Samuel de Champlain accompanied a Montagnais and Algonquin force against the Mohawks in 1609. Near the south end of Lake Champlain they met a body of Mohawks. A volley from the firearms of Champlain and his men routed the Mohawks who had been wearing wooden, arrow-proof armour. Several authors have called attention to fanciful aspects of this illustration which appeared in Champlain's Les Voyages de Sieur de Champlain Xaintongeois (Paris, 1613). It is clear that earlier illustrations of South American Indians influenced this engraving (note the boats, naked Indians, palm trees, and hammocks), but the small fortification reflects the temporary stockades built by war parties when anticipating contact with the enemy. See also Canada's Visual History, volume 6, slide 2, for a sketch of Champlain's men and their Huron allies attacking an Oneida or Onondaga village.
