Untitled - Libr@rsi

1651-52] RELATION OF ibso-si 33
purpose, — [88] the Captain delivered a harangue, to
incite his people to devotion. When Communion
and thanksgiving were over, with the rosary which
was recited as an additional exercise of devotion, they
came to regale me with some little presents; one
gave a fat piece of Moose, another a partridge, of
which these poor people had deprived themselves, in
order to reserve them for me, in spite of the hunger
that pressed them as much as it did me.
On the tenth of April, we started early in the
morning; the rain, which had fallen throughout the
night, had thawed the first layer of ice on the lakes,
and the snow in the woods,— so that we had to walk
in water up to our knees, and with snowshoes on our
feet for fear of breaking through the lower ice. After
having crossed four lakes, we reached the one on
which my host usually has his abode. We proceeded
to erect our cabins [89] on a hillock of sand, and
under pine-trees where the snow was melted. We
built a chapel, in which I said holy Mass in thanksgiving;
and afterward we erected a fine Cross.
Hitherto, we had contented ourselves, at our various
in this
camps, with carving a Cross on a tree ; but
spot we planted that noble standard. We rested for
the remainder of the day ; we would have had time to
eat, if we had had any food ; but, as the snow was
half melted, and the fish had not yet drawn near the
land, we spent fifteen days in great privation. My
people began making canoes, and worked from morning
until night; I am surprised that they could
endure the work, as they did not eat more than six
ounces of food in a whole day. Their greatest
trouble [90] was to see us suffer; they joyfully offered
all these privations to God. Seeing that every one