ertainly kill them. By a coincidence, at that
very moment a terrific thunderstorm burst from a sky which until
recently had been all sunshine. The Senekas were so scared by the
thunder and lightning that they believed Brule to be a person of
supernatural powers. They therefore released him, strove to heal such
slight wounds as he had incurred, and carried him off to their
principal town, where he became a great favourite. After a while they
gave him guides to take him north into the country of the Hurons.

His further adventures led him to discover Lake Superior and the way
thither through the Sault Ste. Marie, and to reach a place probably
not far from the south coast of Hudson Bay, in which there was a
copper mine. Then he explored the Montagnais country north of Quebec,
and even at one time (in 1629) entered the service of the English, who
had captured Quebec and Tadoussac from the French. When the English
left this region Brule travelled again to the west and joined the
Hurons once more.

His licentious conduct amongst his Indian friends seems to have
roused them to such a pitch of anger that in 1632 they murdered him,
then boiled and ate his body. But immediately afterwards misfortune
seemed to fall on the place. The Hurons were terrified at what they
had done, and thought they heard or saw in the sky the spirits of the
white relations of Brule--some said the sister, some the
uncle--threatening their town (Toanche), which they soon afterwards
burnt and deserted.

In 1615 Champlain, returning from France, had brought out with him
friars of the Recollet order.[4] These were the pioneer missionaries
of Canada, prominent amongst whom was FATHER LE CARON, and these
Recollets traversed the countries in the basin of the St. Lawrence
between Lake Huron and Cape Breton Island, preaching Christianity to
the Amerindians as well as ministering to the French colonists and fur
traders. One of these Recollet missionaries died of cold and hunger in
attempting to cross New Brunswick from the St. Lawrence to the Bay of
Fundy, and another--Nicholas Viel--was the first martyr in Canada in
the spread of Christianity, for when travelling down the Ottawa River
to Montreal he was thrown by the pagan Hurons (together with one of
his converts) into the waters of a rapid since christened Sault le
Recollet. Another Recollet, Father d'Aillon, prompted by Brule,
explored the richly fertile, beautiful country known then as the
territory of t