RARE, OR UNPUBLISHED DOCUMENTS 
 
 ii 
 
 ZLbe Hulncau Collection 
 
 1734-1745 
 
 EDITED BY THE 
 
 REV. ARTHUR E. JONES, 
 
 OK THE SOCIETY OF JESUS. 
 
 MONTREAL 
 ARCHIVES OF ST. MARY'S COLLEGE 
 
 1893
 
 OR - 
 
 UNPUBLISHED DOCUMENTS, 
 zi 
 
 AULNEAU COLLECTION 
 
 1734-1745. 
 
 IBIDITIED 
 
 BY THE 
 
 5TSU5 K- 
 
 OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS. 
 
 MONTREAL. 
 ARCHIVES OF ST. MARY'S COLLEGE 
 
 1893.
 
 
 UNPUBLISHED DOCUMENTS 
 RELATING TO 
 
 CATHOLIC CANADIAN HISTORY. 
 
 THE AULNEAU LETTERS. 
 1734-1745. 
 
 NTIL 1890 little or nothing was known of Father 
 Jean (?) Pierre Aulneau, even among the few 
 who devote their time to Canadian or American 
 historical researches, save that a Jesuit of the 
 name of Aulneau was massacred in company 
 with De LaVerandrye's son, at the Lake of The Woods, 
 in the beginning of June, 1736. The unexpected discovery 
 of a number of letters written by or relating to the 
 Father has awakened a new interest in the matter. 
 
 During the Advent of 1889, Fathers Dauchez, Lal- 
 lemand and Legall, of the Society of Jesus, were engaged 
 giving a mission in Vendee, France. The result was 
 very consoling. About six hundred men a large number 
 for the place received on Christmas morning at the close 
 of the exercises. Among the latter was the venerable 
 descendant of the ancient family of the Aulneaus. Pre- 
 vious to this he had never had any intercourse with the 
 members of the Jesuit order. He informed them, how- 
 ever, that a number of old letters had been passed down as 
 an heirloom in the family from father to son. They dated 
 over 1 50 years back. From them it appeared that for- 
 merly a member of his family had been put to death by 
 the Indians in the wilds of North America. He kindly 
 allowed them to be copied, and moreover furnished. 
 
 872160
 
 4 
 
 several interesting details relating to Father Aulneau 
 hitherto unknown. 
 
 The present representative of the Aulneau family, and 
 possessor of these letters, resides at his country seat at 
 Bournezeau, Vendee. He explains that this historical 
 treasure escaped destruction during the Vendean 
 wars, when so many other historical relics were pillaged 
 or destroyed by the revolutionary hordes, owing to the 
 fact that the Aulneau manor was the headquarters of 
 the Vendean staff. His son, Monsieur Paul Aulueau, is 
 at present " Conseiller G6u6ral de Vendee." 
 
 It is the translation of this collection which was first 
 published in the CANADIAN MESSENGER, we now offer 
 to the general public ; and it should be borne in mind 
 that these letters have not yet appeared in print in the 
 original French. 
 
 Father Aulueau was born April 21, 1705, at Moutiers- 
 sur-le-Hay, in Vendee, for it was there that the manor of 
 the Aulueaus or Seigneurs de la Touche was situated. His 
 brother Jean Baptiste was born December 15, 1709. His 
 brother Charles was also a Jesuit, and his sister Thrse 
 was a nun of the " Union Chrdtienne de Fontenoy ; '' 
 she enteied religion in 1730 and died in 1779. He had 
 still another brother Michael, whose health was always 
 weak. He became a Sulpician, and entered at Angers in 
 1734. He was born in 1716 and died at Autun in 1752. 
 
 Our missionary embarked at La Rochelle, May 29, 1734, 
 on board the ' ' Ruby, ' ' commanded by the chevalier 
 Chaon. Mgr. Dosquet, fourth Bishop of Quebec, had 
 taken passage on the same vessel with a number of re. 
 emits to fill vacancies in the ranks of his diocesan clergy. 
 There were also on board three priests of St. Sulpice, 
 whose names are not given, but who, we have reason to 
 believe, were Jean Charles Chevalier, Fran9ois Piquet and 
 Pierre Sartelon.
 
 5 
 
 Several other Jesuit missionaries sailed for Canada with 
 Father Aulneau. Father Pierre de Lauzon, superior 
 general of the Canadian missions, who had gone to France 
 in quest of new evangelical labors, was returning with 
 Luc Francois Nau, Jean de La Pierre, and, in all probabi- 
 lity, also with Barthelemi Galpin, priests of the Society 
 of Jesus. Besides these there was a large number 
 of sailors and soldiers for the "Ruby" was a man- 
 ofwar one hundred new recruits for the King's 
 posts in the colony, and eighty smugglers, who had 
 already languished a year in prison, but of whom, no 
 doubt, the colonial authorities were expected to make 
 honest citizens. The latter were in a semi-nude and 
 filthy condition ; and if the vessel's gun-room, which 
 served as a sleeping cabin for all, was crowded to suffoca- 
 tion, its living cargo was as nothing when compared to 
 the parasitical stow-aways which swarmed on the limbs 
 and clothing of this motley crew of contrabandists. Little 
 wonder then if after forty-seven days of a rough naviga- 
 tion the pest should break out among the passengers 
 and sailors huddled together as they were within the 
 stifling hold. Father Aulneau, in his letters, is silent on 
 his own self-sacrifice in laboring among the sick to 
 alleviate their bodily sufferings and in bringing peace to 
 their souls ; but Father Nau tells us how the future victim 
 of Indian cruelty devoted himself without intermission to 
 so repulsive a duty. 
 
 He escaped, however, serious illness until he reached 
 Quebec. Brother Jean Jard Boispineau came down as far 
 as Cape Maillard in a launch to meet the ship, and took 
 on board Father Aulneau, who already showed the pre" 
 monitory symptoms of the dread disease. After three 
 days he was prostrated with the fever, and twice was at 
 the point of death. God reserved him, however, for a 
 different kind of sacrifice. Brother Boispineau. the skill-
 
 6 
 
 ful infirmarian, who according to the records of the time 
 saved on different occasions so many other precious 
 lives, treated him successfully, and by careful nursing 
 restored him to perfect health. 
 
 Father Aulneau had landed on the 12th of August- 
 The man-of-war, with the other passengers on board, 
 reached Quebec only on the i6th, after a disastrous 
 passage of eighty days, twenty men having been carried 
 off by the contagion. 
 
 As soon as he had regained sufficient strength he began 
 his fourth year of theology, and he was very likely directed 
 in his studies by Father Fransois Bertin Guesnier, whose 
 health, never robust, was fast giving away under his 
 many duties self imposed and allotted by obedience. He 
 was a man of about forty but deeply versed in theolo- 
 gical science, which he had taught since his arrival in 
 Quebec in the summer of 1732. But what was of far 
 more importance to Father Aulneau, he was eminently a 
 man of prayer, animated with an untiring zeal in God's 
 service and relentless in the practice of self-denial and 
 mortification. 
 
 The young missionary found in him a kindred spirit ; 
 and though he saw much to admire in the other more 
 venerable missionaries around him, he nevertheless took 
 Father Guesnier more especially as his model. He was 
 indeed an example to him in the perfect observance of 
 all religious practices, but he was to set him the example 
 in that all-important act which saints make their study 
 throughout a lifetime, that of passing from time to 
 eternity. 
 
 Father Guesnier's obituary, written in October, 1735, 
 by his superior, Father Pierre de Lauzon, is the true 
 delineation of a saint. It will be reproduced in its proper 
 place. We shall quote here but one passage : " He 
 employed his last days in continually uniting his own
 
 dispositions with those of our Saviour during His agony 
 and while on the cross. The morning of his demise he 
 had the office of the dead recited for him, and he passed 
 to a better life tenderly kissing the crucifix and with his 
 dying lips pressed to the wound of the Sacred Heart of 
 Jesus, for which he had a particular devotion." This 
 death, precious in the sight of God, took place on De- 
 cember 1 8, 1734. 
 
 Father Aulneau counted it a happiness to have been 
 called upon to watch during two nights at the bedside of 
 his fellow-religious, and the sight of his holy death 
 encouraged him to give himself up still more unre- 
 servedly to the service of his Master. 
 
 Winter at last wore away, and with the opening of navi- 
 gation he set out for Montreal. On the i3th of June 
 he left the latter town, to spend a few days at Sault St. 
 Louis ; and finally, on the 2ist of the same month, three 
 weeks after Pentecost, he began his long journey towards 
 Fort St. Charles and the Lake of the Woods. On July 
 27, 1735, he wrote to Father Nau from Michilimackinac, 
 but the letter is missing from the collection. He reached 
 Fort St. Charles on October 23, whence he wrote his last 
 letter to Father Bonin, in France, and in it he sets forth 
 his projected plans for the exploration of the regions still 
 further west. They were never carried out ; God had 
 ordained it otherwise. 
 
 No. x. 
 
 ( Translation.) 
 
 FATHER AUI.NEAU TO HIS MOTHER. 
 
 Quebec, October 10, 1734. 
 MY DEAREST MOTHER, 
 
 On taking leave of you I promised to write to you as 
 often as it would be possible for me, and to inform you of
 
 8 
 
 whatever would take place during my journey, and even 
 of what might happen later on. It is with pleasure that 
 I now begin to fulfill my promise, and this is the first 
 letter I write since my arrival in Canada. 
 
 We embarked on the zgth of May, at two in the after- 
 noon. Adverse winds obliged us to lie in the roadstead the 
 3Oth, so that it was only on the 3ist, at three o'clock in 
 the morning, the wind having become favorable, that we 
 weighed anchor and set sail. We lost sight of the shores 
 of France that same day, and we made such headway 
 that all on board began already to congratulate them- 
 selves at the prospect of a short voyage across. Their 
 satisfaction was but short-lived, as contrary winds soon set 
 in ; we consoled ourselves, however, with the hope that 
 they would not last. The sequel convinced us but too 
 well that our hopes were vain. We took forty seven days 
 to reach the great Banks of Newfoundland, and during 
 that long run. with the exception of a few days of calm, 
 we encountered fierce head winds from the northwest, 
 which more than once forced us to let the vessel scud 
 before the gale. Mass was not celebrated on board either 
 on Pentecost, or the Octave, or on Saint Peter and Saint 
 Paul's day, as the storm was so violent and the rolling 
 and pitching of the ship so heavy that it was impossible 
 to stand. Our rations on those days were biscuits and dry 
 bread, of which each one secured a supply as best he 
 could. 
 
 The pleasure we experienced the morrow of our arrival 
 on the Great Banks, watching the sailors fishing for cod, 
 compensated us for our late fatigues. In less than two 
 hours the crew caught more than two hundred. Some 
 were salted and the remainder distributed amongst those 
 on board. That same day they were served up at table, 
 and were much relished by some, others found them very 
 insipid, myself amongst the number.
 
 Once on the Banks, we began to catch sight of different 
 varieties of birds which I do not think are to be seen in 
 Europe. The kind of most frequent occurrence the sail - 
 ors called "Tongeux"; it is a bird shaped somewhat 
 like a goose, and nearly as large. Its breast is pure white, 
 and the tips of the wings black. We saw also numbers 
 of " Happefoix," " Codes " and " Pelyngoins." They are 
 kinds of small duck which never abandon the vicinity of 
 the Grand Bank. 
 
 There arose, during the night which followed our catch 
 ofcodfish, a dense fog accompanied by a breeze strong 
 enough to enable us to set sail. We therefore got under 
 way, and began beating about as we had done heretofore. 
 We sailed at haphazard ; and if the fog had held out an hour 
 or two longer, a misfortune would have befallen us, for 
 after tacking about for twenty-four hours in the darkness 
 we were surprised when the mist cleared away to see land 
 about a league and a half distant. It was the island of 
 Newfoundland whose coasts loomed up high before us. 
 We had drifted imperceptibly with the current towards 
 the island, and found ourselves at the entrance of Pla- 
 cencia Bay, an English settlement and the capital of the 
 island. We immediately put about and took a whole 
 day to beat out from land. As soon as we thought that 
 we were at a safe distance we continued our run along 
 "Cavert" Bank.* It is a bank of sand about fifteen 
 leagues long, where also large quantities of codfish are 
 caught. We did not stop, however, to fish for any ; but 
 what delayed us was another fog which rose, and forced 
 us for three entire days to beat about Cavert Bank. 
 
 Meanwhile a great many on board had fallen sick, 
 and seeing the winds always unfavorable, our officers 
 began to grow despondent, and thought seriously of put- 
 
 *Cap Vert, at present Green Bank.
 
 10 
 
 ting in to Louisburg, a town on "He Royale" (Cape 
 Breton), which belongs to the French, and is situated at 
 the entrance of the Gulf of the River St. Lawrence. Had 
 they done so we should have been obliged to take ship- 
 ping in some smaller craft to make the two hundred 
 leagues which yet remained to cover before we could 
 reach Quebec. Providentially, the winds having become 
 a little more favorable, the officers abandoned the pro- 
 ject, and finally determined to go as far as that port. We 
 consequently entered the Gulf of the St. Lawrence, leav- 
 ing on our left He Royale and St. Paul's, and on our right 
 the islands of St. Pierre. 
 
 It was at about this date that we began to notice fre- 
 quently on our masts and yard arms a kind of bird called 
 the Cardinal, very likely because its plumage is red with 
 the exception of the tail and the tips of the wings. It is 
 about as large as a chaffinch, but its beak resembles that 
 of a parrot. Several were captured by the sailors, and 
 caged. 
 
 It was also about this time that we had to change our 
 fore-top mast, which was split in the late gales. In spite 
 of these delays we made some headway towards the 
 mouth of the St. Lawrence, but before reaching it we 
 witnessed a spectacle which, I am sure, many in Europe 
 would set down as a pure invention. In the middle 
 of the Gulf are two small islands, the larger of which 
 might be about a half league in circumference. They 
 are not named without reason Bird Islands. Never in all 
 my life did I see as great a number as was to be seen on 
 these islands, though they are completely denuded of 
 trees. The ground was actually alive with them and the 
 sky darkened. It was one of the kinds of bird of which I 
 spoke to you above. Our captain fired a cannon ball 
 twice in their direction as we passed, but as we were not 
 near enough, both fell short of their mark. During the
 
 11 
 
 remainder of our journey up the Gulf we caught sight of 
 Brion and Magdalen Islands (to the southwest of the 
 Bird Islands). Porpoises of a prodigious size, whales, 
 blowers and sea-cows awakened if they did not entirely 
 satisfy our curiosity. Finally we reached the mouth of 
 the river two months after leaving France. We entered 
 it on the south side, with the Island of Anticosti on our 
 right . The river here is more than 40 leagues wide, and is 
 one of the greatest and most beautiful of the world. The 
 wind soon obliged us to bear away from the southern 
 towards the northern shore, which is of the two the less 
 dangerous. Both are formed of very lofty mountains which 
 extend along the river almost as far as Quebec. For 
 several days we struggled on against the violence of the 
 winds, which tossed us about even more boisterously than 
 they had done heretofore, but finally made an island lying 
 midway in the stream and which bears the name of Isle 
 Verte. A dead calm succeeded when we were abreast of 
 the island, and this gave us an opportunity of sending a 
 boat ashore in quest of refreshments of which we stood in 
 great need, as for many days we had lived on nothing but 
 salt beef, while the number on the sick list had con- 
 siderably increased. Since we left the Grand Bank, five 
 had died and were buried at sea. The boat which we had 
 despatched to the southern shore, for the settlements 
 begin about here, took a day and a half to make her little 
 trip, and when she again joined us we had already been 
 two or three hours under sail, the wind having sprung up 
 again while she was away seeking fresh provisions. She 
 brought back but a small supply, but what little she did 
 bring was received with satisfaction by all on board. We 
 proceeded on our way with more caution and dread than 
 ever, for, though we had escaped many dangers already, 
 we had still greater ones to guard against. 
 We shortly made for another island which bears the name
 
 12 
 
 of Ile-aux-Coudres. Near this island there is a whirlpool 
 which makes it the most dangerous spot throughout all 
 the passage from France to Canada. It was there that 
 we realized for the first time that we were in summer, for 
 since our departure from France we had experienced all 
 along wintry weather. The sick aboard had suffered 
 much from it. I can say that in all my experience I never 
 endured such intense heat. 
 
 We rode at anchor two days near the whirlpool without 
 being able to pass it, as we were wind bound. This delay 
 brought us a further supply of fresh provisions ; it gave 
 us also a chance to admire at our leisure the snow-white 
 porpoises and numbers of seal. At last a northeast wind 
 sprung up about two o'clock in the afternoon, and we 
 successfully cleared the whirlpool, but again cast anchor 
 two or three leagues beyond. 
 
 On the morrow we proceeded as far as the cape called 
 Maillard, and there I left the King's vessel. From the 
 time we reached the whirlpool I had suffered from violent 
 headaches, and this led Father Superior to apprehend 
 that I had caught the ship- fever. He therefore bade me 
 take to the launch which a Jesuit had brought down from 
 Quebec to receive those among us who might be ailing. 
 But fifteen leagues remained to reach that port. The 
 evening of the day on which I left the ship I supped at 
 the Island of Orleans, and travelling all night I arrived 
 the following morning at six o'clock in the bark canoe 
 which, to journey more expeditiously, we had taken at the 
 Island of Orleans. I had up to this enjoyed good health, 
 I had not even been seasick during the passage across, 
 though it had taken us seventy-five days. Three days 
 after landing at Quebec I was taken down with ship- 
 fever. Twice did it bring me to death's door, but, thank 
 God, I have now quite recovered. 
 
 Beg the Father of Mercy, my dear mother, to grant me
 
 13 
 
 the grace of devoting to His service my health and my 
 life which He has restored to me, and that I may bring 
 the poor Indians also to serve and love Him. I have 
 already seen a few of almost all the tribes, and there is no 
 more repulsive sight, but they have been ransomed by the 
 blood of a God. How happy shall I be if He deigns to 
 make use of so unworthy an instrument as myself to 
 bring them to love and adore Him in spirit and in truth . 
 
 I am to spend the winter in Quebec. It is a town 
 perched on the top of a mountain. There are houses 
 pretty enough, but they are built, to some extent at least, 
 as necessity required, without order or symmetry. The 
 Island of Orleans, the environs of Quebec, and either 
 shore, for a stretch of more than a hundred leagues 
 beyond, are under very good cultivation, and with the 
 exception of wine everything that is found in France 
 may be found here. 
 
 Once more, my dear mother, implore Our Lord that I 
 may have the grace to draw profit from the grand exam- 
 ples of virtue which I have before my eyes. I am here 
 in a college made up of former missionaries who have 
 sacrificed their health and strength to win for Him the 
 love of souls. Father Nau, who is in excellent health, 
 sends his compliments. 
 
 I am, my dear mother, with the tenderest affection for 
 now and for life, 
 
 Your servant and son, 
 
 Aui<NEAU, J.
 
 14 
 
 No. 2.* 
 
 {Translation.) 
 
 QUEBEC, Oct. 10, 1734. 
 Reverend Father, Pax Christi 
 
 I received your letter of June 2ist, and I could have 
 experienced no pleasure greater than that which it caused 
 me. But as you give me in it so many proofs of affec- 
 tion, so much practical spiritual advice, and impart such 
 good news, that I really think any other, even less at- 
 tached to your person than I am, would not have experi- 
 enced less pleasure than I did. 
 
 I can assure you that I am determined to neglect 
 nothing which might induce you to continue your 
 correspondence. 
 
 You wish me to give you a detailed account of the in 
 cidents of my voyage. There is nothing I can refuse my 
 elder brother, but you will find in it very little to interest 
 you. One point may perhaps excite your sympathy and 
 affect you : and that is, that it was near proving fatal to 
 me and near being my last. 
 
 We had no mass on board on Whitsunday, nor on the 
 octave, nor on the feast of St. Peter, for the storm was so 
 violent that it was not possible to keep our feet on the 
 vessel, or to take two steps without serious risk for life or 
 limb. 
 
 You can easily imagine that under similar circum- 
 stances no fire was lit in the galley, and our repast was 
 limited to a few slices of bread, of which luckily we had 
 laid by a provision. We did not enjoy even this frugal 
 
 * Draught of an unfinished letter, without address, which Father 
 Aulneau evidently intended for Father Charles Aulneau, S.J., his- 
 brother, completing the narrative of his passage across the Atlantic.
 
 15 
 
 fare without being rudely shaken, or without danger of 
 being thrown against each other, in spite of every pos- 
 sible precaution. 
 
 It was about the time when we reached the Grand 
 Bank that our desire to see extraordinary creatures, not 
 
 to be met with in Europe, was in part gratified 
 
 Meanwhile we had more than sixty suffering from, 
 sickness, while our officers were fairly wearied out strug- 
 gling against headwinds. We had scarcely any water or 
 provisions left. All that, was a cause of worry to Mr. de- 
 Chaon, our captain, and he was nearly giving up all hope 
 even this time of reaching Canada. A stiff wind, which, 
 sprang up the day after our fishing incident, and which 
 was not more favorable than the winds which had pre- 
 ceded it, gave him further matter for reflection. To cap 
 the climax, this wind was accompanied by a fog so dense 
 that we could not see each other the length of the ship. 
 It finally cleared away, and providentially for us, for, 
 carried out of our course by the currents, we were on the 
 point of being dashed upon the Newfoundland coast. We 
 were but a league and a half away when we caught sight 
 of land, a huge cape at the entrance of Placentia Bay, and. 
 which is called " Chapeau Rouge " (Red Cap). 
 
 Our officers were now more worried than ever, and 
 seriously contemplated abandoning their voyage to 
 Quebec, and of putting in rather at Louisburg, a town on* 
 lie Royale (Cape Breton) at no great distance. This gave- 
 us great concern, as we would have been obliged to wait 
 a long time at the island before finding a vessel to take us 
 as far as Quebec. Providence permitted that we should 
 experience no greater inconvenience than our apprehen- 
 sion, as a favorable wind which sprang up put an end to- 
 the project of landing at Louisburg. 
 
 We were none the less forced to beat about (on Cavert 
 Bank) for two days on account of a fog, even denser than, 
 the former, which prevented our knowing whither we were-
 
 16 
 
 going. All this useless tacking about was the occasion 
 of a visit which kept alive our curiosity for a few moments : 
 it was of a bird from Newfoundland, called the Car- 
 dinal ; one of the sailors captured it on the main -yard and 
 brought it to Mr. de Chaon. 
 
 We entered at last the Gulf of the SL Lawrence, leav- 
 ing on our right the islands of St. Peter, and on our left 
 He Roy ale and the islands of St. Paul and St. John. 
 Four days were spent in traversing it, for the wind soon 
 ceased to be favorable. 
 
 When we had left Bird Island astern, we descried two 
 others, one named Brion and the other Magdalen Island. 
 They tell me that every year several small craft from 
 Quebec resort thither to capture " loup-marin" (a kind 
 of seal) and sea cows to be found there in great numbers. 
 On the evening of the fourth day after entering the Gulf, 
 we came in sight of the " Table-a-Rollaud " and Gaspg. 
 The former is a cape and the latter a rather commodious 
 bay on the southern shore of the River St. Lawrence. We 
 entered the river on the morrow, sailing along the South 
 shore with a good wind, and having on our right the Island 
 of Anticosti. Our course along this shore of the river 
 was of no great duration. A gale from the north-west, and 
 more violent than anything we had experienced since the 
 beginning of our voyage, forced us to beat across to the 
 north shore, which is less dangerous, affording us an 
 opportunity of reconnoitring the Seven Islands, whither 
 the members of the Beaver Company send every year an 
 agent to traffic with the Indians. We had a chance also 
 of seeing the Ile-aux-CEufs (Egg Island) on which the 
 English fleet was stranded.* 
 
 * An English admiral, Sir Hovendeii Walker, in 1711, sailed from 
 Boston with eighty-four vessels and 9,500 men, with the intention of 
 wresting Quebec from the French. On August 11, 1711, part of his 
 fleet was wrecked off Ile-aux-3Eufs ; he returned with the remaining 
 vessels, and in 1715 was dismissed the service. He prepared a report 
 of his expedition in 1720, and died in 1725.
 
 17 
 
 All this was not of a nature to console us much, and we 
 would much rather have had a favorable wind to help 
 us along a little faster, and enable us to pass the " Bat- 
 tures de la Trinit6 " (Trinity Shoals) and those of Mani- 
 koagan, not very far off, which are two dangerous pas- 
 sages. But we were doomed to reach Quebec only by dint 
 of hard tacking, and after having covered twice the dis- 
 tance we should have sailed had we met with less un- 
 favorable winds. 
 
 It was therefore after repeated stretches only that we 
 weathered these two shoals and made once more for the 
 south shore. The worst of it was, and it worried us more 
 than all the rest, there were no longer men enough to- 
 work the ship. Sailors and soldiers were nearly all down 
 with the fever and unable to do duty. However, the ship- 
 had to be put about and the belaying shifted from side to- 
 side nearly every hour of the day. In the sad plight in 
 which we were you may may conjecture that the passen- 
 gers did what they could, and that we were not the most 
 backward in hauling taut and bracing the sheets. The 
 officers themselves set us more than once the example, 
 und we willingly lent them a hand as we best knew how.. 
 
 Finally after endless toil, ranging along the southern 
 shore, we made the anchorage at Ile-Verte. It was about a 
 league from this island that we cast anchor for the first 
 time. A day of calm which succeeded enabled us to make 
 a study of the " loups-marins " and white porpoises, and 
 especially of the awe-inspiring mountain ranges which 
 flank both the north and south shore of the river> 
 stretching from its mouth far away towards Quebec. 
 
 We here received the visit of two Micmac Indians 
 from Father L,aure's mission.* Our captain kindly 
 
 In 1889, Father Peter Laura's hitherto unpublished Relation 
 appeared in print. It covers about forty-five closely printed octavo 
 pages, and extends from the year 1720 to 1730. A short biography
 
 18 
 
 greeted and feasted them, and made them a present of a 
 supply of powder and shot before taking leave of them. 
 
 You may suppose that I scanned them with attention ; 
 they were the first of the aborigines I had set eyes on, 
 and I assure you I hoped never to meet with more un- 
 cleanly specimens. The great number I met with after- 
 wards at Quebec undeceived me. 
 
 Ile-Verte is uninhabited, but on the mainland to the 
 south there are one or two French families. M. de 
 Chaon sent a launch to their settlements for meat and 
 other fresh provisions. It did not return before we had 
 set sail, wishing to take advantage of a favourable breeze 
 which had sprung up and make the Ile-aux-Coudres. We 
 did not succeed that day in accomplishing this, as the 
 wind fell, so we anchored off Ile-aux-L/ievres (Hare 
 Island), a little to the east of several large rocks which 
 form as many islands midway in the river, and which are 
 called the Pilgrims. The delay enabled the launch to 
 overtake us. Its supply of fresh provisions was scanty, 
 but what little it did bring was hailed with satisfaction 
 by all, and gave some relief to the sick, whose number 
 had considerably increased. 
 
 On the morrow we took advantage of a few puffs of 
 
 of the missionary serves as an introduction. F. Laure was born at 
 Orleans, France, Sept. 17, 1688, and entered the Society of Jesus, Oct. 
 29, 1707. He was but a scholastic when he landed in Canada in 
 1711, and taught in the Jesuit college at Quebec until 1717, when he 
 entered upon his theological course. Mgr. St. Valier ordained him a 
 priest, at the General Hospital, Quebec, June 23, 1719. In 1720, he was 
 assigned by his superior, Father de la Chasse, to the Saguenay mis- 
 sions. The Held of his missionary labor extended from the Ile-aux- 
 Coudres downwards along the north shore of the St. Lawrence to 
 beyond the Seven Islands, and northward to the region about Lake St. 
 John. The Micmac Indians, mentioned by Father Aulneau, did not 
 properly belong to Father Laure's mission ; but detached parties 
 landed sometimes at the stations belonging to it. 
 Father Laure died at the " Eboulements," Nov. 22, 1737.
 
 19 
 
 wind to reach Ile-aux-Coudres, where we cast anchor a 
 few hundred yards from the famous whirlpool, the most 
 dangerous pass in all the river. 
 
 Here again we had an opportunity of adding to our 
 stock of fresh provisions, for we were weather-bound for 
 two days at our moorings. Towards evening, on the 
 third day from our arrival, we managed to pass the whirl, 
 pool without mishap, and the next day we succeeded in 
 reaching Cape Maillard. 
 
 We were now but fourteen or fifteen leagues from Que- 
 bec. By order of Father de I/auzon * I completed my 
 journey partly in a launch Brother Boispineau "f had 
 come down in, and partly in a bark canoe. 
 
 I finally lauded in Quebec at six in the morning of the 
 i2th of August, seventy-five days from the time I em- 
 barked. There, Reverend Father, you have the rather 
 prosy particulars of my voyage. As for incidents between 
 decks, neither did I nor my brother Jesuits meet with any 
 but agreeable ones. All the officers showed us marked 
 attention and even real friendship, and with the excep- 
 
 * Counting Father Pierre Biard's administration from 1611 to 1614, 
 at Port-Royal and St. Sauveur, and the two administrations respect- 
 ively of Fathers Jerome Lalemant, Franjois Le Mercier and Claude 
 Dablon, Father Pierre de Lauzon was the 21st General Superior of 
 the Jesuit Missions within the present limits of the Dominion. His 
 term of office extended from September, 1732 to 1739. He was a native 
 of Poitiers, France, and was born Sept. 26, 1687. He entered the So- 
 ciety of Jesus, Nov. 24, 1702, and came to ''anada in 1716. He died at 
 Quebec, Sept. 5, 1742, and belonged to the Province of Aquitaine. 
 
 t There were two coadjutor brothers of the name, both infirmarians, 
 attached to the college in Quebec. Jean Jard Boispineau, born at 
 Lamothe, diocese of Poitiers, Sept. 10, 1689. He entered the Society, 
 Aug. 10, 1711, and took his first vows at Quebec, Nov. 4, 1713, and his 
 last, Feb. 2, 1721. He died at Quebec in 1744. 
 
 Charles was the name of the younger. Born also at Lamothe, he 
 entered the Society Sept. 14, 1719, and took his first vows at Quebec, 
 Sept. 14, 1721, and his last Feb. 2, 1730. He died Jan. 30, 1760.
 
 20 
 
 tion of Father de La Pierre, * we all enjoyed good 
 health, though we moved about among two hundred 
 fever stricken or convalescent patients. From time to 
 time, it is true, a few little stirring events took place in 
 the gun-room, where we were all huddled together, but as 
 we took no active part in them, and treated them as so 
 many jokes, I shall not speak of them. 
 
 We helped the sick as best we could, and always lived 
 in perfect good-fellowship with the other passengers, 
 especially with the three gentlemen of St. Sulpice, who 
 edified us extremely by their zeal and care of the sick ; 
 this act of charity was the cause of all but the death of 
 two of them. 
 
 I was in hopes that once we had reached Quebec I 
 should be rid of the headaches which began troubling me 
 shortly before I left the vessel, and which had determined 
 Father de Lauzon to make me take to the launch ; but 
 the day after the feast of the Assumption (Notre Dame 
 d'Aout), date of the arrival of the ship before Quebec 
 with the other Jesuits who had remained on board, I was 
 taken down with the fever, and in less than five days was 
 at death's door. Thanks to Brother Boispineau's treat- 
 ment, and more than all else thanks to the prayers of 
 our Fathers who made a novena for me, I escaped. I had 
 a relapse, however, eight days after, which last attack was 
 more serious than the former. I am at last, thank God, 
 once more in the enjoyment of good health. Beg our 
 Lord that I may expend that health and strength He has 
 restored to me in making the poor Indians love and serve 
 Him. 
 
 I am to pass the winter here in Quebec, and in the 
 spring am to set out, they say, for the Sioux, provided 
 
 * Father Jean de La Pierre was born at Vanues, France. Feb. 18, 
 1701 ; he entered the Society, March 20, 1724, as a member of the Pro- 
 vince of France, and landed in Canada, as we have seen, Aug. 16, 1734. 
 He returned to France in 1747.
 
 21 
 
 No. 3.* 
 
 {Translation.) 
 
 FATHER LUKE FRANCIS NAU TO REV. FATHER RI- 
 CHARD, PROV. OF THE PROVINCE OF GUYENNE, 
 
 AT BORDEAUX. 
 Reverend Father, Pax Christi 
 
 We embarked, May 29, on the Ruby, under the com- 
 mand of Mons. le Chevalier de Chaon, and we remained 
 two days in the harbor waiting for favorable winds. For 
 that matter, these two days were quite sufficient to give 
 us a foretaste of the tediousness of our voyage. The 
 mere sight of the gun-room (la Ste. Barbe) was a revela- 
 tion for all, but for me more than the others. 
 
 It is a room about the size of the Rhetoric class-room 
 at Bordeaux, where a double row of frames were swung 
 up, and which were to serve as beds for the passengers, 
 subaltern officers and the gunners. 
 
 * Little is known of Father Luc Francois Nau, save what may be gleaned 
 from the Aulneau Collection. His native place, the date of his birth and 
 that of his entrance inio the Society have not yet been determined ; but he 
 belonged to the province of Aquitaine. He reached Quebec on August 16, 
 1734, as he himself informs us. He toiled, as missionary, at Sault St. Louis 
 (Caughnawaga), from 1735 to 1743. There he received from the Iroquois 
 the name of Hater iata. 
 
 At Quebec, February 2, 1738, he took the four vows of the professed 
 fathers. Fall er Lauzon officiated, and Father Barthelemi Gal pin and 
 Nicolas de Gonnor witnessed the act. 
 
 He was present at Quebec at the arrival of Father Pierre Potier, Oct. i, 
 J 743i an d his I 35 ' letter from Canada to Madame Aulneau was dated from 
 that place on Oct. 17 of the same year. He was then completely broken 
 down in health, almost helpless from gout and threatened with loss of sight, 
 He mentions that he is to return to France as soon as other missionaries 
 arrive. His name no longer appears in the catalogue of Canadian mis- 
 sionaries of 1746, while from a letter of Charles Aulneau to his mother,
 
 22 
 
 We were packed into this dismal and noisome hold 
 like so many sardines in a barrel. We could make our 
 way to our hammocks only after sustaining sundry 
 bumps and knocks on limbs and head. 
 
 A sense of delicacy forbade our disrobing, and our 
 clothes, in time, made our backs ache. The rolling and 
 pitching loosened the fastenings of our hammocks and 
 hopelessly entangled them. On one occasion I was 
 pitched out sprawling on a poor Canadian officer. It was 
 quite a time before I could extricate myself from ropes 
 and counterpane ; meanwhile the officer had scarcely 
 breath enough left to give vent to his profanity. 
 
 After the very first day's experience of the Ste. Barbe 
 (the gun-room) one of the missionaries broke down, and 
 Reverend Father de Lauzon began to fear that if we were 
 obliged, by the rough weather, to go ashore, the disconso- 
 late man could never bring himself to set foot on board 
 again . 
 
 Another disagreeable feature was the company we were 
 
 thrown in with day and night We shunned 
 
 them as much as possible, and banded together with 
 three priests of St. Sulpice, men of intelligence and of 
 rare piety. 
 
 The officers were very attentive. We were indeed 
 bearers of many recommendations for them from 
 Monsieur de Maurepas. 
 
 A third disagreeable feature was the stench and vermin. 
 We had on board a hundred soldiers or so, freshly enroll- 
 ed, each one of whom carried with him a whole regiment 
 of " Picardie." In less than a week these ravenous 
 
 Luc,on, Apr. 4, 1745, we learn that he was at Larochelle at that date, and 
 on the point of being named superior of the Seminary . 
 
 He returned, consequently, to France in the autumn either of 1743 or 1744. 
 The place and date of his death are unknown. 
 
 Of the forty-eight letters which go to makeup the Aulneau Collection 
 eight were written by Father Nau.
 
 " Picards " migrated in all directions. No one was free 
 from their attacks, not even the Bishop nor the Captain. 
 Every time we went on deck, we could see that we were 
 covered with this vermin. We found them even in our 
 shoes. 
 
 Another centre of infection were eighty smugglers who 
 had already passed a twelvemonth in durance vile ; they 
 also sent out swarms of marauders. These wretched 
 beings would have caused the heart of a Turk to melt 
 with pity. 
 
 They were half-naked and covered with sores ; some 
 even were eaten alive with worms. We clubbed together 
 and made a collection on board to buy them shirts from 
 the sailors who had them to spare. All that we could do 
 did not prevent the outbreak among them of a kind of 
 pest, which spread throughout the ship, attacking all in- 
 discriminately, and which carried off twenty of our men 
 at a stroke. 
 
 So those of the officers and passengers who were not 
 down with it were obliged to work the ship instead of the 
 sailors. Reverend Father de I/auzon was made boat- 
 swain's mate for the ecclesiastics. 
 
 This sickness afforded a fine field for our zeal. Father 
 Aulneau distinguished himself by his assiduity in serving 
 the sick. God preserved him in health during the 
 passage across, for the good of the ship, but scarcely had 
 he set foot on shore, when in turn he was stricken down 
 and brought by two different attacks to death's door. 
 No one could tell now that he had been sick. I was the 
 only Jesuit who had nothing to suffer, not even from 
 seasickness. 
 
 We reached Quebec on the i6th of August, that is to 
 say, the eightieth day from the time of our embarking. 
 It is one of the longest trips on record from France to 
 Canada.
 
 24 
 
 What kept us so long at sea was that we always had 
 contrary winds and so violent that we had to change 
 our fore-top-mast when off shore near the Grand Banks. 
 We were eight days tempest-tossed unable to carry a 
 shred of sail ; our ship, like a mere skiff", became the 
 plaything of the billows, and the seas dashed over the 
 gunwale as if it had been a shell. A pirate or an English 
 man-of-war would have made short work with us, had 
 they attacked us at the time we had so many sick 
 on board. 
 
 We seemed, however, safe from alarms of that kind. 
 The size of our ship struck fear into all whom we met ; 
 we frightened even one of the King's vessels we came 
 across at the Grand Bank. They caught sight of us seven 
 hours before we noticed them. They immediately bore 
 away ; but the wind was not to their liking, and as we 
 sailed faster we overhauled them about three in the 
 afternoon, and relieved them of further apprehension . 
 
 Their ship was the Charante, commanded by M. de 
 la Sauzaie. He sent an officer with "naval refresh- 
 ments," that is liqueurs. We had a good laugh over 
 their fright ; but had they been enemies they would 
 have had more reason to make fun of us, for they had 
 the decks cleared for action since eight in the morning, 
 and we had not a cannon in position to fire. 
 
 At last the fatigues and dangers of the sea are past, and 
 nothing but what is pleasant awaits me. Reverend 
 Father de L/auzon means to send me to the mission of 
 Sault St. Louis, where he himself spent seventeen years. 
 It is the most agreeable and flourishing mission of 
 Canada. The number of Christian Indians there is 
 nearly twelve hundred. I will be with Father la Bre- 
 tonniere* and a brother. 
 
 * Father Jacques Quintin de la Bretonniere was a native of Meaux, and 
 bora May 5, 1689. He entered the Society Sept. 20, 1710. He arrived in
 
 25 
 
 Father de Gonnor \ leaves the Sault, where his services 
 are not of much use, as he has great difficulty in applying 
 himself to the study of the Iroquois language. 
 
 Father Aulneau is to pass the winter at Quebec, there 
 to prepare his examination of the fourth year (of 
 theology). He may next spring set out with an expedi- 
 tion to discover the Western Sea, for the Court is 
 absolutely determined to have concerning it more than 
 mere conjecture. 
 
 The French who returned this year from the upper 
 country have informed us that the Indians told them 
 that, eleven hundred leagues from Quebec, there are 
 white people wearing beards who are subjects of a king ; 
 that they had horses and other domestic animals. 
 Would they not be Tartars or stragglers from Japan ? 
 
 The Indians spoke about the French to these nations, 
 and they were delighted to learn that in Canada there 
 was a white nation bearded like themselves. " The 
 French, to all appearance, are our brothers," they said, 
 " and we would like to see them . Invite them to come 
 here among us." 
 
 Canada in 1721 and was appointed to the Iroquois mission of Sault St. Louis, 
 and made his profession of the four vows at that village, Feb. 2, 1726. 
 
 In 1728, he acted as chaplain of the Iroquois contingent in M. Marchand 
 de Ligneris' expedition against the Foxes, passing over the present site of 
 the city of Chicago, Aug. 14,1728. Father Emmanuel Crespel, a Recollet, 
 and a secular priest, Francois Michel Pellet, attended to the spiritual wants 
 of the remainder of the force. 
 
 He acted in the same capacity for a body of 300 Iroquois, forming part of 
 the expedition against the Chickasaws, in the spring of 1739. He died at 
 Quebec, August i, 1754. Taorhensere w.is the Indian name he bore. 
 
 t Father Nicolas de Gonnor belonged to the province of Aquitaine. Born 
 Nov. 19, 1691, he entered the Society Sept. n, 1710. He came to Canada 
 in 1725. In 1727, he was sent to the Sioux Mission, and afterwards he was 
 stationed some time at Sault St. Louis. In 1749 he had returned to Quebec, 
 thence he was once more sent to the Sault, where he was superior in 1752 
 There he remained until 1755, when he was transferred to Montreal, and 
 the following year to Quebec, where he died, Dec. 16, 1759. His Indian 
 name was Sarcnhts.
 
 26 
 
 If this story be true, there is there another grand 
 opening for the Gospel. But we cannot count much on 
 the sincerity of the Canadians (Indians) who have spread 
 this report, for there is no country in the world where 
 more lying is done than in Canada. 
 
 The war is still carried on against what remains of the 
 Fox nation, and against the other tribes which have taken 
 them under their protection. Father Guignas* was not 
 taken, as it was feared, but he has had much to suffer, 
 for nothing can be sent him safely. For two consecu- 
 tive years the provisions sent him have fallen into the 
 enemy's hands. 
 
 Father Deblonfort, whom we expected from the pro- 
 vince of Lyons, and who had set out from that city for 
 La Rochelle, has not made his appearance in Canada. 
 We do not know what has become of him. It is sur- 
 mised that Father de Laneurville has enticed him away 
 to the Mission of the Islands. 
 
 We stand, however, in much need of laborers : if a 
 dozen came over next year, we would not have too many. 
 I intend to stir them up in the home province by my 
 
 * Father Michel Guignas was born at Condom in the present depattement 
 of Gers, France, January 22, 1681. He entered the novitiate of Bordeaux, 
 Dec. 9, 1702. He embarked for Canada in June, i 716. After spending one 
 year at Quebec, he was sent to join Fathers Jean Baptiste Chardon and 
 Joseph Marest, at the Ottawa mission on Lake Michigan. He made his 
 solemn profession of the four vcws at St. Ignace, Michilimakinac, on Feb. 
 2, 1718. Father Guignas accompanied Boucher de La Perriere's expedition 
 to Lake Pepin, where Fort Beauh.irnois was commenced, May 17, 1727. 
 This was the first post established in Minnesota. The mission bore the 
 name of St. Michael the Archangel. The unsatisfactory issue of the expe- 
 dition against the Foxes caused it to be abandoned, and while returning 
 with Boucher, the Father was taken by the Kikapous and Maskoutins, 
 August 15, 1728. He was held captive for five months, and was at one time 
 condemned to be burnt at the stake. Dakota and Michilimakinac were the 
 scene of his labors until 1739, when he was transferred to the Saguenay 
 missions in the lower St. Lawrence. From 1740 he resided in the College 
 at Quebec until his death, which occurred on Feb. 6, 1752.
 
 27 
 
 letters, so as to have a good levy. I ain writing to some 
 of the willing ones among our Jesuits who formerly spoke 
 to me about their vocation to the foreign missions. I am 
 sure that they will have every facility with your Reve 
 rence in carrying out their design. 
 
 I stand as much in need of your fervent prayers as 
 eyer, and earnestly ask you for them. I beg you to 
 believe that I will be for life, with the most profound 
 respect, 
 
 Reverend Father, your Reverence's most humble and 
 obedient servant, 
 
 NAU, of the Society of Jesus. 
 Quebec, October 20, 1734. 
 
 No. 4. 
 
 {Translation.) 
 
 FATHER LUKE FRANCIS NAU TO FATHER BONIN, S. J. 
 Reverend Father, Pax Christi 
 
 If I longed to see the "Ruby " safely arrive at Quebec, 
 my longing was scarcely less intense to see her set sail 
 again, that she might bear to you the expression of my 
 kind regards and news from one of whom, I flatter 
 myself, you sometimes think, and who often allows his 
 thoughts to turn with an affectionate remembrance to you. 
 Here I am at last in a country for a long time the 
 object of my yearnings. Here I am specially singled out 
 to labor for God's greater glory. My happiness must 
 needs remind me that I have to render thanks beyond 
 measure to a God of all goodness for having inspired me 
 with the resolution to cross the seas, but neither can I 
 thank you yourself too much for all your care for me and 
 attention, you the first father, in a spiritual sense, of 
 my soul, since without that special care I never would
 
 28 
 
 have had, or at least I never would have followed, that 
 vocation from our Lord. 
 
 After God, therefore, it is to you I owe the happiness of 
 having entered the religious state, and of having come to 
 Canada. But what were the dangers I encountered on 
 the way ? I give you them here in detail.* 
 
 Quebec, October 20, 1734. 
 
 No. 5. 
 
 (Translation.) 
 FATHER AULNEAU TO HIS MOTHER. 
 
 (Address: "A Monsieur Chaterere, Procureur et No- 
 taire Royal & Lucon, pour faire tenir i Madame de la 
 Touche Aulneau, aux Moutiers & Lucjon Bas Poitou.) 
 My Dearest Mother, 
 
 I again with joy and eagerness take advantage of the 
 sailing of a vessel for La Rochelle to renew the expression 
 of that respect and affection which I shall bear for you 
 throughout life. I wrote to you already the full account 
 of my voyage on the King's vessel, and you have no 
 doubt received my letter. I hope that it found you in 
 perfect health ; my own is now as robust as it ever was. 
 I wrote also, by the same vessel, to my uncle and sisters. 
 
 It is now over a month since winter set in here, 
 and at the present writing, the ground is covered 
 with snow. It is as cold as it was in France in 1729. 
 This severity of temperature will increase, and we shall 
 not catch a glimpse of the ground until next May. 
 
 This need uot alarm your affectionate heart on my 
 account, for we have every means of protecting ourselves 
 against the rigor of the climate and the season. And 
 after all, were it not so, I would not be a subject of com- 
 
 * The particulars which follow are the same as in the preceding letter.
 
 29 
 
 mist-ration, since I would have more frequent occasion to 
 suffer something for the love of a God who has suffered 
 so much for us. 
 
 Persevere, my dear Mother, in beseeching Him to ren- 
 der me worthy by His grace to achieve something for His 
 glory and His service. 
 
 Father Nau is on the point of leaving for Montreal or 
 for Sault St. Louis, some seventy or seventy-two leagues 
 from here. I have not yet learned if his appointment 
 be for good As for myself, I shall start only in the 
 spring ; and I do not know for what place Providence 
 destines me ; but wherever it be I shall find the God of 
 goodness there as everywhere, and I am confident that 
 He will bear me up and not abandon me. 
 
 I am writing to Father Faye, who is to make some pur- 
 chases. In case he is able to execute the commission, be 
 kind enough to send him the money you destine for me. 
 As what I am asking him for is not for myself, the sum 
 will be refunded at Quebec. But if, on the contrary, he 
 should not be able to undertake it, be good enough to 
 send the money to Father Deceron, at La Rochelle, who 
 will make use of it to purchase some books I shall need. 
 
 You see, my dear Mother, I do not reject all your 
 loving offers of assistance ; and were they less generous 
 than they are, that would never prevent me from cherish- 
 ing for you the same sentiments of respect and love. I 
 have often said Mass for you, and I have no greater plea- 
 sure than thinking of you. This I do often, and always 
 with feelings of the deepest gratitude. 
 
 I am, my dear Mother, with profound respect, 
 Your most humble and obedient servant and son, 
 J. P. AUI,NEAU, 
 
 Jesuit Missionary in Canada. 
 QUEBEC, October 29, 1734. 
 
 Please present my respects to my dear uncle and to Mr. 
 Pennot.
 
 30 
 
 No. 6. 
 
 FATHER AULNEAU TO FATHER FAYE, AT BORDEAUX. 
 
 (There is nothing of special interest in this letter. It 
 is dated from Quebec, Oct. 29, 1734, and bears the follow- 
 ing address : 
 
 " Au Reverend Pere E. N. S. I/e Reverend Pere Faye 
 de la Compagnie de Jesus & la maison professe & Bor- 
 deaux.") 
 
 No. 7. 
 
 (Translation.) 
 
 FATHER LUKE FRANCIS NAU TO MADAME 
 
 (Address: A Mademoiselle. Mademoiselle de I/a 
 Touche Aulneau Aux Moutiers sur Le Hay.) 
 Mademoiselle, 
 
 Father Aulneau writes to you by the King's vessel 
 homeward bound, and I have the honor of writing to you 
 by a merchantman, so that if news does not reach you by 
 one way you may receive it by another. I have no 
 doubt but that you are very anxious to have some news 
 of a son whom you love so tenderly and with so much 
 reason, so I look upon myself as favored to be able to 
 gratify your wishes in this respect. 
 
 I promised to let you know, every year, all that I could 
 learn, comforting or otherwise, about dear Father Aul- 
 neau. And to show you with what fidelity and sincerity 
 I intend to acquit myself of my promise, I shall not con- 
 ceal from you that the health of your dear son was a 
 cause for us of great alarm from the moment we reached 
 Quebec.
 
 31 
 
 Our passage across was one of the longest and most 
 calamitous that was ever made between France and 
 Canada. A contagious sickness broke out on our ship and 
 carried off twenty of our men. Nearly all went through 
 the ordeal. 
 
 The great number of sick we had at once to care for 
 afforded but too fine a field for Father Aulneau's zeal to 
 allow of his caring for himself. He set no limit to his 
 charity. He was forever at the bedside of the sick and 
 dying, in the midst of vermin and infection, performing 
 for them the most menial and loathsome services. God 
 preserved his health during the voyage for the consola- 
 tion of those on board. As soon as he landed he hurried 
 off to visit the sick at the hospital. Fearing that by 
 coming so otten in contact with the sick he would him- 
 self contract the disease, Reverend Father Superior for- 
 bade him positively to set foot in the hospital. 
 
 But this prohibition came too late. He had given splen- 
 did proofs of his zeal, he must needs now give the same of 
 his patience. He fell sick, and in less than a week he 
 was on the verge of the grave. God, heeding our pray- 
 ers, restored him ; but our joy was but short-lived, for a 
 few days after he had a relapse which was as dangerous 
 as the first attack, and made us tremble for his life. 
 Thank God, our apprehension is over, and you could not 
 tell now, even, that he had been sick. 
 
 He no longer sighs but for the toils of some painful 
 mission. He will, however, pass the winter at Quebec, 
 and will go among the Indians only after Easter. 
 
 As for me, who have not been sick, I shall set out at the 
 first opportunity for a mission of twelve hundred Indians 
 sixty-four leagues distant. As my virtue is not so robust, 
 I am assigned to the easiest of all the missions. Father 
 Aulneau, who is of sterner stuff, will not, to all appear- 
 ances, fare as well. News from him, however, will always
 
 32 
 
 reach me wherever he goes, and you may rely on me to 
 keep you informed. 
 
 Fear nothing for him, God watches over him- We are 
 in perfect security when we are sustained by so powerful 
 a Master. 
 
 It is becoming bitingly cold, and I can scarcely hold 
 my pen. 
 
 I recommend myself earnestly to your prayers, and I 
 am with profound respect, 
 
 Mademoiselle, my very dear Mother,^ 
 
 Your most humble and obedient servant, 
 F. NAU, 
 
 Of the Society of Jesus. 
 QUEBEC, October 29, 1734. 
 
 I presently respects to Monsieur Paynot, and I beg 
 him to remember me at the Holy Sacrifice. 
 
 No. 8. 
 
 FATHER H. FAYE, TO MADAME AULNEAU. 
 
 (A short note transmitting a letter from F. Nau to 
 Reverend Father Provincial, dated Bordeaux, Jan. u, 
 J 735> and bearing the following address : 
 
 A Madame Madame la Veuve Aulneau Aux Mou- 
 tiers Recommand6 M. le Directeur de la poste de 
 Lu9on & Lu?on, Bas Poitou.) 
 
 * He thus addresses her as she was the mother of a brother in religion.
 
 33 
 
 No. g. 
 
 (Translation) 
 
 Extract from a letter of: 
 
 FATHER AUI.NEAU TO FATHER H. FAYE. 
 
 QUEBEC, April 25, 1735. 
 Reverend Father, 
 
 The Peace of our Lord Jesus Christ 
 
 I am happy to take advantage of the last moments I 
 am to pass at Quebec to send you one more token of my 
 respect and attachment, and to thank you beforehand for 
 all the letters, news and whatever else I asked you to 
 send me over from France. I suppose that my mother 
 sent you the 100 francs, and that you were able, without 
 putting yourself out too much, to make the purchase I 
 had taken the liberty to trouble you with in my second 
 letter. Should you not have been able to do so, I am not 
 the less sensible of your kindness. 
 
 I am about to add twelve hundred leagues to the dis- 
 tance which already separates us. Reverend Father De 
 Lauzon sends me off to discover other Indians whom not 
 one of us has yet set eyes on, of whom we have heard only 
 through the " Assiniboels " and " Cristinaux," and who 
 dwell three hundred leagues beyond the two latter 
 nations. 
 
 It will be among the last mentioned, however, that I 
 shall pass the winter, nine hundred leagues from Quebec, 
 as it will be impossible before then to push further into 
 the heart of the country. 
 
 To the tribe which is to be the ultimate object of my 
 mission, they have given the name of " Ouant Chipou- 
 3
 
 34 
 
 anes " that is, those who dwell in /wles ; until now, they 
 have remained unknown to the rest of men. Thus, if our 
 good God so wills it, and preserves my life, I shall be the 
 first to bear to them the tidings of the Gospel. 
 
 You can easily imagine that I shall not be in a position 
 to undertake with any hope of success, at the outset, 
 their instruction. I must first set about learning their 
 language, and I have nothing which can be of any assis- 
 tance to me in that study. It will only be by dint of fre- 
 quent converse with them that I shall, with our Lords' 
 help, manage little by little to compile grammars which 
 may be of use to the missionaries who will come after 
 me. 
 
 I have been commissioned to do the same for the lan- 
 guage of the Cristinaux and Assiniboets, among whom 
 the French have been but a short time, and who have 
 scarcely ever heard mention made of Jesus Christ, for they 
 have come in contact with but a few of the French, and 
 these few have picked up here and there but a word or so 
 of their language. 
 
 I am directed not to remain permanently with these 
 tribes, because they rove about and have no fixed dwell- 
 ing place. On the contrary, the Ouant Chipouanes, if 
 what is said of them be true, have permanent establish- 
 ments, and consequently there is a better promise of 
 doing good among them. 
 
 Such, Reverend Father, is the undertaking confided to 
 my care. It is certainly beyond my strength and would 
 call for a degree of virtue far higher than what I possess ; 
 for there I will be for at least three or four years with- 
 out the least spiritual succor, and removed several hun- 
 dred leagues from any other priest. You will not find it 
 difficult to comprehend that it is the severest trial I could 
 meet with in life. I confess that I can only look upon 
 my destination with fear and trembling for my eternity.
 
 35 
 
 What reassures me is that it is not through any choice of 
 mine that I find myself thus exposed to so many dangers. 
 I even did what I could to have another missionary 
 appointed to accompany me. I succeeded to the extent 
 of having one promised me, if they send one over from 
 France, and some are expected this year. 
 
 Seven or eight of our missions had lately to be sup- 
 pressed for want of evangelical laborers, and there are 
 others where there is but one missionary, and one is not 
 enough to work with fruit. When an occasion presents 
 itself, plead hard, Reverend Father, in behalf of our mis- 
 sions, for though missionaries here do not find as much 
 comfort and consolation as in many other countries, 
 these are not wholly wanting, while they will find here 
 more numerous occasions than elsewhere of suffering and 
 of becoming more like their model, Jesus Christ cruci- 
 fied. 
 
 So true is this, Reverend Father, that the most of those 
 of whom Providence makes use for the conversion of the 
 poor savages are men in whom we see reproduced all that 
 virtue and saintliness which the Society admires in the 
 most holy of her children. I have met with them 
 nearly all this winter, and the striking example they 
 have given me of zeal, recollectedness, self-denial and 
 interior union with God has, through our Lord's mercy, 
 awakened in my heart a true and sincere desire to make 
 every effort I can to imitate them. 
 
 Would that it were possible for me to make known to 
 you all that has edified me in the lives of some of them, 
 for I am sure you would be moved even to tears. I know 
 one among others to whom I opened my heart and who 
 honored me also with his confidence. I had occasion 
 to admire all that I had heard and read of in the lives of 
 the most eminent in sanctity in the Society. 
 
 We lost during the winter Father Guenier, of the Pro-
 
 30 
 
 viace of Frauce. We still deplore his loss, and if the sanc- 
 tity of his life did not inspire us with the utmost confi- 
 dence that he is now engaged praying for us in heaven, 
 we should give a freer vent to our tears. 
 
 He was a man of unwearied zeal and of great mortifica- 
 tion and prayer. He had a most tender devotion to the 
 Blessed Virgin, and it might be said that it was in some 
 sort his very devotedness to the Mother of God which 
 was the cause of his death. Worn out with fatigue and 
 labors, persuasion was used to induce him to take some 
 rest and to intrust to another the duty of preaching on 
 the feast of the Assumption of Our Lady. But he gave 
 for reason of his persisting desire to preach that he 
 believed that it would be the last sermon of his life, and 
 that he would be happy before dying to give once more 
 some further proof to the Blessed Virgin of his devotion 
 and love. 
 
 I had the happiness of listening to him, two days after 
 we landed, and it was one of the best delivered, beautiful 
 and impressive sermons that I ever heard. It was indeed 
 the last he preached, and during the short time he 
 passed on earth after it, he set us the example of every 
 kind of virtue. 
 
 It was my privilege to watch at his bedside for two 
 nights during his last illness, and consequently to be 
 witness of the admirable sentiments to which he gave ex- 
 pression. They were such, Reverend Father, that we read 
 of in the lives of Saint Aloysius and Saint Stanislaus. 
 
 The whole country round mourned for him as for an 
 apostle. During an entire day that he lay exposed after 
 death, there was no one who did not come to bedew the 
 coffin with his tears, or to beg him to be an intercessor 
 in his behalf before God. Had a watch not been set, his 
 clothes would have been cut up for relics. As it was, and 
 in spite of every precaution, this could not altogether be
 
 37 
 
 prevented, and he was shorn of nearly all his hair. We 
 were obliged, willingly or not, to take everything he had 
 ever made use of and distribute it among the people. 
 
 Pray God, Reverend Father, to grant me a death as 
 precious in His sight as we have reason to believe was 
 that of this saintly religious. I shall be exposed to many 
 perils ; raise your hands sometimes to Heaven to obtain 
 for me all necessary grace to undergo the hardships 
 which Providence may hold in reserve for me for my 
 sanctification. 
 
 I remain, Reverend Father, with profound respect and 
 in union with you at the Holy Sacrifice, 
 
 Your very humble and very obedient servant, 
 J. P. AutNEAU, 
 
 of the Society of Jesus. 
 
 OBITUARY OF FATHER FRANCOIS BERTIX GUESNIER, BY 
 FATHER PIERRE DE LAUZON. 
 
 The following circular or obituary letter, written by the 
 Superior of the Canada Mission, and sent to the houses of 
 the Order in France, does not belong to the Aulneau 
 Letters which we here interrupt to make place for it- 
 
 It is the translation of a copy made some years ago at 
 the request of the late Father Flix Martin, from the 
 autograph original preserved in the archives of the Gesu 
 in Rome. 
 
 The striking confirmation of the correctness of the main 
 features of Father Guesnier's life and character, dtawn 
 from the preceding letter of Father Aulneau, is sufficient 
 to convince us that though more enthusiastic in his pane- 
 gyric of the virtuous religious, Father de I/auzon is not to 
 be taxed with exaggeration.
 
 38 
 
 As this document has never been published, and as it 
 may serve to supplement Letter No. 9 of the Aulneau 
 Collection, it naturally finds its place here. 
 
 The only other item of interest we have been able to 
 discover, relating to Father Guesnier, and not mentioned 
 either in the obituary or in Father Aulneau's letter, is 
 that, when asking Reverend Father General to send him 
 on the foreign missions, Father Guesnier's first pious im- 
 pulse was, provided his superiors should grant his request, 
 to take part in the re-establishment of the missions in 
 Japan.* 
 
 (Translation.) 
 
 QUEBEC, October, 1735. 
 REVEREND FATHER, P.C. 
 
 The Mission of Canada could not have met with a 
 greater loss than the one it sustained last year by the 
 death of the late Father Francois Bertin Guesnier, who 
 departed this lifr December i8th, 1734, at this college, 
 aged about forty years. He died of a disease of the chest 
 and throat, accompanied by frequent hemorrhage of 
 the lungs. This disease he contracted, while yet in 
 France, by a too close application to study, and by the 
 efforts of his ardent zeal for the salvation of souls. 
 
 God, who can work out His designs without our co- 
 operation, called him to Himself at a time when he 
 appeared to be more indispensable to the country, and 
 just as he was beginning to disclose more manifestly the 
 rich treasures of nature and grace with which he was 
 gifted for the perfect discharge of the duties of his state. 
 
 He was blessed with a keen intellect and a retentive 
 
 * De Guilhermy, Menologe.
 
 39 
 
 memory, and by assiduous endeavors to master all he 
 thought that he was in duty hound to know, he had 
 greatly widened the range of his acquired science. He 
 was naturally eloquent, and though in conversation he 
 was averse to trifling, he so charmed his interlocutors 
 that his company was sought for by all who wished to 
 improve. 
 
 But his virtue was even of a higher order than his abil- 
 ity. It was after a retreat he made at the close of his 
 first year of teaching, that he drew up a plan of life more 
 inward than he had hitherto led. From that period he 
 adopted for maxim, that a member of his Order should 
 never be satisfied with an ordinary degree of virtue, nor 
 ever leave any good undone in whatever he had under- 
 taken for his own or for his neighbor's sanctification. 
 
 Hence that precision in the fulfillment.of his every 
 duty, which constituted him at home a living rule and a 
 true apostle abroad. Hence also, that continual recollect- 
 edness which always prepossessed others in his favor ; 
 that unceasing watchfulness over himself; that spirit of 
 faith with which he was ever animated, living in the pre- 
 sence of his Saviour, whom he never lost sight of even in 
 the midst of occupations the most distracting. Hence his 
 devotion to Our Lord and His Holy Mother, with which 
 he strove to inspire all whom he directed ; his piety in 
 the recitation of his office and in his other devotions, 
 which he always performed kneeling in the most respect- 
 ful posture. To these he every day, at the foot of the 
 altar, added other long prayers which the rigor of the 
 climate could never force him to interrupt. 
 
 His fasts were of daily occurrence, and he seldom 
 touched wine. Sometimes he tampered his other auster- 
 ities, when so directed by obedience, but he resumed them 
 when he was left free to do so, through a desire to observe 
 liis rule, which he knew bade him deny himself unceas- 
 ingly and seek in all things his greater mortification.
 
 40 
 
 It was not through vanity nor to make a display of a 
 learning which inflates, that he indefatigably applied 
 himself to study, but through a sense of duty, and because 
 he was thoroughly convinced, as he was wont to say, that 
 a member of the Order without science would be like a 
 soldier without arms, incapable of glorifying God in the 
 exercise of his vocation. 
 
 Our colleges in France, where he resided a greater 
 length of time, and that of Quebec, which Heaven was. 
 content to bless with barely a glimpse of him, can testify 
 that such was his character, and that, as the letters from 
 Europe which announced his coming declared, one would 
 have to go far to find a Jesuit at once more holy, more 
 learned and more painstaking than Father Guesnier. 
 
 Scarcely had he landed than it became evident why he 
 had asked with so much earnestness to cross the seas, 
 volunteering for the most arduous missions. He would 
 have gone to the Esquimaux, who are reputed to be a 
 species of cannibal, never yet rendered tractable, and this 
 with the idea, that the sooner he should be devoured the 
 sooner would he consummate his sacrifice. 
 
 But obedience for he was its submissive child ap- 
 pointed him to a class of theology. Any other than Father 
 Guesnier, whose constitution was frail, and whose health 
 was already badly shattered, would have found this occu- 
 pation sufficient. But this eager missionary, who had a 
 greater dread of sparing himself than of shortening his 
 days, and who had not bid farewell to France, where he 
 had toiled hard already, to adopt a life of ease in a foreign 
 country, undertook whatever other good work came 
 within his reach. 
 
 He preached the word of God from time to time, and he 
 did so with such soundness of doctrine, energy and unc- 
 tion that he was listened to with delight. 
 
 The Men's Sodality, which is very nuinerous and flour-
 
 41 
 
 ishing at Quebec, was intrusted to him. It would be hard 
 to conceive a care greater than that he expended on it, or 
 a fervor more intense than that which he revived among 
 its members. 
 
 Without mentioning the work of the confessional in the 
 church and his, owing to the confidence he inspired, was 
 seldom empty he took upon himself the spiritual direc- 
 tion of our boarders, who will ever hold him in grateful 
 remembrance for the sound principles he inculcated. With 
 this, he catechised what we call the little school, made up 
 of more than a hundred children who are learning to read 
 and write. It was a pleasing task for him to cast into 
 their tender hearts the seed of Christian piety. 
 
 A man of great versatility of genius, able and willing 
 to undertake anything, he gave himself over without 
 reserve to these varied occupations, which were, he- 
 claimed, the indemnification due him for the Esquimaux 
 mission he had not been able to obtain 
 
 And what clearly shows the extent of his ability, and his 
 great courage, and how God sustained him, he performed 
 each separate duty with as much thoroughness as if he 
 had no other task to accomplish. He exchanged the 
 class room for the pulpit, the pulpit for the confessional, 
 and the confessional for the bedside of the sick, edifying 
 all by his modesty, his sweetness of temper, his endurance 
 and his charity. 
 
 If there was in his conduct one thing more than another 
 which excited admiration , it was that, ever busy, and so to 
 speak, actively employed night and day, he never made 
 mention of his occupations nor of himself. To blame 
 others was as distasteful to him as wa* self-praise. It 
 would be impossible to convey an idea either of the abun- 
 dant blessings which so virtuous a demeanor drew down 
 upon the work of this worthy laborer, or of the pious- 
 emotions which were awakened in every heart by his holy 
 example.
 
 42 
 
 As it is no exaggeration to say that few apostolic men 
 are to be found so dead to self, so intent on saving souls, 
 so eager and so successful in the work of promoting God's 
 glory, so might I add, that seldom elsewhere is so great 
 concern manifested for the safety of apostolic laborers 
 as in this colony, which always showed itself deeply 
 interested in his preservation. 
 
 On his arrival, at the very point of leaving the ship, he 
 was temporarily incapacitated for work by a hemorrhage 
 from an old lesion in his chest. The citizens betrayed 
 their apprehension of losing him by tokens of anxiety, 
 evidently the most sincere. Not only our own and all the 
 other religious communities, but seculars, men and women, 
 ioined in novenas to obtain his recover}'. The degree of 
 earnestness, though intense, with which they besought 
 Heaven not to take from amongst them a man of such un- 
 common merit and virtue, was not greater than the degree 
 of Father Guesnier's own indifference and resignation to 
 whatever Our Lord should ordain concerning him. 
 
 We were graciously heard ; but later an affection of the 
 throat, which complicated his lung disorder, and which 
 in spite of every remedy, became incurable, reduced him 
 to a state of extreme languor ; but he always bore with 
 heroic courage the sharp pains and prolonged weariness 
 inseparable from so grie\'ous a complaint. 
 
 As he drew nearer day by day to the term, he exerted 
 himself to bear his ills with twofold patience and love of 
 God. For the three months he was confined to the infirm- 
 ary, he spent his time in repeated reviews of his faults, 
 expressions of regret for his past shortcomings, fervent 
 confessions and communions, devout aspirations and 
 ardent longings to be united with God. 
 
 More than a rnoirh before his death, he besought those 
 who visited him to speak to him of God only. All else 
 had no relish for him. To his last breath, he exhibited
 
 43 
 
 the same contempt for life, the same strength of soul and 
 the same trust in his Saviour. 
 
 He was asked one day if he had no scruple at having 
 worn himself out with his vigils and labors. He answered 
 as did St. Aloysius, that he was more apprehensive lest he 
 should not have done enough for God. When he was 
 given up by the physicians, the most distinguished per- 
 sons in the city came to recommend themselves and their 
 children to his prayers, believing, without the least mis- 
 giving, that one whose preaching and exemplary life had 
 drawn them nearer to God during his earthly career could 
 not but have great influence with God after death. 
 
 He died a week after having received the last sacra- 
 ments. He employed these last days in continually unit- 
 ing his own dispositions with those of our Saviour during 
 His agony and while on the cross. The morning of his 
 demise he had the office of the dead recited for him, and 
 he passed to a better life tenderly kissing the crucifix and 
 with his dying lips pressed to the wound of the Sacred 
 Heart of Jesus, for which he had a particular devotion. 
 
 He had scarcely breathed his last, when people of every 
 rank in the city gave proof of the lofty idea they enter- 
 tained of his virtue, and of a sense of the great loss they 
 had sustained. This loss was declared to be a universal 
 bereavement, affecting the whole colony, which now found 
 itself deprived by death of Father Guesnier, an incompar- 
 able laborer, who, in the short space of twenty months, 
 had achieved as much for the salvation of souls as many 
 others in as many years. 
 
 The exclamation, " He was i saint,'' was on every lip, 
 and constituted, as it were, his funeral eulogy. Each vied 
 with the other to secure some object which had belonged 
 to him. People flocked in from the outlying districts of 
 Quebec to his obsequies, at which all the citizens were 
 present. So that from time out of mind, our church,
 
 44 
 
 where already many celebrated Jesuits were interred, was 
 never so full to overflowing as on the day of his burial. 
 
 Nine months has he been buried, and yet not a day has 
 passed but some one of his spiritual children has come to 
 pray on his grave and to commend themselves to him. 
 
 I shall not, however, the less solicit of your Reverence 
 the ordinary suffrages for this our beloved departed, who- 
 afler having laid deep the foundation of his sublime per- 
 fection in Old France,, crossed over to this New r France to 
 put the crowning to the structure, having striven so close- 
 ly to live here the life of St. Francis Regis, whom he had 
 chosen for his model. Deign also to grant a share in your 
 Holy Sacrifices at the altar to him who has the honor of 
 being 
 
 Your Reverence's 
 
 Most humble and obedient servant, 
 
 DE LAUZON, Jesuit. 
 
 No. 10. 
 
 (Translation.) 
 FATHER AUI,NEAU TO HIS MOTHER. 
 
 (Address : Monsieur Chaterere, Procureur et Notaire 
 Royal I/ugon, pour faire teuir a Madame de la Touche 
 Aulneau, aux Moutiers sur le Hay a Lugon.) 
 My dearest and most honored Mother, 
 
 I continue to observe faithfully the promise I made 
 you, and it is with the greatest pleasure that I once more 
 offer you a token of my most sincere and most respectful 
 attachment. I passed the winter at Quebec in the enjoy- 
 ment of perfect health, and indeed very pleasantly. I am 
 now on the point of departure, and thenceforth I must 
 devote my thoughts to the work of saving the Indian.
 
 45 
 
 My joy would be complete had I been able to secure 
 the companionship in my expedition of another Jesuit . 
 But Providence has not seen fit to grant me that con- 
 solation. God alone from this out must be my only 
 consolation. Beseech Him to grant me the grace of 
 never rendering myself unworthy by my sins of His pro- 
 tection and of the effects of His mercy. 
 
 The objective point of my mission is too remote to 
 admit of the possibility of my reaching it this summer. 
 I shall be obliged to pass the winter nine hundred leagues 
 west of here at a post occupied by a few Frenchmen, on 
 the shores of a great lake. It will be from that^place that 
 I shall write you next spring. As it might very well 
 happen that my letters will not have reached Quebec 
 before the departure of the ships for France, do not be 
 alarmed, my dear mother, if you receive no news from 
 me. I shall beg Father Nau, who is stationed at an 
 Iroquois mission sixty- four leagues from Quebec., to write 
 to you every year, and to make up for what it will be 
 impossible for me to do myself as often as I would wish. 
 
 The Indians, among whom I am to be sent, have 
 remained until now unknown to the rest of the world, 
 and have never seen either a Frenchman or a missionary ; 
 so, if it be God's good pleasure, I shall be the first to 
 announce Jesus Christ to them. 
 
 I shall have to travel twelve hundred leagues before 
 Teaching them. They are said to be very humane. It is 
 said also that they receive kindly those who visit them, 
 that they have horses, cattle and domestic fowls, so you 
 see, my dear mother, that I shall not be very much to 
 be pitied while among them. 
 
 I shall not be able to labor very effectually] in the 
 "beginning at their conversion, not being acquainted with 
 their language ; at the outset the most I shall be able to 
 do will be to baptize children at the point of death, and
 
 46 
 
 thus setid them to Heaveu to pray for the conversion of 
 their parents, and for the one who, by conferring on them 
 baptism, thus will have procured their happiness. You 
 may be sure that I shall keep you fully informed of 
 any success with which the good God may deign to- 
 bless my labors. 
 
 Were I not so much pressed for time, I should write to 
 my dear uncle, to Melle. de la Sicaudiere and to Madame 
 de la Villedieu ; but I have not now leisure to do so . 
 Be kind enough, my dear mother, to make up as much 
 as possible for the deficiency, and convey to them the 
 expression of my kind regards. Although very far from 
 them, I do not nor shall I ever forget them. If I do not 
 write to my brothers, it is for the same reason ; I beg you, 
 however, when you see them to greet them affectionately 
 for me- I recommend myself to their prayers. 
 
 As for what you may think fit to send me, please 
 forward it to Mr. Dupan, merchant, St. Yon street, La 
 Rochelle, addressed to brother Boispineau, the elder, 
 Quebec, to send on to Father Aulneau, missionary at 
 Fort St. Charles on the Lake of the Woods, Canada. 
 
 Lastly, my dear mother, redouble your prayers for me. 
 It very seldom happens that a day goes by without my 
 recommending you to God at the Holy Sacrifice of the 
 Mass ; so that I hope that our Lord, touched by the 
 prayers which we offer up one for the other in our 
 separation here on earth, will unite us for ever in the 
 abode of His glory ; then will we congratulate ourselves 
 for all eternity for having made some sacrifices for so 
 great a Master. Let us love Him always, and love Him 
 alone, for He alone deserves our love. Let us serve Him 
 with ardor, and make every effort to render ourselves 
 like unto His adorable Son dying on the cross, for there 
 is the mcdel of all Christians and more especially of 
 missionaries. Wherefore in our trials we have no other
 
 47 
 
 more certain reliance nor other more powerful motive to 
 brace ourselves up to suffer them with joy and resignation. 
 Happy the one who is deemed worthy to die for Him. 
 
 I am, my dear mother, with the most profound respect 
 and the most tender affection, 
 
 Your most humble and most obedient servant and son, 
 
 J. P. Aui,NEAU, J., Miss. 
 
 Many assurances of my respectful consideration to Mr. 
 Pennat. I recommend myself to his Holy Sacrifices. 
 
 QUEBEC, April 29, 1735. 
 
 No. n. 
 
 (Translation.} 
 
 Extract from a letter of 
 
 FATHER AULNEAU TO FATHER BONIN. 
 
 REVEREND FATHER, 
 
 The Peace of our Lord Jesus Christ 
 
 The lively interest you always took in what concerned 
 me while I was in France encourages me to think that 
 you will be glad to learn what my destination is, now 
 that I am so far from you. It may be that it will make 
 you tremble as much as I do for my salvation. If any- 
 thing gives me confidence it is that I have had no hand 
 in it myself. Reverend Father de L/auzon, my superior, 
 has singled me out for the mission, to which he sends me 
 without consulting me, in spite of my natural repugnance. 
 God's holy will be praised ; for He alone will now be my 
 consolation, and whatever help I count upon will be 
 derived from Jesus expiring on the cross. 
 
 I am here about to set out on a journey of twelve hun- 
 dred leagues, to go among savages who have never yet
 
 48 
 
 met a Frenchman nor a missionary. 1 cannot reach 
 their country this summer ; I shall be obliged to pass the 
 coming winter nine hundred leagues from here, part of 
 the time with the Christinaux and part of the time with 
 the wandering tribes of the Assiniboels, who, in their 
 expeditions, so they tell us, have met these Indians 
 whom I am to seek out. They call them in their language 
 Ouant Chipouanes, which means dwellers in holes.* 
 
 Doubtless in all this travelling about I shall have to 
 undergo many hardships ; they would have been more 
 than welcome had it been advisable to give me as com- 
 panion another Jesuit, but I am to be sent alone 
 among these tribes, whose language as well as whose 
 manner of living are unknown. I humbly confess, 
 Reverend Father, that it was not without a pang that I 
 brought myself to obey. May God accept the sacrifice I 
 make of my life and of all human consolations for the 
 expiation of my sins. My hope is that He will not 
 abandon me, while I find in the consideration of Jesus 
 Christ crucified enough to strengthen me to bear with 
 all the hardships, and to overcome all the difficulties 
 
 which Providence may have in store for me. 
 
 I shall be removed several hundred leagues from any 
 
 -other priest, and in that lies the greatest hardship of all 
 
 * In Father Francis M. Picolo's report to the Royal Council of 
 Guadalaxara, concerning the then recently established missions in Cali- 
 fornia, and dated February 10, 1702, we find the following passage : 
 
 The country is thickly peopled in the interior, and especially in its 
 northern parts ; and although there is scarcely to be found a village which 
 does not consist of twenty, thirty, forty or fifty families, they have no 
 houses. The shade o f the trees protects them from the heat of the sun 
 during the day, and they construct a kind of shelter of branches and 
 foliage as a protection against rainfalls at night. In winter, they shut 
 themselves up in caves which they excavate in the earth, and there they 
 live crowded together not unlike animals. 
 
 Bethune edition of the Lettret Edifiantes, yimo, Paris, 1830, Vol. 13, p. 
 197.
 
 49 
 
 my mission, because I am far from flattering myself that I 
 shall seldom need to cleanse my soul in the blood of Jesus 
 Christ. But God seems to require of me the sacrifice of 
 this very consolation. I can refuse Him nothing ; let 
 His Holy Name be forever blessed. 
 
 To reach my final destinatiou I shall have to cross 
 nearly the whole of North America ; but my course is so 
 ordered, that instead of passing by the Mississippi River, 
 when I have got as far as Missiliuakinac, where Father 
 Saint Pe" is stationed, I shall take a northwest direction, 
 and shall traverse all the great lakes which lie on this side 
 and beyond the sources of the Mississippi, until I come 
 to the lake of the Assiniboels. I shall leave that post 
 only in the spring, to journey on three or four hundred 
 leagues beyond, in quest of the Ouant Chipouanes, so 
 that my course then will be southwest. 
 
 Such, Reverend Father, is the route I shall follow 
 towards an objective point which you see is very inde- 
 finite and uncertain, since all we know about it is 
 founded on the reports of other Indians, who, for the 
 most part, have little scruple in speaking differently from 
 what they think. 
 
 If what they add concerning the place where the Ouant 
 Chipouanes dwell be true, I should say that these cannot 
 be very far from California, for, if we are to believe their 
 reports, the Ouant Chipouanes dwell on the shores of a 
 great river where there is an ebb and flow in the stream, 
 which would go to show that the sea cannot be very far 
 off. It is not easy to determine what river this is. lam 
 led to surmise, however, that it is no other than the great 
 river which Father King, a German Jesuit, mentions in 
 the map which he traced of the regions lying to the north 
 of California, and which he calls the Rio Colorado de 
 Norte. See the fifth collection of the Leltres Edifiantes* 
 
 * I have not been able to find this map of California in the Lettret 
 Edifianiet. 
 
 4
 
 50 
 
 Whatever be the truth relative to these conjectures and 
 to the place where these Indians dwell, I am deputed to go 
 in quest of them, and to establish a mission among them if 
 it be possible. All this, Reverend Father, is much beyond 
 my strength, wherefore I have placed myself and whatever 
 betides my enterprise in the hands of our Lord. Beg Him 
 to prepare me for every eventuality according to His 
 holy and divine will. Do not forget, either, to send me 
 some nourishment for my soul ; nothing could please 
 me more than what you might suggest, by way of 
 encouragement, to animate me to serve and love Him 
 who alone deserves our service and our love. 
 
 Father Nau is permanently stationed at the Iroquois 
 mission of Sault St. Louis, near Montreal. We are much 
 afraid that Father Guignas has been taken and burnt by 
 a tribe of Indians called the Foxes ; but in this unfor- 
 tunate country we should set little value on our own 
 lives which are so often in peril. I should deem myself 
 happy were I judged worthy of laying mine down for the 
 One from whom I received it. I recommend myself to 
 your Holy Sacrifices, in union with which I am, Rev- 
 erend Father. 
 
 Your very humble and very obedient servant, 
 
 AUI^NEAU, Jesuit missionary. 
 
 QUEBEC, April 29, 1735. 
 
 No. 12. 
 
 (Translation.) 
 
 FATHER AULNEAU TO HIS MOTHER. 
 
 (Address : A Monsieur Chaterere, Procureur et 
 Notaire Royal & Lu9on, pour faire tenir a Madame de la 
 Touche Aulneau,aux Moutiers sur le Lay & Lu?on.) 
 MY DEAREST MOTHER, 
 
 The long stay which I have been obliged to make at 
 Montreal, quite contrary to my expectation, affords me
 
 51 
 
 an opportunity of sending you the renewed assurance of 
 my respectful attachment. I start to-morrow, without, 
 thank God, any other sorrow than that of going too far 
 away to be able to write or to receive letters from you as 
 often as I would wish. Perhaps three hundred and forty 
 leagues from here I shall find leisure to write to you 
 again ; if so, I shall take advantage of the opportunity 
 with the greatest pleasure. 
 
 You see the career that Providence has opened out 
 before me ; pray God, my dear Mother, that I may acquit 
 myself in a manner worthy of Him. I trust, that, separated 
 for His s ike from all that might afford human consola- 
 tion, He will not forsake me ; and that if in the midst of 
 the forests, whither I go to pass the rest of my life, and 
 in the midst of wild beasts I find nothing to flatter my 
 self-love, I may find at least an opportunity to destroy 
 and annihilate it by my sufferings. Conjure our Lord to 
 send me many sufferings and to give me patience to bear 
 them with resignation conformably to His holy and 
 divine will. 
 
 Nearly every day I pray for you at the Holy Sacrifice 
 of the Mass, and shall continue until death to offer this 
 one only mark which lies in my power of the gratitude I 
 owe you. 
 
 I remain, my dear mother, your most humble and 
 obedient servant and son, 
 
 J. P. AuLNEAU, 
 
 Ind. Miss, of the Soc. of Jesus. 
 
 MONTREAL, June i2th, 1735. 
 
 I beg you to present my respects to my dear uncle, Mr. 
 Pennot, and Madame de la Villedieu. I embrace and send 
 my love to my brothers and sister. My dear mother- 
 please remit to Father Bonin, the Procurator, the allow 
 ance you have been kind enough to make in my favor.
 
 52 
 
 No. 13. 
 
 (Translation.) 
 
 FATHER AUI.NEAU TO HIS SISTER THERESA, 
 Religious of the Union ChrHienne of Fontenay. 
 MY DEAR SISTER, the peace of our Ix>rd Jesus Christ. 
 
 Quite contrary to your expectation and my own, you re- 
 ceive this one more letter from me. I know that it will 
 be anything but a cause of annoyance to you, otherwise 
 your friendship for me must have greatly changed. I 
 leave Montreal to-morrow, where my stay has been longer 
 than I was led to expect. I count upon reaching the 
 first term of my mission towards the end of the month 
 of November. To all appearances it will only be after 
 many hardships. I shall be happy, my dearest of sistersj 
 if I draw that profit from them which God has a right 
 to expect. He should never appear to us more worthy 
 of our love, nor seem to love us more, than when He gives 
 us the opportunity of becoming more like unto His own 
 beloved Son, every phase of whose mortal career was 
 marked by some new suffering. 
 
 It will be three or four years, as I wrote you in my last 
 letter, before I shall have any fixed or permanent abode, 
 and am not likely to do much else than wander about 
 from forest to lake in view of acquiring some knowledge 
 of the country to which Providence sends me. If I had 
 more virtue than I possess I would congratulate myself 
 much more on being obliged to commence thus to devote 
 myself to missionary life as so many other holy mission- 
 aries had begun, who in the early times of French settle- 
 ments in this desolate country watered the wilderness 
 with their sweat and with their blood ; but my lack of 
 virtue fills me with apprehension.
 
 53 
 
 Pray, therefore, more and more for me, and beseech the 
 ladies of your community to do the same. Assure them 
 also of my deep gratitude and respect. 
 
 If you can, without drawing upon what is given you 
 for your own needs, procure for me some altar linen and 
 decorations, you would afford me much pleasure. I am in 
 this respect in a pitiable condition of penury. Good-bye, 
 my dear sister, and let your love for me in our Lord 
 Jesus Christ be as deep as mine is for you. 
 
 J. P. AULNEAU, Jes., Ind. Miss. 
 
 MONTREAL, June i2th, 1735. 
 
 No. 14. 
 
 {Translation.) 
 
 FATHER AULNEAU TO FATHER FAYE. 
 REVEREND FATHER, P. C. 
 
 I thought that the letter which I wrote to you from 
 Quebec would be the last I could send you this year, 
 but my unexpectedly long stay in Montreal procures 
 me the pleasure of writing to you once more before 
 striking into the forest wilds. 
 
 Since Father Nau took up his abode at the Sault St. 
 Louis mission he has suffered from a violent attack of the 
 gout, and this has been the cause of general regret among 
 the missionaries of this needy country. As for myself, 
 with every increase of active work my health has become 
 more robust, and the closer insight I have of the worry 
 and sufferings of the life I am to lead, the more thankful 
 I am that God has deigned to call me to the missions of 
 this forlorn country. 
 
 I wrote you 'previously that I was about to penetrate 
 into a region hitherto unknown, in view of making Jesus
 
 51 
 
 Christ known to savages who have never even heard 
 Him spoken of, and who in turn have never been seen by 
 us. All this foreshadows many hardships, the least of 
 which will be that I shall have to wander about in the 
 woods four or five years with no fixed habitation. In 
 this, though very different as to merit and virtue, I shall 
 resemble the first missionaries of this poor country who 
 watered it with their sweat and blood. 
 
 Implore our Lord to grant me the grace of walking in 
 the footsteps of so many holy and great men. 
 
 Since my last letter we have received news from 
 Father Guiguas, who since 1732, when we last heard 
 from him, has undergone so heroically all that hunger, 
 thirst and persistent threats of being massacred and 
 burnt by the Sakis or Foxes could inspire of horror. He 
 is fairly worn out, but the dearth we are in of mission- 
 aries precludes the possibility of relieving or succoring 
 him. Beg G< d to send us help. Those who come over 
 to devote themselves to our missions will yet find here 
 the most admirable models of every virtue. 
 
 I remain, Reverend Father, with the most profound 
 respect and in union with your Holy Sacrifices, 
 
 Your most humble and most obedient servant, 
 
 J. P. AULNEAU, Jes., Ind. Miss. 
 
 MONTREAL, June 1 2th, 1735. 
 
 Do not be surprised if you do not hear from me for two 
 or three years. I shall be too far away to be able to give 
 you any news sooner. Should you write to me, be kind 
 enough to address your letters to Father Aulneau, S.J., 
 Missionary at Fort St. Charles on the Lake of the Woods, 
 Canada.
 
 55 
 
 No. 15. 
 
 (Translation.) 
 FATHER AULNEAU TO FATHER BONIN. 
 
 Reverend Father, the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 I eagerly take advantage of the remaining moments I 
 have to spend in Montreal to write you a second, and 
 perhaps the last, time in my life. I leave to-morrow for 
 the woods. In a former letter I told you what was to be 
 the object of my mission ; allow me, Reverend Father, 
 to recommend it again to your Holy Sacrifices. As for 
 the missionary, I am convinced you will not be unmind- 
 ful of him at the altar. 
 
 We received, a few days ago, news of Father Guignas ; 
 since 1732 he had not been heard from. He is in a help- 
 less state. The hunger he has had to endure, the immi- 
 nent danger of being massacred by the Sakis and the 
 Foxes to which he has been continually exposed, and 
 numberless other hardships, borne heroically, have 
 brought him so low, that even the Indians, who have 
 little pity for us, are forced to look upon him with feelings 
 of compassion. We are, however, in the impossibility of 
 attempting anything for his relief, owing to the scarcity 
 of missionaries. Pray God, Reverend Father, to send 
 laborers to this needy mission. Another cause of 
 anxiety for us is that Father Nau was laid up last spring 
 with a violent attack of the gout. 
 
 I beg you to send me the reckonings of the eclipses of 
 sun and moon visible in France and America. I shall 
 endeavor to turn them to account, to the best of my 
 ability, in determining the longitudes of the new regions 
 to which Providence is sending me. I shall communicate 
 whatever observations I may think likely to be received
 
 56 
 
 by you with satisfaction. For that matter, I cannot ex- 
 pect to receive before three or four years what I now 
 take the liberty of asking you, owing to the great 
 distance which separates us. 
 
 I remain, Reverend Father, with the m^st profound 
 respect, and in union with your Holy Sacrifices, 
 
 Your most humble and most obedient servant, 
 
 J. P. AULNEAU, Jes., Ind. Miss. 
 
 MONTREAL, June iath, 1735. 
 
 No. 16. 
 
 (Translation.) 
 
 FATHER NAU TO FATHER BONIN. 
 
 (State of the Iroquois Mission of Sault St. Louis in 1735.) 
 Reverend Father, the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 I question much whether the letter I had the honor 
 of writing you last year gave you more pleasure than 
 yours afforded me. Several ships had already arrived 
 from France, and had brought letters to nearly all our 
 missionaries, and not one brought a single word to my 
 address, though my post is one of the nearest to Quebec. 
 Imagine my joy when a letter vras handed me from the 
 one of all persons in the world whom I esteem most, and 
 to whom I am most deeply indebted ! The good opinion 
 you entertain of me covers me with confusion and 
 strengthens my endeavors to become all that you fondly 
 suppose me to be already, and, in fact, that I should be. 
 I feel the need of being spurred on in the accomplish- 
 ment of my duties. Though I am here surrounded by 
 holy missionaries, and have continually before my eyes 
 perfect models of virtue, I am still full of defects .
 
 57 
 
 This year, I am in a position to speak to you of Canada 
 with more certainty than last year. The climate is 
 salubrious, the quality of the soil excellent, but the 
 natives are indolent. The winter is not so severe as we 
 are told in France. We never experience more than 
 three or four days in succession of extreme cold. The 
 thaws have been of such frequent occurrence this year 
 that the drawing of fire-wood was accomplished with 
 difficulty. More precautions against the cold are taken 
 here than in France. We are warmly clad, and our 
 apartments are heated with stoves. All in all, I suffered 
 every year more from cold in France than in Canada. 
 My health is of the best, were it not for a violent attack 
 of gout I suffered after Easter*, and which laid me up for 
 a month and a half. Even now I have a twinge every 
 day, but that does not prevent me from going about, nor 
 was it the cold that brought it on. I had already felt its 
 approach while yet in France. 
 
 To speak correctly, we have but two seasons here, 
 winter and summer. In this mission the winter is 
 shorter by a full month than at Quebec. We are in fact 
 forty leagues more towards the South . Sault St. Louis j 
 is not to be found marked on the maps; this is not sur' 
 prising, as it is only since these maps were made that our 
 mission has grown into an important village. Our 
 latitude is 45 degrees and 30 minutes, and we are distant 
 three leagues and a half from the town of Montreal, which 
 lies to the North-east, on the other bank of the river. 
 
 It is imagined in France that the Iroquois, who for- 
 merly treated with so much cruelty the French whom they 
 made captives in war, must be of ferocious aspect, and 
 that their very sight and name would strike terror into 
 
 * Easter fell in 1735 on the 10th of April. 
 
 t Sault St. Louis is better known at present as Caughnawaga.
 
 58 
 
 all who encounter them. This is pure fancy. Generally 
 speaking, you could find nowhere finer looking men. 
 They are of better build than the French, while side by 
 side with the Iroquois other Indians seemed dwarfed. 
 Nearly all the braves of our mission are nearer six feet 
 in height than five. Their countenance is in keeping 
 with their stature, and their features are regular. The 
 children especially are diminutive types of the picturesque 
 (sont des miniatures), transparency of color being alone 
 wanting. Their complexion is of an olive tint, but not 
 so tawny as that of other tribes, not differing much from 
 that of the Portuguese. I have met even in the streets of 
 Bordeaux any number of men darker than our Iroquois. 
 They would for the most part be as clear-complexioned 
 as the French, were it not for the effects of the smoke in 
 their wigwams, which is so dense that I fail to understand 
 how they do not lose their sight. 
 
 The costume of the Iroquois is different from that of 
 other Indian tribes. Their hair is trimmed somewhat 
 like that of the Recollect Fathers, with this difference, 
 that they raise in a bunch the hair of the crown by means 
 of a kind of wax mixed with vermilion, and allow a few 
 hairs'to protrude above, to which they fasten a porcelain 
 bead or so, or a feather of some bird seldom met with. 
 Over the shirt they usually wear a garment of French 
 fashion, with lace sewed on all the seams. When the 
 weather is cold, or on gala days, they wear a cloth 
 mantle a yard and a half square, the lower border of 
 which is trimmed with eight or nine bands Of lace. 
 Their miiasse, that is their leggings, are adorned with 
 ribbons and a variety of flowers broidered with elk- 
 hair dyed red or yellow. These are made to fit closely, 
 t he better to show off the elaborate finish of the work 
 Their moccasins are of smoke-dried deer-skin. Some 
 wear silk stockings and shoes of French make and silver
 
 59 
 
 buckles. Among the Indian nations all the women are 
 dressed alike. You have no doubt seen the likeness of 
 the Indian maiden, Catherine Tegah-kouita, who died in 
 odor of sanctity ; all the squaws are similarly dressed. 
 
 As for the question of morality, the Iroquois and 
 Hurons are more inclined to the practice of virtue 
 than other nations ; they are the only Indians capable of 
 refined feelings ; all the others are to be set down as 
 cowardly, ungrateful and voluptuous. If there were no 
 French in Canada we would have as many saints in our 
 mission as we now have Christians ; but the bad example 
 and solicitations of the whites are a very great bar to the 
 sanctification of our Iroquois. Though it be forbidden 
 under the severest penalties to give fire-water to the 
 Indians, and though, during the last two months, exem- 
 plary punishment has been meted out to four Frenchmen, 
 one of whom was condemned to imprisonment, two to be 
 whipped by the public executioner, and the other to be 
 fastened by the neck in the pillory for having carried on 
 this illicit trade, still our Indians find all the fire-water 
 they want, and as soon as they are drunk they are capable 
 of any crime. 
 
 Not three months ago, an Algonquin, in a drinking- 
 bout, killed with three stabs of a knife a poor soldier who 
 was quietly working in a house at Montreal. Arrested on 
 the spot, the Indian thought he would escape punish- 
 ment because he was drunk and did not know what he 
 was doing. He was condemned notwithstanding to be 
 hanged ; but as the executioner was away he was killed 
 by a blow on the head. 
 
 Should any one of our Indians make his appearance in 
 the village while in a state of intoxication, he is obliged 
 to submit to a public penance. He is to remain kneeling 
 outside the church during Mass and the other prayers 
 made in common, for ten or twelve days, according to 
 the gravity of the scandal given.
 
 60 
 
 Drunkenness is the great vice of the Indian ; but, thank 
 God, we have many who never touch intoxicating liquor 
 of any kind. Those who do drink do not do so often, 
 and, taking all into consideration, our Iroquois are much 
 better Christians than the French. 
 
 Before giving you an account of the exercises of our 
 mission, I must tell you, Reverend Father, how I was 
 adopted into the Iroquois nation. It is a necessary for- 
 mality, for a missionary would not be an acceptable per- 
 son in the village were he not a member of the tribe. 
 
 Two months after my arrival, I invited the elders to a 
 banquet. The spread consisted of a whole carcass of 
 beef, bread in proportion, two bushels of peas and a 
 quantity of tobacco. When all were Assembled, Rev- 
 erend Father de Lauzon, who had lived many years in 
 this mission, made a long speech for me. Three Iroquois 
 orators answered in turn. When the speech making was 
 over, one of the elders rose and announced that a name 
 must be given to the back robe, for this is the appellation 
 by which the Jesuit missionaries are known. After 
 having gone over all the names of former missionaries* 
 he determined that I should hereafter be called Hat6riata, 
 and I now go by no other name in the village. Ask God 
 in your prayers to give rne the grace of realizing to the 
 fullest extent its signification, for Hatriata in Iroquois 
 means "The Brave," the magnanimous man. 
 
 It now remained to assign me to a lodge, and to adopt 
 me into a family. I had the honor of being enrolled in the 
 Family of the Bear. You must know that in the village 
 there are three families : that of the Bear, that of the 
 Wolf and that of the Tortoise. All new comers are made 
 members of one of these three families. The family of 
 the Tortoise has become so numerous that it has been 
 divided in the Big and Little Tortoise. 
 
 And now let me say something about the exercises of
 
 01 
 
 the mission. At day-break, be it in winter or summer, 
 Father de la Bretonniere says the first mass, at which all 
 those assist who have to go out to the fields to work. 
 They recite their morning prayers, and then the beads, 
 in two choirs. An hour later, I say the every-day mass 
 for the whole village, during which the prayers and 
 hymns of the Church in keeping with the season are 
 sung in two choirs also. After the mass, I gather the 
 children together in the church and make them recite 
 their morning prayers, and then teach the boys how to 
 serve mass. 
 
 About nine o'clock, Father de La Bretonniere puts the 
 idults who have not yet been baptised through their 
 catechism. The remainder of the day is spent going 
 about visiting the sick and in deciding disputes which 
 may have arisen in the lodges. An hour before sunset, I 
 assemble the children again in the church for their 
 evening prayers and for the recitation of their catechism . 
 As soon as the children are dismissed the men and 
 women repair to the church for the recitation of their 
 prayers in common. 
 
 On Sundays and festivals I am in the confessional 
 until ten in the morning, when I sing high mass, after 
 which I preach to the French, for I have charge of a 
 French parish, and there is no other church than that of 
 the mission. 
 
 Other members of our French population, who flock 
 from all sides to the tomb of the servant of God, Cather- 
 ine Tegahkouita, to accomplish the vows made in time of 
 sickness, keep me pretty busy. 
 
 At one in the afternoon, Father de la Bretonniere as- 
 sembles in turn the Indians who are members of the Sod- 
 ality of the Blessed Virgin and those who belong to the 
 congregation of the Holy Family, to give them a short 
 exhortation. We have, as you see, in the village two
 
 62 
 
 associations, the Sodality and the Holy Family. To be 
 qualified to become a member of the Holy Family, one 
 must have passed through the Sodality and have given 
 unmistakable proofs of fervor, for its members are all 
 really devout souls and, to say the least, are as worthy 
 members as are those in France. Several practise auster- 
 ities which many a religious would hesitate to undergo- 
 
 At four in the afternoon Vespers are sung, after which 
 Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament is always given. 
 There could be nothing more decorous than the behavior 
 of our Indians while in church and during their other 
 devotional exercises ; the very sight inspires devotion. 
 Father Aulneau, who happened to be here on the feast 
 of Corpus Christi,* could not restrain his tears of joy and 
 devotion while the procession lasted. All our braves were 
 in their war accoutrements with the exception of the 
 bearers of the canopy arid the chanters. The squaws and 
 children followed in symmetrical order, most pleasing to 
 the beholder. Three shrines had been prepared at inter- 
 vals where the Blessed Sacrament was set down, and at 
 each halt a volley of musketry was fired and five mortars 
 exploded. 
 
 For our Indians, singing is a necessary adjunct, as they 
 are incapable of prolonged mental application, and it is 
 on this account that all their prayers are set to music ; 
 really, it would be a great pity were it not so, they suc- 
 ceed so admirably. I often wished that Reverend Father 
 Landreau, who is so fond of well executed church music, 
 could be present at our grand masses, it would be a greater 
 treat for him than anything he has yet listened to. The 
 braves who lead off with the first verses he might take 
 for a choir of a hundred Cordeliers, and the squaws for 
 some great community of nuns. But what am I saying ? 
 
 * June 9, 1735.
 
 63 
 
 Neither Cordeliers nor nuns ever sang as do our Iroquois 
 men and women. Their voices are both mellow and son- 
 orous, and their ear so correct that they do not miss a 
 half-tone in all the church hymns which they know by 
 heart. 
 
 Our Iroquois, like all the other Indian tribes, with the 
 exception of the Sioux, are sedentary. They raise horses, 
 pigs, poultry and other domestic animals as do our own 
 people. The braves leave us about the end of September 
 each taking his own road to the hunting grounds of the 
 deer and beaver, nor do they return to the village before 
 the month of February. Others go on the war path. We 
 have actually forty warriors out on expeditions to strike 
 at other tribes. Their weapons are ever ready, for they 
 take the part of the French in every quarrel with the 
 other Indian nations, indeed, the Iroquois ofSaultSt. 
 Louis are looked upon as the most warlike of all the 
 American tribes ; but this is no proof of their valor. 
 Their mode of warfare is but stratagem and surprise, their 
 encounters are mere attempts at assassination. They 
 fight bravely then only when they know that the sole 
 alternative lies between victory or death. 
 
 Our people have a war on their hands this long time 
 with an Indian tribe called the Foxes. It has been in a 
 very slight degree successful, through the impossibility in 
 which our troops are of ever overtaking them in sufficient 
 numbers to destroy them. Last year, ninety of our young 
 braves joined the French expedition against the Foxes, 
 but after inconceivable hardship and a journey of more 
 than seven hundred leagues,* their guides led them astray, 
 and they were obliged to make their way back without 
 having caught sight of the enemy save in one in- 
 
 * The distance to the Fox country and back would be about seven 
 hundred leagues.
 
 64 
 
 stance. A party of twenty-three Indians, nearly all of 
 our Mission, and seven Fren:hmen had somehow 
 become separated from the main body when they found 
 themselves suddenly surrounded by a war-party of two 
 hundred Foxes. Our warriors would have been wiped 
 out had it not been for the resolution of the Iroquois 
 captain. " We are all dead men," he said, " if we surren- 
 der. There is no help for it ; we have to sell our lives as 
 dear as we can. Let us show these Foxes that we are 
 Iroquois and Frenchmen." Whereupon he led his braves 
 to the attack. The enemy could not withstand the first 
 onslaught, but retreated precipitately to their fort. 
 Thirty Foxes were laid low and ten taken prisoners ; our 
 party lost but two Frenchmen and one Indian. 
 
 The majority of the adults whom we instruct for 
 baptism in the village are slaves taken in war. I had 
 the consolation of administering this sacrament to two, 
 and Father de La Bretonniere to four, since I am stationed 
 in the Mission, that is about a year ago ; there are a 
 dozen or so yet remaining who will receive Baptism at 
 Christmas. It thus happens that it is our warriors who 
 contribute most to the increase of the Mission. 
 
 The five Iroquois nations, who are with the English, 
 are visibly on the decrease, en account of their incessant 
 quarrels and the use of intoxicants supplied by the 
 English. It is for this reason that the more provident 
 abandon a country where they cannot live peaceably, and 
 come to settle among us. 
 
 Others who are accused of witchcraft are also obliged to 
 take refuge at Sault St. Louis, otherwise they would be 
 put out of the way at the first opportunity. A family of 
 Mohawk Iroquois have come but lately to settle in our 
 village. It is thus that the devil himself unwillingly 
 becomes the occasion of the salvation of these wretched 
 fugitives by making it less difficult for them to embrace 
 Christianity.
 
 65 
 
 The instruction of the slaves is our hardest task, for 
 they seldom learn the language well, and it is very hard 
 to make them understand what we would have them 
 know. We have had here in the Mission for the last ten 
 years an Indian woman of the Fox nation, and she does 
 not know how to speak Iroquois yet. 
 
 Iroquois and Huron are the only two difficult lan- 
 guages ; we must, however, be familiar with them both in 
 oui Mission, because all the prayers are in Huron. These 
 two languages have a common origin, but differ from 
 each other as much as French and Spanish. All our 
 Indians understand Huron and prefer it to Iroquois, 
 though the pronunciation is not so pleasing to the ear. 
 Hence it is that they do not care to recite their prayers in 
 their own native tongue. 
 
 I told you that I taught the children their catechism, 
 manuscript in hand of course, for after ten months of 
 study I cannot be very proficient in Iroquois. I am 
 beginning nevertheless to understand and to make myself 
 understood, but I would not dare yet to speak in public. 
 
 You expressed the wish, Reverend Father, that I 
 should give you all the information possible concerning 
 the Jesuits of our province who are now missionaries in 
 Canada. I shall not be long. 
 
 Reverend Father de L,auzon, superior general of the 
 Mission, is universally esteemed, and with reason. He 
 did his best with Reverend Father General to be allowed 
 to resign his office, which is a real burden to him for 
 more reasons than one, but it was decided that he should 
 complete the ordinary term of six years. So we shall 
 not have him back in our Mission before their expiration. 
 
 Father Chardon has been stationed for the last two 
 years at the residence in Montreal ; he is looked upon as 
 one of the most holy Jesuits sent out to Canada. Father 
 Guignas is in the Sioux country, at a 1 ittle French fort 
 
 5
 
 66 
 
 with but six men with him. Scarcely a month ago the 
 Marquis of Beauharnois, governor general of New France, 
 sent twenty-two men in four canoes with supplies of 
 which he stood absolutely in need, for the Sioux refuse 
 to provide for him. It is not at all certain that the relief 
 party will reach him without molestation, their route 
 lying close to the country of the Foxes. 
 
 Father De Saint-Pd, who has for companion Father Du 
 Jaunay, an old fellow-student of mine at Nantes, will 
 return next year from Missilimakinac, to take charge of 
 the Men's Sodality at Montreal. 
 
 Father de la Rtchardie spent the winter at Quebec, 
 where he did a world of good by the two general retreats 
 he preached. The mention of this Father's name reminds 
 me that I must take back what I wrote you last year 
 when as yet I was not well informed of what concerns 
 the Hurons. I said that there were no other Christian 
 Hurons than those of Lo retto. In fact, seven years ago 
 there were no others ; but Father de La Richardie found 
 means to gather together at Detroit the dispersed Hurons, 
 all of whom he converted. The mission numbers six 
 hundred Christians. 
 
 Le Detroit,* at the forty-second degree of latitude, is 
 situated between Lake Huron and Lake Erie. This 
 stretch of country is the finest in Canada ; there is scarcely 
 any winter, and all kinds of fruit grow there as well as 
 they do in France. There is question of building a town 
 there. Seventy French families are already on the spot, 
 and there is a fort and garrison of which the Reverend 
 Recollet Fathers are chaplains. 
 
 Father De Gonnor is at the mission of Lorette, but he 
 is subject to frequent attacks of sickness. 
 
 Father Aulneau, as robust as he is courageous, has set 
 out for the Western Sea ; he will arrive there only next 
 summer. The first missionary who lands from France 
 
 * Le Detroit, i.e., the Strait, was the name given to the shore* on 
 both sides of the river.
 
 will go to keep him company, otherwise he would not be 
 able to remain there long alone, as he will be four 
 hundred leagues distant from Father Guignas, who is his 
 nearest neighbor. 
 
 I had a pretty long conversation with Mr. La Veran- 
 drie, who is in command of the three most western forts 
 I understood from the interview that not much reliance 
 can be placed on what he says concerning white, bearded 
 Indians. The Western Sea would have been discovered 
 long ago if people had wished it. Mons. le Comte de 
 Maurepas is right when he says that the officials in 
 Canada are not looking for the Western Sea but for the 
 sea of the beaver. 
 
 It is to be hoped that Father Aulneau will find more 
 docile Indians than the Ottawas and the Sioux, among 
 whom Fathers Saint P6 and Guignas are laboring with 
 little success. They have managed to convert but a few 
 old men and women who'are beyond the age of sinning. 
 The greatest good they can effect is to baptize children 
 when they think they are on the point of death ; those 
 that recover seldom fail later to fall away from the faith. 
 
 Let me know on what particular points you desire 
 information concerning Canada and our mission more 
 especially, and I shall endeavor to satisfy your pious 
 curiosity. 
 
 Not a day goes by without my begging our Lord to 
 shower down His choicest graces on the one who was 
 instrumental in procuring for me the greatest of blessings, 
 in having me received into the Society of Jesus. Pray 
 for me in turn unceasingly, and for my mission. 
 
 I have the honor to remain with the most profound 
 respect in union with your Holy Sacrifices, 
 
 Reverend Father, 
 Your most humble and obedient servant, 
 
 L- F. NAU, of the Society of Jesus . 
 SAUI/T ST. Louis, October 2, 1735.
 
 68 
 
 No. 17. 
 
 (Translation.) 
 
 FATHER I,UKF. FRANCIS NAU TO MADAM 
 
 (Address: A Mademoiselle. Mademoiselle de La 
 Touche Aulueau, aux Moutiers sur Le Lay.) 
 
 Madam, 
 
 I am far from blaming the sentiments with which 
 nature inspires you with regard to your dear son, Reve- 
 rend Father Aulneau, for they are quite proper and 
 reasonable. The greater the merits of Father Aulneau 
 the more sensibly you should be affected at being sepa- 
 rated for ever from so amiable a son. You are right in 
 grieving for him as if he were dead for you, but your 
 sorrow is a Christian sorrow, and there is no danger that 
 your mateiual tenderness should go to any excess. Were 
 there any danger of that kind, the Christian spirit which 
 animates you would soon bring it within bounds. 
 
 Nothing could be more heroic than the fresh sacrifice 
 which dear Father Aulneau has just made in setting out 
 for the Western Sea. But, after all, it is his very vocation 
 which imposes similar sacrifices, and so noble an enter- 
 prise was worthy of his great heart. It was, moreover, 
 obedience which bade him undertake it. I find at least 
 as much greatness of soul in your submission to the 
 orders of Divine Providence as was required in Father 
 Aulneau's case. It must have cost you many a pang thus 
 to surmount the promptings of nature, and to sacrifice 
 the feelings of maternal love to the glory of our Lord ; 
 but the greater the pain the more meritorious will your 
 generosity be in the sight of God. 
 
 I had dear Father Aulneau here with me for two 
 weeks ; I saw him perhaps for the last time ; he was then 
 full of strength and health, and was longing for the conver- 
 sion of the Indians of the Western Sea. He set out three
 
 69 
 
 weeks after Pentecost for his destination, which is eleven 
 or twelve hundred leagues distant, where no Frenchman 
 has ever set foot, and which he will reach next year only. 
 I candidly confess that on that occasion my courage was 
 not as great as yours. It was with tears I embraced him 
 before he left the mission-house, and I went and hid my- 
 self so as not to witness his departure. 
 
 Since then I received a letter from him, dated July 27, 
 at the mission of Missilimakinac, three hundred leagues 
 from here. He rested there eight days, and then set out 
 for a French fort, seven hundred leagues from this place. 
 I conjecture that he must be very near the end of his 
 travels for this year. At the melting of the snows he will 
 resume his journey. I dare say it is the longest, most 
 painful and dangerous one ever undertaken by a mis- 
 sionary in Canada. 
 
 He will not suffer from want of food such as it is ; it 
 consists of flour to be formed into paste, and Indian corn 
 of which sagamitt is made ; but he has with him an 
 attendant, who is an excellent huntsman and who will 
 supply him occasionally with game. He has a pretty 
 good escort, but should the unknown tribes he is in quest 
 of harbor any evil designs against him, what could twenty 
 Frenchmen do against a whole nation? You see, my 
 dear mother, that I have little consideration for your 
 maternal feelings, but you insisted upon my being 
 outspoken. Next year I shall receive other letters from 
 Father Aulneau, and perhaps he will enable me to impart 
 more welcome news than I have done this year. 
 
 As for myself, I am stationed in the most flourishing 
 mission of Canada, where I am in want of nothing. My 
 health, however, was a little shaken by an attack of the 
 gout this last spring ; I have not got quite over it yet. 
 But we must suffer something for God, and were it not 
 for this infirmity I should have for my share nothing 
 but the sweets of life.
 
 70 
 
 The three letters you did me the honor to write me 
 reached me safely, the two first coming by the same 
 vessel. Recommend me often to our Lord, my very dear 
 mother. Every day I pray Him to strengthen your cour- 
 age and resignation to His holy will. I have the honor 
 to remain with the most profound respect, Madam, 
 Your most humble and obedient servant, 
 
 L. NAU, of the Society of Jesus. 
 
 SAUI/T ST. Louis, October 3, 1735. 
 
 I pray you, present my excuses to Madam Aulneau, 
 the religious De la foy, at Fontenay. The bearer of 
 these letters to Quebec is in too great a hurry to allow me 
 time to write to her. If she could send me next year a 
 little package of beads and other articles of devotion, I 
 should be exceedingly obliged to her, and would try to 
 forward a part of them to Father Aulneau. 
 
 No. 18. 
 
 (Translation. ,) 
 
 FATHER JEAN P . AUI.NEAU TO FATHER BONIN. 
 Fort St. Charles, among the Kristinaux, April 30, 1736. 
 REVEREND FATHER, P.C. 
 
 The letters I had the honor to write to you last year, 
 1735, caused you, no doubt, some surprise. I therein 
 took the liberty of asking you for certain things which 
 my lack of experience in the missions, whither Pro- 
 vidence has called me, and I know not what fancy, alone 
 could have suggested, nor should I be at all surprised if 
 vou paid no attention to those requests. Let me ask you 
 to pardon me for all the trouble and bother I may have 
 caused you. The erratic life I must needs lead would
 
 71 
 
 prevent me from toting about anything but what is 
 strictly indispensable. Moreover, the money which was 
 to be advanced would have scarcely sufficed to buy a 
 quarter of all I asked your Reverence. Once more, 
 Reverend Father, pardon me my want of discretion. 
 
 I reached Fort St. Charles October 23rd, 1735. I had set 
 out from the Iroquois mission of SaultSt. Louis June 2ist, 
 the feast of St. Aloysius, under whose protection I believe 
 Providence intended that I should place myself, in thus 
 foreordaining that the day of my departure and of my 
 complete separation from all that could afford me any 
 satisfaction should, contrary to all appearances, be 
 delayed until the festival of that great Saint. With the 
 assistance of so powerful a protector I enjoyed perfect 
 health to the end of my journey. 
 
 There are, counting from * hundred 
 
 leagues, nearly all by water and canoe I 
 
 stopped with Father de Saint Pe at Missilimakina 
 
 I went back fifteen leagues on the distance already 
 covered so as to take the route by Lake Superior. We 
 
 coasted along the Lake for the space of two 
 
 following, as is customary, the north, sometimes the 
 
 west and southwest of Lake Superior. We 
 
 struck inland into the region which lies to the north of 
 Lake.... and after having journeyed nearly always on 
 foot for the space of two or three days, we headed some- 
 times towards the west, sometimes towards the southwest 
 and sometimes even towards the south, threading our 
 way among a profusion of lak^s. Several of these lakes 
 have a circumference of more than a hundred leagues. 
 
 From the upper extremity of Lake Superior to Fort 
 St. Charles, whence I have the honor of writing to you, 
 the distance is set down at three hundred leagues. We 
 
 * There are several passages in theorigmal manuscript torn off or defaced 
 by time.
 
 72 
 
 journeyed nearly all the way through fire and a thick 
 stifling smoke, which prevented us even once from 
 catching a glimpse of the sun. It was the Indians who 
 in hunting had set fire to the woods, without imagining, 
 however, that it would result in such a terrible conflagra- 
 tion. 
 
 So long a journey through atiy other country would 
 have been diversified by a number of interesting features 
 calculated to awaken one's curiosity, but all that was to 
 be met with in this vast region was limited to lakes, rocks, 
 immense forests, Indians and a few wild animals. So that, 
 Reverend Father, I can communicate nothing to you 
 deserving of attention. On one occasion, however, while 
 on the shores of a large lake which the French call the 
 Lake of the Cross (Lac de la Croix), and which is about 
 one hundred and twenty leagues from here, I thought I 
 saw a lunar eclipse ; it was on the ist of October, if it 
 were truly an eclipse and not merely an effect of the 
 smoke. It ended about nine o'clock at night. I noticed 
 also, on several occasions, especially while on Lake 
 Huron, grand displays of the aurora borealis ; but in- 
 capacity, more even than lassitude, did not admit of my 
 taking observations with sufficient accuracy to give you 
 an adequate idea of them. We have witnessed here 
 throughout the winter the same phenomenon, and 
 scarcely a night has passed but the northern skies have 
 been all aglow with the aurora borealis. 
 
 And what, Reverend Father, of Fort St. Charles, where 
 I have passed the winter ? It is merely an enclosure made 
 with four rows of posts, from twelve to fifteen feet in- 
 height, in the form of an oblong square, within which 
 are a few rough cabins constructed of logs and clay and 
 covered with bark. 
 
 It is about a league in the from sixty
 
 73 
 
 to seventy leagues, on the southwest side of the Lake of 
 the Woods.* 
 
 This lake is leagues in circumference. Its 
 
 greatest length is north Several streams put it 
 
 in communication with other lakes, all of which empty 
 
 into another which the Indians say is larger than 
 
 They call it Ouinipigon . This latter, further on, gives 
 
 rise to three rivers -which empty into the sea, as 
 
 well as I can conjecture from what the Kristinaux say, 
 beyond Port Nelson. 
 
 It is on the shores of this last lake, about one hundred 
 and fifty leagues from here, that I purpose passing a part 
 of the summer with the Assiniboels, who occupy all the 
 land to the south of it. The lands on the remaining sides 
 are taken up by the Kristinaux, who occupy not only all 
 the northern part as far as the sea, but all the immense 
 stretch of country beginning at the Lake of the Woods 
 and extending far beyond Lake Ouinipigon also belongs 
 to them. 
 
 Some time about the feast of All Saints, if it be the 
 will of our good Lord, I purpose, with as many of the 
 French as are willing to encounter the same dangers, to 
 join the Assiniboels, who start every year, just as soon as 
 the streams are frozen over, for the country of the Kao- 
 tiouak or Autelssipouncs to procure their supply of corn. 
 It is to evangelize these tribes that my superiors send 
 me here. From Lake Ouinipigon to their country the 
 distance is computed to be two hundred and fifty leagues, 
 but as the party eugage in the hunt as they advance, in all 
 likelihood we shall go over more than four hundred. If 
 
 * The probable site of Fort St . Charles was a few miles up the bay 
 now known as " North West Angle Inlet." At the entrance of this 
 bay, which begins at American Point, lies Buckete Island. The 
 latitude of the fort would be aboutU9f^v6 and its lonpitude west of 
 Greenwich 95 4/ , or perhaps a few minutes further west. The words 
 of the original manuscript which are defaced or torn off might be 
 supplied (by italics; thus : " II est environ ;i une lieue dans \Aprofon- 
 <ieur d'une bate distant?, du lac La Pluie de 60 ou TO lieues, au 
 sorouest du lac des Bois."
 
 74 
 
 we manage to reach there in season, I shall not be satisfied 
 with visiting the first villages of the Kaotiouak, but shall 
 push as far on as I can along the shores of the river 
 where they dwell and where the Kristinaux say they 
 have seen sea- wolves. This would be a sure sign that 
 they are not very far from the sea. 
 
 Towards the middle of March I shall leave this place 
 to return to the shores of Ouiuipigon. I omitted to tell 
 vou, Reverend Father, that Fort St. Charles, according 
 to Monsieur de la Jesmeraye, ensign of the detachment 
 of the marine quartered in this country, is situated at 48* 
 5'. This is all the information, Reverend Father, I am 
 able to give you at present concerning this wretched 
 country. It may be that I have not expressed myself 
 correctly, but you will pardon me I am sure. lu any 
 case, I do not vouch for the truth of all I have told 
 you, and which I have not learnt from personal observa- 
 tion but from the report of the Indians and a few French- 
 men, whose experience is but slightly more extensive 
 than my own. At some future date, perhaps, I shall be 
 in a position to give you something more reliable on this 
 vast extent of territory so little known. If I have risked 
 speaking to you at all about these wilds, it was merely to 
 gratify you. 
 
 As for the Indians who dwell here, I do not believe, 
 unless it be by miracle, that they can ever be persuaded 
 to embrace the faith ; for even not taking into account 
 the fact that they have no fixed abode, and that they 
 wander about the forests in isolated bands, they are su- 
 perstitious and morally degraded to a degree beyond con- 
 ception. What is most deplorable is that the devil makes 
 use of the vtry men who should endeavor to break their 
 bondage to rivet their fetters more firmly. Both English 
 and French, by their accursed avarice, have given them 
 a taste for brandy, and have thus beeu instrumental in
 
 75 
 
 adding to their otber vices that of drunkenness, so that 
 brandy is their only topic of conversation, the sole object 
 of their petitions, nor can they ever be counted upon 
 unless they receive enough to get drunk on. 
 
 The good God has already chastised more than one of 
 our fellow-countrymen engaged in this infamous traffic by 
 visiting them with financial ruin ; but neither the loss of 
 temporal goods nor the fear of the loss of God in eternity 
 has as yet availed to abolish so shameful a trade. 
 
 This, Reverend Father, constitutes one of the greatest 
 crosses which the missionaries have to endure here ; it has 
 brought about the destruction of several flourishing 
 missions, and has induced many an Indian to cast aside 
 every semblance of religion. There were a certain num- 
 ber of Mousouis, neighbors of the Kristinaux, and not a 
 few other Indians among those who dwell in the vicinity 
 of the western extremity of Lake Superior, who had re- 
 ceived Holy Baptism, and who have been replunged 
 through drunkenness into their former superstitions. 
 
 I must, however, say in justice to the French with 
 whom I have journeyed, that they have not mingled in 
 this infamous traffic, and that in spite of all the reiterated 
 demands of the Indians they have preferred to ignore all 
 offers of barter from the tribes than give them brandy in 
 exchange . 
 
 Notwithstanding the shameful vices of these poor infi- 
 dels, God has allowed them still to retain certain notions 
 which, perhaps, might help to determine them to range 
 themselves on the side of religion. They acknowledge 
 the immortality of the soul. After its separation from the 
 body it goes to join those of the other deceased Indians ; 
 but these have not all the same dwelling-place some 
 inhabit enchanting prairies, where all kinds of animals 
 are to be found. These they have no trouble in slaying, 
 and with the viands of the chase they are perpetually
 
 76 
 
 regaling each other. No wonder if everywhere, on these 
 plains, you see kettles swung over the fire, and dances 
 and games, all told, that is their paradise. 
 
 But before reaching it, there is a spot of extreme peril, 
 the souls have to cross a wide ditch. On one side of the 
 way, it is full of muddy water offensive to the smell and 
 covered with scum, while on the other the pit is filled 
 with fire which rises in fierce tongues of flame. The only 
 means of crossing it is on a pine tree, the ends of which 
 rest on either bank. Its bark is ever freshly moistened 
 and besmeared with a substance which makes it as slip- 
 pery as ice. If the souls who wish to cross to the enchant- 
 ing plains have the misfortune to fall at this dangerous 
 passage, there is no help left ; they are doomed for ever 
 to drink of the foul, stagnant water, or to burn in the 
 flames, according to the side on which they fall. Such is 
 their hell, and such is their obscure notion of what efforts 
 must be made to secure heaven. 
 
 I leave untold a thousand other vagaries, of which, from 
 the little said, you may form a faint idea, nor am I suffi- 
 ciently versed in the matter, having but a very imperfect 
 knowledge of their language. If it be pleasing to you, I 
 may revert to the subject later on. 
 
 I am the first missionary who has as yet undertaken to 
 
 systematize the language of the Kristinaux- All I 
 
 am not very skillful at it. I have picked up but little dur- 
 ing the winter as all have been out on a warlike expedi- 
 tion against the Maskout6poels or Prairie Sioux. They 
 destroyed a few lodges, and some have returned with a 
 few scalps, which are prized as the most precious trophies 
 of their victories. This war was the occasion for us of much 
 suffering during the winter, as we had no other nourish- 
 ment than tainted pike, boiled or dried over the fire. 
 
 The Kristinaux are not near so numerous as the Assini- 
 boels, but they are much braver, or rather much more
 
 77 
 
 fierce and cruel. They massacre each other on the most 
 trivial pretext. The war and the hunt are their sole 
 occupation. They are averse to teaching their language 
 to others, so that what little I know has been picked up 
 in spite of them. I hope, nevertheless, before my depar- 
 ture for the Koatiouaks to announce the Gospel to them. 
 
 The devil is the only idol they acknowledge, and it is 
 to him that they offer their outlandish sacrifices. Some 
 have assured me that he has visibly appeared to them. 
 They are in great dread of him, as, according to their own 
 avowal, he is the author of nothing but the ills which be- 
 fall them. It is for this reason they honor him, while 
 they do not give a thought to God, since He sends them 
 nothing but blessings. They acknowledge having re- 
 ceived everything from Him, and that He is the author 
 of all things. Wherefore the}- manifest no surprise when 
 told of His wondrous works. Even the raising of the 
 dead to life would not astonish them. One day, a Mou- 
 souis, listening to the story of I/azarus, exclaimed : 
 "Wonderful indeed, that God raised him to life ! He had 
 already given life to him once, could He not give it to 
 him a second time ? " 
 
 When we speak of Christianity to them, one of their 
 standing reasons for not embracing it is, that the Indians 
 were not made for that religion ; but the true reason, 
 which they do not wish to avow, is their fear of the devil, 
 and the necessity in which they would be placed of 
 renouncing what they call their .... which they imagine 
 they could never abandon without immediately being 
 stricken with death- 
 
 Beg our Lord, Reverend Father, to enlighten these poor 
 bondsmen of hell, and to touch their hearts. Conjure 
 Him especially to send into these vast regions zealous 
 laborers, to announce the Gospel to them, and to oblige 
 them, with Heaven's help, to cherish and embrace a reli-
 
 78 
 
 gion that they cannot help respecting. I am convinced 
 that if there were five or six missionaries in this region, 
 their efforts would not be fruitless, especially among the 
 Assiniboels and the Koatiouaks, who are much more 
 tractable than the others. But what can one poor mortal 
 do in such an extent of country, the very limits of 
 which are as yet unknown ? 
 
 Scarcely have we fairly entered upon the question of 
 religion with some one of the natives, and commenced 
 to entertain some faint hope of his conversion, than, con- 
 fronted with the necessity of supplying the wants of life, 
 he has to betake himself to an erratic life in the woods. 
 There the devil invents a thousand subterfuges to turn 
 him from his purpose, and makes him ashamed that he 
 ever lent an ear to what was said to him about the other 
 world. 
 
 Were there several missionaries here, it would be other- 
 wise. They would be stationed at different points, and 
 could head off, as it were, the roving savage, who, if he 
 escaped from one, would fall into the hands of another. 
 But independently of this, I am altogether too weak and 
 too unworthy to inaugurate a work which would require 
 a missionary of consummate holiness. I submitted this 
 to my superiors before my departure, but my representa- 
 tions were not deemed of any weight. 
 
 A promise, however, was made to send me a com- 
 panion this year; if one comes, I hope through the 
 mercy of God that in a few years I shall be able to give 
 you news which will be satisfactory. 
 
 Before the new missionary can reach me here, I think 
 that I shall have acquired a pretty complete knowledge 
 of the language of the Kristinaux and a smattering of that 
 of the Assiniboels, for Providence has endowed me with 
 a certain facility in mastering these odd. jargons. 
 
 After all, what the issue of all these projects will be is
 
 79 
 
 known to God alone, and, who cant ell, perhaps instead 
 of receiving the announcement of their realization you 
 may hear the news of my death. 
 
 The journey yet before me is one of leagues, even 
 
 should I not chance to meet with any barbarous treat- 
 ment or incur the fierce resentment of the savages of the 
 countries through which I have to pass. I place all in 
 God's hands. I am disposed to offer Him with a light 
 heart the sacrifice of my life. It is already too long that 
 I continue to offend Him, so it will never be too soon for 
 Him to chastise me. 
 
 I beseech you, Reverend Father, and in spirit I cast 
 myself at your feet to conjure you to remember me ia 
 your Holy Sacrifices, me, the most unworthy of creatures. 
 It is in union with these sacrifices that I remain, 
 
 Your Reverence's most humble and obedient servant, 
 J. P. AUI,NEATJ, Jesuit Missionary. 
 
 I would beg you, Reverend Father, to convey the ex- 
 pression of my respect to Reverend Father Superior and 
 to all our Fathers. I recommend myself to their Holy 
 Sacrifices also. As the last canoes are on the point of 
 leaving, I shall not for a long time have another oppor- 
 tunity of writing. I reluctantly close this letter, im- 
 portuned as I am to finish by those who are to carry it. 
 Please to recommend me often to our Ix>rd at the Holy 
 Sacrifice of the Mass, and be assured that no one can 
 be more respectfully attached to your Reverence than 
 yours, 
 
 J.P.A.
 
 80 
 No. 19. 
 
 (Translation.) 
 FATHER BESSOU TO MADAME AUI,NEAU. 
 
 (Address : A Madame Madame La Touche Aulneau, 
 Venve Aux Moutiers sur Le Lay en Bas Poitou par 
 Lu$on). 
 
 LA ROCHELLE, Feb. 18, 1736. 
 Madame, 
 
 I received yesterday evening, at half-past eight, the 
 letter you did me the honor to write to me. The one who 
 handed it to me told me that he had it already for some 
 time, but that he had forgotten to deliver it. His 
 thoughtlessness was very near depriving me of the pleas- 
 ure of receiving it, for had the winds been as favorable 
 as they were last Sunday, we should have sailed Monday 
 morning at five. I congratulate myself that through the 
 postponement of our departure I am now in possession of 
 your missive. Had it been otherwise, you would have 
 accused me of negligence for not answering, and with 
 reason, though I should not have been in the wrong, as 
 no letter had reached me- 
 
 I feel grateful to dear Father Aulneau for having 
 thought of me and having mentioned me in his letter to 
 you ; but I am still more grateful for the letter you took 
 the trouble to write, to wish me a prosperous voyage. 
 
 I should have liked very much to have started for 
 Canada. I had asked for this mission in a particular way 
 from Father General ; I had explained to him that I felt 
 better able to stand the cold there than a hot climate ; he 
 had promised me in the answer he wrote that he would 
 bear in mind my preference, but he has disposed of me
 
 81 
 
 otherwise, the urgent needs of the Cayenne mission hav- 
 ing caused him to modify his first resolve. God's will 
 must be accepted ; but I confess, all the same, that I 
 was not a little surprised at the change. I had but a 
 confused idea of the nature of the Cayenne mission, 
 for I imagined that the climate was excessively hot, 
 and for that reason quite incompatible with my 
 temperament, and in acquiescing I offered the sacrifice of 
 my life to our Lord. It is to be hoped that He accepted 
 it as a grateful offering. Since my departure from Poi- 
 tiers, I have heard from persons who have sojourned in 
 the country that the heat there is not so intense as one 
 might naturally conjecture, from the fact that it lies so 
 near the Equator. This advantage, however, can in nowise 
 compensate for the pleasure I should have experienced in 
 seeing once more our dear Father Aulneau, for I had 
 promised to join him, as he very likely told you before 
 his departure from France. He was well aware of my 
 leaning to the foreign missions. From the time that we 
 lived together at La Rochelle, friendship had united us ; 
 Providence now severs us. The great distance which is 
 to separate us will not lessen that friendship, at least I so 
 flatter myself. I had not the virtue necessary for a mis- 
 sion where there is as much to suffer as there is in the 
 field of his labors. I might have proved an impediment 
 to the good he is to accomplish in that barbarous region. 
 I trust that the fruits garnered will be abundant : his 
 ardent zeal, his eminent virtue and his love of suffering 
 make me count on it. 
 
 You should congratulate yourself on having a son wor- 
 thy of you, who will be the first to announce the mystery 
 of the cross to nations who have never heard of it. The 
 character of the tribes for whose conversion he is to labor 
 leads us to believe that his efforts will not be in vain. 
 They are less barbarous than the other Indians of 
 6
 
 82 
 
 Canada. They will consequently be more inclined to 
 turn to profit the useful lessons he will impart to them of a 
 God dying for their salvation. These Ouantchipouaues 
 have herds of cattle and horses to cultivate the land, 
 which shows that they are not such wanderers as are the 
 other natives. 
 
 The Indians amongst whom I am to labor are not less 
 erratic than those of Canada. Hunting and fishing are 
 their only occupations. They always carry a knife in 
 their hand as a Frenchman would carry a cane. They 
 are mild of disposition provided you do them no wrong, 
 or at least provided they fancy you intend none ; but to 
 convert them permanently they must be brought to adopt 
 more sedentary habits. Their wanderings will be a great 
 drawback to their instruction. 
 
 My Mission will not be on the islands but on the main 
 land, somewhere in the vicinity of the Amazon River, a 
 thousand leagues or thereabouts from Canada. If God 
 preserves my life and health, I do not despair some day 
 of seeing Father Aulneau. We cannot tell what may 
 happen. Some of our Fathers who are in Cayenne came 
 there from Canada, and perhaps there will be some who 
 will leave Cayenne for Canada. If I never again have 
 the happiness in this world of embracing my dear friend, 
 I hope to meet him in heaven. Opportunities for sancti- 
 fying myself will not be wanting : I have but to profit by 
 them. I shall not have as much to suffer from cold, it is 
 true, but I shall have to bear with other discomforts which 
 will be equivalent to it. Beg God that I may know how 
 to use them with advantage, and that I become a fitting 
 instrument to work for my own salvation and that of 
 others. 
 
 Since you look upon missionaries as your fathers, 
 brothers and sons, deign to number me among the latter. 
 If to deserve this privilege it be sufficient to cherish a true
 
 83 
 
 attachment for yourself and the rest of your family, I 
 think my title is as valid as that of any other, I had the 
 honor of two or three interviews with you at Lu9on ; I 
 met your daughter at Fontenay, and have heard our 
 Fathers speak of her in eulogistic terms : I was intimate- 
 ly acquainted with your three sons, and appreciate their 
 many good qualities, and it would be impossible for me 
 not to hold them in high esteem and to bear for them a 
 sincere attachment. Though I have not seen Michael 
 since he was my pupil, I have heard that he remains 
 always steadfast in the performance of his duty, and that 
 he gives you every reason to be satisfied with him by 
 faithfully seconding the care you take in the matter of 
 his education. When } r ou write to him, pray assure him 
 of the kind remembrance of him I still entertain. I fully 
 appreciate the trouble he took to come to Lu9on in hopes 
 of seeing me. It would have been an unfeigned pleasure 
 for me to have met him ; I indeed counted on going there 
 but obedience called me elsewhere. 
 
 Do not forget me when you write to Canada. I should 
 have written myself to Father Aulneau, but that I feared 
 my letter would miscarry. I may even do so yet if our 
 voyage is postponed for any considerable time. Though 
 we are waiting only for favorable winds, the weather does 
 not seem disposed to smile upon us. 
 
 I shall not fail to write you not only after my arrival in 
 Cayenne but every year and oftener, if I find a means of 
 sending my letters. You will confer on me a great favor 
 and a great honor by sending me news of yourself and 
 family. I recommend myself to your prayers, and be 
 persuaded I shall not forget you in mine. 
 
 I have the honor to be with all possible esteem and 
 respect, Madam, 
 
 Your most humble and obedient servant, 
 
 BESSOU, Jesuit.
 
 84 
 No. 20. 
 
 (Translation). 
 FATHER BESSOU TO MADAME AULNEAU. 
 
 Kourou, May 18, 1736. 
 MADAM, 
 
 I am keeping the promise I made you when I answered 
 the most obliging letter you did me the honor to write 
 to me at I/a Rochelle. I can give you little else than 
 the particulars of my sea- voyage, which was prosperous. I 
 suffered from seasickness in going from La Rochelle to the 
 ship, but once on board I experienced no further trouble. 
 God was very bountiful in preserving my health in spite of 
 the rough weather which lasted nearly a month. The 
 winds were so unfavorable that we were borne at one 
 time towards the coasts of Ireland, at another towards 
 those of Portugal, and again further south towards those 
 of Africa. We had most to suffer off Cape Finisterre, for 
 after having beaten about in the teeth of the gale for 
 eight days, our officers thought themselves lucky to nd 
 that they were about in the same place. Our position, 
 however, was far from being enviable, for we were 
 near the Cape, and the winds and waves were driving us 
 towards the breakers. Night and day the officers were 
 on deck, and the Captain had already decided to bear 
 away and seek shelter in a Spanish port, when God was 
 kind enough to send us a more favorable wind, just 
 what was needed to extricate us from our perilous posi- 
 tion. We were fifty-four days at sea. 
 
 I shall remain but a few days in Cayenne, and am at 
 present at Kourou with Father Lombard, who has already 
 passed twenty-seven years with the Indians. He has 
 gathered around him about six hundred natives, all lead-
 
 85 
 
 ing a most edifying life. They are a fickle people, and 
 that is why the missionaries endeavor to bring them to- 
 gether, the better to watch and instruct them, and espe- 
 cially to ground them more and more firmly in their 
 religion. 
 
 This zealous missionary has had much to suffer, and 
 was obliged to make men of this tribe before attempting 
 to make Christians of them. Formerly they had no reli- 
 gion, and it is a very arduous task to impose the 
 restraints of Christianity on a people who have never 
 borne the burden of any law. They are very tenacious of 
 their freedom; to attempt to curtail it would spoil all. 
 It was for this reason that the King forbade the French 
 to settle among them or to molest them 
 
 There are in these parts four distinct nations, the most 
 numerous of which are the Galibes, They enjoy the 
 reputation of being the most polished of the country, but 
 their refinement is very primitive, and to which full jus- 
 tice is done when we say that they are a trifle less 
 barbarous than the neighboring tribes. The whites have 
 heard of the existence of thirty different peoples ; there 
 are others far inland yet undiscovered, so the Indians 
 themselves tell us. It is for us missionaries to go in 
 quest of them. I am confident that we shall manage it, 
 provided we receive more help, and that God sustains us 
 with His grace. 
 
 I am to leave here after the feast of Corpus Christi* to 
 go among the Pirious, for such is my destination. I 
 must first learn their language before undertaking the 
 work of their conversion. It appears that they are 
 well disposed, and have asked for missionaries as some 
 other nations have also d6ne ; but we have not mission- 
 aries enough to satisfy all who ask. 
 
 * In 1736 Corpus Christi fell on the 3151 of May.
 
 86 
 
 It is a hard life, for, the missionary has to live in the 
 wild woods, this whole vast extent of country being but 
 forest land. The woods are the abode of serpents and 
 wild beasts of formidable size. Bread is unknown to the 
 country whither I am to go, and there is no possibility 
 of carrying flour on the journey, on account of the rapids 
 and falls. We must ascend the River Oyapok in canoes 
 hollowed out of the trunks of trees ; and were they not 
 made exceedingly light they could never be carried up 
 round the rapids. So you see that if we consider merely 
 the country, I have not lost much in not going to join our 
 dear Father Aulneau. It is here that my Canada will be. 
 The natives with whom I shall have to deal will be less 
 ferocious, it is true, but I shall be far from a friend dearly 
 loved, and who, I flatter myself, prizes my friendship in 
 return. God thus willed it, and may His Holy will be 
 done. 
 
 It will be a happiness for me to make known Jesus 
 Christ to nations who have never heard of Him. I shall 
 labor to this end as long as God blesses me with health 
 and strength. Pray that He may make me strong, and 
 that He may grant me all the graces necessary to work 
 for the sanctification of these poor Indians and for my 
 own. 
 
 When you write to Father Aulneau, do not fail to assure 
 him of my esteem and of the friendship I cherish for him. 
 Present my compliments to Michael. I shall have the 
 honor of writing to you whenever the opportunity pre- 
 sents itself, as you seem to desire it. Please let me hear 
 from you, and send me whatever news you receive from 
 your dear son. I shall be stationed but eighty leagues 
 from Kourou. 
 
 I have the honor, etc., 
 
 BESSOU, of the Society of Jesus, 
 
 Missionary in Caj'enne.
 
 87 
 No. 21, 
 
 (Translation.) 
 
 FATHER NICHOLAS DE CONNOR TO FATHER 
 
 REVEREND FATHER, P.C. 
 
 Several reasons have induced me to write you this 
 letter : First, to assure you that I have always borne for 
 your reverence an esteem bordering on veneration, and 
 that my respect and devotedness for you personally are 
 beyond expression. I have more than once reproached 
 myself with not having sooner given you some coken of 
 my sentiments in this respect, and for having deferred 
 the accomplishing of this duty. I wish now to express 
 my lasting gratitude for your kindness to me on many 
 occasions, especially while I was an inmate of the sem- 
 inary of Lu9on, which you governed for so long a time 
 with as much wisdom as success. 
 
 Another reason for writing you is to beg you to break 
 as gently as possible to Fathtr Aulneau's mother the 
 news of the death of her dear son, who, we have learnt 
 but lately, was massacred last May by a party of wan- 
 dering Indians, called the Sioux of the Prairies, while he 
 was journeying from his own to another mission, with 
 the intention of going to confession and of seeking advice 
 on troubles to which his extreme delicacy of conscience 
 had given rise. He is universally regretted by both the 
 members of the Society and by seculars, for he was uni- 
 versally esteemed. 
 
 Last year, he preached during the Carnival at Quebec, 
 to the great satisfaction of all, those who were not able 
 to attend forming their judgment of him from the testi- 
 mony of those who were present. The crowd who fol- 
 lowed eagerly his sermons were outspoken in their praise.
 
 88 
 
 Shortly after, he underwent his fourth year examination 
 in Theology with ease and all possible success. It was 
 then that he was named to take charge of the most remote 
 and consequently the hardest and the most utterly des- 
 titute of all human resources among the various missions 
 of Canada, so much so that during the preceding years 
 two or three persons had died there of hunger. 
 
 He felt a great repugnance for this post, as he would 
 have to go there alone, unaccompanied by any other 
 missionary, there being too few to spare two for each 
 mission, while some posts even were left vacant ; he 
 generously overcame this reluctance through zeal and a 
 love of obedience, much to the admiration of those who 
 knew how painful the sacrifice was ; those, on the con- 
 trary who were ignorant of it fancied that he was delight- 
 ed at the idea of discovering new regions. 
 
 In fine, Reverend Father, he was a true Jesuit and a 
 truly apostolic man. I can speak with more certainty on 
 this point than another, for, as you know, he was my 
 pupil. From his first landing in Canada we became 
 intimate friends, so that we had nothing hidden from each 
 other. I deeply deplore his loss both as a missionary and 
 as a friend. Everyone in the Mission is in great afflic 
 tion at his demise, but no one as much as myself. What 
 consoles me is the conviction that if God has cut short 
 his career it is the sooner to crown his apostolic virtues. 
 He even, it would seem, revealed to him that he would 
 soon receive the reward of his toil, for the Father wrote 
 to me but a fortnight before his death in these terms : 
 " Continue, my dear Father, to pray God for me and 
 recommend me to the Blessed Virgin ; I hope soon to 
 finish my course, but dread lest I finish it badly." 
 
 He was surprised with twenty other Frenchmen, but it 
 is not known how they were put to death. No premo- 
 nitory sign of distrust on the part of the Indians was
 
 89 
 
 noticed, nor were the victims tortured, as they are wont 
 to be when prisoners are taken in battle. It is conjec- 
 tured that they were surprised while asleep, and received 
 their death blow una wares . The heads of all were then 
 severed from the bodies. 
 
 It is said, however, that from the position in which the 
 Father's body was found he must have been on his knees 
 when he was decapitated, and one of the party who found 
 him took possession of his calotte, remarking that poor as 
 he was he would not part with it for a thousand crowns. 
 Though we entertain no do ubts of his eternal happiness^ 
 we trust nevertheless that you will give him the benefit 
 of the customary suffrages of the Society. 
 
 If you should yourself see the mother of the dear 
 departed, or if you sho uld write to her, I beg of you to 
 make her understand the share I bear with her in this- 
 deep affliction, and that my own grief is too great to 
 allow my offering her any consolation otherwise than by 
 beseeching the God of all comfort to bestow on her the 
 graces she stands in need of to bear the weight of so 
 heavy a blow. Allow me, Reverend Father, to close here, 
 for my distress overwhelms me. 
 
 I am, with the most profound respect, 
 
 Reverend Father, 
 Your most humble and most obedient servant, 
 
 DE CONNOR, Jesuit, 
 Missionary of the Hurons at N.-D. de Lorette. 
 
 Convey, I beg you, the assurance of my great respect 
 to all the Reverend Fathers of the Seminary, and in par- 
 ticular to Father Bonin, Father Moreau and Father Pillex,. 
 as I am told they are with you, without forgetting Father 
 Faure, if he be still there, as I am led to think. Kind 
 regards also to the regents and other gentlemen of the- 
 house. 
 
 (N.B. There is no date given, but the letter was evi- 
 dently written in the summer of 1736.)
 
 90 
 FATHER AULNEAU'S DEATH. 
 
 As wo have reached that point in the Aulneau Letters 
 -where the death of the saintly priest is recorded, it seems 
 ^advisable to gather under one heading all that is known 
 concerning the treacherous massacre which deprived the 
 newly discovered regions of the great West of their most 
 .promising missionary, and threw back for an indefinite 
 period the work of evangelizing the wandering tribes of 
 the prairies and of the wilds bordering on the extreme 
 western lakes. 
 
 All that Father Felix Martin, S.J., that indefatigable 
 laborer in the field of historical research, could glean, 
 thirty years ago, from various sources, is summed up in 
 the short account found on a stray sheet among his notes, 
 and which we here translate and place on record to save 
 it from oblivion : 
 
 " We are not in possession of the details relating to 
 Father Aulueau's family, education and vocation to the 
 religious life. 
 
 " He came to Canada in 1730*, and six years subsequent 
 to his arrival he was chosen to accompany an important 
 expedition of discovery westward, undertaken by Mon- 
 sieur de La Vranderie. The latter commanded a party 
 of twenty determined men, one of his own sous being 
 among the number. 
 
 " The explorers had reached the Lake of the Woods, 
 and had lauded on an island for their morning meal. 
 Their camping fires, however, betrayed their presence to 
 a band of Sioux warriors who were prowling about in the 
 neighborhood. 
 
 " These Indians, notorious for their cruelty and for the 
 implacable war they waged on all those who gave them 
 
 * The correct date of his arrival is, as we have seen, Aug. 12, 1734.
 
 91 
 
 umbrage, resolved to attack the French. They stealthily 
 landed on the island without attracting notice, and rushed 
 upon the explorers who were off their guard. Many were 
 pierced with arrows or were felled with the tomahawk. 
 Some sought safety in flight only to perish in the waves. 
 Father Aulneau, wounded by an arrow, fell upon his 
 knees, when an Indian coming up behind him dealt him 
 the death blow with his tomahawk. 
 
 "All the baggage was pillaged, but the Indians dared 
 not touch the body of the missionary. Three weeks 
 after the occurrence, a party of Indians of the Sault (Sau- 
 ieux), passing by the spot, found his body unmutilated. 
 Not being able to dig a grave for it, as the island was all 
 rock, they raised over the body a cairn one or two metres 
 in height. 
 
 " Mr. Belcourt, a missionary stationed at Peinbina, in 
 1843, visited the place and saw the tumulus. He gathered 
 on the very spot the tradition of the massacre from the 
 lips of an Indian whose father had helped to prepare a 
 sepulchre for the missionary." 
 
 Let us now add the only other existing versions of the 
 event, wherein we shall find some few interesting inci- 
 dents not mentioned in Father deGonnor's letter nor in 
 Father Martin's account. 
 
 Father Lafitau, the same who had passed so many 
 years at Sault St. Louis, writing from Paris to Father 
 General, April 4, 1738, gives the following account of 
 Father Aulneau's death : 
 
 . ." Quod attinet ad Patrem Petrum Aulneau nihil novi 
 praeterquam quod initio scriptum est. Secutus fuerat 
 praefectum militum quern prorex Novae Franciae prae- 
 posuerat ut iter aperiret ad Mare Occiduum ex hac parte 
 adhuc ignotum. Jamque pervenerat ad fontes fluvii 
 Mississipi, et ultra progressus, sed quia mos est istorum 
 lit suis w commodis plus quam communi bona vacent et
 
 92 
 
 inteuti sint, pulverem pyrium et alia id genus variis- 
 nationibus vendiderat. 
 
 Istae ofFeusae tali negotiationis genere hostibus profi- 
 cuo, occasionem sumpsere expeditionis cujusdam quam 
 praefectus destinarat filio suo expeditionis praeposito, 
 comite P. Aulneau, jam mortis suae praescio, uti ex litte- 
 ris suis constat. 
 
 Reipsa ipsos ex insidiis aggressi sunt barbari ac omnes 
 interemere. P. Petro Aulneau duobus pugionis ictibus 
 cofosso et capite amputate." 
 
 JOS. FR. IvAFlTAU, SJ. 
 
 Of this document, which is preserved in the archives 
 of the Gesil in Rome, we give the following translation : 
 
 " As to what relates to Father Aulneau, nothing more 
 has been learnt than what has already been written. He 
 had followed an officer whom the governor of New France 
 had commissioned to discover the way across the conti- 
 nent to the Western Ocean as yet unknown from this 
 side. He had reached the sources of the Mississippi and 
 had penetrated further west. But according to the custom 
 of adventurers of that class, who are alive to their own 
 interests which they consult rather than the common 
 weal, the party had, in barter, sold powder and other 
 munitions of war to the tribes they met with. 
 
 " Some of the Indians, incensed at this species of traffic 
 at which their enemies gained an advantage, took occa- 
 sion of an expedition this officer had planned and had 
 entrusted to his own son as leader, with Father Aul- 
 neau who had a presentiment of his death, as his letters 
 attest to accompany him. 
 
 " In fact, the savage band stole upon them unawares, 
 and slaughtered them all. Father Aulneau received two 
 thrusts of a knife, and was decapitated." 
 
 What might be called the official account of the mas- 
 sacre is preserved in the Archives Colonialesde la Marine,.
 
 93 
 
 Paris.* This we have had carefully copied, and we 
 append the following translation of it : 
 
 " Affair of the murder of 2 1 voyageurs which took place 
 at the Lake of the Woods, in the month of June, 1736. A 
 voyageur, Bourassa by name, relates that on June 3, 1736, 
 having set out the fifth (of the band) from Fort St. 
 Charles, at the Lake of the Woods, for Michilimakinac, 
 met the following morning, just as he was about to push 
 off from shore, thirty canoes manned by ninety or a hun- 
 dred warriors, who surrounded and disarmed him and 
 his companions, and plundered their stores. When they 
 had learnt from him that under the curtain* of Monsieur 
 de La Vrauderie's Fort there were five or six wigwams 
 of Cristinaux, against whom they had set out on the war- 
 path, they released him, and departed with the intention 
 of capturing the encampment. They told Bourassa, how- 
 ever, to wait for them, and at their return they would 
 restore his arms. This he did not think advisable to. do ; 
 on the contrary, he hurried to Michilimakinac, while the 
 Sioux, on their side, pushed on to Fort St. Charles, where 
 they failed to find the five wigwams of Cristinaux who 
 had decamped, so they retraced their steps. 
 
 " Meanwhile, twenty voyageurs, who had lately arrived 
 from Lake Alepimigon, were on their way to Michili- 
 makinac. At a day's journey from there (Lake Alepimi- 
 gon ?) they were met by that same band of Sioux, who 
 massacred them all. 
 
 " Among the slain were the young Sieur de La Veran- 
 derie and Father Aulneau, the missiouaiy. 
 
 " Their bodies were discovered and identified by a 
 party of Frenchmen who passed by the same place a few 
 days later. Their heads had been placed on robes of 
 
 * Nouvelle France, Vol. 16. Postes des pays de 1'ouest, 1679-1759, C 
 i, Fol. 189. 
 
 * The curtain is the line of enclosure between two bastions.
 
 94 
 
 beaver skin, and most of them with the scalp missing. 
 The missionary was kneeling on one knee, an arrow in 
 his side, a gaping wound in the breast, his left hand rest- 
 ing on the ground and his right hand raised. The Sieur 
 La Vranderie was stretched on the ground, face down- 
 wards, his back all hacked with a knife; there was a large 
 opening in his loins, and his headless trunk was decked 
 out with garters and bracelets of pocupine quill. 
 
 " It will be only this year that we shall be in possession 
 of the other particulars of this unfortunate affair. 
 
 " Some are of opinion that the Indians wished to wreak 
 their vengeance more particularly on young La V6rande- 
 rie, the son, who two years before had joined a war party 
 of Cristinaux against the Sioux. It would appear that in 
 the council he had been proclaimed leader. Be that as 
 it may, the young man had desisted and had not taken 
 part in the hostilities . 
 
 "According to Bourassa, the bulk of the attacking 
 party was composed of the Prairie Sioux, of some Sioux 
 of the Lakes and of Monsieur de La Ronde's post. The 
 latter appeared well disposed towards the French ; per- 
 haps they were overruled in the affair of the Sieur de La 
 Veranderie's murder. If the Sioux of the lakes conspired 
 with the Sioux of the Prairies to shoot the French, then 
 there is much to be feared for the Sieur St. Pierre who is 
 commandant at the post of the Sioux.* The Sioux nations 
 are the fiercest of all the native tribes. They have been 
 from time immemorial at war with the Cristinaux and 
 the Assiniboels. These latter were originally from the 
 same stock ; they speak very nearly the same language, 
 and yet they are irreconcilable enemies. A circum- 
 stance which the same Bourassa reports is that the Sioux 
 
 Fort Bcauharnois, situated on Lake Pepin, about forty miles southeast 
 of the present city of St. Paul, where Father Guignas was missionary and 
 chaplain.
 
 95 
 
 complained to him that the French supplied the Cristi- 
 nauxwith arms and ammunition. The Cristinaux might 
 as well complain of the French furnishing the Sioux with, 
 ammunition. 
 
 " The Sieur de La Vranderie writes that, grief-stricken- 
 at the loss of his sou, he intends placing himself at the 
 head of the Cristinaux and Assiniboels, and of marching 
 against the Sioux (an extreme measure and not to be 
 recommended). He would do better to agree to give up - 
 his post of the Western Sea, or have another officer 
 appointed to relieve the Sieur de La V6randerie, who - 
 could undertake the task of conciliating all the tribes." 
 
 The distance, even from the most western missions to 
 the scene of the massacre, was so great, and commun- 
 ications so often interrupted, that fully three years after 
 the disaster of the Lake of the Woods, the foregoing 
 meagre accounts received but slight amplification. In 
 1739, Father Du Jaunay, writing from Michilimakinac to 
 Madame Aulneau,* had little to add. "Concerning the 
 circumstances accompanying the death of your dear son," 
 he tells her, " here is what I have learnt from hearsay, 
 and some of my sources of information seem trustworthy. 
 
 " Iti the first place, the majority of the Indians impli- 
 cated were averse to putting him to death. In the 
 second place, it was through sheer bravado that a crazy- 
 brained Indian set at naught the consequences which 
 held the others in awe. 
 
 " A third particular I have gathered is that scarcely 
 had the deed been perpetrated than a deafening clap of 
 thunder struck terror into the whole band. They fled 
 the spot, believing that Heaven was incensed at what 
 they had done. 
 
 " Finally, that the portable chapelt and, namely, the 
 
 No. ag of the Collection. 
 
 t I.e., the small altar stone, sacred vessels and vestments, with whatever 
 else that is necessary for saying Mass while on the missions.
 
 96 
 
 chalice, which was plundered, had fallen into the hands 
 of a widowed squaw who had several grown-up sons, the 
 pride and wealth of the tribe. In a remarkably shoit 
 lapse of time, all or nearly all of them perished in her 
 sight. This she ascribed to the chalice, which her sons 
 had given her ; so she rid herself of it by throwing it 
 into a river. 
 
 "This," concludes Father Du Jaunay, "is all I have 
 been able to gather from the various accounts of the 
 Indians. I met here with a native, who claimed to be a 
 Sioux and to have been present at the massacre ; but on 
 being warned that he was an impostor, I did not think it 
 proper to question him, trusting to time to throw more 
 light on the occurrence." 
 
 But more than a century and a half have added little or 
 nothing to our knowledge of the main incidents of Fat .her 
 Aulneau's death.
 
 97 
 
 No. 22. 
 
 (Translation.) 
 
 FATHER BESSOU TO MADAME AULNEAU. 
 From above the Falls of Oyapok Cayenne, S.A). 
 
 April i, 1737. 
 Madam, 
 
 Lest I should fail in the promise I made of letting you 
 hear from me, I now write in anticipation of the arrival of 
 the King's vessels. I have not much to tell you. I have 
 made but little progress in the language of the Pririous. 
 It is difficult to learn. I have no helps, and but little hope 
 of any in prospect, for in all the neighborhood there is 
 but one slave who knows their language and who under- 
 stands a little French and what means have I of secur- 
 ing his services ? They do not lend slaves without remu- 
 neration here. Meanwhile, I see with sorrow men die 
 around me without being able in any way to help them 
 to save their souls. It would be far more consoling if all 
 those who die were little children, for then I could ad- 
 minister Holy Baptism. I have baptized four already, 
 but as for the adults I can do nothing for them, nor shall I 
 be able to succor them for a long time to come. 
 
 Our Indians speak with great volubility, in a low tone, 
 and indistinctly, without articulating all the syllables of 
 their words. Just as soon as my state of health allowed 
 me, I began to compile a dictionary of their language. 
 A dictionary of the jargon Galibi which I brought with 
 me was of great assistance in the work. I have already 
 set down a great number of words, but am not very far 
 advanced for all that. What must be learnt next is the 
 way they put their words together in speaking, for most 
 of them do not understand unless the words are arranged 
 in the phrase after their own fashion. This is not to be 
 7
 
 98 
 
 wondered at, as they are very stupid and incapable of re- 
 flection. Moreover, their profound ignorance of whatever 
 may be said to them concerning our holy religion is of 
 itself enough to prevent them from understanding. Con- 
 sequently, it often happens that they tell us that they 
 easily catch the words but do not comprehend our mean- 
 ing. 
 
 There are about one hundred and fifty gathered togeth- 
 er where I am, and fully one hundred more in the neigh- 
 borhood. They all flocked in to the place of the mission, 
 and when I arrived I was surprised to see so large a num- 
 ber. They generally remain scattered, with the end, I 
 fancy, of avoiding quarrels which might arise amongst 
 themselves. We endeavor to bring them together, and 
 it is even necessary to do so, not only that we may teach 
 them Christianity, but also to see what passes among them, 
 and to prevent them from having recourse to Pyages in 
 whom they have great confidence. 
 
 These Pyages teach them that it is the devil who sends 
 them sickness, and that they have the power of keeping 
 him away: They are much respected among the natives, 
 and this will prove one of the greatest obstacles to their 
 conversion. Although the Pyages do not succeed in cur 
 ing them, they are infatuated with them, and especially 
 the women. 
 
 I have already passed seven months among the Indians. 
 Before reaching them I encountered many perils in my 
 journey from Cayenne to Oyapok- 
 
 Our voyage lasted eight days, though we had but forty 
 leagues of sea to traverse. Not later than the second 
 night after setting out we lost our anchor, and on the mor- 
 row our helm, precisely when we stood most in need of it, 
 for there remained ten leagues of a rough sea to cross. 
 The Indians who accompanied us made a new helm after 
 the Indian fashion, but it was so unserviceable that we
 
 99 
 
 were borne to and fro on the billows very much the same 
 as if we had no rudder. Several times the waves break- 
 ing over our canoe filled it, and we were on the point of 
 foundering had not about twenty of our Indians jumped 
 into the sea to lighten it and to hold the bow to wind- 
 ward. They are such expert swimmers that they man- 
 aged to accomplish this feat and give time to the others to 
 bail out our boat. 
 
 We finally reached Fort Oyapok on the eighth day. 
 Father Fauque, with whom I had made this unpleasant 
 voyage, wished to keep me with him at Oyapok for a few 
 days. It was providential that I remained over, for, two 
 weeks after I was taken down with a continuous and ever 
 increasing fever. I thought fora while that I had reached 
 the term of all my jourueyings, but our Lord deigned to 
 restore me partially to health. 
 
 I left on August ist for my mission, which is about 
 thirty leagues from Fort Oyapok. I reached it in three 
 days in spite of the falls of this river which are frightful. 
 I am incapable of giving you an adequate idea of these 
 barriers to navigation. For any other but the natives of 
 the country it would have taken much longer to accom- 
 plish the journey. They are broken to this work, and are 
 marvelously skillful in hoisting the canoes over the rocks. 
 
 At night we camped in the woods, and luckily we had 
 no rain. It would not have been an additional comfort 
 in the condition in whichljound myself. I had just 
 risen from a bed of sickness, and was suffering from a 
 light attack of slow fever which held me for a good two 
 months in a state of great weakness. 
 
 Thank God I have recovered my health. Beg our 
 Lord to give me the grace of making Him known to these 
 poor Indians, for whom He shed the last drop of His. 
 blood. 
 
 Present my respects, I pray you, to M. l'Abb Aluneau,,
 
 100 
 
 aud with more warmth even to Father Aulneau when you 
 write to him in Canada. I still cherish for him a whole- 
 souled friendship. The distance which separates us has 
 diminished it in nothing. I hope through the mercy of 
 my Saviour to meet him in heaven, if we are to be depriv- 
 ed of the pleasure of meeting here on earth. 
 I have the honor to be with profound respect, 
 
 Madam, 
 Your most humble and obedient servant, 
 
 BESSOU, Jesuit 
 
 No. 23. 
 
 This letter, dated Poitiers, Sept. 18,1737, from Father 
 Magra, who was preparing for the foreign missions, to 
 Madame Aulneau, contains no items of interest for the 
 general reader. 
 
 No. 24. 
 
 ( Translation) 
 
 FATHER BESSOU TO MADAME 
 Address : Madame de la Touche Aulueau, veuve, au 
 Moutier sur Lay, pres Lncon en Bas Poitou. 
 
 KOUROU, May 16, 1738. 
 MADAM, 
 
 The three letters you did me the honor to write 
 January 18, November 9 and December 26, 1737, reached 
 me safely. They gave me great pleasure. I was much 
 edified at the generous way in which you received the 
 news of the death of my dear friend, your son. The 
 sacrifice you made on this occasion, by raising you above 
 mere natural sentiment, is more than creditable and 
 does honor to your Christian character and to your 
 virtue. That you should have wept is praiseworthy, when
 
 101 
 
 the tears you shed were those of joy and tender affection 
 at the death of a dearly beloved son who so well deserved 
 this appellation. Th e nature of his death would admit of 
 your shedding no others. Our greatest comfort in this 
 here avement is the well grounded hope that at home in 
 God's glory he will not forget us here below. 
 
 I am never so grateful for the m any expressions of 
 kindness contained in your letters. If ever the occasion 
 present itself of showing you my gratitude, I shall 
 eagerly take advantage of it. Accept at least the expres- 
 sion of my good will, and dome the favor of believing 
 in it implicitly. Do not tire praying our I/ord for me. 
 For my part, rest assured that I shall not forget you. 
 
 I have heard with satisfaction that our Father General 
 has made you a participant in the good works of the 
 Society. This affiliation gives me a new claim on your 
 prayirs and meritorious deeds ; and what you did before 
 for me through a motive of charity you owe me now, if I 
 may so express myself, through a motive of justice. 
 
 Since you are pleased to listen to what concerns me, I 
 shall set about giving you some of my news. I owe you 
 this on account of the interest you take in whatever 
 relates to our missions. 
 
 This year they are on the point of establishing three. 
 Our Superiors have destined me for one. They have 
 appointed Father Dayma to the mission of SI. Paul des 
 Saults, in the Oyapok district, where I left him when I set 
 out from Cayenne. Along the Upper Oyapok, extending 
 inland, are a great many Indians of different tribes. But as 
 we intend to proceed step by step, we shall work to bring 
 about the conversion of all these natives by means of 
 those established along the banks of the river. Here are 
 the names of some of the native tribes : The Aquoquas, 
 the Ouages or, as they are called by some, the Ouaris, 
 the Taroupis and the Coussanis. The French and even
 
 102 
 
 the Indians accuse the latter of eating human flesh. It is 
 certain that the Coussanis have the reputation of being 
 more ferocious than the other tribes who are in closer 
 relations with the French. I noticed this myself when I 
 made a journey into their country with Father Fauque, 
 one of our missionaries. Of all the tribes settled along 
 the Oyapok they are the furthest from the coast, and live 
 not very far from the sources of the river. 
 
 We ascended another stream, the Ramopi ; it is not in- 
 considerable, and flows into the Oyapok at a point about 
 three days journey for St. Paul's mission. We paid a 
 visit also to the Ouages, who dwell near its upper waters. 
 We met on our way a party of Taroupis and Aquoquas, 
 but their band was not numerous. Their villages are 
 situated far up a number of little tributary streams 
 impassable for our canoes. All the Indians we met, and 
 they did not exceed in number five hundred, seemed well 
 disposed and ready to settle in the spot chosen for the 
 permanent mission, were we to take them at their word 
 Unfortunately, their fickle character leads me to think 
 that it will take a long time to bring them together in 
 spite of their promises. 
 
 Pray God that they may persevere in their present favor- 
 able mood, for they are to be pitied beyond measure . 
 They do not seem to have the least idea of God, nor do 
 they know what religion means. They are just like so 
 many brute beasts, and their own idea is that they differ 
 from the animal by their form only. They are wholly 
 engrossed in the present, and have no thought and 
 no fear of a future . Without my dwelling longer on 
 this topic, you can already form a correct estimate 
 of the satisfaction one may have in living among 
 such beings. But however degraded and stupid they may 
 be, a God shed His blood for their salvation. What a 
 happiness, if, sustained by divine grace, our Lord should
 
 103 
 
 design to make use of me for the conversion of these 
 poor unfortunate beings ! I do not despair of their con- 
 version. Those who are gathered around St. Paul's 
 mission were as barbarous as any of the others. They 
 are beginning to be tamed, and a large proportion of the 
 three hundred seemed to be inclined to become Christians. 
 We instruct them, and they retain pretty well our lessons 
 in the Christian doctrine ; but as we have to explain 
 things of which they have had no conception, they as yet 
 understand but little of the lessons imparted. We must 
 hope that through God's mercy this understanding will 
 come with time. This year we were counting upon 
 baptizing a good number. I recommend them to your 
 prayers. 
 
 Dear Michael's letter, which you enclosed tome, was a 
 source of real pleasure. I am delighted at his choice, for 
 he has entered a congregation highly estimable on many 
 accounts. I congratulate you and I congratulate him for 
 having chosen so well. Now you must be happy, for 
 your youngest son has consecrated himself to God in 
 fulfilment of your desires. This is another added to the 
 sacrifices you have made to God. It is not often we see 
 a family nearly all of whose members have devoted them- 
 selves to the service of God. How consoling it must be 
 for you to see the holy education you have given to your 
 children bear such fruit ! I congratulate myself on having 
 some share in the thoughts of a family singled out by 
 Heaven for such blessings. I rely on your continuing to 
 beg of God forme the graces I need to serve Him faith- 
 fully. My respects, I pray you, to your dear religieuse, 
 I have the honor to be very devotedly, Madam, 
 
 Your most humble and most obedient servant, 
 
 BESSOU, J.
 
 104 
 
 No. 25. 
 
 (Translation. 
 FATHER PIERRE DU JAUNAY TO MADAME AULNEAU. 
 
 Address : A mon Rvrend Pere Le R. P. Recteur du 
 College dela Cotnpagnie de Jesus, a Fontenay, pour faire 
 tenir a Madame la Veuve Aulneau, Par Fontenay. 
 MADAM, 
 
 I beg you henceforth to look upon me as a son of yours, 
 and as such to honor me with an interchange of letters, 
 just as you would have written to him if God had not 
 taken him from you. I am endeavoring to find out with 
 some degree of certainty and with full particulars the cir- 
 cumstances of his death, and I hope that by next year I 
 shall be able to communicate them to you. I send you 
 the calotte he wore when he met with that precious 
 death, at least I shall beg our Fathers at Quebec, to be 
 sure to send it to you. The sentiments redolent of tender 
 piety contained in all your letters edify me beyond 
 expression. I shall never forget that last interview you 
 had with Father Aulneau, your dear sou, and which you 
 were kind enough to describe for me . Heaven grant that 
 one day his dear brother, a Jesuit like himself, may fol- 
 low him to the missions, but not to so early a death, for 
 we are in too great need here of good laborers. 
 
 In union with your fervent prayers, I have the honor 
 to be, madam, 
 
 Your very humble and very obedient servant, 
 
 P. DU JAUNAY, 
 Missionary of the Society of Jesus. 
 
 MlCHILIMAKINA, Aug. 21, 1738.
 
 105 
 No. 26. 
 
 FATHER Luc FRANCOIS NAU TO MADAM AULNEAU. 
 
 Address: Mademoiselle de la Touche Aulneau, aux 
 Moutiers sur le Nay. 
 
 MADAM AND VERY DEAR MOTHER, 
 
 I am at a loss to know in what spirit you received the 
 letter I had the honor of writing you last year, and whe- 
 ther you might not have detected a vein of bitterness 
 lurking in some of the expressions used. I acknowledge 
 that I was wrong in wishing to place you on the defen- 
 sive, though I did not think that I deserved the suspicions 
 you seemed to have concerning me. It was for me to re- 
 ceive the reproof and not for me to administer it. I should 
 have seen that your letter was dictated by a mother's 
 heart, which is always apprehensive lest her children feel 
 not as she does. Be this as it may, my dear mother, if 
 any inconsiderate word should have escaped me, I beg 
 you to accept my very humble apology, and I pray you 
 attribute it wholly to my wish of conveying to you the 
 sentiments of esteem and filial affection which I have al- 
 ways had in the past and shall ever have for you. I 
 should be inconsolable were I conscious of having wound- 
 ed you in any way. 
 
 I have not yet received the letters I am expecting from 
 France ; Father de la Bretonuiere, who is at Quebec, will 
 certainly bring them with him, but it will be too late for 
 me to answer them before the sailing of the ships. I have 
 no doubt but that you have written to me ; and if your 
 letter is not already at hand, I can find fault with the care- 
 lessness of my companion only, who forgets that by All 
 Saints Day there will be no time left to write to France. 
 So, my dear mother.it is impossible for me now to answer 
 what you may have written. Perhaps you have asked.
 
 10G 
 
 Tiie some little service that I can render next year only, 
 for I am not able to deviue your requests. 
 
 At all events, I am sure that you will be glad if I speak 
 ofour beloved martyr. His memory is held in benediction 
 throughout the colony. He is invoked here as a power- 
 ful intercessor with God, and a great many persons affirm 
 that they have received signal graces through his inter- 
 cession. For myself in particular, I assure you that I 
 have never invoked my holy friend without obtaining 
 what I asked for. What a glorious privilege for you to 
 have been the mother of a saint ! and what a consolation 
 for us both to count on such a protector in heaven ! 
 
 A party of Frenchmen had captured last autumn the 
 murderer of our dear Father Aulneau, and intended to 
 bring him to the French settlements to make him uuder- 
 go the penalty he so well deserved ; but God reserved to 
 Himself the punishment of his crime, not wishing that a 
 death so precious in His sight should be avenged by men. 
 Other heathen tribes rescued the Sioux prisoners from the 
 hands of the French and sent them back to their homes. 
 
 Do not let the tardy delivery of your letter this year pre 
 vent your writing to me next year. And since you wish 
 me to address you with all the freedom of a son who 
 writes to a mother he cherishes and by whom he is cher- 
 ished in return, allow me to lay bare to you my trifling 
 needs. In our missions, beads and other objects of devo- 
 tion are a great help when we wish to encourage the In- 
 dians to listen to us and to draw profit from our instruc- 
 tions. Could you not, through your dear daughter, the 
 nun at Fontenay, have a little package of devotional ar- 
 ticles, such as are constantly being made ia religious com- 
 munities, put by for me ? Father Bonin will see that 
 everything that you would be kind enough to send 
 reaches me safely, and you would thereby have a share 
 in the good done among our Indians.
 
 107 
 
 Every day I recommend you to our Lord , and I beg that 
 you ask Him earnestly for my conversion. 
 
 I have the honor to remain most affectionately and res- 
 pectfully, madam and kind mother, your very humble 
 and obedient servant, 
 
 F. NAD, of the Soc. of Jesus. 
 
 SAUI/T ST. LOUIS, Oct. 10, 1738. 
 
 No. 27. 
 
 ( Translation.) 
 REVEREND FATHER PIERRE DE LAUZON TO MADAM 
 
 AULNEAU. 
 
 MADAM, 
 
 It is with feelings of profound gratitude that I now an- 
 swer the courteous letter you did me the honor to write 
 to me this year. I am all the more truly sensible of the 
 marks of deference and respect you lavish on me, as I 
 have done nothing to deserve them- It is true, I should 
 like to have an opportunity of showing you how much I 
 honor you 
 
 The death of your dear son, so precious in God's sight, 
 and which has made him a martyr of his zeal and charity, 
 redounds greatly to your credit, owing to the generous 
 way in which you offered the sacrifice of it to God. This 
 alone, Madam, fills me with feelings of respect for you, 
 which I cannot easily convey in terms. All my life, con- 
 sequently, I shall entertain for you a well-grounded and 
 most sincere esteem, and that, to all appearances, without 
 the hope of ever meeting you save in heaven ; but there, 
 at least, through God's mercy, I trust I shall become well 
 acquainted with you. 
 
 From esteem it will be allowed me to pass to real at- 
 tachment. It is even a duty for me now, since, I should
 
 108 
 
 look upon you as a sister from the moment you were as- 
 sociated with the children of St. Ignatius. You deserved 
 too well that privilege for Reverend Father General not 
 to have granted it with alacrity and joy. 
 
 1 send you, madam, something you will receive with 
 great satisfaction and veneration : it is the calotte that 
 our much beloved Father Aulneau wore when he was 
 massacred. This is all that Father Du Jaunay has sent 
 me. The French and Canadians wished to keep for 
 themselves all else that belonged to him. I must add r 
 and you must needs, madam, acquiesce, I do not send it to 
 you entire, I have cut out of it a little scrap for myself, 
 and I shall treasure it up carefully. 
 
 I address the package, together with my letter, to Father 
 Bonin, to secure its faithful delivery. I recommend my- 
 self to your holy and fervent prayers, and I assure you I 
 will not forget you in mine. 
 
 I have the honor to be, madam, -with the most profound 
 respect and esteem, 
 
 Vour very humble and obedient servant, 
 
 DE LAUZON, Jesuit. 
 
 QUEBEC, Oct. 26, 1738. 
 
 No. 28. 
 
 (Translation). 
 
 FATHER NICOLAS DEGONNOR TO MADAM AULNEAU. 
 Address : Madame de la Touche Aulneau, Veuve, aux 
 Moutiers sur le Hay. 
 
 MADAM, 
 
 It was with the greatest pleasure I received the letter 
 you did me the honor to write. There was but one thing 
 in it which did not gratify me, I mean the praise it con- 
 tained to my address, for I do not deserve it, and your 
 attributing virtues to me which I do not possess. On.
 
 109 
 
 second thoughts, I conclude that I may take it all as a 
 kindly admonition given me, as God inspired you ; and I 
 purpose hereafter, by becoming with God's help what you 
 fancy I am, to deserve the favorable consideration in 
 which you hold me. 
 
 I have now to inform you that through God's holy will 
 that I have come back across the seas to be treated for a 
 serious infirmity. I shall return next year to join once 
 more my dear neophytes. It is now ten days since I 
 landed at L,a Rochelle. Had the transaction of some 
 business with which my superiors charged me allowed, I 
 should have gone to L/ugon, and even as far as Moutiers. 
 But what is deferred may yet be. 
 
 I am starting for Bordeaux, where I am to receive 
 medical treatment. I shall remain there until very near 
 the time I am to sail. I send you everything our Father 
 Superior gave me for you. It was addressed to Father 
 Bonin, but as he is no longer at Lu9on, I have addressed 
 it, as you desired, to the Superior of the Seminary. I 
 am delighted at the act of justice done you by Reverend 
 Father General. I recommend myself earnestly to your 
 holy prayers, assuring you that you will not be forgotten 
 in mine, and beg to remain, 
 
 Most honored and dear Madam, most respectfully and 
 most devotedly 
 
 Your very obedient servant, 
 
 DEGONNOR, Jesuit. 
 X,A ROCHELLE, Dec. 23rd, 1738. 
 
 (P.S.) I am greatly obliged to you for the offers of your 
 kind services . I do not stand in need, thank God and 
 the charity of my superiors, of anything myself; but if 
 you wish to contribute any sum for the adornment of our 
 Church or for the relief of the poor of our mission, I sh^all 
 accept it ; and, conformably to what you write me, I 
 shall let you knowhow to address your charities ; at all
 
 110 
 
 events, let it be understood that you are not to put your- 
 self to the least inconvenience in the matter. 
 
 No. 29. 
 
 FATHER PIERRE DU JAUNAY TO MADAM AUI<NEAU. 
 MADAM AND VERY DEAR MOTHER, 
 
 It is late at night and a dark one that I set about 
 answering your very gracious letter of the 6th of March 
 last, but which I received only yesterday evening late. 
 As this is the last opportunity I shall have this season, 
 and as the bearer leaves in the morning, I prefer curtail - 
 ing my sleep, though it is not altogether unneeded, than 
 to be wanting in my duty as a son and not show you 
 some mark of the lively gratitude I feel at your having 
 adopted and substituted me for your illustrious and dear 
 departed Father Aulneau ; I shall do more, for after the 
 opening you gave me I shall write to the one who is now 
 my dear brother by a two -fold title, I mean to the other 
 Father Aulneau, your second son, the Jesuit. I shall 
 leave nothing unsaid to induce him to join <ne out here 
 on the mission ; so that, if Providence so ordains, we may 
 go forward together, following in the Wood-stained foot- 
 prints of our dear brother, to conquer those sedentary 
 tribes he was in quest of, and which were discovered this 
 very year. It would not be, I know, without bright 
 prospects of an abundant harvest of souls. 
 
 Help me, I beseech you, in this project, which to your 
 great advantage will make of us either apostles or mar- 
 tyrs, and perhaps both. 
 
 Concerning the circumstances accompanying the death 
 of your son, here is what I have learnt from hearsay, and 
 some of my sources of information seem trustworthy. 
 
 In the first place, the majority of the Indians implicated
 
 Ill 
 
 were averse to putting him to death. In the second 
 place, it was through sheer bravado that a crazy-brained 
 Indian set at naught the consequences which held the 
 others in awe. 
 
 A third particular I have gathered is that scarcely had 
 the deed been perpetrated than a deafening peel of thun- 
 der struck terror into the whole band. They fled the 
 spot, believing that Heaven was incensed at what they 
 had done. 
 
 Finally, that the portable chapel, and, specifically, the 
 chalice which was plundered, had fallen into the hands 
 of a widowed squaw who had several grown up sons, the 
 pride and wealth of the tribe. In a remarkably short 
 lapse of time, all or nearly all of them perished in her 
 sight. This she ascribed to the Chalice which her sons 
 had given her, so she rid herself of it by throwing it into 
 a river. 
 
 This is all I have been able to gather from various 
 accounts of the Indians. I met here with a native, who 
 claimed to be a Sioux, and to have been present at the 
 massacre ; but on being warned that he was an imposter, 
 I did not think it proper to question him, trusting to time 
 to throw more light on the occurrence. 
 
 As for what concerns myself, the subject is so unwor- 
 thy in every way that I cannot bring myself to speak of 
 so loathsome a being. Do not expect anything from me 
 on this score. It would require measureless efforts and 
 whole peoples converted to Jesus Christ to cloak the 
 malice and disgrace of but one of the sins of which I am 
 guilty in God's sight, and I am all indolence and pusilla- 
 nimity, a useless burden which the earth bears with 
 reluctance and indignation. Let this avowal, I beseech 
 you, excite your commiseration and pity, and make you 
 more ardent than ever in praying God for me and for the 
 forlorn tribes committed to my care.
 
 112 . 
 
 Thanks for the alms you wish to give me. Through 
 the great mercy of God and the more than maternal care 
 -of our dear mother, the Society, I stand in need of 
 nothing. Assuredly I would sometimes wish for millions 
 to induce these poor Indians around me who are always 
 on the move, to adopt more sedentary habits. I really 
 believe if they once settled down they could be brought 
 to cling firmly to the faith. Meanwhile, and until, at 
 God's inspiration, it pleases our King or some great per- 
 sonage endowed with the qualities of the mind and 
 worldly wealth to show his munificence, it will be for you 
 and me to send up our supplications from the foot of 
 God's altars, and for me to rescue here a soul and there a 
 household, now an infant and again a dying adult. It is 
 even so with the affairs of God, and I would be happy if 
 I devoted myself with fervor and fidelity to the accom- 
 plishment of such trifling labors. I have the honor to 
 remain with all filial affection and respect, madam and 
 most kind mother, 
 
 Your most humble and obedient servant, 
 
 P. DUjAUNAY, 
 
 Missionary of the Society of Jesus. 
 -MiCHiUMAKiNA, Sept. 28, 1739.
 
 113 
 
 No. 30. 
 
 ( Translation.) 
 FATHER Luc FRANCOIS NAU TO MADAME AULNEAU. 
 
 MADEMOISELLE, DEAR MOTHER AND SISTER IN JESUS 
 CHRIST, 
 
 I received the lengthy and gracious letter you did me 
 the honor and pleasure to write to me this year, and with 
 it the box of beads and other objects of devotion which 
 your charity prompted you to send ; but they reached 
 their destination only after I had written and despatched 
 my letters to France. Father De La Bretonniere was the 
 cause of this delay. He had gone down to Quebec to 
 purchase supplies for our mission, and from among the 
 things sent from France he picked out all that was 
 addressed to me to make sure of its safe delivery ; but he 
 came back to Sault St. Louis only after the departure of 
 the ships. He might have risked sending me on imme- 
 diately my letters, to give me an opportunity of answering 
 them. His excess of precaution was no gain for me, and 
 I bear him a little grudge, since it must have caused you 
 some anxiety. Don't mind now, my dear mother ; God 
 in His goodness, who knows my needs, ordained that I 
 should not be deprived of the outcome of your charity. 
 
 You desire me to make a candid statement of my 
 wants so as to supply them as best you can- I did not 
 need this new proof of your kindness of heart to be 
 assured that I have found in you an affectionate, sympa- 
 thizing, beneficent, generous, in a word, the best of 
 mothers. I see also that you ate convinced that I har- 
 bor for you in return all the sentiments of esteem, grati- 
 tude, respect, friendship and affection which a son whose 
 heart is in the right place should entertain for such a 
 8
 
 114 
 
 mother. I have told you this over and over again, and I 
 think that it is not necessary to come back on it. 
 
 As for my personal wants, I assure you that I am abund- 
 antly provided with everything a man in my vocation 
 could desire. If the good God did not send me other 
 crosses, I might well fear that the comforts of life would 
 prove detrimental to my salvation. Consequently, I ask 
 nothing for myself, as I am in need of nothing. But it is 
 not so with my poor Indians, who stand in need of every- 
 thing. I shall not be backward in begging for them, and 
 charity in their behalf is never ill-advised. The beads 
 and devotional articles that you have thus far sent 
 have brought joy to the hearts of my poor Iroquois 
 Whenever I distribute them, I make the recipients pro- 
 mise to pray for the one who in her charity helps them, 
 and they never fail to do so. So you see, my dear mother, 
 what an advantage it is for you to send them beads. My 
 only recommendation, with regard to these beads, is that 
 they be of six decades, and that the wire chain they are 
 strung on be stronger. They have learnt here how to 
 make scapulars, so that hereafter you need not send so 
 many ; but you might increase in proportion the number 
 of beads and little crucifixes. 
 
 You have given me to understand that you would like 
 to know what is being done here in Canada. I shall en- 
 deavor to satisfy you in a few words, for the messenger 
 who is to convey my letter to Quebec is hurrying me, and 
 it is the last chance I shall have this year. 
 
 The Sioux, who so ruthlessly massacred our beloved 
 and amiable J. P. [Aulneau], have since then been so often 
 defeated by the French that they have finally sued for 
 peace. This has been concluded with them, as it is feared 
 that we shall soon have war with our neighbors, the 
 English. 
 
 M . de La Vrandrie has discovered a numerous nation
 
 115 
 
 of pale-faced Indians thirty leagues from Fort St. Charles. 
 Had it not been for the death of our dear martyr, these 
 Indians, whom he is said to have met with during his 
 expeditions, would already have received the light of the 
 Gospel, for they are very gentle and amenable to reason. 
 
 An inexhaustible mine of copper has been discovered 
 on the shores of Lake Superior, seven hundred leagues, 
 from here ; but the profits will never be very great, owing 
 to the immense expense of transporting the copper. 
 
 The iron mines between Quebec and Montreal are more 
 profitable, and begin to give good returns. 
 
 This last spring we sent out an army against the Chi- 
 cachias, who three years ago burnt to death Father 
 Senat.* Father de I/a Bretonniere accompanied (as. 
 chaplain) the three hundred Iroquois warriors of this vil- 
 lage who take part in the war. Since then I have been 
 alone in this mission, burdened with an inconceivable 
 amount of work. Moreover, during a part of the sum- 
 mer, I was suffering from gout, while there were a number 
 of sick persons to visit in the village. Not being able to 
 walk, I was carried on a stretcher when I had to adminis- 
 ter the Sacraments. I have not recovered altogether yet. 
 Should the same amount of work continue for any/ 
 great length of time, I could not hold out- About the 
 feast of All-Saints I shall have assistance. Reverend 
 Father De Lauzon, who is no longer Superior of the Mis^ 
 sion, will come and resume his old position of Missionary 
 of Sault St. Louis. 
 
 Father Bonin has written to me, giving me full particu- 
 lars of the tribulations of our Fathers at Lugon It is a 
 privilege of the Society to be persecuted ; but I think this 
 is only a passing squall, which will soon expend itself 
 when the new Bishop who is not yet acquainted with 
 Ours begins to know us. 
 
 * See " Lettres Kdiflantes " for an account of his death,
 
 116 
 
 I congratulate you with all my teart, and I rejoice also 
 for the Society at the fact that Reverend Father General 
 has sent you letters of affiliation. It is an additional 
 reason for me to remain with all the consideration, affec- 
 tion, devotedness and friendship possible, 
 
 My dear Mother and Sister in the Lord, 
 Your very humble and obedient servant, 
 
 NAU, of the Society of Jesus- 
 SAULT ST. Louis, Dec. 12, 1739. 
 
 No. 31. 
 
 ( l^ranslation . ) 
 "FATHER NICOLAS DEGONNOR TO MADAME AUI,NEAU. 
 
 "MADAM, 
 
 I beg you to excuse me for not having written before 
 my departure from France. It was certainly my intention 
 not to say my duty for many reasons, and more espe- 
 cially to testify my gratitude for the very great and very 
 delicate attentions received from you. When I reached 
 I/a Rochelle after leaving your home, I found five of our 
 missionaries awaiting me with impatience to have their 
 things put in order, as they did not know how to go about 
 it. Their difficulty was increased by the fact that our com- 
 missioner was a new hand, who had everything to learn, 
 and who was just as anxious to see me about the prepara- 
 tions to make. After these preliminaries I had to accom- 
 pany the missionaries to Rochefort, to see the Intendant 
 and the Commander of the ship, a necessary ceremony 
 for them. Scarcely had I them well off my hands when 
 received instructions to get ready myself for embarking. 
 In a word, I was much put about. And this is the only 
 reason for not doing what I should otherwise have done 
 out of consideration for you.
 
 117 
 
 The passage was pretty rough and disagreeable for 
 about fifty days. The rest of the time we had fair enough 
 weather. Thank God I met with no serious mishap. I 
 had even the happiness of saying mass every day, with 
 the exception of seven or eight days, when the gale was 
 too fierce and the sea too heavy. Finally, after a passage 
 of sixty-seven days, I landed in Quebec, where I found 
 our Fathers in good health. Father De Lauzon was yet 
 Superior, but his successor has recently received his 
 appointment. He also is from our province, and his name 
 is Father De St. Pe. Father De Lauzon is to return to 
 his Iroquois mission at Sault St. Louis to join Father 
 Nau, who is already there ; but it is doubtful how long the 
 latter will be able to remain, for his gout, which had ap- 
 parently left him, has returned again this year, paying 
 him very unwelcome visits. I am speaking from hear-say 
 only, no doubt he himself will inform you of the state 
 of his health. 
 
 I must not forget to impart a piece of news I heard on 
 my arrival at Quebec. It is that they have at last pushed 
 on as far as the nation whither it was intended your dear 
 son, the late Father Aulneau, should go ; and from reports 
 received, the tribe seems disposed to embrace the faith. 
 This bears out admirably what the Holy Fathers of the 
 early Church were wont to say : "The blood of martyrs 
 is the seed of Christians." 
 
 There is nothing else that I know of worth recording 
 in this letter. I recommend myself to your fervent pray- 
 ers, and I beg you to rest assured that I shall not forget 
 you in mine. 
 
 I am with respect and attachment, Madam, your most 
 humble and obedient servant, 
 
 DEGONNOR, Jesuit Missionary at Lorette. 
 
 P.S. When you go to Lugon, please present my re- 
 spects to all our Fathers. I recommend myself to their 
 Holy Sacrifices.
 
 118 
 
 No. 32. 
 
 {Translation.) 
 FATHER BESSOU TO MADAM AULNEAU. 
 
 KOUROU, April 24, 1740. 
 MADAM, 
 
 Some time ago I received all together three letters 
 from you and one from our dear Michael. It is a great 
 consolation to see that you do not forget me. Your 
 letters are a real treat, and the expressions of affection 
 with which they are replete can proceed only from a 
 mother's heart- You confer no trifling honor by wishing 
 to substitute me for your dear son, and I shall take good 
 care not to refuse the adoption you propose ; I only wish 
 that I deserved it some way. If the entertaining of the 
 sentiments of a son entitle me to it, then I can safely 
 say I deserve the distinction. Meanwhile, I repay you in 
 full for your remembrance of me in your fervent prayers, 
 and you can count on my not forgetting you at the Holy 
 Sacrifice of the Mass. 
 
 All you tell me of our dear Michael is corroborated by 
 his letter that I have just received. It abounds with 
 exalted sentiments of piety. May God strengthen them 
 more and more. I do not know, nor can I guess at the 
 reasons which led the Bishop of Lu9on to refuse him 
 dimissory letters, but it is to be hoped that he will grant 
 them in the end. It is a trial for our dear Michael, and 
 will prove an occasion for further merit. I trust that it 
 will not shake him in his vocation. 
 
 Father Baret's leaving was a surprise for me. I was 
 well acquainted with him. God grant that he had good 
 reasons for his act. Should you see him perchance, pre- 
 sent my kind regards. I am glad to learn from your 
 letter what post Monseigneur has given him. The news 
 of Father L,a Johame's death sensibly affected me. We 
 both caine from the same town, and he was one of Father
 
 119 
 
 Aulneau's best friends, who had promised to go and join 
 him in Madura. This is the second who has preceded 
 me ; my own turn is coming. I had already heard since 
 my arrival in these parts that Father La Joham6 had met 
 with much persecution ; may be his death is the result of 
 it, but we shall learn more in time. 
 
 If you are apprized of any more particulars of your 
 son's death, let me hear of them. I congratulate you on 
 having received his calotte ; it is a precious relic that you 
 must treasure greatly. We have nothing to fear in this 
 country from the fury of savages. Our Indians are not 
 very ferocious ; quite the contrary they are timid and 
 retiring. 
 
 Since you are pleased with any little item of news 
 relating to our mission in this country, I shall give you 
 what little I have. I begin with that of the Kamopi, as 
 it is one of those which are dearest to me . I wrote to 
 you already that I had been obliged to leave that mission 
 as Father d'Huberlant, who was stationed at Kourou, was 
 not in good health. The Reverend Father Lombard sent 
 him consequently lo the Kamopi and me to the Kourou 
 Mission. On reaching Oyapok, Father D'Huberlant 
 fell sick, and was even at the point of death, so that his 
 going to the mouth of the Kamopi river was necessarily 
 delayed. However, he went there as soon as his health 
 seemed somewhat improved. A short time after that he 
 fell sick again, and was obliged to go to St. Paul's Mission. 
 It was from thence he wrote me that he would return to 
 hispjst about Easter-tide. It would seem that he is there 
 already. At all events, from what he wrote me, the 
 mission is in about the same state as when I left it, that 
 is, a certain number of Indians have gathered there, but 
 they are not yet instructed in the mysteries of our holy 
 religion, nor is there much prospect for some time to 
 come of their receiving instruction, on account of the
 
 120 
 
 illness of their missionary which has hindered his learn- 
 ing their language. 
 
 Another Father had started a new mission among the 
 Palissonis, but was obliged to abandon it, his health be- 
 came so shattered ; perhaps he will even have to return to 
 France. He missed the King's vessel which was to bring 
 out another missionary to replace him, but has with him 
 yet all the letters she brought ; this will be a very 
 unpleasant affair for several. Yours would not have 
 reached me had they not been sent by a merchantman 
 from L,a Rochelle. 
 
 The missions of St. Paul < f the Falls, of St. Joseph of 
 Ouauari, and of St. Matthew of Sinamari have made a 
 good start. Every day there are fresh conversions, as 
 well as at Kourou, which is the earliest of the Indian 
 missions here. Many more might be established, but 
 there are no missionaries for them. Beg our Lord to send 
 us apostolic laborers to rescue these numerous peoples 
 from the darkness of ignorance, for they are willing to 
 receive the mysteries of God . 
 
 In the letter I had the honor of writing you from 
 Kourou I did not mention the danger I was exposed to 
 in coming from Oyapok to Cayenne. I became aware of 
 it only after the discovery was made that my travelling 
 companions were a gang of criminals, and they acknow- 
 ledged before the judge that they had discussed the expe- 
 diency of throwing me into the sea. Our good God did 
 not allow them to put their project into execution, for 
 which I return Him thanks. This is another lease of life 
 given me wherein to do penance. It will be a blessing if 
 I do not abuse of this new grace, which is not the only 
 one vouchsafed me. While journeying from Cayenne to 
 Kourou, a squall capsized our craft while we were yet far 
 out at sea. I made up my mind that I was lost, but I 
 clung to the bottom of the boat as it did not sink. A
 
 121 
 
 party of fishermen espied our wreck aud came to oar 
 rescue. I clambered into their boat while ours was being 
 rowed ashore, where it was emptied and righted. I was 
 none the worse except for the ducking and the cold, for 
 I had ten leagues yet to go in my clothes which were 
 wringing wet. As for my health, which you seem to 
 think much impaired, it is not so bad as you fancy. It 
 is not to say absolutely as robust as it was when I landed 
 on these shores, but it holds out pretty well. 1 shall need 
 all I have of it left, for there is a new language for me to 
 learn, and this is not a triflin g affair. 
 
 Reverend Father Lombard, with whom I have now the 
 privilege of living, is often ailing, and each sick spell is 
 of long duration. This is but the outcome of thirty 
 years of toil among savages. Once more beseech God 
 and His Holy Mo ther to grant me the graces necessary to 
 make my service useful for myself and for the salvation 
 of our Indians. This you owe me, both as a mother (by 
 adoption) and as a sister (by affiliation to the Society). 
 Charity, moreover, makes it a duty for you, for I am in 
 absolute want of such help. Be assured that I do not 
 forget you in the little I can do. Be assiduous in letting 
 me hear from you ; you cannot imagine what a great 
 pleasure you confer. I enclose a letter for our dear 
 Michael. A respectful remembrance to all our reverend 
 Fathers. 
 
 I remain, Madam, with profound respect, your most 
 humble and obedient servant, 
 
 BESSOU, Jesuit.
 
 122 
 
 No. 33. 
 
 (Translation.) 
 . FATHER PETER DU JAUNAY TO MADAM AULNEAU. 
 
 MY DEAR MOTHER, The peace and love of Our Lord 
 Jesus- Christ. 
 
 I have a very distinct recollection of having answered 
 last autumn your letter of March 6th, 1739. I cannot, 
 however, allow the present occasion to go by without 
 sending some fresh token of remembrance this year also, 
 as a dutiful son should do to A kind mother. 
 
 As I already gave you to understand, some years may 
 elapse before we can gather any further particulars of the 
 death of our beloved martyr. Meanwhile I herein en- 
 close some papers which I found in his pocket-book, 
 which will be acceptable, and from which I would part 
 with regret in favor of any other save our common 
 mother. To these I add a letter dated May n, 1736, that 
 is about three weeks before he was taken from us ; it is 
 an answer to one I had written him the preceding sum- 
 mer, the very next day after his departure. This he had 
 put away in his pocket book among his most important 
 papers. He was certainly far astray in the favorable 
 opinion he had formed of me ; but it was, all the same, 
 very gratifying for me to know that I stood so high in 
 his friendship. 
 
 His letter to me is in Latin. It will be for you to have 
 it translated by your confessor if he be one of Ours, or by 
 some other Jesuit, on account of certain expressions dictat- 
 ed by humility, and which should not be taken literally 
 but according to the phraseology of the Saints, otherwise 
 they might disedify those who were not acquainted with 
 him or who themselves might not be sufficiently schooled 
 in Christian humility. Be careful also not to put too 
 much faith in the expressions of esteem in which he held
 
 123 
 
 a poor wretched man like myself. His great charity 
 blinded him in my case, and his ideas are totally changed 
 since he is in the bosom of Light and Truth itself. He 
 now looks upon me, aud with reason, as anything but 
 lovable, and really I scarcely know how I bear with my- 
 self when I enter seriously into myself. After all, what- 
 ever he may think of me, he knows that one day with 
 the help of my God I may become what he is now ; nor 
 do I for an instant doubt but that he is powerfully inter- 
 ceding to effect this. And when I think of it, I say to 
 myself : ' cheer up, toil, toil on to improve, and do not 
 give up, the day of God's great and boundless mercies 
 will dawn, and then " 
 
 Here are a few items of news which I flatter myself 
 may interest you. Jesus, our bountiful King, has made 
 use of me, all unworthy as I am, to enroll in His service, 
 and I hope for ever, one Indian family. My main occu- 
 pation this last winter was to instruct the father of this 
 family. For more than ten years, and that without 
 intermission, be has been suffering from paralysis, or 
 rather from gout. On this very account I thought he 
 would be more ready to receive the sublime lessons of 
 the Cross. Atd, indeed, he entered into their spirit with 
 such extraordinary zest, that I bless a thousand times our 
 Lord, who works wonders where and how He pleases. 
 
 " Which would you prefer," I asked this neophyte one 
 day, " to be restored to health or to remain as you are ?" 
 After a few provisos, which bore on his submission to 
 God's holy will and on a wish to work for His glory, he 
 answered : " Remain as I am." " And why ? " I asked 
 again. " Because any other road would be dangerous for 
 me." And he added forthwith: "Because it is the one 
 God chose whereby to lead me to the light ; because it is 
 the one Jesus followed here below. " 
 The spirit of God suggested to him on that occasion
 
 124 
 
 motives, than which the most experienced preacher could 
 find none more cogent to make a life of suffering accept- 
 able. His peace and joy during the incessant and violent 
 attacks of his painful disease, his zeal in instructing and 
 in putting order to his household in the intervals when 
 his sufferings abated somewhat, the earnestness with 
 which he continues to make known God's holy word to 
 his fellow-countrymen since their return from their win- 
 ter's hunt, all conspire to make me hope that these admir- 
 able dispositions will have happy results in the propagation 
 of our holy Faith. So may it be, and I recommend this 
 intention to your prayers and to those of the devout souls 
 with whom you are acquainted. I baptized him, his wife 
 and his eldest daughter on the feast of the Epiphany, and 
 on the morrow I married him according to the rites of 
 Holy Church . 
 
 I conferred the Sacrament of Baptism on the remainder 
 of his family, consisting of four others, on Holy Saturday. 
 On Easter Tuesday, he, bis wife and eldest daughter made 
 their first communion. I administered at the same time 
 Holy Communion to an old woman, an apostate who was 
 brought back to a sense of her duty through his example, 
 and who made a general confession of her whole life. 
 
 I know that many of the other Indians are shaken by 
 his exhortations in behalf of our Holy Religion. 
 
 Once more beg our Lord not to allow these happy be- 
 ginnings to prove abortive through any fault of mine. 
 Alas ! I am quite capable of spoiling all. 
 
 This is all the news, my dear mother, I think worth 
 while sending so far. As for my personal sorrows and 
 regrets, they are occasioned by the consciousness that I 
 am still a sinner and a great sinner, and by the reprehen- 
 sible conduct of many of the French in these quarters, SO' 
 that the great stumbling-block in the work of spreading 
 the knowledge of the gospel comes from those of the
 
 125 
 
 household of the Faith. This sadness is occasioned fur- 
 thermore by the thought of the multitude of souls going 
 to perdition , much through my own fault, alas ! and at 
 the sight even of the physical wretchedness of these In- 
 dians, the result in part of their own lack of foresight and 
 their wandering life, and in part of the avariciousness and 
 harshness of the whites, both of which are so inconceiv- 
 ably great that I dare not attempt to expatiate on them, 
 and so universal that they are beyond remedy. My sor- 
 rows are intensified by the knowledge of the great good to 
 be done, but which will not be accomplished in all likeli- 
 hood for many a long day, for charity has grown so cold. 
 Many an earring, many a pearl necklace or brilliant 
 worn in France, many a wager lost at the gaming-table, 
 or many a fortune squandered in frivolous enjoyments 
 would be the means of winning over to Jesus Chritst the 
 souls of the old and decrepit, the infirm, the fatherless, 
 and would draw permanently around me whole families 
 of unbelieving Indians, amongst whom religion would 
 have some chance of taking root. But no one will deign 
 to take part in the undying work of the Almighty, I 
 mean the building up of His Church, or, at all events, the 
 number is very small. So I beseech you again, pray for 
 me and for my wretched Indians. 
 
 PIERRE DU JAUNAY, 
 Missionary of the Society of Jesus. 
 MICHILIMAKINA, May 5th, 1740.
 
 126 
 
 No. 34. 
 
 ( Translation. ) 
 
 FATHER LUKE FRANCIS NAU TO MADAM AUI^NEAU. 
 MY DEAR MOTHER AND SISTER IN JESUS CHRIST, 
 
 I address you thus since you do not wish me to call you 
 " Mademoiselle," so there is an end of it. I shall not 
 make use of that term again, seeing especially that it did 
 not express sufficiently the feelings of my heart for you, 
 nor those which I am persuaded you entertain for me. 
 Still, my dear mother, I think I detect in certain expres- 
 sions of your letter a lurking doubt as to my affection 
 and sincere attachment, and I confess it causes me much 
 pain. Might it not have been the terms of respect I 
 made use of in my former letters that gave rise to this 
 doubt ? But remember, my dear mother, that a son's 
 affection and love for his mother should not crowd out of 
 his heart the respect he owes her. Might it not also be 
 that I have never asked you anything for myself? It 
 would seem that this is one of the main reasons of your 
 suspicion, and I freely acknowledge that your suspicion 
 would be well grounded if I were in need of anything. 
 Once for all I protest that I do not stand in need of any- 
 thing in my mission. Were the case otherwise, I am 
 sufficiently within reach of Quebec and Montreal, where 
 we have houses, to have anything I want sent to me. It 
 is true that our dear departed one, whose place you would 
 have me fill, would have acted differently ; but he was 
 far differently situated. He was in a region where every 
 human succor was wanting, while I am stationed in the 
 midst of French settlements, where I can procure all the 
 comforts of life. My own father who is still living, thank 
 God, and my brother who loves me with all his heart,
 
 12? 
 
 have this very year repeated the same offers as yourself 
 and you can easily understand, my dear mother, that if I 
 were in any real straights I would not refuse their ser- 
 vices, so think no more that I am wanting in confidence 
 in you, or am undutiful in any other way. Could you 
 but look into my heart, you would be satisfied with the 
 sentiments which animate it for the best and most con- 
 descending of mothers. 
 
 I think you must be satisfied at least with the freedom 
 and frankness with which I beg for my Indians. I refuse 
 nothing that is given for them, for their needs are not 
 imaginary, and there is no charity better directed than 
 that which helps to keep piety and devotion alive in the 
 hearts of these new Christians. It was with heartfelt 
 gratitude I received what you were kind enough to send 
 them this year ; and when I distributed the beads and 
 other articles of devotion, they all promised to pray God 
 for you. 
 
 You should set great value, my dear mother, on these 
 prayers, for I dare assure you that they are agreeable to 
 God. The greater part of our Indian men and women 
 are remarkable for their innocence, and I know of many 
 who serve God as faithfully as He is served in the best 
 regulated religious communities. Continue, then, I be- 
 seech you, so useful a charity. Being affiliated to a society 
 that makes special profession of the Apostolic life, you 
 have a share, by your charities, in the works and merits 
 of their apostolate- 
 
 What you sent out for our church is very appropriate 
 and pretty, and I thank you with all my heart. However, 
 the pallas are much too small for our chalice. I am 
 deeply sensible of the kind civilities of sister Aulneau, 
 and I beg you to present her my compliments, and convey 
 to her the expression of my gratitude. She who belongs 
 to a community where they turn out such admirable
 
 128 
 
 work could make something pretty for the church ; so I 
 take the liberty of asking her for a veil for the Blessed 
 Sacrament on Holy Thursday ; we have nothing suffi- 
 ciently presentable for that august ceremony. Will that 
 please you, my dear mother ? Could any son treat more 
 confidingly with a mother whom he loves and by whom 
 he is loved ? 
 
 But you ask me moreover to speak to you of my mission 
 and of my health, and I shall do so. 
 
 I counted much on Father De Lauzon, an accomplished 
 missionary, to relieve me considerably, but he has been 
 sick since All Saints, the time of his return to the mis- 
 sion, and so I am practically all alone in the village. 
 Our mission, which was not as large formerly as it is to- 
 day, kept five able-bodied missionaries busy. Judge then 
 of the amount of work we two invalids, Father De I/auzon 
 and myself, have to perform. 
 
 And yet I have, over and above, to attend to a French 
 parish of four hundred souls, more difficult to manage 
 than Indians ; and often to go on calls two or three lea- 
 gues away over horrible roads in all kinds of weather. 
 The strain has weakened me considerably, and the gout 
 never relents even for a day. I had a terrible attack of 
 it this last summer, and for the nonce there was no mass 
 celebrated in the village, for Father De L,auzon was also 
 sick abed. 
 
 I should be so glad if Father Charles Aulneau would 
 come out to Canada. I could manage to have him re- 
 main with me, where he could be of more service than 
 among the newly discovered tribes who are not at all 
 friendly to us. 
 
 The King's vessel which came over to Canada this year 
 lost a great number of her crew and passengers through 
 some contagious disease. A Sulpician and a Jesuit Fa- 
 ther were taken off, but the most serious loss was that of
 
 129 
 
 our Bishop who fell a victim to the disease in the short 
 space of two days. The letters and ship's cargo were 
 scattered and pillaged. Providentially your letters and 
 box reached here by a merchant-man. 
 
 The war on the Chicachias ended ignominiously for 
 the French, who with the finest army ever set on foot in 
 this country, and well provided with mortars and cannon, 
 did not dare attack a rabble of savages ; the Canadians 
 alone and the Iroquois of our mission engaged the enemy, 
 slew a number and took some prisoners, but were not in 
 sufficient force to rout him completely. Father De I/a 
 Bretonniere, who followed the expedition as chaplain, 
 went back to France by way of the Mississippi. I think 
 he will not return to Canada. 
 
 Farewell, my dear and kind mother, never forget be- 
 fore our Lord a son who is and will ever remain through 
 life your most affectionate and dutiful son. 
 
 Believe me, my dear mother, your most humble and 
 obedient servant. 
 
 NAU, OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS. 
 SAUI<T ST. Louis, Oct. 8, 1740. 
 
 No. 35. 
 
 (.Translation*} 
 FATHER NICHOLAS DEGONNOR TO MADAM AUI,NEAU. 
 
 Address : A Madame De la Touche Aulneau, aux Mou- 
 tiers sur le Lay en Bas Poitou, Par Lu$on. 
 
 LORETTE, Oct. 27, 1740. 
 MADAM, 
 
 It was with no ordinary degree of pleasure that I re- 
 ceived the very obliging letter you did me the honor to 
 send me. I was not surprised at the courteous expres- 
 9
 
 130 
 
 sions or rather marks of friendship with which it 
 abounds, though I would have you believe that I fully 
 appreciate your kindness and am grateful for it all be- 
 yond expression. 
 
 You thank me for having called on you. True, it was 
 more than I did for my own relatives, yet it is rather for 
 me to offer you a thousand, thousand thanks for the hos- 
 pitable reception you gave me. 
 
 I am pleased to learn tiiat the merit of our dear Father 
 Lafite has not been ignored, and am sure he will acquit 
 himself of the duties of his office successfully and with 
 becoming dignity. When you chance to see him, assure 
 him of my respect and devotion. 
 
 You afforded me much pleasure when you informed me 
 of what had taken place relative to your son, the member 
 of St. Sulpice. As I take a deep interest in whatever 
 concerns you, you need have no doubt as to my having 
 shared as much as it was possible the joy you yourself 
 felt on that occasion. 
 
 If I omitted to speak, in my last letter, of the mutual 
 happiness of myself and neophytes on my return among 
 them, it was either because I forgot to do so at the time, 
 or because I thought it would not interest you particular- 
 ly. When I landed, it was a surprise for me to find them 
 waiting for me on the shore. There were great manifest- 
 ations of joy, and they eagerly strove with each other to 
 see who would carry what little luggage I had. But what 
 gratified me the most was their telling me that, in spite 
 of the oft repeated story that I was not to come back to 
 them, they had never doubted my word. This was much 
 to their credit, for the Indians are as changeable as the 
 winds. 
 
 From the day I was left all alone to manage them, I 
 have had no cause of complaint, and as to their dealings 
 with me personally, I have reason to congratulate my-
 
 131 
 
 self; but my real task is to lead them to Heaven, and at 
 times I am afraid that they do not follow in the right 
 road. Continue therefore to pray for them and for me, 
 and rest assured that you will not be forgotten in our 
 poor prayers. Recommend us also to those of all our 
 Fathers in Lu9on, and assure them of my affectionate 
 remembrance. 
 
 I have the honor to be, dear Madam, very sincerely, 
 Your most humble and obedient servant, 
 
 DEGONNOR, 
 Jesuit Missionary at Lorette. 
 
 No. 36. 
 
 ( Translation. ) 
 FATHER JOHN BAPTIST DE SAINT Pi TO MADAM Aui,- 
 
 NEAU. 
 
 Address : Madame la Veuve La Touche Aulneau, au 
 Moutier sur le Lay, prez Lu?on, a Lugon. 
 
 MADAM, MY DEAR SISTER IN JESUS CHRIST, 
 
 I can well give you this title since you are affiliated to 
 the Society, whose child I have the honor to be, but, to 
 my confusion, a very unworthy one. As for you, madam, 
 I know you have deserved this distinction much more by 
 your virtues than by the sad event that determined the 
 conferring of it. But why did you renew the painful recol- 
 lection ? True, it is always present to my mind, yet my 
 grief became more poignant as I read your letter. I have 
 the same grounds of hope as you, and even greater, having 
 known what the dispositions of this dear son were almost 
 at the moment of his death, a death precious in the sight
 
 132 
 
 of God, but a death of which I would fain lose the re- 
 membrance, the better to forget the incalculable loss we 
 have sustained of an evangelical worker full of zeal and 
 virtue, and endowed with every quality, capable of in- 
 spiring hopes of great achievements. 
 
 I do not here take into account my own personal loss 
 of a friend to whom I was deeply attached, and who 
 reciprocated my friendship, though we had known each 
 other but so short a time. But enough of this, for I see, 
 madam, that the affection of friendship may have its 
 moments of weakness to which maternal love is not ex- 
 posed. Your love for him was intense, that I know from 
 other sources, but religion chastened it and eliminated 
 what was too human in it. I have not yet been able to 
 reach that point of perfection, so that I find myself as 
 deeply affected now as on the first day of my bereave- 
 ment. 
 
 I fail, madam, to recognize myself in the too flatter- 
 ing picture others have limned of me. The color- 
 ing would be far different if I portrayed myself for you 
 from life. Nevertheless, I am willing to abide by the de- 
 cision of young Father Aulneau, if God heeds my wish 
 and sends him over here to take the place of his brother. 
 I am very desirous of seeing him come, perhaps too much 
 so ; but all told, I see but that to fully make up for our 
 loss and bring consolation to myself. It will be, however, 
 as Providence wills it ; the matter does not depend either 
 upon him or upon me. If I were sure that he would not 
 be averse to it, I would take action in other quarters, 
 with, I think, some result. In my present uncertainty, I 
 do not wish to complicate matters, nor ought I to risk it. 
 He is aware what my leanings are with regard to him ; 
 this would be but a feeble inducement, if one at all. At all 
 events, I am quite persuaded that, go where he will, he 
 will always command the friendship and esteem of those 
 who will have dealings with him.
 
 133 
 
 I have had delivered, madam, all the letters you sent 
 to my care, and I have no misgivings as to your receiving 
 answers from Fathers De Gonnor and Nau this very 
 year. As for Father Du Jaunay, that is another affair, he 
 is too far from here to be able to answer you before next 
 year. 
 
 I beseech our Lord to shower down on you His choicest 
 blessings. Pray to Him for me, I implore you ; I need it 
 sorely on every account. It is in Him I have the honor 
 of remaining with due respect and devotion, madam, 
 Your most humble and obedient servant, 
 
 ST. P, of the S. OF J. 
 
 QUEBEC, Oct. 12, 1740. 
 
 NOTE. To this letter, as found in the collection, a slip 
 of paper was fastened with a pin, and on it was written : 
 " The ship sailing for Canada will leave only at the end of 
 May." 
 
 I have the honor to be, your very humble servant, 
 
 J. VAI.OIS, Jesuit. 
 
 No. 37. 
 
 (Translation.) 
 
 FATHER BESSOU TO MADAM AULNEAU. 
 
 Address : Par Lugon a Madame Madame La Touche 
 Aulneau, veuve, au Moutiers sur Lays, Bas Poitou. 
 
 KOUROU, April 5th, 1741. 
 MADAM, 
 
 I have scarcely more than a moment to write you, if I 
 would avail myself of a chance departure for Cayenne ; 
 perhaps there will be no other before the sailing of the
 
 131 
 
 King's vessel, and I should be much put out if it left 
 without a word of news from me. 
 
 I am very grateful for your kind remembrance of me ; 
 and believe me, if my letters are any source of pleasure 
 for you, yours afford me not less satisfaction, nor could 
 you procure me a greater pleasure than by continuing to 
 let me hear from you from time to time. 
 
 I received with every feeling of gratitude the present 
 you sent me, and I look upon it as a relic ; the recollec- 
 tion of your dear son who wore it will never be effaced 
 from my memory. I recall him now, that dear friend, 
 with a kind of veneration which makes me envy his lot. 
 Would that I had virtue enough to deserve a death simi- 
 lar to his. It is not that our Indians are not the kind to 
 perpetrate just such deeds. But recently we had a sad 
 enough proof of the fact. Two of them were principals 
 in a massacre, where it might be said barbarity was car- 
 ried to excess. It would be too long, and I have not time 
 left to give you the particulars. You can easily imagine 
 the sorrow and vexation such a crime caused us, as much 
 on its own account as on account of the consequences 
 that may follow, and that would have followed already 
 had it not been for all the precautions we took. 
 
 The guilty ones have made off and have reached Suri- 
 nam, a dependency of the Dutch, who are sorry neigh- 
 bors for the missions in these quarters, as the harm they 
 do is incalculable. Though the miscreants have fled, we 
 are not yet without apprehension. It is usual for the 
 savages to wreak their vengeance on the family of the 
 culprits when they cannot lay hands on the guilty ones 
 themselves. They have no regular code among them, 
 and think they have a right to administer justice them- 
 selves. Perhaps when we least expect it we will see some 
 tragic scene enacted ; such men are capable of anything. 
 Not a few, however, among them give us great cousola-
 
 135 
 
 tion. Like variously graded wares elsewhere, there are 
 some whose conduct is very gratifying, while others sadly 
 exercise our patience. Beg our Lord to make us profi- 
 cient in that virtue. 
 
 I am very glad to hear what you tell me about dear 
 Michael. I congratulate both him and you, and I con- 
 gratulate myself that he is honored with the dignity of 
 the priesthood. I am sure he will not forget you in his 
 Holy Sacrifices, and I flatter myself that he will give me 
 a share in them too. The pious sentiments he seems to 
 foster in his heart delight me, and you must yourself be 
 much pleased to see him in that state of life to which you 
 have every reason to believe God has called him. 
 
 I am very thankful for all the news you have taken 
 such pains to send me. I receive but little now from 
 France, where they are beginning to forget me. Three 
 years have now gone by since I received any letters from 
 Father Bonin. I should not be surprised at this, as you 
 yourself receive none from him. Apparently his occu- 
 pations leave him no time for letter- writing. 
 
 How sorry I was to hear of Rev. Father Richard's death. 
 You were the first one to apprise me of it. What you tell 
 me about Mr. Baret does not surprise me very much . He 
 would have done much better, and the great number who 
 have imitated him wculd have done better had they re- 
 mained faithful to their vocation. 
 
 I regret exceedingly that Father Aulneau's health 
 should be as frail as you say. When you write to him 
 give him my compliments. He had promised me on my 
 departure from France not to forget me, and that he 
 would write from time to time and give me the news 
 of our Province. The precarious state of his health or 
 perhaps his occupations have no doubt prevented him 
 from keeping his promise. I do not believe, however, 
 that he forgets me in his prayers. Ask him for me for a
 
 136 
 
 share in his Holy Sacrifices, for he must by this time 
 have been raised to the priesthood. Send me what news 
 you can concerning him since he will not or cannot write 
 himself. 
 
 Continue, if you please, to remember me before our 
 Lord, and communicate to me anything eventful about 
 our Fathers and about your own amiable household, for 
 I take a large share of interest in what concerns it. 
 I am with deep respect, madam, 
 
 Your most humble and obedient servant, 
 
 BESSOU, 
 Jesuit. 
 
 No. 38. 
 
 ( Translatio n. ) 
 
 FATHER PETER DU JAUNAY TO MADAM AULNEAU. 
 
 Address : Mademoiselle la Veuve La louche Aulneau, 
 au Moutiers sur le Lay, pres Luson, Bas Poitou. 
 
 Recommandee au Rev. P. Procureur du College de la 
 Compagnie de J6sus a la Rochelle, pour la faire tenir au 
 directeur de la poste de Lu?on . 
 
 A Lugon Bas Poitou. 
 
 MY VERY DEAR MOTHER in the Lord, the peace and 
 eternal love of Jesus Christ, 
 
 It was only last autumn that I received your letter 
 under date of March loth, 1740, and the return of spring 
 now bringing me the opportunity of answering it, I do so 
 with gladness of heart. 
 
 Dear mother, yes, and dear sister (for you see you are 
 both to me), your son, your brother enjoys in the midst of 
 tribulations of more than one sort the abundance of God's 
 consolations. He sees for your injunction is that I 
 am to give you an account of whatever concerns him
 
 137 
 
 he sees little by little forming about him, through the 
 very great mercy of our Saviour, loving members of Holy 
 Church and worshippers of the true God. And although 
 the culture of such tender shoots so recently transplanted 
 requires much care and creates much apprehension, still 
 he abounds and superabounds in joy to see that the work 
 of God is being accomplished by means of so unfitting 
 an instrument. Beg the Almighty to pour out a copious 
 blessing on these very small beginnings. 
 
 I passed the winter with Father De La Morinie, who 
 perhaps is an acquaintance of yours. Our main occupa- 
 tion was to serve God, to work for our salvation and for 
 the salvation of the Indians Providence had detained in 
 our neighborhood. Second to this, I busied myself 
 teaching my companion the;Ottawa language and perfect- 
 ing myself in the same. 
 
 On the i4th of April, I started from here on the ice for 
 a place called Sault Ste. Marie so as to help the Christian 
 Indians who had passed the winter there to perform their 
 Easter duty-* This journey, my dear mother, was not with- 
 out its little crosses, but it had also its consolations. I was 
 backhereat mypostonlyon the i8th of this month, where I 
 learnt a most distressing piece of news. Last summer a little 
 slave had been given me, seven or eight years old, belong- 
 ing to the nation Providence had made use of to bring 
 the career of dear Father Aulneau to a close. Already 
 he had mastered his prayers and catechism, and I only 
 awaited the moment when the lessons I had been striving 
 to impart woull have penetrated deep into his heart that 
 I might baptize him. This I counted upon doing the 
 coming year at Easter. On April 25, the feast of St. 
 Mark, during my absence, he disappeared, and in spite 
 of all the searches for him that have since been made 
 no trace of him has been discovered . 
 
 In 1741 Easter fell on April 2nd.
 
 138 
 
 This blow overwhelms me, my dear mother, and if our 
 good God in ways known to Him alone, and which are 
 inexplicable for me, had not, in answer to my prayers, 
 comforted me in His goodness, I should never again have 
 known on earth what joy was. 
 
 I think you must be pleased with me, my dear sister 
 and mother ; for none other would I enter into all the 
 particulars I now disclose to you ; my sorrows, my 
 consolations, my occupations, all are laid bare to you. 
 Have I not learnt how to be a son and a brother, a second 
 Father Aulneau ? 
 
 I have not received a letter from his dear brother, but 
 when you write to him assure him all the same of my 
 kindly feelings. 
 
 I have the honor to be in union with your prayers, my 
 dear mother and sister, your most humble and obedient 
 servant, son and brother, 
 
 P. Du JAUNAY, 
 
 Missionary of the Society of Jesus, 
 MICHIUMAKINAC, May 25, 1741. 
 
 No. 39. 
 
 (Translation.) 
 FATHER LUKE FRANCIS NAU TO MADAM AULNEAU. 
 
 SAULT ST. Louis, Oct. 3, 1741. 
 MADAM, my dear Mother and Sister in Jesus Christ, 
 
 I was delighted with the letter you did me the honor to 
 write this year ; but I was also much pained to learn that 
 you had been suffering from so long a sickness. Our 
 good God had until then been sending you crosses bur- 
 densome and very difficult to carry, and though you
 
 139 
 
 made a pious use of them all He did not find you suffi- 
 ciently chastened nor worthy of Him. He now smites 
 you in your own person like another Job ; blessed be His 
 holy name ! I am firmly convinced that the way you bore 
 this personal affliction will have drawn down upon you 
 new graces, increased your merits in Our Lord's sight 
 and greatly enriched the crown He has prepared for you 
 in heaven . 
 
 From an earthly point of view I can but grieve at the 
 impairing of your health ; but looking upon it in a super- 
 natural light, I bless our good God for the new trials in 
 the midst of which He places you, and this, on account of 
 the profit you draw from them for your perfection. 
 
 My dear mother, do not take it to heart if you have 
 not been able to send me anything this year. What is 
 postponed is not lost. The poor Indians may be incon- 
 venienced a little for a year, but you will still have all the 
 merit of your good intentions-. When I ask you for 
 charity for my Iroquois it is always with the understand- 
 ing that it can easily be done and without inconveni- 
 encing yourself; for if I thought that it would put you 
 out the least in the world, I should be the first to beseech 
 you not to send them anything. 
 
 A dutiful son ought to keep nothing that concerns him 
 from a fond mother whom he holds dear and by whom he 
 is loved. I shall tell you therefore that as this winter has 
 been the longest and the most rigorous for Canada in the 
 memory of man, I have naturally been more troubled by 
 the gout than in preceding years- I am still confined to 
 my room, in fact, I am not able to move a foot. Just 
 imagine my perplexity being practically alone in the mis- 
 sion, for Father de Lauzon is at Quebec, and the third 
 assistant missionary*, who has been only four days here, 
 
 *John Baptist Tournois, born at Orchies, Flanders, Jan. 1, 1710 ; 
 entered the Society at Tournay, Sept. 27, 1727 ; embarked for Canada 
 in April, 1741; made bis solemn profession at Saul t St. Louis NOT. 
 10, 1743, and returned to Europe in 1750 or 1751.
 
 140 
 
 and not understanding a word of Iroquois, can do nothing 
 for the Indians. 
 
 Painful as my infirmity is, I am beginning to get used to 
 it, but throughout the winter I have been troubled by 
 another kind of sickness, which, though not painful, gives 
 me greater cause for apprehension than the gout. I 
 suffer from vertigo ; it has made me make more than one 
 perilous leap, and may end by my breaking my neck. 
 They have tried many remedies on me, which have done 
 me some good but have not effected a perfect cure. At 
 times I am seized with a sudden uncontrollable fear, which 
 prevents my being left alone anywhere. Pray God, my 
 dear mother, that He may deliver me from this evil, or 
 at least that I become not quite useless among my 
 Indians. 
 
 The Chicachias continue to burn all the French who 
 fall into their hands. The English, who are settled 
 among them, incite them to this barbarous practice, and 
 often take part in tormenting the French more cruelly. 
 Our Indians are always at war with the Chicachias, and 
 from time to time they bring in a good number of slaves ; 
 but instead of retaliating by burning them at the stake, 
 they adopt them in the village, instruct them in the mys- 
 teries of religion, and by holy baptism place them in a 
 way of reaching heaven. 
 
 By this means our mission increases greatly every year, 
 as well as by whole families coming from a distance who 
 willingly settle down among us- 
 
 The care of the sick, settling the quarrels of the Indians, 
 and all the other affairs of the village, which must needs 
 be seen to by the missionaries, keep us so busy that 
 it is sometimes far into the night before our breviary is 
 said or our other prayers attended to. 
 
 The Flemish Jesuit, whom Father de Saint P6 had the 
 kindness to send us, will be able only after a year to be of
 
 141 
 
 some service. By that time he will have acquired some 
 knowledge of the language. To do all the work to be 
 done would require a more robust constitution than mine. 
 Ask our Lord to give me the strength I need, and be 
 assured of the esteem, affection and filial respect with 
 which I have the honor to remain, 
 
 My very dear mother, 
 Your most humble and most obedient servant and son, 
 
 F. NAU, of the Society of Jesus. 
 
 No. 40. 
 
 (Translation.) 
 FATHER JOHN BAPTIST DE ST. PE TO MADAM AULNEAU. 
 
 QUEBEC, Oct. 15, 1741. 
 Madam, and very dear sister, 
 
 Since this latter appellation is so acceptable, it is a 
 pleasure for me to make use of it ; and despite anything 
 you may say to the contrary, what I know from other 
 sources, and the very way you express yourself, convince 
 me that you are already, and that you will continue to be- 
 come, more and more a worthy daughter of the Society . 
 Would to God that after thirty-eight years elapsed this 
 very day since I entered I could flatter myself that I was 
 her worthy son. But alas ! my dear sister, how far am I 
 not from it. It is for you and for me to strive to attain 
 it, and it is the work of a life- time. Pray for me as I 
 certainly do so for you. 
 
 I count always on dear Father Aulneau. A Jesuit who 
 came over this year to us, and who, passing through Poi- 
 tiers, saw him, has increased my longing to have him with 
 us."! He is a saint, not to speak of his other qualities, and 
 consequently he is just what we need. A kind word 
 from me, madam, please, when you write to him.
 
 142 
 
 I have a letter from Father Du Jaunay, in answer evi- 
 dently to yours of last year. By this time he must have 
 received yours of this year, but he can answer it only a 
 twelvemonth hence, and so on for the future . 
 
 As for Father DeGonnorand Father Nau,they are near 
 enough to receive yours and answer them the same year. 
 The latter, doubtless, will soon send me the one intended 
 for you, which I shall enclose with Father Du Jaunay's. 
 They will make amends for the brevity of the present one. 
 
 As a rule my letters are short, for my time is much 
 taken up with a multiplicity of a flairs, so that I have 
 barely the leisure to renew the assurance of the respect 
 and attachment with which, madam and dear sister, I 
 remain, 
 
 Your most humble and obedient servant, 
 
 ST. PE, of the Soc. of Jesus- 
 
 (P.S.) Oct. 28. There is no sign yet of Father Nau's 
 letter. 
 
 No. 41. 
 
 (Translation.) 
 
 FATHER NICOLAS UEGONNOR TO MADAM AULNEAU. 
 
 Address : Mademoiselle Aulneau Au Moutiers sur le I/ay 
 pres de Lu?on, en Bas Poitou RecommaudS au R. P. 
 Tavols de la Comp. de Jesus. 
 
 MADAM and very dear Sister The peace of our Lord. 
 
 I should be much mortified if every year I did not 
 receive some affectionate word from you. You may 
 imagine then how much pleasure your letters afford me. 
 I thank you with all my heart, and beg you to continue 
 to give me this consolation. It was also with much satis-
 
 148 
 
 faction that I received news of your son, the Sulpician. I 
 do not express a wish for him to come out here ; but 
 should his zeal ever lead him this far, you may assure him 
 that he will ever find in me one wholly devoted to him, 
 especially for your sake, and that on every occasion I 
 should delight in showing him my affection for you. 
 Since these are my sentiments, it is for you to contrive 
 some opportunity for me to convince you of their sin- 
 cerity. See, now, if there be nothing in these regions that 
 you might fancy. 
 
 I regret not being able to write at greater length at 
 present, as I have many other letters to send, and I must 
 be getting back to my mission. 
 
 Persevere in your good prayers for me, and be assured 
 that you will never be forgotten in mine. With all possi- 
 ble respect and attachment, I remain, Madam, 
 
 Your most humble and obedient servant, 
 
 DEGONNOR, Jesuit Missionary of I/orette. 
 QUEBEC, Oct. 10, 1741. 
 
 No. 42. 
 
 (Translation.) 
 
 Father Nicholas Degonnor to Madame Aulneau ; address 
 Mademoiselle Aulneau au Moutiers sur le Lay, pres de 
 L,ugon, en Bas Poitou. Recommand< au R. P. Procureur 
 du College & LaRochelle. 
 
 LORETTE, April 23, 1742. 
 
 I have read over and over again, my very dear sister in 
 Jesus Christ, the kind and edifying letter you did me the 
 honor to write to me. None could be more sensible of all 
 the marks of friendship you bestow than I am, and be 
 assured that I am really grateful, and that I shall never
 
 144 
 
 forget all the kindness you have lavished on me. Please 
 continue to pray for me and my poor Indians. 
 
 This year I have been in utter desolation at seeing them 
 suffer from hunger, without being able to come to their 
 relief, not precisely for want of money, but on account of 
 the scarcity of wheat which failed to realize the bright 
 anticipations of the early summer. And what actually 
 afflicts me still more is that we are threatened throughout 
 the land with a famine more dreadful than that of last 
 year. 
 
 Before the grain began to ripen, worms attacked nearly 
 every ear, and devoured most of it, or rather they ate away 
 the kernel and left but the shell. 
 
 My Indians, all the same, will gather a little more In- 
 dian corn than last year, but their lands are so poor that the 
 harvest supplies their wants for but half the year at most. 
 The evil is diminished by half when there is European 
 wheat, and I am able to buy it at wholesale and deal it 
 out to them in small quantities, allowing them to pay me 
 when they can, which they do pretty faithfully when they 
 are able to earn a little. 
 
 But when I am not able to help them this way, they are 
 obliged to scatter right and left to find food, which 
 is prejudicial in no slight degree to their spiritual interests. 
 For, as you know, sanctity is rarely acquired by travelling 
 about. I must needs give my consent to it rather than 
 see them perish with hunger. 
 
 I deeply sympathize with our Fathers at L,u<jon ; when 
 you chance to meet them, remember me kindly to them, 
 and to Rev. Father Lafite more particularly. I was all the 
 more surprised at what you told me about him, as when I 
 was in France, His Lordship entertained a very high opin 
 ion of him. 
 
 We are here in a state of expectancy. We have a new 
 bishop, who seems to be kind and zealous ; but they say 
 that he is strongly prejudiced against religious in general.
 
 145 
 
 He came to my mission last year almost immediately 
 after landing in the country, and seemed well pleased 
 with the reception I gave him, and every time I have had 
 occasion to meet him since, he has showed me much kind- 
 ness. 
 
 1 am not anxious to see your son, the Sulpician, come 
 over to this country because the climate is not at all fa- 
 vorable for those who suffer in the least from weakness of 
 the lungs. I have good reason to know that he would 
 soon express his dissatisfaction at the change. You say 
 nothing in your letter about your other son, the Jesuit : 
 where is he and what is he doing ? For him, if, following 
 the inspiration from God, he should come and join us 
 here, I should be delighted to see him ; but unless it be 
 God's own doing, I should not wish to see even him 
 among us. 
 
 Before concluding, let me make one request : gather 
 and send out to me and to our Fathers at the Quebec Col- 
 lege as much porret seed as you can from your own garden, 
 or from any where else you may find it, for in Canada this 
 seed very seldom ripens. 
 
 I recommend myself very earnestly to your pious pray- 
 ers, assuring you in turn that you will not be forgotten 
 in mine. 
 
 Yours, with the sincerest friendship and respect, 
 
 DEGONNOR, Jesuit Missionnary at Lorette. 
 
 10
 
 146 
 
 No 43. 
 
 ( Ttanslation .) 
 FATHKR BESSOU TO MAHAMK AULNKAV. 
 
 Address : La Rochelle par 1,115011 a Madame de la Touche 
 Aulneau, veuve, au Moutiers sur Lais, Bas Poitou. 
 
 KOUROU (South America), May 7, 1742. 
 MADAM, 
 
 It is a long time since I received your letter of September 
 7th. last. It was a source of renewed pleasure for me, and 
 to receive news from you will always be a great satisfac- 
 tion. You can do nothing to please me more than to write 
 to me from time to time. I feel very grateful for the 
 friendly feelings you express, and beg you to persevere in 
 them, and to pray God for my poor Indians and for myself 
 who stand more in need of your prayers than any other. 
 
 If you should ever hear anything more about the death 
 of my dear friend, your son, I most earnestly entreat you 
 to make it known to me. You know well what a keen 
 interest I take in whatever concerns him. 
 
 Your dear Michael corresponds with me. He is still 
 the same. What a comfort for you to be blessed with 
 children of their character, all fulfilling their duties ac- 
 cording to their calling. I am faithful in answering him, 
 and shall be always delighted to have news from him. As 
 for Father Aulneau, I have had no news from him. His 
 occupations, very likely, leave him no time to write to 
 me. I shall not complain, provided he does not forget 
 me at the Holy Sacrifice ; indeed, I am confident that 
 sometimes he makes a memento for me at the altar. 
 
 I am exceedingly obliged for all the pains you have 
 taken to send me word of what is going on, and I beg you 
 to continue to keep me informed of whatever occurs.
 
 147 
 
 Father Pave, as I already stated, has been transferred 
 to another mission, and to all appearances it will be some 
 time before he returns to his own province. I hope he 
 will always succeed well wherever he goes. He is an ami- 
 able man, as you know, and was very much attached to 
 our dear departed missionary. 
 
 \Ve lived under the same roof at Rochelle and Poitiers. 
 
 God be blessed for what you tell me about Lu5on, for 
 He can draw glory from all. It is to be hoped things will 
 change, and meanwhile we must submit to our Lord's 
 hoi}- will. 
 
 What you tell me about Mr. Baret does not surprise me 
 much. He abandoned the state of life he had chosen to 
 try another, wherein he finds much more that is distaste- 
 ful. It is what generally awaits those who have not 
 been faithful to their vocation, and yet it is not an un- 
 common occurrence. They seek freedom, and meet with 
 many deceptions. 
 
 You ask for an account of what concerns myself. 
 Things are very much as usual. I am at present in charge 
 of a mission which does not necessitate journeys as long 
 as those I had to undertake where I was before. That 
 mission was just at its inception, and I had to move about 
 a great deal to perfect its formation. Where I now am, 
 though the journeys are not so long, they are neverthe- 
 less far more trying for rne. My stomach rebels when I 
 attempt to journey by sea in small canoes ; but this is 
 sometimes necessary. Once when I tried to shun the trip 
 by water I paid dearly for the experiment. I had been 
 asked to go and hear the confession of a sick person 
 five leagues away. I chose to go by land, on foot, rather 
 than take to the sea. The going was easy enough, for 
 the tide was out, but on my way home the incoming tide 
 forced me off the beach, so that I had to walk nearly all 
 the time on the muddy and soggy shore. This reduced
 
 148 
 
 me to such a state of exhaustion that more than once I 
 thought I would stick fast. I finally managed to pull 
 through a little before nightfall. A severe attack of 
 dysentery was the immediate result, followed the next 
 morning by hemorrhage and violent tenesrnus. As a 
 crowning misery, I suffered agony from a toothache. I 
 was laid up for a fortnight with a serious illness, but am 
 now pretty well restored to health. 
 
 I have gone into all these particulars because you insist 
 upon my keeping nothing from you which concerns my- 
 self. Shortly before the incident related above, I met 
 with another mishap, but followed by less serious results. 
 It was another sick-call, and at night. I had to pass 
 through a thicket to reach the horse they had sent me. 
 Providentially I had provided myself with a small lantern, 
 and it was well I had. I was walking on in front to light 
 the way for two negroes, one of whom carried my bed and 
 the other my portative chapel. I heard an unusual 
 sound. I looked more carefully ahead, and there, right 
 in the roadway, which could scarcely be narrower, I saw 
 a wriggling heap of something. It was a serpent ' ' a 
 grappe" the most venemous that infests these regions, 
 whose bite is fatal if not instantly attended to. It was as 
 thick as a child's thigh. I thought at first that it was an 
 adder, and it was preparing to coil for a spring. I had a 
 thick stick cut at once with which it was despatched. It 
 measured about twelve feet in length. 
 
 On my way back from the sick-call, my horse sank in 
 a quagmire. Forthwith I dismounted, but in its struggles 
 to free itself, the beast's hoof came down on my ankle, 
 and in rising the haunch struck me in the chest and 
 stretched me in the mire. I was in sorry plight, as 
 you can easily fancy. I escaped, however, with a sprain 
 and a good daubing from head to foot. 
 
 Our Indians are very much the same, which means
 
 149 
 
 that, for the most part, they are good Christians, less 
 addicted to vice than the negroes, and than many even 
 of the French ; albeit, some stray one may relapse into 
 ,his primitive savage state, or return from a trip to the 
 Dutch settlements a perverted Indian. 
 
 There, Madam, is all I have leisure to communicate to 
 you at present. Once more I beg you to remember me 
 in your fervent prayers, and to ask for me from our Lord 
 those graces I need to work with fruit for the sanctifica- 
 tion of the Indians and for my own. Rest assured that I 
 shall not forget you, and shall ever remain with respect 
 and sincere affection in Our Lord, 
 
 Madam, your most humble and obedient servant, 
 
 BESSOU, of the Soc. of Jesus. 
 
 No. 44. 
 
 (Translation.) 
 FATHER LUKE FRANCIS NAU TO MADAME AULNEAU. 
 
 Address : Mademoiselle de La Touche Aulneau Pres 
 Lucon - Aux Moutiers sur le Lay. 
 
 QUEBEC, SEPT. 28, 1742. 
 MADEMOISELLE, my very dear Mother and Sister in J. C. 
 
 Pressing business and sorrow, by which I am overcome, 
 do not permit of my writing to you at as great a length as 
 I should desire. The death of our dear Father De Lauzon, 
 the best friend I had in Canada, which occured at Quebec 
 on the 5th. of this month, has necessitated my coming 
 down here in haste to gather up the remnants of our little 
 fortune, and to settle the business of which the dear
 
 150 
 
 departed had charge. I reached Quebec quite sick two 
 days ago, and the King's ship sails the day after to-mor- 
 row. Judge yourself if, in my affliction and trouble, I am 
 able to commune with you as long as I should have 
 wished. Pit}- me, my very dear Mother ; pray our Lord 
 to bear me up and to give me the grace of filling, accord- 
 ing to His desires, the place of superior at Sault St. Louis, 
 to which I have been appointed since the death of Father 
 De Lauzon. 
 
 I thank you with all my heart for the beads you had the 
 kindness to send me. If there be the least difficulty about 
 the veil for the Chalice, don't give it a second thought. I 
 have something more important on my mind now, for 
 this year the best part of our revenue has been retrenched. 
 All that now remains to us is a paltry five hundred lirres 
 of income, much too little for three missionaries. But 
 God be blest, for if we are famished it will be for His 
 glory. We did not come over here to seek for the comforts 
 of life ; indeed they would be hard to find, especially 
 these two last years when hardship has been extreme in 
 Canada. Good bye, my very dear Mother. I would fill 
 the four pages were it not for other pressing and indis- 
 pensable affairs. 
 
 I remain, in union with your holy prayers, and with the 
 feelings of a dutiful son, Mademoiselle and very dear 
 Mother, 
 
 Your most humble and most obedient servant, 
 
 NAU, of the Soc. of Jesus.
 
 151 
 
 No. 45. 
 
 ( Translation. } 
 FATHER BESSOU TO MADAME AULNEAU. 
 
 Address : LaRochelle A madame de la Touche Aul- 
 neau, veuve, aux Moutiers sur le Lay pres Lucon Bas 
 Poitou A Lucon. 
 
 KouROU, May 17, 1743. 
 MADAM, 
 
 Your letter of Dec. 12, 1/42, was placed in my hands 
 about a fortnight ago. It would be, I think, superfluous 
 to tell you that it gave me much pleasure. I experience 
 the same very sensible joy every time I hear from you. 
 
 You will allow me to upbraid you mildly. You have 
 your son near you once more, your eldest at present, I 
 mean ; for I have learnt it through Father Aulneau's 
 letters, and yet you never said a word to me about it. 
 Do you fancy that I take so little interest in what con- 
 cerns you, that you should not apprise me of this piece of 
 good news ? It is by the merest chance that I heard of it. 
 Do me a little justice, and believe that whatever is of a 
 nature to console you brings me consolation also. I con- 
 gratulate you, madam, on the return of this dear child of 
 yours ; and may he now, by his presence, bring you as 
 much joy as his absence did sorrow. Our Lord has deigned 
 to compensate you for the sacrifice which you had so 
 generously made Him of your other children. I give 
 Him thanks and take part in your joy. Henceforth I 
 trust that you will inform me of every occurrence relating 
 to your own dear family. This, at least, is my desire and 
 I ask it of you as a favor. 
 
 It is a long time now since you have spoken to me of 
 your daughter, the religieuse de la Foi ; I have not for- 
 gotten her. I would be very sorry to learn that she has
 
 152 
 
 forgotten me in her prayers, for it would be much to my 
 detriment. Offer her my kind regards and recommend 
 me to her fervent prayers. 
 
 Many thanks for all the other news you give me I 
 read over with much satisfaction the reverend and dear 
 Father Aulneau's letters. Their perusal makes me regret 
 all the more that he would not or could not write to me 
 since I came to these regions, though, when we took 
 leave of each other, he promised to do so. His time is- 
 more usefully employed ; this at least consoles me. 
 
 I received a letter from our dear Michael, and it cor- 
 roborates what you say of him, for it breathes piety in 
 every line. You are a happy mother to have such children,, 
 faithful to the duties of their state of life, and not prov- 
 ing recreant to their vocation like so many others. 
 
 What you impart to me on this score afflicts me all the 
 more as the faithlessness to their religious profession, of 
 those you mention, has led to their falling away from the 
 faith. This is very sad. When once we begin to separate 
 ourselves from God to what lenghts are we not tempted 
 to go, and how much have we not to fear ! To leave aa 
 order when we are convinced that we are not called to it 
 is not an evil. There may be reasons for leaving it, but 
 there can be none for embracing heresy. As for the 
 Society, it is a great gain to be able to rid herself of 
 members capable of such excessess. This will ever keep 
 her firm in her faith and steadfast in her submission to- 
 her first pastors. The vanity of the heretic acknowledges, 
 no such blind submission, but the faithful glory in its 
 practice. Our pastors are indeed our guides, and by 
 following them we cannot go astray. 
 
 The announcement of the beatification of the Forty 
 Martyrs is most consoling. I saw from afar the shores 
 hallowed by their martyrdom. I mean the island of 
 Palma of which we catch a glimpse pn our way to this
 
 153 
 
 country. Had the rough weather we encountered conti- 
 nued a little longer we should have put in to that port. I 
 should not have been sorry, for joyfully would I have 
 kissed those shores bathed with the blood of so illustrious 
 a band of missionaries on their way to America. 
 
 The aim of heretical zeal was not to propagate the faith, 
 but to cut short the career of those who longed to implaht 
 it in heathen lands. Heresy endeavours to destroy, the 
 Church to build up. This feature of the Roman Catholic 
 Church has always distinguished her in the past, and 
 will continue to distinguish her in the future from 
 surrounding sects, and should make us cling to her 
 forever. 
 
 Our missions are getting on as usual, and continue to 
 gain adherents to the faith ; but we are always in dire 
 want of apostolic labourers. Five were to have come out 
 to us this year, but only one reached us. Death overtook 
 one at LaRochelle, sickness or some other cause detained 
 the others. And who knows when they will come now, 
 and if at all, it will always be too late. 
 
 We celebrated the jubilee this year, or to be more cor- 
 rect, the year gone by. This gave us no end of work. At 
 the feast of All Saints I went to Cayenne to help our 
 Fathers. I was yet in my convalescence after a tedious 
 sickness. 
 
 I drew on myself the indignation of certain persons, 
 who hurried to send off letters to the Court against me. 
 I have not taken the thing much to heart, and what I did 
 I should be ready to do over again if the same occasion 
 presented itself. I do not know what answers they have 
 received by the King's ship. If they are favourable to 
 them they will not leave me long in ignorance of their 
 contents. You see we are all the same Jesuits every- 
 where, since everywhere they make it a point to injure
 
 154 
 
 us. God will find means to succour us, if He deems it best 
 in His wisdom. 
 
 Do not grow weary, I pray you, in sending me news 
 about yourself and whatever you may hear affecting the 
 Society. You can do me no more acceptable favor unless 
 it be to redouble your prayers to God in my behalf. It 
 would be a real charity, for I have more need of prayers 
 than any other. Believe me, I shall never forget you in 
 my Holy Sacrifices. 
 
 Remember me kindly to Reverend Father Terreneuve. 
 If I have time I shall drop him a line to renew the inter- 
 change of letters which at one time we had begun. 
 
 I am much pained to hear of Father Reveilland's weak 
 state of health. Reverend Father Aulneau I shall not 
 forget, as I also bear in mind all our reverend Fathers of 
 Lugon and Fontenay. 
 
 I remain with the most sincere devotion and the most 
 profound respect, Madam, 
 
 Your most humble and most obedient servant, 
 
 BESSOU, Jesuit. 
 
 No. 46. 
 
 (Translation. ) 
 FATHER LUKE NAU TO MADAME AULNEAU. 
 
 Mademoiselle, very dear Mother and Sister in Jesus- 
 Christ, 
 
 The consoling letter of April 28, which you were kind 
 enough to write me, has at last reached its destination. 
 For a long time I was apprehensive as to what would 
 become of it and of the other letters from France sent to 
 my address, for while I was already on my way to Quebec 
 they were sent up to Montreal by a not very reliable mes-
 
 senger. But I have received it at last, that consoling 
 letter, and it would be hard to tell you how much plea- 
 sure it afforded me. 
 
 How shall I thank you for the beautiful present you 
 have sent to our impecunious church ! It was for the 
 embellishment of God's altars and for His own glory that 
 you made the offering of this magnificent veil, Our Lord, 
 consequently, will take it upon Himself to reward you ; 
 but I must add my own most heartfelt thanks for those 
 many motives of consolation you suggest in view of my 
 sufferings and sorrows. Often have I myself dwelt on 
 these motives of consolation, and despite every endeavour 
 I have been unable to sear up the heart's wound caused by 
 Father De Lauzon's death. It still bleeds and will bleed 
 afresh for many a day yet. Daily and hourly every 
 object that meets my gaze reminds me of the loss I have 
 sustained. I need all my faith to bear up under the 
 weight of sorrow and anguish which oppresses my soul. 
 I trust, however, that all you have had the kindness 
 to write, my dear Mother, when well considered and 
 pondered, will, with the healing hand of time, restore 
 me to my former frame of mind. 
 
 I must confess, my very dear Mother, that the Good 
 God has so afflicted me this year in my body, that had 
 not all my other subjects of sorrow been so deeply graven 
 in my heart and soul they would easily have passed 
 unheeded. 
 
 Not to speak of the wretchedness resulting from a 
 winter the most rigourous ever experienced in Canada, 
 my attack of gout was more acute and lasted longer than 
 any previously. I was not able to leave my room through- 
 out all the cold season. It is only since the month of 
 June that I have begun to enjoy tolerably good health ; 
 but even now not a day passes without my feeling some 
 twinges of the gout. The evil has reached my knees,
 
 156 
 
 and I can make only half-genuflections, while there is 
 every probability of its soon going higher, and that it 
 will reach my chest ; then I shall have to pack up for the 
 next world. 
 
 May God grant me the grace of bearing patiently and 
 in a Christian spirit the violence of the pain, that it may 
 be accepted as my purgatory upon earth. 
 
 I have another infirmity which, though it be not so 
 painful, incommodes and worries me. My sight was not 
 any too good when I came to Canada, but since my 
 sojourn here the glare of light from the snow has so 
 weakened my eyesight that the broad daylight becomes 
 almost unbearable. I cannot, in winter, venture out 
 without being immediately dazed and without losing 
 myself, for I am unable to see my way ten steps ahead . 
 I cannot distinguish a man from the trunk of a tree. By 
 remaining in Canada a few years longer I foresee that I 
 shall become totally blind, if the gout does not carry me 
 off before then. 
 
 These were reasons cogent enough to determine me to 
 ask to return to France, but Father Saint Pe", who has 
 come back here as our superior, is unable to grant that 
 request for want of missionaries. Should any new ones 
 come out here next year they will be able to replace me, 
 and then, my dear Mother, I shall have the happiness of 
 seeing you. 
 
 My companion at Sault St. Louis is Father Tournois. 
 He is a young Flemish Jesuit, well deserving and very 
 affable. He is not proficient in the language yet, and I 
 regret it the more. 
 
 In spite of the poverty of our mission we have managed 
 to live, and have had palpable proof that God never for- 
 sakes those who trust in Him. Go on praying our Lord 
 for me : I am in sore need of your prayers. I am mindful 
 of you every day at the holy altar.
 
 157 
 
 I have the honour to be, with respect and devotedness, 
 my very dear Mother, 
 
 Your most humble and obedient servant, 
 
 NAU, of the Soc. of Jesus. 
 Quebec, October 17, 1743. 
 
 No. 47- 
 
 ( Translation) 
 FATHER DUBOIS TO MADAME AULNEAU. 
 
 Address : Mademoiselle La Touche Aulneau, en la 
 Maison de Moutiers, pres Lucon. A Lucon Bas Poitou. 
 Mademoiselle, 
 
 I do not know if I had the honour of answering you 
 previous to my departure. At all events, you will be glad 
 to know that at last I have reached my destination and in 
 excellent health, thank God. Our voyage lasted fifty-eight 
 days, during fifteen of which I was laid up. The first 
 tempests which we encountered were the only ones which 
 inspired me with fear, and I commended my soul to God. 
 
 A little confidence in the Blessed Virgin, doubtless, 
 will dispel many causes of apprehension in the future. 
 But all the past must count for little now that I am at my 
 journey's end. It remains for me to acquit myself of the 
 task for which I came. Here more than elsewhere have 
 we to labour, and, short of martyrdom, we have as much to 
 suffer and to fear as if we were among savages. We 
 escape the cruelty of human beings to be tortured by 
 insects, and the frightful roads we travel, when we go on 
 sick-calls two or three leagues off, bring us at every step 
 face to face with death. 
 
 In other respects the country is a delightful one. The 
 trees, all the year round, are laden with blossoms and fruits,
 
 i r>s 
 
 and are of perennial verdure. The heat is excessive, and 
 yet the poor pastor must climb, now on foot and anon on 
 horseback, rugged heights to minister to the sick whom 
 he often finds hale and hearty when he arrives. They 
 have no pit}' on us. 
 
 The aspect of La Martinique may be best likened to a 
 cluster of sugar-loaves crowded together. There is not 
 in the whole island, for the space of a gun shot, an even 
 stretch of land. 
 
 I am not certain what I shall have to do. So far, I have 
 taken charge of the three parishes we have in the country, 
 and I have performed all the functions of pastor, save that 
 I have not celebrated any marriages. 
 
 Provisions are very much the same as in France, with 
 the exception of butcher's meat which is as scarce as it is 
 wretched. Everything, however, is extremely dear. Salt 
 beef is sold at 15 or 20 sols a pound, a pullet for 6H, a 
 capon 7 H rod., a turkey 24H, a turkey-cock 30 H ( eggs 
 30 to 40 so/s a dozen, a bottle of atrocious wine 30 so/s, 
 and all else in proportion. Fish is every bit as dear. 
 Grages are eaten ; I brought myself to taste of the first I 
 saw served up, but I ate sparingly, for the very thought 
 of the thing was too much for me. Those great worms that 
 in France are found in decayed trees are eaten here. I did 
 not feel so much repugnance for these. Nevertheless, 
 such things are esteemed as delicacies by the inhabitants 
 of this country, who include also large snakes in their 
 bill of fare. I saw one which I was told was small, though 
 it was six feet long, this I refused to taste. And yet, I 
 must accustom myself to these dishes, for if perchance 
 we should run short of provisions, which are brought from 
 Europe, we shall have to fall back on such like food or 
 starve to death. 
 
 Sugar, coffee and chocolate are the only things raised
 
 159 
 
 here. The negroes are fed on roots which are ground into 
 a kind of flour. This they eat without any seasoning. 
 
 I shall not write at greater length to-day, but shall 
 send before long a detailed account of what is to be found 
 in these regions ; this the Reverend Father Lafite will 
 have the kindness to communicate to you. I shall request 
 him to do so. 
 
 Give me a little share in your pious prayers, we all 
 need it. I have the honour to be, with sincere attach- 
 ment and respect, mademoiselle, 
 
 Your very humble and obedient servant, 
 
 DUBOIS, Jesuit. 
 
 Fort St. Peter, Island of La Martinique, 
 May 16, 1744. 
 
 You may direct your answers to Brother Vincent, at the 
 Professed House of Bordeaux. We are but fourteen priests 
 here and three brothers. I am not sure if you spoke to me 
 of Father Desbouge. He is Superior of Guadeloupe, which 
 is another island at some distance from this one. 
 
 No. 48. 
 
 ( Translation \ 
 FATHER CHARLES AULNEAU TO HIS MOTHER. 
 
 Address : A mademoiselle La Touche Aulneau Aux 
 Moutiers sur le Lay. 
 My dearest Mother, the peace of Jesus-Christ, 
 
 I pray that your health may remain for a long time as 
 good as you assure me it is just now. With regard to my 
 own, thank God, I have nothing to add. 
 
 Reverend Father Michelain is very obliging to think 
 of me. He could not well think of another who esteems 
 and honours him more than I do. Have the kindness,
 
 160 
 
 my dear Mother, to make known to him my sentiments, 
 those more especially of gratitude for the gracious com- 
 pliment he pays me in your letter. 
 
 Have you heard yet that Father Nau is now quartered at 
 La Rochelle ? It is said he is to take charge of the semin- 
 ary. If this be true, he becomes your close neighbour 
 and our own, and doubtless, with God's help, he will, 
 during the vacations, make his appearance for a few days 
 at Moutiers and at Lucon. 
 
 In the shape of news all I send you this time, my dear 
 Mother, is the copy of a letter from China. The informa- 
 tion it contains cannot fail to be for you a source of plea- 
 sure and edification. You have as much right to know 
 what is going on there as the Jesuits, since you do not 
 take less interest than they in what concerns the Society 
 and our missions more particularly. 
 
 The writer of this letter is Father Neuvialle a Jesuit of 
 our province who entered about the same time as several 
 of our Fathers of the Seminary. It is addressed to Mons. 
 1'abbe d'Armagnac, who is most devoted to us, and who 
 every year sends out to Father Neuvialle substantial help 
 for his mission. The copy is not in my handwriting, as 
 I had not time for that ; but I hope that you will not have 
 more difficulty reading it than if I had transcribed it for 
 j-ou myself. 
 
 I bespeak a fair share of your prayers for our mission- 
 aries, for the new Christian centres wherein they labour, 
 and for the heathens they are striving to convert ; nor will 
 you be unmindful of a son who is full of sentiments of 
 tender love for you, and who shall forever be, with the 
 most profound respect, my dearest Mother, 
 
 Your most humble and obedient servant, 
 
 AUI.NEAU, of the Society of Jesus. 
 Lucon, April 4, 1745.
 
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