Not until they stood face to face, ready for the battle-cry, did the Algonquin ranks open, and the white men advance before the astonished gaze of the Iroquois.  Never before had they set eyes on such an apparition, and they stood in mute wonder while Champlain raised his arquebuse, took aim at a chief, and fired.  The chief fell dead.  A warrior by his side fell wounded in the bushes.  As the report rang through the air a frightful yell came from the allies, and in an instant their arrows were whizzing thickly through the ranks of their foes.  For a moment the Iroquois stood their ground and returned arrow for arrow.  But when from the two flanks of their adversaries came new reports, and other warriors bit the dust, their courage gave way to panic terror, and they turned and fled in wild haste through the forest, swiftly pursued by the triumphant Algonquins.

Several of the Iroquois were killed.  A number were captured.  At night the victors camped in triumph on the field of battle, torturing one of their captives till Champlain begged to put him out of pain, and sent a bullet through his heart.

Thus ended the first battle between whites and Indians on the soil of the northern United States, in a victory for which the French were to pay dearly in future days, at the hands of their now vanquished foes.  With the dawn of the next day the victors began their retreat.  A few days of rapid paddling brought them to the Richelieu.  Here they separated, the Hurons and Algonquins returning to their homes by way of the Ottowa, the Montagnais, who dwelt in the vicinity of Quebec, accompanying Champlain to his new-built city.

The Iroquois, however, were not the men to be quelled by a single defeat.  In June of the ensuing year a war-party of them advanced to the mouth of the Richelieu, and a second fierce battle took place.  As another vivid example of the character of Indian warfare, the story of this conflict, may be added to that already given.

On an island in the St. Lawrence near the mouth of the Richelieu was gathered a horde of Montagnais Indians, Champlain and others of the whites being with them.  A war-party of Algonquins was expected, and busy preparations were being made for feast and dance, in order that they might be received with due honor.  In the midst of this festal activity an event occurred that suddenly changed thoughts of peace to those of war.  At a distance on the stream appeared a single canoe, approaching as rapidly as strong arms could drive it through the water.  On coming near, its inmates called out loudly that the Algonquins were in the forest, engaged in battle with a hundred Iroquois, who, outnumbered, were fighting from behind a barricade of trees which they had hastily erected.