hat he might assist at their councils in planning better
safeguards against their enemies.

This enforced residence of Champlain among the Hurons during the winter
of 1615-16 has given us an excellent description of Indian customs. It
was also the means of composing a dangerous quarrel between the Hurons
and the Algonquins. Once committed to spending the winter among the
Indians, Champlain planned to make Huronia a point of departure for
still further explorations to the westward. Early in 1616 there seemed
to be a favourable opportunity to push forward in the direction of Lake
Superior. Then came this wretched brawl of Hurons and Algonquins, which
threatened to beget bitter hatred and war among tribes which hitherto
had both been friendly to the French. Accepting his duty, Champlain
gave up his journey to the far west and threw himself into the task of
restoring peace. But the measure of his disappointment is found in these
words:

If ever there was one greatly disheartened, it was
myself, since I had been waiting to see this year what
during many preceding ones I had been seeking for with
great toil and effort, through so many fatigues and
risks of my life. But realizing that I could not help
the matter, and that everything depended on the will
of God, I comforted myself, resolving to see it in a
short time. I had such sure information that I could
not doubt the report of these people, who go to traffic
with others dwelling in those northern regions, a
great part of whom live in a place very abundant in
the chase and where there are great numbers of large
animals, the skins of several of which I saw, and
which I concluded were buffaloes from their
representation of their form. Fishing is also very
abundant there. This journey requires forty days as
well in returning as in going.

Thus Champlain almost had a chance to see the bison and the great plains
of the West. As it was, he did his immediate duty and restored the peace
of Huron and Algonquin. In partial compensation for the alluring journey
he relinquished, he had a better opportunity to study the Hurons
in their settlements and to investigate their relations with their
neighbours--the Tobacco Nation, the Neutral Nation, les Cheveux Releves,
and the Race of Fire. Hence the Voyage of 1615 not only describes the
physical aspects of Huronia, but contains intimate details regarding the
life of its people--their