Near the shore a small shallop, on
whose deck stood a group of armed whites, had just cast
anchor, and was furling its sails. Upon the strip of open
land bordering the river, and in the woodland beyond, were
visible great numbers of savage warriors, their faces
hideously bedaubed with war-paint, their hands busy in
erecting the frail habitations of a temporary camp.
The scene was one of striking beauty, such as only the
virgin wilderness can display. The river ran between walls
of fresh green leafage, here narrowed, yonder widened into a
broad reach which was encircled by far sweeping forests. The
sun shone broadly on the animated scene, while the whites,
from the deck of their small craft, gazed with deep interest
on the strange picture before them, filled as it was with
dusky natives, some erecting their forest shelters, others
fishing in the stream, while still others were seeking the
forest depths in pursuit of game.
The scene is of interest to us for another reason. It was
the prelude to the first scene of Indian warfare which the
eyes of Europeans were to behold in the northern region of
the American continent. The Spaniards had been long
established in the south, but no English settlement had yet
been made on the shores of the New World, and the French had
but recently built a group of wooden edifices on that
precipitous height which is now crowned with the walls and
the spires of Quebec.
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