La Salle and the discovery of the great West - North Central ...

234 TONTY AND THE IROQUOIS. [1680.been prowling in quest of scalps, had met and wantonlymurdered the inoffensive old man. Theycarried his scalp to their village, and danced roundit in triumph, pretending to have taken it from anenemy. Thus, in his sixty-fifth year, the only heirof a wealthy Burgundian house perished under thewar-clubs of the savages for whose salvation he hadrenounced station, ease, and affluence. 1Meanwhile, a hideous scene was enacted at theruined village of the Illinois. Their savage foes,balked of a living prey, wreaked their fury on thedead. They dug up the graves; they threw downthe scaffolds. Some of the bodies they burned;some they threw to the dogs; some, it is affirmed,they ate. 2 Placing the skulls on stakes as trophies,they turned to pursue the Illinois, who, when theFrench withdrew, had abandoned their asylum andretreated down the river. The Iroquois, still, itseems, in awe of them, followed them along theopposite bank, each night encamping face to face1Tonty, Memoire ; Membre* in Le Clerc, ii. 191. Hennepin, whohated Tonty, unjustly charges him with having abandoned thesearch too soon, admitting, however, that it would have been useless^to continue it. This part of his narrative is a perversion ofMembre's account.2 " Cependant les Iroquois, aussitot apres le depart du S r -deTonty, exercerent leur rage sur les corps morts des Ilinois, qu'ilsdeterrerent ou abbatterent de dessus les eehafauds oil les Ilinois leslaisseut longtemps exposes avant que de les mettre en terre. lisen brulerent la plus grande partie. ils en mangerent meme quelquesuns, et jetterent le reste aux chiens. Ils planterent les tetes de cescadavres a demi decharnes sur des pieux," etc.— Relation desD&ouvertes,