north and up the Ottawa, and to the fierce Iroquois in the Mohawk Valley.
Among the Algonquins they suffered want and hardship, dwelling in wretched tents full of smoke and filth and often ill-treated and despised by the people they were trying to benefit. At first their efforts were of little avail; even the Hurons, the most intelligent, kindly, and well-to-do of the Indian tribes thought the missionaries brought them trouble in the shape of drought, sickness, and ill-success in hunting and war. But no amount of failure could discourage these patient and unselfish men. After a while the Indians began to respect them, and then came a general willingness to be baptized and to accept the religion taught by the missionaries. It was not long before nearly all the Hurons became converted to Christianity, and left off their heathen practices and habits. Two names will always be remembered in connection with these Huron missions, those of Father de Brébœuf and Father Lalement ; the first strong in frame, brave of heart, and capable of enduring any amount of hardship; the second, delicate, refined, loving, and unselfish. Other missionaries took their lives in their hands and went among the cruel and treacherous Iroquois, hoping to do some good to the fiercest enemies of the colony. But little, however, came of these missions. The Iroquois did not trust the French, and the missionaries after a brief stay were either murdered or compelled to escape for their lives. The name of Father Jogues, who suffered first, mutilation, and later on, death, at the hands of the Iroquois, is one that shines bright on the roll of Martyr missionaries.
2. Indian Wars.—The story of Indian missions is also a part of the story of Indian Wars. The Algonquins and the Hurons were the friends of the French, while the Iroquois were bent on the destruction of the feeble colony and its allies. The Hurons lived in populous villages between the Georgian Bay and Lake Simcoe, and were said to number thirty thousand people, most of whom accepted Christianity through the labors of Jesuit missionaries. St. Ionace, St. Louis, St. Joseph, and St. Marie, were among the most important of these missions. In 1648, St. Joseph was suprised by the Iroquois, while most of the Huron hunters and warriors were absent. Seven persons were captured and killed, the
