Coaina; The Rose of the Algonquins (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1867. Excerpt: ... COAINAs THE ROSE OF THE ALGONQUINS. CHAPTER I. THE EVE OF THE ASSUMPTION. Not far from Montreal lies a beautiful lake, which is formed by the dancing waters of the Ottawa, and surrounded by picturesque hills, which slope in gentle undulations down to its sedgy margin. It is called Canaradago, or the "Lake of the Two Mountains." One of the hills is crowned by a Calvary, which is approached by a rugged, circuitous path, along the sides of which stand, at regular intervals, small rustic chapels, which are much visited by pious pilgrims, and where, during Lent, the congregations of the Mission devoutly perform the "Stations of the Cross," and sing, as they march in solemn procession towards the cross-crowned summit, the sorrows of Mary, the sonorous and mournful chaunt blending, in harmonious accord, with the penitential season, and the commemorative suggestions of the spot. Straggling along the shores of the lake and up the slopes, partly hidden by the hills and partly sheltered by the dark primeval forest, which recedes gradually northward, and where the pines and hemlocks ever moan together the sad hymn of the centuries, nestle two Indian villages of a Catholic mission, which diverge to the right and left. The one on the right belongs to a remnant of the once powerful Algonquins; that on the left to a remnant of the Iroquois, who were, in former times, one of the great aboriginal nations of the north j but although such near neighbors, these two people are as distinct in manners and language as they were in the days of Carter and Champlain. These Catholic Indians are the descendants of the fierce savages who tortured the blessed Father Jogues, and martyred, with cruel and prolonged torments the noble and saintly Brebeuf. They live in lodges built of logs a...