That, upon which they found themselves, lay in the unbroken forest.

The high lands which they first undertook to clear, as less stubborn, were most sterile; and, by a very natural mistake, our Frenchmen adopted the modes and objects of European culture; the grains, the fruits and the vegetables, as well as the implements, to which they had been accustomed.

The Indians came to their succor, taught them the cultivation of maize, and assisted them in the preparation of their lands; in return for lessons thought equally valuable by the savages, to whom they taught, along with gentler habits and morals, a better taste for music and the dance! To subdue the forest, of itself, to European hands, implied labors not unlike those of Hercules.

But the refugees, though a gentle race, were men of soul and strength, capable of great sacrifices, and protracted self-denial.

Accommodating themselves with a patient courage to the necessities before them, they cheerfully undertook and accomplished their tasks.