oodland beyond, were
visible great numbers of savage warriors, their faces
hideously bedaubed with war-paint, their hands busy in
erecting the frail habitations of a temporary camp.

The scene was one of striking beauty, such as only the
virgin wilderness can display. The river ran between walls
of fresh green leafage, here narrowed, yonder widened into a
broad reach which was encircled by far sweeping forests. The
sun shone broadly on the animated scene, while the whites,
from the deck of their small craft, gazed with deep interest
on the strange picture before them, filled as it was with
dusky natives, some erecting their forest shelters, others
fishing in the stream, while still others were seeking the
forest depths in pursuit of game.

The scene is of interest to us for another reason. It was
the prelude to the first scene of Indian warfare which the
eyes of Europeans were to behold in the northern region of
the American continent. The Spaniards had been long
established in the south, but no English settlement had yet
been made on the shores of the New World, and the French had
but recently built a group of wooden edifices on that
precipitous height which is now crowned with the walls and
the spires of Quebec.

Not long had the whites been there before the native hunters
of the forests came to gaze with wondering eyes on those
pale-faced strangers, with their unusual attire and
surprising powers of architecture. And quickly they begged
their aid in an expedition against their powerful enemies,
the confederated nations of the Iroquois, who dwelt in a
wonderful lake-region to the south, and by their strength,
skill, and valor had made themselves the terror of the
tribes.

Samuel de Champlain, an adventurous Frenchman who had
already won himself reputation by an exploration of the
Spanish domain of the West Indies, was now in authority at
Quebec, and did not hesitate to promise his aid in the
coming foray, moved, perhaps, by that thirst for discovery
and warlike spirit which burned deeply in his breast. The
Indians had told him of great lakes and mighty rivers to the
south, and doubtless the ardent wish to be the first to
traverse these unknown waters was a moving impulse in his
ready assent.

With the opening season the warriors gathered, Hurons and
Algonquins, a numerous band. They paddled to Quebec; gazed
with surprise on the strange buildings, the story of which
had already been told in their distant w