Before the assemblage broke
up, the chief asked Cartier to cause the ships' cannons
to be fired, as he had learned from the two guides that
they made such a marvellous noise as was never heard
before.
'Our captain answered,' writes Cartier in his narrative,
'that he was content: and by and by he commanded his men
to shoot off twelve cannons into the wood that was hard
by the people and the ships, at which noise they were
greatly astonished and amazed, for they thought the heaven
had fallen upon them, and put themselves to flight,
howling, crying and shrieking, so that it seemed hell
was broken loose.'
Next day the Indians made one more attempt to dissuade
Cartier from his journey. Finding that persuasion and
oratory were of no avail, they decided to fall back upon
the supernatural and to frighten the French from their
design. Their artifice was transparent enough, but to
the minds of the simple savages was calculated to strike
awe into the hearts of their visitors. Instead of coming
near the ships, as they had done on each preceding day,
the Indians secreted themselves in the woods along the
shore. There they lay hid for many hours, while the French
were busied with their preparations for departure. But
later in the day, when the tide was running swiftly
outward, the Indians in their canoes came paddling down
the stream towards the ships, not, however, trying to
approach them, but keeping some little distance away as
if in expectation of something unusual.
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