terresauvage:

“…we marched straight to the first villages, which are only half a league away [2 kilometres]. We found them abandoned and almost reduced to cinders, as the enemy had set them on fire before leaving. Since we found no one to fight, we began to destroy the Indian corn in the field and to burn the corn in the village and that stored in a fort made of large posts, build on a very well-placed hill, where the enemy had wanted to organize their defence. Then we moved on to other villages, 4 leagues [16 kilometres] beyond the first ones. We found them abandoned, but not reduced to cinders … The destruction of the Indian corn will probably inconvenience the Iroquois greatly and it is possible that many will die of starvation …” - Letter from Reverend Father Bechefer to Monsieur Cabart de Villermont,

September 19, 1687

~

From Samuel de Champlain 2nd Edition (1870)

Defeat of the Iroquois at Champlain Lake (Detail) 

(via savage-america)