ree days after their arrival, they heard that the Iroquois
were descending the river. The first attacks of the Iroquois were
repulsed, and then they sent out scouts to bring up a large force of
five hundred warriors who were at the mouth of the Richelieu. In the
meantime they continued harassing the inmates of the fort, who were
suffering for food and {151} water. A band of Hurons who had joined
the French just before the arrival of the Iroquois, now deserted them,
with the exception of their chief, who as well as four Algonquins,
remained faithful to the end. The forests soon resounded with the
yells of the Iroquois, when reinforced. Still Dollard and his brave
companions never faltered, but day after day beat back the astonished
assailants, who knew the weakness of the defenders, and had anticipated
an easy victory. At last a general assault was made, and in the
struggle Dollard was killed. Even then the survivors kept up the
fight, and when the Iroquois stood within the inclosure there was no
one to meet them. Four Frenchmen, still alive, were picked up from the
pile of corpses. Three of these were instantly burned, while the
fourth was reserved for continuous torture a day or so later. The
faithless Hurons gained nothing by their desertion, for they were put
to death, with the exception of five who eluded their captors, and took
an account of this remarkable episode to the French at Montreal. The
Iroquois were obviously amazed at the courage of a few Frenchmen, and
decided to give up, for the present, their project of attacking
settlements defended by men so dauntless.

Even the forces of nature seemed at this time to conspire against the
unfortunate colony. A remarkable earthquake, the effects of which can
still be seen on the St. Lawrence,--at picturesque Les Eboulements,
which means "earth slips," for instance,--commenced in the month of
February, 1663, and did not cease entirely until the following summer.

{152}

Fervent appeals for assistance were made to the King by Pierre Boucher,
the governor of Three Rivers, by Monseigneur Laval, the first bishop,
by the Jesuit Fathers, and by the governors of New France, especially
by M. d'Avaugour, who recommended that three thousand soldiers be sent
to the colony, and allowed to become settlers after a certain term of
service. By 1663, the total population of Canada did not exceed two
thousand souls, the large majority of whom were at Quebec, Montreal,
a