at Gannentaha at last found that their own lives were
threatened by a conspiracy to destroy them, but they succeeded in
deceiving the Indians and in escaping to Canada in the month of March,
after living only two years among the Onondagas. Whilst the Indians
were sleeping away the effects of one of those mystic feasts, at which
they invariably stuffed themselves to repletion, the Frenchmen escaped
at night and reached the Oswego River, which they successfully
descended by the aid of flat-boats which they had secretly constructed
after the discovery of the plot. The party reached the French
settlement with the loss of three men, drowned in the descent of the
rapids of the St. Lawrence, probably the Cedars. The enterprise was
most hazardous at this season when the ice had to be broken on the
rivers before the boats could be used. But this very fact had its
advantage, since the bark canoes of the Indians would have been useless
had they followed the party. This exploit is one of the most
remarkable ever performed by the French in those early days, and shows
of what excellent material those pioneers of French colonisation were
made.

In the spring of 1660 it was discovered that an {150} organised attack
was to be made on all the settlements by a large force of over a
thousand Iroquois, who were to assemble at the junction of the Ottawa
and St. Lawrence rivers. It is stated on credible authority that
Montreal--Canada in fact--was saved at this critical juncture by the
heroism of a few devoted Frenchmen. Among the officers of the little
garrison that then protected Montreal, was Adam Daulac or Dollard,
Sieur des Ormeaux, who obtained leave from Maisonneuve, the governor,
to lead a party of volunteers against the Iroquois, who were wintering
in large numbers on the upper Ottawa. Sixteen brave fellows, whose
names are all recorded in the early records of Montreal, took a solemn
oath to accept and give no quarter, and after settling their private
affairs and receiving the sacrament, they set out on their mission of
inevitable death. Dollard and his band soon reached the impetuous
rapids of the Long Sault of the Ottawa, destined to be their
Thermopylae. There, among the woods, they found an old circular
inclosure of logs, which had been built by some Indians for defensive
purposes. This was only a wretched bulwark, but the Frenchmen were in
a state of exalted enthusiasm, and proceeded to strengthen it. Only
two or th