ible cascade dans un abime,
forme un brouillard qui derobe l'eau a la veue, et fait un
bruit qui avertit de loin les navigateurs de descendre de
leurs canots."

Medoctec was undoubtedly the principal Indian village on the St. John
at this time; it was situated on the right bank of the river, eight
miles below the Town of Woodstock. Here the Maliseets had a palisaded
fort and large cabin, similar to that described by Lescarbot at the
village Ouigoudy on Navy Island, where de Monts was welcomed by
Chkoudun in 1604. The only other fortification constructed by the
Indians on the St. John river, so far as known, was that at the mouth
of the Nerepis, at Woodman's Point, called by Villebon, in 1697, "Fort
des Sauvages de Nerepisse." It was evidently merely a palisaded
enclosure, and on Southack's map of that period is marked "Wooden
Fort."

Hitherto the Indians of Acadia had lived peaceably with the whites,
but the closing years of the seventeenth century were destined to
witness a sad transformation.

CHAPTER V.

KING WILLIAM'S WAR.

There lived at Quebec in the latter part of the seventeenth century
one Charles le Moyne, seigneur de Longueil, who is called by
Charlevoix the Baron de Becancourt; he was of Norman extraction, but
his sons were natives of New France. As was the custom with the French
noblesse each son adopted a surname derived from some portion of the
ancient family estate. At least five of Becancourt's sons were
prominent in the affairs of Acadia; they are known in history as
Menneval, Portneuf, Villebon, d'Iberville and des Isles.

In 1687 Menneval replaced Perrot as governor of Acadia, and as the
conduct of Perrot had given rise to grave dissatisfaction his
successor received elaborate instructions concerning his duties. He
was to rebuild the defences of Acadia, to resist the encroachments of
the English, to suppress the lawless trade of the Coureurs de bois, to
deal kindly and honestly with the savages, taking care to promote
their conversion to the Christian faith, and to restore to the crown
all seigniories and granted lands that had not been occupied or
improved.

The year that followed Menneval's appointment was notable for the
outbreak of the most dreadful Indian war in the annals of Acadia. All
the tribes east of the Merrimac took part in it, including the
Maliseets and Micmacs. This war is known in history as King William's
war, from the name of the English m