Adventures of Radisson (26 page)

“Do you speak Iroquois fluently then?”

“As well as I speak French,” Radisson replied. Listen to this…”

Radisson described in Iroquois the longhouse he lived in for more than a year, then what his mother, father, brother, and favourite sister were like. He told the priest of his first hunting trip with Ganaha, when they killed the great bear. He told him of the great courage and wisdom of Kondaron, who led them right to the ends of the earth to vanquish the Erie, and safely back again through the mountains. He told him how extraordinarily skilful the Iroquois were, how they could fashion canoes from bark and then steer them through the most dangerous of rapids. He told him of the almost unimaginable endurance of their warriors, of their cunning, and their fighting skills. He told him of his admiration for the women who worked in the fields and around the house while the men were off hunting and fishing; who even sat on councils alongside the men. He told him how much they all knew about plants. He told him of the eloquent chiefs that spoke, one after another, to prepare for war or peace. He even told him of the rumours making the rounds of the village just before he left, that peace with the French might be about to break out.

Radisson had mixed feelings. By giving such a spirited account of his time there, Radisson locked these precious memories in his mind, where they were going to crystallize now that he had turned his back on his family and his clan brothers. He was still sad to have left them, but he did not regret it. He was happy to have turned the page and to be starting all over again. A whole new future stretched out before him, rooted in the deeper memories of his childhood and youth.

The Jesuit, who had picked up a smattering of the language as a prisoner, was duly impressed. He understood bits and pieces of the young man's speech. He liked to think of Radisson as his protégé now that he had brought him back to the Catholic faith and given him access once more to eternal salvation. Poncet could see that Radisson knew every aspect of Iroquois culture and could prove very helpful indeed to the Jesuit priests whose plans had thus far been thwarted by this implacable nation. For his part, Radisson could see that Governor Orlaer was right. Father Poncet could help him make his way back to Paris, perhaps even back to New France, if he went about things the right way.

The two men were made for each other.

The next morning at first light, Orlaer and his lieutenant led the two Frenchmen as discreetly as possible to the boat that would carry them to Manhattan. The captain ordered two beds set up for them in the hold, amid sixty barrels of gunpowder that the boat was to deliver to the capital of the colony. Radisson recognized the same barrels he and his Iroquois had admired at Fort Orange. Peter Orlaer forbade them from leaving their hideout for three days and implored them to be careful not to ignite the powder: the explosion would surely blow up the entire boat and take all passengers with it. Lastly, he gave them each a letter, to be given to the captain of the vessel that would take them on to Holland.

On that cold morning of December 1653, it was time to go. A new life was about to begin for Radisson.

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