nation extended from Gaspe to Cape Sable. In
the year 1534 he had welcomed the great explorer Jacques Cartier to
the shores of Eastern New Brunswick, as seventy years later he
welcomed de Monts and Poutrincourt to Port Royal. The Jesuit
missionary, Pierre Biard, describes Membertou as "the greatest, most
renowned and most formidable savage within the memory of man; of
splendid physique, taller and larger limbed than is usual among them;
bearded like a Frenchmen, although scarcely any of the others have
hair upon the chin; grave and reserved with a proper sense of the
dignity of his position as commander." "In strength of mind, in
knowledge of war, in the number of his followers, in power and in the
renown of a glorious name among his countrymen, and even his enemies,
he easily surpassed the sagamores who had flourished during many
preceding ages."

In the year 1605 Pennoniac, one of the chiefs of Acadia, went with de
Monts and Champlain as guide on the occasion of their voyage along the
shores of New England and was killed by some of the savages near Saco.
Bessabez, the sagamore of the Penobscot Indians, allowed the body of
the dead chief to be taken home by his friends to Port Royal and its
arrival was the signal of great lamentation. Membertou was at this
time an old man, but although his hair was white with the frosts of a
hundred winters, like Moses of old, his eye was not dim nor his
natural force abated. He decided that the death of Pennoniac must be
avenged. Messengers were sent to call the tribes of Acadia and in
response to the summons 400 warriors assembled at Port Royal. The
Maliseets joined in the expedition. The great flotilla of war canoes
was arranged in divisions, each under its leader, the whole commanded
by Membertou in person. As the morning sun reflected in the still
waters of Port Royal the noiseless procession of canoes, crowned by
the tawny faces and bodies of the savage warriors, smeared with
pigments of various colors, the sight struck the French spectators
with wonder and astonishment.

Uniting with their allies of the River St. John, the great war party
sped westward over the waters of the Bay of Fundy and along the coast
till they reached the land of the Armouchiquois. Here they met and
defeated their enemies after a hard-fought battle in which Bessabez
and many of his captains were slain, and the allies returned in
triumph to Acadia singing their songs of victory.

The situation of the M