55
M. TRACY TO GOV. NICOLLLS.
[ London Doc. I. ]
Sir
In answer to yo f letter of 31. August, | N. S.J I shall tell you that Mons r de Courcelle GovernorGeneral of this Countrey, signifying to mee that hee had a desire to make some inroad upon theMaquas, to put a stopp to their barbarous Insolencies; I gave my consent to further the design, thathee might take with him so many officers and souldiers as he thought fit, either of his Mat* e “ Com-panyesj'or those of y e Countrey. Whereupon liee advanced within fifteen or twenty leagues of thevillages of y° Ann ies. But fortunately for them his guides conducting him a wrong way, hee didnot meete with them, till he came neare the village which you name in yo* Letter, neither had heknown there was any of them there, until he had surprized all the Indyans that were in two smallHutts at some distance from that place. This truth is sufficiently convincing, to justify Mons 1- deCourcelle, that hee had no intention to infringe the Peace, that was then between us, for that heethought himself in the Maquas land. The Moderacdn which hee used in the said hutts (althoughthe persons under his command were driven to the uttermost extremity, for want of Provisions)hath sufficiently manifested the consideracdns wee have always had for our allyes (for until then weehad no intelligence, that New Holland was under any other Dominion than that of the States of theUnited Belgick Provinces) and understanding that hee was upon the Lands belonging to the Dutch,hee tooke great care to hinder his companyes from falling into the village, by which means alonethe Maquaes that were there saved themselves.
Hee also had so much care and authority as to hinder the souldiers from Killing the Poultry, andtaking away Provisions that were in the said hutts, to satisfy their hunger. Thus farr, I ought tovindicate the truth upon this subject.
The ffrench nation is too much inclined to acknowledge curtesies, not. to confess that the Dutch
have had very much charity for the ffrench, who have been Prisoners with the Maquaes, and that
they have redeemed divers, who had been burnt wi th out their succour; They ovight also to be assured of
our gratitude towards them, and to any others who shall exercise such Christian Deedes, as theyhave done.
I am also persuaded that they had a sincere intention for the conclusion of a firme peace betweenus and the Maques. They ought in like manner to believe, that wee have always expressly forbidy* -Vlgonquins to make warr upon or kill them. ^
Since the Dutch Gent, did send you y c Lres which I writt unto them, you have knowne the can-dour of my thoughts, and the confidence which I had in their ft'riendship, by that of the 14 th July1666 as also by the Request I made to the Reverend Rather Bechefer (who is a person of great meritt)accompanyed with three considerable persons, to transport himself upon the place, to conclude apeace, thereby to ease them of the trouble of coming to Quebec .
Its true the displeasure I received by the death of some Gent’men , who went a fowling uponconfidence, of that article w<* is in the same letter those Gent’men sent mee, the second time, datedthe 26 th March 1666, the which I had published in our Garrison [we have acquainted the Maquaes,that they are to forbear all acts of Hostility, during the time that the Messenger shall be absentwhich they have promised to observe] did give mee a just griefe, and a great deale of discontent, Itbeing evident that those Gent’men had not put themselves upon that hazard, without the assurance:w ch would have served amongst Europeans as well as the most authentick Passeport that could behad, the which also wee had caus’d the Algonquins to observe.