Crooked Trails

by Frederic Remington

  THE SPIRIT OF MAHONGUI

  IT is so I have called this old document, which is an extract from thememoirs of le Chevalier Bailloquet, a Frenchman living in Canada, wherehe was engaged in the Indian fur trade, about the middle of theseventeenth century, and as yet they are unpublished.

  It is written in English, since the author lived his latter life inEngland, having left Canada as the result of troubles with theauthorities.

  He was captured by the Iroquois, and after living with them some time,made his escape to the Dutch.

  My Chevalier rambles somewhat, although I have been at pains to cut outextraneous matter. It is also true that many will not believe him inthese days, for out of their puny volition they will analyze, and out oftheir discontent they will scoff. But to those I say, Go to yourmicrobes, your statistics, your volts, and your bicycles, and leave methe truth of other days.

  18 THIS WAS A FATAL EMBARQUATION]

  The Chevalier was on a voyage from Quebec to Montreal; let him begin:

  The next day we embarqued, though not without confusion, because manyweare not content, nor satisfied. What a pleasure ye two fathers to seethem trott up and downe ye rocks to gett their manage into ye boat. Theboats weare so loaded that many could not proceed if foul weather shouldhappen. I could not persuade myself to stay with this concourse as yeweather was faire for my journie. Without adoe, I gott my six wild mento paddle on ye way.

  This was a fatal embarquation, butt I did not mistrust that ye Iriquoitsweare abroad in ye forest, for I had been at ye Peace. Nevertheless Ifind that these wild men doe naught butt what they resolve out of theirbloodie mindedness. We passed the Point going out of ye Lake St. Peter,when ye Barbars appeared on ye watter-side discharging their muskets atus, and embarquing for our pursuit.

  "Kohe--kohe!"--came nearer ye fearsome warre cry of ye Iriquoit, makingye hearts of ye poore Hurron & ffrench alike to turn to water in theirbreasts. 2 of my savages weare strook downe at ye first discharge &another had his paddle cutt in twain, besides shott holes through withthe watter poured apace. Thus weare we diminished and could not drawoff.

  The Barbars weare daubed with paint, which is ye signe of warre. Theycoming against our boat struck downe our Hurrons with hattchetts, suchas did not jump into the watter, where also they weare in no wise saved.

  But in my boat was a Hurron Captayne, who all his life-time had killedmany Iriquoits & by his name for vallor had come to be a great Captayneatt home and abroad. We weare resolved some execution & with our gunnsdealt a discharge & drew our cutlasses to strike ye foe. They environedus as we weare sinking, and one spake saying--"Brothers, cheere up andassure yourselfe you shall not be killed; thou art both men andCap-taynes, as I myself am, and I will die in thy defense." And yeafforesaid crew shewed such a horrid noise, of a sudden ye IriquoitCaptayne took hold about me--"Thou shalt not die by another hand thanmine."

  Ye savages layd bye our armes & tyed us fast in a boat, one in one boatand one in another. We proceeded up ye river, rather sleeping thanawake, for I thought never to escape.

  Att near sunsett we weare taken on ye shore, where ye wild men encampedbye making cottages of rind from off ye trees. They tyed ye HurronCaptayne to a trunk, he resolving most bravely but dessparred to me, andI too dessparred. Nevertheless he sang his fatal song though ye firemade him as one with the ague. They tooke out his heart and cut off someof ye flesh of ye miserable, boyled it and eat it. This they wished notto doe att this time, but that ye Hurron had been shott with a ballunder his girdle where it was not seen, though he would have died of hisdesperate wound. That was the miserable end of that wretch.

  Whilst they weare busy with ye Hurron, they having stripped me naked,tyed me above ye elbows, and wrought a rope about my middle. They afkedme several questions, I not being able to answer, they gave me greatblows with their fists, then pulled out one of my nails. Having lost allhopes, I resolved altogether to die, itt being folly to think otherwise.

  I could not flee, butt was flung into a boat att daylight. Ye boats wentall abreaft, ye wild men singing some of their fatal songs, others theirhowls of victory, ye wild "Kohes," beating giens & parchments, blowingwhistles, and all manner of tumult.

  Thus did we proceed with these ravening wolves, God having delivered aChriftian into ye power of Satan.

  I was nott ye only one in ye claws of these wolves, for we fell in with150 more of these cruels, who had Hurron captyves to ye number of 33victimes, with heads alsoe stuck on poles, of those who in God's mercieweare gone from their miseries. As for me, I was put in a boat with onewho had his fingers cutt & bourned. I asked him why ye Iriquoits hadbroak ye Peace, and he said they had told him ye ffrench had broak yePeace; that ye ffrench had set their pack of doggs on an olde Iriquoitwoman who was eat up alive & that ye Iriquoits had told ye Hurron wildmen that they had killed ye doggs, alsoe Hurrons and ffrench, sayingthat as to ye captyves, they would boyl doggs, Hurrons, and ffrench inye same kettle.

  A great rain arose, ye Iriquoits going to ye watter-side did coverthemselvs with their boats, holding ye captyves ye meanwhile bye ropesbound about our ancles, while we stood out in ye storm, which was nearto causing me death from my nakedness. When ye rain had abated, wepursued our way killing staggs, & I was given some entrails, whichbefore I had only a little parched corne to ye extent of my handfull.

  At a point we mett a gang of ye head hunters all on ye shore, dancingabout a tree to which was tyed a fine ffrench mastiff dogg, which wasstanding on its hinder leggs, being lashed up against a tree by itsmiddle. Ye dogg was in a great terror, and frantic in its bonds. I knewhim for a dogg from ye fort att Mont-royal, kept for to give warnings ofye Enemy's approach. It was a strange sight for to see ye Heathen rageabout ye noble dogg, but he itt was nevertheless which brought yeBarbars against us. He was only gott with great difficulty, havingkilled one Barbar, and near to serving others like-wise.

  They untyed ye dogg, I holding him one side, and ye other, with cordsthey brought and tyed him in ye bow of a boat with 6 warriors to paddlehim. Ye dogg boat was ye Head, while ye rest came on up ye river singingfatal songs, triumph songs, piping, howling, & ye dogg above all withhis great noise. Ye Barbars weare more delighted att ye captyve doggthan att all of us poore Christians, for that they did say he was nodogg. Ye doggs which ye wild men have are nott so great as wolves, theybeing little else & small att that. Ye mastiff was considered as aconsequence to be a great interest. This one had near defeated theirtroupe & now was to be horridly killed after ye bloody way of ye wildmen.

  Att camp they weare sleep most of ye night, they being aweary with yetorture of ye Hurron Captayne previously. Ye dogg was tyed & layd nottfar off from where I was alsoe tyed, butt over him weare 2 olde men, whoguarded him of a fear he would eat away his ropes. These men weareElders or Priests, such as are esteemed for their power over spirits, &they did keep up their devil's song ye night thro.

  I made a vertue of necessity & did sleep, butt was early cast into aboat to go on towards ye Enemy's countrie, tho we had raw meat given us,with blows on ye mouth to make us ye more quickly devour itt. AnIriquoit who was the Captayne in our boat, bade me to be of a goodcourage, as they would not hurt me. Ye fmall knowledge I had of theirspeech made a better hope, butt one who could have understood them wouldhave been certainly in a great terror.

  Thus we journied 8 days on ye Lake Champlaine, where ye wind and wavesdid sore beset our endeavors att times. As for meate we wanted none, aswe had a store of staggs along ye watter-side. We killed some every day,more for sport than for need. We finding them on Isles, made them gointo ye watter, & after we killed above a score, we clipped ye ears ofye rest & hung bells on them, and then lett them loose. What a sport tosee ye rest flye from them that had ye bells!

  There came out of ye vast forest a multitude of bears, 300 at leasttogether, making a horrid noise, breaking ye small trees. We shott attthem, butt they stirred not a step. We weare much frightened that theystirred nott att our shooting. Ye great ffrench dogg would
fainencounter them notwithftanding he was tyed. He made ye watter-side toring with his heavy voise & from his eyes came flames of fyre & cloudsfrom out his mouth. The bears did straightway fly which much cheered yeIri-quoits. One said to me they weare resolved nott to murder ye dogg,which was a stone-God in ye dogg shape, or a witch, butt I could nottfully understand. Ye wild men said they had never heard their fathersspeak of so many bears.

  When we putt ye kettle on, ye wild man who had captured me, gave me ofmeate to eat, & told me a story. "Brother," says he, "itt is a thing tobe admired to goe afar to travell. You must know that tho I am olde, Ihave always loved ye ffrench for their goodness, but they should havegiven us to kill ye Algonkins. We should not warre against ye ffrench,butt trade with them for Castors, who are better for traffic than yeDutch. I was once a Captayne of 13 men against ye Altignaonan-ton & yeffrench. We stayed 3 whole winters among ye Ennemy, butt in ye daytimedurst not marche nor stay out of ye deep forest. We killed many, buttthere weare devils who took my son up in ye air so I could never againget him back. These devils weare as bigg as horriniacs, [moose] & yelittle blue birds which attend upon them, said itt was time for us to goback to our people, which being resolved to do, we came back, butt nottof a fear of ye Ennemy. Our warre song grew still on our lipps, as yesnow falling in ye forest. I have nott any more warred to the North,until I was told by ye spirits to go to ye ffrench & recover my son. Myfriend, I have dreamed you weare my son;" and henceforth I was nothurted nor starved for food.

  We proceeded thro rivers & lakes & thro forests where I was made tosupport burdens. When we weare come to ye village of ye Iriquoits we layin ye woods because that they would nott go into ye village in ye nighttime.

  The following day we weare marched into ye brough [borough] of yeIriquoits. When we came in fight we heard nothing butt outcryes from oneside, as from ye other. Then came a mighty host of people & payd greatheed to ye ffrench dogg, which was ledd bye 2 men while roundabout hisneck was a girdle of porcelaine. They tormented ye poore Hurrons withviolence, butt about me was hung a long piece of porcelaine--ye girdleof my captor, & he stood against me. In ye meanwhile, many of yevillage came about us, among which a goode olde woman & a boy with ahattchett came neere me. Ye olde woman covered me, & ye boy took me bymy hand and led mee out of ye companie. What comforted me was that I hadescaped ye blowes. They brought me into ye village where ye olde womanfhowed me kindness. She took me into her cottage, & gave me to eat, buttmy great terror took my stum-ack away from me. I had stayed an hour whena great companie came to see me, of olde men with pipes in their mouths.For a time they sat about, when they did lead me to another cabbin,where they smoked & made me apprehend they should throw me into ye fyre.Butt itt proved otherwise, for ye olde woman followed me, speakingaloud, whome they answered with a loud _ho,_ then shee tooke her girdle,and about me she tyed itt, so brought me to her cottage & made me tositt downe. Then she gott me Indian corne toasted, & took away ye paintye fellows had stuck to my face. A maide greased & combed my haire, & yeolde woman danced and sung, while my father bourned tobacco on a stone.They gave me a blew coverlitt, stockings, and shoes. I layed with herson & did what I could to get familiarity with them, and I suffered nowrong, yet I was in a terror, for ye fatal songs came from ye pooreHurrons. Ye olde man inquired whether I was Afferony, a ffrench. Iaffured him no, faying I was Panugaga, that is of their nation, forwhich he was pleased.

  19 THE OMEN OF THE LITTLE BLUE BIRDS]

  My father feasted 200 men. My sisters made me clean for that purpose,and greased my haire. They tyed me with 2 necklaces of porcelaine &garters of ye same. My father gave me a hattchett in my hand.

  My father made a speech, showing many demonstrations of vallor, broak akettle of cagamite with a hattchett. So they sung, as is their usualcustom. Ye banquette being over, all cryed to me "Shagon, Orimha"--thatis "be hearty!" Every one withdrew to his quarters.

  Here follows a long account of his daily life among the Indians, hishunting and observations, which our space forbids. He had becomemeanwhile more familiar with the language. He goes on:

  My father came into ye cabbin from ye grand castle & he sat him downe tosmoke. He said ye Elders had approved after much debate, & that yeffrench dogg was not a witch, but ye great warrior Mahongui, gonebefore, whose spirit had rose up into ye ffrench dogg & had spyed yeffrench. Att ye council even soe ye dogg had walked into ye centre of yegreat cabbin, there saying loudly to ye Elders what he was & that hemust be heard. His voice must be obeyed. His was not ye mocking cryes ofa witch from under an olde snake-skin, butt a chief come from Paradiseto comfort his own people. My father asked me if I was agreed. I saidthat witches did not battile as openly as ye dogg, butt doe their evilin ye dark.

  20 YE SPIRIT DOG STRODE FROM YE DARKNESS]

  These wild men are sore beset with witches and devils--more thanChristians, as they deserve to be, for they are of Satan's ownbelonging.

  My father dreamed att night, & sang about itt, making ye fire to bournein our cabbin. We satt to listen. He had mett ye ffrench dogg in yeforest path bye night--he standing accross his way, & ye forest waslight from ye dogg's eyes, who spake to my father saying, "I belong toye dead folks--my hattchett is rust--my bow is mould--I can no longerbattile with our Ennemy, butt I hover over you in warre--I direct yourarrows to their breasts--I smoothe ye little dry sticks & wett ye leavesunder ye shoes--I draw ye morning mist accross to shield you--I carry ye'Kohes' back and fore to bring your terror--I fling aside ye foeman'sbulletts--go back and be strong in council."

  My father even in ye night drew ye Elders in ye grand cabbin. He saidwhat he had seen and heard. Even then the great ffrench dogg gott fromye darkness of ye cabbin, & strode into ye fyre. He roared enough toblow downe caftles in his might & they knew he was saying what he hadtold unto my father.

  A great Captayne sent another night, & had ye Elders for to gather at yegrande cabbin. He had been paddling his boat upon ye river when ye doggof Mahongui had walked out on ye watter thro ye mist. He was taller thanye forest. So he spake, saying "Mahongui says--go tell ye people of yePanugaga, itt is time for warre--ye corne is gathered--ye deer haschanged his coat--there are no more Hurrons for me to eat. What is aPanugaga village with no captyves? Ye young men will talk as women doe,& ye Elders will grow content to watch a snow-bird hopp. Mahongui saysitt is time."

  Again att ye council fyre ye spirit dogg strode from ye darkness & saiditt was time. Ye tobacco was bourned by ye Priests. In ye smoke yeElders beheld ye Spirit of Mahongui. "Panugaga--Warre."

  Soe my father saw ye ghost of ye departed one. He smoked long bye ourcabbin fyre. He sang his battile song. I asked him to goe myself, evenwith a hattchett, as I too was Panugaga. Butt he would in no wiselisten. "You are nott meet," he says, "you sayest that your God isabove. How will you make me believe that he is as goode as your blackcoats say? They doe lie & you see ye contrary; ffor first of all, ye Sunbournes us often, ye rain wetts us, ye winde makes us have shipwrake, yethunder, ye lightening bournes & kills us, & all comes from above, & yousay that itt is goode to be there. For my part, I will nott go there.Contrary they say that ye reprobates & guilty goeth downe & bourne.They are mistaken; all is goode heare. Do nott you see that itt is yeEarthe that nourishes all living creatures--ye waiter, ye fishes, & yeyus, and that corne & all other fruits come up, & that all things arenott soe contrary to us as that from above? Ye devils live in ye air &they took my son. When you see that ye Earthe is our Mother, then youwill see that all things on itt are goode. Ye Earthe was made for yePanugaga, & ye souls of our warriors help us against our Ennemy. Yeffrench dogg is Mahongui's spirit. He tells us to goe to warre againstye ffrench. Would a ffrench dogg doe that? You are nott yett Panugaga tofollow your father in warre."