT LEBANON. 93 
 
 radishes, and a little salt fish, with bread, dry and 
 black, composed all the entertainment which they 
 gave us. But the wine was excellent, and we do not 
 drink better in France. 
 
 The Patriarch made all the solicitations possible to 
 detain us a longer time in his monastery ; but, the day 
 of our departure having been fixed, we took our leave, 
 after having assisted in the service in the night, and 
 celebrated the Holy Mass. The Patriarch did us the 
 honor to give us his own ornaments, which were very 
 appropriate. We asked his blessing, and departed. 
 He sent with us his deacon to serve as our guide on 
 the roads in which it would be difficult to find our 
 way. 
 
 Within a stone's throw of the gate of the monastery, 
 we found the chapel dedicated to Saint Mazine. The 
 whole country, filled with the odor of the sanctity of 
 this virgin, preserves for her an extraordinary venera- 
 tion. No one calls in question what the historians 
 report of her life. They tell us that this virgin, acting 
 under a divine inspiration, concealed her sex under a 
 religious habit, and, clothed in this dress, served God 
 for many years. They add that, God having per- 
 mitted her to be accused of a fault with a female in 
 the neighborhood, she was condemned by the Superior 
 to go through a severe penance in the cave, which is 
 to-day the chapel in which she is honored ; but that 
 God, who always regards the interests of his servants, 
 whether male or female, at her death caused the 
 innocence of this illustrious virgin to shine forth, 
 and proclaimed her virtue to the world by many 
 
94 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 remarkable miracles, which were wrought at her 
 tomb. 
 
 After having offered up our prayers at this holy 
 chapel, we proceeded on our way to Saint Anthony, 
 which is about two leagues distant from Canobin. 
 To reach there, it . was necessary to climb the most 
 rugged mountain I have ever seen, and then to de- 
 scend it. The Monastery of Saint Anthony is situated 
 on the side next to an exceedingly steep rock. There 
 were there at that time thirty of the Alepin monks, 
 of whom I have already spoken. Besides these monks 
 there are twelve priests. The Bishop Abdule, their 
 founder and first Superior before he became a Bishop, 
 received us with great kindness. This prelate lives 
 in the monastery the life of a true saint. He is 
 lodged as simply as the monks, and, however austere 
 may be their lives, he causes his to be still more so. 
 He is not distinguished from them except by his dress, 
 which is of a violet color. 
 
 We remained there nearly two entire days, to enable 
 us to see the monastery and its environs. The mon- 
 astery is divided into two parts, which are separated 
 from each other. Each part has its church, though 
 the Service is usually performed only in the largest of 
 the two. The only ornament of the two churches 
 consists in their neatness. The prelate conducted 
 us to other caves, which are also used as chapels. 
 We saw one among them which is large and beautiful, 
 and dedicated to Saint Michael. It contains three 
 altars, and two small chambers for the monks, who 
 perform there their spiritual exercises. On the brow 
 
MONASTERIES OF MOUNT LEBANON 95 
 
 of the mountain opposite are two other caves, where 
 two monks of the monastery lead an entirely solitary 
 life. They never go out, and never speak to any one 
 except to the Superior, when they each day confess to 
 him. They are both priests, and say Mass in a little 
 chapel formed in the rock. 
 
 It is impossible for any one to be more edified than 
 I have been by the pious works which I saw per- 
 formed by the monks in this monastery. After hav- 
 ing passed two days with them, I took leave of the 
 Bishop Abdule, who gave me a guide, who was very 
 necessary to enable me to cross mountains on the 
 edge of precipices, and to reach Arg^s by roads with 
 which we were unacquainted. 
 
 From Arg^s to Tripoli it is but four leagues. These 
 four leagues are over a single plain, which is very 
 pleasant, planted with olives and many other trees of 
 different kinds. I arrived happily at Tripoli, from 
 which I had set out. There, thanks to God ! I re- 
 sumed the duties of our mission. The infectious dis- 
 eases prevailing have increased our labors, but the 
 danger which is inseparable from them has not dimin- 
 ished the zeal of our missionaries. We should be 
 ashamed not to imitate them. As we have continual 
 need of the grace of God, we would ask you and all 
 our Fathers to beseech God for us in their Holy 
 Sacrifices. I am, with respectful attachment for your 
 Reverence, my Reverend Father, your humble and 
 obedient servant, &c. 
 
96 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 V. 
 
 THE KNIGHTS OF MALTA. 
 1711. 
 
 [The story of the Knights of Saint John is one of the most 
 romantic chapters in the history of the world. The offspring of 
 the Crusades, called into being not only to contend against the 
 infidel, but more especially to minister to their brethren in the 
 hospitals at Jerusalem, we trace them from their first home in 
 the Holy Land, to Cyprus, Candia, and Rhodes, till we find them 
 at their last stronghold, at Malta. 
 
 When the Jesuit Father wrote the account of his visit which 
 follows, the glory of the Order had begun to wane. The decay 
 of the chivalrous spirit of the Middle Ages, and more, perhaps, 
 the change in the manner of warfare which modern science had 
 introduced, entirely altered the position of the Knights. The 
 romance had departed. They no longer — 
 
 " Carved at the meal 
 With the gloves of steel, 
 And drank the red wine through the helmet barred." 
 
 And so the Order continued to grow less and less useful to the 
 world, until, in 1798, the French took the Island of Malta, and 
 scattered its members. Since then it has existed merely as a 
 name. 
 
 There is no date to this letter ; but, comparing it with some 
 others addressed to the same individual, we cannot widely err in 
 fixing it at about 171 1.] 
 
THE KNIGHTS OF MALTA. 97 
 
 Letter of a Missionary in Greece to FatJier Fleiirian. 
 
 My Reverend Father, — It is in obedience to 
 your orders that I have the honor to send you a nar- 
 rative of our voyage from Marseilles to Smyrna. 
 
 We have safely arrived in this city ; and, after hav- 
 ing here returned our solemn thanks to God for His 
 continual protection during our voyage, we ought also 
 to make our acknowledgments to you for having ob- 
 tained for us admission into the ranks of the Gospel 
 laborers, that we are permitted to take part in their 
 duties, so appropriate to our Order. 
 
 After having taken leave of you in Paris, we re- 
 paired to Marseilles, the place from which we were to 
 embark. There we waited a long time for the depart- 
 ure of a good vessel, which they informed us every 
 day was ready to sail. At length, weary of this long 
 delay, and regretting the time we were losing, we 
 embarked in a little merchant vessel, which had a 
 crew of only five men. The captain, however, was an 
 honest man, who was very desirous of receiving us on 
 board without any charge, and promised to land us 
 promptly at Smyrna. 
 
 The day of our departure being as beautiful as we 
 could wish, we had reason to hope that our captain 
 would fulfil his promise ; but, the weather at sea be- 
 ing as inconstant and fickle as the most brilliant for- 
 tunes of the world, we presently experienced a change. 
 The wind, so favorable, suddenly increased in violence, 
 so that our sails and our little vessel were rudely 
 5 G 
 
98 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 shaken. We had the greatest difficulty in keeping 
 our places where we were sitting. I do not speak of 
 other inconveniences, but confine myself entirely to 
 those which are experienced at sea. 
 
 We brought with us a yovmg surgeon, who was 
 allotted to us ; for, through the interest of his medi- 
 cal profession, which is very much honored in the 
 Levant, we can gain the protection of the Turkish 
 officers, and have the houses of the Christian popula- 
 tion opened to the word of God. 
 
 This good young man, who had never before been 
 at sea, was so frightened by the violence of the wind 
 that, thinking himself lost, he came to me, pale as 
 death, requesting me to confess him. I took advan- 
 tage of this good impulse to have him perform this 
 pious act. In a little while afterwards, the wind hav- 
 ing calmed, his fears calmed equally. But, however 
 high had been the wind, we, nevertheless, could not 
 complain of it, for its violence had served to advance 
 us on our way. 
 
 On the third day after our departure, we doubled 
 the Island of Saint Peter, which is the point of that of 
 Sardinia. We looked with veneration on this island, 
 which was formerly the place of exile of so many holy 
 bishops and other defenders of our faith, who there 
 gloriously ended their lives in one long martyrdom. 
 
 After having passed the shores of Sardinia, we 
 thought that our captain would stop at the Island of 
 Malta. But, as he was not in want of provisions, he 
 took a course twenty-five miles distant from it, leav- 
 ing Malta on the right. A gale of wind, however, 
 
THE KNIGHTS OF MALTA. 99 
 
 followed, which treated our ship so roughly as to 
 oblige us to gain as quickly as possible this island, 
 which he had wished to avoid. 
 
 We arrived there at a convenient hour to be con- 
 ducted to the House of the Jesuits. Our Fathers 
 received us there with much kindness and love. 
 There we found Father de la Motte, Confessor of the 
 French Knights, and one other of our Fathers, who is 
 appointed here to teach mathematics. The last has 
 since died at Marseilles, in the service of those who 
 were attacked by the plague. 
 
 My sick fellow-traveller was in a little while recov- 
 ered by the good treatment which our Fathers gave 
 him, and particularly by the devotion to him of M. 
 the Chevalier de Sarasse, who is perfectly skilled in 
 the medical science, and who honored us with his 
 friendship. Our captain, obliged to remain at Malta 
 much longer than he wished, gave us sufficient time to 
 see every thing which merited the notice of strangers. 
 Two of our Fathers most obligingly offered their ser- 
 vices to accompany us wherever we wished to go, and 
 we availed ourselves of their kindness. 
 
 I have the honor to say to you, my Reverend 
 Father, that we were charmed, as are all strangers, 
 with the beauty of the island, its advantageous situa- 
 tion, the construction of the city, built on an exceed- 
 ingly steep rock, and defended by fortifications which 
 render the place the strongest in all Europe. But, 
 after having seen and well considered every thing 
 which merited our attention, whether on the island or 
 in the cities, I avow to you that I have seen nothing 
 
lOO HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 which appeared more worthy of admiration and praise 
 than the wisdom of the government which rules there, 
 the perfect order which is everywhere observed, the 
 noble and edifying conduct of the Knights, joined to 
 their extreme politeness to every one, and particularly 
 to strangers. The people endeavor to imitate as much 
 as they are able this politeness of their masters. 
 
 The Grand Master rules as a sovereign over the 
 people, and as a Superior over all those of the Order. 
 He has constantly at his court a very great number of 
 Knights of the most ancient and illustrious houses of 
 all Christian nations ; for they knew that there was 
 nothing which conveyed so great an honor as to be 
 one of the Knights of Malta. 
 
 The city of Malta is divided into three parts by an 
 arm of the sea. The three parts are three cities, and 
 as many peninsulas. They are fortified by the rocks 
 which surround them. Art and nature have been so 
 happily united that they have not left any weak point 
 on which an attack could easily be made. 
 
 The city where the Grand Master makes his resi- 
 dence is the principal one. It is named La Valette. 
 The isle where the Inquisitor lives is called Le Bourg ; 
 and the third is the Island of Saint Michel. The port 
 which contains the galleys of this religious Order is 
 the largest and most considerable. It is defended on 
 one side by the Castle of Saint Elmo, and on the 
 other by the Castle of Saint Ange. These are the 
 two fortresses which keep the galleys in safety. 
 
 One person with whom I met told me that he had 
 counted eighteen hundred pieces of cannon which 
 
THE KNIGHTS OF MALTA. lOI 
 
 defend the city and port, and I think the actual 
 number is much greater. The city, on the land side, 
 has two circles of fortifications, which are cut in the 
 rock. The houses are built in the form of an amphi- 
 theatre. They all have fiat roofs, to prevent the ef- 
 fects of a bombardment ; for, in case of a siege, they 
 cover the houses with earth and dung, which deaden 
 the effects of the bombs. 
 
 The city is very finely built, the houses commodious 
 and highly ornamented ; but it seems as if Malta had 
 exhausted all its magnificence in building a vast and 
 superb hospital, where all the sick, of whatever na- 
 tion, condition, or faith, are received, cared for, and 
 entertained, generally in every respect gratuitously. 
 
 Although the Order of the Knights of Malta is 
 by its institution a religious one, it does not omit to 
 be an Order of religious Knights Hospitalers. The 
 Order has therefore kept in view constantly and 
 carefully the object of its establishment ; for, while 
 the Knights have always arms in their hands to com- 
 bat the enemies of the faith, they are also always pre- 
 pared to exercise their charity towards the sick in the 
 hospital. To enable all the Knights to have the 
 opportunity of practising this, each hall or priory has 
 its day designated for coming to serve the sick. The 
 Knights of the Auberge of Provence have Monday ; 
 the Auberge of France, Tuesday ; the Auberge of 
 Auvergne, Wednesday ; the Auberge of Castile, 
 Thursday ; the Auberge of Arragon, Friday ; the 
 Auberge of Italy, Saturday ; and that of Germany, 
 Sunday. The sick are served in vessels of silver. 
 
I02 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 The Grand Master, preceded by the Knights' Grand 
 Cross, comes every morning, and often in the after- 
 noon, to visit the hospital, to learn for himself if the 
 commanders have discharged their duty towards the 
 sick, and if they are well cared for and want nothing. 
 If among the sick he finds any of the Knights, the 
 Grand Master waits on them himself. 
 
 I do not think it is possible for a person to see any 
 thing more edifying than the order which is observed 
 in the hospital. The charity of the Knights is car- 
 ried so far that one may often see them practising 
 among themselves acts of virtue to be compared with 
 those which we admire in the greatest saints. 
 
 The Bishop of Malta, the Prior of the Church of Saint 
 John, and the Grand Inquisitor, have each their spirit- 
 ual jurisdiction. The Prior, who is the spiritual guide 
 of the Knights, has the principal authority. Except 
 the power of conferring Orders, he has all the other 
 authority which appertains to Bishops, He wears the 
 Episcopal ornaments, approves the confessors for the 
 Knights, and regulates the duties of the clergy. 
 
 The Bishop makes his residence at Citta Vecchia. 
 His church is beautiful, the canons wearing the violet 
 hood, like the Bishops. The Church of Saint John is 
 the principal church of our faith, and the most richly 
 ornamented. Among the most remarkable of their 
 treasures, we saw two large figures of silver, of the 
 size of life, the one representing Saint John and the 
 other Saint Luke. They are placed on the two sides of 
 the grand altar. Between the choir and the nave is a 
 lamp of silver, which cost, it is said, sixty thousand 
 
THE KNIGHTS OF MALTA. IO3 
 
 crowns of Malta. It was a gift from the Commander 
 Fardella de Trapano. Each language of the Knights 
 has its particular chapel in the church. These chapels 
 are incrusted with the most beautiful marbles. 
 
 In the Faubourg of Citta Vecchia we saw a very 
 handsome chapel, dedicated to the great Apostle Saint 
 Paul. At the side of the chapel can be seen a cave, 
 to which, tradition tells us, the holy Apostle withdrew, 
 for the space of three months and some days, after his 
 shipwreck. The Acts of the Apostles, which have 
 informed us of the circumstances, have not left us 
 ignorant of another occurrence. They relate that 
 Paul and his companions, having kindled a large fire 
 to dry their clothes, a viper came forth from the midst 
 of the brambles, fastened itself on the hand of Paul, 
 and attached itself there so thoroughly that those 
 present, who were witnesses of it, did not doubt that 
 the sting of the venomous reptile would cause his 
 death. But they were much surprised when they saw 
 that the Apostle had only to shake his hand to rid 
 himself of it, and that his hand remained as uninjured 
 as it was before. This occurrence caused them to 
 regard him in Malta as a wonderful person. 
 
 Since that time the Island of Malta has enjoyed a 
 privilege which is singular and remarkable. It is that 
 vipers and other venomous reptiles, which carry their 
 venom wherever they drag themselves, are not found 
 there, and those even which they carry thither lose it 
 when they enter the island. We can well believe that 
 this favor of Heaven has been granted to the Island 
 of Malta in memory of the kind reception which its 
 
I04 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 inhabitants formerly gave to the Apostle of the Gen- 
 tiles, who is still here an object of public veneration 
 and devotion. 
 
 We found, not only at the Grotto of Saint Paul, but 
 also through all the island, the eyes and tongues of 
 serpents. The travellers did not fail to take some of 
 them away with them, the common opinion being that 
 they are a preservative against all accidents of poison.-^ 
 And what is equally surprising is, that, whatever 
 quantity of these tongues and eyes are taken away, 
 the number seems to be undiminished. We were 
 told the same thing with regard to the earth in the 
 Grotto of the Apostle, that, in proportion as it is 
 removed, it seems to reproduce itself. 
 
 To return to the Island of Malta. It is estimated 
 to be seven leagues in length, three and a half in 
 breadth, and twenty-one in circumference. Almost the 
 whole island is composed of rock, from which it hap- 
 pens that it is not fertile in vegetables, but those they 
 have there are delicious. We need not expect to find 
 forests or vineyards ; but, for compensation, olives, 
 oranges, and lemons are common there, and their 
 fruits are of a delightful flavor. We saw there, in 
 the month of January, the last of the almonds still in 
 blossom. A country where the residence is so agree- 
 able deserves to have a population like that of Malta. 
 
 The Maltese speak the Arabic, a little corrupted. 
 
 1 These pretended tongues of serpents are only petrifactions of 
 the teeth of the fish Lamia, or Charcharias. They can be seen in any 
 cabinet. They have no influence in counteracting poison. The eyes 
 of serpents belong to the species of toad-stone, and are also petrifac- 
 tions of the teeth of a fish. 
 
THE KNIGHTS OF MALTA. 105 
 
 The men are almost all clothed in the French style, 
 some of them wearing a small collar and a large black 
 cloak. The priests and members of the religious 
 Orders are found there in great numbers. Women 
 and girls never go out alone. They are always ac- 
 companied by a slave, or have one following them. 
 Their bearing and their dress are so modest that they 
 might be taken for members of religious bodies. 
 They wear a black mantle of silk or serge, which 
 entirely covers them from head to foot. 
 
 In fine, to finish all that I can say of the Island of 
 Malta, I will add that what forms its principal orna- 
 ment and its glory is the possession of a great num- 
 ber of illustrious Knights, whose valor 'is equal to 
 their birth. They have the honor to be the zealous 
 defenders of our faith. They are prepared at all 
 times to endure the dangers of the sea, and to expose 
 their lives in its defence. One reads with admiration 
 in their history the record of their glorious exploits 
 and the wonderful triumphs of their arms. But what 
 should be the theme of an eulogy worthy of them is 
 that, through all times, at Malta and elsewhere, we see 
 these Knights practising the most heroic virtues of 
 Christianity. These illustrious Knights have been, 
 even to the present time, an infinite honor to the 
 faith. 
 
 Malta is to-day governed by a Grand Master who is 
 worthy of the office. His talents, his prudence, and 
 his kindness in his government, have gained him the 
 veneration and love of all Christian nations, who are 
 continually sending new Knights to his court. 
 5* 
 
Io6 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 VI. 
 
 THE GRECIAN ISLANDS. 
 1711. 
 
 [We continue an account of the voyage of the Jesuit Fathers, 
 after leaving Malta, not only to give his sketches of some of the 
 Grecian islands as they then were, but also to show what travel- 
 ling was in that day, when a voyage from Marseilles to Smyrna 
 occupied fifty-seven days.] 
 
 Continuation of Letter to FatJier Flejirian. 
 
 During our stay at Malta, our ship was entirely 
 repaired. Our captain having given us notice of the 
 day of his departure, we took leave of our Fathers, 
 returning them a thousand acknowledgments for their 
 kindness to us. It was winter, but the air was as soft 
 as the spring. The wind was favorable for us, the sun 
 lighted up every thing, and the surface of the sea was 
 entirely luminous with it. A shoal of dolphins, enjoy- 
 ing the balmy air, gambolled together at the bows of 
 our vessel. We saw them raise themselves in the air, 
 leaping entirely out of the water. During a large por- 
 tion of our voyage we enjoyed this diverting spectacle. 
 A change of weather deprived us of it. A high wind 
 arose ; but, happily being in the rear, it caused us to 
 advance with such speed, that, if it had continued, we 
 would have reached Smyrna in four days. 
 
THE GRECIAN ISLANDS. 107 
 
 The following night we were driven from our course. 
 Instead of approaching Smyrna, we were obliged to 
 make for the Island of Sapienza. This island forms 
 the point of the Morea at the southern side. It is 
 distant but one league by sea from the city of Modon, 
 the capital of the province of Betuedere, in the Morea. 
 
 This sea being much infested by pirates, our people 
 did not dare to leave the ship for the purpose of see- 
 ing the city of Modon. We contented ourselves with 
 merely landing to breathe the fresh air of the island. 
 There is nothing curious to attract travellers, as there 
 are neither cities nor villages nor houses. Some 
 Arabs, watching their goats, were the only persons 
 we encountered. They have dug among the rocks 
 to procure shelter for themselves and their flocks, and 
 there they live like savages. 
 
 While walking one day on the island with one of 
 our fellow-travellers, we saw two of these men coming 
 towards us with astonishing speed, passing through 
 the thick bushes, and climbing the rocks with the 
 agility of their own goats. Their figure was as bar- 
 barous as their dress. These two men were huge 
 Albanians, armed with large clubs, crooked, and bound 
 with iron. They approached us, and, in a fierce tone, 
 demanded of us, in a jargon of Italian, "who we were, 
 and where we were going." We answered them, but 
 in the mildest tone, " that we were French, on our way 
 to the archipelago, and that our ship was at anchor." 
 They then left us abruptly, without saying any thing 
 more ; and we saw them repair to a height from which 
 they could have a view of our vessel. 
 
I08 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 On our return, we related our adventure to our 
 fellow-passengers. The next day one of them, who 
 said " he had no fear of this kind of people," had the 
 curiosity to land at the island to see them. No sooner 
 had he put his foot on shore than our two Arabs, 
 accompanied by two others^ of an equally unprepos- 
 sessing appearance, fell upon him, seized him by the 
 collar, and bound him to a tree, with his hands behind 
 his back. " It is you, then," they said to him, "or one 
 of the others with you, who have been stealing our 
 goats. It will cost you your life." Then one of them 
 put his knife to his throat, while the others searched 
 his pockets. They took away every thing they found 
 there, and stripped him of his clothes, leaving him 
 nothing but his shirt. This matter being accom- 
 plished, three of them escaped with their booty ; 
 while the fourth unbound the sufferer, and then fol- 
 lowed his companions. 
 
 Our fellow-traveller, who had prided himself on his 
 bravery at all hazards, returned to the vessel with the 
 only garment which the four Arabs had left him. He 
 was fortunate enough to find there charitable people 
 who would give him clothes, of which he had such 
 need. After this last adventure, none of our voyagers 
 had the temerity to land and walk in the island during 
 the four days that we waited for the wind to enable us 
 to put to sea. 
 
 We set sail again on the 30th of January, at six 
 o'clock in the morning. Sailing round the Morea, 
 from which we were distant but three or four leagues, 
 we passed Coron, and doubled the Cape of Matapan. 
 
THE GRECIAN ISLANDS. IO9 
 
 On the 2 1 St, we found ourselves at daybreak between 
 Cerigo and Cape St. Angelo, and some time after- 
 wards we came in sight of Malvoisie, which they say 
 is the most important place in the Morea. This city 
 was formerly called Epidaurus. It is situated on a 
 high rock, at the foot of which commences the Gulf 
 of Napoli and Romani. The eastern side, by which 
 they descend the rock to the sea, produces that excel- 
 lent Malvoisie wine, the reputation of which is so wide- 
 spread. 
 
 Here we left the Morea to enter the archipelago, 
 passing the kingdom of Candia on our right. Up to 
 the present time we had enjoyed weather as warm 
 as that of spring ; but, a high north wind having sud- 
 denly commenced, we experienced such extreme cold 
 that we found it necessary to look for our coats, and 
 to wrap ourselves in them. The shores of the Morea, 
 which were covered with snow, sent us the cold wind 
 we experienced ; but, in addition to the cold, we found 
 the wind so strong that we were obliged the next day 
 to land at the port of Paros, one league distant from 
 Naxos. Unhappily for us, we could not remain there ; 
 for our captain felt obliged to sail for Argentaria, a 
 little island of the archipelago, situated between Milo 
 and Siphanto. 
 
 This port is very good ; and scarcely had we cast 
 anchor when two Greeks of the island came aboard. 
 With a pleasant manner, they said that they had come 
 to present to us the compliments of the French con- 
 sul on our arrival, and to offer us refreshments. We 
 received this politeness with the thanks it deserved, 
 
no HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 and felt that it obliged us to go ourselves and make 
 our acknowledgments to the consul at his house. We 
 took with us the two Greeks to show the way. 
 
 The residence of the consul is within three quarters 
 of a league of the port. We found him there, in com- 
 pany with the English consul. Both are natives of 
 the country, and members of the most important fam- 
 ilies of the island. They received us with much kind- 
 ness ; and, after the first compliments, the French 
 consul caused a collation to be served up for us. He 
 then proposed that we should go and see the city. 
 The two consuls accompanied us. It did not take us 
 much time to make the round ; for it is a collection 
 of but one hundred and fifty houses, and the inhabi- 
 tants only number eight or nine hundred persons. 
 The streets are so narrow that it is difficult for two 
 persons to walk side by side. 
 
 We found in this city (which is more a village than 
 a city) a few French families, who carried on some 
 little trade for a support. These French people were 
 immediately informed of our arrival, and came to find 
 us, with every expression of pleasure. They were 
 delighted to hear news from their own country, and 
 we were able to satisfy all their demands, as a narra- 
 tive of the oldest occurrences was news to them. 
 
 We shortly after received the visit of the Greek 
 Fathers, and . the other principal Greeks of the city, 
 who showed by every kind of expression the pleasure 
 they had in seeing us. They asked us " if we came 
 to found a mission among them. We have not for- 
 gotten," they said to us, " that which Father Jacques 
 
THE GRECIAN ISLANDS. Ill 
 
 Xavier Portier and his associate made to us, many 
 years ago. Our children were ignorant, and they 
 taught them. Many among us were at variance with 
 each other, and they reconciled us. We did not live 
 as Christians, and they persuaded us to make confes- 
 sion and come to the Holy Sacrament, from which we 
 had been far removed for a long time. In short, they 
 taught us our duties. Since that time we have wan- 
 dered from the true way which they had pointed out 
 to us. Come, then," they added, " cause us to return 
 to it. Come to restore to us the happiness which the 
 presence of Father Jacques Xavier Portier gave us, 
 and which his absence has caused us to lose." 
 
 These words, which we saw proceeded from their 
 hearts, sensibly affected us. We assured them that 
 we had arrived from France disposed to render them 
 any service ; but, not being acquainted with their lan- 
 guage, we should be obliged to learn it to put ourselves 
 into a condition to be understood by them and our- 
 selves to understand them. They were contented with 
 our answer. The unfavorable weather which had 
 obliged us to stop at Argentaria detained us there 
 twenty entire days, without our being able to leave. 
 Not to be entirely useless, we gave our instructions to 
 the French, and taught the Catechism to their chil- 
 dren. The Greeks and French assisted at our Masses. 
 The officers of our ship, the sailors, and our fellow- 
 travellers met there, and always set a good example. 
 Many of them received the Communion. These good 
 works consoled us for the delay of our departure. 
 
 We took advantage of the first favorable weather to 
 
112 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 leave the port of Argentaria. The same evening we 
 came to anchor at Siphanto, anciently Siphnos, an 
 island larger and richer than that of Argentaria. 
 The next morning we left there with a favorable 
 wind, which by evening took us to Myconos. The 
 island, which at the present day has this name, is one 
 of the Cyclades in the yEgean Sea. We learned on our 
 arrival that there were a large number of Roman Cath- 
 olics there. We were conducted to the residence of 
 the Cure to ask his permission to say Mass. The 
 Cure, though a Greek by birth, followed the Latin rite. 
 He was supported by the Society of the Propaganda 
 to minister to the Roman Catholics. His parishioners, 
 being informed of our arrival, came to his house to 
 salute us, where they all received us with much kind- 
 ness and love. 
 
 They, too, spoke of the mission which Father 
 Jacques Xavier Portier had founded among them some 
 years before. " We have need of a second mission," 
 they said. " If he knew it, he would soon come to 
 our relief, for he had a great zeal for our salvation." 
 We engaged to procure for them the new mission 
 which they desired. On the following morning we 
 performed Mass, at which a great number assisted, 
 with a devotion which charmed us. Not being ac- 
 quainted either with the common Greek language or 
 the corrupt Italian, which is used here, we could not 
 give them any instruction. We could only address 
 to them some words through the interpreter. 
 
 After twenty-four hours' stay on this island, we took 
 leave of the Cure, who with his parishioners wished to 
 
THE GRECIAN ISLANDS. II3 
 
 accompany us even to the vessel, entreating us to 
 return in a short time to their island. We embarked 
 in their presence with so favorable a wind that we 
 were carried forty leagues in less than twelve hours. 
 On the 1 6th of February we arrived at the Islands of 
 Spalmadori, and afterwards found ourselves within 
 cannon-range of the Island of Chios. My two Jesuit 
 associates had the same great desire with myself to 
 see this island, to be ourselves witnesses of all that we 
 had heard of the zeal of the Catholics who dwell there ; 
 but our wishes could not at that time be gratified. 
 We continued our voyage, leaving the archipelago, 
 and entering the Sea of Natoli-in-Asia. 
 
 To the present time I had supposed, when leaving 
 France, that we should find in the Levant a continual 
 summer, and a warmth which might even, perhaps, be 
 too great. But experience convinced us of the contrary ; 
 for we now encountered the most piercing cold, which 
 obliged us and all our ofBcers to clothe ourselves in 
 our warmest dresses. 
 
 We were now distant from Smyrna only a good 
 day's sail, and were in hopes of reaching there ; but 
 the wind became so light that we were not able to 
 make any progress. We had also another misad- 
 venture which delayed us. At daybreak we saw five 
 Turkish vessels on their way from Constantinople to 
 Chios. A man-of-war of thirty guns, having detached 
 itself from the other four ships, approached us, and 
 ordered us to come on board. As they were much 
 the strongest, it was necessary to obey without any 
 reply. The captain of the man-of-war caused our 
 
114 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 captain to come aboard his ship, and sent three Turks 
 to visit us. Happily they did not find any merchan- 
 dise that was contraband. As soon as they had made 
 their report, the commander of the five ships con- 
 tented himself with thoroughly questioning our cap- 
 tain on the state of things at Malta and Sicily, and 
 sent him back to us. Our captain on his return 
 saluted the Turkish vessels with a discharge of can- 
 non. They returned the same salute, and continued 
 on their course. 
 
 The calm, followed by head-winds, delayed our en- 
 trance into the Gulf of Smyrna. At last, the time 
 came when we were able to double Cape Bouroun, 
 which is the point of the Gulf of Smyrna. We were 
 charmed with the view from this place. The gulf is 
 about fifteen leagues in length and eight in breadth. 
 The sides are covered with olive-trees. We saw in 
 the distance a great number of ships, which were in 
 the roadstead, while the view was terminated by the 
 city of Smyrna, 
 
 We reached the city at noon on the 15th of Febru- 
 ary, our voyage by sea having been fifty-seven days, 
 in the roughest part of the winter ; but, thanks to 
 God ! we arrived in perfect health. 
 
GLIMPSES OF THE COURT OF CHINA. II5 
 
 VII. 
 
 GLIMPSES OF THE COURT OF CHINA. 
 
 1773- 
 
 [The Jesuit missionaries are the only foreigners who have ever 
 penetrated to the interior of Chinese life. Trained in the lan- 
 guage, they carried with them not only scientific men, but work- 
 men skilled in every accomplishment which could attract the 
 attention of the rulers of the country, and gain for them an 
 influence at Court. The consequence was that, at one time in 
 the seventeenth century, the members of the Society of Jesus 
 were at the head of all the scientific schools, and even were 
 employed in many departments of the arts. As early as the 
 sixteenth century they had penetrated to the Imperial Court, and 
 were often the advisers of the Emperor. Of this the following 
 letter furnishes a good illustration. Written a century ago, it is 
 the only narrative with which we are acquainted giving any views 
 of the interior of Chinese royal life. 
 
 We learn fi-om a letter of one of the other Jesuits, at Pekin, 
 that Father Benoit died there, October 23, 1774, less than a 
 year after he had written the following letter. He was born at 
 Autun, France, October 8, 1725.] 
 
 Letter of Father Be7ioit, Missionary at Pekin. 
 
 November ^th, 1773. 
 
 You are aware, Monsieur, that it is necessary for 
 the new missionaries who come to Pekin by order of 
 the Emperor to be presented to his Majesty a short 
 time after their arrival. But you are probably not 
 
Il6 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 aware that, when they appear before him, custom re- 
 quires that they should make him some presents. 
 Two new missionaries having therefore arrived at our 
 House on the 12th of January, in this year, 1773, — 
 Father Mericourt, with the title of clockmaker, and 
 Brother Pansi, in the capacity of painter, — our Fa- 
 ther Superior charged me to make all the necessary 
 arrangements for their presentation. The letter which 
 to-day I have the honor to write you, will have for its 
 object to show the success of this commission, which 
 was exceedingly embarrassing, and which I discharged 
 in the best manner I possibly could. You will find 
 in my letter some detailed accounts, little known in 
 Europe, of the interior of the palace, some customs 
 of the Court, and the manner of life of this powerful 
 Emperor. 
 
 Among the different presents which these new- 
 comers had to offer was a magnificent telescope of a 
 new invention, which M. Bertin had sent us during 
 the last year. The Minister of State was pleased to 
 arrange for us these gifts of our glorious and beloved 
 monarch. There was also a picture painted by Brother 
 Pansi, and an air-pump, which our Superior-General 
 (Father le Fevre) had sent us from Canton. These 
 were the most remarkable of the presents destiaed 
 for the Emperor. 
 
 The first point was to contrive that his Majesty 
 should become acquainted with the value of the tel- 
 escope and the use of the air-pump ; for it often hap- 
 pened that curious articles presented to the Emperor 
 were either refused by him, or, if he favorably received 
 
GLIMPSES OF THE COURT OF CHINA. 1 1/ 
 
 them, they were placed in the store-house, where they 
 remained without being used, and indeed entirely for- 
 gotten. As to the air-pump, I had toiled over it for 
 several months to place it in proper condition. I had 
 prepared, in Chinese, an explanation, as much with 
 regard to the theory as its practical uses, from which 
 I had selected about twenty of the most curious, and 
 I had caused to be drawn, with Chinese ink, diagrams 
 which explained them. This explanation, which 
 formed a small volume, was to be presented to the 
 Emperor before he received the machine. 
 
 We had now entered on the twelfth Chinese month, 
 when the public offices are closed, and the courts of 
 justice have vacation to the twenty-first of the first 
 month of the following year. During this period of 
 leisure, no business is entertained except that which 
 it is necessary promptly to discharge. The Emperor 
 is therefore less occupied than at other times of the 
 year, but he is also more engaged in religious cere- 
 monies, or in spectacles in the interior of the palace. 
 It was necessary, then, to urge upon them the presen- 
 tation of the two new missionaries. I addressed 
 myself, therefore, to the officers of the palace who 
 arrange affairs of this kind. They fixed upon the 
 1 2th of January, being the twenty-sixth of the twelfth 
 month. The evening preceding I caused the presents 
 to be carried thither ; and, as the petition for presen- 
 tation should reach the interior of the palace early in 
 the day, in fear lest we should not be in time, I in- 
 trusted the petition, the catalogue of the presents, 
 and the explanation of the air-pump, to those whose 
 
Il8 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 duty it is to bring matters of this kind before the 
 Emperor. I had added a separate letter, to be also 
 presented to his Majesty, in which I had stated that, 
 however competent Brother Pansi might be in dif- 
 ferent kinds of painting, his particular talent was for 
 portraits. I notified them also with regard to the 
 air-pump, that, to keep it in a serviceable state, it 
 should be placed in a temperate atmosphere, and 
 sheltered from the violent cold which at that time 
 was prevailing. 
 
 The next day, January i8th, our Father Superior 
 and myself, with some other members of our Church, 
 accompanied the two new-comers. The petition for 
 presentation and the other papers had been already 
 sent in. Here it is necessary, summer and winter, to 
 be very much on the alert. Towards nine o'clock 
 they gave us notice that the Emperor had read the 
 petition for presentation, and had caused the presents 
 to be brought into the interior of the palace, so that, 
 when his Majesty should be at leisure, he could see 
 them and choose those which pleased him. After 
 mid-day they brought back those of the presents 
 which the Emperor had not received, and made 
 known to us his orders, to wit, that the two newly 
 arrived missionaries should immediately enter the 
 palace, each one to give an exhibition there of his 
 art ; that Brother Pansi should take part with Fathers 
 Damascene and Pisol in the execution of six pictures, 
 for which his Majesty had given orders ; that Father 
 Mericourt should work at clock-making with Fathers 
 Archange and de Vantavon ; that the air-pump should 
 
GLIMPSES OF THE COURT OF CHINA. II9 
 
 be taken to you-y-koan (which is the place where the 
 European artists are at work) ; and that in the spring, 
 when the weather was milder, Father Sighelbare and 
 myself should exhibit its working before his Majesty, 
 and explain it to him. These were the first orders of 
 the Emperor, the greater part of which were imme- 
 diately afterwards changed. The presents with which 
 the Emperor gratified the new missionaries were, 
 according to custom, six small pieces of silk for each 
 one. 
 
 The Emperor had not as yet positively accepted the 
 telescope. He wished first to know what it was and 
 what was its use. I was called to explain it, and con- 
 ducted to the suite of apartments where the Emperor 
 then was. One of the eunuchs of the Presence hav- 
 ing come out of the chamber in which his Majesty 
 was, I directed the telescope towards the top of one of 
 the roofs of the palace, the most distant of all that we 
 could see. As the atmosphere was clear and without 
 any apparent vapor, the eunuch saw the top of the 
 roof so distinctly and apparently so near, that, exceed- 
 ingly surprised, he went back immediately to inform 
 the Emperor, who was then at supper, although it was 
 only two hours after mid-day ; the custom of his Ma- 
 jesty being to sup at this hour and to dine at eight 
 o'clock in the morning, spending at each meal not 
 more than a quarter of an hour. I shall have occa- 
 sion, in the future, to speak more at large as to what 
 relates to the repasts of the Emperor. 
 
 All the eunuchs of the Presence and the other 
 officers having satisfied their curiosity with regard to 
 
I20 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 the telescope, they placed a table at the side of his 
 Majesty's apartment, so as to enable me to arrange it 
 myself and direct it towards some object. This having 
 been done, as the Emperor had now finished his sup- 
 per, the eunuchs requested him to come and make 
 trial of it. The Emperor perceived at once the superi- 
 ority of this instrument to any which he had hitherto 
 seen. He appointed two of the eunuchs to carry it 
 always with him whenever he went out, and gave me 
 a commission to instruct them in the manner of using 
 and arranging it. And to testify more fully his satis- 
 faction, besides the silks which he had already given 
 to the new missionaries, he caused to be presented to 
 them and to myself three large pieces of silk, one of 
 which alone was worth five or six of the former. 
 
 I made the acknowledgments in the customary way, 
 and afterwards was ordered to bring Brother Pansi to 
 the palace, the next day, to receive the commands of 
 the Emperor as to what he should do. In accordance 
 with this, on the 19th of January I conducted the 
 painter to Ki-siimg-kong. (This is the place in the 
 interior of the palace, where the Chinese painters 
 work during the three months of the year that the 
 Emperor remains at Pekin.) There they notified us 
 that the Emperor wished Brother Pansi to take a por- 
 trait. While I was waiting until every thing should 
 be prepared for the commencement of this work, the 
 eunuchs, who were charged with the care of the tele- 
 scope, brought it to me, that I might continue my in- 
 structions as to its management. They told me that 
 the Emperor had ascended a tower, upon which was 
 
GLIMPSES OF THE COURT OF CHINA. 121 
 
 a platform, and from this they had directed the tele- 
 scope to some distant objects ; but, the weather being 
 foggy, they found it difficult to see any thing. I told 
 them they should not be surprised at this, because 
 the glass, in increasing the size of the objects, in- 
 creased also the vapors. 
 
 The next day, January 20th, having repaired early 
 in the morning to the palace, we remained there in a 
 room by the side of the apartment in which the Em- 
 peror then was. A little while afterwards, there came 
 to us a page of twenty-seven or twenty-eight years 
 of age, whose portrait his Majesty wished taken. 
 Scarcely had Brother Pansi marked out the first 
 rough sketch, when the Emperor, having caused it to 
 be brought to him, took occasion to say, in sending it 
 back, that he already recognized the features of the 
 young man. The first draught having been made, so 
 that Brother Pansi could put in the colors, his Maj- 
 esty again sent for it ; and, in returning it, expressed 
 anew his satisfaction. He caused also to be signified 
 to us his wishes, particularly with regard to the shad- 
 ing, which in China they wish to be laid on more 
 lightly than in Europe, not even allowing as much as 
 is necessary to bring out the object into proper relief. 
 Nevertheless, the work advanced, and from time to 
 time came an order from the Emperor to have it 
 brought to him ; for here, on the slightest indication 
 of a wish on the part of the prince, they observe rigor- 
 ously the rule which is prescribed in Europe to the 
 greater part of the members of the religious Orders, to 
 quit all work at the least signal, to which they should 
 
122 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 yield their obedience. Brother Pansi, not being ac- 
 customed to have his work so interrupted, was very 
 uneasy. He was afraid that the Emperor, in seeing 
 from time to time those features which were not yet 
 finished, could not but regard the painting as a daub. 
 I reassured him, by telling him that this could not 
 seem so to the Emperor, who was accustomed to 
 watch the progress of pictures he had ordered, and 
 that the same course was pursued with regard to 
 Brothers Castiglione, Attiret, and others, many of 
 whose works could not be disowned by the best 
 painters in Europe. 
 
 We returned to the palace, according to our orders, 
 January 26th, where we found the Chinese painters 
 and the Mandarins of painting, in company with whom 
 they conducted us to Ki-siajig-kojig. It is necessary 
 to mention, in noticing every thing which relates to 
 the interior of the palace, that no one, whoever he may 
 be, whether Prince of the blood, Minister of State, 
 &c., is allowed to enter there, unless he is accom- 
 panied by the eunuchs ; and when there are a number, 
 as we then were, — Mandarins, painters, servants, and 
 Europeans, — they count them all without distinction, 
 one by one, both at entering and coming out. 
 
 We repaired afterwards to the same place where 
 Brother Pansi had begun to paint the young page. 
 He was going on with the portrait, when the Em- 
 peror, who had become more and more satisfied with 
 his skill, sent to us to say that he could discontinue 
 the portrait he had commenced, and come and paint 
 one of himself. We entered immediately into the 
 
GLIMPSES OF THE COURT OF CHINA. 1 23 
 
 apartment of his Majesty, — Brother Pansi and my- 
 self, — where we at first were going through the neces- 
 sary ceremony, which he did not allow us to finish, 
 but, causing us immediately to rise, he inquired with 
 regard to the age and country of Brother Pansi, the 
 church where he lived, &c. He then explained the 
 manner in which he wished to be painted. The taste 
 of the Chinese, indeed, inclines them to have their 
 portraits in full face, not somewhat in profile, as is 
 customary in Europe. It is necessary that both sides 
 of the face should be equally seen in the portrait, and 
 there should be no other difference between them but 
 that which is created by the shadows, in accordance 
 with the side from which the light comes, so that the 
 portrait should be always looking at the spectator. 
 For this reason, however, it is much more difficult to 
 succeed in this kind of painting. 
 
 But the Emperor, having concluded that by the 
 multitude of his engagements it would be difficult for 
 him to retain us in his presence all the time which 
 would be necessary for the execution of his design, 
 decided that Brother Pansi should paint the portrait 
 in private from one of his former portraits, and that 
 afterwards he should make in his presence the altera- 
 tions which the time that had elapsed had imprinted 
 on his features. I mentioned this to Brother Pansi, 
 and in concert with him I said to the first eunuch of 
 the Presence that the Emperor, in granting to Brother 
 Pansi the honor to paint his portrait, expected him to 
 paint him as he now really is ; that, whatever resem- 
 blance there might be in the older portraits, they 
 
124 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 represented the features of his Majesty as they were 
 at that time, but that age and circumstances always 
 produce some change in the expression, and if, by 
 consulting a portrait then made, one should execute 
 to-day a portrait of the Emperor, it would resemble 
 what his Majesty was at that time, but not what he 
 now really is. I added that, whatever corrections 
 might subsequently be made in the presence of the 
 Emperor and by consulting his features, the portrait, 
 in spite of these corrections, could never exhibit that 
 certain perfection which is the result of the first 
 sketch, when one has taken care to foresee the differ- 
 ent expressions, on observing which the perfection 
 depends. I prayed the eunuch to make these repre- 
 sentations to his Majesty, as they had excited in 
 Brother Pansi the fear that he should not succeed 
 as he wished. 
 
 The eunuch executed his commission perfectly ; 
 and the Emperor, having sent for us, said that the 
 considerations which had been presented to him were 
 just. "I am," he remarked, "entirely different from 
 what I was when you first arrived here. . How long 
 ago was that .-* " 
 
 " Sire," I replied, " it is twenty-eight years that I 
 have been in Pekin, and twenty-six years since I had 
 the honor for the first time to speak to his Majesty, 
 when he charged me with the arrangement of the 
 waters with which he wished to embellish his palace, 
 both here and at Ytien-ming-gticn" (the House of 
 Pleasure). 
 
 "Well," replied the Emperor, "you should then be 
 
GLIMPSES OF THE COURT OF CHINA. 1 25 
 
 able to remember how thin and slender I was at that 
 time ; and is it not true that, if since then you had 
 never seen me, you would not now be able to recog- 
 nize me, seeing how much stouter I now am ? " 
 
 " It is," said I, " the constant exercise which his 
 Majesty takes, and the diet which he observes, which 
 contribute to this stoutness. Ordinarily, in proportion 
 as age advances, we perceive the strength and the 
 health to decrease. On the contrary, the strength 
 and health of his Majesty seems to increase with his 
 age. It is the goodness of God, which wishes to 
 preserve him for his people." 
 
 " Although I feel myself to be strong and robust," 
 replied the Emperor, " yet I perceive that my features 
 have changed, year after year, and that I am entirely 
 different from what I was when my old portraits were 
 taken. Therefore, Pan-ting-chang " (the Chinese 
 name of Brother Pansi) " has reason for what he 
 says. Let him paint me now, and put himself in the 
 situation which he thinks will be most proper to 
 enable him to succeed." 
 
 The Emperor then asked about what time it would 
 require to paint him, and whether during that time he 
 would be able to employ himself in reading, writing, 
 &c. After having questioned Brother Pansi, I replied 
 to him " that the first sketch would occupy two or 
 three hours ; that after some days, when the colors 
 should have dried, the painter would put on the sec- 
 ond coat of coloring, which would take more or less 
 time as the first sitting had been more or less success- 
 ful. As to the rest, as soon as his Majesty wished, 
 
126 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 he could leave the work, and take it up again when- 
 ever it pleased him, without it suffering any injury." 
 And I added, " that, while he was engaged in the 
 painting, his Majesty could read or write, and do 
 whatever he thought proper, provided that his face 
 was always in such a direction that the painter could 
 see his different features, and that, when the work re- 
 quired a certain position, he should take the liberty 
 of giving his Majesty notice of it." 
 
 " Do not fail, then," said the Emperor, " to let me 
 know when a change of position will be necessary." 
 
 The apartment in which the Emperor then was is 
 in the taste of all the other apartments, or, rather, 
 according to the taste of all persons in Pekin who are 
 somewhat easy in their fortunes. On account of the 
 earthquakes which are so frequent here, the beams 
 and roofs of Chinese buildings are not supported on 
 the walls, but on wooden columns, placed on bases of 
 stone, so that often the roof of a building is finished 
 before the walls are built. In this way it happens 
 that, in an earthquake, the walls are sometimes over- 
 turned, without the roof, or even the interior of the 
 building, being injured. The walls are commonly of 
 brick, very appropriately worked on the outside, some- 
 times even ornamented with different designs in 
 sculpture, and on the inner side covered either with 
 stucco, or with boards in the apartments which they 
 wish to line with paper. In other apartments the 
 walls are covered with joiner's work. 
 
 The apartment of the Emperor is constructed in 
 this taste, and is about ninety feet in length by 
 
GLIMPSES OF THE COURT OF CHINA. 1 27 
 
 twenty-five or twenty-six in breadth, and is divided 
 into three parts. The middle division is the Hall of 
 the Throne. Outside the whole length of this building 
 there is a covered gallery, about five feet in width, 
 formed by two ranges of columns. The ceilings, both 
 of the hall and over the gallery, are ornamented with 
 different works in sculpture, which are partly gilded, 
 partly painted and varnished. The columns are always 
 glazed in crimson. Stone steps extend along the 
 length of these galleries, elevating them four feet 
 above the pavement of the court, and on a level with 
 the floor of the hall, in the middle of which is placed 
 the throne of his Majesty, elevated several steps. 
 The throne is set off with different ornaments, rich 
 and in good taste, the greater part of which were made 
 in Europe. What impressed me most among these 
 ornaments were two clocks of middling elegance, the 
 supports of which, either of gold or of silver gilt, were 
 made to represent branches, with their leaves en- 
 twined. Under the base of the one is an elephant, 
 which made different movements with his trunk. On 
 the branches of the other support is a dragon. The 
 whole is formed in a way so natural that one would 
 imagine the animals to be alive. From the ceiling, 
 in accordance with the custom of the Chinese, are 
 suspended lanterns of different kinds, and other orna- 
 ments, with their tassels of silk of different colors. 
 This Hall is used only for ordinary audiences. There 
 is in the interior of the palace, for receptions of cere- 
 mony, one particular hall, the grandeur and magnifi- 
 cence of which are in accordance with the majesty of 
 the sovereign to whom homage is there rendered. 
 
128 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 The Emperor is lodged in the eastern chamber of 
 the palace. The private apartments on the western 
 side are devoted to his consort, the ladies vi'ho wait 
 on her, and the small children. But the Emperor, as 
 well as the Empress, the princesses, the Maids of 
 Honor, and all other females who wait on them, have 
 their apartments separate ; and, in accordance with 
 the custom of the country, never during the day is the 
 li^mperor seen with any one of the other sex. 
 
 In the chamber where the Emperor is lodged, on 
 the northern side, is an alcove, shut in by different 
 wooden arches. These arches sustain a ceiling raised 
 about eight or nine feet above the floor of the cham- 
 ber. Above this alcove are placed different precious 
 vases and pots of natural or artificial flowers, which 
 one is able to see from the floor of the chamber below. 
 Within the alcove are disposed in ranges different 
 shelves of varnished japanned work, ornamented with 
 precious vases of all kinds of jewelry. There are 
 there, also, under the alcove, and in different parts 
 of the chamber, vases of different kinds of natural 
 flowers ; for here during the whole winter, and even 
 during the most severe cold weather, they possess the 
 secret of causing these plants and trees of all kinds 
 to flourish, and with less fresh air than in France. I 
 have known peach-trees and pomegranate-trees to 
 bear the double blossoms in January, and immedi- 
 ately afterwards the peaches and pomegranates, which 
 became very large. I should have had difficulty in 
 persuading myself that they came of these double 
 blossoms, if many times I had not seen with my own 
 
GLIMPSES OF THE COURT OF CHINA. 1 29 
 
 eyes the progress of these different trees, and thus had 
 present proof. 
 
 At the end of the chamber in which was the Em- 
 peror there was a dais, about two feet in height and 
 six feet in breadth, which extended the width of the 
 apartment. The dais and the rest of the floor were 
 covered with a carpet of silk, the groundwork of 
 which was yellow, ornamented with different figures 
 of crimson color. Often these carpets are of scarlet 
 or other fine cloths, of velvet or different European 
 stuffs. To guard against dampness, they are accus- 
 tomed to place between the carpet and the pavement 
 a kind of felt, which they put on every thing on 
 which they sit. The pavement of this chamber, and 
 of all the apartments of the Emperor, is formed of 
 bricks, which they call here kin-tcJioii-e7i, that is, metal- 
 lic bricks, because, when they work on them, they ring 
 like brass, or any other sounding metal. They are 
 two feet square, and are made in the southern prov- 
 inces. The kind of sand which they employ in mak- 
 ing them is prepared as emery is procured to polish 
 instruments of metal. Having mixed the sand with 
 water in a vessel, they suffer it to be undisturbed for 
 some time, so that the larger particles are deposited 
 at the bottom of the vessel. They then turn off the 
 water into other vessels, where it is again permitted 
 to remain for a long time, until the finer particles 
 with which it is impregnated are deposited. It is of 
 this deposit that the bricks are made, the grain of 
 which is so fine that the fragments are in great de- 
 mand to use in sharpening razors and polishing differ- 
 
I30 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 ent instruments of metal. Each of these bricks will 
 bring forty ounces of silver, which is equal to one 
 hundred crowns of our money in France. In con- 
 structing the pavement, they unite the bricks together 
 with a mastic composed of varnish ; and, when they are 
 placed in their position, they cover them with a varnish, 
 which renders the surface brilliant, and so hard that 
 in walking over it there is no more impression made 
 than if it were a pavement of marble. 
 
 The Emperor was seated in the middle of the dais, 
 his back towards the East, sitting Tartar-fashion, his 
 legs crossed on a cushion of yellow damask. An- 
 other cushion of the same material was against the 
 wall to serve for a back. At his sides he had small 
 tables, eight or ten inches in height, on which were 
 pencils, red and black ink, inkstands, different written 
 papers, and some volumes of books. His robe was 
 lined with a costly fur, the price of which exceeded 
 nine or ten times that of the most beautiful sables. 
 As it was during the ceremonies of the New Year, the 
 robe which covered this fur was of yellow damask, 
 ■vVorked with dragons of five talons. (These dragons 
 with five talons are to the Emperors of China what 
 the flatrs-de-lis are to our kings. If any, except the 
 Emperor, should at any time use the dragons in em- 
 broidery, in painting, or in sculpture, they must repre- 
 sent them with but four talons.) The dress above it 
 was of violet color. It descended around the body, 
 even to the dais, and entirely covered the robe. The 
 cap which he wore was of black fur, with one pearl on 
 the top. This pearl, which I have seen near by and 
 
GLIMPSES OF THE COURT OF CHINA. 131 
 
 handled, is fourteen lines ^ in length. The base is a 
 little oval, and at the top it forms two blunted points. 
 In speaking of the position of the Emperor, there 
 is one observation, made both by Brother Pansi and 
 myself, which excited in us some surprise. It is this, 
 that during the different sittings, however long they 
 might be, while we were employed on the painting, he 
 was at the same distance from the cushion which 
 served as a back to his seat, and we have never seen 
 him support himself, or lean back upon it. Often 
 when he had become animated in speaking, or partic- 
 ularly when he drew to his side the things of which 
 he had need, he made different movements of his 
 head, his arms, and his bust, but we never saw him 
 make the least movement with his legs, or in the 
 slightest degree change their position. This trait 
 may appear to be, and indeed is, in itself a trifle : it 
 shows, nevertheless, how much the Emperor gives to 
 his Tartars an example of shunning every thing which 
 ministers to the love of ease. This example authorizes 
 him to punish, or even to disgrace, any one, no matter 
 who he may be, whom he knows to be living an 
 effeminate life, and seeking his ease with too much 
 care, even though he might have in other respects the 
 necessary capacity. In the apartments of his Majesty 
 are neither chairs nor stools ; because, if he showed 
 any one the grace to cause him to be seated, he could 
 only sit on the floor, which is always covered with a 
 carpet. If sometimes he wishes to distinguish in a 
 marked manner a prince of the blood, a general of 
 
 1 A line was one-twelfth of an inch. — Trans. 
 
132 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 the army, or any other person in whom he recognizes 
 eminent merit, then he causes him to sit on the same 
 dais with himself. 
 
 As it was then excessively cold, on a pedestal in 
 the middle of the chamber was placed a large bronze 
 vase, filled with live coals, well kindled, but covered 
 with ashes to keep up a temperate atmosphere. Be- 
 sides this kind of brazier, we know that in China they 
 use a species of stove, formed by pipes which run 
 below the floor of the chamber, and carry thither the 
 heat of a furnace, with which they are connected. 
 This furnace is buried in the earth outside of the 
 chamber, generally on the side opposite the windows. 
 The hot air of this furnace, when it is lighted, circu- 
 lating through the pipes, warms the entire floor, and 
 consequently the chamber itself, with a uniform heat, 
 without producing either smoke or any disagreeable 
 odor. But the Emperor, who did not regard cold, 
 rarely caused it to be lighted. 
 
 And now let me tell you briefly in what consist the 
 ornaments of the Emperor's chamber. A number of 
 tables of japanned work, artistically executed, and 
 covered with all sorts of trinkets, were arranged on 
 the different sides of the room. The lanterns and other 
 "Ornaments suspended from the ceiling are the same 
 as in the Hall of the Throne. Some small portraits 
 of former wise men of the country, executed in ink, 
 are hung on the wainscoting of the alcove. In place 
 of tapestry, a beautiful white paper, pasted on the 
 walls and the ceiling, renders the chamber exceedingly 
 light, without fatiguing the sight. The Emperor has, 
 
GLIMPSES OF THE COURT OF CHINA. 1 33 
 
 however, tapestries in many of his palaces, to which he 
 goes from time to time to walk or repose himself. 
 These same palaces are also ornamented with glass, 
 pictures, clocks, candlesticks, and all sorts of other 
 ornaments, which are the most costly of those we 
 have in Europe. The Mandarins of the provinces 
 present him with every variety of thing of this kind. 
 That which Tsong-tore, of Canton, alone offered him, 
 during the last year, in the twelfth month, amounted 
 to more than thirty ouan, that is, three hundred and 
 twenty-five thousand livres. But the Emperor makes 
 little use of these ornaments in the places where he 
 commonly lives. 
 
 The magnificence of the roof of the main building 
 announces the resident beneath it. The tiles, which 
 are varnished in yellow, shine with such brightness 
 that, when the sun lights them up, you would sup- 
 pose they were gilded. The crown and parapets of 
 the roof are ornamented with different works in 
 sculpture, of the same material as the tiles, and var- 
 nished like them. However, they sometimes varnish 
 these tiles with different colors, — green, blue, violet, 
 flesh-color, &c., — and the greater part of these 
 tints are beautiful and very vivid. They do not 
 use them for any buildings but the residence of the 
 Emperor or the temples ; but for the apartments 
 where the Emperor usually lodges they ordinarily 
 employ only yellow. 
 
 After this digression, — which, while giving an idea 
 of the apartments of an Emperor of China, will give 
 also an idea of the situation in which was his Majesty 
 
134 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 when Brother Pansi took his portrait, — I return to 
 what relates to the portrait itself. 
 
 The Emperor, before Brother Pansi put his hand to 
 the work, caused him to approach very near him, so 
 that the painter could study him at his ease ; and, 
 having made him remark some features of which he 
 desired the Brother to take particular notice, he 
 charged me to draw his attention to them. Brother 
 Pansi, after having considered at his ease the features 
 of his Majesty, himself placed the easel at seven or 
 eight feet distant from him. I stationed myself by 
 his side, and he began pencilling out the first sketch. 
 
 While he was marking it out, the Emperor put to 
 me many questions on the names and difference of 
 our Churches ; why we called them the Church of the 
 East, the Church of the West, &c. ; what we did in 
 Europe before we came to China ; whether all the 
 Europeans who were at Pekin were members of re- 
 ligious fraternities ; why scarcely any came there but 
 the members ; at what age they took their vows ; 
 whether it was since we became members that we 
 cultivated the sciences and arts which we exercised 
 there .'' I endeavored to satisfy him on all these points. 
 I told him that the names which our Churches bore, 
 of South, East, and West, were titles they received 
 with reference to the palace itself, having been given 
 them in consequence of their situation with respect 
 to it ; that our Church, for example, being at the west 
 of the palace, they named it the Church of the West, 
 although in the city they often called it the North 
 Church, because it is situated in the northern part of 
 
GLIMPSES OF THE COURT OF CHINA. 1 35 
 
 Pekin. I added, afterwards, that in Europe, before we 
 came here, we were members of the religious frater- 
 nity ; that usually at sixteen or eighteen years of age 
 they took these vows, and sometimes even at a much 
 more advanced age ; that the object of this state, 
 which they call si-on-tuo (it is thus that they desig- 
 nate those under religious vows), properly is to labor 
 to improve ourselves and to improve others. To 
 effect this, while in Europe, we taught the young, 
 grammar, eloquence, philosophy, and mathematics. 
 " But," I continued, " all these sciences, sire, as has 
 been often said to your Majesty, are nothing but our 
 secondary object. Our first and principal object is to 
 teach religion, to correct the vices, and to reform the 
 morals. As to painting, clock-making, and the other 
 arts of this kind, when any persons were acquainted 
 with them before they took the vows, they sometimes 
 continued to exercise them as a mere amusement, but 
 they do not acquire these things except when they 
 think of coming to Pekin. As we know that your 
 Majesty has a taste for these different arts, those who 
 design coming here cultivate them, and even begin 
 learning them, if they have a peculiar talent for 
 them." 
 
 " Pan-ting-chang," said the Emperor, " has he ac- 
 quired the art of painting since he took the vows .-' " 
 
 " It is only a short time," I replied, ' that Pan-ting- 
 chang has been a member of the Order. He was a 
 secular painter, and had already acquired a reputation 
 in his profession. As he did not wish to marry, and 
 w^as living in the world almost as one under vows, 
 
136 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 those who in Europe were interested for us, and 
 whom we had informed that we wished one or two 
 good painters, proposed to him to become a member 
 of the Order, that he might be able to labor with us 
 in the service of your Majesty ; and he consented." 
 
 " Is it the case," said the Emperor, " that if he had 
 not become a member, he could not have come 
 here ? " 
 
 " He could have done so, sire ; but, not being a 
 Brother of our Order, we should have been able to 
 interest ourselves for him only to a certain extent ; 
 perhaps by aiding him in his voyage hither ; perhaps 
 in presenting him to your Majesty; or, it may be, in 
 having care of him while here." 
 
 " But," said his Majesty, " if you know him to be 
 an honest man, why should there be any difficulty in 
 your interesting yourself for him } " 
 
 " Sire," I said, " in the reign of Canghi, we wished 
 to have a painter here ; and not having one of our 
 Order, we invited a layman skilled in his art, who 
 really had the good fortune to please your august 
 grandfather during the many years that he worked in 
 his service. Finally, notwithstanding all the favors 
 which his Majesty heaped upon him, and notwith- 
 standing all the efforts we made to retain him, he 
 positively determined to return to the bosom of his 
 family. As we had known him to be an honest man 
 and incapable of acting in any way which would dis- 
 grace the Europeans, and as besides we ourselves had 
 brought him here, we lodged him in our Church. 
 But if, unhappily, he had behaved badly, as he was 
 
GLIMPSES OF THE COURT OF CHINA. I 3/ 
 
 not a member of our Order, and he had neither here 
 nor in Europe any superior to whom he looked for 
 the regulation of his morals and conduct, we would 
 have had no power to reclaim him to the require- 
 ments of reason or to keep him in the bounds of duty. 
 This, then, is the reason why we do not again propose 
 to your Majesty any but those who are members of 
 our Order. 
 
 " It was again for this cause that the Tsong-ton of 
 Canton, having sent here a layman to work at glass- 
 making, your august grandfather, on account of these 
 inconveniences, of which he was himself aware, did 
 not propose to us to lodge him in our church, but 
 allotted him his own private residence and an income 
 sufficient to support it. But the glass-manufacturer, 
 after having worked for some years in the service of 
 his Majesty, acted like the painter, and returned to 
 Europe." 
 
 The Emperor had frequently spoken to encourage 
 Brother Pansi, for fear he should be too timid in his 
 presence, " in which case," said he, " the fear of not 
 succeeding will of itself prevent his success. Let 
 him paint me," he added, " with the same confidence 
 with which he paints an ordinary person ; let him 
 adopt the position which is most convenient ; and let 
 him notify me, without any reserve, of any thing which 
 would prejudice or contribute to the perfection of his 
 work." 
 
 This attention which his Majesty condescended to 
 exhibit with regard to every thing which could impede 
 or obstruct Brother Pansi induced him again to fear 
 
138 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 that, if he continued to talk; the Brother might have 
 his attention distracted by it. " In chattering as we 
 are now doing," he said to me, familiarly, " I fear lest 
 the painter may be troubled by it. Will he not get 
 on better if I keep myself quiet .'' " I answered his 
 Majesty, "that, as long as he was speaking, his face 
 had an air of kindness and serenity which was exceed- 
 ingly becoming in a portrait, but which would not be 
 so plainly marked if he were applying himself to any 
 work. The application, besides, rendered the expres- 
 sion of the face less open, the features less marked, 
 and consequently more difficult to paint," 
 
 " Since this is so," said the Emperor, placing upon 
 the table the manuscript which he held in his hand, 
 " let us then talk ; " and, actually, for nearly seven 
 hours that Brother Pansi, in different sittings, was 
 employed in painting his Majesty, during the whole 
 time he put to me a continual series of questions on 
 all sorts of matters, telling me frequently to be seated, 
 as, in view of my feeble health and advanced age, he 
 feared lest I should be incommoded by remaining so 
 long standing ; and he lowered himself to speak to 
 me with all the kindness and familiarity which a 
 father would use towards one of his children. 
 
 Towards noon the Emperor sent us to dine, and 
 directed us to return at half-past twelve. We went 
 to Ki-siang-kong (the Place of Painting), where our 
 dinner awaited us. Before half-past twelve, having 
 returned to the side-chamber where Brother Pansi 
 had painted in the morning, his Majesty sent to 
 Brother Pansi and myself each a large piece of silk 
 
GLIMPSES OF THE COURT OF CHINA. 1 39 
 
 similar to those which we had received on the occa- 
 sion of the presentation of the telescope, and to each 
 one also three pairs of purses, causing us to be told, 
 at the same time, to return immediately to him, that 
 Brother Pansi might continue his painting. As soon 
 as we were in his presence, we commenced going 
 through the ceremony of returning thanks, but, caus- 
 ing us immediately to rise, he said to us, with kind- 
 ness, that he was entirely satisfied. The Brother 
 placed himself again at his easel and I at his side. 
 The Emperor resumed his conversation, interrupting 
 it, from time to time, by causing the picture to be 
 brought to him, that he might see in what state it 
 was. 
 
 The left eyebrow of the Emperor is a little broken 
 off by an interval of about the twelfth of an inch in 
 breadth, the hair which should fill it growing on the 
 border of the eyebrow, below the vacant space. As, 
 however, the hair of the eyebrow conceals this de- 
 formity, it can scarcely be noticed ; but the Emperor, 
 causing us to come near him, pointed out to us this 
 separation, and told me to recommend to Brother 
 Pansi to copy it exactly. I said to him, " If your 
 Majesty had not drawn our attention to it, we should 
 not have perceived it." 
 
 " Well," said the Emperor, smiling, " notify him to 
 paint this defect in such a way that one will not per- 
 ceive* it unless he has been warned, but when his 
 attention has been drawn to it, he will see it. It is 
 my portrait he is to paint ; it is not right that he 
 should flatter me. If I have defects, he ought to 
 
140 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 represent them, otherwise it will not be my likeness. 
 It is the same with the wrinkles on my face. It is 
 necessary to give the painter notice of them, to make 
 it more life-like." 
 
 I said that " really they were so little apparent that 
 the painter would have difhculty in perceiving them." 
 
 " They do appear but little," said the Emperor. 
 "They are not as evident as yours, though I am 
 much older than you." 
 
 Immediately he made us come near him, and, hav- 
 ing had a small mirror brought, he held it with one 
 hand, and with the other he pointed out each of the 
 wrinkles. " What are those, if they are not wrinkles } 
 He must represent all of them, and not make me 
 appear younger than I am. After having passed 
 sixty years, would it not be extraordinary if I should 
 be without wrinkles } " He caused them several 
 times afterwards to bring him the portrait, and he was 
 so well satisfied that he supposed it to be finished. 
 When he was told that it was only the first sketch, 
 and that, after some days, when the colors had dried, 
 it would be necessary to have a second sitting, " If," 
 said he, " I have now found the portrait so well exe- 
 cuted, what will it be when you have again worked 
 on it ? " 
 
 Several days passed, during which Brother Pansi 
 retouched his work at our residence. When we re- 
 turned to the palace, we were conducted to the side 
 of the apartment of the Emperor. His Majesty was 
 not in his ordinary room, but in another palace, where 
 he took part in the customary spectacles at the time 
 
GLIMPSES OF THE COURT OF CHINA. 14I 
 
 of the New Year. They carried to him the portrait, 
 and told him it was considered finished for the 
 present. He answered us " that his first intention 
 had been to have only a half-length portrait, but that 
 it was necessary to enlarge it, by adding to it at the 
 top, the bottom, and the two sides, with prepared 
 paper, and he would himself settle the dimensions of 
 the picture." It is well for me to state that here 
 pictures are not painted on canvas, but on the paper 
 of Coree, which is very strong and smoother than 
 canvas. They prepare this paper in the same way 
 that our painters prepare the canvas on which they 
 wish to paint. In increasing the size of this paper 
 intended for a picture, they are able to do so as much 
 as they wish, without it appearing that any thing had 
 been added to it. 
 
 The 30th of January, the last day of the first month, 
 was the day fixed for Brother Pansi to go on with the 
 portrait of the Emperor ; and he added to it the bon- 
 net and drapery. It was necessary first that Brother 
 Pansi should begin the portrait of another young man, 
 and that the picture shoidd be of the size of the for- 
 mer. They immediately conducted us to the neigh- 
 borhood of the apartment of the Emperor, who was 
 not then in his ordinary room, but in TJiay-kong. 
 A young man of twenty-four or twenty-five years 
 of age then presented himself, and the artist im- 
 mediately sketched the portrait. The page himself 
 carried it to the Emperor, who was entirely satis- 
 fied ; and he, as well as the eunuchs, said that 
 nothing was wanting to the portrait but the power 
 
142 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 of speech. It was, however, nothing but the first 
 sketch. 
 
 It was at the Thay-kong, where the Emperor passes 
 three days in sohtude,^ that he caused us to be 
 brought to him, that Brother Pansi might continue 
 the portrait of his Majesty. At eight o'clock in the 
 morning we returned to Ki-siang-kong (the Place of 
 Painting), during a severe snow-storm, which did not 
 cease until evening. They told us that the Emperor 
 was occupied with some unexpected business, and in 
 consequence could not admit us before noon. But at 
 eleven o'clock they came to seek us, from his Majesty. 
 It was necessary for us to go at once, notwithstanding 
 the snow, which fell in large flakes. We traversed 
 the courts, the terraces, and the galleries, conducted 
 by the eunuchs, who, whenever we passed any open- 
 ing, from which we could look into the apartment 
 where it was possible any princess or other person of 
 the sex might be, made a signal, as much to give no- 
 tice to the eunuchs who were on duty as sentinels to 
 shut the open doors or windows through which one 
 might be able to look, as to learn whether any princess 
 might not be on her way to visit another princess, or 
 for some other reason. For, although in the interior 
 of the palace itself, neither the princesses nor any 
 other females can go from one apartment to the other, 
 however near they may be, but in closed carriages, 
 carried by the eunuchs, and differing according to the 
 
 1 This is an annual fast with the Chinese, a period of retreat from 
 the world, and abstinence, when the Emperor thus prepares himself 
 to offer sacrifices in the temples. — Trans. 
 
GLIMPSES OF THE COURT OF CHINA. 143 
 
 different degrees of dignity of the ladies whom they 
 bear. Nevertheless, no person whatever except the 
 eunuchs, even though he might be a son or a brother 
 of the Emperor, is allowed to meet them on their way. 
 The eunuchs having given the signal, he turns back 
 immediately, or, if circumstances prevent his turning 
 back, it is necessary to turn to him the hinder part of 
 the carriage when he passes. 
 
 Brother Pansi was much surprised at all these cere- 
 monies, so foreign to the customs of Europe. But 
 what embarrassed him most was the melting snow, 
 which rendered the pavement so slippery that, being 
 little accustomed to all the attire of Chinese dresses, 
 which the season obliged him to wear, he was near 
 falling every moment. 
 
 After a walk of a quarter of an hour, entirely within 
 the interior of the palace, we arrived at a court which 
 is immediately in front of the Thay-kong. This court 
 is shut in by three grand main buildings that enclose 
 it on three sides. The fourth side fronts the north, 
 and separates it from the Thay-kong. It is surrounded 
 by an open gallery or terrace, of eight or nine feet in 
 height, ornamented in its entire length, at regular dis- 
 tances, with bronze vases and statues and different 
 designs in stone. Above this terrace is situated the 
 Thay-kong, or Palace of Retirement, the taste of which 
 is precisely the same as that of the apartment of the 
 Emperor, which I have already described. The divi- 
 sions of the chambers there are also almost the same ; 
 nevertheless, the structure of the roofs, the ornaments 
 of the ceilings, and all the other accompaniments, are 
 
144 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 of a taste so varied, so noble, and so magnificent, that 
 each time we have seen them it has always been with 
 new admiration. 
 
 Since it was still the festival of the New Year, the 
 ceremonial did not permit that during these three days 
 of retirement the Emperor should wear his robes of 
 state. It was necessary for him to wear the dress of 
 partial mourning ; that is to say, the ordinary habit 
 of only one color, such as he used every day which 
 was not one of ceremony, and a robe above it of 
 black. 
 
 As soon as we had entered his Majesty's apartment, 
 Brother Pansi went on with his picture. Towards two 
 o'clock, when they were ready to serve his supper, he 
 sent us to rest, and ordered the eunuchs to provide a 
 collation for us in an adjoining chamber. During his 
 supper he sent us tea and milk from his own table. 
 At a quarter past two we were recalled. 
 
 I have already stated that the taste of the Chinese, 
 and particularly that of the Emperor, led them to 
 desire in their pictures only so much shade as was 
 absolutely necessary. His Majesty wished also that 
 the hairs of his beard and of his eyebrows should be 
 separately so distinctly marked that when near the 
 portrait one could distinguish them. I recalled to 
 mind, on this occasion, that one day the Brother 
 Attiret, whose eminent talent for painting is well 
 known, during the first years of his residence here 
 had painted a flower, upon which Brother Castiglioni, 
 who had been here for some years, having by chance 
 cast his eye, he said to Brother Attiret, " There are 
 
GLIMPSES OF THE COURT OF CHINA. 1 45 
 
 one or two leaves too many in the contour of that 
 flower." " But," said Attiret, " as to the number of 
 leaves which form the whole flower, who would think 
 it necessary to count them ? " " A good painter in 
 Europe," replied Castiglioni, " would pronounce your 
 flower to be perfect ; but here there is not an appren- 
 tice-painter who, at the first glance, will not tell you 
 at once that your flower has not in its contour the 
 number of leaves which it should have." And Brother 
 Attiret immediately convinced himself, by showing the 
 flower to Chinese painters. I had seen the same thing 
 done with reference to the number of scales which 
 ought to be in each row on the body of a fish. Al- 
 though the Emperor did not enter into this kind 
 of minuticB, he nevertheless wished, following the 
 taste of his country, that his beard and eyebrows 
 should be painted in such a way that at least a 
 large number of hairs could be distinguished, the 
 one from the other, by a stroke of the brush made 
 for each. But, as this labor consumed consider- 
 able time, I said to him that Brother Pansi could 
 do this at his leisure in private, and that it would 
 not be necessary for him to .be in the presence of 
 his Majesty. 
 
 Some days afterwards all the court removed to the 
 House of Pleasure ( Yuen-ming-gueii). I accompanied 
 Brother Pansi thither to act as interpreter. I had 
 received orders to go thither as soon as the cold 
 should be a little moderated, to instruct the four' 
 eunuchs in the manner of using the air-pump, and to 
 explain to the Emperor the different experiments. 
 7 J 
 
146 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 The scene was therefore transferred to the House 
 of Pleasure. 
 
 During the whole course of the year, the Emperor 
 resides only about three months at Pekin. He ordi- 
 narily returns there some time before the winter sol- 
 stice, which always occurs in the eleventh month of 
 the Chinese year; and before the 15th of the first 
 month of the following year the Emperor, with all his 
 suite, goes to reside at the House of Pleasure, which 
 is situated two leagues north-west from Pekin. Dur- 
 ing these three months of the year that he passes at 
 Pekin, he is occupied with a multitude of ceremonies, 
 which require his presence. All the rest of the year, 
 except the time when he is engaged in the chase in 
 Tartary, is passed at Yuen-mijig-giien, whence he re- 
 pairs to Pekin as often as any ceremony obliges him. 
 The ceremony finished, he returns at once. This is 
 the House of Pleasure, to which they have now added 
 the embellishments which are found in the ancient 
 palace, and in a great number of other palaces, each 
 one more magnificent than the other, which his Maj- 
 esty has caused to be built, and the precincts of which 
 he has enlarged, so that to-day the circumference is 
 not less than two leagues. 
 
 We can say of this House of Pleasure that it is a 
 town, or rather a collection of towns, within which it 
 is situated, and which contains more than a million of 
 souls. It has different names. The part of this town 
 in which our French fraternity has a small residence, 
 wherein to lodge those of us who are occupied in work- 
 ing in the palace of his Majesty, they name Hai-tien. 
 
GLIMPSES OF THE COURT OF CHINA. 147 
 
 The House of Pleasure of the Emperor they call " the 
 garden of perfect brightness." The House of Pleas- 
 ure of the Emperor's mother, ver}' near that of his 
 Majesty, is " the garden where reigns a pleasant 
 spring." One other House of Pleasure, a short dis- 
 tance from it, is called " the mountain of the extensive 
 view." Another, at some distance from it, is named 
 " the garden of brilliant tranquillity." In the midst of 
 the palace of the Emperor is a mountain called " the 
 mountain of the precious fountain." This fountain, 
 indeed, furnished water for all the palaces which I 
 have mentioned ; and the water afterwards formed a 
 canal that extended as far as Pekin. But, since the 
 reigning Emperor has covered this mountain with 
 magnificent edifices, this spring, although still abun- 
 dant, does not furnish half the water which it formerly 
 did.i 
 
 In this House of Pleasure, at the entrance of the 
 gardens, is situated the yo7i-y-koan, which is the place 
 where the Chinese and European painters, the 
 European clock-makers, those who are employed in 
 making different kinds of machinery, and the work- 
 men in precious stones and ivory, are engaged in their 
 business. Beyond this inner laboratory, where the 
 Emperor comes from time to time to see the works 
 which are going on, there are around the palace a 
 great number of workshops of all kinds ; for many 
 artisans are continually occupied in every variety of 
 labor to ornament the palace of his Majesty. 
 
 1 In another letter one of the other missionaries refers to this 
 House of Pleasure, and calls it "the Versailles of China." — Traru. 
 
148 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 The 8th of February, being the 17th of the first 
 month, was the day on which the different workmen 
 who were there employed returned to the Jou-y-koan. 
 Brother Pansi went thither ; and, by order of the Em- 
 peror, he was conducted to one of the palaces, that he 
 might retouch there the portrait of the second young 
 man which he had painted. Father Vantavon acted 
 as his interpreter while awaiting my arrival, which was 
 not long delayed, by an express order of his Majesty, 
 I did not, however, remain there long, as it was neces- 
 sary to return to Pekin. 
 
 Towards the beginning of the second month, the 
 Emperor was obliged to go and offer a great sacrifice 
 in the Temple of Heaven. As soon as the ceremony 
 was finished, he returned to the House of Pleasure ; 
 and I also went in his suite. 
 
 The four eunuchs, whom the Emperor had ap- 
 pointed to learn the use of the air-pump, had now 
 become somewhat acquainted with the manner of its 
 working. The three missionaries, whose department 
 was clock-making, — Father Archange (Barefoot Car- 
 melite, Missionary of the Sacred Congregation), and 
 Fathers Vantavon and Mericourt, the Jesuits, — had 
 exhibited all the different pieces of the machine. The 
 eunuchs who attended me, with some others whom 
 they had brought to aid them, told me that the Em- 
 peror, being very anxious to see the different experi- 
 ments, would come on the loth of March to jfoti-y- 
 komi (the Place of Workshops). I repaired there early 
 in the morning, and made the eunuchs go through 
 the different experiments on the compression, the 
 
GLIMPSES OF THE COURT OF CHINA. 1 49 
 
 expansion, and other properties of air. His Majesty 
 came there after mid-day, and asked me the explana- 
 tion of each. He wished to know the interior work- 
 ing of the instrument. I endeavored to explain it to 
 him by means of the drawings, which I had caused to 
 be executed to represent those parts which one could 
 not see when the machine was not taken to pieces. 
 He directed me to prepare the experiments for the 
 next day, and to observe the same order I had used 
 in the description I had given him. As soon as the 
 Emperor had returned to his apartment, he sent an 
 order to the eunuchs to bring the air-pump, and to 
 repeat all the experiments which had been made 
 before him at the workshops. 
 
 The next day, March nth, when I arrived at the 
 workshops, the eunuchs informed me of every thing 
 which had taken place the day before in the Emperor's 
 apartment, and told me of many questions which his 
 Majesty had asked on the subject, to which they had 
 not been able to give any answers. As his Majesty 
 had given orders to prepare some new experiments, I 
 thought it proper, for good reasons, to make them 
 take the machine to pieces ; after which, having again 
 put it together and tried it, I saw that it was in good 
 condition. When, therefore, his Majesty came, after 
 mid-day, I explained to him the different valves, pis- 
 tons, cocks, &c. 
 
 The Emperor then caused them again to carry the 
 instrument to his apartment, and afterwards to one of 
 the European palaces, to keep it there with a quantity 
 of European curiosities which they had collected. 
 
I50 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 The next day, his Majesty, to show his satisfaction 
 with the air-pump, which was the first he had seen, 
 again gave three large pieces of silk ; for Father 
 Mericourt and Brother Pansi, in whose names it had 
 been presented, one to each of them, and the third for 
 myself. 
 
 I perceive. Monsieur, that I have said nothing again 
 about the meals of the Emperor, as I promised to do. 
 His Majesty always eats alone, and no one assists at 
 his repast but the eunuchs who wait on him. The 
 hour of his dinner is regularly fixed at eight o'clock in 
 the morning, and that of his supper at two o'clock in 
 the afternoon. Besides these two meals, he takes 
 nothing during the day, except some drink to which 
 he is accustomed, and towards night some light refresh- 
 ment. He has never used wine, or any other liquor 
 that could intoxicate. But, for some years past, by 
 advice of his physicians, he uses a kind of very old 
 wine, or rather beer, as are all the Chinese wines, of 
 which he takes a glass hot in the middle of the day, 
 and another towards evening. His ordinary drink dur- 
 ing his meals is tea, either simply steeped in water, 
 or well mixed with milk, or composed of different 
 kinds of tea pounded together, worked and prepared 
 in different fashions. These drinks of prepared tea 
 are generally very agreeable to the taste, and many of 
 them very nourishing, without loading the stomach. 
 
 Notwithstanding the quantity and the magnificence 
 of the dishes which are served to his Majesty, he 
 never spends more than a quarter of an hour at each 
 meal. I should have found difficulty in believing this. 
 
GLIMPSES OF THE COURT OF CHINA. 151 
 
 if I had not myself very often had proof of it when I 
 was in the antechamber of the apartment where he 
 was taking his meal, or in other passages, where I 
 have been taken to see all that was served to him car- 
 ried in or brought out. The dishes, which should be 
 eaten hot, are in vessels of gold or silver, of such con- 
 struction that they will serve at the same time for 
 plates or for chafing-dishes. These vessels have al- 
 most the form of our large silver dishes, arranged 
 with two movable rings, taking the place of what we 
 call the ears of the dish. The bottom of these dishes 
 is double, and about the base of the higher one is 
 soldered a pipe, of two inches in diameter, and raised 
 about an inch above the edge of the dish. It is by 
 this pipe that they introduce between the two bottoms 
 lighted charcoal, for which the pipe serves as an air- 
 hole. The whole has a cover of proper size, around 
 which passes the pipe, and the dishes are thus kept 
 hot for a long time ; so that when his Majesty is 
 walking in the palace or in the gardens, he takes his 
 meal in the place where it finds him when the hour 
 for it has come. All the different dishes which should 
 be served to him are carried by the eunuchs in large 
 varnished boxes, some of which are of several stories. 
 By this means they have nothing to fear from the 
 wind or the rain, or any other injuries from the 
 weather. 
 
 The great officers of the palace are not employed 
 more than a quarter of an hour at each meal. The 
 dishes which they serve at table are already cut up 
 into small pieces. It is not the custom there to serve 
 
152 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 many courses or any dessert. The fruits, pastry, and 
 other dishes of dessert, they eat either in the evening 
 before they go to sleep, or at some time during the 
 day, by way of refreshment. They never use wines 
 at meals which are taken at the palace. Those who 
 find it necessary, take it in the evening, after they 
 have left the palace, and there is no probability that 
 they will have to appear again that day before the 
 Emperor. 
 
THE RHODE ISLAND PRIVA TEER. 1 5 3 
 
 VIII. 
 THE RHODE ISLAND PRIVATEER. 
 
 1745- 
 
 [The following letter contains a chapter in the early history 
 of the Rhode Island people, which has never before been pub- 
 lished. Strange that the story of this cruise, after being buried 
 so long, should now be unearthed ; that, after being locked up in 
 the old French of the original writer for one hundred and thirty 
 years, it should now be brought to light for the benefit of a dis- 
 tant generation ! 
 
 Perhaps it may be a matter of interest to the descendants of 
 Captain Simeon Potter, and of the others, who, in the " Old 
 French War," were together in the good ship " Prince Charles 
 of Lorraine," — 
 
 "As they sailed, as they sailed." 
 
 Note. — We will add an extract from a letter received from a 
 gentleman in Rhode Island, which gives the subsequent life of 
 Captain Potter : — 
 
 " Captain Potter returned to Bristol, where he lived many years, 
 and where he died, leaving a large fortune, which, as he had no chil- 
 dren, was divided among his nine sisters. The silver he brought 
 from Oyapoc was also given to them. Some pieces still remain in the 
 possession of their descendants. 
 
 One of these sisters married Mark Anthony De Wolf, first lieuten- 
 ant at the time of the attack on Oyapoc. He was a young man of 
 French and German descent, brought by Captain Potter from the 
 Island of Guadaloupe." — Trans.\ 
 
154 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 Letter of Father Faiiqjce, Missionary of the Society 
 of Jesus, to Father , of the same Society, con- 
 taining aji Account of the Capture of Fort d' Oyapoc 
 by an English pirate} 
 
 At Cayenne, the 2id of December, 1744. 
 
 • My Reverend Father, — The peace of our Lord 
 be with you ! I will make you a partaker of the 
 greatest happiness I have experienced in my life, by 
 informing you of the opportunity I had of suffering 
 something for the glory of God. 
 
 I returned to Oyapoc on the 25th of October last. 
 Some days afterwards, I received at my house. Father 
 d'Autilhac, who had returned from his mission to 
 Ouanari, and Father d'Huberlant, who is settled at 
 the confluence of the rivers Oyapoc and Camoppi, 
 where he had formed a new mission. Thus we found 
 ourselves, three missionaries, together ; and we were 
 enjoying the pleasure of a reunion, so rare in these 
 countries, when divine Providence, to try us, per- 
 mitted the occurrence of one of those wholly unex- 
 pected events which in one day destroyed the fruit 
 of many years' labor. I will relate it, with all the 
 attending circumstances. 
 
 Scarcely had war been declared between France 
 and England, when the English were sent from North 
 America to cruise among the islands to the leeward 
 of Cayenne. They determined to touch there, in the 
 
 1 The words used by Father Fauque are '■'• corsaire anglois.'''' — 
 Trans. 
 
THE RHODE ISLAND PRIVATEER. 1 55 
 
 hope of capturing some vessel, pillaging some dwell- 
 ings, and, above all, of obtaining some news of the 
 " Senau," which was lost not loftg since near the river 
 Maroni. Having gone too far south, and the water 
 giving out, they approached Oyapoc to obtain some. 
 We should have been naturally informed of it, either 
 by the Indians, who go out frequently to hunt or fish, 
 or by the guard, which our commander had prudently • 
 posted upon a mountain at the mouth of the river, 
 whence they could see to the distance of three or four 
 leagues. But, on the one hand, the Aroiias Indians, 
 who came from Mayacore to Ouanari, having been 
 seized by the English, gave them information of the 
 little colony of Oyapoc, of which they were ignorant, 
 and on which they had no designs when leaving their 
 own country. On the other hand, the sentinels wlio 
 were on guard, and who should have been our security, 
 themselves acted as guides to those who surprised us. 
 Thus every thing united to cause us to fall into the 
 hands of these pirates.^ 
 
 Their chief was Captain Simeon Potter, a native of 
 New England, fitted out to cruise with a commission 
 from Williems Gueene, Governor of Rodelan,^ and 
 commanding the vessel " Prince Charles of Lorraine," 
 
 1 Les corsaires. 
 
 '^ Suspecting that Rodelan and Rhode Island were similar enough in 
 sound to mislead Father Fauque, we examined the list of governors 
 of Rhode Island, and found that William Greene was governor in 
 1744-5. This, therefore, was a Rhode Island privateer. Father 
 Fauque says Captain Potter was "Creole de la A'ouvclle Anglcterre.^'' 
 He, of course, means he was a native of New England, and we have 
 thus translated it. — Tratts. 
 
156 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 of ten cannon, twelve swivel-guns, and a crew of 
 sixty-two men. They cast anchor on the 6th of 
 November, and began taking in water at the moun- 
 tain d'Argent. (This is the name of the country 
 on the inner side of the bay formed by the river 
 d'Oyapoc.) On the 7th, their long-boat, returning to 
 the ship, saw a canoe of Indians, which was coming 
 from Cape Orange. (This is the cape which forms 
 the other point of the bay.) The English pursued 
 them, frightened them by a discharge of their gun, 
 seized them, and carried them on shipboard. The 
 next day, having seen a fire during the night on 
 another mountain, which is called Mount Lucas, they 
 sent and seized two young men who were placed there 
 as sentinels. They might have had time to come and 
 inform us ; but one of them, a traitor to his country, 
 did not wish to do so. 
 
 After having in this way learned the situation, the 
 force, and generally every thing which related to the 
 post of Oyapoc, they determined to surprise it. They 
 attempted the enterprise in the night, between the 
 9th and loth. But, fearing lest daylight might over- 
 take them before their arrival, they turned back, and 
 kept themselves concealed during all the day of the 
 loth. The following night they took their measures 
 better. They arrived a little after the setting of the 
 moon, and, guided by the two young Frenchmen, they 
 landed about a hundred yards from the fort of 
 Oyapoc. 
 
 The sentinel at first took them for Indians or 
 negroes, who came and went at all hours during the 
 
THE RHODE ISLAND PRIVATEER. 1 5/ 
 
 night. He challenged them, but they made no reply, 
 and he then at once concluded they were enemies. 
 Every one woke up in surprise ; but the English 
 were within the place before any one had time to 
 collect his thoughts. For myself, who was living 
 outside the fort, and was roused by the first cry of 
 the sentinel, having opened my door, I saw them file 
 by in great haste ; and, not being myself perceived, I 
 immediately ran to awaken our Fathers. 
 
 So unexpected a surprise in the middle of a dark 
 night, the weakness of the post, the few soldiers 
 there to defend it (for there were not at that time 
 more than ten or twelve men), the frightful shouts of 
 a multitude which we supposed, as was natural, more 
 numerous than it really was, the vivid and terrible 
 fire which they kept up with their guns and pistols on 
 entering the place, — all these things induced each 
 one, by a first impulse of which he was not himself 
 master, to take to flight, and conceal himself in the 
 woods which surrounded us. Our commander, how- 
 ever, fired and wounded in the left arm the English 
 captain, a young man about thirty years of age. What 
 is singular, the captain was the only one wounded on 
 either side. 
 
 Our two missionaries, however, who had no spiritual 
 charge at this post, and one of whom, through his zeal 
 and friendship, wished to remain at my place, pressed 
 by my solicitations, took refuge in the depths of the 
 forest, with some Indians of their attendants and all 
 our servants. For myself, I remained in my house, 
 which was distant from the fort about a hundred 
 
158 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 yards, having resolved to go first to the church to 
 consume the consecrated wafer, and afterwards to carry 
 spiritual aid to the French, supposing that some of 
 them had been wounded there ; as I thought, certainly 
 not without reason, after having heard so much firing 
 of guns, that our people had made some resistance. 
 
 I went out, therefore, to execute the first of these 
 projects ; when a negro servatit, who, through good- 
 ness of heart and fidelity (rare qualities among the 
 slaves), had remained with me, represented to me 
 that I would certainly be discovered, and they would 
 not fail to fire at me in the first heat of the contest. 
 I yielded to these reasons, and, as I only remained to 
 render to my flock all the services demanded by my 
 ministry, I felt scruples at uselessly exposing myself, 
 and determined to wait until break of day to show 
 myself. 
 
 You can easily imagine, my Reverend Father, what 
 a variety of emotions agitated me during the remainder 
 of that night. The air ceaselessly resounded with cries 
 and shouts and yells, and with the discharge of guns 
 and pistols. Presently I heard the doors and windows 
 of the houses opened, and the furniture overthrown 
 with a great crash ; and, as I was sufficiently near to 
 distinguish perfectly the noise they made in the 
 church, I was suddenly seized with an inward horror 
 in the fear lest the Holy Sacrament might be pro- 
 faned. I would have given a thousand lives to 
 prevent this sacrilege ; but there was not time. 
 Nevertheless, to hinder it by the only way which 
 remained to me, I inwardly addressed myself to 
 
THE RHODE ISLAND PRIVATEER. 1 59 
 
 Jesus Christ, and earnestly prayed Him to guard 
 His adorable Sacrament from the profanation which 
 I feared. What took place was in a way so surpris- 
 ing that it may reasonably be regarded as a miracle. 
 
 During all this tumult, my negro, who was per- 
 fectly aware of the danger we were running, and who 
 had not the same reason with myself for this voluntary 
 exposure, frequently proposed to me to take to flight. 
 But I was unable to do so. I knew too well the obli- 
 gations of my office ; and I could only wait for the 
 moment when it would be in my power to go to the 
 fort, and see in what state were the French soldiers, 
 the greater part of whom I supposed to be either dead 
 or wounded. I said, therefore, to the slave that on 
 this occasion he was his own master ; that I could 
 not force him to remain with me ; but that, neverthe- 
 less, I should be pleased if he did not abandon me. 
 I added that, if he had any grievous sin on his con- 
 science, it would be best for him to confess it, to be 
 prepared for any contingency, since he was not certain 
 but what they might take away his life. This con- 
 versation made an impression on him, so that he 
 recovered courage and remained firm. 
 
 As soon as day dawned, I ran to the church, creep- 
 ing through the underwood ; and, although they had 
 sentinels and marauders on every side, I had the good 
 fortune not to be seen. As I entered the sacristy, 
 which I found open, tears filled my eyes when I saw 
 the cupboard for the vestments and linen, where also 
 I kept the chalice and the sacred vessels, broken open 
 and shattered, and many of the vestm.ents scattered 
 
l6o HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 here and there. I went into the choir of the church, 
 where I saw the altar half uncovered, and the cloths 
 thrown together in a heap. I examined the taber- 
 nacle, and found they had not noticed a little piece of 
 cotton, which I was accustomed to place at the open- 
 ing of the lock to prevent the ravers from getting into 
 it. (This is an insect very common in the islands, 
 which only comes out at night, and is very similar to 
 the gadfly.) I supposed that the door was also broken 
 open ; but, placing my hand upon it, I found that it 
 had not been touched. Overcome with wonder and 
 joy and thankfulness, I took the key which these 
 heretics had had under their hands. I opened it with 
 reverence, and partook of the Sacrament, very uncer- 
 tain whether I should ever again have that blessing ; 
 for what has not a man of my profession to fear from 
 pirates, and these pirates, too, being English } 
 
 After I had thus received the Sacrament, I fell on 
 my knees to return thanks ; and I told my negro to 
 go in the mean while into my chamber, which was 
 near at hand. He went there ; but, in returning, was 
 seen and arrested by a sailor. The slave begged for 
 mercy, and the Englishman did not do him any harm. 
 I showed myself then at the door of the sacristy, and 
 immediately saw that I was aimed at. It was neces- 
 sary, therefore, to surrender ; so I came forward, and 
 we took together the way to the fort. When we 
 entered the place, I saw every face expressing the 
 greatest joy, each one congratulating himself that 
 they had captured a priest. 
 
 The first one who approached me was the captain 
 
THE RHODE ISLAND PRIVATEER. l6l 
 
 himself. He was a man small in stature, and not in 
 any respect differing from the others in dress. He 
 had his left arm in a sling, a sabre in his right hand, 
 and two pistols in his belt. As he was acquainted 
 with some words of French, he told me " that I was 
 very welcome ; that I had nothing to fear, as no one 
 would attempt my life." 
 
 In the mean while, M. de Lage de la Landerie, 
 Writer of the king, and our storekeeper, having ap- 
 peared, I asked him in what condition were our peo- 
 ple, and if many of them were killed or wounded. He 
 answered me that they were not ; that of our soldiers 
 he had seen only the sergeant and one sentinel, and 
 that on neither side was any one wounded but the 
 English captain alone, in whose power we now were. 
 I was delighted to learn that our commander, the 
 ofhcers, and their soldiers, had sufficient time to es- 
 cape ; and as by this fact the reasons which had 
 induced me to remain no longer existed, and as my 
 personal ministry was not necessary, I should have 
 much preferred being at liberty, and, could I have 
 done so, would have retreated. But I could not longer 
 dream of that ; and at that very moment two of our 
 soldiers, who were found concealed, were seized, and 
 increased the number of our prisoners. 
 
 At length dinner-time came. I was invited, but I 
 certainly had no inclination to eat. I knew that our 
 soldiers and the two missionary Fathers were in the 
 depth of the forest, without clothes, food, or aid. I 
 had no news of them, nor was I able to procure any. 
 This reflection overwhelmed me ; it was necessary. 
 
1 62 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 however, to accept their repeated invitations, which 
 seemed to me to be sincere. 
 
 Scarcely had the meal commenced, when I saw 
 arriving the first plunder they had made at my house. 
 It was natural that I should be moved. Indeed, I 
 showed it ; so that the captain said to me, as an excuse 
 for himself, that the King of France had first declared 
 war against the King of England, and that in conse- 
 quence of it the French had already taken, pillaged, 
 and burned an English post named Campo, near Cape 
 Breton, and that several persons, including children, 
 had been smothered in the flames. 
 
 I answered him that, without wishing to enter into 
 the detail of the affairs of Europe, our respective 
 kings being to-day at war, I did not take it amiss ; 
 but was only surprised that he should have come to 
 attack Oyapoc, which was not worth the trouble. 
 He replied that he himself exceedingly regretted 
 having come here, as this delay might cause him to 
 miss two merchant vessels, richly loaded, which were 
 on the point of sailing from the harbor of Cayenne. 
 I then said to him that, since he saw for himself how 
 inconsiderable was this post, and that he had scarcely 
 any thing to gain from it, I prayed him to accept a 
 reasonable ransom, for my church, myself, my negro, 
 and every thing belonging to me. This proposition 
 was reasonable, but was, nevertheless, rejected. He 
 wished that I should treat with him for the fort and 
 all its dependencies. But I bade him observe that 
 this was not a fit proposition to make to a simple 
 priest ; that, besides, the Court of France had so little 
 
THE RHODE ISLAND PRIVATEER. 1 63 
 
 regard for the post that recent news from Paris had 
 apprised us that it would be abandoned as soon as 
 practicable. " Well," said he, in a spiteful way, 
 " since you do not wish to entertain my proposition, 
 we must continue our depredations, and make repri- 
 sals for all that the French have done against us." 
 
 They continued, therefore, to transport from our 
 houses furniture, clothes, provisions, all with a disorder 
 and confusion that was remarkable. What gave me 
 the deepest pain was to see the sacred vessels in these 
 profane and sacrilegious hands. I collected myself for 
 a moment, and, awakening all my zeal, I told them 
 what reason and faith and religion inspired me to say 
 in the most forcible manner. With words of per- 
 suasion I mingled motives of fear for so criminal a 
 profanation. The example of Belshazzar was not for- 
 gotten ; and I am able to say to you with truth, my 
 Reverend Father, that I saw many moved, and dis- 
 posed to return these articles to me ; but cupidity 
 and avarice prevailed, and on the same day all the 
 silver was packed up and carried aboard the vessel. 
 
 The captain, more susceptible of feeling than all 
 the others, as he had always seemed to me, told me 
 that he would willingly yield to me what he was able 
 to return, but that he had no control over the will of 
 the others ; that all the crew having part in the booty, 
 he was not able, as captain, to dispose of any but his 
 own share ; but that he would do all that was in his 
 power to induce the others to agree to what I pro- 
 posed. This was to pay them at Cayenne, or at Suri- 
 nam (a Dutch colony, which was not far distant, and 
 
l64 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 where, they told me, they wished to go), or even in 
 Europe by bills of exchange, for the value of the sil- 
 ver in the sacred vessels. But he was not able to 
 obtain any thing. 
 
 Some time afterwards, the first lieutenant asked me, 
 through an interpreter, " what induced me to surrender 
 myself to them } " I replied to him, " that the per- 
 suasion I was under that some of our soldiers had 
 been wounded had determined me to remain for their 
 relief." " And did you not fear being killed .-' " he 
 added. " Yes, without doubt," I said ; " but the fear 
 of death is not capable of stopping a minister of Jesus 
 Christ, when he should discharge his duty. Every 
 true Christian is obliged to sacrifice his life rather 
 than commit a sin ; and I should have thought that I 
 was guilty of a very great one, if, having charge of 
 souls in my parish, I had entirely abandoned them in 
 their need. You know, indeed," I continued, " you 
 Protestant people, who pride yourselves so much on 
 reading the Scriptures, that it is only the hireling 
 shepherd who flees before the wolf when he attacks 
 the sheep." At this discourse they looked at one 
 another, and seemed to me to be entirely astonished. 
 This lesson is, without doubt, something a little dif- 
 ferent from that of their pretended Reformation. 
 
 For myself, I was all the while uncertain with 
 regard to my own fate, and I saw well that I had 
 every thing to fear from such people. I addressed 
 myself, therefore, to the holy guardian angels, and I 
 began a Novena ^ in their honor, not doubting but 
 
 ^ A series of devotions extending through nine days. — Trans. 
 
THE RHODE ISLAND PRIVATEER. 1 65 
 
 they would cause something to turn to my adv^antage. 
 I prayed them to assist me in this difficult emergency 
 in which I found myself ; and I should say here, to 
 give a higher sanction to this devotion, so well known 
 and so established in the usage of the Church, what I 
 have recognized in my own particular case, that I have 
 received each day the signal blessings of God, through 
 the intercession of these heavenly spirits. 
 
 However, as soon as night approached, — that is to 
 say, towards six o'clock, for that is the time at which 
 the sun sets here during the whole year, — the Eng- 
 lish drum commenced beating. They assembled on 
 the Place, and posted their sentinels on all sides. 
 That being done, the rest of the crew, as long as the 
 night lasted, did not cease eating and drinking. For 
 myself, I was constantly visited in my hammock, since 
 they feared, without doubt, that I would try to escape. 
 In this they were mistaken ; for two reasons detained 
 me. The first was, that I had given them my parole, 
 by which I had again constituted myself their pris- 
 oner, and I could not go out of their hands except by 
 means of exchange or by ransom. The second was, 
 that, as long as I remained with them, I had some 
 slight hope that I might recover the sacred vessels, 
 or at least the vestments and other furniture of my 
 church. As soon as it was day, the pillage recom- 
 menced, with the same confusion and the same dis- 
 order as the day before. Each carried to the fort 
 whatever happened to fall into his hands, and threw 
 it down in a pile. One arrived wearing an old cas- 
 sock ; another in a woman's petticoat ; a third with 
 
1 66 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 the crown of a bonnet on his head. It was the same 
 with those who guarded the booty. They searched in 
 the heap of clothes, and when they found any thing 
 which suited their fancy, — as a peruke, a laced 
 cJiapcau, or a dress, — they immediately put it on, and 
 made three or four turns through the room, with great 
 satisfaction, after which they resumed their fantastical 
 rags. They were like a band of monkeys or of sav- 
 ages, who had never been away from the depths of the 
 forest. A parasol or a mirror, the smallest article of 
 furniture a little showy, excited their admiration. 
 This did not surprise me, when I learned that they 
 had scarcely any communication with Europe, and 
 that Rodelan was a kind of little republic, which did 
 not pay any tribute to the King of England, which 
 elected its own governor every year, and which had 
 not even any silver money, but only notes for daily 
 commerce ; for this is the impression I gained from 
 all they told me. 
 
 In the evening, the lieutenant informed himself of 
 every thing which related to the dwellings of the 
 French along the river, — how many there were of 
 them, at what distances they were, how many inhabi- 
 tants each had, &c. Afterwards, he took with him 
 ten men, and one of the young Frenchmen who had 
 already served as guide to surprise us ; and, after 
 having made all the necessary preparations, they set 
 out, and went up the river. But they found nothing, 
 or very few articles, because the colonists, having 
 been warned by our fugitives, had placed all their 
 effects in concealment, and particularly their negroes, 
 
THE RHODE ISLAND PRIVATEER. 1 6/ 
 
 who, more than any thing else, excited the cupidity of 
 the Enghsh. Finding themselves thus disappointed 
 in their hopes, they spent their anger on the buildings, 
 which they burned, without, however, injuring the 
 plantations. This, however, caused us to suspect that 
 they had some intentions of returning. 
 
 As to those of us who were in the fort, we spent 
 this night very much like the preceding, — the same 
 agitations, the same excesses on the part of our ene- 
 mies, and the same disquietude on our part. The 
 second lieutenant, who was left in command, did not 
 lose sight of me, fearing, without doubt, that I wished 
 to profit by the absence of the captain and the first 
 lieutenant to make my escape. I had a great deal of 
 difficulty in reassuring them on this point, and could 
 not convince them. People of this kind, accustomed 
 to judge others by themselves, are not able to imagine 
 that an honorable man, that a priest, was able and 
 obliged to keep his parole in such a case. 
 
 When the day dawned, he seemed a little less 
 uneasy on my account. Towards eight o'clock, they 
 all placed themselves at table ; and, after a miserable 
 repast, one of them attempted to enter into a contro- 
 versy with me. He put many questions to me about 
 Confession, about the worship which we gave to the 
 Cross, to images, &c. " Do you confess your parish- 
 ioners .'' " he presently asked me. 
 
 " Yes," I replied, "whenever they come to me ; 
 but they do not do so as often as they should, or as I 
 could wish them, for the zeal I have for the salva- 
 tion of their souls." 
 
1 68 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 " And do you really think," he added, " that their 
 sins are remitted as soon as they have declared them 
 to you ? " 
 
 " No, assuredly," I said to him ; " a mere confession 
 is not sufficient to produce this. It is necessary that 
 it should be accompanied by a true sorrow for the past 
 and a sincere resolution for the future, without which 
 auricular Confession will have no efficacy to blot out 
 sins." 
 
 " And as to the images and the Cross," he replied, 
 " do you think that the prayer would be equally 
 efficacious without this, which is the external of 
 religion .-* " 
 
 " The prayer is good, without doubt," I answered 
 him ; " but permit me to ask you, with regard to 
 yourself, why in families do they preserve the por- 
 traits of a father, a mother, or their ancestors .'' Is it 
 not principally to awaken their own remembrances in 
 thinking of the benefits they have received from them, 
 and to animate them to follow their good examples .'' 
 For it is not exactly the picture which they honor, but 
 it brings back to them all which it represents. In 
 the same manner, you need not imagine that we 
 Roman Catholics adore the wood or the brass ; but 
 we use it to nourish, so to say, our devotion. For 
 how could a reasonable being remain unaffected while 
 beholding the figure of a God dying on the Cross for 
 His love to us .'' What effect may not be produced 
 on the soul and the heart by the image of a martyr 
 who is giving his life for Jesus Christ .-' " 
 
 " Oh, I do not understand it so," said the English* 
 
THE RHODE ISLAND PRIVATEER. 1 69 
 
 man to me ; and I well knew from his manner that 
 their ministers deceive them in telling them that the 
 Papists, as they call us, superstitiously reverence and 
 adore the Cross and the images, valuing them for 
 themselves. 
 
 I was anxiously waiting for the return of those who 
 had been to visit the dwellings, when they came to me 
 to say that it was necessary I should go on board the 
 ship, as Captain Potter wished to see me and speak 
 with me. I had done every thing in my power by 
 urging, soliciting, and representing, as earnestly as I 
 was able, all the reasons I had for not embarking so 
 soon. But I could gain nothing, and I was obliged to 
 obey in spite of myself. The commander of the party 
 on shore, who, in the absence of the others, was the 
 second lieutenant, when I came to speak to him on 
 this point, taking hold of his tongue with one hand, 
 and with the other making a semblance of piercing or 
 cutting it, gave me to understand that, if I said any 
 more, I might expect bad treatment. I had reason to 
 think that he was annoyed at the strong and pathetic 
 address I had made with regard to the profanation of 
 the ornaments of the church and the sacred vessels. 
 
 We embarked, therefore, towards three o'clock in 
 the afternoon, in a canoe ; and, although the ship was 
 not much more than three leagues distant (the captain 
 having now caused it to enter the river), we never- 
 theless only reached it in about eight hours, in con- 
 sequence of the remissness of the rowers, who were 
 constantly drinking. When at a great distance I saw 
 the hull of the vessel by the light of the moon, it 
 
lyo HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 seemed to me to be entirely out of the water. It had, 
 indeed, run aground on the shore, and had only a depth 
 of three feet of water. This was the occasion of great 
 alarm to me ; for I imagined that this might be the 
 fault of my negro, whom they had selected as one of 
 the pilots, and I thought that the captain had sent to 
 seek me to make me bear the penalty which ray slave 
 merited, or at least that I should perish with the 
 others in case the ship should be wrecked. What 
 confirmed me for some time in this sad supposition 
 was the little degree of welcome I received ; but I 
 have since been informed that there was no design in 
 this, and that the cold reception which alarmed me 
 was caused by the fact that they were all busy in 
 working the vessel, to relieve themselves as soon as 
 possible from the uncomfortable position in which 
 they were. 
 
 As soon as our canoe had reached the ship, I saw 
 descending and coming to me a young man, who mur- 
 dered the French language in some little attempt to 
 speak it, and who took my hand, kissed it, and in- 
 formed me that he was an Irishman and a Roman 
 Catholic. He even made the sign of the Cross, which 
 he did indifferently well ; and he added that, in right 
 of his office as second gunner, he had a berth which 
 he wished to give me, and that, if any one should 
 take it into his head to show me the least disrespect, 
 he well knew how to avenge it. This introduction, 
 though shared in by a man who seemed to be very 
 drunk, did not fail to tranquillize me somewhat. He 
 gave me his hand, to aid me jn climbing up to the deck 
 
THE RHODE ISLAND PRIVATEER. I /I 
 
 by means of the ropes. Scarcely had I mounted 
 thither when I encountered my negro. I asked him 
 at once why he caused the ship to run aground, and 
 was reassured when he told me that it was the fault 
 of the captain, who was obstinate in holding his course 
 in the middle of the river, although he had repeatedly 
 told him that the channel ran near the shore. At the 
 same time the captain appeared on the quarter-deck, 
 and told me, with great coldness, to go down into the 
 cabin, after which he continued to devote himself to 
 working the vessel. 
 
 My Irishman, however, did not leave me, but, sitting 
 at the door, renewed his protestations of good-will, 
 assuring me always that he was a Roman Catholic ; 
 that he wished to confess before I left the ship ; that 
 he had formerly received the Sacrament, &c. And, 
 as in all his conversation, he constantly mingled in- 
 vectives against the English nation, they made him 
 leave me, forbidding him to speak with me for the 
 future, under penalty of chastisement. He received 
 this with a very bad grace ; swearing, blustering, and 
 protesting that he would speak with me in spite of 
 them. 
 
 However, he went away ; and scarcely had he gone 
 when another came, as drunk as the first, and, like 
 him, too, an Irishman.. He was the surgeon, who at 
 first addressed me with some Latin words, — Pater, 
 misereor. I attempted to reply to him in Latin ; but 
 I soon found that these words constituted the whole 
 of his knowledge of the language ; and, as he was no 
 better acquainted with French, we could hold no con- 
 versation together. 
 
172 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 In the mean while it grew late, and I felt sleepiness 
 pressing on me, having scarcely closed my eyes dur- 
 ing the preceding nights. I did not know where to 
 go to obtain a little repose. The ship was so careened 
 over that it was necessary to be continually fastened 
 to prevent one's self rolling. I wanted to lie down in 
 one of the three berths ; but I did not dare, for fear 
 some one would immediately force me to leave it. 
 The captain saw my embarrassment, and, touched 
 with the miserable figure we made, sitting on the 
 chests, — the storekeeper and myself, — he told us we 
 could lodge in the berth at the bottom of the cabin. 
 He even added, politely, that he regretted not being 
 able to give one to each, but his ship was too small to 
 do so. I very willingly accepted his offer, and we 
 arranged for ourselves as well as we could on a pile of 
 rags. 
 
 Notwithstanding all the disquietudes of my situa- 
 tion, I was drowsy from weariness, and during the 
 night slept half the time. Being half the time awake, 
 I perceived that the vessel had begun moving. It 
 insensibly floated ; and, to prevent it from afterwards 
 settling down again, they drove two yard-arms into 
 the mud, one on each side, which should hold the hull 
 of the vessel in equilibrium. 
 
 As soon as day came, and it was necessary to take 
 some nourishment, I had a new source of torment, for 
 the water was so offensive that I was not able even to 
 taste it. The Indians and negroes, who certainly are 
 not at all fastidious, preferred to drink the water of 
 the river, however muddy and brackish it may be. I 
 
THE RHODE ISLAND PRIVATEER. 1 73 
 
 inquired, therefore, of the captain why he did not pro- 
 cure other water, since very near this was a spring, to 
 which I was accustomed to send to procure the water 
 I used at the fort. He made no reply, thinking, per- 
 haps, that I wished to lead him into some ambush. 
 But, after having thoroughly questioned the French, 
 the negroes, and the Indians, whom he had taken 
 prisoners, he determined to send the long-boat to land, 
 with my slave. It made many trips during that and 
 the following days ; so that we all had the pleasure of 
 having good water, although many scarcely used it, 
 preferring the wine and rum which they had on the 
 deck at will. 
 
 I ought, however, to say in commendation of the 
 captain that he was entirely sober. He even fre- 
 quently expressed to me the pain he felt at the 
 excesses of his crew, to whom, according to the 
 custom of these pirates, he was obliged to allow an 
 abundance of liberty. He made me afterwards a dis- 
 closure, which was sufificiently pleasant. 
 
 " Monsieur," he said to me, " do you know that to- 
 morrow, being the fifth of November, according to 
 our method of computation " [for we French people 
 count it to be the fifteenth], " the English have a great 
 festival .■* " 
 
 " And what is the festival } " I asked him. 
 
 " We burn the Pope," he answered, laughing. 
 
 " Explain to me," I said ; " what is this ceremony ? " 
 
 "They dress up in a burlesque style," he said, "a. 
 kind of ridiculous figure, which they call the Pope, 
 and which they afterwards burn, while singing some 
 
174 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 ballads ; and all this is in commemoration of the day 
 when the Court of Rome separated England from its 
 communion.^ To-morrow," he continued, "our peo- 
 ple who are on shore will perform this ceremony at 
 the fort." 
 
 After a while, he caused his pennon and flag to be 
 hoisted. The sailors manned the yard-arms, the drum 
 was beaten, they fired the cannon, and all shouted, 
 five times, " Long live the King ! " This having been 
 done, he called one of the sailors, who, to the great 
 delight of those who understood his language, chanted 
 a very long ballad, which I judged to be the recital of 
 all this unworthy story. You see in this, my Rever- 
 end Father, an instance which fully confirms what all 
 the world knew before, that heresy always pushes to 
 an extreme its animosity against the visible Head of 
 the Church. 
 
 During the night a large boat came to us, manned 
 by rowers. The captain, who was always on his 
 guard, and who was not able to lay aside the idea 
 that our people were seeking to surprise him, caused 
 them immediately to clear the decks. They at once 
 fired their swivel-gun ; but the boat, having made its 
 
 1 Either Captain Potter or Father Fauque, in this statement, makes 
 a mistake. On November 5th, in England, they celebrate their es- 
 cape from the "Gunpowder Plot." There is in the Prayer-book "A 
 Form of Prayer with Thanksgiving," which is to be used on that day 
 "for the happy deliverance of King James I. and the Three Estates 
 of England from the most traitorous and blood-intended massacre by 
 Gunpowder ; and also for the happy arrival of His Majesty King 
 William on this day, for the deliverance of our church and nation." 
 The common people call it " Guy Fawkes' Day." — Trans. 
 
THE RHODE ISLAND PRIVATEER. 1/5 
 
 signal, all was again quiet. It was the lieutenant, 
 who had been to plunder the dwellings along the 
 river. He reported that he had only visited two or 
 three plantations, which he had found entirely de- 
 serted. He added that he was going to ascend the 
 river again, to consign every thing to the flames. In 
 fact, after having supped and had sufficient consulta- 
 tion with his principal, he departed again, I asked 
 permission to go with him as far as the fort to look 
 for my papers, but it was refused me. However, to 
 soften a little the pain which this denial gave me. 
 Captain Potter promised that he himself would go 
 thither with me. I therefore summoned up my pa- 
 tience, and endeavored by a little sleep to repair the 
 loss of the preceding night ; but it was useless. The 
 noise, the confusion, and the bad smells did not allow 
 me to close my eyes. 
 
 On Sunday morning, I waited to see some religious 
 service, for up to this time I had not recognized any 
 mark of Christianity ; but every thing went on as 
 usual, so that I could not refrain from showing my 
 surprise. The captain told me " that in their sect 
 each one worshipped God in his own way ; that they 
 had among them, as elsewhere, the good and the bad ; 
 and that ' he who acted right would be approved.' " 
 At the same time he took out of his chest a book of 
 devotion ; and I noticed that, during this day and the 
 following Sunday, he occasionally looked at it. As he 
 always seemed to me to be very reasonable, I took 
 pains, from time to time, to introduce into my conver- 
 sation some word of controversy or of morality, which 
 
1/6 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 he received very well, having explained to him by the 
 interpreters what he did not himself understand. He 
 even told me one day " that he did not wish longer to 
 pursue the business of privateering ; that God might 
 to-day give him property, which, perhaps, might shortly 
 be taken away from him by others ; that he was well 
 aware he should take nothing away with him in dying ; 
 but, nevertheless, I should not expect to find more 
 piety in a French, or even in a Spanish, privateer 
 than I saw in his ship ; because these sorts of arma- 
 ments were scarcely compatible with the exercises of 
 devotion." I confess to you, my Reverend Father, 
 that I was astonished to hear such sentiments in the 
 mouth of an American Huguenot ; for every one 
 knows how entirely this part of the world is removed 
 from the kingdom of God and every thing which can 
 lead to it. I have often exhorted him to pray the 
 Lord for light, and that He would not allow him to 
 die in the darkness of heresy, in which he had the 
 misfortune to be born and brought up. 
 
 As the boats were constantly going and coming, 
 from the shore to the vessel and from the vessel to 
 the shore, transporting the pillage, one came that very 
 evening, bringing a French soldier and five Indians. 
 He was one of our soldiers, who, fifteen days before, 
 had been to seek the Indians to engage them to work, 
 and, not knowing that the English were masters of 
 •the fort, had run into their hands. I represented to 
 Captain Potter that, as the Indians were free among 
 us, he neither ought to nor could take them prisoners, 
 particularly as they had not been found with arms in 
 
THE RHODE ISLAND PRIVATEER. 1 77 
 
 their hands. But he answered me " that this kind of 
 people were used for slaves in Rodelan, and that he 
 should take them thither in spite of all that I could 
 say." He has, in fact, carried them away, with the 
 Aroiias whom he had first captured in the Bay of Oya- 
 poc. Perhaps he has a fancy to return to this country, 
 and intends to use these miserable beings in making 
 his descent on the coast, or perhaps he will release 
 them at Surinam. 
 
 I had, nevertheless, on Monday morning, reminded 
 him of the promise he had made that he would take 
 me on shore ; but he was not then able to do any 
 thing, and I was obliged to content myself with fair 
 words, so that I despaired of ever again visiting my 
 old home. On Tuesday, however, he came to me to 
 say that, if I wished to go to the fort, he would take 
 me. I most willingly accepted the offer ; but, before 
 I embarked, he strongly recommended to me not to 
 attempt flight, because, he assured me, I would be 
 stopped by the discharge of a gun. I reassured him 
 on that point, and we set out. 
 
 The commander of the boat was the second lieuten- 
 ant, the same who had threatened to cut my tongue ; 
 and, as I complained to the captain, who had, without 
 doubt, spoken to him about it, he made the strongest 
 apologies on that point to me while on the way, and 
 showed me a thousand acts of politeness. 
 
 Before I was scarcely aware of it, we arrived at our 
 destination ; and immediately I saw all those who 
 were guarding the fort come to the landing, some 
 with guns and others with swords, to receive me. 
 
 8* L 
 
178 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 Little accustomed to good faith, perhaps, they were 
 always afraid that I should escape from them, in spite 
 of all that I was able to say to quiet them on my 
 account. 
 
 After we had taken a little rest, I asked to go to 
 my house, and they conducted me thither under a 
 strong escort. I began by first visiting the church, 
 to enable me to see for the last time what was its con- 
 dition. As I was not able to restrain my tears and 
 sighs on seeing the altars overturned, the pictures 
 torn, the sacred stones broken in pieces and scattered 
 on every side, the two principal members of the band 
 said to me " that they were very sorry for all this dis- 
 order ; that it was done contrary to their intentions 
 by the sailors, the negroes, and the Indians, in the 
 excitement of pillage and the heat of drunkenness, 
 and that they made their apologies to me for it." I 
 assured them " that it was of God principally ; and, 
 first of all, they should ask pardon for such a desecra- 
 tion of His temple, and that they had great reason to 
 fear lest He should avenge Himself, and punish them 
 as they deserved." I then threw myself on my knees, 
 and made a special confession to God, to the Holy 
 Virgin, and to Saint Joseph, in honor of whom I had 
 set up these altars to excite the devotion of my parish- 
 ioners ; after which I arose, and we went on to my 
 house. 
 
 I had five or six persons around me, who most 
 strictly watched all my steps every moment, and, 
 above all, the direction in which I looked. I did not 
 then understand the occasion of all this attention on 
 
THE RHODE ISLAND PRIVATEER. 1 79 
 
 their part, but I have since learned it. These good 
 people, avaricious to the last extreme, imagined that I 
 had money concealed, and that, when I showed so 
 much anxiety to return to shore, it was to see whether 
 any one had discovered my treasure. We entered the 
 house, then, together ; and it was the occasion of sin- 
 cere sorrow to me, I must confess, to see the frightful 
 disorder in which it was. 
 
 It is now nearly seventeen years since I came for 
 the first time to Oyapoc, and began to collect all that 
 was necessary for the foundation of these Indian mis- 
 sions, foreseeing that this section of country, where 
 the savages are so numerous, would furnish a great 
 career for our zeal, and that the parish of Oyapoc 
 would become, as it were, the storehouse of all the 
 other establishments. I had not ceased ever after to 
 be always making better provision, through the chari- 
 table cares of one of our Fathers, who wished to be 
 my particular correspondent at Cayenne. God has 
 permitted that one single day should destroy the fruit 
 of so much labor and of so many years, that His holy 
 name might be praised. What gave me most concern 
 was, to know that the three missionaries who remained 
 in that quarter were stripped of every thing, without 
 my having it in my power for the present to procure 
 even the merest necessaries, notwithstanding all the 
 liberality and the good intentions of our Superiors. 
 
 At last, after having gone rapidly through all the 
 small apartments, which were used as lodgings for 
 our Fathers when they came to visit me, I entered 
 my study. I found all my books and papers on the 
 
l8o HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 ground, scattered, mingled together, and half torn to 
 pieces. I took what I could ; but, as they pressed me 
 to finish, I was obliged to return to the fort. 
 
 In a few hours afterwards, those arrived who had 
 been to plunder the dwellings ; and, after being a 
 little refreshed, they continued their route to the 
 ship, carrying with them what they had pillaged, 
 which, by their own acknowledgment and to their 
 great regret, was inconsiderable. 
 
 The next day, all the morning was passed in mak- 
 ing up packages, in destroying the furniture which 
 remained in the different houses, and in tearing off 
 the locks and the hinges of the doors, particularly 
 those which were made of brass. At last, about mid- 
 day, they set fire to the houses of the inhabitants, 
 which were shortly reduced to ashes, having been 
 only roofed with straw, according to the custom of the 
 country. As I saw that mine would certainly share 
 the same fate, I was very pressing to be conducted 
 thither, that I might recover more of my books and 
 papers than I had hitherto been able to secure. The 
 second lieutenant, who was then in command, made a 
 parade before me of discharging a pistol, which he 
 carried in his belt, and then he immediately loaded it, 
 taking great pains that I should see it. I have since 
 learned why he took so much trouble in this matter. 
 Immediately afterwards, he said to me that, if I wished 
 to go to my house, he would conduct me. 
 
 Having reached my house, I went again to look for 
 certain papers ; and, as there remained with me only 
 a single sailor, who spoke French, all the others being 
 
THE RHODE ISLAND PRIVATEER. l8l 
 
 a little scattered, he said to me, " My Father, all our 
 people are at a distance ; save yourself, if you wish." 
 I was well aware that he wished me to attempt it, and 
 I therefore replied coldly to him " that men of my 
 profession do not know what it is to break their word." 
 I added " that, if I had wished to take to flight, I could 
 long ago have done so, as there had been many favor- 
 able opportunities while they were amusing them- 
 selves with pillaging or drinking." 
 
 At length, after having thoroughly searched every- 
 where without finding any thing more, I informed 
 them that I had finished, and that we would go when 
 it pleased them. Then the lieutenant approached me, 
 with a grave and threatening air, and told me, through 
 the interpreter, " that I must show the place where I 
 had concealed my money, or I would find myself in 
 trouble." I answered, with that confidence which 
 truth gives, " that I had not concealed any money ; 
 that, if I had thought to put any thing in a place of 
 safety, I should have begun with those things that are 
 used at the altar." " Deny the fact as you will," the 
 interpreter then replied to me by order of the officer, 
 " we are certain, and cannot doubt it, that you have a 
 large amount of money, for the soldiers who are our 
 prisoners on board have told us so ; and yet we have 
 found but very little in your wardrobe. You must, 
 therefore, have concealed it ; and, if you do not imme- 
 diately give it up, take care of yourself. You know 
 that my pistol is not badly loaded." I fell on my 
 knees, saying " that they were masters of my life, 
 since I was in their hands and at their will ; that if, 
 
102 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 however, they wished to go to that extreme, I begged 
 them to allow me a moment for prayer ; that, for the 
 rest, I had no other money than what they had already 
 taken." At last, after having left me for some time 
 in that position, and looking at each other, they told 
 me to rise and follow them. They took me under the 
 gallery of the house, which was built over a little 
 grove of cocoa-trees, which I had planted like an 
 orchard, and, having made me sit down, the lieutenant 
 also took a chair, and then putting on an air of gayety, 
 he said, " that I had no occasion for fear, as they did 
 not intend to do me any injury ; but that it was im- 
 possible I had not concealed any thing, since there 
 was sufficient time, as I had seen them from before 
 my door when they came to take the fort." I replied 
 to him, what I had already said so often, " that we had 
 been so much terrified by the noise they made during 
 the night, with their shouts and cries, and the inces- 
 sant firing they kept up, that at first we thought of 
 nothing but escaping death by a speedy flight ; the 
 more so as we imagined that they had scattered 
 themselves at the same time through all the houses." 
 
 " But, after all," he replied, " the French prisoners 
 are well acquainted with your means. Why should 
 they have told us that you had plenty of money, if it 
 were not true .'* " 
 
 " Do you not see," said I, " that they wished to 
 conciliate you, and make their court to you at my 
 expense .'' " 
 
 " No, no," he continued ; " it is because you do not 
 wish to give up your money. I nevertheless assure 
 
THE RHODE ISLAND PRIVATEER. 183 
 
 you, and I give you my word of honor, that you shall 
 have your liberty, and that we will release you here 
 without burning your houses, if you will, after all, 
 show your treasure." 
 
 " It is entirely useless," I answered him, wearied 
 with all these conversations, " that you follow me up 
 with these earnest appeals. Again, once for all, I 
 have nothing else to say to you but what I have so 
 often repeated." 
 
 He then spoke to the sailor who acted as interpreter, 
 and who had kept his eyes on me during all this inter- 
 view, to see whither I directed my looks. He then 
 went out to visit my cocoa-grove. I then recalled a 
 little interview I had with the captain, a few days 
 before. I said to him " that, if the sentinels had done 
 their duty, and given us notice of the arrival of the 
 enemy, we would have concealed our most valuable 
 effects." 
 
 " In what place," he asked me, " would you have 
 hid all these things .-' Would you have hid them in 
 the ground .-'" 
 
 " No," I replied ; " we would have been contented 
 with carrying them into the woods, and covering 
 them with branches." 
 
 It was, then, for this, that these cunning pirates, 
 who weigh and put together all our words, imagining 
 that I did not have sufficient time to carry very far 
 what I esteemed most precious, were induced, as the 
 last effort of their cupidity and distrust, to make a 
 search under the trees in my garden. But it was 
 impossible that they should find what had never been 
 
1 84 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 placed there ; so the sailor soon grew tired of search- 
 ing; and, he having returned, we went together to the 
 fort, — they without any booty, and I with some few 
 of the papers I had collected. 
 
 Then for some time they consulted together, and 
 about three o'clock they went to set my house on fire. 
 I prayed them at least to spare the church, and this 
 they promised me. But, notwithstanding, they burned 
 it ; and when I complained, they told me that the 
 winds, which that day were very high there, had 
 undoubtedly carried thither some sparks, which had 
 set it on fire. With this answer I was obliged to be 
 contented, leaving to God the time, the care, and the 
 manner of avenging the insult offered to His house. 
 For myself, seeing the flames rising up to the clouds, 
 and having my heart pained with the most lively sor- 
 row, I began to recite the seventy-eighth Psalm, '^Dais, 
 veneriint gejttes," &c. (" O God, the heathen are come 
 into thine inheritance," &c.) 
 
 At last, after every thing was carried to the boats, 
 we ourselves embarked. It was a little after five 
 o'clock ; and the sailors, who were to follow us in 
 two small boats, finished by burning all the buildings 
 of the fort. At length, having rowed out a little into 
 the river, and allowing themselves to clear the shore 
 very slowly with the current, they shouted many 
 times, " Hoiira'' which is their " Vive le roil' and their 
 cry of joy. They had not, however, any great occa- 
 sion to pride themselves on their expedition, since, 
 had it not been for the black treason which delivered 
 us into their hands, they would never have succeeded. 
 
THE RHODE ISLAND PRIVATEER. 1S5 
 
 Neither was it of any use ; because, though they had 
 inflicted a great injury on us, they had themselves 
 derived very Httle profit from it. 
 
 I had expected to find the ship where I left it ; but 
 it had already stood off in such a way that we did not 
 arrive there till the night was far advanced ; so that 
 they did not discharge their booty until the next day, 
 the morning of the Tgth of the month. During the 
 whole of this day they made no progress, although 
 they used their oars, as their sails were useless for 
 want of wind. This delay disquieted me very much, 
 because I wished as soon as possible to know my fate. 
 " Would they leave me at Cayenne .'' " I said to myself. 
 " Will they carry me to Surinam } Will they take me 
 to Barbadoes .■' or even as far as New England .? " 
 And, as I was occupying myself with these inquiries, 
 lying in my berth, which I was not able to quit on 
 account of my great weakness and the seasickness, 
 which aflBicted me terribly, some one came to tell me 
 that they had sent on shore three of our soldiers, with 
 one old Indian, captured in the canoe of the Aroiias, 
 of which I have already spoken. I was a little sur- 
 prised ; and, on asking the captain the reason, he told 
 me that it made so many useless mouths the less. 
 
 " And why," said I, " do you not do the same 
 towards all the other prisoners } " 
 
 " It is," said he, " because I am waiting for a good 
 ransom for the rest of you." 
 
 He would have given a much truer excuse if he had 
 said, that, wishing to make a descent on Cayenne, he 
 was afraid that some of his people might be captured, 
 
1 86 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 in which case he wished to have some with whom to 
 make an exchange, which did in reahty happen, as we 
 shall see in the end. 
 
 The wind having freshened a little in the evening, 
 we continued our voyage through the whole night, 
 and before noon approached Cayenne, off a high rock 
 named Connestable, and which is five or six leagues 
 distant. They had already learned of the disaster 
 which had befallen Oyapoc, — perhaps by a note 
 which a young Indian had written, or perhaps through 
 some inhabitants of Aproakac, wiio had come to take 
 refuge at Cayenne. But they were ignorant of all 
 the circumstances ; and the public, as it commonly 
 happens in such cases, set in circulation many reports, 
 each one more false than the last. Some said that 
 every person at Oyapoc had been massacred, and that 
 I, in particular, had suffered a thousand cruelties. 
 Others published that there were many ships there, 
 and that Cayenne would be obliged to submit to the 
 same fate. What seemed to give a little sanction to 
 the last news was, that the ship which had captured 
 us carried with it three boats, which, with the long- 
 boat, made five vessels. All having sails and looming 
 up, at a distance caused them to make a formidable 
 appearance to those who were on shore. 
 
 For myself, — in the persuasion I had that our 
 Fathers, whom I had left in the woods, or some other 
 of the French who had fled, would not fail to go as 
 soon as possible to Cayenne to give them certain 
 intelligence of our sad lot, or at least to forward ample 
 information with regard to it, — I imagined they 
 
THE RHODE ISLAND PRIVATEER. 1 87 
 
 would send some one to rescue me. But I was de- 
 ceiving myself, and they were entirely ignorant of 
 every thing that had happened to me. So Friday 
 passed, and the next day we cast anchor very near the 
 Enfant Perdu. This is a rock, distant from the land 
 six thousand and thirteen toises} as it has been ex- 
 actly measured by M. de la Condamine, member of 
 the Royal Academy of Sciences, on his return from 
 Peru. 
 
 Towards nine o'clock in the morning, after a great 
 stir in the ship, I saw two large boats set out, which 
 went to a little river called Macouria, especially to 
 plunder the residence of a certain lady ; in revenge, 
 they said, for some grievances which had been pre- 
 viously suffered by the English, who had gone there 
 to purchase syrups. For, my Reverend Father, you 
 must know that in time of peace that nation trades 
 to this place, principally to furnish horses for the 
 sugar plantations. As I saw but thirteen men in 
 each boat, including two Frenchmen, who were to 
 serve as guides, I began from that moment to enter- 
 tain some hopes of my liberty ; because I fully be- 
 lieved, as the weather was very clear, they would see 
 this manoeuvre from the land, and not fail to fall upon 
 them. I was thus indulging in these pleasant thoughts 
 when they came to tell me that the boats were about 
 to go first to Couron, which is about four leagues dis- 
 tant from Macouria, to capture there, if possible, 
 Father Lombard, the missionary, who had labored 
 with so much success and for so long a time in Guy- 
 
 1 A toise is two yards. — Trans. 
 
1 88 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 ane, in the conversion of the Indians. Their object 
 was, that they might exact a ransom for him in con- 
 formity with his age and merits. 
 
 I leave you to imagine how like the stroke of a 
 thunderbolt news of this kind came upon me, for I was 
 well assured that, if this worthy missionary should be 
 brought on board our ship, he would entirely sink 
 under the fatigue. But Providence, which was not 
 willing to afflict our missions to this extent, defeated 
 their plan. They ran aground on the way, and were 
 obliged to hold to their first design, which was to 
 ravage Macouria alone. They, in fact, arrived there 
 on Sunday morning, and spent that day and the fol- 
 lowing night in pillaging and destroying the dwelling 
 which was the object of their hate. On Monday 
 morning, after having set fire to the buildings, they 
 returned on board, without having received the least 
 opposition from any one. The negroes were so thor- 
 oughly terrified that they did not dare to show them- 
 selves, and the French who had been dispatched from 
 Cayenne on Sunday morning had not yet been able to 
 reach there. 
 
 During this expedition, those who had remained 
 with me in the ship reasoned each one in accordance 
 with his desires or his fears. Some prophesied a for- 
 tunate result to this enterprise, and others wished for 
 it. At length, as each one was thus indulging in his 
 own peculiar views, I saw again a great movement on 
 board of our ship, towards three o'clock in the after- 
 noon. It was caused by the departure of the boatswain, 
 an energetic man, bold and determined, who, in com- 
 
TfT-E RHODE ISLAND PRIVATEER. 189 
 
 mand of nine men only, went in the long-boat to at- 
 tempt a descent on the coast very near Cayenne, 
 using as his guide a negro, who knew the coast, be- 
 cause he was a native of it. Perhaps also Captain 
 Potter wished to make a diversion, and in that way 
 prevent their sending a force from Cayenne against 
 those of his people who had gone to Macouria. 
 
 However that might be, when I first learned the 
 departure of the long-boat I could not doubt but that 
 the Lord wished to relieve me from my captivity, per- 
 suaded as I was that, if the first party was not at- 
 tacked, the second certainly would be. And what I 
 anticipated in reality took place. The ten English- 
 men, after having pillaged one of our dwellings, were 
 encountered by a company of French, and entirely de- 
 feated. Three were killed on the spot, and seven 
 were made prisoners. On our side there was but 
 one soldier wounded, in the shoulder, by a musket- 
 shot. As to my poor negro, it is surprising that in 
 this fight he was not even wounded. The Lord, with- 
 out doubt, wished to recompense him for his fidelity 
 to his master. It was from him that they at length 
 learned at Cayenne the particulars of the capture of 
 Oyapoc, and every thing that related to me personally. 
 
 We who were on board were exceedingly anxious to 
 learn the result of all these expeditions ; but nothing 
 came either from the shore or from Macouria. At 
 last, when the sun began to appear, and it became 
 suflficiently light for us to see at a distance, there was 
 a constant stream of sailors going up to the round-top 
 and coming down, who always reported that they could 
 
IQO HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 see nothing. But at nine o'clock, Captain Potter 
 came himself to tell me that he had seen three boats 
 which, leaving Cayenne, had gone in the direction of 
 Macouria, and no doubt were in pursuit of his people. 
 To tranquillize him a little, I answered, " that they 
 might be the boats of the inhabitants, who, after hav- 
 ing heard Mass, were returning to their homes." 
 
 " No," he replied, " those are boats full of people. 
 I have seen them perfectly with my glass, at a dis- 
 tance." 
 
 " Your people," I suggested, " will perhaps have left 
 the river before the others reach it, and after that 
 there can be no collision." 
 
 " All this does not worry me," he said. " My people 
 are well armed and full of courage. The fortunes of 
 war must decide it, if the two parties meet." 
 
 " But what do you think of your long-boat .-' " I 
 asked him, 
 
 " I think it is captured," he said. 
 
 "Excuse me," said I to him, "if I say to you that 
 there was a little temerity in your running the risk of 
 a descent with so small a force. Do you, then, imag- 
 ine that Cayenne is an Oyapoc .'' " 
 
 " That was far from being my idea," he answered ; 
 " but it is the too great ardor and excessive energy of 
 the boatswain which has caused it. So much the 
 worse for him if he has come to evil ! I am, however, 
 sorry for it," he continued ; " for I have a great esteem 
 for him, and he was very necessary to me. He has, 
 without doubt, exceeded my orders ; for I had advised 
 him not to land, but only to examine from a short 
 
THE RHODE ISLAND PRIVATEER. I9I 
 
 distance as to the most commodious place to disem- 
 bark." 
 
 After we had thus conferred together for a short 
 time, he caused them to raise the anchor, and ap- 
 proached as near as possible to land and to Macouria. 
 His object was as much to cut off the way for our 
 boats, as to cover his people and shorten the return 
 for them. 
 
 Nevertheless, all Sunday passed in great anxiety. 
 Our enemies were aware of the fact that there were 
 three ships in the harbor, because the boats going to 
 Macouria had approached sufficiently near the port to 
 discover them, and they had made the signal agreed 
 upon with Captain Potter. But some had fears lest 
 these vessels might come out and attack the ship 
 during the night. So, about seven o'clock in the 
 evening, they placed two swivel-guns in the windows, 
 besides the twelve which were on deck along the sides 
 of the ship. But the captain was very composed. He 
 told me " that, so far from fearing that they would 
 come and attack him, he, on the contrary, desired it ; 
 hoping thus to gain possession of those who should 
 dare to approach him." He was thoroughly armed as 
 a prix'ateer : sabres, pistols, guns, lances, grenades, 
 balls filled with bitumen and sulphur, grape-shot, — 
 nothing was wanting. 
 
 I believe that no one slept that night. However, 
 nothing appeared, either from Macouria or Cayenne, 
 which was the cause of great uneasiness to us all. At 
 length, at eight o'clock in the morning, the captain 
 came to tell me that he had seen a great deal of smoke 
 
192 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 on the shore at Macouria, and that his people had 
 without doubt set fire to the buildings of Madame 
 Gislet. (This is the name of the lady to whose 
 residence the English had particularly directed their 
 attention.) " I am very sorry," he added, " for I had 
 expressly forbidden them to burn any thing.'' A little 
 while after, they saw from the height of the round- 
 top five canoes or boats, some of which seemed to be 
 pursuing each other. They were our French people, 
 who were giving chase to the English. Captain Pot- 
 ter, an able man in his profession, at once perceived 
 this, and took measures accordingly ; for he raised his 
 anchor, and made again a movement to approach 
 them. He called all his people to arms, having at the 
 same time obliged all the prisoners, whether French 
 or English, to descend into the hold. I wished my- 
 self to go there also ; but he told me I could remain in 
 my cabin, and he would notify me when it was time. 
 
 In the midst of this excitement, one of the boats 
 which had come from Macouria drew nigh, as by dint 
 of rowing ; and to assure themselves that they were 
 English, those in the vessel raised their pennant and 
 flag and fired a gun, to which the boats having re- 
 sponded by the discharge of a musket, the signal on 
 which they had agreed, tranquillity succeeded this 
 first movement of fear. But there remained as yet 
 one boat behind, which was coming very slowly with 
 \k\.Q. pagaye (a kind of scull, or oar, which the Indians 
 use to row their canoes), and they feared that it would 
 be captured by our boats. No sooner, therefore, had the 
 officer who commanded the first discharged in haste 
 
THE RHODE ISLAND PRIVATEER. 1 93 
 
 the little they had brought with them, than he hurried 
 back to convoy it. After having conducted it to its 
 destination, and all the little booty they had taken 
 having been embarked in the ship, each one thought 
 of refreshing himself to the utmost for the fatigues of 
 this marauding. Punch, lemonade, wine, brandy, 
 sugar, — nothing was spared. Thus passed the rest 
 of the day and the night of Sunday to Monday. 
 
 Among all these successes, — which, however in- 
 considerable they really might be, were yet occasions 
 of triumph for them, — there remained one great source 
 of chagrin, which was the capture of the long-boat 
 and of the ten men who had landed in it. It became 
 necessary, therefore, to think seriously of some means 
 of rescuing them. For this reason, on Monday morn- 
 ing, after having consulted among themselves and 
 held council after council, they came to find me, to 
 say that, their ship dragging considerably, perhaps on 
 account of the currents, which are very strong in 
 these latitudes, or perhaps because they had only 
 one small anchor remaining, they could not longer 
 hold their anchorage, and they thought, therefore, of 
 going to Surinam, a Dutch colony, twenty-four leagues 
 or thereabouts from Cayenne ; but, however, they 
 very much wished to receive first some news of 
 their long-boat and the people who had landed on 
 Saturday. 
 
 I told them, in reply, " that this was very easy ; that 
 it was only necessary to fit out one of the boats which 
 they had taken from us, and to send it to Cayenne 
 with the proposal for an exchange of prisoners." 
 9 M 
 
194 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 " But would they be willing to receive us ? " they 
 asked me ; " would they not inflict on us some in- 
 jury ? Would they permit us to return ? " 
 
 It was easy for me to remove doubts which had so 
 little foundation, by telling them, as is the case. " that 
 the law of nations is the same in all countries ; that 
 the French did not pride themselves less than the 
 English in observing it ; that nothing was so common 
 among civilized people as to see the generals mutually 
 sending heralds-at-arms, trumpeters, or drummers, to 
 carry their terms of agreement ; and that, therefore, 
 they need have no fear for those of their crew whom 
 they might send to land.'.' 
 
 After renewed consultations, which they held 
 among themselves, they began to make their pro- 
 posals, some of which I found to be entirely unreason- 
 able. For example, they wished to have returned to 
 them their boat with all the arms, and to have all the 
 prisoners released, whatever might be their number, 
 in exchange for only four Frenchmen, which was our 
 number. 
 
 I answered him, " that I did not think they would 
 accede to this article of war ; that, as far as it related 
 to men, the usage is to change them head for head." 
 
 " But, you alone, do you not value yourself as much 
 as thirty sailors "^ " said one of the crowd to me. 
 
 " No, certainly," I answered ; " a man of my profes- 
 sion, in time of war, should not count for any thing." 
 
 " All this is very well for wit," said the captain ; 
 " but, since you take it in that way, I must go and 
 make sail. I am able very well to bear the loss of 
 
THE RHODE ISLAND PRIVATEER. 1 95 
 
 ten men ; it leaves me a large enough crew to con- 
 tinue my voyage." 
 
 Immediately he went out of the cabin to give his 
 orders, and they began working the ship, &c. But, 
 through all this manoeuvring, I saw very well that it 
 was only a feint on their part to intimidate me and 
 induce me to offer them two thousand piastres, which 
 they had already demanded for my ransom. 
 
 Nevertheless, as I had a great desire to free myself 
 from their hands, although I did not let it appear 
 outwardly, I took occasion to call Captain Potter and 
 say to him, " that he need not be influenced by my 
 views ; that he could at any time send a boat to Cay- 
 enne to make the proposals which he judged proper, 
 leaving it to Monsieur the Commandant to accept or 
 reject them." He followed this suggestion, and 
 begged me myself to dictate the letter which he 
 wished written ; and this I did, as his secretary, fol- 
 lowing exactly what he caused me to say. 
 
 I also, on my own account, wrote a few words to 
 Monsieur d'Orvilliers and Father de Villeconte (our 
 Superior-General), praying the first to stipulate in the 
 articles of negotiation, if he had an opportunity, that 
 they should return to me every thing in their posses- 
 sion belonging to my church ; offering myself to pay 
 as much silver in weight as would equal that of the 
 silver vessels, and a certain sum on which we would 
 agree for the furniture, ornaments, and linen. At the 
 same time, I begged our Father, if this negotiation 
 succeeded, to send me the silver and the necessary 
 balance for the account, by the return of the boat, to 
 
196 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 the place where the exchange of prisoners was to be 
 made, — that is to say, out at sea, half-way between 
 the ship and the land. 
 
 All these letters being prepared, the boat was dis- 
 patched, and they sent in it, as the bearer of these 
 letters, a sergeant who had been made prisoner at 
 Oyapoc. He was ordered to use the utmost dili- 
 gence ; and, as he was an energetic man, we should 
 have had a prompt reply, but the wind and the cur- 
 rent were so contrary that they could not make the 
 port of Cayenne. We were all exceedingly disap- 
 pointed : the En_,lish, because they began to be in 
 want of water and their ship drifted again considera- 
 bly, having only, as I have said, one small anchor, 
 which they were obliged to manage with a grappling- 
 iron ; and we Frenchmen, because we were very 
 anxious to regain our liberty. It was necessary, how- 
 ever, to be patient and to resign ourselves to the will 
 of God until He should cause some new way to be 
 opened. 
 
 At last, on Wednesday morning, having determined 
 to ask the captain what course he had determined to 
 pursue, I was agreeably surprised by hearing him say 
 " that if I wished myself to go to Cayenne I was my 
 own master, with the condition that I should cause to 
 be sent back all the English who were prisoners 
 there." 
 
 " That does not depend upon me," I said to him ; 
 " but I will promise you to make every effort with 
 Monsieur the Commandant to obtain it." 
 
 After some slight objections, which I easily re- 
 
THE RHODE ISLAND PRIVATEER. igj 
 
 moved, we wrote a new letter to Monsieur d'Orvilliers, 
 of which I was to be the bearer, and, every thing being 
 ready, we embarked — four French and five EngHsh — 
 to go to Cayenne. In taking leave of the captain, I 
 said to him, " that if the war continued, and he or any 
 others of his nation should come to Cayenne, I could 
 not again be made prisoner." He answered me, 
 " that he knew that already ; the custom being not 
 twice to make prisoner of the same person in the 
 course of the same war, at least, unless he should be 
 taken with arms in his hands." 
 
 I then thanked him for his honorable treatment of 
 myself, and, grasping his hand, I said to him : " Mon- 
 sieur, two things give me pain at this parting. It is 
 not exactly the pillage you have made at Oyapoc, be- 
 cause the French will perhaps return you the same 
 with interest ; but it is, in the first place, because we 
 have not both of us the same faith ; and in the second 
 place, because your people have not been willing to 
 return to me the furniture of my church on the con- 
 ditions I proposed, reasonable as they are, for it 
 causes me to fear lest the profanation of what belongs 
 to the temple of the Lord may draw down His anger 
 upon you. I would advise you," I added, while em- 
 bracing him, " to pray God each day to enlighten you 
 as to the true way to heaven ; for as there is but one 
 God, so there can be but one true faith." After 
 which I descended into the boat which was to carry 
 us ; and immediately I saw all the crew come up on 
 deck, the flag and pennant were hoisted, the gun 
 was fired, and we were many times saluted with 
 
1 98 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 '^Ho?tj-as,'' to which we replied as often with " Vive 
 le voir 
 
 Scarcely had we gone a quarter of a league on our 
 way when the ship got under sail, and, toward five 
 o'clock, we lost sight of her. The sea, however, was 
 very rough, and we had only miserable oars to row 
 with, when, to complete our difficulty, our rudder 
 became disabled. A hinge, which was held in its 
 place by a screw below, came out and fell into the sea. 
 We then resorted to the only expedient in our power 
 that of attaching the ring of the rudder to the stern- 
 post of the boat ; but the iron shortly wore off the 
 cord, and we found ourselves in great danger. What 
 increased our fear was, that the night became very 
 dark, and we were far distant from land. We deter- 
 mined, therefore, to anchor until next morning, when 
 we could find out some way to relieve ourselves from 
 this unfortunate condition. As the English appre- 
 ciated better than we did the peril in which we were, 
 one of them proposed to me to hoist the lantern high 
 up on one of the masts, as a signal for succor. But I 
 represented to him its uselessness, because we were 
 too far distant to be seen, and, besides, no one would 
 dare to come to us in the uncertainty whether we were 
 friends or enemies. 
 
 Thus we passed a distressing night, between life 
 and death ; and what was very remarkable is, that we 
 haJ anchored, without knowing it, between two large 
 rocks, which we did not see until day dawned. After 
 having returned thanks to God for having so visibly 
 protected us, we resolved to gain the river, that, if 
 
THE RHODE ISLAND PRIVATEER. 1 99 
 
 possible, we might repair the boat, or procure another 
 at the neighboring dwellings, or, as a last resource, go 
 by land to Cayenne. But behold ! a new accident. 
 As we took down the large mast, not having much 
 strength of crew, they allowed it to go on the opposite 
 side from that on which it should naturally fall. We 
 all thought it would have crushed M. de la Landerie, 
 but happily he had only some slight bruises. We 
 took at that time — the sergeant and myself — one 
 oar to steer, the others each taking one to row ; and. 
 aided partly by the wind (for we carried our foremast 
 to enable us to avoid the breakers), and partly by the 
 tide, which began to rise, but, above all, conducted by 
 the Divine Providence which guided us, on the morn- 
 ing of the 26th we entered the little river Macouria, 
 which I have already mentioned. None of us were 
 acquainted with the channel ; so that the English 
 themselves earnestly avowed that it was God who 
 had conducted us, safe and sound, in spite of the 
 great dangers. 
 
 Our first object was to obtain some means of get- 
 ting to Cayenne ; but this was not an easy matter. In 
 addition to the fact that we could not find a boat or 
 any way of repairing our own, the negroes, who were 
 the only persons left at the dwellings, were so fright- 
 ened that they did not wish to recognize us. As it 
 had already become known that I was a prisoner, 
 they feared lest the English had sent me ashore as a 
 lure, through my means to entrap the slaves. Never- 
 theless, after many protestations and prayers and 
 solicitations, I reassured some, who, more courageous 
 
200 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 than the rest, dared to approach us ; and, through their 
 means, we obtained some little refreshment, of which 
 we certainly stood very much in need. For myself, as 
 I was scarcely able to take any nourishment, and for 
 this reason was very weak, I was hardly able to sus- 
 tain myself. 
 
 As soon as each one was a little recruited, I consigned 
 to the negroes the boat, which we left in their care 
 with all the rigging and sails, and we set out on our 
 journey to Cayenne, along the borders of the ocean. 
 We did not wish to go into the interior of the coun- 
 try, for fear of affording our enemies a knowledge of 
 the place, which hereafter might be an injury to us. 
 The night which followed favored my design, and I 
 can say with truth that the five English whom I took 
 with me saw nothing which could be of any service 
 to them, if at any future day, in the course of this 
 war, they should take a fancy to return to us. 
 
 It would be difficult, not to say impossible, my 
 Reverend Father, to describe to you what we suffered 
 during this journey of only three or four leagues. As 
 the tide rose, and for that reason we were obliged to 
 make our way over the high ground of the shore, 
 where the sand is very shifting, we sunk into it ; and 
 most of us had the greatest difficulty to drag our- 
 selves along, so that I frequently saw the greater part 
 of our party obliged to stop and rest. The English, 
 particularly, being little accustomed to march, found 
 the journey very long, and would have been very will- 
 ing to be back in their vessel. But it was their fault 
 that they found themselves in such difficulty. In 
 
THE RHODE ISLAND PRIVATEER. 20I 
 
 sending us ashore, they themselves knew that the 
 boat in which we embarked was unseaworthy. They 
 should have given me notice of it at the time, and I 
 would have demanded another from the captain. 
 
 At last, by dint of encouraging and animating them, 
 we reached the point which the river forms, and which 
 fronts on the roadstead. It was about midnight when 
 we arrived at the dwelling of Madame de Charanville, 
 where the slaves, knowing the good heart and gen- 
 erosity of their mistress, although alone, gave us the 
 best reception they were able, to recompense us for 
 the privations we had suffered. I had taken the pre- 
 caution to send before us a negro of our party, to re- 
 move their fears on our arrival ; for without this, we 
 should have run a great risk of not being received, so 
 great was the fright which had everywhere seized on 
 these poor wretches. So good a reception gave great 
 satisfaction to the English, who themselves feared 
 being killed or maltreated by the negroes, which 
 would certainly have happened had I not been with 
 them. For this reason they never left me. At length, 
 after having taken a little rest, as soon as it was day 
 we embarked in a boat we had found, and continued 
 our route to Cayenne. 
 
 No sooner had they seen us at a great distance, 
 than they well knew from our white flag that we were 
 the deputies who came to make terms ; and they im- 
 mediately sent down a detachment to the port, who 
 received us at the point of the bayonet and with pre- 
 sented arms, as is the custom on such occasions. All 
 the ramparts which fronted the roadstead, and the 
 
 Q* 
 
202 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 rising ground on which the fort is situated, were 
 entirely covered with people. Having directed the 
 sergeant to remain in the boat with all his company 
 until I had spoken to the commandant, I myself 
 landed. The Brother Pittet had recognized me with 
 his glass, at a long distance, and hastened himself to 
 give me his hand. 
 
 It was a very consoling spectacle, my Reverend 
 Father, to see all Cayenne coming to meet me. In 
 the streets through which I had passed, there was so 
 great a crowd of people that I had difficulty in making 
 my way. The rich as well as the poor, even all the 
 slaves, pressed around to give me proofs of the pleas- 
 ure which my restoration to freedom afforded them. 
 Many bathed me with their tears when embracing me. 
 I do not blush to say that I was myself overcome in 
 recognizing such great demonstrations of friendship. 
 A large crowd followed me even into the church, to 
 which I first repaired to return thanks to God for the 
 great blessings He had bestowed upon me, and for 
 which I pray you, my Reverend Father, to give 
 thanks also. 
 
 Our Fathers and our Brothers distinguished them- 
 selves on this occasion, and extended their charity, in 
 my behalf, as far as it was possible to carry it. As 
 all my clothes were in a pitiable state, they eagerly 
 brought me every thing which was necessary. In this 
 way I realized to the letter the truth of that declara- 
 tion of our Lord : " Quiconque quittera son phe, sa 
 mire, ses frh'es, pour r amour de moi, recevra le centu- 
 ple en ce monde^ (Whosoever shall leave his father. 
 
THE RHODE ISLAND PRIVATEER. 203 
 
 his mother, his brethren, for my sake, shall receive an 
 hundred-fold in this world.) 
 
 We often talked together over the evils which might 
 again happen to us, and I was always very much edi- 
 fied at seeing their holy emulation ; each one wishing 
 to sacrifice himself to succor the wounded in case of 
 an attack. But I thought that having already had 
 some experience in this matter, and not being able to 
 be again made prisoner during the continuance of 
 this war, I should have the preference, and begin the 
 service in discharging the duties of our ministry. We 
 can, however, hope that neither the one nor the other 
 will be obliged to come forward in this way, but that 
 the victorious arms of the king will shortly bring 
 about a solid and lasting peace. As soon as I had 
 made my report and forwarded my letters to Monsieur 
 d'Orvilliers, who was in retirement in his house on 
 account of the death of Madame his wife, he gave 
 orders that the five English who had come with me 
 should be conducted, with their eyes bandaged, ac- 
 cording to custom in such cases, to the guard-house, 
 where they were to be confined ; after which, he made 
 the necessary arrangements for sending them back to 
 their ship, with the seven other prisoners whom I have 
 already mentioned, all of whom he was very willing 
 to free, in a great measure through consideration to 
 myself. On the following day, the 28th, they departed 
 during the night in their long-boat, with all the tackle 
 and provisions necessary. We have reason to wish 
 that they should arrive safe in port, because we have 
 written by them to the Governor of Surinam ; and I 
 
204 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 myself on my own account have done so, to endeavor, 
 through his instrumentality, to recover what belonged 
 to my church, on the conditions agreed upon with 
 Captain Potter when we parted. But if I should not 
 succeed in recovering these things, I flatter myself 
 that you, my Reverend Father, would be entirely 
 willing to supply this deficiency by sending me a com- 
 plete church service, for every thing has been lost. 
 
 On my arrival at Cayenne, I had found there the 
 officer who was at Oyapoc when it was taken, and 
 who since then has returned thither with the chief 
 surgeon and a party of soldiers. Since that time, 
 the commandant himself has gone back with the rest 
 of the detachment, to await the orders which the 
 Court shall give with regard to Oyapoc. The fort 
 which we have just lost was built in 1725, under the 
 direction of M. d'Orvilliers, Governor of this colony, 
 and had thus been in existence but nineteen years. 
 We do not know whether the Court will think proper 
 to re-establish it. 
 
 It was a great consolation to me to learn that our 
 two missionaries, the Fathers d'Autillac and d'Huber- 
 lant, have returned each to his own post, after having 
 entirely got over their fatigues before they went back. 
 They had again much to suffer, until we were able to 
 furnish them with assistance. They write me that 
 the Indians, who had been at first exceedingly fright- 
 ened, had begun to be reassured, and that they con- 
 tinued to render all the services in their power to the 
 inhabitants who remained in that quarter awaiting 
 the new order. 
 
THE RHODE ISLAND PRIVATEER. 205 
 
 You see, my Reverend Father, a very long letter, 
 and, perhaps, one a little too long. I should esteem 
 myself happy if it is able to afford you any pleasure, 
 for I had no other object in writing. I am, with 
 respect, in the unity of your holy sacrifices, &c. 
 
206 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 IX. 
 
 THE FUGITIVE SLAVES OF CAYENNE. 
 
 1751- 
 
 [Our last article was the letter of Father Fauque, describing 
 the destruction of the little missionary station of Oyapoc, in 
 1745. In the conclusion of it, he expresses his doubts whether 
 the French Government will rebuild their ruined fort, and con- 
 tinue the settlement. It seems, from a letter written six years 
 later, that his suspicion was correct, and Oyapoc was abandoned, 
 as it is evident that Father Fauque remained at Cayenne. 
 
 We publish the translation of this letter, as containing a curi- 
 ous picture of what slavery was in that day in this French colony. 
 It shows, too, the same traits of character of the simple-hearted 
 Jesuit : striving after self-denial and availing himself of every 
 opportunity to place himself in the way of a possible martyr- 
 dom.] 
 
 Letter of FatJicr Fauque, of the Society of Jesus, to 
 Father A Hart, of the same Society. 
 
 At Cayenne, the lot/i 0/ May, 1751. 
 My Reverend Father, — The peace of our Lord 
 be with you ! The desire which you have expressed 
 to learn from me any news of this coimtry, which 
 has reference to the salvation of souls, has induced 
 me to send you to-day a brief relation of our enter- 
 prise of charity of which, some time ago. Providence 
 furnished me the opportunity, and which resulted 
 
THE FUGITIVE SLA VES OF CA YENNE. 207 
 
 equally to the glory of God and the welfare of this 
 colony. 
 
 You know, my Reverend Father, that the principal 
 wealth of the inhabitants of South America consists 
 in their negro slaves, whom the ships of the company 
 or the French merchantmen are accustomed to pro- 
 cure in Guinea, and transport direct to our islands. 
 The trade is said to be very lucrative, since a full- 
 grown man, who costs fifty crowns or two hundred 
 livres at the Senegal, will here sell for from twelve to 
 fifteen hundred livres. 
 
 It would be useless for me to tell you how the 
 slave-trade is conducted in their country, what kind 
 of merchandise they carry there for that purpose, or 
 the precautions it is necessary to take to avoid the 
 mortality and recklessness and revolts in these slave- 
 ships ; or what measures we and the other mission- 
 aries take to instruct these poor heathen when they 
 arrive in our parishes. On all these points, and on 
 many others of the same kind, an infinite number 
 of narratives have been published, with which you are 
 doubtless acquainted. But what has always impressed 
 me, and to which I have not been able to become rec- 
 onciled, even after a residence of twenty-four years 
 in this country, is the manner in which the sale of 
 these poor wretches is conducted. 
 
 As soon as the ship with which they are freighted 
 arrives in port, the captain, after having taken the 
 steps prescribed by the Ordinances of the King, both 
 before the Admiralty and the Ministers of Justice, 
 hires a large warehouse, where he lands his cargo. 
 
208 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 Thither, as to a market, each one goes to choose the 
 slaves who suit him ; and, at the price agreed upon, 
 to take them home with him. How sad is it for a 
 man of reason and susceptible of sentiment and re- 
 flection, to see his fellow-creatures sold in this way, 
 like beasts of burden ! What have we done for God, 
 such as we are, — I have more than once asked my- 
 self, — that we should not be subjected to the same 
 fate as these poor wretches ! 
 
 But the negroes, accustomed in their own country 
 for the most part to enjoy their liberty, find it difficult 
 to submit to the yoke of slavery, which is often ren- 
 dered entirely insupportable to them. For they find 
 masters (I mention this with shame) who are wanting 
 towards them, not only in that consideration which 
 religion enjoins, but even in the attention which hu- 
 manity itself demands. Thus it happens that many 
 run away, — what they term here, becoming inaroons; 
 and this is the more easy in Cayenne, as the country 
 is, so to say, without boundaries, extremely moun- 
 tainous, and in all parts covered with forests. 
 
 Desertions of this kind (or tnaroonage) do not fail, 
 after a time, to produce an infinite amount of disorder. 
 To prevent this our kings, in a code made expressly 
 to regulate the slaves, have prescribed a particular 
 punishment for each commission of this crime. The 
 first time that a slave runs away, if his master has 
 taken the precaution to lodge information at the court, 
 and he is taken one month after the day of the notice, 
 his ears are cut off, and he is branded on the back 
 with the fleur-de-lis. If he repeats the offence, and 
 
THE FUGITIVE SLA VES OF CA YENNE. 209 
 
 remains absent one month after he has been declared 
 in Court, he is hamstrung. For the third offence he 
 is hung. One could not but believe that the severity 
 of this law would retain the greater number in their 
 duty ; but there are always some of higher courage, 
 who find no difficulty in risking life to enjoy liberty. 
 As long as the number of these fugitives, or maroons, 
 is not great, they cause but little uneasiness. But it 
 becomes an evil when they come to unite in large 
 numbers, because it then may result in most disas- 
 trous consequences. It is this which our neighbors, 
 the Dutch at Surinam, have often experienced, and of 
 which they are now having proof every day ; being, as 
 they say, constantly threatened with a fatal irruption, 
 so great is the number of runaway slaves in the woods. 
 
 To save Cayenne from a similar evil, Mons. d'Or- 
 villiers. Governor of French Guiana, and Mons. le 
 Moyne, our Intendant Commissary, were no sooner 
 apprised that there were nearly seventy of these 
 wretches assembled about ten or twelve leagues from 
 here, than they sent in pursuit of them a large de- 
 tachment of regular troops and militia. They arranged 
 every thing so well, guided by their wisdom and com- 
 mon-sense, that the detachment, notwithstanding the 
 detours it was obliged to make among almost inacces- 
 sible mountains, reached its destination safely. 
 
 But all the precautions and all the measures which 
 this force was able to adopt, did not render the ex- 
 pedition very successful. There were only three or 
 four maroons captured, of whom one was killed, be- 
 cause after being taken he endeavored to escape. 
 
210 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 On the return of this detachment, the Governor, 
 to whom the prisoners had given a detailed account 
 of the number of the fugitives, their different settle- 
 ments, and the measures they adopted to increase 
 their number, was disposed to send a second detach- 
 ment, when we thought that it would be in accordance 
 with our ministry to offer ourselves to go and endeavor 
 to bring back to the fold these wandering sheep. Many 
 motives united in inducing us to undertake this good 
 work. In the first place, we might save the life, both 
 of body and soul, of all those who otherwise would 
 be killed in the woods ; for there is but little hope of 
 the salvation of a negro who is put to death in his 
 maroonage. Again, we might save the colony a great 
 expense, and the troops a very severe fatigue. Be- 
 sides all this, if we proved successful, we would be 
 able to bring back to the workshops of the inhabi- 
 tants a large number of slaves, whose absence caused 
 trade to languish. 
 
 But however forcible these reasons might appear, 
 they were not at first favorably received. This offer 
 of mediation appeared too mild for these wretches, 
 some of whom had been fugitives for more than 
 twenty years, and were accused of great crimes. 
 And besides, it was said, they will be able to believe 
 that the French are afraid of them, since they send 
 the missionaries to seek them. However, after two 
 or three days of deliberation, our proposition was 
 accepted, and Providence permitted the choice of the 
 one who should make this journey to fall upon me. 
 
 Some friends I have here, who weighed this matter 
 
THE FUGITIVE SLA VES OF CA YENNE. 2 1 1 
 
 in too worldly a manner, no sooner had knowledge 
 of it than they used all their efforts to detain me. 
 " Why do you go into the forest," some asked me 
 "where you will certainly perish from fatigue or 
 want?" "These miserable negroes," others said, 
 "fearing that you wish to deceive them, will serve 
 you an evil turn." Some again represented to me, 
 that I might fall into some snare. For the negroes, 
 in truth, are accustomed to excavate in the middle of 
 the path deep ditches, which they covered most skil- 
 fully at the surface with leaves, so that no one could 
 perceive the trap. But if he had the misfortune to 
 fall into it, he impaled himself on the hard and pointed 
 stakes with which these ditches are bristling. " You 
 will lose your time and your pains," said those who 
 were not sanguine as to the result. " You will cer- 
 tainly bring none of them back. They are too much 
 accustomed to live at liberty ever to return and sub- 
 mit to slavery." 
 
 You can readily believe, my Reverend Father, that 
 reasons of this kind could make but little impression 
 on persons of our profession, who have abandoned 
 home, parents, friends, and country, and who have 
 encountered all the dangers of the sea, only to win 
 souls to God ; too happy if they are able to give their 
 lives for the glory of their Great Master, who first 
 sacrificed even His own self for us. 
 
 I set out, then, with four of the slaves of the House, 
 and one free negro who had been with the detachment 
 of which I have spoken above, and who was to serve 
 as a guide. It was necessary for me to have this 
 
212 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 number, to carry my sacred vessels and the food 
 required for the journey. We went first by canoe 
 as far as the straits of Tonne-Grande, which is one of 
 the streams watering this country. At this place we 
 passed the night. Early in the morning, I said there 
 the Holy Mass, to implore the aid of Heaven, without 
 which we could effect nothing. Immediately after 
 this we entered the forests. Notwithstanding all the 
 diligence we used, we could only accomplish that day 
 about two-thirds of our intended journey. It became, 
 therefore, necessary for us to camp out, after the man- 
 ner of the country ; that is to say, that we should 
 make at the moment, with the leaves of the palm, of 
 which there are many kinds in this country, a little 
 ajotipa, by which we mean a kind of shed which serves 
 for a shelter from the injurious effects of the weather. 
 As soon as it was daylight, we resumed our route, 
 and, between two and three hours after midday, we 
 perceived the first settlement of the maroons, which 
 they have named the Mountain de Plomb (of lead), be- 
 cause they find there a great quantity of little stones, 
 black and round, which these wretches are accustomed 
 to use in place of bullets for their guns. When I 
 saw the smoke through the woods, I thought at first 
 that those who were the object of my journey could 
 not be far distant. But I was mistaken, in this con- 
 jecture. The smoke was from the remains of the fires 
 kindled by the detachment which had preceded me ; 
 their custom being, when in pursuit of fugitives of this 
 kind, to burn all the houses or dwelUngs, and to make 
 as much havoc as possible. 
 
THE FUGITIVE SLA VES OF CA YENNE. 2 13 
 
 I then attempted to announce myself by repeated 
 blasts on a kind of large shell, which has almost the 
 form of a cone, and which they use here in place of a 
 bell, to give the negroes the signal to rise, and to mark 
 the hours of labor. But, finding that no one appeared, 
 I went forward to examine the site, where I recognized 
 the traces of two or three men, whose footsteps- had 
 been imprinted on the ashes. I comprehended that 
 those whom I sought had not dared to appear there 
 since they had been pursued. It became necessary 
 for us, then, again to encamp, as we had done the pre- 
 ceding day ; that is, to construct again our little 
 ajoiipa to pass the night. 
 
 It would be impossible, my Reverend Father, to 
 narrate to you all that the fears of my attendants in- 
 spired them to represent to me. They expected that 
 each moment we would draw upon ourselves the dis- 
 charge of a musket or a flight of arrows. It was in 
 vain that I endeavored to reassure them to the best of 
 my ability; for they always answered that they knew 
 better than I did the thorough malignity of the run- 
 away negro. Nevertheless, Providence did not suffer 
 us to encounter any disaster during that night; and, 
 rising at the break of day, I proceeded again to sound 
 my shell, which served me as a hunting-horn, and the 
 notes of which, being exceedingly piercing, ought cer- 
 tainly to make it heard to a very great distance, be- 
 sides being in the midst of valleys and mountains. 
 At last, after having waited a long time, and walked 
 about everywhere, as I did the day before, not seeing 
 any one coming, I resolved to go to the place where 
 
214 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 they had found the maroons a few days before, and 
 where one of them had been killed. 
 
 I began by saying the Holy Mass, as I had done at 
 Tonne-Grande, after which we entered the woods. I 
 should judge that, from one abattis to the other, it could 
 scarcely be two leagues ; at least, it took us only about 
 two hours to make the journey. (They call an abat- 
 tis here a space in the woods where the trees are 
 cut down, and when they are dry they are burned, 
 to enable them to plant the ground.) The maroons 
 call this place the Abattis of the Straits, because there 
 is a fall of water there. This site appeared to me much 
 more grand and better situated than the first, which 
 they named, as I have said, the Mountain de Plomb. 
 It was here, also, that they raised their food, which 
 consisted of the cassida-plant, bananas, potatoes, rice, 
 ignames, pineapples, and some little sugar-cane. 
 
 As soon as we were within the borders of this 
 cleared space, I announced myself by my usual signal, 
 and immediately made a circuit entirely around it 
 without seeing any one. All I remarked was that, 
 only a few days before they had been gathering the 
 magrive there, and that they had interred there the 
 body of the one who had been killed. But the grave 
 was so shallow that it emitted an intolerable stench. 
 I approached, however, very near it, to say the prayer 
 over the miserable remains ; in the hope that, if any of 
 his companions saw me, this action might touch them 
 and induce them to come to me. But all my attempts 
 were vain ; and, after having passed the remainder of 
 the day uselessly in this place, we returned to sleep at 
 
THE FUGITIVE SLAVES OF CAYENNE. 21 5 
 
 the Mountain de Plomb, to save the labor of construct- 
 ing a new abattis. 
 
 The night passed, like the previous one, without 
 any disturbance, but not without fears on the part of 
 my fellow-travellers. They were surprised that no 
 one came out from the woods to show himself to us. 
 As for myself, I did not know what to think. Neverthe- 
 less, as there remained still one abattis for me to visit, 
 which they called the Abattis of Augustin, because 
 one of the chiefs of the maroons, who bore that name, 
 made his usual residence there with his band, I im- 
 agined that all the maroons might have taken refuge 
 there, as being the most distant place. My difficulty 
 was that my guide did not know the road. After a 
 thorough search, we discovered a small footpath, which 
 we took at a venture, and, after a walk of about four 
 hours, always either climbing or descending the moun- 
 tains, we arrived, at last, at the borders of an abattis. 
 It cost us, however, great labor to effect an entrance 
 into it, as its boundaries were blocked by great trunks 
 of trees. However, we overcame this obstacle by 
 climbing to the best of our ability, and the first objects 
 which presented themselves to us were two huts. I ran 
 to them, and found there a fire, a kettle, some meat 
 just boiled, leaves of tobacco for smoking, and various 
 other things of the same kind. I did not doubt, at 
 the time, but that some one would come out of the 
 woods to confer with me. After having, however, 
 called thoroughly and walked everywhere, according 
 to my custom, to do every thing to make myself known, 
 not seeing any one appear, and having still much of 
 
2l6 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 the day remaining, I wished to go still farther and 
 endeavor finally to reach the settlement of Augustin, 
 having always persuaded myself that those whom I 
 sought had retired to that place. 
 
 The companions of my journey, not being animated 
 by the religious motives which should control me, and 
 always timid, were very desirous that we should re- 
 turn. They proposed it to me more than once ; but I 
 was not willing to leave my mission unfinished. I 
 cannot deny, for I do not wish to conceal any thing 
 from you, but that, in the bottom of my heart, I my- 
 self felt the influence of a certain fear. The total 
 abandonment in which I found myself, the dread of 
 those immense forests in which I was without any 
 possible succor, and the profound silence which 
 reigned there, — all this, as would naturally happen 
 under such circumstances, in spite of myself, inspired 
 me with gloomy thoughts. But I was careful to stifle 
 these involuntary feelings, and I took care that noth- 
 ing should appear which should add to the troubles of 
 those who accompanied me. After having, therefore, 
 made them take some refreshments, we again entered 
 the woods, neither one nor the other knowing whither 
 the path on which we had entered led. 
 
 The Divine Providence, which guarded and watched 
 over us, permitted that, after having well climbed the 
 mountains and valleys, we should at last reach our 
 destination, having walked for only about two hours. 
 My object, however, was not much more forwarded by 
 this ; for I only found a new abattis, which had been 
 made similar to the one which I had left, but without 
 
THE FUGITIVE SLA VES OF CA YENNE. 217 
 
 any person condescending to see us. From the fresh 
 traces, however, which we saw, it seemed to us that, 
 on that same day, they had been there digging the 
 roots they use for food and gathering fruits. 
 
 What gave me the most concern was, that the ma- 
 roons, imagining, perhaps, that there was always a 
 detachment at their heels, had themselves set fire to 
 their dwellings a few days before; with the object, 
 without doubt, to prevent those in pursuit from occu- 
 pying them. I could not doubt but that they saw me 
 from the borders of the woods, but did not understand 
 my object. Therefore, I shouted with all my force, 
 that they could come to me with entire safety ; that 
 I had obtained their full pardon ; that my profession 
 forbade my aiding in the death of any one, whoever he 
 might be, either directly or indirectly ; that I had no 
 guard to come and seek them, to deliver them to jus- 
 tice ; and that, finally, I and my people were in their 
 power, since we were but six in all, and unarmed, 
 while they were a large number and armed. 
 
 " Remember, my dear children," I said to them, 
 " that, although you may be slaves, you are, neverthe- 
 less. Christians like your masters ; that since your 
 baptism you have professed the same religion with 
 them ; and from this you learn that those who do not 
 live Christian lives, after their death go down to hell. 
 What misery for you if, having been in slavery to men 
 in this world and in time, you should become the 
 slaves of the Devil through all eternity ! This misery 
 will certainly overtake you, if you do not return to 
 your duty, since now you are in a constant state of 
 10 
 
2l8 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 condemnation. For, without referring to the wrong 
 you do your masters in depriving them of your labor, 
 you do not hear the Mass on Holy Days, you never 
 come to the Sacrament, you live in concubinage, not 
 having been married by your rightful pastors. Come, 
 then, to me, my dear friends ; come without fear. 
 Have pity on your souls, which cost Jesus Christ so 
 dearly. Give me the satisfaction of leading you all 
 back to Cayenne. Make amends to me for the labors 
 I have undergone on this occasion. Come and speak 
 with me ; and, if you are not satisfied with the assur- 
 ances of pardon which I shall give you, you can re- 
 main in your present abodes, since I cannot take you 
 back by force." 
 
 At length, after having exhausted all that zeal and 
 charity could suggest on such an occasion, not one of 
 these miserable beings appearing, we went back to 
 sleep in the huts we had left at the other abattis, 
 partly to save the labor of constructing new quarters, 
 and partly because the fresh traces we had seen there 
 gave us reason to think that some of them might 
 come there during the night. But no one showed 
 himself ; so that, indignant at their obstinacy, towards 
 four o'clock the next day we returned to the Moun- 
 tain de Plomb. We remained there all Saturday, and 
 there, on Sunday, I read the Holy Mass ; and as it was 
 necessary for us to return, because our provisions had 
 begun to fail, I wished, before departing, to leave an 
 unequivocal monument of my journey, by erecting 
 there a Cross of a kind of hard wood, and which still 
 remains. 
 
THE FUGITIVE SLA VES OF CA VENAE. 219 
 
 This Cross, as I shall show farther on in my narra- 
 tive, was the means of rendering my enterprise suc- 
 cessful. For, as soon as the negro maroons saw it, 
 they came there to say their prayers ; it being their 
 custom, notwithstanding their reckless wickedness 
 (what would be difficult to believe), to pray to God 
 morning and evening. They even baptized the chil- 
 dren which were born among them, and took great 
 care to instruct them in the principles of their faith as 
 far as they themselves knew them. 
 
 As soon as I had returned to Tonne-Grande, where 
 I left my canoe, I informed Messieurs d'Orvilliers and 
 Lemoine of the little success which had attended my 
 undertaking. I informed them that I should remain 
 for some time in this region, to administer the Sac- 
 rament at Easter to the negroes. I added, also, that 
 having been placed, at the beginning of this journey, 
 under the protection of the Guardian Angels, I had a 
 secret presentiment that they would not permit me to 
 return to Cayenne without gaining some information 
 with regard to the prodigal children who had been its 
 object. In fine, I prayed these gentlemen to assent 
 to an extension, for some days, of the amnesty which 
 they had at first granted them ; and they had the 
 kindness to extend it for an entire month. 
 
 After this answer, I began what they call here the 
 Easter of the slaves in this region ; that is to say, I 
 went round to their different dwellings to confess 
 those who were already baptized, and to instruct those 
 who were still heathen. It is our custom to go thus, 
 at least once a year, to the residences of all the colo- 
 
220 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 nists who are our parishioners, however distant they 
 may be, for there are parishes there twenty-five leagues 
 in extent. And you can form no idea, my Reverend 
 Father, of the good work there is to do there, and 
 which is effected by excursions of this kind. The 
 missionary to whom is entrusted this holy task re- 
 stores peace to families which are divided, by reconcil- 
 ing their little differences ; he performs the Marriage 
 Service, to put an end to their illicit connections, to 
 which these slaves are much addicted ; he endeavors 
 to mitigate the evils connected with their state, by 
 causing them to look upon them in a religious light ; 
 he makes an exact estimate of their actual amount of 
 instruction, to prepare by degrees for the Communion 
 those whom he judges to be fitted, our custom being 
 to permit but few of the negroes to approach the 
 Sacrament, from the experience we have had of their 
 unworthiness. He points out prudently to the mas- 
 ters the faults they commit in the treatment of their 
 slaves, — perhaps in not caring sufficiently for their re- 
 ligious conduct ; perhaps in requiring from them unjust 
 labors ; perhaps in not giving them sufficient for their 
 food and clothing, in violation of the wise ordinances 
 of our kings. There are a thousand other things of this 
 kind which fall within the province of the minister, and 
 all of which tend equally to the glory of God and the 
 salvation of souls. It subjects him to many trials, in 
 truth, in making such rounds in a land like this ; for, 
 when he is in the country, he is always either scorched 
 by the rays of a blazing sun or deluged by violent 
 rains. But to what will not a disinterested zeal carry 
 
THE FUGITIVE SLA VES OF CA YENNE. 221 
 
 one, and what difficulties will it not be able to sur- 
 mount ! 
 
 Nevertheless, in accomplishing this good work as 
 there was opportunity (for this is not my ordinary 
 employment there), I was not forgetful of the first 
 object of my journey. I took great pains to say to 
 the negroes that, if they were able to see any of their 
 companions among the maroons, they should assure 
 them that, although they were not able to approach 
 me in the woods, I had, nevertheless, again obtained a 
 month's amnesty for them ; but, if during this space 
 of time they did not return, they had no further grace 
 or pardon to expect ; that they should be aware, on 
 the contrary, that they would be pursued without 
 ceasing, even to the utmost extremity. 
 
 At last, after having finished my mission, and made 
 my round of visits to all the dwellings in the neigh- 
 borhood of Tonne-Grande, I was just on the point of 
 embarking in my canoe to return to Cayenne, a little 
 ashamed, in truth, at having failed in my plan, before 
 the eyes of men who ordinarily only judge of things 
 by their success, when I saw coming towards me 
 another small canoe, managed by two young negroes. 
 They were bearers of a letter from the steward of 
 Mount-Seneri, which is the name of a sugar plantation 
 in this section, who informed me that the negro 
 maroons had arrived at his house, and were inquiring 
 for me with great solicitude. I flew thither with even 
 more earnestness than they themselves exhibited, and 
 found there, in truth, some twenty, who assured me 
 that the others were on their way to give themselves 
 
222 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 up to me. What a joyful surprise for me, my Rever- 
 end Father, to find my vows fulfilled when their 
 accomplishment seemed to me most distant ! 
 
 After having shed some tears of joy over these 
 sheep, wandering for so long a time, and who had 
 now returned to the fold, I gave them some reproaches 
 for not having been willing to speak to me while I 
 was in their midst. But they always answered that 
 they thought there might be some detachment in 
 ambush to seize them ; but as soon as they saw the 
 sign of our redemption set up on their ground, they 
 were at length convinced that the time had come to 
 obtain pardon, both for their souls and bodies. 
 Whether this was the real motive which led them 
 to act, or whether some of their comrades in the 
 different settlements, whom I had prepared for Eas- 
 ter, had assured them of the sincerity of the pardon 
 I had offered them, I have never been able to discover. 
 But, however this may be, they came by degrees to 
 the number of fifty ; and as our Governor, who had a 
 detachment all ready to march into the woods, if I had 
 not succeeded, pressed me to return to Cayenne, I set 
 out with these fifty fugitives. 
 
 It would be impossible, my Reverend Father, to 
 picture to you the demonstrations of joy with which 
 they received me, followed by my train, each one car- 
 rying some little baggage on his head or on his back. 
 The streets were lined with people to see us pass. 
 The masters congratulated each other on having 
 recovered their slaves ; and the negroes themselves, 
 who belonged in the town, made it a festival at their 
 
THE FUGITIVE SLA VES OF CA YENNE. 223 
 
 meeting once more, — one his father, another his 
 mother, and this one his son or daughter. And as 
 many of those whom I was conducting back had not 
 been in the town for a long time, and their attention 
 was much attracted by the changes, our progress was 
 slow, that they might have an opportunity of satisfy- 
 ing their curiosity. At the same time, this allowed 
 their comrades time to embrace them, while they 
 made the air to resound with their cries of joy and 
 thanksgiving. The most striking feature, however, 
 was a troop of young people of both sexes, who had 
 been born in the forests, and, never having seen any 
 white person, or the house of a Frenchman, were 
 never tired of observing them, while, according to 
 their fashion, they manifested their admiration. I 
 first conducted my little troop to the church, where 
 there was a large congregation gathered, in conse- 
 quence of its being the Festival of Saint Francis 
 Xavier ; but it was presently entirely packed by the 
 crowd which followed us. 
 
 I began by causing these miserable beings to make 
 a proper confession : first, to God, whose service they 
 had abandoned for so long a time ; secondly, to their 
 masters and the colonists, upon many of whom they 
 had inflicted great losses ; and, thirdly, to their com- 
 panions, for the evil example they had given them by 
 their flight and by their thefts. After this, I said the 
 Holy Mass, as a Service of Thanksgiving. They took 
 part in it with the greater pleasure and devotion as 
 many among them had not heard it for ten or twenty 
 years. When it was ended, I presented them to the 
 
224 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 Governor, who confirmed the pardon I had promised 
 in his name, and then they returned to their respec- 
 tive masters. 
 
 Immediately afterwards, they sent out a strong 
 detachment to make havoc in the plantations of those 
 who remained, and to endeavor to capture or kill them. 
 But a sickness which spread through the force as soon 
 as it arrived in those places caused the expedition to 
 fail. In consequence of this, those whom I had left, 
 to the number only of seventeen, great and small, men 
 and women, who had promised that they would shortly 
 follow me, did not keep their word, and are still in the 
 woods. They have been even joined by some others 
 since that time. If the number increases to a certain 
 point, it will be a great misfortune to the colony. 
 But the wise measures which our magistrates take to 
 prevent it, will probably save us from such disorders. 
 I pray you, nevertheless, my Reverend Father, to 
 unite your prayers with ours to obtain this grace 
 from Heaven. I am, &c. 
 
HUDSON BAY MISSIONARY. 22$ 
 
 X. 
 
 TRIALS OF THE HUDSON BAY MISSIONARY. 
 
 1694. 
 
 [From the tropical forests of South America, we turn to the 
 frozen regions of the North, — to the bleak shores of Hudson 
 Bay, where no civilized man penetrates, except the fur-traders 
 who deal with the Indians ; and there, too, we find the Jesuit. 
 His letter gives us the record of his trials, when all his self-denial 
 was rendered useless by the interference of national enmities. 
 It is sad to think how far these penetrate, — that when hostilities 
 commence in Europe, the influence extends even to the barbar- 
 ous regions near the Pole, and break up the labors for the spir- 
 itual benefit of the poor savages who live in that almost perpetual 
 winter.] 
 
 Letter of FatJier Gabriel Marest, Missiojiary of the 
 Society of yesus, to Father de Lamberville, of the 
 same Society, Procurator of the Mission in Canada. 
 
 My Reverend Father, — The peace of our Lord 
 be with yon. It is rather late to ask me the news from 
 Hudson's Bay. I was much more in a condition to give 
 it to you when I crossed over again into France, in 
 returning from the prisons at Plymouth. All that I 
 am now able to do, is to send you some extracts from a 
 brief journal which I kept at that time, and of which 
 I have preserved a copy. It begins with our departure 
 
226 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 from Quebec, and is continued until the return of the 
 ships which carried us to the Ray. It is perliaps, how- 
 ever, best that I should first make you acquainted with 
 what I learned at Quebec, partly with respect to the 
 first discovery of Hudson's Bay, and partly concern- 
 ing some subsequent events of which I heard from 
 two Jesuits who had made the same voyage before me. 
 
 It is now more than 200 years that navigators of 
 different nations have been endeavoring to open a new 
 route to China and Japan by the North ; yet none of 
 them have been able to succeed, for God has placed 
 in their way an invincible obstacle in the mountains of 
 ice with which those seas abound. It was with the 
 same design that, in 161 1, the famous Hudson, an 
 Englishman, penetrated more than five hundred 
 leagues beyond his predecessors, by the great Bay 
 which to our day bears his name, and in which he 
 passed the winter. In the spring of the following 
 year he wished to continue his voyage ; but his stores 
 began to fail, and disease weakened his crew, so that 
 he found himself obliged to return to England. Two 
 years afterwards, he made a second attempt, and, in 
 1614, advanced as far as the 82nd degree. But he was 
 so often in danger of perishing, and found such diffi- 
 culty in returning, that since that time neither he nor 
 any one else have dared to undertake to advance so 
 far. 
 
 Nevertheless, the English merchants, to profit by 
 the voyages and discoveries of their countrymen, have 
 since made an establishment at Hudson's Bay. Their 
 object was to conduct a trade in furs with the many 
 
HUDSON BAY MISSIONARY. 227 
 
 Southern Indians, who, during the heat of summer, 
 come in their canoes down the rivers which empty into 
 the Bay. At first, they only built some houses in 
 which to pass the winter and await the arrival of the 
 Indians. They suffered much there, and many of them 
 died of scurvy. But as the furs which the savages 
 brought to this Bay were remarkably fine, and the 
 profits, of course, proportionably great, the English 
 were not deterred by the variableness of the atmos- 
 phere or the severity of the climate. They were not, 
 however, left in undisputed possession ; for the French 
 in Canada wished also to establish themselves in the 
 same way, and claimed that, as many of the neighbor- 
 ing countries were part of the same continent as New 
 France, they had a right to trade to the 51st degree, 
 and even much higher. 
 
 A misunderstanding, of course, grew up between the 
 two nations ; each built some forts for the purpose of 
 protecting itself from the insults of the other. But 
 the frequent maladies and the continual dangers to 
 which they were exposed, rendered the French un- 
 willing to undertake these expeditions without having 
 their chaplain with them. It was in this capacity, 
 therefore, that Father Dalmas, a native of Tours, 
 embarked for Hudson's Bay. Having arrived there, 
 he offered to remain in the fort, as well to serve the 
 French who were stationed there in garrison, as to 
 have an opportunity of learning the language of the 
 Morians, who brought thither their furs in the sum- 
 mer. He wished, in this way, to qualif^^ himself at 
 length to preach the Gospel among them. But the 
 
228 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 ships which should have brought their provisions in 
 the following year, having been always driven off by 
 the violence of head-winds, the greater part of those 
 who remained in the fort perished by famine or dis- 
 ease. At last, their number was reduced to eight indi- 
 viduals, five of whom having departed on a hunting 
 expedition on the snow in the woods, there remained 
 in the fort only Father Dalmas, the surgeon, and a 
 tool-maker. 
 
 On their return, four or five days afterwards, they 
 were very much surprised not to find either the Father 
 or the surgeon. They, of course, demanded of the tool- 
 maker what had become of them ; but the embarrass- 
 ment with which he received them, the contradictory 
 answers he gave, and some traces of blood which they 
 perceived on the snow, induced them to seize the 
 miserable man and place him in irons. Finding him- 
 self thus arrested, and being pressed also by remorse 
 of conscience, he confessed that, having been long at 
 variance with the surgeon, he had, one morning, mur- 
 dered him, and then drawn his body to the river, where 
 he thrust it through a hole he had made in the ice. 
 Having immediately returned to the fort, he found the 
 Father in the chapel preparing to say Mass. The un- 
 happy man asked to speak with him ; but the Father put 
 him off till after service, which he performed as usual. 
 
 Mass being ended, he confessed to the priest what 
 had happened, declared the despair he felt, and his fear 
 lest the others, on their return, should put him to 
 death. " It is not that which you have most to fear," 
 answered the Father, " for we are a very small num- 
 
HUDSON BAY MISSIONARY. 229 
 
 ber, and they have too much need of your services to 
 wish to put you to death. Should they show any in- 
 tention of doing so, I promise you I will oppose it to 
 the utmost of my power. But I expect you to confess 
 before God the enormity of your crime, and to do 
 penance for it. You have need to appease the anger 
 of God, and I that of men." The Father added that, 
 if he wished him to do so, he would go and meet those 
 who were returning from the hunt, endeavor to soften 
 them, and gain from them a promise that they would 
 not harm him on their arrival. The tool-maker ac- 
 cepted the offer, appeared to be composed, and the 
 Father departed. But scarcely had he left the fort, 
 when this miserable man found himself troubled anew. 
 Dark forebodings filled his mind, and he became pos- 
 sessed with the notion that the Father would deceive 
 him, and had gone to find the others, only to prejudice 
 them against him. 
 
 With this idea, he took his axe and gun to run 
 after the Father. Perceiving him at a distance by the 
 river, he called to him to wait, which the missionary 
 did. As soon as he came up, he reproached him for 
 being a traitor and intending to betray him, at the 
 same time giving him a blow with his gun, which 
 severely wounded him. To escape from the fury of 
 this infatuated man, the Father threw himself upon 
 a large cake of ice, which was floating in the water. 
 The tool-maker sprang after him, and struck him 
 down with two blows of his axe, which he inflicted 
 on his head. After having cast his body under the 
 same piece of ice on which the Father had taken 
 
230 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 refuge, he returned to the fort, where the five others 
 shortly arrived. 
 
 They had resolved to guard him in this manner 
 until the arrival of the first ships, in which he could 
 be sent back ; but, before assistance could arrive, the 
 English attacked the fort. Those who guarded it 
 had taken the precaution to keep all their cannons 
 loaded, and were thus prepared to make a furious dis- 
 charge upon their enemies whenever they made their 
 approaches. This heavy fire, which wounded and 
 killed many of their men, made them think there was 
 yet a strong party in the fort ; and they therefore 
 retreated, with the determination to come back with 
 a greater force. They did, in fact, return, and pre- 
 pared to attack the place in form. The five French, 
 therefore, who garrisoned it, finding themselves not 
 in a condition to resist, escaped by night through one 
 of the embrasures of the cannon, and gained the 
 woods, leaving the tool-maker alone, and bound as he 
 was. They of course never knew what the English 
 thought of it, or what account of himself he gave 
 them. But, of the five persons who left the fort, three 
 died on the road, and only two arrived, after great 
 fatigues, at Montreal. It was from them that I re- 
 ceived this account, which I have now given you. 
 
 The accident which had happened to Father Dalmas 
 did not, however, deter Father Sylvie from returning, 
 some time afterwards, to Hudson's Bay, to serve in the 
 same capacity as chaplain. But, at the same time, he 
 wished to open a way for preaching the Gospel to the 
 savages farther south, who hitherto had been without 
 
HUDSON BAY MISSIONARY. 23 1 
 
 any instruction. He soon, however, found himself so 
 disabled that he was under the necessity of embarking 
 to return to Quebec, where he has never yet entirely 
 recovered from the maladies he contracted at the Bay. 
 On my arrival- in Canada, I was destined to the same 
 duty ; which, I will not conceal from you, was contrary 
 to my inclination. My design in leaving France was 
 to devote myself, as far as possible, to the service of 
 the Indians, from which, by this arrangement, I found 
 myself still farther removed. 
 
 The late M. d'Iberville, one of the bravest captains 
 we have had in New France, had received orders to 
 make himself master of some posts which the Eng- 
 lish had occupied on Hudson's Bay. For this pur- 
 pose, he had equipped two ships-of-war, the " Poli," 
 on which he was about himself to embark, and the 
 " Salamandre," commanded by M. de Serigny. Hav- 
 ing requested from our Father Superior a missionary 
 who might serve as chaplain to the two ships, the 
 Superior selected me, apparently because, having 
 lately arrived, and being as yet entirely unacquainted 
 with any of the Indian languages, I was the least 
 necessary in Canada. 
 
 We accordingly embarked, on the loth of August, 
 1694, and, towards midnight, anchored opposite to Cape 
 Torment.^ We doubled it on the iith, at seven or 
 eight o'clock in the morning, but, in consequence of 
 a head-wind, made but little during the remainder of 
 
 1 This cape is only eight miles distant from Quebec. It is called 
 Torment, because, with the least wind, the water is agitated as in the 
 open sea. 
 
232 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 that day, or the three following days. I therefore 
 availed myself of this leisure to engage the greater 
 part of the crew in celebrating the Festival of the Holy 
 Virgin. On the 14th, I distributed in the " Poll " the 
 images of Our Lady, which had been given me at 
 Quebec by Madame Champigny, Lady of the Inten- 
 dant of Canada, and passed all the evening and the 
 next morning in hearing confessions. Many received 
 the Communion on the day of the Festival. When I 
 had finished the service of the Mass, the wind changed, 
 and they set sail immediately. On the 20th, however, 
 the wind having again entirely died away, I passed 
 from the " Poll " to the " Salamandre," to see M. de 
 Serigny, and to celebrate the Mass on board. The 
 crew were very much delighted, and many availed 
 themselves of this occasion to go to Confession and 
 receive the Sacrament. 
 
 On the 2 1 St we passed Belle-Isle. This island, 
 which is circular in shape, is as high as fifty-two 
 degrees north latitude, and distant two hundred and 
 twenty leagues from Quebec, in the midst of a strait, 
 which forms the island of Newfoundland {Terre- 
 Neiive) by separating it from the mainland of Labra- 
 dor. We began from this time to come in sight of 
 the high mountains of ice which float in these seas, of 
 which we saw, perhaps, one and twenty. They ap- 
 peared at a distance like mountains of crystal, and 
 some like rocks, with rough, bristling points. 
 
 On the 22d, we had in the morning a perfect calm ; 
 but, towards mid-day, a head-wind sprang up, and 
 continued to blow very violently during the 24th and 
 
HUDSON BA Y MISSION A RY. 233 
 
 25th. The two following days we had a return of the 
 calm, which was equally prejudicial to us as the head- 
 wind. The season was already far advanced, and we 
 were in a region where winter came at once, without 
 being preceded by autumn. We were at the height 
 of fifty-six degrees, and much of our voyage remained 
 to be accomplished, over a sea dangerous on account 
 of the great banks of ice which are generally found 
 there, but through the middle of which it was neces- 
 sary that we should make our way as high as the 
 sixty-third degree. 
 
 On the 28th, at eight o'clock in the evening, a light 
 trade-wind, which came from the south, enabled us to 
 advance well on our way, during the two or three days 
 that it lasted. On the 31st, the wind changed a little, 
 but, nevertheless, without ceasing to be favorable for 
 us. It brought with it, however, a heavy fog, which 
 prevented us from seeing the land, which we supposed 
 to be not far distant, and to which we were, in fact, 
 very near. In the middle of the day the weather 
 cleared ; and we saw, without difficulty, the coast, bor- 
 dered with a great quantity of rocks, which they 
 called " sugar-loaves " {pains de siicre), because they 
 were of that shape. They were entirely covered with 
 snow. In the evening we entered the strait through 
 which we had to pass in going to Hudson's Bay. 
 
 This strait, which is called the Canal or Strait of 
 the North, is very difficult of navigation, on account 
 of the islands of ice which are continually forming in 
 this cold climate, and through this passage discharge 
 themselves into the open sea. The shores of the 
 
234 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 strait run generally west-north-west and east-south- 
 east. At both ends of it there are some islands, situ- 
 ated on the southern shore. Those which are found 
 at the entrance of the strait — at the eastern end, 
 towards Europe — are called the Bouton Islands. 
 They are in latitude sixty degrees and some minutes. 
 Those which are situated at the other extremity of the 
 same strait are called the Digues Islands. They are 
 in about sixty-three degrees. Besides these, there are 
 many others scattered through the strait, which is one 
 hundred and thirty-five leagues in length. Its least 
 breadth is seven or eight leagues, but it is generally 
 much wider. We saw, from time to time, large bays, 
 especially near the Bouton Islands. There is one in 
 particular much larger than the rest, by which, they 
 say, it is possible to go to the southern extremity of 
 the Bay of Hudson ; but this is very doubtful. 
 
 It often takes a long time to go through this strait ; 
 but we made the passage, very happily, in four days. 
 We entered it at four o'clock in the morning of the 
 1st of September, and left it on the 5th, also in the 
 morning, with a wind very favorable, but which in- 
 creased very much on the 6th. On the 7th the 
 weather was calm, which gave more than fifty per- 
 sons an opportunity of receiving the Sacrament on 
 the next day, which was the Festival of the Nativity 
 of the Holy Virgin. 
 
 The calm continued on the 8th, the 9th, and the 
 loth, which caused much sadness and disquietude 
 among all the crew. I therefore exhorted our Cana- 
 dians to implore the protection of Saint Anne, whom 
 
HUDSON BA V MISS ION A RY. 235 
 
 they regard as the patron saint of the country, and all 
 honor with great devotion. My proposition was re- 
 ceived with joy ; and we engaged to make, during all 
 that day, both morning and evening, our public prayers 
 in honor of that saint. During the following night the 
 wind became favorable. 
 
 On the 1 2th, we discovered the North land {la terre 
 du Nord), but below the point we wished to make. 
 The wind having again become contrary, we beat 
 about during several days, without making any head- 
 way, and were at length obliged to cast anchor. We 
 now began to suffer much, the cold increased, and the 
 water was almost exhausted. In this extremity, our 
 Canadians came to me with a proposal that they 
 should make a vow to Saint Anne to consecrate to 
 her honor the first gain they made in this country. I 
 approved of their design, after communicating it to 
 M. d'Iberville. At the same time, I exhorted them to 
 strive after their own sanctification, since it was the 
 purity of their lives which rendered their vows agree- 
 able to God. The greater part profited by my advice, 
 and came to Confession and received the Sacrament. 
 The following day the sailors wished to follow the 
 example of the Canadians, and make the same vow 
 which they had done, while M. d'Iberville and the 
 other officers took the lead in the movement. The 
 following night, which was that of the 21st of Sep- 
 tember, God gave us a favorable wind. 
 
 On the 24th, at six o'clock in the evening, we 
 entered the river Bourbon. The joy was great 
 through the whole crew. It was on Friday, and we 
 
236 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 chanted the hymn Vexilla Regis, and, above all, that 
 of O Cnix ave, which we repeated many times in 
 honor of the adorable Cross of our Saviour, in a 
 country where it was unknown to the Indians, and 
 where it had been so often profaned by the heretics, 
 who had thrown down with contempt all the crosses 
 which we, the French, had in other times erected 
 there. 
 
 The river, to which the French have given the 
 name of Bourbon, is called by the English the river 
 Pornetton, from whence it happens that many of the 
 French still call the territories around, the country of 
 Pornetton. The river is deep and broad, and extends 
 far into the heart of the country ; but, as it is filled 
 with rapids, it is less convenient for the trade of the 
 Indians. For this reason the English have not built 
 their fort on its banks. At the south-east of the 
 river Bourbon, and in the same bay, another river 
 empties, equally great, which the first discoverers 
 called the river of Saint Therese, because the wife 
 of him who first saw it bore the name of that holy 
 Saint, 
 
 These two rivers are only separated by a low tongue 
 of land, which forms in both of them very extensive 
 shallows. The mouths of these rivers are in latitude 
 fifty-seven degrees and some minutes. They both 
 run to the same point of the compass, and for a long 
 distance their channels are not more than one or two 
 leagues apart. The shallows with which they are 
 filled render them dangerous to large vessels. But, 
 as this difficulty exists to a less extent in the river 
 
HUDSON BAY MISSIONARY. 237 
 
 Bourbon, it was determined that the " PoH " should 
 winter there, while the " Salaniandre " was placed in 
 the river Saint Therese, on the banks of which the 
 English had built their fort on the tongue of land 
 which separates the two rivers. 
 
 We arrived, as I said before, in the river Bourbon 
 on the 24th, at six o'clock in the evening. The same 
 night they sent a party of our people on shore to 
 attempt to surprise some of the English. They 
 found, however, much difficulty in landing on account 
 of the shallows, and were obliged to cast themselves 
 into the water, while the ice which lined the banks 
 furnished an additional obstacle. Among those who 
 were sent on shore was an Iroquois Indian, whom, on 
 leaving Quebec, they had requested me to baptize. I 
 had hitherto deferred this rite to allow time for his 
 further instruction ; but now, seeing the perils to 
 which he was exposed, I did not think it right to defer 
 it any longer. One of our Canadians, however, who 
 spoke the Iroquois language, had been of great ser- 
 vice to me in preparing him for that step. The peo- 
 ple whom we had sent on shore were not able to 
 surprise any of the English, because we had been 
 seen the moment of our arrival, and they had all 
 immediately retired within their works ; but on the 
 25th they brought off two Indians, whom they had 
 taken near the fort. 
 
 M. d'Iberville had been on the same day to sound 
 the river, and look for a place where our vessel could 
 be sheltered during the winter. We found one which 
 was very commodious ; and, after having visited those 
 
238 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 whom he had caused to debark, and given his orders, 
 he charged M. de Serigny with the care of taking the 
 " Poh " round to the place assigned, and then, on the 
 27th, went himself on board of the " Salamandre," 
 whither I followed him. 
 
 On the evening of the same day we arrived at the 
 mouth of the river Saint Ther^se ; nor did we fail, 
 on entering it, to place ourselves under the protection 
 of that holy saint. In the middle of the night, M. 
 d'Iberville departed to sound this second river. On 
 the 28th, we advanced up it a league and a half by 
 means of the tide, the wind being ahead. The rest of 
 the day was employed in sounding both shores. On 
 the 29th, we again made a short league ; and M. 
 d' Iberville went on shore to mark out his camp, and 
 the spot alongside of which he intended the ship to 
 lay. He found one which he liked, about half a league 
 below the fort. A large point of land, sufficiently high, 
 extended into the river, and thus formed a kind of bay, 
 in which the ship could be entirely sheltered from the 
 drifting of the ice, which is to be very much feared in 
 the Spring. Orders were accordingly issued for those 
 of our people who had already landed to encamp in 
 this place. They were not more than twenty in num- 
 ber ; but the Indians of the country had reported to 
 the English that they were more than forty or fifty, 
 which intelligence had always deterred them from 
 going out of the fort. 
 
 On the 30th, it was impossible for us to advance. 
 The 1st of October found us still in the same state, 
 the wind always ahead ; and, as we ran aground at 
 
HUDSON BAY MISSIONARY. 239 
 
 each low tide, it was impossible to tack. The wind, 
 too, and the cold and the ice, increased every day. 
 We thus found ourselves only one league from the 
 place where we ought to debark, but in danger of 
 never reaching it. At length the crew began to be 
 alarmed ; but I exhorted them to trust to the protec- 
 tion of God, who had never yet deserted them in their 
 voyage. On board the " Salamandre " they made the 
 same run which had already been made in the " Poll ; " 
 and on that very day the wind changed and became 
 favorable. 
 
 At eight o'clock in the evening we weighed anchor, 
 the moon being very bright ; and, favored by the tide, 
 our boat, rowed by six oars, towed the ship, and con- 
 ducted it even within gunshot of the place where we 
 wished to go. We were still, however, not able to land 
 there, for the tide left us. In passing the fort, they 
 gave us three or four discharges from their cannon, 
 but their bullets did not reach us. Our Canadians 
 only answered them with the sassa koues, which is the 
 name the Indians have bestowed on the peculiar cries 
 they make in sign of rejoicing. 
 
 On the 2d, we thought our vessel would have been 
 lost. As we got under way, in the hope of immedi- 
 ately making the port, which, so to speak, we were 
 just touching, a great whirlwind of snow concealed 
 the land from us, while a violent north-west wind 
 threw us on a shallow, where we grounded at high 
 tide. Here we passed a most dismal night. At six 
 in the evening, the ice, brought down by the current 
 and thrust on by the wind, commenced striking against 
 
240 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 the ship, with a noise so frightful that it might have 
 been heard at the distance of a league. The crashing 
 continued four or five hours. The ice shocked the 
 vessel so rudely that it pierced the wood, and stripped 
 it off in many places to the breadth of three or four 
 fingers. M. d'lberville, to lighten the vessel, thought 
 best to throw overboard on the shallow twelve pieces 
 of cannon, and divers other things which the water 
 could not destroy, and which would not be injured by 
 remaining there. We afterwards made a covering on 
 the sand for these pieces of cannon, for fear lest they 
 should be dragged off in the spring by the drifting of 
 the ice. 
 
 On the 3d, the wind having somewhat moderated, 
 M. d'lberville determined to commence discharging 
 the ship, which was every moment in danger of being 
 lost. We were unable to use the boat for this purpose, 
 because it was not possible to manage it amongst the 
 ice, which was constantly carried by in great quan- 
 tities. We therefore employed bark canoes, which 
 we had brought with us from Quebec, and which our 
 Canadians guided through the midst of the ice with 
 wonderful skill. 
 
 For some days afterwards I was unwell, and had at 
 the same time a fever. M. d'lberville pressed me to 
 go on shore ; but I could not make up my mind to 
 quit the vessel in the peril in which it then was, and 
 in the midst of the alarm in which I saw all the crew. 
 I was constrained, however, to do so by the sad news 
 which we shortly afterwards received. M. de Cha- 
 teauguai, a young officer of nineteen years of age, and 
 
HUDSON BAY MISSIONARY. 24 1 
 
 the brother of M. d'Iberville, had gone to discharge 
 his gun towards the English fort to occupy their 
 attention, and prevent their having any knowledge 
 of our embarrassments. Having, however, advanced 
 too far, he was wounded by a ball, which passed 
 through him from side to side. He sent for me to 
 confess him, and I had myself, therefore, carried 
 thither to the camp. We at first thought his wound 
 was not mortal, but were very shortly undeceived, for 
 he died the next day. 
 
 We had, just before this, received news of the 
 " Poll," and learned that this ship was in no less dan- 
 ger than our own. The winds, the shallows, and the 
 ice had all been obstacles in its way. At one time, 
 while aground, it received a severe shock in its keel. 
 Four pumps were not sufficient to discharge the 
 water which flowed in, and many barrels of flour were 
 wet in clearing the ship. It was not yet relieved, and 
 there was danger of its never being able to reach the 
 place where it ought to winter. 
 
 So much sad intelligence did not in any way damp 
 the courage of M. d'Iberville. He was deeply touched 
 by the death of his brother, whom he had always ten- 
 derly loved ; but he made it a sacrifice to God, in 
 whom he wished to place all his confidence. For, 
 seeing that the least sign of inquietude which might 
 appear on his countenance would throw all into con- 
 sternation, he always sustained himself with wonder- 
 ful firmness ; giving everybody something to do, active 
 himself, and sending forth his orders with the same 
 presence of mind as ever. But on the same day God 
 
242 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 consoled him. The very same tide placed both ves- 
 sels out of danger, and conducted each one to the 
 place which had been marked out for it. 
 
 On the 5th, I baptized two infant children of one 
 of the Indians. They had been ill for a long time, 
 and I now judged they were in danger. I was the 
 more urgent to baptize them, because the next day 
 the Indians were to depart, to spend the winter in the 
 forests at a distance from us. But, before I baptized 
 them, I obtained from the father a promise that, if 
 they recovered, he would bring them back to me in 
 the Spring to be instructed. They were both children 
 of the same father, but of different mothers, polyga- 
 my being customary among the Indians in this coun- 
 try. One of the two afterwards died ; and the father 
 brought back the survivor to me in the following 
 Spring, as he had promised. For some time after- 
 wards we were busy in building huts for ourselves, in 
 unloading the vessel, and in preparing for the siege. 
 
 On the 9th I departed, to return to the " Poll," 
 where M. de Tilly, a lieutenant, had been dangerously 
 ill for several days. It was the first journey I had 
 made through an American forest. The ground over 
 which we passed was very marshy, and we were 
 obliged to take circuitous routes to avoid the swamps. 
 The water had begun to freeze ; but, the ice not yet 
 being sufficiently strong to bear our weight, we often 
 sank in half-way up the leg. We made thus five 
 leagues on the snow and through the forests (if, in- 
 deed, we may use that word, for in this country they 
 have no open woods). The trees are mingled in 
 
HUDSON BAY MISSIONARY. 243 
 
 some places with thickets and brambles, and then 
 again in others they are interspersed with clear sa- 
 vannas. 
 
 When at length we reached the banks of the river 
 Bourbon, we found ourselves very much embarrassed. 
 The ship was on the other side, and the river in this 
 place a league and a half ■ wide, very rapid, and at that 
 time filled with floating ice. Those who had accom- 
 panied me judged the passage impracticable, and I 
 had some difficulty in overcoming their opposition. 
 But, a little while after, the river became clear, the ice 
 having drifted away with the falling of the tide. We 
 therefore embarked immediately, after having carried 
 our canoe over the ice which had formed along the 
 banks of the river. We set out at sunset, and arrived 
 in safety at the beginning of the night. 
 
 We found the ship in a safe and commodious place, 
 and the crew beginning to recover from their past 
 fatigues. I saw the sick man to whom I administered 
 the consolations of our faith ; receiving his confession 
 the next day, and giving him the Sacrament. After 
 dinner, I went to visit our Canadians and sailors, who 
 had established themselves in huts on shore. On my 
 return, they informed me that the passage of the river 
 was again practicable ; and I immediately embarked, 
 as I had promised to return without delay, on account 
 of the expected attack on the fort. Reaching the 
 other side very late, we put up a hut in which to pass 
 the night. We had built it with much carelessness, as 
 we trusted to the clearness of the sky, — an oversight 
 of which we had cause afterwards to repent, as we 
 
244 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 were, during three hours, exposed to a heavy fall of 
 snow. 
 
 On the I ith we reached our camp, where every thing 
 was in readiness for the siege. They had made 
 through the woods an excellent road on which to 
 transport their cannon, the mortars and bombs. On 
 the 1 2th, they fixed their mortars ; and on the 13th, 
 as they were ready to open on the fort, they sent to 
 summon the enemy to capitulate, offering them favor- 
 able terms if they would surrender immediately. They 
 asked until eight o'clock the next morning to give 
 their answer, and requested that we would not disturb 
 them during the night about the fort. This was ac- 
 cordingly granted them. The next morning, at the 
 hour appointed, they brought forward their conditions, 
 which were at once assented to, for they did not even 
 demand to retain their arms or tents. Their chaplain 
 had given the terms of capitulation in Latin, and I 
 acted as interpreter on our side. The English had 
 been seized with fear on our first arrival, and from 
 that time had kept themselves entirely shut up, with- 
 out even daring to go out at night to procure water 
 from the river, which flowed at the base of the fort. 
 
 The same day, M. d'lberville sent his lieutenant, 
 M. du Tas, to take possession. He went thither him- 
 self on the morrow, — the Festival of St. Therese, — 
 and named it Fort Bourbon. The same day, I cele- 
 brated the mass there, and chanted the Te Dciim. 
 The fort was only of wood, both smaller and weaker 
 than we had supposed ; and the booty we gained was 
 also much less than we had hoped for. The English 
 
HUDSON BAY MISSIONARY. 245 
 
 were fifty-three in number, all large men, and well 
 made ; but those who commanded them were much 
 more skilful in commerce than in the profession of 
 arms, in which they had never been exercised. It 
 was for this reason that they surrendered so easily. 
 In all these things, we could not but admire the won- 
 derful arrangement of Divine Providence. On enter- 
 ing the river of St. Therese, we had with confidence 
 invoked the protection of the holy Saint whose name 
 the river bore ; and God arranged every thing in such 
 a manner that, on the very day of the Festival of the 
 same Saint, we should obtain possession of the fort, 
 which renders us masters of the navigation, and all 
 the commerce, of the great river. 
 
 The same day, I thought it well to return on a visit 
 to M. de Tilly, whom I had left very ill. I set out, 
 therefore, after dinner, and reached the banks of the 
 river Bourbon, but found the crossing absolutely im- 
 practicable. We therefore erected our hut, and spent 
 the whole night there. The next day, the river 
 being no better, we made on the banks fires, which 
 sent up high columns of smoke, this being the signal 
 agreed on to announce the capture of the fort. They 
 replied by similar signals, and we returned to the 
 fort. Three days afterwards, — that is to say, on the 
 1 8th of October, — I joined M. de Caumont, a brother 
 of M. de Tilly, and two other persons, their relatives, 
 together with a Canadian, in an attempt to pass over 
 together to the " Poll." We again found the river in 
 a very bad state, and- the next day it was no better. 
 Nevertheless, we determined to risk the passage, 
 
246 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 which was not accomplished without great danger, 
 but at last we arrived safely. I did not again leave 
 the sick man until the 28th, which was the day of his 
 death. After the funeral services were over, I wished 
 to return to the fort to celebrate the Festival of All- 
 Saints, but was unable to pass the river until All- 
 Souls Day.i We lost our way that night in the 
 woods, and, after wandering for a long time, found 
 ourselves in the place from which we set out. There 
 we passed the night, and reached the fort on the 3d 
 of November. I have since often made these little 
 journeys; for disease, and particularly the scurvy, 
 having spread among our crew, I was constantly 
 obliged to go from the fort to the " Poll," and from 
 the " Poli " to the fort, to assist the sick. I had my- 
 self some slight attacks of the scurvy ; but the exer- 
 cise I was obliged to take, in aiding here and there 
 those who were in some danger, dissipated what I be- 
 lieve to have been the commencement of the malady. 
 
 At the beginning of October, the river St. Ther^se 
 was entirely closed by ice, three or four leagues above 
 the fort, where there are some islands, which render 
 the channel very narrow ; but we did not begin pass- 
 ing over on it, opposite to the fort, until the 13th of 
 November. The river Bourbon was not entirely closed 
 until the night of Jan. 23, 1695. After this, we were 
 able to pass over to the " Poli " on the ice, which very 
 much shortened our journey. The ice commenced 
 breaking up in the river St. Ther^se on the 30th of 
 
 I In the Roman calendar, All-Saints Day is Nov. i ; and All- 
 Souls Day, the day after, Nov. 2. — Trans. 
 
HUDSON BAY MISSIONARY. 247 
 
 May, but, in the river Bourbon, not until the nth 
 of June. On the 30th of July, we embarked to go 
 with one or two ships to the roadstead at the mouth 
 of the river St. Ther^se, to await the arrival of the 
 English ships, which are accustomed to come there at 
 that season. However, we waited for them in vain, 
 for none ever appeared. 
 
 I had undertaken, on my arrival, to learn the lan- 
 guage of the Indians, and for this purpose wished to 
 avail myself of the services of two of them, who had 
 remained during the winter in a hut near the fort. 
 But my frequent excursions from one river to the 
 other were a great hindrance, besides which the man 
 was a slave from another nation, and only imperfectly 
 knew their language ; while his wife, who had a thor- 
 ough hatred of the French, never spoke to me except 
 in waywardness, and often purposely deceived me. 
 Nevertheless, the visits which I made them had one 
 good effect : I had gained the confidence of this poor 
 man, and began to instruct him as far as was in my 
 power, when he fell sick. He then wished for bap- 
 tism, which I had the satisfaction of administering to 
 him before his death. 
 
 With regard to the religion they profess, it is, I 
 believe, the same as that of other Indians ; but I am 
 not as yet sufficiently acquainted with it to speak defi- 
 nitely of the nature of their idolatry. I know that 
 they have some kind of sacrifices ; they have grand 
 jugglers, and, like other Indians, a custom of the pipe, 
 which they call calumet. They are accustomed to 
 smoke with regard to the sun and absent persons. 
 
248 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 and sometimes with reference to our fort and our 
 ship. Nevertheless, I am able to say nothing certain 
 with regard to their ideas of the Divinity, not having 
 been able to comprehend them. I can only add that 
 they are extremely superstitious, very depraved ; that 
 they live in the practice of polygamy, and in an es- 
 trangement as great as possible from any thing like 
 Christianity. 
 
 Thus you perceive, my Reverend Father, that it 
 will be very difhcult to establish our faith among this 
 people. I think that, if we wish to make any pro- 
 gress, it will be necessary to commence with the 
 Krigs and the Assiniboels. Besides other considera- 
 tions, these Indians are very numerous. They seem 
 to me not so far removed as the rest from all ideas of 
 religion ; they have more spirit, and are settled during 
 at least three or four months of the year. It would, 
 therefore, be more easy to form a mission in their 
 country. I am, indeed, truly sensible of the difficul- 
 ties in the way of its establishment. In truth, I 
 doubt whether our first Fathers, in their earliest mis- 
 sions in Canada, encountered as many as seem here 
 to threaten. But we must not be deterred by these 
 things. God will take care of us ; and I trust that 
 the more of pain and toil these missions seem to 
 promise, so much the more will missionaries be found 
 who will offer themselves to God to be his messengers 
 there. 
 
 I do not as yet speak the language of the Indians 
 very well ; but nevertheless none of them have come 
 to the fort to whom I have not spoken of God, I 
 
HUDSON BAY MISSIONARY. 249 
 
 have an inward pleasure in declaring to these poor 
 people what they have never before heard announced. 
 Many have heard me willingly ; and they have thus 
 learned, at least, that I have come among them with 
 a different object from the rest of the French. I 
 have told them that I came to their country to make 
 them acquainted with the God whom I worshipped, 
 and they seemed to receive the declaration with joy, 
 and invited me to visit them. I find much greater 
 difficulty in understanding the Indians than in speak- 
 ing to them ; for I am already, indeed, acquainted 
 with the greater part of their words. M. de la Motte 
 has been of great assistance to me ; and an English- 
 man, who knows the language very well, has aided 
 me still more. I have made a dictionary of all their 
 words, arranged alphabetically ; and, considering how 
 little I have been with the Indians, I think that I 
 begin to speak easily, and to understand their lan- 
 guage. I have translated directions for making the 
 sign of the cross, the Pater, the Ave, the Credo, and 
 the Commandments of God. I have baptized only 
 two adults among the Indians, who both died shortly 
 afterwards. I have also baptized three infants, two 
 of whom have since been taken to heaven. If I had 
 been able to mix more with the Indians, I should have 
 effected more. 
 
 In the beginning of September, 1695, our two ships 
 departed on their return. As it seemed probable that 
 they would go direct to France, I preferred remaining 
 in the fort with the forty-five men whom they left 
 there in garrison, and who otherwise would have had 
 
250 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 no chaplain. I was persuaded, too, that, having more 
 leisure after the departure of the ships, I should be 
 able to learn the language of the Indians perfectly, 
 and thus qualify myself to begin a mission. God, 
 however, did not judge me to be worthy: the English 
 came to besiege us, and we were taken prisoners. I 
 have already told you, on my return to France, the 
 story, with the history of our imprisonment. It would 
 therefore be useless to repeat it here. I am, &c. 
 
EXPLORATIONS IN THE DELTA. 25 1 
 
 XI. 
 
 EXPLORATIONS IN THE DELTA. 
 1712. 
 
 [At the beginning of the last century, the Abbd Sicard was one 
 of the most distinguished antiquarians and scholars in Europe. 
 Cairo being the scene of his mission, he devoted himself par- 
 ticularly to investigations relating to the monuments and past 
 history of Egypt. Several of his expeditions were undertaken 
 by direction of the royal family of France. Such was the one 
 the narrative of which we have translated, — his explorations 
 among the mouldering relics of the old monasteries of the 
 Delta. 
 
 An earnest member of the Church of Rome, he never lost an 
 opportunity, as will be seen by his narrative, to inculcate his 
 doctrines on the heretical Copts, in the attempt to win them back 
 to the fold. 
 
 The Abb^ died in 1726, aged 49 years, leaWng behind him the 
 results of extensive studies among the ruins of Egypt, particu- 
 larly labored investigations with regard to the passage of the 
 Israelites over the Red Sea. As a matter of BibHcal inquiry, 
 his essays on this point probably exhaust the subject.] 
 
 Letter of Fatlier Sicard., Missionary in Egypt, to 
 his Royal Highness, the Count of Toulouse. 
 
 MoNSEiGNEUK, — We Icarn with much pleasure 
 and gratitude that your Serene Highness has the 
 goodness to take an interest in all that has occurred 
 
252 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 in these Missions, which our Society has estabHshed 
 for more than a century in the different countries of 
 the Levant. 
 
 As nothing is more necessary for a missionary in 
 Egypt than to be well acquainted with the views of 
 the Copts, in order to refute them, and to know their 
 habits, to correct them, after having been a long time 
 engaged in the Mission with those who are living in 
 Cairo, I have thought it proper to visit the Copts in 
 the country, to become better acquainted with all that 
 concerns them, and by this means to win their confi- 
 dence and labor more effectually for their instruction 
 and conversion. 
 
 To carry out my plan, I embarked on the Nile at 
 Boulacq, on the 5th of December, 1712, at one o'clock 
 in the afternoon, accompanied by a Coptic monk, the 
 priest and Superior of St. Macarius. At midnight we 
 arrived at Oiiardan, a little village on the western 
 bank of the branch of the Nile which flows down to 
 Rosetta. Not finding there any house of Christians 
 in which we could be received, we were obliged to pass 
 the rest of the night in a public place, exposed to the 
 air, which was exceedingly cold. We left this mis- 
 erable resting-place at break of day, to go to Etris, 
 another village, half a league distant from Oiiardan. 
 There we found a Hospice intended for the hermits 
 of the Desert, which is in its vicinity. 
 
 The night following, after all the shepherds and 
 husbandmen had retired to their homes, I assembled, 
 by the light of the moon, all the Coptic men and chil- 
 dren, to give them some instruction. I found these 
 
EXPLORATIONS IN THE DELTA. 253 
 
 good people, famishing for the word of God, because 
 they heard it so rarely. Their Patriarch, it is true, 
 has sent them members of the religious orders to be 
 their Cures, but these pastors were of the number of 
 whom Ezekiel speaks, who took great care of them- 
 selves, but did not feed the flock. ^ 
 
 I wished to begin my catechising by causing them 
 to recite the Pater to the children, but it was with dif- 
 ficulty I could find any one who knew it, still less who 
 was able to give instruction on the principles of our 
 religion. In vain I questioned the greater part. The 
 fathers and mothers were equally ignorant with their 
 children. Most of them had lived, even to that day, 
 without having approached the Sacraments of Pen- 
 ance and the Eucharist. I spent all the time that 
 I was able to be with them in reciting the Lord's 
 Prayer, in their language, in a loud voice. All re- 
 peated it after me, and I caused them to do so until 
 they knew it by heart. I then explained to them the 
 principal articles of our belief. They heard me with 
 the greatest docility, and I charged those among them 
 who were best instructed to repeat in their homes 
 what I had taught them. 
 
 After my instruction, many among them requested 
 me to receive their confession, which they made with 
 feelings which afforded me true consolation, and which 
 induced me to promise them fuller instructions on my 
 return. 
 
 The next day, December 7th, I left Etris with the 
 Superior of St. Macarius and a monk of the same 
 
 ' Ezekiel xxxiv. 8. 
 
254 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 monastery, who had come to make collections at Cairo 
 and in the neighboring villages. The good monk was 
 well contented with his contributions, for he carried 
 back to the monastery ten asses loaded with provi- 
 sions of wheat, rice, lentils, beans, salt fish, wax, and 
 incense. 
 
 After having travelled with them for one hour 
 through a rich and pleasant country, leaving the Nile 
 at the east, we came to the borders of the sands of the 
 Desert of Scete. This desert, of which Palladius and 
 Xufin have given a description, is famous through the 
 journeys which the Saints Paul and Melanius made 
 thither, and through more than five thousand hermits, 
 who inhabited it, among whom were the holy men 
 Ammon, Arsenius, Moses the Black, Effrem, Appollo- 
 nius, Pambon, Serapion, Poemene, Daniel, and John 
 the Little. At that time one could count more than 
 a hundred monasteries in this desert. At this day 
 there remain but the four of which I will speak. 
 
 The desert extends from east to west about three 
 days' journey, and the same distance from north to 
 south. It is a vast expanse of sand, which at the west 
 and south has no other boundary than the sands of 
 Libya and of the Desert of Barca. On the northern 
 side it borders on the Mountains of Nitria, which were 
 formerly inhabited by a countless number of hermits. 
 
 Leaving Etris before sunrise, we arrived, a little 
 after sunset, at the first of the four monasteries of 
 which I have spoken. This bears the name of the old 
 Macarius ; the second is called Notre-Dame of the 
 Suriens ; the third is the Monastery of Saint Bichoi, 
 
EXPLORATIONS IN THE DELTA. 255 
 
 or Abisay ; and the fourth is dedicated to the Holy 
 Virgin of Elbaramous, or of the Greeks. 
 
 The first monastery is distant from the Nile one 
 day's journey ; the second is one and a half days' 
 journey from the first ; the third is but the distance 
 of two gunshots from the second ; and the fourth, 
 leaving the Nile and advancing towards the west, is a 
 half day's journey from the second and the third, and 
 twenty-five or thirty leagues from the Mediterranean 
 Sea and Alexandria, towards the north. 
 
 These four monasteries have all large square en- 
 closures, very much alike, more than a hundred paces 
 in length, and a little less in breadth, surrounded by 
 high thick walls, with a parapet breast-high. Each 
 monastery has a towef, higher by one half than the 
 walls of the enclosure. In each tower there is a 
 chapel dedicated to Saint Michel, many chambers full 
 of provisions, a library which contains three or four 
 chests full of old Arabic and Coptic manuscripts 
 covered with dust, a well of good water, a mill, an oven, 
 and a drawbridge. The door of each monastery is of 
 wood, low, thick, covered with plates of iron, and com- 
 manded by the tower. In each monastery we see the 
 ruins of two or three churches, of many dormitories, 
 and of a very great number of cells, some of which 
 still remain with the offices. The tower serves for 
 donjon and place of retreat for the poor monks in an 
 irruption of the Arabs, who cannot penetrate into the 
 tower as easily as they might procure admission by 
 force or stratagem into the lower part of the enclosure 
 of the monastery. 
 
256 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 The Monastery of Saint Macarius, to which I am 
 referring, is inhabited by one monk, who is a priest, 
 who accompanied me, and whose particular duty was 
 frequently to go out and make collections ; one porter, 
 also a monk; and two lay deacons. These constitute 
 the whole community of this once famous monastery. 
 
 The Monastic Fraternity of Saint Bichoi is only 
 composed of four monks, while the two others have 
 from twelve to fifteen. All are not priests, and there 
 are even among them some laymen, whom they have 
 admitted there by order of the Coptic Patriarch. 
 Their food and their habits are conformed to those of 
 the people of the country. They say Mass on every 
 Sunday, and on every Wednesday and Friday of the 
 four fasts of the year. They spend many hours of 
 the day and the night in the choir ; during others 
 they work, and all in obedience to one Superior, who 
 is a priest. The order of the Superior, vmder whose 
 direction they are, is their principal rule. 
 
 I was very much edified in seeing these solitaries, 
 every evening after their service, and before they re- 
 turned to their cells, prostrate themselves at the feet 
 of their Superior to confess their faults, to ask abso- 
 lution of him, and to receive his blessing. We may 
 well acknowledge that these monks are good people, 
 even with their heresy. They are Copts ; that is to 
 say, disciples of Dioscorus, who was condemned by 
 the Fourth General Council.^ 
 
 1 Dioscorus, Patriarch of Alexandria, was one of the most zealous 
 adherents of Eutychus. He held, with him, that there was but one 
 nature in Jesus Christ, and caused this heresy to be approved in the 
 Council, which was called " the Assembly of Robbers. 
 
EXPLORATIONS IN THE DELTA. 257 
 
 This Monastery of Saint Macarius encloses two 
 churches, — one small, and in good preservation, dedi- 
 cated to Saint Macarius, who gives the name to the 
 monastery and to the whole desert ; the other, which 
 is much larger and half ruined, is dedicated to Saint 
 John. There still remain five domes, of the Gothic 
 order, sustained by twenty-one columns of marble, 
 and five altars. These two churches, like all others 
 of the Copts, have behind their sacristies an oven, 
 made expressly to bake the bread destined for the 
 Sacrifice ; for it is an inviolable custom among these 
 people to use no bread but what is leavened and per- 
 fectly fresh. When their priests are about to say 
 Mass, they bake the same day a basket full of little 
 loaves, white, round, flat on the top and convex at the 
 bottom, and as large as the palm of the hand. One 
 only of these loaves is destined for the altar ; and the 
 others are distributed, after the Mass, among the 
 monks and principal assistants. 
 
 The Copts have another custom among them, which 
 is to have in all their churches a large cistern, square 
 and deep, which they fill with water every year, to use 
 in the ceremony of the famous bath which they call 
 Gothas. I saw, indeed, these two large cisterns in the 
 two churches to which I am referring. In that of 
 Saint John the Baptist, they pointed out to my notice 
 a chapel by the name of Saint Apollinaire, daughter 
 of Anthemius, consul in the reign of Arcadius, who 
 made, it is said, her profession in this monastery, dis- 
 guised as a man. Bollandus writes the history of it, 
 in the Callender, under the date of January 5th. The 
 
 Q 
 
258 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 Copts believe she was the daughter of the Emperor 
 Zeno ; but they are mistaken in this matter, as they 
 are in many others. 
 
 In the choir of the Church of St. Macarius they 
 showed me four little coffins, in which repose, say the 
 Copts, the bones of Saint Macarius and of Saint John 
 the Little. One of these Macariuses is the one of 
 Egypt, surnamed the Old, the disciple of Saint An- 
 thony, and the author of fifty homilies in Greek ; the 
 other is the one from Alexandria, surnamed the 
 Young. These two, of the name of Macarius, have 
 been monks, or abbots, one after the other, in these 
 monasteries of the desert. Palladius relates of the 
 first, that, a man being falsely accused of having as- 
 sassinated another, the Holy Anchorite restored the 
 dead to life, to enable him to declare which was his 
 assassin, and thus justify the innocent. 
 
 The same Palladius, who had lived for some time 
 with these two holy hermits, declares that he had been 
 eye-witness of their power in prayer, their rigorous 
 penitence, and their charity to strangers. He relates 
 particularly the wonderful conversions which God 
 had effected through their agency. 
 
 He relates, among other tilings, that these two holy 
 men, having gone to visit some of their brethren, were 
 received into a boat on the Nile, on which were many 
 officers of rank, with their equipages ; that one of 
 these officers, seeing them sitting in a corner of the 
 boat, and dressed in mean clothing, said to them, 
 " You are very happy, my friends, to enjoy yourselves 
 thus in a world of which you have no need." And 
 
EXPLORATIONS IN THE DELTA. 259 
 
 the two holy hermits replied to him, " You are right, sir ; 
 but at the same time our great complaint of you is, that 
 the world enjoys so much of you." Palladius adds, 
 that this word was an arrow which pierced the heart 
 of the officer, who, immediately on his return home, 
 distributed his property to the poor, and went to pass 
 the rest of his days in the Desert of Nitria, where he 
 died in sanctity. 
 
 The Church has enrolled these two distinguished 
 servants of God in the number of its saints. With 
 regard to him who is called the Third Macarius, and 
 whom they state to have been a Bishop, we have 
 every reason to believe that he was one of the asso- 
 ciates or one of the disciples of Dioscorus. Perhaps 
 he was that monothelite Patriarch of Alexandria, de- 
 posed by the Sixth General Council, and not that holy 
 Bishop of Jerusalem who assisted at the Council of 
 Nice. It is certain, however, that it is never well to 
 rely much on the opinions of the Copts, and still less 
 on their relics, which are in the care of those who are 
 heretical and ignorant. 
 
 I left the Monastery of Saint Macarius at nine 
 o'clock in the morning, with the Superior, who from 
 friendship continued to accompany me. Scarcely had 
 we gone two hundred paces beyond the gate, than I 
 found myself among the ruins of many edifices, the 
 foundations of which, and the portions of the wall still 
 remaining, showed their plan and former greatness. 
 I asked of my companion an explanation of what I 
 saw. " I am going to give it to you," said he. " For- 
 merly, in this Desert of Scete, and on the Mountain 
 
26o HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 of Nitria, which you see bounding the horizon on the 
 northern side, one could have counted as many mon- 
 asteries as there are days in the year. These dif- 
 ferent ruins are some remains of them ; and those 
 which are under your feet bear, even to the present 
 time, the name of the Castle of the Virgins, because 
 it was there that some persons of that sex lived who 
 had embraced the monastic life." When I showed 
 my surprise at the multitude of dwellings of the 
 monks, he added, " Let us continue our journey, and 
 you will see many other things." In fact, after hav- 
 ing travelled about three or four hours, we had a view 
 of more than fifty monasteries, entirely distinct the 
 one from the other, but ruined and almost fallen down. 
 " These," he continued, " are only a part of the ruins 
 of a very great number of monuments which the piety 
 of the faithful had erected in these retreats of peni- 
 tence. Look at that tree, called the ' Tree of Obedi- 
 ence,' which for twelve centuries has survived the in- 
 fluence of the seasons and the attacks of beasts and 
 Arabs. It was originally only a dry stick, driven into 
 the barren and burning sand by the Abbe Poemen. 
 He one day directed the celebrated John the Little to 
 water it every day. The obedient monk during two 
 years followed the direction of his Superior. God, to 
 recompense the persevering obedience of His servant, 
 permitted this stick to take root and throw out 
 branches and leaves as beautiful as those you see. 
 It is in memory of this miracle that the tree bears the 
 name of the Virtue of Obedience." I admired the 
 tree, loaded in fact with beautiful leaves, and which 
 every year bore a great abundance of fruit. 
 
EXPLORATIONS IN THE DELTA. 26 1 
 
 We travelled in the same way over the Road of the 
 Angels. This is the name the Christians have given 
 to a long road having little heaps of stones, distant 
 but a single step from each other, stretching from the 
 souih to the north for a space of many days' journey. 
 This vv^ork, u^hich they ascribe to the agency of Heav- 
 enly Spirits, but which might have been made by the 
 hand of man, formerly served to guide the steps of 
 the anchorites, when they went from their caves to 
 the churches, or returned again to their cells. It was 
 necessary, because the drifting sand of these vast 
 plains does not allow any footpath or trace to be dis- 
 tinguished. It is true there are from time to time little 
 hills or eminences which might, it would seem, serve 
 as a guide to the traveller ; but their similarity makes 
 them easily mistaken. 
 
 My companion drew my attention to one of these 
 hillocks, at the foot of which we were passing. " See," 
 said he, " the column of the devils. They call it so, 
 because there the enemies of the hermits placed 
 themselves in ambush to insult the servants of God, 
 and to endeavor to mislead them." This remark 
 showed me the conformity of tradition to the history 
 which we have of these anchorites. 
 
 A little after mid-day we reached the Monastery of 
 Notre-Dame of the Suriens. This monastery is the 
 finest of the four. It has a very pleasant garden, and 
 a draw-well which waters it, a great number of trees 
 of different kinds, the tamarisk ^ and date trees, and a 
 large and ancient tamarind, which they say took root 
 from a dry stick planted by Saint Ephraim. 
 
 1 This is the only tree of this iiind that I have seen in Egypt. 
 
262 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 There are in this monastery three churches, still in 
 good preservation. The first is dedicated to the Holy 
 Virgin, the protectress of the Suriens. The second 
 church bears the name of Saint Anthony, and the 
 third of their patron saint, Victor the Martyr. 
 
 The Superior of the Monastery, having been notified 
 of our arrival, came to receive us with great demon- 
 strations of friendship. He first conducted us to the 
 Church of the Holy Virgin, to perform our devotions. 
 It having struck twelve, the monks, as well as our- 
 selves, were still fasting. They were then in the Fast 
 which precedes Christmas. During this Fast, as well 
 as in the others, of the Apostles, and of the Holy Vir- 
 gin, and of that which precedes the Festival of Easter, 
 they neither eat nor drink any thing until afternoon, 
 except on Saturdays and Sundays, when they are al- 
 lowed to take some nourishment in the morning. I 
 thought it necessary to conform entirely to their man- 
 ner of living, for the purpose of gaining their confi- 
 dence and attachment. This I did, and found the 
 benefit of it ; for the conformity of my life to theirs 
 dissipated that natural distrust which the monks and 
 strange priests entertain, and by degrees I found my- 
 self enabled to speak with them on all their spiritual 
 needs, as soon as I learned them. 
 
 Our prayers having been finished, they conducted 
 me to the Refectory. The Benedicite having been 
 said, they served to us a large bowl filled with soup, 
 made from lentils, stuffed with bread. This single 
 dish comprised all our meal. While we were at table, 
 there was a reading, which was composed of a little 
 
EXPLORATIONS IN THE DELTA. 26^ 
 
 collection of monastic rules, which they pretended 
 were given by the Holy Virgin to Saint Macarius the 
 Younger. The meal being finished, we said the Pater 
 in Coptic. This prayer alone is their Beiiedicite and 
 their ordinary grace. All having left the Refectory, 
 those who were thirsty went to drink from the bucket 
 of one of the neighboring wells. 
 
 I saw in their kitchen three large stone pots, which 
 are all the cooking utensils they have. They answer 
 the purpose very well, and last for ages. This kind 
 of stone is called barani, and is common in Upper 
 Egypt. 
 
 Since we are speaking of the grand meals of these 
 good monks, I will add, that, in the evening, they 
 served up as a collation for us a little plate of wild 
 marjoram pounded up, and another af the skins of 
 sugar-cane, which was very insipid. They gave also 
 sometimes, to vary their collation, onions, cut up or 
 steeped in salt water. The odor of this is detestable 
 to those not accustomed to it. They never drink 
 wine, and rarely coffee. They lie down entirely 
 clothed, their bed being formed of the mats spread on 
 the floor. We must acknowledge that the life of these 
 good monks is very frugal and austere; but the re- 
 markable fact is that they are strong and robust, large 
 and fat, and full of health. In thinking of the austerity 
 of their life, I could not but deplore their misfortune in 
 being born in schism and heresy, in which they are 
 passing their lives. At the same time I compare 
 their hard and mortified manner of life with that of a 
 great number of Catholics, who, so thoroughly en- 
 
264 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 lightened that they are the luminaries of the faith, 
 nevertheless pass their lives in continual softness, so 
 contrary to the spirit of the Gospel, which is our only 
 rule of action. I do not know which is the greatest 
 evil, that of those or of these. 
 
 Our solitaries divide the day between Psalmody 
 and working with their hands. They seldom go be- 
 yond the bounds of their monasteries. Those whose 
 emplo3^ment obliges them to do so, have to use the 
 greatest precautions to avoid falling into the hands 
 of the wandering Arabs. 
 
 These Arabs are a wild race, whose avowed busi- 
 ness is stealing and pillaging wherever they go, show- 
 ing no respect to any one. When these bandits pass 
 the monastery, they knock at the door, which the 
 inmates take care not to open ; but they send down 
 to them by the pulley some soup of bread and onions, 
 with water to drink, and, after having ate and drunk, 
 they go away contented. 
 
 On this occasion, I will mention that, during my 
 journey, I met with two troops of these land-pirates. 
 Each one had an ass laden with their booty. Their 
 chief, seeing nothing in my worn-out dress which 
 could gratify his avarice, was only dazzled by the 
 brilliancy of my red shoes, which had cost twelve 
 sous, and are the ordinary shoes of the country clergy. 
 He civilly asked me for them. I refused them to him 
 in the same manner, and there the matter rested. 
 Another one asked me for money. " I have none," I 
 said to him, " Give me at least," he replied, " some 
 good ointment for a wound which gives me a great 
 
EXPLORATIONS IN THE DELTA. 265 
 
 deal of trouble." This I willingly gave him ; where- 
 upon all the company, thinking I must be an able 
 physician, explained to me, each one particularly, their 
 complaints, and asked for remedies. I gave them the 
 benefit of all my knowledge, and it was not difficult 
 for me to heal them. But, after this, I said to them 
 that they had one malady much more dangerous, for 
 which they did not think to ask of me a cure ; that 
 this malady was the evil disposition which led them 
 to steal, to pillage on all sides, and commit many other 
 crimes which rendered them odious to God and man. 
 These crimes, I told them, would cause them some 
 day to be condemned by their Creator to eternal fire, 
 which would burn in hell their souls and bodies 
 through all eternity. They listened to me more at- 
 tentively than I had reason to expect, which gave me 
 an opportunity to exhort them to change their lives, 
 assuring them that divine Providence would provide 
 their support. After this exhortation, we parted from 
 our good friends. God grant that the words which 
 He then put in my mouth may have had some good 
 effect ! 
 
 I will return now to our monastery, which this 
 digression has caused me to leave. The ignorance 
 which retained these solitaries in their schism and 
 heresy, and which caused them to lose in the sight of 
 Heaven the merit of the austerity of their lives, pierced 
 me to the heart. The hours of the day and night in 
 which they were free, I employed in speaking to them 
 of the kingdom of God, adapting my discourse to their 
 taste and their capacity. I told them, among other 
 
266 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 things, that it would be a great benefit to them to 
 correct the false idea they had of the Franks ; that, 
 although myself a Frank, I was no less a Copt, since 
 that name signified a disciple of the blessed Atha- 
 nasius and Cyril, servants of Jesus Christ, and rever- 
 ential children of the Holy Church, His Spouse. I 
 asked them then whether they did not admit this idea 
 and signification of the name of Copt which they bore. 
 They having responded in the affirmative, I added 
 that I was then a true Copt, and more of a Copt than 
 they ; that it did not become them to claim to be dis- 
 ciples of Fathers of the Church, whose works they 
 had never read ; that the true doctrines of these 
 Fathers had been altered by their false prophets ; 
 that these false teachers had taught them errors, as 
 being the true doctrines of the Fathers ; that they 
 had trusted blindly in their words, without examining 
 whether these new doctors were not, as the parable 
 in the Gospel said, the enemies of man, who came to 
 sow tares among the good grain. I continued my 
 discourse by telling them that, touched by their mis- 
 fortunes, of which they were themselves unconscious, 
 I had hastened to their succor, as a good brother. 
 
 After this little exhortation, they all replied to me 
 with joy painted on their countenances, and with 
 gestures of the head and hands, signifying that I was 
 most welcome. I then drew from my pocket my 
 Arabic Gospel, and, having placed it, according to 
 custom and to show respect, on my head and to my 
 lips, I presented it to them, as if my intention had 
 been that they should exhibit to this Holy Book the 
 
EXPLORATIONS IN THE DELTA. 267 
 
 same marks of their veneration. They, in fact, held 
 out their hands to take it and kiss it ; but I suddenly 
 drew it back and concealed it in my bosom, reproach- 
 ing them that they were unworthy to touch so holy a 
 volume, which contained the word of God, and which 
 they, nevertheless, trod under their feet, by violating, 
 as they did, the divine precepts contained in it. " But 
 know," I said to them, in conclusion, " that the finger 
 of God has graven in this Book the eternal sentence 
 of your death." 
 
 At these words, which impressed them, they all 
 cried out, " Are we, then, rebels against the Gospel .'' " 
 Then I drew the Holy Book from my bosom, and, 
 opening it at the page I had prepared, I said to them, 
 " Listen and see. Is it not thus written, ' Judge not, 
 and ye shall not be judged ' .'' By what criminal bold- 
 ness, then, do you dare, for so many ages, you and 
 your fathers, to pronounce an anathema against all 
 those who reverence the Council of Chalcedon } Were 
 Dioscorus and his adherents superior to the divine 
 Law .'' These men, corrupters of the Holy Scriptures, 
 have had the temerity and the hardihood to array 
 themselves against them ; but the Church punished 
 their boldness by erasing their names from the num- 
 ber of its children. Do they, then, to-day merit your 
 confidence more than the holy Chrysostom, the holy 
 Basil, and the other doctors of the Greek Church, 
 whom God has sent to instruct you in His holy faith, 
 and to defend it through the world by their learned 
 writings .'' 
 
 " What, then, do you pretend that your fastings 
 
268 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 and watchings place you in security from the thunder- 
 bolts of the Church ! Are you ignorant that, without 
 the true faith, which alone constitutes any the children 
 of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, it is not pos- 
 sible to please the Master of the world, or Him who 
 shall one day judge the living and the dead?" 
 
 The more I saw my hearers attentive and touched 
 by my words, the more I elevated my voice and spoke 
 in a firm tone, and in those terms in which I knew it 
 was necessary to address them. By the grace of God, 
 I did this so forcibly and effectively that the oldest 
 and most esteemed monk of the desert, named Jean, 
 arose and declared publicly that what I said was rea- 
 sonable, and that, in fact, they should not call any 
 heretics, except they had been declared such by the 
 CathoHc Church. 
 
 All applauded the good old man ; and I have 
 learned that since that time he has always continued 
 to speak and preach the same doctrine. Behold the 
 seed which, during some days, I sowed in those lands, 
 which for so long a time had been lying fallow, full of 
 brambles and thorns. May it please the Divine Good- 
 ness to cause this seed to germinate and produce one 
 day an abundant harvest ! 
 
 The desire which I had to become acquainted 
 with all the mysteries of the Coptic faith caused 
 me to pass entire nights in their library, reading 
 the books written in Arabic, and the legends of 
 their saints. I found these full of trash, absurdities, 
 and ridiculous statements. Of these I shall make use 
 at the proper time and place. At present I will con- 
 
EXPLORATIONS IN THE DELTA. 269 
 
 tent myself with making some remarks on my inves- 
 tigations, and to endeavor, above all, to perfect myself 
 in reading and writing with ease in the Coptic lan- 
 guage. I have written out the Lord's Prayer in this 
 dialect. The characters are the same as those in the 
 Greek, with very little difference, but with seven or 
 eight letters derived from the Syriac, which the 
 Copts use, besides the twenty-four letters of the 
 Greek alphabet. 
 
 The Coptic language is originally derived from the 
 Greek, of which it has retained a large number of 
 words. A knowledge of this fact enabled me to 
 understand the signification of certain Coptic words, 
 which the monks themselves did not understand. I 
 said to them, laughing, " Had I not reason to say to 
 you that I am more of a Copt than you ? " And I 
 added, " I am your brother ; I love you, and it is 
 through this love for you that I have come to show 
 you the way of truth, which your teachers have con- 
 cealed from you." 
 
 In this way I spent many days in the monastery, 
 assiduously taking part in all their exercises and the 
 services day and night, and holding conferences with 
 them, when I never failed to point out what seemed 
 to me defective in their customs and their prayers. 
 
 A bell, about two feet in height and the same in 
 diameter, suspended in the tower of the monastery, 
 summoned us to the choir and to all the services of 
 the community. The sound of this bell is very 
 strange music in the desert, and, above all, among 
 the Turks. 
 
270 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 On the loth of December, which was Saturday, I 
 set out for the Monastery of Amba Bichoi, otherwise 
 Saint Abisay, distant from that of the Suriens only 
 two stones' throw. I remained there but two hours, 
 finding only three or four monks, without any priest. 
 I therefore returned to my place at the Suriens, and 
 passed the rest of the day. The next day, the nth, 
 after taking part in the services of the night and of 
 the Mass, which lasted during two hours of the night, 
 even to sunrise, I set out for the Monastery of the 
 Holy Virgin of Elbaramous, or of the Greeks. The 
 Superior of Saint Macarius returned to his home, and 
 I had as my companion the old monk, named Jean, 
 whom I have already mentioned. 
 
 I learned on my way that the plain of Scet6 is 
 called by the Arabs CJiaihat. We saw every morning 
 the footprints of wild boars, bears, hyenas, wild cat- 
 tle, gazelles, wolves, and crows, freshly imprinted on 
 the sands. These animals prowl around during the 
 night and disappear in the day. The dung of the 
 gazelles gives a scent of musk, but this odor is dissi- 
 pated after some days. 
 
 Towards mid-day we reached Elbaramous, a monas- 
 tery very much venerated, not only for the worship of 
 the Most Holy Virgin, who is there particularly hon- 
 ored by the Copts, but also from having been the resi- 
 dence of a great number of hermits, who have in 
 former times sought there a refuge. 
 
 The tradition is that it was built by one of those 
 named Macarius. Saint Arsenius selected it as the 
 place of his retreat. This great servant of God had 
 
EXPLORATIONS IN THE DELTA. 2/1 
 
 always been a man of prominence in the world. The 
 reputation of his virtue induced the Emperor Theodo- 
 sius to intrust to him the education of his two sons, 
 Arcadius and Honorius. He acquitted himself of 
 this duty, as in the sight of God, in such a way as to 
 win the approbation of the whole world. He alone 
 was dissatisfied with himself, and with the kind of life 
 he was obliged to lead at the Court. One day, when 
 he was filled with anxiety, he turned to the Lord, and 
 offered to Him the prayer of the young man men- 
 tioned by the evangelist. Saint Matthew, — " Lord, what 
 must I do to inherit eternal life .-' " — when he heard an 
 inward voice, but very distinct, which answered him, 
 " Arsenius, fly from the Court." He did not require 
 any thing more to induce him to quit it, and to go and 
 devote himself to God alone in the Desert of Scete, 
 which at that time was very famous. 
 
 There he lived for forty years, in the continued 
 practice of every virtue, and particularly of that of hu- 
 mility. He had great power in prayer, and passed 
 days and a portion of the nights in the church, con- 
 cealing himself behind a pillar, so as not to be seen 
 by any one, and to be more absorbed in the divine 
 offices. His desire to be unknown was so great that, 
 the Patriarch Theophilus having come to visit him, 
 he asked him, as the greatest favor, not to come again 
 to seek Arsenius in his solitude. 
 
 He died, in the odor of sanctity, at the age of 
 ninety-five years. The Church has enrolled his name 
 among its saints, and he is particularly honored in the 
 Monastery of Elbaramous. 
 
2/2 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 The Abbe Moyse, an Ethiopian by birth, was one 
 of the abbes of this monastery, and to this day his 
 memory is cherished there with great veneration. 
 The beginning of his Hfe was very different from that 
 of Saint Arsenius ; for he lived for a long time in con- 
 tinual robbery, as the head of a troop of brigands. 
 But God permitted a sad affair to happen to him, 
 which caused his conversion. Having recognized his 
 unhappy state, he had no other desire than to go and 
 expiate his crimes by the most rigorous of all acts of 
 penitence. He remained until his death in the Mon- 
 astery of Scete, where he died at the age of seventy- 
 five years, deeply regretted by all his disciples, who 
 loved and honored him as their father. 
 
 They speak there very warmly of two of his disci- 
 ples, who were highly recommended by their birth 
 and by their virtue. They were named Maximus and 
 Timotheus, and are said to have been sons of a consul, 
 or of another great Grecian nobleman. It is in mem- 
 ory of them that this monastery bears the name of 
 Elbaramous, or Piramaous, a word corrupted from EI 
 Romaous, which signifies the Monastery of the Greeks. 
 At the distance of three or four musket-shots from 
 this place we discovered the sad ruins of ten or twelve 
 sacred edifices, near each other, among which they 
 pointed out the Monastery of Moyse and the church 
 of the Saints Maximus and Timotheus. 
 
 The Superior of Elbaramous came to receive me. 
 This Superior is a young priest, who seemed to me to 
 have a great deal of wit, but little learning. I had a 
 discussion with him, which lasted from one hour after 
 
EXPLORATIONS IN THE DELTA. 273 
 
 noon to sunset, on the points in dispute between them 
 and us. The prejudice of these schismatical monks 
 in favor of their opinions, however extravagant they 
 may be, is the principal obstacle to remove, when one 
 wishes to labor for their conversion. I will leave any 
 one to judge of the extravagance of these views by 
 what I am going to relate, and which I treated only as 
 a matter of amusement, to dispel the idea from the 
 mind of the young Superior of the monastery, who was 
 infatuated with it. Towards the end of our conver- 
 sation, as he had not yet mentioned Vespers, I re- 
 minded him that it was time for them to begin. 
 
 He answered, " Prayer is forbidden at this hour." 
 
 "Why.'" I asked. 
 
 *' Because," he replied, " it is precisely the hour 
 which the demons have for their own. The Heavens 
 are at present closed against us ; and, besides, the 
 monks should not be found in such evil company. 
 But, in half an hour from now, Hell will close on them, 
 Paradise will open, and then we will say our Vespers, 
 and God will hear us." 
 
 " How is it possible," I said to him, " that a man 
 of your intellect can entertain so ridiculous an idea .•* 
 Where have you seen that the devils come forth from 
 Hell, that they make their prayers to God, and that 
 God hears them .-• Who are the men, equally sense- 
 less with yourselves, to have repeated such extrava- 
 gances, instead of showing, as they should have done, 
 no other feelings but contempt for them .-* How do 
 you make your pretended prohibition to offer prayers 
 to God at this hour agree with what the Saviour of 
 
274 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 the world inculcates in St. Luke xviii., ' that it is neces- 
 sary always to pray and not to faint ' ? Were the 
 Holy Virgin, the Apostles, and the disciples of Jesus 
 Christ, then, in the evil company of demons and the 
 Heavens closed against them, when they passed their 
 days and nights in prayer, to prepare themselves for 
 the descent of the Holy Spirit ? Did not St. Paul 
 then do wrong in exhorting the Ephesians to pray at 
 all hours and in all places .-' " 
 
 The schismatical monk, who had sufficient intellect, 
 comprehended the ridicule in this reply. He told me 
 that he was well aware I was more learned than him- 
 self, and he would make a journey to Cairo expressly 
 to confer with me. 
 
 I did not make a longer mission at Elbaramous, but 
 left there on the 12th to go and see the Lake of Nitria 
 or Natron, two leagues distant from the monastery 
 towards the north. The lake is two or three leagues 
 in length, and a quarter of a league in breadth. They 
 derive from it every year 36,000 quintals ^ of native 
 carbonate of soda for the Grand Seigneur, which 
 yields him about thirty-six bourses.^ I waded into 
 the water to my knees to get near the workmen who 
 are laboring, entirely naked, in the midst of the lake, 
 with bars of iron six feet in length, and as thick as a 
 finger. They struck the bottom with these pointed 
 bars, as they do in France in the quarries, and de- 
 tached pieces of this material like cakes of soap. 
 
 On the 13th, Father Jean and I embarked on the 
 
 1 A quintal is loo lbs. — Trans. 
 
 - A bourse is the sum of 500 crowns. — Trans. 
 
EXPLORATIONS IN THE DELTA. 275 
 
 great Desert Sea, but a sea without water, as they 
 call it, — Bhar bela Mar. We took with us an Arab 
 to act as guide. 
 
 In proportion as one advances on this plain, or lake 
 without water; the bottom sinks down into billows, 
 and in certain places loses itself as in a gulf. Then 
 the bottom rises and extends in large channels, which 
 lead into other gulfs. Nothing, in fact, can so much 
 resemble a dry lake as these different hollows. On 
 the ridge of the plain, and on the borders of these 
 vast holes, one sees here and there what appear to be 
 beams lying on the earth and pieces of scattered wood, 
 which seem to have come from the ruins of some 
 building. But when one endeavors to take them in 
 his hand, whether beams or broken planks, he finds 
 that what appears to be wood is in reality stone. To 
 what can we attribute this change, if not to the effect 
 of the nitre in the atmosphere .-' I have counted more 
 than fifty of these petrified beams, and the people of 
 the country assure me I should see hundreds if I ad- 
 vanced much farther. The kingdom of Fejam, which 
 is not far from the lake, contains many most beautiful 
 petrifactions, as M. le Maire, our consul, has stated. 
 I have taken with me to Cairo some pieces of this 
 petrified wood as proofs of what I have said. 
 
 After having passed over one portion of the Bhar 
 bela Mar, I returned to Saint Macarius on the 14th 
 of December, and to Etris on the 15th, to keep my 
 promise with the inhabitants of that place. I spent 
 three days with them. They showed the most ex- 
 traordinary joy at my return. All they desired was 
 
276 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 to receive my instructions. To render them useful to 
 all, I assembled the women and the girls at certain 
 hours, and the men and boys at others. I put them 
 all in the Catechism, to cause them to learn the prin- 
 ciples of our faith, which they did not half know, and 
 in a very confused manner. Having taught them the 
 Lord's Prayer, of which the greater part of them 
 were ignorant, I made them recite it in public. These 
 pious exercises increased their devotion, and at the 
 same time were a great consolation to me. Many of 
 them asked me to confess them, among whom were a 
 married Deacon and the Mebacher, or Chamberlain, 
 of the Aga, the ruler of Etris, Oiiardan, and other 
 neighboring villages. These two last made a public 
 renunciation of their heresy ; the others, to tell the 
 whole truth, did not know what they believed. I had 
 to content myself with their promise that henceforth 
 they would honor the Church of Saint Peter, that they 
 would believe every thing which the Catholic Church 
 beheves, and that they would listen to the instructions 
 of its ministers. 
 
 After my three days' employment at Etris in teach- 
 ing the Catechism and the Public Prayers, and in 
 hearing confessions, the Chamberlain of the Aga 
 offered himself to conduct me to Oiiardan. We ar- 
 rived there on the i8th ; and, to lose no time, the same 
 evening I assembled all the Christian families of the 
 village, and went through the exercises of my mission, 
 and with as much fruit as at Etris. They informed 
 me that they had in that village a pigeon-house full of 
 many papers covered with magical characters, which 
 
EXPLORATIONS IN THE DELTA. 277 
 
 they had bought of some Coptic and schismatical 
 monks. I pursued the proper course with regard to 
 it, and attached to the place the Jerusalem Cross, 
 which the Copts reverence with much devotion. 
 
 The 2 1st of December, St. Thomas's Day, I cele- 
 brated the Festival of this great Apostle in the most 
 solemn manner that I was able. I felt, during the 
 Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, an extraordinary impulse 
 to ask of God, by his intercession, the conversion of 
 these Christians of Lower Egypt, whom I came to 
 visit and instruct. 
 
 My little mission finished, and my time to return to 
 Cairo drawing near, I took leave of my new disciple, 
 the Chamberlain of the Aga, the ruler of Etris. He 
 bestowed on me a thousand marks of friendship, con- 
 fidence, and recognition of the service which I had 
 rendered him. He promised me to persevere in the 
 practice of our Holy Faith which he had embraced, 
 and to keep up the holy exercises of piety and religion 
 which I had established at Etris and Ouardan. After 
 having embraced me, he gave me a guide and letters 
 of commendation addressed to his friends on my route, 
 after which we left him. 
 
 I passed through many villages marked on my map. 
 At Terrane I saw the carbonate of soda which they 
 preserve there in great piles. I arrived at Abou el 
 Chaoui, where I lodged in the house of the Chamber- 
 lain of the Bey, who gave me a new guide for the 
 following days. Continuing my route as far as the 
 village of Damanehour, I reached there on the 23d of 
 December. 
 
278 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 Mehemet Surquas, the Bey's Chamberlain, received 
 me at his house. I visited the village, which is a very- 
 pleasant place of residence. The Copts have a church 
 there, which, I think, is the only one they have in this 
 part of the West from Cairo to Alexandria. There 
 is none at Rosetta. There are Christians scattered 
 through these villages, but without a temple, a minis- 
 ter, or any instruction. 
 
 Damanehour has but three priests for a large num- 
 ber of Christians, and I did not find these priests 
 better instructed than their pupils. They voluntarily 
 took part in my teaching. I replied to many of their 
 questions, and had every reason to bless God for the 
 docility both of masters and disciples. 
 
 The Bey's Chamberlain asked me for particular in- 
 struction for his numerous family and for his friends. 
 I assembled them at his house, where he made me 
 continue my instructions far into the night. All 
 listened to the word of God with so much avidity 
 that, although I was greatly fatigued from the journey 
 I had made and these many hours of instruction, yet 
 I did not think of taking any repose. 
 
 The Chamberlain wished to detain me for several 
 days, but I most determinedly insisted on taking my 
 leave ; promising him, however, that I would return 
 after a time to learn for myself the fruits of my visit. 
 He gave me two attendants of the Bey to accompany 
 me to Deirout, a port of the Nile, four or five leagues 
 distant from Damanehour. 
 
 My journey led me over the beautiful country which 
 the Nile fertilizes by its inundations. The flax was 
 
EXPLORATIONS IN THE DELTA. 279 
 
 then in blossom, the beans ready to form, while the 
 wheat, the barley, and the lentils were all very high. 
 The tobacco and the cotton had begun to appear, 
 while the horses and other beasts of burden were 
 browsing off the herbage. 
 
 After passing through this beautiful country, I en- 
 tered another cut up by marshes and ponds, which 
 put the patience of the traveller to the test. Four or 
 five times the water reached up to my waist, and once 
 to my neck. After encountering these fatigues, I 
 reached Deirout. There, after supper, I embarked in 
 a boat, and, before midnight of the Festival of Christ- 
 mas, we found ourselves at Rosetta. I did not dare 
 to land until daylight appeared, but in the early morn- 
 ing I repaired to the French Church, where I cele- 
 brated my three Masses and assisted at the other 
 Ofifices. Then I went to visit the Greek Patriarch of 
 Alexandria, named Samuel, who had come there to 
 restore his health by change of climate. 
 
 The Maronites and Copts, who had heard of my 
 arrival, came immediately to see me, and earnestly 
 desired me to confess them. I prepared them, as far 
 as possible, to perform their devotions. 
 
 On the Festival of the Innocents, I returned by 
 land to Alexandria, where I learned that all the French 
 ships had arrived. I immediately went to perform my 
 mission on these ships, and to invite the passengers 
 and crew to receive the Sacraments for this Holy 
 Festival. I found my arrival was very opportune for 
 many of them, who had great need to reconcile them- 
 selves to God. They followed my advice, made con- 
 
28o HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 fession, and received the Sacrament of the Eucharist 
 with the most exemplary piety. During my stay at 
 Alexandria, I went to visit the Church of Saint Mark, 
 which is respectable for its antiquity. It is in the 
 hands of Coptic priests, and, consequently, in a very 
 bad condition. That of Saint Catherine, which is served 
 by the Greeks, is very much ornamented by their 
 care and liberality. M. de Montreuil, the vice-consul, 
 and M. Barthelemi Blanc, showed me all sorts of kind 
 attentions. They placed their table and their house 
 at my disposal, and omitted nothing to relieve me 
 from my past fatigues. 
 
 I left Alexandria on Twelfth Day to return to Rosetta. 
 The brothers Guis of Ciota, the elder of whom had for- 
 merly been my fellow-pupil in Philosophy, received me 
 at their house with all the politeness and kindness 
 possible. They furnished me with provisions for my 
 return. I embarked on the Nile on the 14th of Janu- 
 ary, but a head-wind prevented our reaching Boulacq 
 until the beginning of the night of the 21st; and the fol- 
 lowing Sunday I celebrated the Holy Mass at Cairo. 
 
 This, Monseigneur, is a short account of my jour- 
 ney through the deserts and the countries of Lower 
 Egypt, at the west of the Delta. I can say, like the 
 Patriarch Jacob, that, with my staff only, I had ven- 
 tured to traverse, not without much pain and fatigue, 
 a heathen land, to seek the lost sheep. The staff on 
 which I have supported myself is the same as that 
 which gave strength and consolation to the Kingly 
 Prophet : ^ I refer to that Divine Providence by which 
 
 1 Psalm xxii. : "Thy rod and Thy staff have comfuited me." 
 
EXPLORATIONS IN THE DELTA. 28 r 
 
 alone I have been sustained on my route. It was 
 that which inspired me, like Moses, with the desire to 
 visit my brethren who are groaning in slavery, and 
 my visit to whom has afforded me a very great con- 
 solation. 
 
282 HISTORICAL SCENES, 
 
 XII. 
 
 MONASTERIES IN THE THEBAID DESERT. 
 1716. 
 
 [In the fifth century, Saint Jerome gave the world a particu- 
 larly detailed account of his visit to the monks of the Thebais, 
 and particularly to the old monasteries of Saint Anthony and 
 Saint Paul, perhaps the earliest ever erected. This was then 
 the cradle of the monastic system, whose rapid progress owed 
 more to the glowing story of Saint Jerome than to any other 
 agency. 
 
 From that day, one century flowed by after another, in the 
 stagnant life of these secluded abodes, as changeless as the sur- 
 face of the desert around ; but we have no extended account of 
 them till the Abbd Sicard published his narrative of his journey 
 across the sandy wilderness of Thebes, to visit these retreats of 
 the Coptic recluses. 
 
 A point of great interest connected with his expedition was 
 the fact that his companion was the celebrated Joseph Asse- 
 manni. His name must be familiar to any one who has been 
 interested in the Library of the Vatican. A Maronite shepherd 
 in his early days, he found his way to Rome ; and there, by self- 
 cultivation, he advanced, until his fame for learning was spread 
 abroad, and he had intrusted to his care the precious volumes 
 and manuscripts of the Vatican. There his days were passed 
 among its treasures. 
 
 There are persons whose whole Hves, gliding by in unbroken 
 quiet, offer but one or two salient points to the biographer. So 
 was it with Assemanni. There are but two events which break 
 in on the dead calm of his studious career. One was his pre- 
 siding, as Legate of the Pope, over the Maronite Council which 
 
MONASTERIES IN THE DESERT. 283 
 
 was convoked in Syria in 1735. The other was the journey to 
 the ancient monasteries of the Thebaid wilderness, where he 
 went in search of manuscripts to enrich the collection at Rome. 
 Thenceforth he lived only for his literary labors, forgetful of his 
 distant Syrian home ; " scarcely," we are told, " allowing time 
 for the performance of sacerdotal duties, or attendance at the 
 ceremonies of Saint Peter's." And when at last the end came, 
 he was laid in the cemetery in Rome, his biographer tells us, 
 " sorrowing as much to part from the treasures of the Vatican 
 as from his decaying life."] 
 
 Letter of Father Sicard, Missionary in Egypt, to 
 Father FleHria?i. 
 
 My Reverend Father, — My constant occupation, 
 to fulfil the different duties of the mission, has, even 
 to the present time, prevented my furnishing you with 
 an account of my journey through the Desert of 
 Lower Thebes. 
 
 I avail myself of the repose and the leisure, which 
 I have come to seek at Cairo, to fulfil the promise I 
 gave you, to furnish you in writing with every thing 
 which it has seemed to me worth your knowing. 
 
 M. Joseph Assemanni, of the nation of the Maro- 
 nites, originally from Mount Lebanon, came to Egypt, 
 and arrived at Cairo, nearly a year ago. The object 
 of his journey was to search in this country for old 
 Arabic and Coptic manuscripts, and to purchase 
 them, whatever their cost might be, to enrich the 
 Vatican Library, of which he is Librarian. 
 
 We received him at our residence, where we gave 
 him the best welcome in our power ; and I made him 
 
284 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 the offer of acting as his guide to the Sacristies of 
 the principal churches of this city. At his request, I 
 accompanied him to the monasteries in the Desert 
 of Saint Macarius. We found in all these places a 
 great number of very rare books, of which he pur- 
 chased those that suited him. 
 
 After this first search, he departed to Syria, where 
 they assured him he would find an excellent collection 
 of Syriac manuscripts. He told me, at parting, that 
 he would come back to this city as soon as possible ; 
 and made me promise, that, on his return, I would 
 accompany him to the mountains of Lower Thebes, 
 to continue his inquiry for Coptic and Arabic books. 
 
 Some months having passed, M. Assemanni re- 
 turned to Cairo. He had scarcely arrived, when he 
 proposed to me to make with him the journey to the 
 Desert of Thebes, of which he had already spoken. 
 For a long time, indeed, I had desired to do this, to 
 obtain fuller information with regard to the Coptic 
 Religious Orders in the monasteries of Saint Anthony 
 and Saint Paul, which are schismatics. I had always 
 proposed to hold some conferences with them, to learn 
 what prospect there might be of their conversion. I 
 knew, indeed, that, without any doubt, their return to 
 the orthodox faith, and that of their Patriarch, would 
 be so much the more important and advantageous, as 
 it would certainly be followed by that of the whole 
 nation. 
 
 I was also desirous to examine all that I had heard, 
 on the testimony of others, with regard to the Desert 
 of Thebes, and the monasteries which are within its 
 
MONASTERIES IX THE DESERT. 285 
 
 bounds. These motives induced me to resolve to 
 accompany Assemanni. 
 
 We left Old Cairo on the 23d of May, 17 16. The 
 report of our departure began to disquiet the schis- 
 matics, so that they repaired to their Patriarch, and 
 excited his fears with regard to the evil effects which 
 might result from our interviews with the schismatic 
 monks of the Desert. They even wished to engage 
 him to oppose our journey. But the Patriarch con- 
 tented himself with requesting us, in our conferences, 
 not to treat of any doctrine contrary to that of Dios- 
 corus. I gave him the assurance that I would not 
 bring forward any thing except on the fundamental 
 points of the religion of Jesus Christ, and the injunc- 
 tions of the Evangelists on the necessity of salvation, 
 the evil of sin ; on the necessity of good works ; on 
 the love of God, and of our neighbor. With this 
 declaration, the Patriarch gave us letters of recom- 
 mendation, to enable us to be hospitably entertained 
 in the monasteries, and to visit the libraries. 
 
 We set sail in a small vessel bound up the Nile. 
 The day after our embarkment, which was the 24th 
 of May, we arrived at the city of Benisonet, situated 
 on the western bank of the river, twenty leagues dis- 
 tant from Cairo. On the 25th, we left Benisonet to 
 go to the village of Baiad, which is on the east of the 
 river. In this place we procured guides to conduct 
 us over the Desert of Saint Anthony, which was one 
 of the principal objects of our journey. On the 26th 
 of May we left Baiad, mounted on camels, and es- 
 corted by two camel-drivers. We travelled to the 
 
286 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 north along the Nile, for the distance of two or three 
 leagues, and then turned to the east, to enter the cele- 
 brated Desert of Saint Anthony, or of Lower Thebes, 
 This desert is so famous that everybody has heard 
 of it : but few persons are acquainted with its true 
 situation, its extent, and the kind of life passed by 
 the hermits who even at this day are living in it ; or, 
 at least, they have only a confused idea of these 
 things. 
 
 As I have had the advantage of visiting these 
 places, and as I have taken the time to examine 
 every thing which merits attention, I will endeavor, 
 my Reverend Father, to give you an exact detail, not 
 only of the names and the buildings of these monas- 
 teries, but also of the mountains and valleys, and 
 generally of every thing which is remarkable in these 
 vast deserts, where there formerly reigned a penitence 
 different from that which you can see to-day, and 
 which schism has distorted. 
 
 From Baiad, on the bank of the Nile, is a sandy 
 plain, which stretches even to the pass of Gebee. We 
 travelled across this plain, to enter this gorge, which 
 is shut in by two mountains, the highest of which, at 
 the right, bears the name of Gebee ; the other, at the 
 left, and much lower, is named Hajar Moussoum, or 
 the Marked Stone. In this valley, there are three 
 or four reservoirs of water, not far distant from each 
 other, and in natural hollows of the rock. The rain, 
 which fills them, carries with it a chalk, which renders 
 the water white. We arrived about noon at the first 
 reservoir, which is a kind of cistern. The heat was 
 
MONASTERIES IN THE DESERT. 287 
 
 excessive, and there was no tree in the valley to afford 
 us any shade. We saw only some small bushes scat- 
 tered here and there, and some herbs, which could not 
 be of any use to us. 
 
 We had, however, need of rest, and happily found 
 a high rock which projected forward at the top, and 
 thus protected from the heat of the sun a thick bed 
 of moss which was at its base. We took advantage 
 of this fortunate discovery to pass the time under the 
 shelter of this rock, while the great heat of the day 
 was prevailing.^ 
 
 At the third or fourth hour of the evening, we re- 
 sumed our journey, and took courage to mount to the 
 top of Mount Gebee. There we remained for about 
 an hour. We saw from thence a plain of great ex- 
 tent, which stretched to our right on both sides. This 
 plain was formerly called Banquara, or The Cow. At 
 the present day it is named Sannour, or The Cat. 
 The ground is sandy or sterile, as is that of all the 
 desert. The rains, which are frequent in winter, 
 form many torrents ; but their bed is dry all the rest 
 of the year. There we selected a place, the least in- 
 convenient we could find, at which to pass the night 
 of May 27. We partook of the provisions we had 
 brought with us, which consisted of biscuit, cheese, 
 and salt fish. Our supper took but little time to pre- 
 pare, and but little to eat. As we had a greater 
 desire to sleep than to eat, sleep overcame us on the 
 sand ; nor did it lose its hold until the next morning. 
 
 ' " The shadow of a great rock in a weary land " (Isaiah xxxii. 2). 
 — Trans. 
 
288 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 We left this place two hours before daybreak. Our 
 arrangements had been made judiciously ; for, on all 
 the plain of Sannour and on the mountains which sur- 
 rounded it, we did not see any thing but wild acacias, 
 which bore as many thorns as leaves ; and these 
 leaves are so thinly scattered that they offer but little 
 relief to a traveller who seeks to use them as a shade 
 from the scorching sun. 
 
 The great plain of Sannour, over which our journey 
 led, terminates at Mount Keleil, or Bien-aime. This 
 long mountain is divided in the middle, and separates 
 into two, to form a gorge and make room for another 
 plain, which they call by the name of Araba, or the 
 Plain of the Chariots. This plain, on which I have 
 travelled more than fifteen leagues towards the north 
 and the north-west, extends a much greater distance 
 on the side towards the south. It is bounded on the 
 east by the mountains Keleil and Askar, and on the 
 west by Mount Cobzim. 
 
 We passed around Mount Keleil by the gorge of 
 which I have spoken. On the right we saw the ruins 
 of a monastery, which was at the entrance of the Plain 
 of the Chariots. Our guides caused us to proceed two 
 leagues beyond, to reach the bed of a dried-up torrent, 
 which was to serve for our bed, and where we were to 
 spend the night. Our lodging-place, bad as it was, 
 caused us much less suffering than did the thirst. 
 Our four camels had each been loaded with a skin 
 filled with water. Two of these we had emptied, and 
 counted on having the other two ; but our camel- 
 drivers, I know not for what reason, had rubbed 
 
MONASTERIES IN THE DESERT. 289 
 
 them over with linseed-oil, which was so powerful that 
 it affected the water to such an extent that we pre- 
 ferred suffering with thirst to relieving ourselves with 
 this water. 
 
 The next morning, the 28th, we set out before day. 
 The dawn enabled us to see a group of palm-trees, 
 which were at the foot of Mount Keleil, and distant 
 from us four or five miles. Our guides told us that 
 these palm-trees shaded a little marsh, the water of 
 which, although somewhat salt, was good to drink. 
 We hastened thither. The speed with which we 
 reached it resembled that of the Israelites, when they 
 pressed forward to drink of the water which came 
 forth from the rock. 
 
 This little relief, in our excessive thirst, gave us 
 new strength. We hastened our steps to reach the 
 Monastery of Saint Anthony at a proper hour. Some 
 little hills concealed it from our view. We passed 
 over them, and suddenly came in sight of this cele- 
 brated and ancient monument. Our diligence was so 
 great that we arrived there before mid-day. 
 
 To give you, my Reverend Father, the best idea 
 that it is possible for me to convey of this place, so 
 commended and so little known, it is necessary to 
 remark, in the first place, that this monastery and all 
 that surrounds it only bring to your view objects 
 frightful in their nature, and which fill you with a 
 holy horror. You see a great number of caverns, 
 scattered over the mountains Cobzim, Keleil, and 
 Askar. One sees at once that they have been hol- 
 lowed out by man. The rays of the sun can with 
 13 s 
 
290 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 difficulty penetrate into them. Between these high 
 mountains is seen only a vast plain, as sterile as it is 
 solitary. It is on this plain, at the foot of Mount 
 Cobzim, in sight of the Red Sea, shut in between 
 Mount Cobzim and the mountains of Arabia Petrea, 
 that the Monastery of Saint Anthony is situated. 
 
 Looking attentively at all these dark caverns, I 
 could imagine that I saw coming forth from them the 
 Anthonys, the Pauls, the Hilarions, the Paphnuces, 
 the Ammons, and all the famous Fathers of the 
 desert, who had condemned themselves to a life of 
 toil and penitence, to win for themselves the kingdom 
 of God. We found there, as their successors, only 
 the schismatic Copts, who were passing their days in 
 the Monastery of Saint Anthony. 
 
 We presented ourselves for entrance, and looked 
 for the door ; but our guides told us that it was not 
 to be found. In fact, the constant fear lest the Arabs, 
 who are great robbers of the monks, should come and 
 surprise the monastery to pillage them, has obliged 
 them to make another entrance for ordinary use. 
 This expedient has been adopted, not only in the 
 Monastery of Saint Anthony, but also in those of 
 Mount Sinai and Saint Monnas, of which Saint 
 Pitherion was Superior, as Rufin states in his history. 
 
 Our camel-drivers, who knew what was necessary 
 to do on this occasion, took some stones and forcibly 
 threw them into the garden of the monks, and, shout- 
 ing as loud as they could, caused them to hear. In a 
 moment we saw some of the monks appear on the 
 parapet of a very high wall. They signified to us by 
 
MONASTERIES IN THE DESERT. 29 1 
 
 their gestures and the tone of their voices that we 
 were very welcome. At the same time, they lowered 
 down to us a jar of water, knowing by experience that 
 the pilgrims who arrive at their walls are always 
 afflicted with an excessive thirst. We availed our- 
 selves of this charitable act, of which we had great 
 need. Then a large basket descended to us, in which 
 our camel-drivers placed us, and immediately the 
 monks, who were on a kind of parapet, raised us 
 from the ground by means of a pulley, which hoisted 
 us up to a high window, through which we entered 
 the monastery. 
 
 The Superior, informed of our arrival, came to give 
 us a gracious salute. I announced to him the claims 
 of M. Assemanni. After their first civilities, we went 
 to the church to perform our devotions, conducted 
 thither by the Superior and the monks. They then 
 brought us to a chamber, which was sufficiently 
 proper, but very poorly furnished. At that moment, 
 two monks spread a large cloth of skin on a mat flat 
 on the ground, on which they placed five or six plates, 
 which contained the same kind of food. This was a 
 paste, boiled in water with the oil of Sesane, on which 
 they poured two or three spoonfuls of honey. The 
 Superior invited us to place ourselves at table, that is 
 to say, to sit down with our feet crossed, one under 
 the other, according to the custom of the country. 
 Our abstinence from nourishment gave us sufficient 
 appetite to eat. They afterwards served each one 
 with two cups, one filled with wine and the other 
 with coffee. Both these were given us as a mark of 
 distinction and for elegance. 
 
292 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 After we had rested some time, we went round to 
 visit the different parts of the monastery. In the 
 midst of a large, inner court there are two churches, 
 or rather two chapels, which are twenty or thirty 
 paces in length and much less in breadth. Their 
 only merit is their antiquity, for they are dark and 
 roughly built. Their walls are covered with pictures, 
 very much smoked by the quantity of incense they 
 burn in the chapels during the celebration of divine 
 service. One of these chapels is dedicated to the 
 Apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul, and the other to 
 Saint Anthony. 
 
 It is natural that a view of these buildings should 
 recall what tradition has taught us of those holy her- 
 mits, and to cause us to exclaim, with emotion, " Here 
 the great Saint Anthony has prayed ; here Macarius, 
 the successor of Saint Anthony, has prayed ; here 
 Postumien, the successor of Saint Macarius, and 
 Father of five thousand hermits, has offered his 
 devotions ! " 
 
 These two churches communicate by a small gal- 
 lery, which leads from one to the other. This gallery 
 has a small belfry with a bell, which is only a foot 
 and a half in diameter. The Turks do not suffer this 
 in other places ; but in these deserts they do not keep 
 watch. 
 
 Near these churches is a square tower, the door of 
 which is placed about six yards above the level of the 
 ground. This tower is a kind of fortification and a 
 place of security, where the monks deposit their books 
 and all they have which is most valuable, in the con- 
 
MONASTERIES IN THE DESERT. 293 
 
 stant fear lest the Arabs come and scale their walls 
 to plunder them, — a contingency which has happened 
 more than once. It is for the same reason that they 
 have contrived in this tower a little chapel, where 
 they pack away their sacred vessels, and where they 
 perform their services in case of an attack, to which 
 they are so liable. They enter this tower by a little 
 drawbridge, supported on a neighboring terrace. I 
 have seen similar towers in the monasteries of the 
 Desert of Nitria. 
 
 The cells of the monks are built along the length 
 of the court. They are about thirty in number, and 
 are almost all separated, one from the other, and form 
 small streets. The refectory, the kitchen, the well, at 
 which a horse is almost constantly employed in draw- 
 ing up the water, and the other little buildings appro- 
 priated to domestic offices, have their own particular 
 streets. These cells and offices and streets appear 
 like a little village, situated in the midst of a great 
 desert. Silence is kept there day and night. 
 
 The monastery has its garden, which is sufficiently 
 large. The court of which I am about to speak and 
 the garden which surrounds it form a square, which 
 includes nine or ten acres. In their garden the monks 
 cultivate all kinds of kitchen vegetables for their use. 
 They have planted there dates, olives, beans, lentils, 
 peaches, and apricots. They invited us to pluck these 
 fruits for ourselves. 
 
 We found in their garden two vines, which furnish 
 them with a little claret wine. This they keep for 
 their guests, whom they wish to distinguish and par- 
 
294 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 ticularly regale. But they themselves never drink it, 
 except on the four great festivals of the year. Their 
 ordinary drink is water. It is brought to them by 
 three different pipes, which receive it at the foot of 
 Mount Cobzim, where is its source. These pipes con- 
 vey it under the ground and the walls, even into the 
 offices and the gardens of the monastery, which are 
 irrigated by it. The water is clear, but is, neverthe- 
 less, charged with a degree of saltness. To this, 
 however, they are accustomed, and it is not injurious 
 to health. The water throughout this entire country 
 has the same quality. 
 
 Towards the middle of the garden is a small chapel, 
 dedicated to Saint Mark, the hermit, and one of the 
 disciples of Saint Anthony. It is a small hermitage, 
 to which the monks go for their private devotions. 
 This chapel has two altars, and certain inscriptions 
 which one reads on the walls give us to understand 
 that the Latins have celebrated there the Holy 
 Mass. 
 
 After having given this description of the mon- 
 astery, it is necessary to speak of the monks who 
 inhabit it. There were but fifteen monks in the 
 place when we were there. The only priests among 
 them were the Superior and one other monk. Their 
 dress consists of a shirt of white wool, a tunic of dark 
 wool, and a vest of black serge, with large sleeves. 
 This tunic covers the other garments. They wear on 
 the head a black cowl, fitting very close, and under 
 the cowl a cap of red or violet wool. This cap is sur- 
 rounded by a turban, striped with white and blue 
 
MONASTERIES IN THE DESERT.^ 295 
 
 They have round them a leather belt. Their shoes 
 are red or black. They put them off when they enter 
 the church or their cells, the ground of which is cov- 
 ered with mats. They wear no stockings. Their 
 head is always shaved, and they never uncover it, 
 whether they assist in the divine mysteries or them- 
 selves celebrate them. 
 
 As to what relates to the regulation of their lives, 
 this is what I have learned. Their rule is to observe 
 obedience, poverty, and chastity ; never to eat meat 
 in the monastery ; to fast the whole year, with the ex- 
 ception of Saturdays, Sundays, and the season of 
 Easter ; to recite the Canonical Masses standing, ac- 
 cording to the Oriental form, — being allowed, never- 
 theless, to support themselves on a staff, which has a 
 cross-piece above, in the form of a T ; to present 
 themselves in the choir at the moment the Psalms 
 are to be chanted ; to sleep clothed, covered by a 
 single mat ; to prostrate themselves, every evening, 
 one hundred and fifty times, with their faces to the 
 earth and their arms extended, and to make the sign 
 of the Cross each time they raise themselves from the 
 ground. They call these prostrations Meranoi ; that 
 is to say. Penitence. 
 
 But among these Coptic monks are those who 
 make profession of a more perfect life. They are dis- 
 tinguished from the other monks by a kind of Pallium, 
 or Scapular, of leather, which they call the Angelic 
 Habit, and which they entitle Ashim, from the Greek 
 word e6r]fia, which signifies habit. This Pallium, or 
 Scapular, hangs down from the top of the shoulders, 
 
296 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 on the back and on the stomach, under the tunic. 
 This habit has four ends which are woven in a Cross, 
 entwining one with the other in many ways. 
 
 These aspirants for a higher perfection than their 
 brethren, and who for distinction wear this Angelic 
 Habit of which we have spoken, are obHged to observe 
 the Fasts and other austerities more strictly ; among 
 other things, to make three hundred prostrations 
 every night, and as many signs of the Cross. I in- 
 quired how many monks were in the monastery who 
 had obtained permission to wear the Ashim. They 
 replied that there were but three or four. We did 
 not see them, as they observed a very strict seclusion. 
 
 If a life as pure and penitent as that of these monks 
 of the Desert of St. Anthony had for its foundation a 
 pure and orthodox faith, we should have nothing but 
 praise to bestow upon them, and to thank God for the 
 successors Providence had given to the ancient soli- 
 taries of the Theban Desert. But these old sanctuaries 
 of virtue, formerly watered by the tears and dyed by 
 the blood of those noble martyrs to penitence, are 
 to-day occupied by men infected with Monothelisra 
 and Monophysism, — men who stagnate in gross igno- 
 rance, but infa,tuated with their own views, prejudiced 
 against the Catholics, — given up to all kinds of super- 
 stition, entangling themselves in sorcery, believing 
 themselves to possess the power to cure the sick, to 
 charm serpents, and to commit a thousand other ex- 
 travagances. 
 
 See the successors of those bright luminaries who 
 formerly shone in the Theban Desert and through the 
 
 I 
 
MONASTERIES IN THE DESERT. 297 
 
 entire world ! The Lord has overturned these living 
 altars, the fragrance of which was so pleasing to Him. 
 He has smitten with a curse those blessed habitations 
 to which men once resorted from all parts to acquire 
 the love of sanctity. Sad effects of schism ! 
 
 I had many conversations with the Superior of the 
 monastery, who is named Synnodius. The Superior, 
 to speak accurately, is only the Vicar of the monas- 
 tery ; for there is a Superior-General, not only of the 
 Monastery of Saint Anthony, but also of that of Saint 
 Paul, of which we will speak presently. The Superior- 
 General makes his residence at Bouche, a village 
 west of the Nile. His care is to send to these two 
 monasteries, which are under his jurisdiction, sup- 
 plies of wheat, lentils, onions, linseed oil, incense, wax, 
 and other similar things of which they have need. 
 
 The Superior-General who was then at the head of 
 affairs was named Mark. He was involved in a quar- 
 rel with his Patriarch when I was at Cairo, where the 
 Patriarch resided. The subject of their dispute was 
 about a sum of eight or ten thousand crowns, which 
 Mark, as was reported, had hoarded up, and which he 
 carefully guarded. His Patriarch condemned it, and 
 wished to make him render an account of this sum. 
 
 To return to Synnodius : I found in this monk 
 more wit than learning, although he thought himself 
 learned. I contented myself with putting to him 
 some questions, as if to satisfy my own doubts on 
 their erroneous and schismatic opinions. But he had 
 no desire except to answer in accordance with his own 
 belief, and to inveigh against the Latin Church, with- 
 13* 
 
298 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 out being willing to listen to a single good argument. 
 He was much better pleased with talking to me about 
 astrology and the transmutation of metals, which he 
 made the sole object of his studies. I learned, there- 
 fore, that it was necessary to content myself with 
 pitying him, and praying God to remove his obstinacy. 
 
 He was much more amiable when we asked him 
 to allow us to see the tower, which is closed against 
 all strangers. But, in consideration of some little pres- 
 ents of articles of hardware, we persuaded him to 
 conduct us thither. We were curious to see and ex- 
 amine the manuscripts. We found there three chests 
 filled with them, which was all that had escaped 
 the pillage of the monastery at different times. We 
 turned them over, one after another ; but the manu- 
 scripts, for the most part, consisted only of prayers 
 and homilies in the Coptic and Arabic languages. 
 The Abbe Assemanni found only three or four manu- 
 scripts of any use to the Vatican. These he bought 
 of the Superior, without the knowledge of the monks, 
 who would have been opposed to it, notwithstanding 
 the worthlessness to them of these books, of which 
 they did not make any use. 
 
 After having had sufficient time to visit the Mon- 
 astery of Saint Anthony, and to become acquainted 
 with it, we proposed to Father Synnodius to accom- 
 pany us in our visit to the Monastery of Saint Paul. 
 He told us that he would not advise us to attempt 
 this journey, as we would certainly fall into the hands 
 of the Arabs called Abalde, who infested the borders 
 of the Red Sea. He explained to us that these 
 
MONASTERIES IN THE DESERT. 299 
 
 Abalde Arabs were originally from the neighborhood 
 of Assaoiian and Nubia ; that they were sworn enemies 
 of the other Arabs called Beniouassel ; that these lived 
 on the banks of the Nile, towards Cairo ; that they 
 were often engaged in battles with each other ; and 
 that only a short time ago those of Abald6 had massa- 
 cred a large troop of the Beniouassel, 
 
 I replied to Father Synnodius that my curiosity to 
 learn for myself the productions, the size, and the 
 fluctuations of the Red Sea, was much stronger than 
 any fears of the Arabs ; and that, besides, we had con- 
 fidence in the protection of God. 
 
 Father Synnodius yielded to our great desire. We 
 loaded our camels with the necessary provisions, and 
 set out on our journey at five o'clock in the evening 
 of May 29th. Our course was towards the north by 
 the plain of Araba, having Mount Cobzim on our right, 
 and Mount Askar on our left, distant from each other 
 about eighteen miles, and thirty miles from the Red 
 Sea. The plain where we were was cut up in the 
 summer time by an infinite number of dry beds of 
 torrents, and covered in many places with small hills 
 which ordinarily are composed of mineral earth of 
 ochre of different colors, — yellow, red, green, and 
 brown. 
 
 As our way led near to Mount Cobzim, we saw at 
 its base vast hollows and large masses of stone de- 
 tached and scattered here and there. Father Syn- 
 nodius said that great piles of stone which we saw 
 had been dug from .three quarries of marble, of which 
 one was black, another yellow, and the third red. We 
 
300 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 found on the same Mount Cobzim two other quarries, 
 one of which furnished a yellow marble and the other 
 granite, — more valued and sought after than all the 
 marbles. This last quarry is near a valley called Tine, 
 or the Fig Tree, which is so named because the valley 
 is fertile in this kind of fruit. It is irrigated by a 
 fountain of sweet water, to which the wild goats, 
 the gazelles, the tigers, and ostriches constantly come 
 to drink. 
 
 As our journey led us over the plain which is called 
 Araba, signifying in Arabic a wagon, I wished to 
 know the origin of this name. They told me that, 
 formerly, all this part of the country being inhabited 
 by a great number of holy hermits, one could see 
 passing continually wagons loaded with all kinds of 
 provisions which the piety of the faithful Egyptians 
 provided for their brethren, who were living in poverty 
 in the desert, and that for this reason this plain was 
 named the Plain of the Wagons. 
 
 We have, however, another idea to advance, which 
 is that the kings of the race of Pharaoh, the Persians, 
 the Greeks, the successors of Alexander, and the Ro- 
 mans, after their conquest of Egypt, quarried from 
 the Thebaid Mountains a great quantity of beautiful 
 marbles, of which Ptolemy speaks, and caused them to 
 be transported over the plain of Araba, to build those 
 superb monuments the remains of which we see and 
 admire even to this day. This reason alone would be 
 sufficient to give to the plain of Araba the name of 
 the Plain of the Wagons. 
 
 We travelled by moonlight till two hours after mid 
 
MONASTERIES IN THE DESERT. 3OI 
 
 night, and halted in the dry bed of a torrent to take a 
 little rest. We were opposite Mount Aquabe, which 
 signifies " a rough and fatiguing mountain," as, in 
 fact, it is. Persons on foot make their journey across 
 it and arrive in less than ten hours at the Monastery 
 of Saint Anthony, after leaving that of Saint Paul, 
 We were obliged to take fifteen hours, when riding, 
 from the necessity there is of making a great circuit 
 to obtain a passage through the gorge of Mount 
 Cobzim. 
 
 One would naturally be surprised, since it is only 
 the distance of a short league from one monastery to 
 the other, that it is necessary to take fifteen hours in 
 making the journey ; but he would be much more sur- 
 prised, when he sees these places,*to find that these 
 two mountains — one of which is at the foot of Mount 
 Cobzim, at the west, and the other at the east — are 
 separated only by a single rock, but so steep that it 
 is inaccessible. This rock, by its prodigious height, 
 is seen from a great distance, and seems to give the 
 pilgrim notice of the great circuit it is necessary for 
 him to make. If Saint Jerome, who has taken the 
 pains to give us a detailed account of the fatigues 
 which Saint Anthony had to undergo when he went 
 to visit Saint Paul, had been an eye-witness, as I am, 
 of all these places, he would have explained, without 
 doubt, what it was which obliged Saint Anthony to 
 travel two entire days to reach the cave of Saint Paul, 
 although the retreat of the one was separated from 
 that of the other only by the thickness of a single 
 rock. 
 
302 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 We continued our route, always skirting along the 
 side of Mount Cobzim, until we reached a road by 
 which our guides conducted us across it. It was 
 equally steep, whether to climb up on one side, or to 
 descend on the other. When at length we reached 
 the highest point of the mountain, we halted for 
 some time, to see with pleasure the Red Sea, which 
 was at our feet, and the celebrated Mount Sinai, 
 which bounded our horizon. But, to have a nearer 
 view of this famous sea, M. Assemanni and I went 
 to it on foot. We thought, from the appearance of 
 the country, that we had only a short journey to 
 make ; but we found, however, that it was two long 
 leagues to reach the sea. 
 
 We gazed upon it attentively, recalling the memory 
 of the miracles which the Great Master of the Uni- 
 verse had formerly performed in behalf of His people. 
 We felt that in this place, following the example of 
 the Israelites, we should offer to the Lord our thanks- 
 giving for all the blessings which we continually were 
 receiving from the Divine Providence. 
 
 On the borders of the sea we saw a great number 
 of different kinds of shells, which are thrown up 
 there by the action of the waves, the most beautiful 
 and rare of which we collected. We found there also 
 some pieces of alabaster, and small pieces of a kind 
 of white coral, called chdb in Arabic. These little 
 pieces of coral are in the form of small, rough 
 branches, covered with little holes. We carried 
 away with us those which seemed to merit a place 
 in the cabinets of the curious. 
 
MONASTERIES IN THE DESERT. 303 
 
 While we were thus occupied with these curiosities, 
 our camel-drivers joined us with Father Synnodius. 
 I took advantage of his company to gain some infor- 
 mation with regard to all those objects which we had 
 before our eyes. We had in perspective four chains 
 of mountains and the Red Sea, which separated them. 
 These mountains are those of Horeb and Sinai, that 
 of Cobzim, that of " the Oil," and that of Arabia 
 Petrea, towards Gorondel. The mountains of Horeb 
 and Sinai were the most distant from us. Father 
 Synnodius told us that we were then sixty miles from 
 them. Horeb is the highest, and to the north ; Sinai 
 is the lowest, and situated at the south. Cobzim was 
 near us, at the west. Giabal Ezzeit, which in Arabic 
 signifies " The Mount of Oil," showed itself distinctly 
 to us, though at a great distance. They find there 
 many springs of the oil of petroleum, which has given 
 to it the name it bears. This mountain is a continu- 
 ation of Mount Cobzim, which extends over a long 
 space. The mountains of Arabia Petrea, which closed 
 our view on the side of the north, form the boundaries 
 of the Red Sea. Its bank, called to-day Corondel, is 
 the place where the Israelites passed through the sea 
 on dry land, and where Pharaoh and his army were 
 ingulfed in the waves. This passage, which a won- 
 derful miracle once rendered so favorable to the peo- 
 ple of God, is to-day very dangerous by the continual 
 rushing of the waters which enter into the gulf. I 
 have examined at this time, as diligently as was pos- 
 sible for me, the route which the Hebrews took in 
 coming from Memphis to the Red Sea. I have inves- 
 
304 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 tigated their passage across that sea ; and I have fol- 
 lowed, so to say, all their steps. 
 
 It was on the 30th of May, the eve of Whitsunday, 
 that we were on the western bank of the Gulf of 
 Arabia. This has different names ; for they call it 
 the Sea of Cobzim, the Sea of Jement or of Mecca, 
 and the Red Sea. I shall not stop to defend the ety- 
 mology of this last name. I will only say that it is 
 not derived from the color of the water. I am cer- 
 tain, on the contrary, — for I have seen it, — that this 
 water, near the shores, even to the distance of two or 
 three miles out to sea, is of a grass-green. It receives 
 its color from the quantity of sea-weeds which grow 
 under the water. If you look at it still farther out, 
 you will not perceive any other color than that which 
 is common to all these seas. 
 
 While I was making my observations, my compan- 
 ions were employed in fishing. They spread a long 
 net, which they drew in, and captured a large number 
 of different kinds of fish. One of those they caught 
 was a beautiful sight. It had fins yellow as gold, and 
 its body was striped with blue and gold. The camel- 
 drivers prepared it for eating, and we found the taste 
 excellent. Father Synnodius laid in a large store of 
 this kind of fish, and of many others, which he had 
 salted for his monastery. The salt he found in abun- 
 dance on the sand. They had only to dig down half 
 a foot to obtain it. 
 
 After our dinner of fish, we remounted our camels 
 to go to the monastery of Saint Paul. We arrived 
 there towards six o'clock in the evening. The Arabs 
 
MONASTERIES IN THE DESERT. 305 
 
 call this monastery Deir il memoura, — which is to 
 say, the Monastery of the Tigers. 
 
 The people of the country have given it this name 
 through a tradition which prevails among them, that 
 Saint Anthony, having been present at the death of 
 Saint Paul, and wishing to place his body in the earth, 
 two tigers, emerging from the neighboring forest, 
 came to dig the grave where this great servant of 
 God was to be interred. Saint Jerome, in the narra- 
 tive which he has given us of the death of this holy 
 Father of the Hermits, says that there were two lions 
 who rendered him this service. Whichever it might 
 be, the miracle was no less great. It is certain, how- 
 ever, that in the deserts of Egypt one rarely sees 
 lions ; while tigers, wild goats, ostriches, gazelles, and 
 foxes abound. The tigers wage continual war against 
 the wild goats. These last have horns which are for- 
 midable to the tigers. One of the monks of Saint 
 Paul presented me with the horn of a goat, which was 
 four spans in length. 
 
 The Monastery of Saint Paul, where we arrived, is 
 situated at the east, in the heart (so to speak) of 
 Mount Cobzim. It is surrounded by deep ravines 
 and sterile hills, the surface of which is black. The 
 elevation of these deprives the monastery of any view 
 of the Red Sea, which is two or three leagues distant. 
 The mountains of Horeb and Sinai are twenty leagues 
 distant. 
 
 The building of the monastery is a large square. 
 It is surrounded by a garden, but much smaller than 
 that of Saint Anthony, containing the same kind of 
 
306 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 plants. It is irrigated by salt water, which passes 
 through it, coming from a neighboring rock, and con- 
 ducted through an archway. This I measured, and 
 found its length to be seventy paces. It passes under 
 the walls which enclose the monastery, and is then 
 distributed to all places where it is necessary. The 
 monks have no other water than this to drink, and 
 they use it, salt as it is. It was apparently with the 
 same water that the holy anchorite Paul mixed the 
 bread which, according to ancient tradition, a raven 
 did not fail to bring him every day for sixty years. 
 
 The church of the monastery is neither large nor 
 beautiful. But what so much commends it to us is 
 that it contains within its walls the cave where Paul, 
 the celebrated patriarch of all the solitaries, dead to 
 the world and to himself, had no other intercourse 
 but with his God. The cave, dark and wild, inspires 
 one with the love of solitude, a contempt for the gran- 
 deur of this world, a desire for eternal blessings, and 
 an entire confidence in the goodness of God, who 
 takes particular care of his servants. Paul and An- 
 thony had a sensible proof of this when, together 
 employing day and night in chanting the praises of 
 God and entreating his mercy, the Lord, for the sake 
 of Anthony, doubled the ordinary support of Paul. 
 
 We entered the monastery in the same way in which 
 we gained access to that of Saint Anthony ; that is 
 to say, by means of a pulley, which raised us from the 
 ground to a high window, which gave entrance to 
 the monastery. The monks were there waiting for 
 us. After having saluted us, they went in procession 
 
MONASTERIES IN THE DESERT. 307 
 
 into their church. They recited some prayers ; after- 
 wards they joined us again, and conducted us to the 
 refectory, where they presented us with a repast very 
 similar to that which we had at Saint Anthony. 
 
 We employed the rest of the day in visiting the 
 cells, the garden, and the other buildings of the mon- 
 astery. The Superior took us to see the library, but 
 the valuable books and manuscripts had been re- 
 moved. 
 
 I knew that they had in the monastery a monk, 
 originally from Upper Egypt, whose parents I had 
 known. I therefore asked for him, and he was 
 brought to me. But the Superior and some others 
 of the monks gathered about me, in the fear, as I 
 could well see, lest this monk should permit himself 
 to be influenced by the Latins. We took advantage 
 of the opportunity — M. Assemanni and myself — to 
 put to them some questions which were calculated 
 to awaken within them some proper fears with regard 
 to their state. Among other inquiries we made of 
 them was, whether they always precisely adhered to 
 the views in which their Fathers Paul and Anthony, 
 of whom they were the successors, had lived, and in 
 which they had died ; whether they did not esteem it 
 an honor to be children of the Church of Jesus Christ; 
 whether they did not recognize the truth, that His 
 Church was His mystical body, of which His Vicar on 
 earth was the Head, and the faithful its members } 
 
 To these questions they replied to us, as other 
 schismatics have elsewhere said, that the Church was 
 the Holy Virgin, the Gospel, the Holy Sepulchre, 
 
308 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 the heavenly Jerusalem, the Sacraments, the Bishops 
 and Doctors of their nation. Such is the ignorance 
 of these poor hermits. But what renders them most 
 worthy of pity is that they have united with their 
 ignorance an obstinacy and a good opinion of them- 
 selves, founded on their hard and self-denying life. 
 In fact, they mortify their bodies with continual fasts 
 and severe labors, which they only interrupt to chant 
 the Psalms. They sleep in the hardest manner ; they 
 live only on vegetables, badly cooked ; they very 
 rarely drink wine ; they observe a rigorous silence 
 and a constant seclusion. Such is the deplorable 
 state of the schismatic, who nourishes his pride by 
 his hollow and seeming virtues. The simplicity, the 
 humility, the docility, which the Gospel of Jesus 
 Christ demands, are only found in the true Catholic. 
 
 As we arrived at the Monastery of Saint Paul, on 
 the eve of Whitsunday, — which occurred this year 
 on the 31st of May, — the monks commenced their 
 services the next day. There were Vespers, Matins, 
 which they said at midnight ; Mass, which they cele- 
 brated at daybreak ; and other prayers, by which the 
 Copts, and the greater part of the Christians of the 
 East, marked the Paschal season. After noon of 
 the same day, they commenced a ceremony which 
 they called the Prostrations. They began by very 
 long and earnest prayers. While uttering them, they 
 constantly prostrated themselves, imploring the mercy 
 of God. They called this ceremony Aidel sejoiid ; 
 that is to say. The Festival of the Adorations or Pros- 
 trations. They called it also Aidel ansera, — The 
 
MONASTERIES IN THE DESERT. 309 
 
 Festival of the Beginning, — by which they convey 
 the idea that the Day of Pentecost was that of 
 the Birth of Christianity, and the Beginning of the 
 Preaching of the Gospel. 
 
 The church in which they have their prayers and 
 all their ceremonies is not more than thirty feet in 
 length, and less in breadth. As it is entirely sur- 
 rounded by the rock, it is lighted only by a small 
 dome. Its walls, from the roof to the pavement, are 
 covered with large paintings, which represent scenes 
 in the history of the sacred writers. They have not 
 forgotten to paint the two tigers who dug the grave 
 in which Saint Anthony deposited the body of his 
 Father in Jesus Christ. The monk who executed 
 these pictures told us that he had never studied 
 painting, — a truth of which his work was sufficient 
 proof. We asked him where he had procured his dif 
 ferent colors, and he replied that he had derived them 
 from the colored earths which he found on the neigh- 
 boring hills. 
 
 All the prayers and ceremonies of the Festival being 
 ended, we took leave of the Superior and the monks, 
 and returned to the border of the sea, where our camel- 
 drivers were waiting for us. M. Assemanni and I 
 devoted our leisure to making certain observations on 
 the Red Sea. This sea rises and falls regularly twice 
 a day, like the ocean. The two seas communicate 
 only by a very narrow passage, which the Arabs call 
 Bab el Mandel. The bed of the Red Sea not being 
 very large, its rise and ebb is not very great ; but it 
 increases considerably in the tides which take place 
 at new or full moon, and perhaps at the equinoxes. 
 
3IO HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 The nth of June, 1716, and the eleventh day of the 
 moon, we were on the western side of the sea, twenty 
 leagues from Mount Sinai, and twenty-five from the 
 bottom of the gulf, near Suez. We noticed there that 
 the waves rose in the evening, from six o'clock to 
 midnight, one hundred paces, and that they retired 
 the same distance from midnight to six o'clock in the 
 morning. In making our observations, we saw with 
 great pleasure the shores of the sea, which are charm- 
 ing. We quitted them with regret to return to the 
 Monastery of Saint Anthony, where Father Synno- 
 dius, who had gone before us, had appointed our 
 meeting. 
 
 We arrived there before sunset ; and Father Syn- 
 nodius, who had been half converted in our inter- 
 views with him, gave us a warmer welcome than we 
 had received at our first arrival at his monastery. 
 We proposed to him to conduct us the next day to the 
 Cave of Saint Anthony, that we might say Mass there, 
 which he very willingly agreed to do. The cave is 
 distant one mile from the monastery, and is situated 
 in the side of Mount Cobzim. We set out early in 
 the morning, taking with us the vessels for the altar, 
 Father Synnodius having charged himself with pro- 
 viding wine for the Mass. 
 
 The road from the monastery to the Cave of Saint 
 Anthony is not an easy one. It was necessary, first, 
 to cross a deep, wet ditch, filled with palm-trees, reeds, 
 and wild plants. Then we climbed over the rocks, 
 partly of stone and partly of talc. The talc is very 
 common in Egypt. Towards the middle of the moun- 
 
MONASTERIES IN THE DESERT. 311 
 
 tain we came to the ruins of the cell of the blessed 
 Paul the Simple, whom we may call the Thaumaturgus 
 of the Desert. Saint Anthony sent to him the de- 
 moniacs and the sick whom he could not himself 
 heal ; and God granted to the prayer of this humble 
 and simple disciple what He seemed to refuse to 
 the eminent holiness of his master. 
 
 After overcoming difficulties and making wide cir- 
 cuits, we at last reached the cave, where this glorious 
 Father of the anchorites presented to God the con- 
 tinual sacrifice of his life, and where we hoped to be 
 able to offer the Holy Sacrifice of our altars. The 
 cave is a natural hollow in the rock. One can enter 
 by a cleft, of ten or twelve feet in height and about 
 three in breadth. The hollow is a cave, dark and 
 narrow, which has not the depth of more than twelve 
 paces. A person could with difficulty extend himself 
 there to take his repose. On one side of the cave is 
 a kind of step, having mounted on which, one is able 
 to hold up his arms on a projection of the stone, 
 which serves to lean on. This step fronts the east, 
 and, according to tradition, it served for an oratory, 
 where the saint, in a standing posture, passed his 
 days and the greater part of his nights in prayer. 
 
 We arranged ourselves in this solitary place, which 
 inspires devotion, to commence the Holy Mass, when 
 Father Synnodius presented me with the wine he had 
 brought. The color and smell at once attracted my 
 attention, and I asked him " what kind of wine it 
 was." " It is," he answered me, " the wine of Ab- 
 rek^." " What is this wine which you offer me .'' " I 
 
312 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 replied. " It is not the kind of wine required for the 
 sacrifice of the Holy Mass." In fact, this pretended 
 wine is nothing but an extract which our Copts derive 
 from the dried raisins which they import from Greece, 
 and which they soak in water to draw out this wine, 
 which they call Abr^ke, which, translated from the 
 Arabic, means Benediction. It is sweeter than any 
 other kind of wine, and we had no other to use at the 
 altar. I contented myself, therefore, with saying to 
 him " that this wine could not form the material for 
 the Sacrament." 
 
 We offered up our prayers in this place of devotion, 
 and then descended from the mountain, like Abraham, 
 without having consummated the sacrifice which we 
 had hoped to offer to the Lord. 
 
 Father Synnodius directed our attention to two 
 little caves, which are above the cell of Saint Anthony, 
 and which are ten or twelve yards distant from it. 
 They are so steep and the hill leading to them so 
 rough that none of us were willing to run the risk of 
 mounting to them. They said that Saint Anthony 
 often retreated thither to conceal himself from the 
 eyes of men, who came from a great distance to seek 
 him for consultation. 
 
 Before our return to the monastery, we visited the 
 quarry of yellow marble, which I have already men- 
 tioned. We found there a quantity of large masses, 
 which appeared to have been cut out a long while 
 ago. 
 
 We at length went back to the monastery, which I 
 had hardly reached when I went in search of Father 
 
MONASTERIES IN THE DESERT. 313 
 
 Synnodius, with my New Testament in my hand. I 
 caused him to read the twenty-sixth chapter of Saint 
 Matthew, where the Evangelist narrates the circum- 
 stances under which the Saviour of the world, through 
 His exceeding love for us, instituted the Divine Eu- 
 charist, under the elements of bread and wine, such 
 as comes from the vine. I pointed out particularly to 
 him this act of Jesus Christ, giving to His disciples, 
 under the form of the one and of the other, His body 
 to eat and His blood to drink, as through the Council 
 of Florence the Universal Church has declared that 
 our bread and our common wine, the substance of 
 which was miraculously changed by the sacramental 
 words into the proper substance of the body and blood 
 of our Saviour, must be the necessary material for the 
 Sacrament ; from whence I concluded that their pre- 
 tended wine, consisting more of water than wine, could 
 not form the sufficient material for the sacrifice of our 
 altars. 
 
 When Father Synnodius seemed to me suffi- 
 ciently convinced by these proofs, I took occasion to 
 bring before him, on other points, the Catholic doc- 
 trine, so contrary to schismatic opinions ; but schism 
 has this evil, that it blinds the intellect, hardens the 
 heart, and prevents both from yielding, even in those 
 matters which appear the most evident. I therefore 
 did not know what I could hope from my interview 
 with this schismatical monk. 
 
 If I can judge by the marks of affection and confi- 
 dence which he bestowed upon me, I might form a 
 more favorable opinion of it than I really have been 
 14 
 
314 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 able to entertain. He made every effort possible to 
 induce us to defer our departure. But, being obliged 
 to return to Cairo, we took leave of him and of the 
 monks. 
 
 After having left them, we entered on the plain of 
 Araba, where we passed an uncomfortable night. The 
 next day we continued our journey. At sunrise we 
 saw the gazelles, which were frisking on the sand. 
 But what chiefly attracted my attention was an infi- 
 nite number of pebbles which covered the road for the 
 distance of two short leagues. Among these pebbles 
 were some red and gray, and some blue and black. 
 The surface exposed to the air was in waving lines, 
 standing out in relief as a tissue of embroidery. The 
 side towards the ground was smooth. 
 
 If this matter were important enough to inquire into 
 the cause, I should say that the nitre of the ground, 
 melted by the dew, attached itself to the exterior of 
 these pebbles ; afterwards the agitation of the air 
 insensibly carried to the surface of these pebbles the 
 lightest particles of nitre, and formed the furrows, 
 which the heat of the sun changed to stone. 
 
 Traversing the length of the plain of Araba, we 
 reached Mount Keleil, where we went on foot to 
 gather plants through the bed of a torrent, which is 
 dry during the summer, and which contains a large 
 variety of herbs, of which we make great use in Eu- 
 rope. We laid in a supply of these to take to Cairo. 
 On our journey we saw a lizard, called cdaral, which 
 our camel-drivers pursued, but it escaped into its hole. 
 This animal resembles the crocodile ; except that it is 
 
MONASTERIES IN THE DESERT. 3^5 
 
 much smaller, not exceeding three or four feet in 
 length, and that it lives in the ground. As it is fond 
 of the milk of goats and sheep, it resorts to an expe- 
 dient to procure it. It twines itself firmly by its long 
 tail about the legs of the goat or sheep, and then sucks 
 entirely at its ease. 
 
 Having crossed Mount Keleil, we entered on the 
 plain of Baquara. There we passed the night, and 
 the next day reached Baifad, From Baifad we went to 
 Benisonet, which is on the other side of the Nile. 
 This we crossed in a boat ; for on the Nile, whether 
 in Egypt, in Nubia, or in Fongi, no bridges are to be 
 found. The only ones built have been over some little 
 branches of the Nile, which are filled with water in 
 times of inundations. 
 
 At Benisonet we found the Bishop of Bhenesse, 
 who is named Amba Ibrahim. He received us in a 
 friendly manner, although a Copt ; which is synony- 
 mous with saying that he is prejudiced against the 
 Franks, and riveted in his superstitions and schis- 
 matical opinions. 
 
 After a rest of one day we embarked on the Nile 
 to return to Cairo, which we reached in safety. Our 
 first act on our arrival was to go and return thanks to 
 God for all the blessings we had received from Him 
 during our journey through the desert. 
 
3l6 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 THE PARAGUAY MISSION. 
 1726. 
 
 [From the worn-out, stagnant life of the East, we turn to the 
 forests of Paraguay, and those ceaseless labors which contrast 
 so strangely with the. dreary existence of the Egyptian monks, 
 as they droned away their days in an unending round of services. 
 
 About the middle of the seventeenth century, this South 
 American Mission was founded. Among its earliest laborers, 
 perhaps, the name of Lucas Cavallero was best known for a 
 spirit which resembled that of Xavier. For years his untiring 
 labors went on, breaking up the fallow ground, penetrating 
 where none had gone before him, discouraged by no failure, and 
 turned back by no persecution. Others came at last to his aid; 
 and, as the magnitude of the field became known, there was no 
 lack of those who were "baptized for the dead," and pressed 
 forward to take the places of those who had fallen in the con- 
 flict. Thus years passed by like a dream ; but if the Jesuit 
 could point to no apparent successes achieved, and his pathway 
 was marked by the graves of those who had been his fellow- 
 laborers, still he knew it was not in vain, and he pressed on. He 
 was only part of a mighty system, and it mattered not what be- 
 fell him ; the Great Cause to which he was vowed would one 
 day go on "from conquering to conquer." " I have not passed 
 one unhappy day since my coming to this painful mission," 
 writes one, in the midst of privations under which we should 
 suppose human nature would sink. 
 
 But the hour of triumph, for which they had struggled even 
 unto blood, came at last. By their efforts the faith was preached 
 
THE PARAGUAY MISSION. 31/ 
 
 through all those vast provinces which are watered by the tribu- 
 taries of the Paraguay and the great river of the Amazons. 
 Most of the early laborers, indeed, rested in their bloody graves, 
 and the cross reared above them in the forest seemed their only 
 memorial. Yet it was not so. In the year 1717, in the single 
 province of Guiara alone, between the rivers Parana and Uru- 
 guay, were thirty-two populous settlements, with more than a 
 hundred thousand Indians baptized by the Fathers of the Society, 
 while many others existed between the Uruguay and the sea. 
 All these, for the next century, were centres of light to the 
 heathen tribes around. 
 
 There is a feeling developed in the following letter which 
 shows the severest trial which awaited these first laborers in the 
 field. They had come out from their distant homes, prepared 
 for persecution and physical suffering, and even martyrdom. 
 But there was a trial worse than these. It was the difficulty of 
 raising that dark veil which shrouded the mind of the savage, 
 and causing him to appreciate the claims of a higher life. It 
 seemed often as if no words could break through the desolate 
 gloom which surrounded him. And, then, more bitter still was 
 the fickle nature of those for whom he labored. When it ap- 
 peared to the missionary that success was about to crown his 
 efforts and the blood gushed more warmly about his heart, per- 
 haps on the morrow all seemed undone, and his hoped-for 
 converts received him with scornful or derisive words. These 
 were discouragements which awaited the pioneers in the field, 
 but of which the second generation of missionaries knew but 
 little. 
 
 To the labors of these earnest men, like him we have men- 
 tioned, with Ancieta and Nobrega and Bareze, the followers of 
 every form of Christian faith have freely awarded their meed of 
 praise. In truth, we should pity him who could read the record 
 of their strivings even unto death without a quickening pulse. 
 They " sought not their own," and, whatever may have been their 
 errors, in their deep devotedness they followed in the footsteps 
 of their Lord. It is to them that Southey pays his tribute, in 
 his *' Tale of Paraguay : " — 
 
3l8 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 " The happier sons of Paraguay, 
 
 By gentleness and pious art subdued, 
 
 Bow'd their meek heads beneath the Jesuit's sway, 
 
 And lived and died in filial servitude. 
 
 They on the Jesuit, who was nothing loath, 
 
 Reposed alike their conscience and their cares ; 
 
 And he, with equal faith, the trust of both 
 
 Accepted and discharged. The bliss is theirs 
 
 Of that entire dependence that prepares 
 
 Entire submission, let what may befall ; 
 
 And his whole course of life declares 
 
 That for their good he holds them thus in thrall. 
 
 Their Father and their Friend, Priest, Ruler, all in alL 
 
 Food, raiment, shelter, safety, he provides ; 
 
 No forecast, no anxieties have they ; 
 
 The Jesuit governs, and instructs and guides ; 
 
 Their part it is to honor and obey. 
 
 Like children under wise paternal sway. 
 
 All thoughts and wishes are to him confess'd ; 
 
 And when at length, in life's last, weary day, 
 
 In sure and certain hope they sink to rest. 
 
 By him their eyes are closed, by him their burial blest."] 
 
 Letter on the new Missions in the Province of Paraguay, 
 derived from the Spanish account of Father yean-Patrice 
 Fernandez, of the Society of jfesiis ; presented to the Serene 
 Prince of Asturias, in the year 1726, by the Father Jerome 
 Her rati, Proctor of that Provi?ice, to Monsieur M. 
 
 Monsieur, — The Province of Paraguay is about 
 six hundred leagues in length. It is divided into five 
 governments and into as many dioceses, ruled by 
 Bishops full of piety and zeal It is in this province 
 that the Missions to the Guaranis Indians have been 
 established. You, doubtless, do not care that I should 
 attempt to recount to you the history of this Mission 
 
THE PARAGUAY MISSION. 319 
 
 from its earliest times. It would be useless for me to 
 endeavor to instruct you, as there has been a com- 
 plete history written by Father Nicolas del Techo, who 
 has labored for many years in these painful Missions, 
 which was printed at Liege, in the year 1673. 
 
 In that work you will find an entire detail of all the 
 sufferings and fatigues which it has cost the mission- 
 aries to pierce the almost impenetrable forests, to 
 seek there, at the constant risk of their lives, the tribes 
 scattered and wandering, entirely naked, in these 
 dense thickets, perpetually at war with each other, 
 having nothing about them human but the form, and 
 differing but little from the tigers and wild beasts 
 with which they live. You will see there the ardent 
 zeal which inspired these Apostolic men to gain the 
 hearts of these savages, to draw them from their dens 
 and caverns, to change in some degree their natures, 
 by collecting them in their villages, without which it 
 was not possible to instruct them, and thus to adapt 
 them to the claims of civilized life and the practices 
 of religion ; in a word, to make them rational beings, 
 and at last true Christians. 
 
 It is only necessary to remark that, when the his- 
 tory of which I have spoken was given to the pub- 
 lic, there were but twenty-four Missions or villages 
 established on the rivers Parana and Uruguay. But 
 these Missions have since been increased by seven 
 new ones, much more populous than the former on 
 account of the multitudes of Indians who are daily 
 converted to the faith, and who display to us, to the 
 life, the piety, the disinterestedness, the innocence. 
 
320 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 and the sanctity of the faithful in the early Church. 
 There are sixteen on the banks of the Parana, and 
 fifteen along the banks of the Uruguay. In the year 
 1 71 7 there were in the different villages 121,161 
 Indians, all baptized by the hands of the missionaries. 
 
 These Missions having been established and regu- 
 lated in a manner which excites to this day the 
 admiration of the Governors and Bishops when they 
 visited them, they extended their views towards the 
 infinite numbers of other barbarous tribes which are 
 spread over this vast continent and through those 
 immense forests which are found between the river 
 Paraguay and the kingdom of Peru. 
 
 At the sources of the rivers Guapay and Picolmayo, 
 which empty at last into the great river Paraguay, and 
 near the borders of Peru, we find the place of refuge 
 of the Chiriguanes, who, about two centuries ago, 
 abandoned the Province of Guayra, which was their 
 native land. The frightful mountains which they in- 
 habit extend for fifty leagues to the east of the city 
 of Tarija, and more than a hundred to the north. 
 And now we will relate the cause of this emigration. 
 
 During the time that the Kings of Castile and of 
 Portugal were endeavoring to extend their rule in the 
 West Indies, a brave Portuguese, full of zeal for the 
 service of his master, King John II., wished to signal- 
 ize his devotion by new discoveries. He left Brazil 
 with three other Portuguese, equally brave, with whom 
 he had associated himself ; and, after having marched 
 three hundred leagues into the country, he reached 
 the banks of the river Paraguay. Here, having en- 
 
THE PA RAGUAY MISSION. 3 2 I 
 
 gaged two thousand Indians to accompany him, he 
 advanced more than five hundred leagues, and pene- 
 trated as far as the borders of the Empire of the 
 Incas. After having amassed much gold and silver, 
 he commenced his journey on his return to Brazil. 
 There he expected to enjoy all the pleasures which 
 his great fortune would enable him to procure. But 
 it seemed he was ignorant of the disposition of the 
 people with whom he was associated ; for, while he 
 was off his guard, he was cruelly massacred, and lost 
 both his life and riches. 
 
 These savages, not doubting that an action so 
 flagrant would draw upon them the Portuguese arms, 
 thought rather to escape the chastisement which their 
 perfidy merited, and so retired to the mountains, where 
 they have since remained. They were scarcely four 
 thousand in number when they penetrated thither, 
 and to-day they count more than twenty thousand, 
 who Hve there without fixed habitations, without law, 
 without order, without humanity ; wandering in troops 
 in the forest ; laying waste the neighboring nations, 
 whose inhabitants they carry off, that they may drive 
 them into their country, where they fatten them, as 
 they do cattle in Europe, and, after some days, slaugh- 
 ter them, to feed on their flesh in the frequent feasts 
 they give. They claim that they have destroyed or 
 devoured more than a hundred and fifty thousand 
 Indians. 
 
 It is true that, after the arrival of the Spaniards in 
 Peru, — from which they are not far distant, — they 
 by degrees broke off from the practice of this form 
 14* u 
 
322 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 of barbarism, but their spirit is unchanged. They 
 are always equally perfidious, treacherous, fickle, in- 
 constant, and ferocious. To-day they are Christians 
 and to-morrow they are apostates ; having become 
 again the most cruel enemies of the preachers of the 
 Christian faith, and more obstinate than ever in their 
 heathenism. 
 
 But the more inhuman and barbarous these nations 
 were, so much the more was the zeal of the mission- 
 aries awakened to labor for their conversion. At the 
 same time they flattered themselves that, if they were 
 able to subject them to the yoke of the Gospel, the 
 door would be open to them to the great Province of 
 Chaco, and the communication would become more 
 easy between the new Missions and the old ones to 
 the Guaranis Indians. 
 
 It is about a century since the Fathers Emmanuel 
 de Ortega, Martin del Campo, and Didaque Martinez 
 generously exposed their lives in devoting themselves 
 to so barbarous a people, with the design of human- 
 izing them by degrees, and disposing them to be in- 
 structed in the truths of revelation. But their labors 
 were entirely in vain. 
 
 Other missionaries at different times succeeded 
 them, one after the other, and undertook their conver- 
 sion, with the same courage, but with as little success ; 
 and, although this land has been watered by the blood 
 of these Apostolic men, it has never shown any fertility. 
 
 At length, scarcely five years ago, in a glimmer of 
 hope that these Indians would be found more teach- 
 able, three new missionaries entered their country. 
 
THE PARAGUAY MISSION. 323 
 
 The only fruit of this so recent enterprise was to pro- 
 cure a glorious death for the venerable Father Lizardi, 
 who expired under a cloud of arrows which these sav- 
 ages discharged against him. 
 
 For a long time before this last attempt, we had 
 ceased to cultivate a land so ungrateful, as it was only 
 destroying the laborers, and losing time which might 
 be much better employed among other tribes, more 
 teachable, though perhaps equally barbarous. They 
 turned, then, to the side of the Province of the Chi- 
 quites. This region contains a large number of 
 numerous tribes, whom the Spaniards have named 
 Chiquites, only because the door of their cabins is low 
 and very small, so that they are not able to enter but 
 by gliding in and shrinking themselves up. They 
 use dwellings of this kind to keep out the mosquitoes 
 and other troublesome insects, with which the country 
 is infested, particularly in the rainy season. 
 
 It was towards the close of the last century that 
 Father Joseph de Arce abandoned the Chiriguanes, 
 in accordance with the orders he had received from 
 his Superiors, and, by almost impracticable roads, 
 entered the country of the Chiquites. There, after 
 having collected a number of Indians whom he had 
 sought in the forests with incredible fatigues, he 
 established a large settlement, to which he gave the 
 name of Saint Xavier. 'His zeal was immediately 
 seconded by Father de Zea and other missionaries, 
 who came to share his labors ; and in the year 1726 
 he counted already in these barbarous lands six large 
 villages of Indians converted to the faith. 
 
324 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 In the same year of 1726, he resolved to penetrate 
 towards the south, into the country of the Zamucos, 
 where he had well-founded hopes to establish a new 
 village of the people of that nation, and of their 
 neighbors the Vgaranos, who together numbered more 
 than twenty-four hundred Indians. This settlement 
 was to be placed under the protection of Saint Ig- 
 natius. 
 
 You can well imagine, Monsieur, to what labors an 
 evangelical laborer must give himself up, to go in 
 search of these savages in their mountains. " While 
 I was in Europe," writes one of these missionaries, 
 " I thought it would be sufficient to carry into this 
 missionary field a great zeal for the conversion of 
 souls ; but, since I have had the happiness to be 
 there, I have learned that it is necessary also to 
 be exercised for a long while in the inward denial of 
 self, in an entire separation from all things here 
 below, in the mortification of the senses, in a con- 
 tempt for life, and in the entire surrender of myself 
 the hands of Providence." 
 
 At each settlement, when the number of Indians is 
 great, there are ordinarily two missionaries occupied 
 in civilizing and instructing the neophytes in Chris- 
 tian truths. One of them, each year, makes excur- 
 sions of thirty and forty leagues in length to the 
 residence of the savage tribes, to gain them to Jesus 
 Christ, and to draw them to the settlement. He 
 departs with nothing but his breviary under his left 
 arm, and a large cross in his right hand, with no other 
 provision but his confidence in God and what he can 
 
THE PARAGUAY MISSION. 325 
 
 find on his route. He is accompanied by twenty or 
 thirty Christian converts, who act as guides and inter- 
 preters, and who sometimes discharge the duty of 
 preachers. With their aid, with a hatchet in his 
 hand, he opens for himself a passage through the 
 dense forests. If he finds himself (which often hap- 
 pens) on the borders of lakes and marshy grounds 
 which have to be passed, he is the one who always, 
 with the water to his waist, marches at their head, by 
 his example encouraging them to follow him. He is 
 the first to climb the steep rocks and precipices. He 
 is the first to penetrate into caves, at the risk of find- 
 ing there wild beasts, instead of the Indians whom 
 he seeks. ^ 
 
 In the midst of these fatigues he has often, for his 
 entire support, only some handfuls of Indian corn, 
 some roots, or some wild fruits which they call ino- 
 taqui. Often, to quench his thirst, he can find noth- 
 ing but the dew gathered from the leaves of trees. 
 At night he sleeps in a hammock suspended from the 
 trees. I do not speak of the constant danger of 
 losing his life by the hands of the Indians who are 
 sometimes in ambush, armed with arrows and clubs, 
 
 1 " Behold him on his way ! the Breviary 
 
 Which from his girdle hangs, his only shield. 
 
 That well-known habit is his panoply ; 
 
 That Cross, the only weapon he will wield. 
 
 By day, he bears it for his staff afield ; 
 
 By night, it is the pillow of his bed. 
 
 No other lodging these wild woods can yield 
 
 Than Earth's hard lap, and, rustling overhead, 
 
 A canopy of deep and tangled boughs far spread." 
 
 Southeys Tale of Paraguay. 
 
326 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 to beat to death the unwary who come into their 
 country, and whom they regard as their enemies. 
 
 We must acknowledge, however, the particular pro- 
 tection of God, who watched for their safety and for 
 the wants of the missionaries. It happened more 
 than once, when they found themselves reduced to an 
 extreme necessity, that the game and the fish came, 
 as it were, of themselves, to present themselves to the 
 Indians who formed their party. At other times, 
 when the savages were most excited against the 
 missionary who had placed himself in their power, 
 they suddenly changed their cruel resolutions, or their 
 strength left them at the instant, and their enfeebled 
 arms were not able to discharge their arrows. 
 
 But, however painful and however dangerous might 
 be these journeys, the Gospel laborer found himself 
 fully recompensed for his pains and sufferings when 
 he returned in triumph to the settlement, accompa- 
 nied by three or four hundred Indians ; with the hope 
 of gaining, in the next year, many more, who, more 
 defiant, and fearing they had come to surprise them 
 to make them slaves, will not surrender themselves 
 before they have sent some of their people to see 
 what was taking place in the settlement, and to return 
 and give them an account. What consolation for him 
 to find himself again in the midst of his dear neo- 
 phytes, whose number has been increased by these 
 cares, and to be again in the place where, by the pious 
 liberality of persons who have interested themselves 
 in the conversion of so many savage tribes, he has an 
 opportunity of recruiting his strength, to apply him- 
 self with new zeal to their instruction ! 
 
THE PARAGUAY MISSION. 327 
 
 It is certain that these labors surpassed human 
 strength, and that it would not have been possible to 
 sustain them if one had not been upheld by a Divine 
 Power. It is not less astonishing that, among all the 
 great number of missionaries who toiled for so many 
 years in these laborious missions, we can count but 
 three or four who were broken down by the fatigues ; 
 and the greater part, after having labored for twenty- 
 five or thirty years, retained as much strength and 
 vigor as those who in Europe enjoyed all the conven- 
 iences of life. Such was Father Jean Baptiste de Zea, 
 who passed the greater part of his life in teaching 
 these savage tribes, and who, at the age of sixty-five 
 years, did not appear to be more than forty. 
 
 The ferocity of these people, and the extraordinary 
 pains it was necessary to take to subject them to the 
 yoke of the Gospel, were not sufficient to repulse a 
 man of true Apostolic spirit. Such an one, however, 
 found in that country other obstacles, to vanquish 
 which gave him greater trouble, and sensibly wore 
 upon his spirit. 
 
 The first obstacle came from the Spaniards, whose 
 settlements were not far distant from these Indian 
 tribes whose conversion we had undertaken. Al- 
 though in general the Spanish nation has distin- 
 guished itself among other nations by its piety and 
 its sincere attachment to the Faith, still it cannot be 
 disguised that, in the multitude of members of which 
 it is composed, some are found, as elsewhere, whose 
 lives are but little regulated, and whose criminal ac- 
 tions are at variance with the sanctity of their religion. 
 
328 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 The neighborhood of these Spanish settlements at- 
 tracted the Indians to them for their petty trading ; 
 and, as those gross spirits are more susceptible of bad 
 than of good impressions, they paid attention only to 
 the disorders of which they were witnesses, and which, 
 on their return, they imparted to their countrymen. 
 The result was, that when the missionary explained 
 to them the points of the Christian Faith where they 
 had incurred their reprimands by their neglect of cer- 
 tain articles of this law, they replied, " You treat us 
 with too much severity. Why do you prohibit us, 
 who are new Christians, from what is permitted those 
 of your nation who were born and have grown old in 
 the bosom of Christianity } " 
 
 Whatever forcible arguments one might employ to 
 refute this false reasoning, an equally strong preju- 
 dice, seconded by their natural tendency to vice, had 
 taken such an entire control of their spirits, that it 
 was with the greatest possible difhculty we could 
 uproot it. It was for this reason that we removed 
 the settlements of the neophytes as far as possible 
 from the Spanish villages. For the same reason, in 
 more than one reign, the kings of Spain have issued 
 the most severe ordinances, by which they have for- 
 bidden any Spaniard to put his foot within the old 
 settlements of the Guaranis Indians, with the exception 
 of the governor and the ecclesiastical prelates, who 
 by the duties of their office were obliged to make the 
 visits. 
 
 The spirit of interest and of unbounded craving to 
 enrich .themselves, which prevails among some of the 
 
THE PARAGUAY MISSION. 329 
 
 merchants, was another obstacle very prejudicial to 
 the progress of the faith. These men, insatiable in 
 their pursuit of riches, entered the Indian territory 
 by force of arms, pitilessly killed those who offered any 
 resistance, and carried off others, even going so far as 
 to snatch infants from their mothers' breasts ; and then 
 they conducted to Peru this crowd of unhappy beings, 
 bound and fettered, where they used them as beasts 
 of burden in the mines, and for the most painful 
 labors, or otherwise sold them in the public markets. 
 
 To authorize this unworthy traffic, they published 
 that the Indians had nothing human about them but 
 the form ; that they were in reality brutes, destitute of 
 reason and incapable of being admitted to Baptism 
 or to the other Sacraments. These calumnious reports 
 were spread with so much effect, and produced so 
 much scandal with regard to these good people, that 
 the holy Bishops, and, among others, the Lord Juan 
 de Garcez, Bishop of Hazcala, informed Pope Paul III. 
 of it, who declared by a special bull that these Indians 
 were rational beings, whom they ought to instruct in 
 the truths of Christianity as other nations of the world, 
 and administer to them the Sacraments. Indos ipsos, 
 utpote veros homines, iion solum Christiancs fidei capaces 
 existere decernimus et declaramus, etc. 
 
 The Catholic kings could not learn without indig- 
 nation of excesses so flagrant and so contrary to 
 humanity. They forbade this iniquitous commerce by 
 frequent edicts, under the most severe penalties. 
 They ordered, under the same penalties, that these 
 Indians should be gathered in and incorporated under 
 
330 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 the Crown ; that they should be regarded and treated 
 in the same manner as the rest of their subjects, with 
 express injunction to the viceroys and the governors to 
 enforce the execution of these edicts, and to render 
 an account to the Court. 
 
 Notwithstanding these repeated ordinances, which 
 were as yet quite recent when we began estabHshing 
 the first settlements among the Chiquites, a company 
 of European merchants was organized in Peru to 
 engage in this abominable traffic. The Father de 
 Arce, whom we regard as the founder of these new 
 Missions, was a man whom neither fear nor any other 
 human consideration could hold back when he could 
 do any thing for the cause of God. Not being able 
 to endure that his ministry should be thus troubled 
 and that any one should violate with impunity the 
 most sacred laws of humanity and religion, he com- 
 plained bitterly to the Council of Chuquisaca of the 
 infraction of these royal ordinances.^ 
 
 1 ..." in fact, though not in name a slave, 
 
 The Indian from his family was torn ; 
 
 And droves on droves were sent to find a grave 
 
 In woods and swamps, by toil severe outworn, 
 
 No friend at hand to succor or to mourn, 
 
 In death unpitied, as in life unbless'd. 
 
 Often had kings essayed to check the ill 
 
 By edicts not so well enforced as meant ; 
 
 A present power was wanting to fulfil 
 
 Remote authority's severe intent. 
 
 To Avarice, on its present purpose bent, 
 
 The voice of distant Justice spake in vain ; 
 
 False magistrates and priests their influence lent, . 
 
 The accursed thing for lucre to maintain : 
 O fatal thirst of gold ! O foul reproach for Spain ! " 
 
 Southcy^s Tale of Paraguay. 
 
THE PARAGUAY MISSION. 33 1 
 
 The merchants were sustained and patronized by 
 an individual of great riches and high reputation, and 
 the tribunal, through a false fear of causing trouble, 
 closed its eyes on this great disorder. It had not 
 even sufficient force to make any enactments, but 
 contented itself with referring the whole affair to the 
 viceroy of Peru, who is at the same time Captain- 
 General of all these provinces. At that time the office 
 was held by the Prince of Santo Bueno. 
 
 This nobleman, under the full influence of religion 
 and piety, at once took the most efificacious and 
 prompt measures to remedy the evil. He sent his or- 
 ders, which prescribed confiscation of all their property 
 and banishment from the province, for any who should 
 henceforth dare to undertake any enterprise against 
 the liberty of these Indians ; and the governors who 
 should tolerate so criminal an abuse he condemned 
 to be entirely deprived of their charge and subjected 
 to a fine of twelve thousand piastres. These orders, 
 so exact, at once put an end to this infamous traffic, 
 and the Indians in a more peaceful state were deliv- 
 ered from all vexation. 
 
 Another obstacle much more prejudicial to the con- 
 version of these heathen tribes, and which continually 
 thwarted the zeal of the missionaries, was presented 
 by the Mamelus of Brazil. Perhaps you have never 
 heard those people mentioned ; and it would be well, 
 therefore. Monsieur, to inform you with regard to 
 them. 
 
 At the time the Portuguese made the conquest of 
 Brazil, they established there many colonies, one 
 
332 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 among which they named Piratininqua, or, as others 
 called it, the village of St. Paul. " Its inhabitants, not 
 having any European females with them, took Indian 
 women to their homes. The mixture of this vile blood 
 with the noble Portuguese blood produced children 
 who, in process of time, degenerated, and whose in- 
 clinations and sentiments were entirely opposed to 
 the candor, the generosity, and the other virtues of 
 the Portuguese nation. Little by little they fell into 
 such disrepute by the dissoluteness of their habits 
 that the neighboring towns were thought to ruin their 
 reputation if they continued to have any communi- 
 cation with the town of St. Paul ; and, although the 
 inhabitants had originally been Portuguese, they 
 judged them unworthy to bear a name which they 
 dishonored by their infamous actions, and they called 
 them Mamelus. 
 
 For a time they remained faithful to their God 
 and their religion, through the care of Father An- 
 chieta and his companions, who had a college founded 
 in this village ; but finding the Fathers a serious 
 obstacle in the way of their disorders, they adopted 
 the course of breaking it up, and, to free themselves 
 from these importunate censors of their vices, they 
 drove them from the town. In their place they took 
 into favor the dregs of all nations, and their village 
 presently became the asylum and the lurking-place of 
 crowds of brigands — Italians, Dutch, Spanish, &c. — 
 who in Europe had escaped he merited punishment 
 of their crimes, or who sought to live there with im- 
 punity a life of licentiousness. The balminess of the 
 
THE PARAGUAY MISSION. 333 
 
 climate and the fertility of the soil, which furnished 
 all the necessaries of life, served to increase still more 
 their propensity to every kind of vice. 
 
 However, it was not easy to conquer them. Their 
 town is situated within three leagues of the sea, on 
 a steep rock surrounded by precipices, and could only 
 be approached by a very narrow pathway, where a 
 handful of men could hold a large army in check. 
 At the base of the mountain are some villages inhab- 
 ited by merchants, through whom they do their 
 trading. This fortunate situation fostered in them 
 the spirit of independence, so that they were obedient 
 to the laws and ordinances of the throne of Portugal 
 as long as they were in accordance with their interests, 
 and it was only in a case of pressing necessity that 
 they had recourse to the protection of the king. 
 
 These brigands, the greater part without faith or 
 law, and who could be restrained by no authority, 
 spread themselves like a torrent of licentiousness over 
 the countries of the Indians, who, having nothing but 
 arrows to oppose to their muskets, could make but a 
 feeble resistance. They carried off a large number 
 of these unhappy beings to reduce them to the most 
 severe servitude. They pretend (what is scarcely 
 credible) that in the space of one hundred and thirty 
 years they have destroyed or made slaves of two 
 millions of Indians, and that they have depopulated 
 more than a thousand leagues of country, as far as 
 the river Amazons. The terror which they spread 
 among these people has rendered them more savage 
 than they were before, and forced them either to conceal 
 
334 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 themselves in the caves and hollows of the mountains, or 
 to disperse themselves, on the one side and the other, 
 through the most gloomy passages of the forests. 
 
 The Mamelus, seeing that by this dispersion their 
 prey had escaped their hands, had recourse to a most 
 diabolical expedient, the evil effects of which the mis- 
 sionaries feel to this day, in the mistrust it has created 
 in the minds of these tribes. They imitated the 
 course pursued by these Apostolical men in winning 
 these savages to Jesus Christ. Three or four of these 
 Mamelus disguised themselves as Jesuits ; one of 
 them taking the title of the Superior, and the others 
 calling themselves Paygicasti, which, in the Guaranis 
 language, signifies Great Father. They erected a 
 large cross, and displayed to the Indians the images 
 of our Lord and the Holy Virgin. They made them 
 presents of many of those trifles which these people 
 value, and persuaded them to leave their miserable 
 retreats, to join with other tribes in forming one 
 large village where they should be in greater security. 
 After they had gathered a large number, they amused 
 them until the arrival of their troops, when they 
 attacked these miserable beings, placed them in irons, 
 and conducted them into their colony. 
 
 The first attempts of these brigands were against 
 the Christian village which had been established at 
 the sources of the Paraguay River, in the province of 
 Guayra ; but they did not retain any great advantages 
 from the quantity of slaves they had captured there. 
 We have seen an authentic register, in which it is 
 stated that of three hundred thousand Indians they 
 
THE PARAGUAY MISSION. 335 
 
 had enslaved in the course of five years, there were 
 not twenty thousand remaining. These unfortunate 
 beings almost entirely perished, either from the expos- 
 ure of the journey or the bad treatment they received 
 from their pitiless masters, who overwhelmed them 
 with labors, either in the mines or the cultivation of 
 the ground, depriving them of the necessary food, and 
 often causing them to sink under the blows they in- 
 llicted on them. 
 
 The fury with which these Mamelus desolated the 
 Christian villages obliged the missionaries to save 
 what remained of the neophytes, and to transport 
 them to the banks of the rivers Parana and Uruguay, 
 where they are now established in thirty-one villages. 
 Although separated so far from their cruel enemies, 
 they did not find themselves safe from their frequent 
 incursions. Their hostilities, however, have at length 
 ceased, since the King of Spain has permitted to the 
 neophytes the use of arms, and each village has drilled 
 a certain number in military exercises. These Indians, 
 in their turn, have rendered themselves feared, and 
 they have gained many victories over the Mamelus. 
 
 The diversity of languages among these different 
 tribes is another obstacle most difficult to surmount, 
 and which requires great exercise of patience and 
 virtue with those evangelical laborers. It is difficult 
 to believe that each step one finds little villages of 
 one hundred families or more, whose language has no 
 agreement with that of the people who surround 
 them. When, by order of King Philippe IV., the 
 Fathers d'Acugna and de Artieda made a tour of all 
 
336 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 the nations which are on the banks of the river 
 Amazons, they found at least a hundred and fifty lan- 
 guages, differing more widely from each other than 
 the Spanish does from the French. In the villages 
 established among the Maxes, where there are thirty 
 thousand Indians converted to the faith, they speak 
 fifteen varieties of language which bear no resem- 
 blance to each other. In the new villages of the 
 Chiquites, there are neophytes speaking three or four 
 different languages. It is for this reason, that in 
 order that the instruction may be uniform, we take 
 care they shall all learn the language of the Chiquites. 
 
 When one advances farther among the different 
 tribes, it becomes necessary to accommodate one's self 
 to their language. Thus, the new missionaries, besides 
 the language of the Chiquites, are obliged to learn also 
 that of the Morotocos, which is in use among the 
 Zamucos Indians, and that of the Guarayens, which 
 is the same that they speak in the old Missions of the 
 Guaranis Indians. 
 
 You must acknowledge. Monsieur, that it is neces- 
 sary to be armed with strong courage to bear up 
 against such great difficulties, and to be animated by 
 a lively zeal to contend against such formidable pains 
 and dangers. But a missionary is well compensated 
 and soon forgets his fatigues, when he has the conso- 
 lation of seeing all the Christian virtues practised 
 with fervor by men who, a little time before, had 
 scarcely any thing about them that was human, and 
 who were only occupied in satisfying their brutal 
 appetites. It is only necessary to hear the language 
 of these Apostolical men. 
 
THE PA RAGUAY MISSION. 33/ 
 
 " It is nothing," said one of them, " that I should suf- 
 fer voluntarily for the sake of those Indians, when we 
 are witnesses of the docility of our neophytes, the ardor 
 and attachment they manifest for every thing which 
 concerns the service of God, and their faithful obedi- 
 ence to all the requirements of the Christian law. 
 They have entirely severed themselves from fraud, 
 robbery, intemperance, revenge, impurity, and many 
 Other vices which are firmly rooted in the heart of 
 these heathen nations. There is no spirit of selfish- 
 ness among them, and with this vice how many others 
 are banished ! I dare to assure you, without the fear 
 that I should be accused of extravagance, that these 
 men, abandoned formerly to the grossest vices, years 
 after their conversion recalled to me the innocence 
 and holiness of the primitive Christians." 
 
 " It would be difficult for me to describe to you," 
 said another missionary, " with what assiduity and 
 ardor they assist at all the exercises of devotion. 
 They have a singular aptitude in learning to explain 
 the truths of religion, and these truths awaken in their 
 hearts the most profound sentiments of penitence." 
 
 It is the custom at the Missions, when the sermon 
 is finished, to pronounce, in a loud voice, an Act of 
 Contrition, which sets forth the motives most power- 
 ful to awaken sorrow at having offended God, and 
 during this time the church resounds with their sighs 
 and sobbings. This vivid repentance of their sins 
 is generally followed by austerities and macerations, 
 which they would carry to an excess if we did not 
 take care to moderate them. 
 
 15 V • 
 
338 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 It is, above all, at the Tribunal of Penitence that I 
 could fully appreciate their delicacy of conscience. 
 They were even dissolved in tears while accusing 
 themselves of faults so trifling that I could often 
 doubt whether they formed a fit subject for absolu- 
 tion. If they accidentally committed any sin, although 
 the most inconsiderable, they immediately quitted their 
 occupation, no matter how pressing, to repair to the 
 church, and purify themselves by the Sacrament of 
 Penance. 
 
 In each village we made choice of some neophytes, 
 who were the oldest and most respected, to preserve 
 good order. Some among them were charged with 
 guarding the conduct and manners of the other 
 neophytes ; for we cannot but believe that in so great 
 a multitude some could be found who would fall away 
 in conduct. If they discovered, what was exceedingly 
 rare, that some one had committed a scandalous sin, 
 they clothed him in the penitential dress, and con- 
 ducted him to the church, publicly to ask pardon for 
 his sin, and they imposed on him a severe penance. 
 Not only did the guilty submit to this reparation with 
 docility, but we have sometimes seen others, and even 
 the catechumens, after having committed secretly 
 the same fault which was known only to themselves, 
 to come publicly and accuse themselves of it with 
 tears, praying with importunity that they might have 
 the same penance imposed on themselves. 
 
 When we admitted them to the Feast of the Eu- 
 charist, they did not approach it until long and fervent 
 preparation, and they studied to preserve the fruit of 
 
THE PARAGUAY MISSION. 339 
 
 the grace they had received. When, some time after, 
 we asked them if they had not fallen into the same 
 sins of which they had accused themselves before 
 Communion, they were surprised that any one should 
 put to them such a question. " How could it hap- 
 pen," they replied, " that, after having been nourished 
 by the body of Jesus Christ, one could fall into the 
 same faults ?" 
 
 Three times a day, at morning, mid-day, and in the 
 evening, all the young assembled to chant in two 
 choirs the most devout prayers, and to repeat the 
 instructions which had been given them in the Chris- 
 tian doctrines. Nothing can be more edifying than 
 the quietness and modesty with which they assist at 
 the services of Sunday and the festivals. When they 
 go to their labor in the morning, and when they 
 return to the village in the evening, they never fail 
 to adore the Holy Sacrament and to salute the Holy 
 Virgin, whom they regard as their Mother, and for 
 whom they have the most tender devotion. They 
 celebrate her festivals with pomp and the music of 
 their instruments ; and they are scrupulous to com- 
 mence no action without first making the sign of the 
 Cross. 
 
 At twilight, and when they cease from their work, 
 all the streets of the village resound with the pious 
 songs which the young boys and girls chant, while the 
 men and the women separately recite the Rosary in 
 two choirs. 
 
 It is, above all, in the grand solemnities that their 
 piety shows forth to the greatest advantage. During 
 
340 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 the time set aj^art in the Church to recall the remem- 
 brance of the sufferings of the Saviour in His Passion, 
 they endeavor to represent its entire history, and to 
 give an outward expression to the feelings of penitence 
 and compassion with which they are penetrated. On 
 the evening of Holy Thursday, after having listened 
 to a sermon on the Passion, they go in procession to 
 a kind of Mount Calvary. Some bear a heavy cross 
 upon their shoulders ; others have their foreheads 
 encircled with crowns of thorns ; they march thither 
 with their arms extended in the form of a cross. 
 Many practise other acts of penitence ; while the 
 march is closed by a long procession of children, who 
 walk two and two, and carry in their hands the differ- 
 ent instruments of our Lord's suffering. When they 
 arrive at Mount Calvary, they prostrate themselves at 
 the foot of the Cross ; and, after having renewed their 
 different acts of contrition, of love, of hope, &c., they 
 make a public declaration of their inviolable fidelity 
 to the service of God. 
 
 When the Festival of Corpus-Christi approaches, 
 they prepare themselves some days beforehand to cele- 
 brate it with all the splendor that their poverty aHows. 
 They go to the chase, and kill as many birds and 
 wild beasts as possible. They ornament the front of 
 their habitations with branches of palms, skilfully 
 intermingled with other kinds of branches, with bor- 
 ders of the most beautiful flowers of their gardens, 
 and feathers of different colors. They arrange tri- 
 umphal arches at certain distances one from the 
 other, which, although rural, do not fail to be very 
 
THE PARAGUAY MISSION. 34I 
 
 ■pleasing. They strew leaves and flowers in all the 
 streets through which the Holy Sacrament must pass, 
 and they place at intervals the animals they have 
 killed, such as stags, tigers, and lions, to show in this 
 way that all creatures must pay homage to the Sover- 
 eign Master of the universe who made them. Oppo- 
 site to their residence they expose to view Indian 
 corn and other grains with which they intend to sow 
 their fields, that the Lord may bless them as He 
 passes. In fine, by the modesty and piety with which 
 they follow in the procession, they give the most gen- 
 uine testimony of their faith towards this great mys- 
 tery of the love of God for men. Many of the 
 heathen in the neighborhood, whom they usually in- 
 vite to assist in this ceremony, touched by so religious 
 a spectacle, have renounced their heathenism, asked 
 to be settled in the village, and to be admitted into 
 the ranks of the catechumens. 
 
 One thing which fills these good neophytes with a 
 tender recognition of their Lord is the comparison 
 they often make between the sweet liberty of the 
 children of God, which they enjoy, and the ferocious 
 and brutal life which they lived under the tyrannical 
 rule of the Devil. It is this also which inspires them 
 with an ardent zeal to procure the same happiness for 
 other heathen tribes, even for those towards whom 
 they had inherited from their fathers and drawn in 
 with their milk an implacable hatred. 
 
 Besides those who accompany the missionaries 
 when they make their tours through the forests 
 inhabited by so many of these savages, we can see 
 
342 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 many more, each year, who, when the rainy season is 
 over, spread themselves through all the neighboring 
 lands to preach Jesus Christ to the heathen. The 
 fatigues and dangers inseparable from excursions of 
 this kind are not able to quench their zeal, but only 
 seems to render it more ardent. Even death, suffered 
 in this cause, becomes the object of their desires. 
 We can count more than a hundred neophytes who 
 have lost their lives in this work of love. 
 
 There prevails among them a holy emulation as to 
 who shall be the instrument of converting the greatest 
 number of heathen. The day when they return to 
 the mission, accompanied by a large number of Indi- 
 ans whom they have gained to Jesus Christ, is a day 
 of festival and public rejoicing. There are nothing 
 but caresses and friendly offices which they heap on 
 these new guests. Each one is eager to minister to 
 their wants. A charity so beautiful in a short time 
 sweeps away the natural love which they have for 
 their native land ; and it is in this way that the old 
 Missions increase and new ones are established.-^ 
 
 1 " On earth they offer'd, too, an easy life 
 
 To those who their mild lessons would obey. 
 Exempt from want, from danger, and from strife ; 
 And from the forest leading them away, 
 They placed them underneath the Virgin's sway, 
 A numerous fellowship, in peace to dwell ; 
 Their high and happy office there to pay 
 Devotions due, which she requited well. 
 Their heavenly Guardian she, in whatsoe'er befell. 
 
 " To this great family the Jesuit brought 
 
 His new-found children now ; for young and old 
 
THE PARAGUAY MISSION. 343 
 
 For a long time we had been seeking to open a way 
 through that expanse of country which extends between 
 the city of Tarija and the river Paraguay. It seemed 
 as if nothing could be more important for the welfare 
 of all these Missions ; for, this way being once opened, 
 they could communicate with each other much more 
 easily, and mutually render aid. Now, to reach the 
 Missions of Paraguay, or those of the Guaranis or of 
 the Chiquites, it is necessary to descend the river, 
 even as far as Buenos Ayres, to traverse the whole 
 Province of Tucuman, and to penetrate a long dis- 
 tance into Peru. Thus it happened that the Father 
 Provincial was obliged to undergo the fatigue of a 
 journey of twenty-five hundred leagues, in place of 
 which the journey could have been shortened one 
 half, if he could have taken the route across the coun- 
 tries which lie between the Missions of the Chiquites 
 and those of Paraguay. It was an enterprise which 
 had been often undertaken, but always failed. 
 
 Once, when we had penetrated some distance into 
 these countries, we were stopped by the Indians, who, 
 distrusting our object to discover the river Paraguay, 
 opposed us with all their force, and obliged the mis- 
 sionaries to return. It happened, at length, that there 
 
 He deem'd alike his children, while he wrought 
 For their salvation, seeking to unfold 
 The saving mysteries in the Creed enroU'd, 
 To their slow minds that could but ill conceive 
 The import of the mighty truths he told. 
 But errors they had none to which to cleave, 
 And whatsoe'er he tells they willingly believe." 
 
 Southeyi's Tale of Paraguay. 
 
344 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 was a catechumen of the same nation, who employed 
 himself with so much energy and zeal among his 
 countrymen that they determined to embrace the 
 faith. We took advantage, therefore, of so favorable 
 a conjuncture. 
 
 It was in the year 1702 that the Fathers Francois 
 Hervas and Michel de Yegros set out, with the cate- 
 chumen and forty Indians, without any other provision 
 than their confidence in Divine Providence. This did 
 not fail them ; and, during the journey, hunting and 
 fishing abundantly supplied them with all the sub- 
 sistence that was necessary. They were very well 
 received in three villages of the nation of the cate- 
 chumen, the inhabitants of which had previously been 
 opposed to their enterprise. Thus they freely pur- 
 sued their journey, leaving behind them the catechu- 
 men, who had been wounded by a thorn which had 
 entered his foot. They did not think that his hurt 
 was at all dangerous ; nevertheless, he died in a few 
 days from the effects of his wound. 
 
 After very great difficulties, which these two mis- 
 sionaries encountered in making their way through 
 the woods, in climbing high mountains, and passing 
 lakes and swamps full of mire, without counting the 
 disquietude and continual fear lest they should fall 
 into the hands of the savages, they at last reached 
 the banks of a river, which they supposed to be the 
 Paraguay, or at least a branch of it, and there they 
 planted a large cross. We discovered afterwards that 
 they were mistaken, and what they took to be a river 
 was only a great lake, which ended in a thick forest of 
 palm-trees. 
 
THE PARAGUAY MISSION. 345 
 
 In the belief that they had discovered the road so 
 greatly desired, Father Nugnez, who was then the 
 Provincial, made choice of five of the former mission- 
 aries to the Guaranis to travel the length of the river 
 Paraguay, and find on its bank the place where they 
 had planted the Cross on the coast of the Chiquites. 
 These missionaries were the Father Barthelemy 
 Ximenes, who died, full of years and good works, 
 July 2, 1 7 17, Father lean Baptiste de Zea, Father 
 Joseph de Arce, Father Jean Baptiste Newman, 
 Father Frangois Hervas, and the Brother Sylvestre 
 Gonzales. As the voyage which they made on this 
 great river throws light on the geography of the dif- 
 ferent countries which it waters, I am going to give 
 the journal which was kept by one of these mis- 
 sionaries : — 
 
 We set out — he says — on the loth of May, 1703, 
 from the port of our village of the Purification, 
 whence, after having passed by Antigui, we landed, 
 on the 27th of the same month, at Itati. The Father 
 Gervais, a Franciscan, who was Cur^ of this borough, 
 received us in the most courteous manner. Thence 
 we continued our voyage towards the river Paramini, 
 at the place where the Parana empties into the river 
 Paraguay. The high winds which prevail there, and 
 which were head winds for us, retarded us and caused 
 us great fatigue ; so that we did not land at the port of 
 the Assumption until the 27th of June, where we took 
 a rest of four days at the college which we have in 
 this village. We had prepared one large barque, four 
 smaller ones, two piroques, and one canoe. 
 15* 
 
346 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 We embarked again ; and, after having proceeded 
 some leagues, we discovered at a little distance some 
 canoes of the Payaguas Indians, who without doubt 
 came on a voyage of discovery. We were very anx- 
 ious to open communication with them, and to engage 
 them, if it were possible, by some proofs of friendship 
 which might induce them to lay aside their hostility. 
 For this purpose Father Newman departed in the 
 canoe with Brother Gonzales ; but, when they had 
 almost come up with the Indians, they took to flight, 
 crying with all their strength, — Pe^ pkmonda, ore 
 Camaranda Btionos Aires, viariipi. This means that 
 we were not of their people, but of a nation living in 
 the neighborhood of Buenos Ayres, who had caused 
 so many Indians to perish. 
 
 Father Newman, seeing so little success resulting 
 from his demonstrations, contented himself with land- 
 ing on the bank of the river, and hanging on the 
 branches of a tree some trifles of little value, but 
 which are highly prized by these savages. These 
 little presents, which they immediately secured, reas- 
 sured them ; and four of them approached one of our 
 boats, and left there, in their turn, some mats of reeds 
 which were very beautiful and of very delicate work- 
 manship. 
 
 One of the neophytes, named Anicet, who acted 
 as our interpreter, full of zeal for the conversion of 
 the heathen, judged by the sensibility of these Paya- 
 guas that their soft and affable dispositions would 
 make it easy to produce some impressions on their 
 hearts. But he did not know how full these people 
 
THE PARAGUAY MISSrON. 34/ 
 
 are of perfidy. On the 12th of July he approached 
 some of these Indians who were in sight ; and, while 
 he was seeking by little presents to gain their friend- 
 ship, a large body of Payaguas, filling two canoes, 
 came out of an ambuscade where they were concealed, 
 and rushed up to Anicet and his companions, whom 
 they beat to death with heavy blows of their clubs, and 
 then at once fled with the greatest speed. We learned 
 too late of this sad occurrence. Some of our Indians 
 went to the place where this massacre had taken place, 
 and there they found the dead bodies of their dear com- 
 panions. The next day we celebrated their funeral rites, 
 with the sweet hope that God would have mercy upon 
 them, and would recompense the love with which they 
 had exposed their lives to rescue these savages from 
 the darkness of heathenism. 
 
 The Payaguas, seeing that we did not seek to inflict 
 vengeance upon them for this so cruel action, became 
 in consequence more audacious. They appeared the 
 next day in great numbers in a prodigious quantity of 
 canoes, formed into two squadrons. The one made 
 for the bank, and all those who were in it landed. 
 The others ranged about the shores of the river, with- 
 out any of them daring to attack us. It was only 
 under cover of the night that they cast stones and 
 showered their arrows upon us. But our neophytes 
 presently drove them to flight, and it was only at a great 
 distance that they continued to watch us. It was a 
 great blessing that they were not joined by the Guai- 
 curus, another savage tribe, but much more brave and 
 hardy, and naturally enemies of the Christian name. 
 
348 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 It would have been difficult for us to have escaped 
 the snares which they would have set for us in a river 
 which, in this place, is covered with islands, where 
 they could be easily concealed in ambush. 
 
 On the 6th of August we reached the mouth of the 
 river Xexui. It is by this route that the Mamelus came 
 to make their irruption on some of our ancient Missions, 
 which they destroyed. On the 19th we approached the 
 country of the Payaguas, the inhabitants of which had 
 left it a little before to go to a large island that was 
 opposite. This country belonged to a cacique of the 
 Payaguas, named Jacayna, who kept there some of his 
 vassals employed in the manufacture of canoes. 
 
 On the 2ist we found a small fort surrounded by 
 palisades, with three large crosses raised above it. 
 At first, we thought that this must be the work of the 
 Mamelus ; but we subsequently found it was the Paya- 
 guas, who, having some idea of the virtue of the 
 Cross, had erected those we saw, to deliver them 
 from the multitude of tigers which infested the country. 
 A little while afterwards, we saw on the bank twelve 
 of these savages, who did not think of disturbing us ; 
 but what surprised us was, that about the 30th of 
 August, when we arrived at the mouth of the river 
 Tapotii, we saw there two canoes of the Guachicos 
 Indians. The mouth of this river is distant thirty 
 leagues from that of the Piray. But before arriving 
 there, it is necessary to pass very rapid currents, which 
 terminate in a long reef of rocks. We saw there 
 twelve of this tribe, very tall and well formed, and 
 having naturally a more agreeable manner than art 
 
THE PARAGUAY MISSION. 349 
 
 could give them. At this place the Guaicurus lighted 
 their fires, to warn the neighboring tribes that they 
 saw the enemy appearing. 
 
 At six leagues from thence is the Lake Nengetures, 
 into which a river empties, which descends from the 
 country inhabited by the Guamas. These people are 
 in some sort the slaves of the Guaicurus. They make 
 this the breeding-place for their mules and horses ; 
 they cultivate the earth and plant tobacco, which 
 grows there in abundance. There are in this country 
 many other tribes, and one among them named 
 Lenguas, who speak the same language as the 
 Chiquites. 
 
 Two leagues above the lake is the mouth of the 
 Inboimboi. There was formerly near this river a 
 Christian settlement, which was under the govern- 
 ment of Father Christophile de Arenas and of Father 
 Alphonse Arias. This last, having been sent for by 
 the Guatos Indians to administer baptism, fell into the 
 hands of a party of the Mamelus, who put him to death 
 with blows of their muskets. Father Arenas had some 
 time afterwards the same fate. He encountered the 
 Mamelus, who abused him so badly that he survived 
 his wounds only a few days. 
 
 From thence, as far as Xarayes, one sees only wide 
 plains where the crops grow naturally and without 
 cultivation ; and thither the Payaguas, the Caracuras, 
 and many other neighboring tribes, come to procure 
 their provisions. On 22d of September we passed 
 between the mountains of Cunayequa and of Ito,. 
 where is the residence of the Sinamacas. The faith 
 
350 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 was preached to these tribes by the Fathers Juste Man- 
 silla and Pierre Romero. These, with Brother Mat- 
 thieu Fernandez, were afterwards massacred by the 
 Chiriguanes on account of their hatred of the Chris- 
 tian law, because it forbade their having more than 
 one wife. 
 
 Five leagues further on, we reached an island, to 
 which two Cacequis, named Jarachacu and Orapichi- 
 gua, had retired with their vassals, the Payaguas. 
 As soon as they perceived us, they despatched six 
 canoes to the large island of the Orejones ; and imme- 
 diately we saw far and wide a great smoke rising, the 
 signal which they ordinarily used to warn the neigh- 
 boring tribes to be on their guard. These nations all 
 make common cause with the Payaguas, because they 
 furnish them with tobacco, skins, cloths, and other 
 necessaries of life, which are in abundance where they 
 live. 
 
 We afterwards passed near the mountains of Tara- 
 guipita. This country is inhabited by many Indian 
 tribes. Four of our missionaries had preached the 
 Gospel there : namely. Father Ignace Martenez, a 
 Spaniard ; Father Nicolas Henard, a Frenchman ; 
 and the Fathers Diego Ferrer and Juste Mansilla, 
 Flemish. The first, after a time, departed for the 
 Mission of the Chiriguanes ; and the two others sank 
 under the fatigues and labors they endured, and died 
 among these savages, deprived of all human consola- 
 tion, as the great apostle of the Indies, Saint Francis 
 Xavier, died on the Island of Sancian. The last for 
 only a short time bore up against the same fatigues, 
 
THE PARAGUAY MISSION. . 351 
 
 but finished his life in the exercise of his Apostolical 
 duties. 
 
 After having gone eight leagues beyond the Tobati, 
 we found ourselves at the mouth of the Mbotetei. It 
 is by this river that the Mamelus had been accustomed 
 to enter the river Paraguay. From thence one sees 
 the vast plains which extend even to Xarayes. These 
 were anciently inhabited by the Guaicurus and the 
 Itatines ; but these Indians, finding themselves con- 
 tinually exposed to the irruptions and the barbarity of 
 the Mamelus, abandoned their country and took refuge 
 in the thick forests, which extended from the Lake 
 Jaragui to a distance of fifty leagues to the boundaries 
 of Peru. 
 
 At last, on the 29th of September, we reached the 
 place where the river Paraguay divides into two 
 branches, and forms a large island. As we there 
 found ourselves in the country of the Chiquites, we 
 endeavored to discover the Cross which our two mis- 
 sionaries had erected the preceding year. 
 
 On the 1 2th of October, having cast anchor, we 
 saw some Payaguas, who, although intimidated by a 
 sight of our Indians, did not fail to approach us and 
 offered us the fruits of their country. We responded 
 to this courtesy by some small presents we made 
 them. 
 
 On the 17th we cast anchor in sight of Lake Jaragui, 
 which is in part hidden from view among the woods 
 and mountains, as far as the Orejones. The plains 
 on either side of the river are filled with dwellings of 
 the Indians. They are more numerous on the left 
 
352 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 side, because the marshes and lakes by which they 
 are surrounded render them in some sort inaccessible, 
 and protect these tribes from the incursions of the 
 Mamelus. 
 
 On the 1 8th, having left Lake Tuquis on the right, 
 we reached the mouth of the river Paraiguazu, which 
 discharges its waters with great force. A little far- 
 ther we encountered a canoe, in which was a young 
 Indian, well formed and robust. He was not afraid 
 of coming to our barque. We gave him some evi- 
 dences of friendship ; and although he knew nothing 
 of our language, and we nothing of his, yet he was 
 able to make us understand by signs that he was of 
 the Mbiritu tribe, and that it was three days' journey 
 to his village. We saw the attachment he had formed 
 for us, by the pain with which he left us. We there- 
 fore invited him to come into our boat. He accepted 
 the offer with evident pleasure, and came aboard with 
 his arms and his mat, which was of very delicate work- 
 manship. He regaled our Indians with a large 
 capivara which he had killed. This is a river hog, 
 very similar to a land hog. Seeing, at the end of 
 three days, that we sailed along the length of the 
 river, so as not to lose ourselves among the islands 
 which covered it, he took leave of us, with the promise 
 that he would shortly rejoin us. He received with 
 thankfulness some little presents which we gave him 
 to present to the cacique and the principal men of his 
 tribe. This Indian kept his promise, and was not very 
 long in returning ; but, wishing to cross a branch of 
 the river during a stormy time, he was wrecked in our 
 
THE PARAGUAY AflSSrON. 353 
 
 sight. He was saved from the danger he ran, by 
 falling into the hands of the Payaguas, who caused 
 him to be conducted to his village. 
 
 At last, on the 31st of October, we entered the 
 famous lake of Xarayes, into which many navigable 
 rivers fall. It is commonly supposed that in this lake 
 the river Paraguay takes its rise. At the entrance of 
 the lake is situated the famous island of the Orejones, 
 where there was formerly a very numerous nation, 
 which has been destroyed by the Mamelus. The 
 climate of this island is temperate and very healthy, 
 although it is at the height of seventeen degrees and 
 some minutes. According to common opinion, it ex- 
 tends forty leagues in length and ten in breadth. 
 There are others there which are much larger. Its 
 soil is fertile, although it is full of mountains, all 
 covered with beautiful trees, adapted to use in all 
 kinds of work. 
 
 During the month and a half that we were occupied 
 on land and water in seeking for the Cross which had 
 been set up, and which would indicate the road to the 
 Missions among the Chiquites, all our efforts were in 
 vain, and we did not discover the first vestige of it. 
 In the meanwhile, the season was advancing ; and there 
 was fear lest, the river falling each day, our barque 
 might be injured by the rocks which were concealed 
 under the water. It was necessary, therefore, to think 
 of a return, with the feeling of chagrin that we had 
 taken so much pains with so little result. Some of 
 our missionaries, however, petitioned the Father Su- 
 perior that he would leave them on the island, where, 
 
354 HIS7VRICAL SCENES. 
 
 during the winter, they could make new efforts to 
 succeed in this discovery ; but the prospect of success 
 was so uncertain, and the risk so great, that, after 
 having praised their zeal, he declared that he could 
 not assent to their wishes. 
 
 We therefore left this lake, which some of us 
 named the Sweet Sea. But since, as we have already 
 intimated, we had entered on the season when the 
 river considerably diminishes, we were in constant 
 fear of anchoring in shallow water, or of touching the 
 rocks, which in some places are almost on a level 
 with the surface of the water. Happily we made a 
 hundred leagues without any accident. 
 
 We discovered three canoes, which came towards 
 us by rowing, containing four Indians, one Payagua 
 and three Guaranis, who had formerly received Bap- 
 tism. As soon as they approached our barque, they 
 sprang on board of it with much agility, and told us 
 that they had determined to spend the rest of their 
 days with us, whatever pain their desertion might 
 give their caciques. In this last particular, however, 
 they were mistaken, for the two caciques whose vas- 
 sals they were, struck with the devotion with which 
 they had abandoned their goods and their parents, to 
 live in the strict observance of the Christian law, were 
 impressed with the highest esteem for them and for 
 the missionaries. 
 
 These two caciques joined our barque ; and having 
 been received with confidence, as if they had been 
 old acquaintances, seated themselves familiarly before 
 the Father Superior. The Father, taking advantage 
 
THE PARAGUAY MISSION. 355 
 
 of their favorable dispositions, opened to them the 
 importance of salvation, and the necessity of embrac- 
 ing the Christian faith, to gain it. He caused them 
 to realize that, beyond the happiness they would 
 secure in living as reasonable beings, in becoming the 
 children of God and meriting an eternal recompense, 
 they would pass their days more peaceably, since they 
 would find in these villages of the Guaranis as many 
 defenders as there were Christians. They would, 
 therefore, have nothing to fear from the Mamelus or 
 the Guaicurus, who now kept them in continual 
 disquietude. 
 
 The caciques, who were very attentive to this ad- 
 dress of the Father, seemed touched. They promised 
 that they would cause their vassals to be instructed 
 with regard to admission to baptism, and that they 
 would use all their influence to induce the Guatos and 
 Guacharapos Indians to unite with them in forming 
 together a large settlement. To give us assurance of 
 the sincerity of their promises, we prayed them to 
 present to us some young Indians, whom they had made 
 slaves, that we might instruct them in the truths of 
 the faith, and enable them to serve us as interpreters. 
 We offered them, in exchange, some pewter plates, 
 some knives, some fish-hooks, some little articles of 
 jet, and other things of that kind. They consented 
 with a good grace ; and we received six Indians of 
 different tribes, whom we sent to one of our villages 
 to be instructed. 
 
 At last, after renewed protestations of friendship 
 on both sides, they left us, well satisfied with the hope 
 
356 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 we had given them, that we would send some of our 
 missionaries to their homes. In parting, they directed 
 some of their vassals, who were very skilful fisher- 
 men, to follow us in their canoes, to use their nets 
 each day and furnish us with an abundant supply of fish. 
 This duty they punctually discharged, following us 
 for one hundred and fifty leagues, and never suffering 
 us to want. This succor came in a very timely way; 
 for our supply of biscuit and maize was spoiled, and 
 we were obliged to content ourselves with a single 
 plate of beans each day. 
 
 Having reached the mouth of the river, where the 
 zealous neophyte Anicet and his companions had 
 been killed by the Payaguas, we deputed some of the 
 same tribe, who were friendly to us, to go to these 
 savages, and say to them that we had no feelings 
 for them but those of peace and love ; that our 
 earnest desire was to procure their happiness in this 
 life and after death ; that they might try the experi- 
 ment, if they wished to join us ; that we were persuaded, 
 if they had killed our Indians, it had been done less 
 through hatred to them than through fear lest they 
 should be used as a decoy for them ; that, in fine, we 
 pardoned what had passed, and only asked, as a full 
 satisfaction, that they would surrender to us the 
 Spaniards whom they held in slavery. 
 
 Our messengers acquitted themselves so well to 
 these savages, that some of them came to us to ask 
 pardon for the murder they had committed, and sent 
 back to us a Spaniard whom they had held as a slave. 
 They even assured us of their desire to unite in our 
 
THE PARAGUAY MISSION. ZS7 
 
 settlement, and to embrace the Christian faith. But 
 at the very time they were giving us these assurances 
 they were only endeavoring to deceive us ; for they 
 protested to us that they had only this single Spaniard 
 in slavery, while we afterwards discovered that they 
 had three others. Our friendship having been renewed, 
 some twenty of their canoes approached us in single 
 file. One after another they mounted into our barque 
 to receive the little presents we had for them. A little 
 while afterwards their caciques came to bring us fruits, 
 and to present us with a fine canoe. 
 
 Notwithstanding this, we did not feel that we could 
 trust ourselves to this people, whose perfidy and in- 
 constancy we had so often proved, and who never 
 kept their faith except when it was for their own 
 interests. It is a surprising fact that this nation, 
 which scarcely counts four hundred men capable of 
 bearing arms, has spread itself beyond the river 
 Paraguay. One party overran more than two hun- 
 dred leagues on the river, or in the country beyond 
 the lake of the Xarayes. The other party roams 
 without cessation towards the city of the Assump- 
 tion, pillaging all who fall into their hands, making 
 slaves of those whom they encounter, if they are not 
 entirely on their guard against their ambushes ; or 
 they league themselves with the Guaicurus, to attack 
 the Spaniards with open force. 
 
 The wandering, vagabond life they lead is not as 
 great an obstacle to their conversion as their perfidi- 
 ous and fickle character. They never remain long in 
 the same place ; to-day on the main land, and to-morrow 
 
358 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 on some island ; or they scatter themselves on the 
 rivers. They could scarcely live in any other way, as 
 they only subsist by the chase or by fishing, in which 
 they cannot always engage in the same locality. 
 
 We quietly pursued our route, but on the 2d of 
 September we had a narrow escape from death. A 
 furious gale arose, which drove our barque on with vio- 
 lence, and caused it to strike on a succession of rocks. 
 We supposed it would have been shattered into a 
 thousand pieces, and there were a thousand chances 
 of our perishing. Nevertheless, we escaped all in- 
 jury. We thought we were indebted for our preser- 
 vation to the special protection of the Holy Virgin, 
 whom we invoked many times during that day. 
 
 After having escaped this danger and returned 
 thanks to God and the Holy Virgin, our protectress, 
 the Father Superior arranged that one of the boats 
 should go ahead, with directions that it should raise 
 all its sails and use all its power of oars, to make as 
 much speed as possible, for the purpose of transport- 
 ing to the city of the Assumption Father de Neuman, 
 who was ill of a dysentery which had reduced him to 
 an extremity. 
 
 For ourselves, it was not till the 17th that we 
 arrived there. The governor of the city, all the nobil- 
 ity, and the people in crowds, came out to receive us 
 as we landed from our boats, and insisted on conduct- 
 ing us to the College. It was only an hour after we 
 reached there that Father de Neuman finished his 
 course, and went to receive the recompense for his 
 labors. The Canons of the Cathedral, the Ecclesi- 
 
THE PARAGUAY MISSION. 359 
 
 astics, the Religious Orders, and all the Incorporations 
 of the city, honored the funeral rites with their pres- 
 ence, regarding him as a martyr to his love and zeal, 
 which had always burned for the conversion of the 
 heathen. 
 
 On the 9th we left the city of the Assumption, to 
 return to our dear Missions among the Guaranis, 
 where we arrived February 4th. Thus ended our 
 voyage, which had lasted for nine months, and in 
 which we had lost sixteen of the neophytes who 
 accompanied us, who were carried off by the dysentery, 
 and by the difficulty of procuring suitable provisions. 
 
 They have made other attempts to discover this 
 road ; but they have had no other results than to pro- 
 cure for Fathers de Arce and Blende a glorious death. 
 I am with respect, &c. 
 
36o HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 THE EARTHQUAKE AT LIMA IN 1746. 
 
 [Probably the earthquake at Lima, in the total ruin it pro- 
 duced, was one of the most severe ever experienced in a civi- 
 lized land. It is well, then, to put on record this account, 
 which Father Lozano received from the eye-witnesses and suf- 
 ferers, and which becomes of interest in this day, when we so 
 often hear the tidings of " earthquakes in divers places." 
 
 Incidentally, we learn from this narrative how strong the 
 Church of Rome must have been in that city ; where, with a 
 population of only sixty thousand people, there were sixty-four 
 churches, most of them remarkable for the treasures in gold 
 and silver which they contained. 
 
 By referring to the description of Lima in a previous article in 
 this volume, written in 1746, it will be seen that the same catas- 
 trophe had happened in 1682. As in this case, the sea over- 
 flowed and ingulfed the unfortunate city, so that for greater 
 security it was rebuilt a quarter of a league inland.] 
 
 Letter of Father Pierre Lozano, of the Society of 
 Jestis, of the Province of Paraguay, to Father 
 Bruno Morales, of the same Society, at the Coicrt 
 of Madrid. 
 
 At CORDOUE DE TucuMAN, the \st of March, 1747. 
 
 We have received from Lima and from Callao news 
 of the saddest character. 
 
 On the 28th of October, 1746, at half -past ten in the 
 
THE EARTHQUAKE AT LIMA. 36 1 
 
 evening, an earthquake was experienced at Lima, with 
 so much violence that, in less than three minutes, the 
 whole city has been overturned from top to bottom. 
 This disaster was so sudden that no one had time to 
 place himself in safety, and the ruin was so wide- 
 spread that no one could shun the danger by flight. 
 Only twenty-five houses remain standing ; neverthe- 
 less, by a special protection of Providence, out of 
 sixty thousand inhabitants of this city, only the 
 twelfth part perished, while those who have escaped 
 are unable to tell to what they can ascribe their 
 safety. Thus they regard it as a kind of miracle. 
 
 There are few examples in history of an occurrence 
 so lamentable, and it is difficult for the most vivid 
 imagination to conceive of such a calamity. Picture 
 to yourselves all the churches destroyed, generally all 
 the other edifices prostrated, and the twenty-five 
 remaining houses which stood the shock so shattered 
 that it will be necessary to take them entirely down. 
 Of the two towers of the Cathedral, one has been 
 thrown down as far as the arch of the nave ; the 
 other, at the place where the bells are hung ; and all 
 that remains is exceedingly damaged. These two 
 towers in falling have crushed the arch and the 
 chapels, and the whole church has been so over- 
 turned that it cannot be reconstructed without first 
 being entirely demolished. 
 
 The same fate has befallen five magnificent churches 
 belonging to the different Religious Orders. The great- 
 est sufferers have been those of the Augustines and of 
 the Fathers of Mercy. At our great College of Saint 
 16 
 
362 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 Paul, the two towers of the church have been shat- 
 tered from top to bottom, while the arch of the 
 sacristy and a portion of the Chapel of Saint Ignatius 
 have fallen. The damage has been almost equal in all 
 the other churches of the city, which are sixty-four in 
 number, counting the public chapels and the hos- 
 pitals. 
 
 What augments our regrets is that the grandeur 
 and magnificence of the greater part of these edifices 
 could be favorably compared with the most superb of 
 this age. Most of these churches contained immense 
 treasures, either in pictures or in vases of gold and 
 silver, ornamented with pearls and precious stones, 
 which were rendered still more valuable by the beauty 
 of the workmanship. 
 
 It was remarked that, in the ruins of the Parish 
 Church of Saint Sebastien, they found the sun over- 
 turned upon the ground, outside of the Tabernacle, 
 which remained closed, without the Holy Host be- 
 ing at all injured. The same thing happened in the 
 Church of the Orphans, — the sun shattered, the crys- 
 tals broken, and the Host entire. 
 
 The cloisters, the cells of the Religious Houses of 
 both sexes, are entirely ruined and uninhabitable. At 
 the College of Saint Paul, of which I have already 
 spoken, the new buildings, and those which were 
 about being finished, were filled with cracks, while 
 the old main buildings are in a much worse state. 
 The House of the Novitiates, their church and their 
 private chapel, are entirely levelled with the ground. 
 The Professor's House is also uninhabitable. One of 
 
THE EARTHQUAKE AT LIMA- 363 
 
 our Fathers, having leaped from a window, in the fear 
 of being crushed under the ruins of the church, has 
 broken his arm in three places. The larger edifices 
 in their fall crushed the smaller ones, so that the 
 materials and ruins filled almost all the streets of 
 the city. 
 
 In the excessive terror which had seized on the 
 inhabitants, each one sought safety in flight ; but 
 some were at once buried under the ruins of their 
 houses, while others, running out into the streets, 
 were crushed by the falling walls. Some by the suc- 
 cessive shocks were carried from one place to another, 
 and escaped with some slight bruises ; while there were 
 some who actually owed their safety to the impossi- 
 bility of changing their places. 
 
 A magnificent triumphal arch had been, erected on 
 the bridge of the Marquis de Villagunera, the last 
 viceroy of these provinces, and on its height had been 
 placed an equestrian statue of Philip V. This work, so 
 striking from the majesty and the richness of its archi- 
 tecture, has been entirely overturned and reduced to 
 powder. The palace of the Viceroy, which in its vast 
 circumference included the halls of the chancery, the 
 tribunal of accounts, the royal chamber, and all the 
 other jurisdictions attached to the government, has 
 been so entirely destroyed that nothing remains of it. 
 The Tribunal of the Inquisition, its magnificent chapel, 
 the Royal University, and all the other edifices of any 
 mark, now have remaining only the sad vestiges of 
 what they once had been. 
 
 It is a sad spectacle and one which touches us even 
 
364 ■ HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 to tears, to see in the midst of these horrible ruins, all 
 the inhabitants reduced to take up their abode on the 
 public squares or in the gardens. We do not know 
 but what they will be obliged to rebuild the city in 
 some other place, although its original location was, 
 without doubt, the most convenient for commerce, 
 extending a sufficient distance inland, and yet not 
 being too far removed from the sea. 
 
 One thing which most excites our compassion is 
 the sad situation of the Religious Orders, who suddenly 
 find themselves without any asylum, and who, having 
 scarcely any thing but rents derived from different 
 houses in the city, have in an instant lost the little 
 property they had for their subsistence. They have 
 no other resource but the sympathy of their relatives 
 or the charity of the faithful. The ecclesiastical au- 
 thority has given them permission to avail themselves 
 of it, and has granted them all the dispensations 
 necessary for this purpose. The Recollettes alone 
 have been willing to remain in their ruined monastery, 
 trusting themselves to divine Providence. 
 
 At the House of the Carmelites of Saint Therese, 
 of twenty-one members of the Order, twelve were 
 crushed, together with the prior, two lay brothers, and 
 four servants. At the Conception, two members of 
 the Order were killed ; but only one at the grand 
 Convent of the Carmelites. At the House of the 
 Dominicans and the Augustines, thirteen of the Order 
 were killed ; two at the House of the Franciscans, 
 and two at that of Mercy. It is surprising, from the 
 large number of members in all these communities, 
 that the number of deaths was not greater. 
 
THE EARTHQUAKE AT LIMA. 3^5 
 
 At our novitiate we have had many slaves and ser- 
 vants crushed ; but none of the Fathers at the differ- 
 ent Houses have lost their lives. It appears that the 
 Benedictines, the Minims, the Fathers Agonisans, and 
 the Brothers of Saint John de Dieu, have been equally 
 blessed. At the Hospital of Saint Anne, founded by 
 the first Archbishop of Lima for the benefit of the 
 Indians of both sexes, seventy of the patients were 
 crushed in their beds by the fall of the beams. The 
 total number of deaths amounts to nearly five thou- 
 sand. This is certified by the account, which seems 
 to be the most reliable of any that we have received, 
 because it has an evident air of truthfulness, and in 
 other respects, in its different details, it is more per- 
 fectly in accordance with all that has been written 
 with regard to this country. 
 
 Among the dead there are scarcely any persons of 
 rank. We must, however, mention Don Martin de 
 Olivade, his wife and daughter, who, having aban- 
 doned their house, were caught in the street under an 
 extensive wall at the moment that it fell. Don Mar- 
 tin managed to disentangle himself from the ruins ; 
 but when he learned that his wife, whom he tenderly 
 loved, was crushed, he died of grief. A singular cir- 
 cumstance, and which seems to add to the sadness of 
 this occurrence, is that this gentleman would not have 
 perished if he had not sought to place himself in a 
 situation of safety, and he would not have suffered 
 any evil if he had remained at home, — his honie 
 being one of the few which were not overthrown. 
 
 It was impossible to inter all the dead in con- 
 
366 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 secrated ground. They did not dare to go near the 
 churches, from the fear caused by the fresh shocks 
 which succeeded each other. They therefore at first 
 dug trenches in the pubHc places and in the streets. 
 But promptly, to remedy this irregularity, the Viceroy 
 has convoked the Brotherhood of Charity, which, aid- 
 ing the governors of the police, undertook to carry the 
 dead bodies to all the secular and regular churches, 
 and discharged this perilous duty with such extreme 
 diligence as, in a great measure, to free the city from 
 the infection with which it was threatened. This 
 work cost many their lives, on account of the stench of 
 the dead bodies ; and it was feared, with reason, that all 
 this would be followed by severe sicknesses, and per- 
 haps by a general pestilence, because more than three 
 thousand horses or mules had been crushed and died, 
 whom it was impossible at once to dig out. Add to 
 this the fatigue, the hardships, the hunger which must 
 be suffered during the first days, every thing being in 
 confusion, there being no mill nor any storehouse of 
 provisions which had been preserved. 
 
 But where this evil was incomparably more severe 
 was at the port of Callao. The earthquake was felt 
 there with the greatest violence at the same hour that 
 it was at Lima. At first, there were only some 
 towers and a portion of the ramparts which resisted 
 the shock. But half an hour afterwards, when the 
 inhabitants began to breathe again and to look around 
 them, suddenly the sea rose, lifted itself to a prodigious 
 height, and fell with a horrible noise upon the land, 
 ingulfing all the large ships which were in port, 
 
THE EARTHQUAKE AT LIMA. 1^7 
 
 sweeping the small ones above the walls and the 
 towers, even to the other end of the city, overturning 
 all the houses and churches, and drowning all the 
 inhabitants. The result is that Callao is now only a 
 confused mass of gravel and sand, so that one can 
 scarcely distinguish the place where the city was 
 situated. Only two large gates, and some portions 
 of the wall of the ramparts, are now remaining. 
 
 They counted at Callao six houses of the Religious 
 Orders, — one of the Dominicans, one of the Francis- 
 cans, one of the Order of Mercy, one of the Augus- 
 tines, one of the Jesuits, and one of Saint John de 
 Dieu. There were at that time, at the House of the 
 Dominicans, six of the members of their Order from 
 Lima, all persons of distinguished merit, who were 
 occupied in the Services of the Octave, established 
 some years since to make particular confession to the 
 Lord. The Franciscans had also at their House a 
 large number of their brethren from Lima, who had 
 come to receive the Commissary-General of their 
 Order, who was expected to land the next day. All 
 these members of the Orders perished miserably ; 
 and, of all those who were in the city, the only one 
 saved was Father Arizpo, an Augustine friar. 
 
 The number of deaths, according to the most au- 
 thentic accounts, was about seven thousand, as many 
 citizens as strangers ; and there were only about a 
 hundred persons who escaped. I have, indeed, re- 
 ceived one letter, in which it is stated that, by the 
 exact researches which Don Joseph Marso y Velasco, 
 Viceroy of Peru, caused to be made, they judged that 
 
368 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 the number of deaths, including both Lima and Cal- 
 lao, exceeded eleven thousand. 
 
 It was stated, by some of those who were saved, 
 that many inhabitants of this last city, having seized 
 on planks, floated for a long time on the water ; but 
 the shock and the force of the waves cast the greater 
 part of them bruised against the rocks. They related 
 also that those who were in the city, seeing them- 
 selves suddenly surrounded by the waters of the sea, 
 were overcome by such a panic that they were unable 
 to find the keys of the gates which gave them exit on 
 the side of the land. After all, even if they had been 
 able to open these gates, what would have been the 
 result of this precaution, except to cause them to 
 perish the sooner, by giving entrance to the waters, 
 and allowing them to penetrate to every part 1 Some 
 of those who were swept above the walls succeeded 
 in reaching some vessel. Among these. Father 
 Yguanco, of our Society, managed to gain a vessel 
 called the "Assembro," the boatswain of which, 
 touched with compassion, made every effort to save 
 him. But towards four o'clock in the morning, a new 
 overflow of the sea succeeding, and the anchors hav- 
 ing been broken, the ship was cast with violence into 
 the midst of Callao, and the Jesuit there perished. 
 
 During the intervals, when the waters were ebbing, 
 they heard the lamentable cries, and often the voices, 
 of the Ecclesiastics and members of the Religious Or- 
 ders, earnestly exhorting their brethren to commend 
 themselves to God. Too much praise cannot be given 
 to the heroic zeal of Father Alphonse de Lopios, Ex- 
 
THE EARTHQUAKE AT LIMA. Z'Sc) 
 
 Provincial of the Dominicans, who, in the midst of 
 this frightful disorder, seeing an opportunity to save 
 himself, refused to avail himself of it, saying, " What 
 more favorable opportunity to reach heaven can I find 
 than by dying to aid these poor people, and for the 
 salvation of so many souls ? " He has been included 
 in this wide-spread wreck, while discharging the duties 
 of his ministry with a charity so pure and disinter- 
 ested. 
 
 As the waters extended more than a league beyond 
 Callao, most of those who had taken to flight in the 
 direction of Lima were swallowed up in the middle 
 of the way by the waves which surrounded them. 
 There were at that time in the port twenty-three ves- 
 sels, great and small, nineteen of which went to the 
 bottom, and the four others were stranded high up on 
 the land. The Viceroy having despatched a frigate 
 to ascertain the condition of these vessels, they were 
 only able to save the cargo of the ship " Elsocorro," 
 which consisted of wheat and tallow, and which has 
 been a great relief to the city of Lima. They also 
 attempted to relieve the ship-of-war " Saint Firmin," 
 but found it impossible. In fine, to enable you to 
 comprehend to how great an extent the violence of 
 the sea has been carried, it is sufificient to say that it 
 transported the Church of the Augustines, almost 
 entire, to an island some distance off, where it can 
 since be seen. 
 
 There is another island, which they call the Island 
 of Callao, where the convicts are employed in cutting 
 out stone used for building. It was in this island 
 16* X 
 
370 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 that the small number of those who escaped the wreck 
 found themselves after the subsiding of the waters ; 
 and the Viceroy immediately sent boats to bring them 
 over again to the mainland. 
 
 The loss sustained at Callao is immense, because 
 the great store-houses which supplied the city of 
 Lima with all kinds of necessaries, and which are the 
 principal depots of its commerce, happened then to 
 be unusually crowded with grain, tallow, brandy, cor- 
 dage, wood, iron, beans, and all kinds of merchandise. 
 Add to these the furniture and ornaments of the 
 churches, which all shone with gold and silver ; the 
 arsenals and royal magazines, which were full, — all 
 these, without counting the value of the houses and 
 ruined edifices, amount to an enormous sum ; and, if 
 to this one adds what was lost at Lima, it would ap- 
 pear incredible to a person who was not acquainted 
 with the degree of opulence in this kingdom. Cal- 
 culations have been made, that to restore matters to 
 their former condition would cost more than six hun- 
 dred millions. 
 
 During that frightful night which annihilated Cal- 
 lao, the citizens of Lima were in continual alarms on 
 account of the repeated movements which made the 
 earth to tremble about them, and because they saw 
 no end to these constantly recurring shocks. All 
 their hopes centred on the city of Callao, where they 
 flattered themselves they would find an asylum and 
 relief. Their grief, then, sank to utter despair when 
 they learned that Callao no longer existed. The first 
 who brought this news were the soldiers who had 
 
THE EARTHQUAKE AT LIMA. 3/1 
 
 been sent by the Viceroy to learn what had taken 
 place on the coast. Never was there witnessed a 
 consternation equal to that which then spread through 
 Lima. They were without any resource. The earth- 
 quakes continued daily ; and it was estimated that, up 
 to the 29th of November, more than sixty shocks had 
 taken place, some of which were very severe. I leave 
 you to imagine, then, in what state their spirits must 
 have been in such strange circumstances. 
 
 The day after this sad night, the preachers and 
 confessors dispersed themselves through all quarters, 
 to console, as far as possible, these miserable beings, 
 and to exhort them to profit by this terrible blow by 
 returning to God in penitence. Above all, the Vice- 
 roy showed himself, and employed himself without 
 relaxation in consoling the unfortunate citizens under 
 these evils. 
 
 We may say that it was a blessing of Providence to 
 have given to Lima, in its affliction, a Viceroy whose 
 character was so marked by zeal, activity, and cour- 
 age. He exhibited on this occasion superior talents, 
 and qualities of the most distinguished kind. This 
 is a justice which is unanimously rendered to him. 
 Without him, famine would have finished the destruc- 
 tion of the inhabitants who remained. All the pro- 
 visions which were collected at Callao were destroyed ; 
 all the ovens were demolished at Lima ; and all the 
 water-pipes for the mills were choked up. 
 
 In this extreme peril, the Viceroy did not lose his 
 self-possession. He sent to all the bailiffs of the 
 neighboring provinces orders to forward, as soon as 
 
372 HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 possible, the grain which they found there. He 
 assembled all the bakers. He caused the work to 
 go on, day and night, in placing the ovens and the 
 mills in a proper state. He adopted means to repair 
 the canals, aqueducts, and fountains, that there should 
 be no failure in the water. He took precautions that 
 the butchers should furnish meat as usual. And he 
 charged the two consuls to take in hand the execu- 
 tion of all these orders. 
 
 In the midst of so many cares, he did not neglect 
 what regarded the service of the king. After having 
 caused to be collected from under the ruins all the 
 arms which could be secured, he sent officers to Callao 
 to save, as far as possible, the royal effects ; and he 
 placed guards at the bank, to secure the gold and sil- 
 ver there from pillage. 
 
 As he had received notice that the shores were 
 covered with dead bodies which remained unburied, 
 and that the sea was each moment throwing up a 
 prodigious quantity of furniture, and vessels of gold 
 and silver, he immediately gave orders to have the 
 bodies interred. He directed that the officers should 
 retain in their possession whatever effects were of any 
 value, and that they should keep an exact register of 
 them, so that each one should be able to recognize 
 what belonged to him. It was forbidden, under pen- 
 alty of death, to appropriate any thing which might 
 be on the shore ; and, to enforce obedience on this 
 important point, he directed two gibbets to be erected 
 at Lima, and two at Callao : and a few wholesome ex- 
 amples of severity caused every one to respect these 
 ordinances. 
 
THE EARTHQUAKE AT LIMA. 373 
 
 After the loss of the garrison at Callao, the Viceroy 
 had but a hundred and fifty soldiers of the regular 
 army, with as many of the militia. However, he did 
 not neglect to double all the guards, to repress the 
 insolence of the people, and particularly of the negroes 
 and the slaves. He organized three different patrols, 
 who constantly went their rounds through the city, to 
 prevent the robberies, quarrels, and assassinations 
 which we had reason to fear during such a state of 
 confusion. One other care he took was to prevent 
 any one from going out on the main avenues to pur- 
 chase the wheat which was being brought into the 
 city. He gave orders that all the wheat should be 
 first carried to the middle of the Square, under pen- 
 alty of two hundred blows of the whip for persons of 
 low extraction, and four years' banishment for others. 
 All these arrangements, as wisely devised as they 
 were vigorously executed, resulted in the maintenance 
 of good order. 
 
 Nevertheless, on the last day of November, at half 
 past four in the evening, while they were making the 
 procession to Our Lady of Mercy, suddenly a report 
 spread through the whole city that the sea was return- 
 ing again, having broken its bounds, and had now 
 almost reached Lima. At once, behold all the people 
 on the move ! Suddenly they rushed forward. Even 
 the Religious Orders were not excepted, who, in the 
 fear of the next overflow, had not gone forth from 
 their cells : now, flying with the people, each one 
 thought of nothing but saving his life. The crowd 
 of fugitives increased the panic. Some rushed to- 
 
374 . HISTORICAL SCENES. 
 
 wards Mount Saint Christophe, and others towards 
 Mount Saint Barthelemi, believing that no place was 
 safe. But in this general movement, only one person 
 lost his life. This was Don Pedro Sandro, the Grand 
 Treasurer, who, in attempting to escape, was thrown 
 from his horse and killed. 
 
 The Viceroy, who had not received any such news 
 from the coast, comprehended at once that this was 
 nothing but a panic. He purposely, therefore, re- 
 mained in the middle of the public square, where he 
 had established his residence, endeavoring thus to 
 show every one that they had nothing to fear. As 
 they still continued their flight, he sent the soldiers 
 to stop the people, but it was impossible to arrest 
 them. At last he went himself, and spoke to them 
 with so much authority and confidence that they 
 obeyed at once, and each one returned. 
 
 Some monasteries of the Religious Orders, which 
 had incomes from the royal treasury, have appealed 
 to him, representing to him the sad state to which 
 they were reduced. They have prayed him to direct 
 the Governor of the PoHce to interfere in their de- 
 fence, that they may be secured from all insult. This 
 demand, with many others of a similar nature, has 
 induced the Viceroy to give orders that there shall be 
 issued a general decree for the most pressing repara- 
 tions which can be made to place the inhabitants in 
 security. It has even been his desire that plans shall 
 be prepared for the rebuilding of the city ; and he 
 proposes, besides, that the houses shall be constructed 
 of sufficient solidity to resist similar earthquakes. 
 
THE EARTHQUAKE AT LIMA. 375 
 
 This work has been committed to the charge of M. 
 Godin, of the Academy of Sciences of Paris, who was 
 sent out by the King of France to make observations 
 on the figure of the earth, and who, for some time 
 past, by order of the Viceroy, has occupied the place 
 of Professor of Mathematics at Lima, until he finds 
 an opportunity of returning to France. 
 
 What most embarrasses the Viceroy, particularly 
 since we are actually in a state of war, is the Fort of 
 Callao, which is the key to this kingdom. For this 
 reason, after having entirely restored order in Lima, 
 he departed with M. Godin to Callao, to choose a 
 situation for the erection of fortifications capable of 
 arresting an enemy, and to establish suflficient maga- 
 zines, so that commerce shall not be interrupted. 
 
 As for the rest, the earthquake has made equally 
 great ravages in the neighborhood, — on the one side, 
 towards Cannete, and, on the other, as far as Chau- 
 cay and Guaura. In this last place, the bridge, al- 
 though very solid, has been destroyed ; but, as it is a 
 main avenue for travel, the Viceroy has given orders 
 that it shall at once be rebuilt. We scarcely know 
 yet what has occurred in the places in the neighbor- 
 hood of Lima and Callao. The relations they will 
 send us will, without doubt, contain the particulars. 
 
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