The news of the arrival of the strangers spread at once
through the settlement. To see the ships, canoe after
canoe came floating down the river. They were filled with
men and women eager to welcome their returned kinsmen
and to share in the trinkets which Cartier distributed
with a liberal hand. On the next day the chief of the
tribe, the lord of Canada, as Cartier calls him, Donnacona
by name, visited the French ships. The ceremonial was
appropriate to his rank. Twelve canoes filled with Indian
warriors appeared upon the stream. As they neared the
ships, at a command from Donnacona, all fell back except
two, which came close alongside the Emerillon. Donnacona
then delivered a powerful and lengthy harangue, accompanied
by wondrous gesticulations of body and limbs. The canoes
then moved down to the side of the Grande Hermine, where
Donnacona spoke with Cartier's guides. As these savages
told him of the wonders they had seen in France, he was
apparently moved to very transports of joy. Nothing would
satisfy him but that Cartier should step down into the
canoe, that the chief might put his arms about his neck
in sign of welcome. Cartier, unable to rival Donnacona's
oratory, made up for it by causing the sailors hand down
food and wine, to the keen delight of the Indians.
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