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PPBH|aPHH| 
 
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 DESCRIPTION 
 
 LOUISIANA, 
 
 By father LOUIS HENNEPIN, 
 
 RriCOLLECT MISSIONARY. 
 
 ^Mijl 
 
 TIIANSlAT».n FKOM THI IPITION OF 1683, AND COMrAlIP WITH Till NOUVEI.I.I 
 DicOUVtRTB, THE LA lALLE DOCUMENT! AND OTHER 
 CONTEMPORANEOUa rAPERB. 
 
 By JOHN GILMARY SHEA. 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 V 
 
 I 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 I O H N G. S H F A. 
 1880. 
 
 V 
 
 /> 
 
 \0BAJ 
 
 CANADA. 
 
F 35*2. 
 
 COI'YUIGHT lS8o, 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN OII.MARY SHF.A. 
 
Rt. R.:v. JOHN IRELAND, D.D., 
 
 J. FLETCHER WILLIAMS, 
 
 rKKSn.PNT ANI. SECRKTARV OF THE MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIF.TV, 
 TMH WORKDJE TO THEIR FRIENDLY COMPULSION IS NOW DEDICATEI.. 
 
r 
 
 
I 
 
 r 
 
 . 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The work of Father Louis Hennepin here 
 given is the most graphic account of La Salle's 
 course of exploration as far as Illinois, and the 
 only detailed narrative of Hennepin's own voyage 
 up the Mississippi to the Sioux country during 
 which he visited and named the Falls of Saint 
 Anthony. 
 
 Doubts thrown upon Hennepin by the evident 
 falsity of a later work bearing his name, have led 
 to a general charge of falsehood against him. In 
 justice to him, it must be admitted that there are 
 grounds for believing that his notes were adapted 
 by an unscrupulous editor, and the second book 
 altered even after it was printed. 
 
 His original work h?re given in full for the first 
 time in English, is supported to a remarkable degree 
 by all contemporary authorities, by topography 
 and Indian life. The charge made by Margry 
 that it is a plagiarism is utterly absurd. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 To bring together in English matter scattered 
 in various volumes bearing on the questions in 
 regard to Hennepin, I have added the account 
 of the pretended voyage down the Mississippi in 
 the Nouvelle Decouverte ; an account of Henne- 
 pin's capture from the Margry documents ; the 
 account given by La Salle in his letter of August 
 22. 1682; the account given in the work ascribed 
 to Tonty, and lastly the Report of Du Lhut to the 
 Marquis de Seignelay of his visit to the Sioux 
 country in which he relieved or rescued Hennepin. 
 
 I must express my thanks for valuable aid re- 
 ceived^ from Mr. H. A. Homes, George H. 
 M ore, LL.D., and Gen. J. Watts de Peyster. 
 JOHN GILMARY SHEA. 
 
 Elizabeth, June 12, 1880. 
 
 
 uf 
 
 1 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 
 kM 
 
 Notice on Father Louis Hennepin, 
 
 On the authentidty of Father Hennepin's work's,.'.".....'. oj 
 
 Hennepin's Description of Louisiana ,' ." 
 
 Dedication to Louis XIV, '^^ 
 
 Royal Privilege, '^■^ 
 
 La Salle's Earlier Explorations, '"'' ^ 
 
 Obtains grant of Fort Frontenac, 
 
 Prepares for his Western Exploration, l^ 
 
 Sends men to Niagara, 
 
 The Great Lakes — The Falls of Niagara........... 6q 
 
 Begins fort and builds the Griffin, „ 
 
 La Motte and Hennepin visit the Senecas,... '.'..'.'.'.". ^f 
 
 Loss of La Salle's bark, ^."^ 
 
 Launching of the Griffin, .'..'...'..'.'.'.. «^ 
 
 She sails for the West, ^ 
 
 At Lake St. Clare, ...........'....,. ^° 
 
 At Missilimakinac .*....'.'.'.'...,'.'.' ^^ 
 
 At Green Bay,.,. 97 
 
 Sails back, .'!!.'.".'.'!.'.'.'.'.'!!! '°* 
 
 La Salle proceeds in canoes, j. 
 
 Trouble with Outagamis, '...."......... ^ 
 
 At the mouth of the river of the Miamis,... I!° 
 
 Builds a fort, '^9 
 
 Joined by Tonty, ".'."..*..,........ '"^^ 
 
 Ascends the river, '^^ 
 
 Makes the portage to the Seignelay (iili'no'is)','.'.*.'.."!! !^o 
 
 Reaches Illinois village, "" ^ 
 
 Reaches Illinois camp, ^^l 
 
 Begins Fort Crevecoeur and vessel,'.*.'.','.'.'.'.'.'.".* '^ 
 
 Sets out to learn fate of the Griffin, J^o 
 
 Hennepin and Accault set out, ... 
 
 ' ••• 192 
 
 m 
 
^^ 
 
 8 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Reich the Mississippi, 194 
 
 Account of the upper Mississippi, 196 
 
 Capture by Sioux, 205 
 
 Reaches and names Falls of St. Antnony, 220 
 
 Found by Du Lhut, 253 
 
 Return by way of the Wisconsin, 256 
 
 At Michilimakinac, 259 
 
 Returns to Quebec and France, 264. 
 
 Latest intelligence of La Salle, 271 
 
 The Manners of the Indians, 273 
 
 Approbatory of the "Description of Louisiana," pub- 
 
 • lished on the " Nouveau Voyage," Utrecht, 1G98,... 340 
 
 Account of a voyage down the Mississippi, from the 
 
 Nouvelle Decouverte, 343 
 
 Account of Hennepin's capture, from the Margry papers, 360 
 Account of Hennepin's canoe exploration in La Salle's 
 
 Letter of August 22, 1682, 3^' 
 
 Account of Hennepin's expedition in the work pub- 
 lished in 1697, as by the Chevalier Tonty, 372 
 
 Du Lhut's Report to Monseigneur the Marquis de 
 
 Seignelay, 374 
 
 Description of Niagara Falls, from the Nouvelle De- 
 couverte, 377 
 
 Bibliography of Hennepin, 3^^ 
 
 Index, 393 
 
" 
 
 NOTICE OF 
 FATHER LOUIS HENNEPIN, 
 
 Recollect Missionary. 
 
 Father Louis Hennepin was the first popular 
 writer on the French in America. Champlain, 
 Lescarbot, the Jesuits in their Relations had 
 written indeed but their works found no currency 
 beyond France. Hennepin's works caught the 
 general fancy and were translated into almost 
 all the languages of Europe. But for him the 
 story of La Salle would scarcely have been known 
 even in France. 
 
 Of his early life he gives us little information. 
 He was born at Ath in Hainaut, as he assures us, 
 although Margry on the faith of documents, says 
 that he was really born at Roy, of a family which 
 came from Ath. 
 
 While still pursuing his studies he felt " a strong 
 
 inclination to leave the world and to live in the 
 2 
 
U :v 
 
 10 
 
 SKETCH OF 
 
 li 
 
 |i' 
 
 rule of pure strict virtue. With this view," says 
 he, " I entered the order of Saint Francis, in order 
 to spend my days there in a life of austerity. I 
 accordingly took the habit with several of my 
 fellow students,, whom I inspired with the same 
 design." * 
 
 He made his novitiate in the Recollect Con- 
 vent at Bethune in the province of Artois, where 
 his Master of Novices was Father Gabriel de la 
 Ribourde, a man eminent alike for his high social 
 position and for a most exemplary life f and who 
 was destined at a later day to die for the 
 faith, while laboring as a missionary in America. 
 
 " As I advanced in age," says he, "an inclination 
 for traveling in foreign parts strengthened in my 
 heart. One of my sisters who was married at 
 Ghent, and for whom I entertained a very strong 
 affection, used every argument indeed, to divert 
 me from this project, while I was in that great 
 city to which I had gone in order to learn 
 
 * Nouvelle Dccouverte, p. 8. 
 ■\ Nouv. Decouv., pp. 488-9. 
 
HENNEPIN. , I 
 
 Flemish. But I was urged by several of my 
 Amsterdam friends to go to the East Indies, and 
 my natural inclination to travel, supporting their 
 entreaties, shook my resolution greatly, and I 
 almost resolved to embark in order to gratify this 
 desire."* 
 
 " All my sister's remonstrances could not divert 
 me from my first design. I accordingly set out 
 to see Italy and by order of the General of our 
 order, I visited the finest churches and the most 
 important convents of our order in that country 
 and Germany, in which I began to satisfy my 
 natural curiosity. At last returning to our Nether- 
 lands, the Rev. Father William Herinx, a Re- 
 collect, who died not long since Bishop of Ipres f 
 opposed my project of continuing my travels. 
 He placed me in theconvent of Halles in Hainaut 
 where I discharged the duty of a preacher for a 
 \fter that with my superior's leave I went 
 
 year 
 
 lb. 
 
 > PP- 9> 10. 
 
 t He was bishop from Oct. 24,1677, to A 
 Gams, Series Episcoporum. 
 
 "g- 15, 1678, 
 
12 
 
 SKETCH OF 
 
 to Artois, and was thence sent to Calais, during 
 
 the season for sahing herrings." 
 
 " In this place my strongest passion was to list jn 
 
 to the stories which sea captains told of their long 
 voyages. I then returned to our convent of Biez 
 
 by Dunkirk : but I often hid behind the tavern 
 doors, while the sailors were talking over their 
 cruises. While thus endeavoring to hear them 
 the tobacco smoke sickened me terribly ; yet I 
 listened eagerly to all that these men told of their 
 adventures at sea, of the dangers they had en- 
 countered, and the various incidents of their 
 voyages in foreign parts. I would have passed 
 whole days and nights without eating in this 
 occupation, which was so agreeable to me, because 
 I always learned something new about the manners 
 and mode of life of foreign nations, and touching 
 the beauty, fertility and riches of the countries 
 where these men had been." 
 
 " I accordingly was more and more confirmed 
 in my old inclination. With the view of grati- 
 fying it the more, I went as a missionary to most 
 
HENNEPIN. 
 
 «3 
 
 
 of the cities of Holland, and at last halted at 
 Maestricht, where I remained about eight months. 
 There I administered the sacraments to more 
 than three thousand wounded. While there en- 
 gaged in this occupation, I was several times in 
 great danger among these sick people. I was 
 even myself taker down with purples and dysen- 
 tery, and was within an inch of the grave. But 
 God at last restored me my former health by the 
 care and aid of a very able Dutch physician." 
 
 " The following year, by an impulse of my zeal 
 I again devoted myself to labor for the salvation 
 of souls. I was then at the bloody battle of 
 SenefF" (Aug. 1 1, 1674), "where so many men 
 perished by fire and steel. There I had abundant 
 occupation in relieving and comforting the poor 
 wounded men. And at last after enduring great 
 hardships and encountering extreme dangers in 
 sieges of cities, in trenches and on the field of 
 battle, where I exposed myself greatly for the 
 salvation of my neighbor, while the soldiers 
 breathed only blood and carnage, I beheld my- 
 
H 
 
 SKKTt'H or 
 
 self in a condition to satisfy my first inclina- 
 tions.'* 
 
 Canada had become for a second time a field 
 of labor for the Recollect missionaries. The 
 Count de Frontenac, Governo*- General, was 
 especially anxious to have them in the colony as 
 a balance to the Jesuits and the Bishop, who with 
 his secular clergy held very strict rules of morality, 
 especially on the point of selling liquor to the 
 Indiarjs. 
 
 The King of France, Louis XIV, yielding to 
 the appeal of the Count de Frontenac, wrote to 
 him on the 22d of April, 1675. "I have sent 
 five Recollect religious to Canada to reinforce 
 the community of these religious already estab- 
 lished there."! 
 
 Father Hennepin was one of those selected. " I 
 then received orders," he continues, " from my 
 superiors to proceed to Rochelle in order to em- 
 bark as a missionary for Canada. For two months 
 
 * Nouv, D6couv. pp. 10-12. 
 t Margry i, p. 251, 
 
HRNNF.PIN. 
 
 15 
 
 I discharged the duties of parish priest two leagues 
 from that city, because I had been requested to 
 do so by the pastor of the place who was absent," 
 " At last," proceeds Father Hennepin, " I 
 abandoned myself entirely to Providence and 
 undertook this great sea voyage of twelve or thir- 
 teen hundred leagues, the greatest and perhaps 
 the longest that is made on the ocean." 
 
 " I accordingly embarked with Messire Francis 
 de Laval, just then created Bishop of Petrse a in 
 part thus injidelium and subsequently made Bishop 
 of Quebec the Capital of Canada."* Another 
 distinguished personage who made the voyage in 
 the same vessel was Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la 
 Salle, to whom Louis XIV, on the 13th of May, 
 ^^7Sy granted Fort Frontenac and whose vanity 
 he gratified with a patent of nobility. 
 
 * The See of Quebec was erected Oct. i, 1674, and Mgr. 
 Laval, had been Bishop of Petraea since 1658. This part of 
 the Nouvelle Decouverte seems suspicious and in the same 
 paragraph is the blunder which misled Greenhow, where the 
 text says that Hennepin was a missionary in Canada while 
 Fenelon, afterwards archbishop of Cambray resided there. It 
 was really Fcnelon's broti ix. Hennepin himself could not 
 have made these errors. 
 
i6 
 
 SKRTCH OF 
 
 The name of the vessel is not given nor the 
 date of sailing.* 
 
 Hennepin speaks of the perils of the voyage, 
 engagements in the Turkish vessels from Tunis 
 and Algiers which did all they could to capture 
 his vessel, but which were defeated. He saw a 
 combat between a sword fish and a whale, and 
 was filled with astonishment when he beheld the 
 fishermen of many different countries taking cod 
 off Newfoundland. 
 
 " This sight," he adds, " gave great pleasure to 
 our crew, who numbered about one hundred, to 
 three-fourths of whom I administered the sacra- 
 ments because they were Catholics. I performed 
 the divine office every calm day, and we then 
 sang the Itinerary in French set to music, after 
 we had sa'd our evening prayers. "f 
 
 * The Avis au Lecteur p. 4, says that Hennepin came over 
 in 1676, but it is clear that he came in 1675, as Bishop Laval 
 whose fellow voyager he was, reached Quebec, September 1675. 
 Le Clercq, ii, p. 121, attended a meeting of the Council 
 of Quebec, Oct. 7, 1675. Edits et Ordonnances ii, p. 64, and 
 they must have sailed after May 19, 1675. See Edits et Ordon- 
 nances, i p. 81. 
 
 f Nouv. Decouv., p. 15. 
 
HENNEPIN. 
 
 17 
 
 Besides the sailors he had another little flock. 
 This was a number of girls sent over to settle in 
 Canada. His zeal for their spiritual good led to 
 an angry passage between him and La Salle. 
 
 " This charge one day obliged me, while we 
 were at sea, to censure several girls who were on 
 board and were sent to Canada. They made a 
 great noise by their dancing and thus prevented 
 the sailors from getting their rest at night ; so 
 that I was obliged to reprimand them somewhat 
 severely, in order to oblige them to stop, and to 
 observe t^ue modesty and tranquility." 
 
 "This afforded the Sieur Robert Cavelier de la 
 Salle an occasion of anger against me, which he 
 never forgot. He made a show of wishing to 
 uphold these girls in their amusement. He 
 could not refrain from telling me one day 
 somewhat angrily, that I acted like a pedant to- 
 wards him and all the officers, and persons of 
 quality who were on the vessel, and who enjoyed 
 seeing these girls dance, since I criticised them 
 for trifles ; but Mgr Francis de Laval, created 
 
 i 
 
 
I 8 SKF.TCH 0!< 
 
 first Bishop of Quebec, who made the voyage 
 with us, having given me the direction ot these 
 girls, I thought I had a right to reply to the Sieur 
 de la Salle, that I had never been a pedant, a term 
 which, as all the world knows, signifies a man 
 of a foolish and impertinent turn of mind, and 
 who affects to display on all occasions, an ill 
 digested learning. I added moreover, that these 
 girls were under my direction, and that I thus had 
 a right to rebuke them and censure them as they 
 took on themselves too much liberty. 
 
 " This answer which I made with no other 
 view than to show the said Sieur de la Salle that 
 I was doing my duty, made him livid with anger, 
 and in fact he raged violently against me. I 
 contented myself with telling him, seeing him 
 thus disposed towards me, that he took things ill, 
 and thcit I had no intention of ofi^ending him, as 
 in fact it was not my design." 
 
 " Monsieur de Barrois, who had formerly been 
 P'.icretary to the French ambassador in Turkey, 
 and who at this time filled the same post under 
 
■1 
 
 ■ 
 
 HENNEPIN. 
 
 ^9 
 
 the Count de Fronrenac, seeing this affair, drew 
 me aside, and told me that I had inadvertently 
 put the Sieur de la Salle in a great passion, when 
 I told him that I had never been a pedant, be- 
 cause he had plied the trade for ten or eleven 
 years while he was among the Jesuits and that 
 he had really been regent or teacher of a class, 
 among these religious." 
 
 "I replied to the Sieur de Barrois that I had 
 said this very innocently ; that I had never known 
 that the Sieur de la Salle had lived in that famous 
 order; that had I been aware of it, I should 
 doubtless have avoided uttering that word pedant 
 in addressing him ; that I knew it to be an offen- 
 sive term, that, in fact, men generally expressed 
 by it an "ill polished savant" according to the 
 French expression of the Gentlemen of Port 
 Royal ; that thus I should have avoided using that 
 term, had I been better informed than I was 
 in regard to the life of the said Sieur de la Salle.* 
 *'Nouv. Dec. Avis an Lecteur. 
 
2C 
 
 SKETCH OF 
 
 .' y 
 
 To this affair Hennepin attributes a life long 
 hostility of La Salle towards him, although we 
 see no traces of it'in his Relation of Louisiana. 
 
 On reaching Canada he assures us that Bishop 
 Laval " considering that during the voyage I had 
 displayed great zeal in my sermons and in my 
 assiduity in performing the divine office, and had 
 moreover prevented several women and girls, who 
 were sent over with us, from taking too much 
 liberty with the young men of our crew, to whose 
 hostility I thus frequently exposed myself, — these 
 reasons and several others obtained for me the 
 encomiums and good will of this illustrious bish- 
 op. He accordingly obliged me to preach the 
 Advent and Lent in the cloister of the Hospital 
 Nuns of St. Augustine, in Quebec."* 
 
 " However, my natural inclination was not 
 satisfied with all this. I accordingly often went 
 twenty or thirty leagues from our residence to 
 visit the country. I carried on my back a little 
 
 * lb., p. 17, Mother Juchereau, in her Histoire de I'Hotel 
 Dicu says nothing of Hennepin under this year. 
 
 , 
 
■■« 
 
 HENNEPIN. 
 
 it 
 
 
 chapel service and walked with large snow shoes, 
 but for which I should often have fallen into 
 fearful precipices where I should have been lost. 
 Sometimes, in order to relieve myself, I had my 
 little equipage drawn by a large dog that I took 
 along, and this I did the sooner to reach Three 
 Rivers, Saint Anne, Cap Tourmente, Bourg 
 Royal, Pointe de Levi and the Isle of St. Laurent.* 
 There I gathered in one of the largest cabins of 
 these places as many people as I could. Then I 
 admitted them to confession and holy communion. 
 At night I had usually only a cloak to cover me. 
 The frost often penetrated to my very bones, I 
 was obliged to light my fire five or six times 
 during the night for fear of being frozen to death ; 
 and I had only in very moderate quantities, the 
 food I needed to live, and to prevent my perish- 
 ing with hunger on the way." 
 
 " During the summer I was forced to travel in 
 
 * Besides the places here enumerated he mentions elsewhere 
 " Isle Percee where I lived in quality of a missionary a whole 
 summer for the benefit of the fishermen who came there every 
 year with several ships." 
 
 m 
 
rr 
 
 22 SKETCH OP 
 
 a canoe to continue my mission," " because there 
 are no practicable roads in that country." * " I 
 was sent as it were to try me, to a mission more 
 than ahundredand twenty leagues fromQuebec."f 
 
 His voyage to Fort Frontenac is described in 
 the following pages ; but in the Nouvelle De- 
 couverte he says : 
 
 "I made several different voyages, sometimes 
 with Canadian settlers, whom we had drawn to 
 our Fort Catarokouy to live, sometimes with 
 Indians whom I had become acquainted with. 
 As I foresaw that they would excite the suspicion 
 of the Iroquois in regard to ou. discoveries, I 
 wished to see the Indians of their five Cantons. 
 I accordingly went among them with one of our 
 soldiers from said fort, making a journey of about 
 seventy leagues, and both having large snowshoes 
 on our feet, on account of the snow which is 
 abundant in that country during winter. I had 
 
 * Nouv. Dec, pp. 17-19. 
 t lb., p. 13. 
 
HENNEPIN. 
 
 ^^ 
 
 already some little knowledge of the Iroquois 
 
 language."''' 
 
 " We thus passed to the Honnehiouts Iroquois 
 and to the Honnontagez,f who received us very 
 well. This nation is the most warlike of all the 
 Iroquois." 
 
 " At last we arrived at the Ganniekez or Agniez.+ 
 This is one of the five Iroquois nations situated a 
 good day's journey from the neighborhood of 
 New Netherland, now called New York." 
 
 "We remained sometime among this last 
 nation and we lodged with a Jesuit Father, born 
 in Lyons, in order to ^'•anscribe a little Iroquois 
 dictionary. The weather having cleared off, we 
 one day saw three Dutchmen arrive on horseback, 
 who came to the Iroquois as ambassadors for thJ 
 beaver trade. They had gone there by order of 
 Major Andris." .... - Theso gentlemen dis- 
 
 * pp. 25-6, I can find nothing in Canadian documents as to 
 his labors. 
 
 t Oneidas and Onondagas. 
 X Mohawks. 
 
■^ 
 
 H 
 
 SKETCH OF 
 
 (i, 
 
 I'; 
 f 
 
 h 
 
 
 
 \\ 
 
 ( 
 
 
 mounted from their horses to make us get on them 
 and take us with them to New Orange in order 
 to regale me there. When they heard me speak 
 Flemish they showed me much friendship. 
 They then assured me that they would have been 
 glad to see me reside among them for the spiritual 
 consolation of several Catholics from our Low 
 Countries, who were in their settlements. I would 
 have done so willingly since they requested it, 
 but I feared to give umbrage to the Jesuits, who 
 had received me very well, and moreover I 
 feared I might injure the colony of Canada in its 
 beaver and fur trade with the Indians, whom I 
 knew. We accordingly thanked these worthy 
 Hollanders, and returned to our ordinary abode 
 at Catarokouy, with less difficulty than in going."* 
 
 * This visit to the Mohawks and encounter with the Dutch 
 was in April, 1677, and is confirmed by N. Y. Col. Doc, iv, 
 p. 689, ix, p. 720. It has generally been inferred from the 
 language that he visited Albany, but this is controverted by 
 Brodhead, History of New York ii, p. 307. Historical Maga- 
 zine 10, p. 268. The Jesuit missionary whom he visited was 
 Father James Bruyas, and he copied his " Racines Agoieres," 
 
HENNEPIN. 
 
 25 
 
 From Fort Catarocouy his subsequent journey- 
 ings are given in the following pages which 
 describe La Salle's expedition to Niagara, Mich- 
 ilimakinac, Green Bay, the Fort of the Miamis, 
 and CreveccEur. Then after La Salle's departure, 
 his own expedit'jn with Ako down the Illinois to 
 the Mississippi and up to the falls of St. Anthony, 
 descending then to the Wisconsinj thence by way 
 of Green Bay back to the Saint Lawrence, and 
 Quebec. 
 
 Taking passage to France he reached that 
 country again in 1681 or 1682. He wrote the 
 following work in the latter year. It was regis- 
 tered September 10, 1682, and the printing com- 
 pleted on the 5th of January, thereafter. 
 
 During this time he was apparently at the 
 convent at St, Germain-en-Laye. After this he 
 was Vicar and Acting Superior of the Recollects 
 
 " Mohawk Radical Words," which nearly two centuries after 
 I also copied and published in 1863. This work is the source 
 of Hennepin's Iroquois, and an example in one of Bruyas' 
 works, is made a ground of accusation against the Jesuits. See 
 Margry i, p. 321, 394 
 3 
 
mif'^itJUic'wiim.viti 
 
 'I 
 
 26 
 
 SKETCH OF 
 
 at Chateau Cambresis, where he was visited by 
 his old companion Fatiier Zenobius Membre. 
 
 He was, he tells ^ s in the Nouvelle Decouverte, 
 Guardian of the Recol ects at Renti in Artois for 
 three years, and during that time almost rebuilt 
 the convent, but having declined to return to the 
 American mission at the request of F. Hyacinth 
 le Fevre, Commissary Provincial of the Recollects 
 of Paris, who claimed jurisdiction as Royal Com- 
 missary over all the Recollects in the Netherland 
 provinces captured from Spain, that Superior be- 
 came his enemy. He prevented F. Hennepin 
 from accompanying F. Alexander Voile, pro- 
 minister of the Recollects of Artois to Rome to 
 attend a chapter of the order, and then ordered 
 him to return to the Recollect convent at St. 
 Omer. This was followed by an order obtained 
 from Mr. de Louvois, first minister of State, 
 ordering Hennepin to leave French territory and 
 return to the dominions of his own sovereign, the 
 King of Spain. 
 
 Hennepin appealed to King Louis XIV, pre- 
 
 i 
 
HP^NNEPIN. 
 
 27 
 
 senting a placet to him, detailing his trials, while 
 the king was encamped at the chapel of Harle- 
 mont. Louis XIV, placed it in the hands of the 
 Grand Provost of the Court and it was lost sight of. 
 
 After this Father Hennepin was, he tells us. 
 Confessor of the Recollect Nuns (Penitents) at 
 Gosselies. During his nearly five years' stay here, 
 he states that he built a very fine church, doubly 
 vaulted, a very convenient parlor, and several 
 other edifices. This was attested, he declares, by 
 a certificate of the nuns and by their letters to the 
 General Chapter. 
 
 He was not however left in peace. F. Louis 
 le Fevre wished to incorporate him in the 
 province of Flanders, declaring that Gosselies 
 was in French territory. This he denies and 
 affirms that he was there by virtue of a lettre de 
 cachet of the King of Spain. 
 
 He gained the friendship of Blaithwayt, Sec- 
 retary of War to William III who obtained a 
 safeguard for the nuns, which saved their con- 
 vent from pillage on several occasions. 
 
mmrmm 
 
 28 
 
 SKETCH OF 
 
 / 
 
 Blaithwayt wrote in the name of William III, 
 to the Father Rennere de Payez, Commissary 
 General of the Recollects at Louvain, asking him 
 to send Hennepin to the American mission, but 
 as there was no immediate response, Hennepin 
 solicited the blessing of Monsignor Scarlati, in- 
 ternuncio at Brussels, and receiving it at Ath, pro- 
 ceeded to Louvain with a letter from Father 
 Bonaventure Pderius, General of his order (Mar. 
 31, 1696), assuring the Father that the Commis- 
 sary would do all that was fair. 
 
 The Commissary wrote to the Baron de Mal- 
 quenech, and to Mr. de Coxis and sent Hennepin 
 to the Recollect Convent at Antwerp, where Mr. 
 Hill, envoy extraordinary of his Britannic Maj- 
 esty, furnished him money to purchase the 
 ordinary clothing of gentlemen. 
 
 Some allude to this as though Hennepin aban- 
 doned his order, but he seems to have acted with 
 the express permission of his superiors. 
 
 He then set out for Amsterdam in company 
 with a Venetian ship captain, but they were 
 
HENNEPIN. 
 
 29 
 
 Stopped between Antwerp and Mordick by six 
 horsemen who robbed them of all their money. 
 By the help of some friends he managed how- 
 ever to reach Loo, and the Hague, where he 
 was very well received by Blaithwayt and had an 
 audience with William III. He finally reached 
 Amsterdam and endeavored to obtain a publisher, 
 but the volume, that was to prove one of the most 
 popular yet issued on America, did not seem a safe 
 venture and with the consent of the Earl of 
 Athlone, Hennepin journeyed to Utrecht. There 
 William Broedelet undertook the work, and it 
 appeared in 1697, in a duodecimo of 586 pages 
 with an engraved title page, in which as though 
 he claimed the nobility that La Salle obtained 
 for all his men, he is styled Louis de Hennepin, 
 although on the printed title he is still the modest 
 commoner Louis Hennepin. 
 
 He dedicates the work to William III in terms 
 of flattery as extravagant as those with which he 
 placed his former volume under the protection of 
 LouiXIV. 
 
3c 
 
 SKRTCH OF 
 
 i 
 
 Willing now to return to America as a mission- 
 ary, he sought the support of William III, not as 
 the ovcrthrower of the Catholic King of England, 
 but as the ally of Catholic Spain and Catholic 
 Bavaria, and the protector of the Spanish Nether- 
 land. 
 
 After publishing a third book at Amsterdam, 
 in 1698, in which he complains of the hostility 
 to him of some people in that city, he apparently 
 made new efforts to return to Canada, a:, a dis- 
 patch of Louis XIV, to the Governor of the 
 province in 1699, orders that officer to arrest 
 Hennepin and send him back to Rochefort.* 
 
 The last allusion to him now traced is in a 
 letter of J. B. Dubos to Thouinard, written at 
 Rome, March i, 1701, in which Father Henne- 
 pin is said to have been then at the convent of 
 Aracceli in Rome, and to have induced Cardinal 
 Spada, whose favor he enjoyed to found a new 
 mission in the Mississippi country, where Father 
 Hennepin hoped to renew his earlier labors.f 
 
 * N. Y. Col. Doc, ix, p. 701. 
 
 t Brunet, 2 p. 539. Historical Magazine, i p. 316. 
 
 ;;. s: 
 
HENNEPIN. 
 
 31 
 
 J. B. Foppens, a bibliographer of the last 
 century in his Bibliotheca Belgica, Brussels, 1739 
 (vol. ii, pp. 832-3) says that Hennepin wrote also 
 " La Morale Pratique du Jansenisme avec un 
 Appel comme d' abus au Pope Innocent XII." 
 
 Researches in Belgium, Holland and Rome have 
 failed to throw any further light on his personal 
 history. The annalists of his order have gathered 
 nothing, and the local histories of the places in 
 which he passed an occasional term of years pre- 
 serve no details as to him. 
 
 My own efforts, like those of the Hon. Henry 
 C. Murphy some years since, have been fruitless. 
 Hennepin was from the first very freely 
 attacked, and in our day scholars have impeached 
 his character for truth with very little ceremony. 
 La Salle in his letter of August, 1682, which 
 gives no very high idea of his own veracity, wish- 
 ing to forestal any representations of Hennepin 
 that would make him a prisoner among the Sioux 
 rescued by Du Lhut, when he wished him to 
 appear as an explorer of the Sioux country before 
 
 "ii 
 

 32 
 
 SKETCH OF 
 
 Du Lhut, says: "It is necessary to know him 
 somewhat, for he will not fail to exaggerate every- 
 thing ; it is his character ;" '■^- yet La Salle else- 
 where appeals to his testimony, f and in this letter 
 shows a disposition to sacrifice Hennepin's cha- 
 racter to further his own interested views. 
 
 The eminent Sulpitian, the Rev. Mr. Tronson, 
 writing to the Abbe Belmont at Montreal, 
 speaking of Father Membre, says, in 1683 : "I 
 do not know whether men will believe all he 
 says, any more than they will all that is in the 
 printed Relation of Father Louis, which I send 
 you that you may make your reflections on it." J 
 
 The Acta Eruditorum, Lcipsic, 1683, pp. 374, 
 etc., gives a long summary of the Description de 
 la Louisiane^ and raises no charge against it. 
 
 Father Le Clercq refers to Hennepin and his 
 first work in terms of praise in 1691 ; but De § 
 
 * lb., p. 230. 
 
 tMargry ii, p. 259. 
 
 X Margry ii, p. 305. 
 
 § Etablissement de la Foi, ii, pp. 114, 160, 161. 
 
HENNEPIN. 
 
 33 
 
 Michel, the editor of Joutel in 1713, says: 
 " Father Hennepin, a Fleming, of the same order 
 of Recollects, who seems io know the country 
 well, and who took part in great discoveries ; 
 although the truth of his Relations is very much 
 contested. He is the one who went northward 
 towards the source of the Missicipi, which he 
 called Mechasipi, and who printed at Paris a Re- 
 lation of the countries around that river under the 
 name of Louisiana. He should have stopped there 
 and not gone on, as he did in Holland, to issue 
 another edition much enlarged, and perhaps not 
 so true, which he dedicated to William HI, 
 Prince of Orange, then king of Great Britain, a 
 design as odd as it was ridiculous in a religious, 
 not to say worse. For after great long eulogies 
 which he makes in his dedication of this Pro- 
 testant prince, he begs and conjures him to think 
 of these vast unknown countries, to conquer them, 
 send colonies there and obtain for the Indians, the 
 knowledge of the true God and of his worship 
 and to cause the gospel to be preached. This 
 
 as? 
 
 1^ 
 
1 
 
 3+ 
 
 SKETCH OF 
 
 
 ; I 
 
 f I 
 
 good religious whom many on account of his 
 
 extravagance, falsely believed to have become an 
 
 apostate, had no thought otsuch a thing. So he 
 
 scandalized the Catholics and set the Huguenots 
 laughing. P'or would these enemies of the 
 
 Roman church pay Recollects to go to Canada 
 to preach Popery as they called it? Or would 
 they carry any religion but their own ? And 
 Father Hennepin, can he in that case offer any 
 excuse. ^ 
 
 Still later Father Charlevoix says of his works : 
 " All these works are written in a declamatory 
 style, which offends by its turgidity and shocks by 
 the liberties which the author takes and his un- 
 becoming invectives. As for the substance of 
 matters Father Hennepin thought he might take 
 a traveler's license, hence he is much decried in 
 Canada, those who had accompanied him having 
 often protested that he was anything bur veritable 
 in his histories." j- 
 
 * Journal Historique, p. 363. 
 
 f Histoire de la Nouvellc France, i, p. liv. 
 
" 
 
 I 
 
 HENNEPIN. 
 
 35 
 
 In our own time and country, Sparks showed 
 how the Souvflle Decouvcrte was made up from 
 Le Clercq, and Bancroft, Parkman, and most 
 of our historical students agree in impeach- 
 ing his veracity. This charge rested on the 
 Nouvelle Decouverte, while the Description de la 
 Louisiane was as generally received as authentic. 
 
 Thomassy, in his Geologic Pratique de la Lou- 
 isiane gave a narrative of the voyage down the 
 Mississippi as La Salle's, which coincided with 
 that given by Le Clercq, as written by Father 
 Zenobius Membre. Then Margry gives a narra- 
 tive covering the whole ground of Hennepin's 
 first book, which he ascribes to La Salle, and he 
 says : " It is certain that Father Hennepin knew 
 this document, from which he made many ex- 
 tracts, but this could be no reason for our not 
 publishing it, first because the author of the Des- 
 cription de la Ijouisiam often intermingles error 
 with his statements =•= and also because he left 
 
 * After studying the work carefully, I cannot discover the 
 errors, unless the misprint of peroquets for pirogues justified the 
 charge. But Margry's own blunders are even worse. 
 
 J 
 
I- (' 
 
 
 36 
 
 SKETCH OF 
 
 i 
 
 . I' 
 
 Cavelier de la Salle about twenty-two months 
 before the time when our manuscript closes. 
 There was moreover a real interest in verifying 
 the plagiarisms of the man who was subsequently 
 to attempt to deprive the discoverer of the honor 
 of his labors," etc."'' Subsequently f in conse- 
 qr.ence of a misprint in Hennepin of perroquets 
 for pirogues he repeats the charge of plagiarism, 
 though as he himself prints Gamier for Gravier, 
 Le Noble for Zenobey and embuscade for amlass- 
 ade he ought not to be too severe. 
 
 This charge that the Description de la Louisiane 
 was copied from the document now given by 
 Margry has been taken up in this country with- 
 out sufficient examination : but it is really too 
 shallow even for such an utterly uncritical mind 
 as Margry's to be pardoned for putting forth. 
 
 This Relation des Descouvertes is anonymous 
 and undated. Margry himself asks whether it 
 was written by La Salle himself or " only by a 
 
 * Margry ii, p. 435 n. 
 t p. 467. n- 
 
HENNEPIN. 
 
 37 
 
 learned ecclesiastic, by means of letters addressed 
 by the discoverer to some one of his friends or 
 associates." Elsewhere he gives his opinion that 
 it is the work of the Abbe Bernou ; but as he 
 was never in America, he could only be a com- 
 piler, and must have used Hennepin's work, and 
 it is necessary only to read a letter of Bernou in 
 Margry iii, p. 74, to see what an unscrupulous 
 intriguer Bernou was. If wc analyze this 
 Margry document we find it forms three dis- 
 tinct divisions, ist an account of LaSalle's ope- 
 rations down to his and Hennepin's departure 
 from Fort Crevecceur ; 2d an account of Hen- 
 nepin's voyage up the Mississippi and through 
 the Wisconsin to Green Bay. 3d an account of 
 La Salle's return to Fort Frontenac, his second 
 visit to Illinois and his operations to 1681. 
 
 Now as Hennepin was with La Salle or his 
 party during the first period, he was competent 
 to keep a journal of events, that might be written 
 out in one form as Ld Salle's official report, and 
 in another as the missionary's report to his own 
 
38 
 
 SKETCH OF 
 
 ^i 
 
 '5 
 I 
 
 m 
 
 superiors. As to the second part Margry asks us 
 to accept the preposterous idea that La Salle 
 possessed by some supernatural means the know- 
 ledge of all that Hennepin saw and did after 
 leaving him at Fort CreveccEur, that La Salle 
 committed this knowledge to writing, and that 
 Hennepin, instead of describing what he saw and 
 did as an eye witness, stole his account from this 
 wonderful document of La Salle. La Salle him- 
 self acknowledges the receipt of letters from 
 Hennepin and insists on the reality of his dis- 
 covery ; and to uphold it as against Du Lhut in- 
 sists that Hennepin exaggerated in making out 
 that he was a prisoner. As La Salle himself 
 admits that his knowledge of this part came from 
 Hennepin, he has already refuted Margry's 
 absurd idea that Hennepin stole this from him. 
 As to the third part, there is nothing of it in 
 Hennepin, so that Margry's charge depends en- 
 tirely on the first part ; and he utterly fails to 
 explain how Hennepin refrained from any pla- 
 giarism of the third part. 
 
 ti 
 
■■I 
 
 HENNEPIN. 
 
 39 
 
 The reader will see in the following pages that 
 Margry's document in the first part agrees pretty 
 closely with Hennepin, omitting comparatively 
 little, while it abridges the second part greatly. 
 The whole question is confined therefore to 
 the first part, and as to that there is a simple test. 
 If the narrative descri' js in detail events that 
 befel the party while La Salle was absent and 
 alludes briefiy to what La Salle did, the narrative 
 is Hennepin's ; if on the contrary it follows La 
 Salle's actions day by day and alludes generally 
 to what the party was doing in his absence, it 
 must be La Salle's. 
 
 Now the Margry Relation follows the party 
 in which Hennepin was from Fort Frontenac 
 to Niagara, gives La Motte's visit to the Senecas 
 and then alludes briefly to La Salle's having been 
 wrecked, but does not mention the fact that he 
 had previously visited the Cenecas and effected 
 what La Motte had failed to accomplish. Every 
 person of sense will admit that this is not La 
 Salle's account but Hennepin's. 
 
40 
 
 SKETCH OF 
 
 J 
 
 ?- 
 
 I^i 
 
 Later on La Salle's return to Fort Frontenac, 
 his troubles with his creditors, his visit to the 
 colony are all noticed briefly, while the affairs on 
 the Niagara are detailed. This part is evidently 
 not La Salle's. 
 
 The account of the portage leading to the 
 Illinois river, where La Salle was separated from 
 his party is not his personal account, but of one 
 like Hennepin with the main body. 
 
 These cases and minor ones all tend to show 
 that it is not La Salle's narrative but Hennepin's. 
 
 La Salle apparently took the Recollects to 
 chronicle his doings. Hennepin kept a journal; 
 Membre did also, as Le Clercq assures us ; Joutel 
 tells us that he seized and destroyed memoirs of 
 Father Maxime le Clercq."' Why La Salle 
 always had such an array of priests with him is a 
 mystery. If from first to last he was led by 
 Penalosa's curious account of his journey to 
 the Mississippi from New Mexico, to attempt 
 the conquest of some of the rich mines, as he 
 
 * Le Clercq ii, p. 167. Joutel p. 148. 
 
 Hi 
 
HENNEPIN 
 
 41 
 
 undoubtedly was aiming at, when he landed in 
 Texas, we can understand that the priests would 
 help to relieve the expedition from suspicion, and 
 prevent harsh measures on the part of the Spani- 
 ards, as the priests were all Spanish subjects.* 
 
 Otherwise it is not easy to understand why, 
 when Frontenac was appealing for Recollects to 
 serve in the colony and be more indulgent 
 spiritual guides than the Jesuits and the secular 
 clergy, he should send five off to accompany an 
 exploring expedition thousands of miles. While 
 Canada was suffering for want of priests. La 
 Salle's grand army of eleven men including him- 
 self and his valet, sailed from Green Bay with 
 three Recollect priests, to minister to their 
 spiritual wants. 
 
 Every view of the question confirms the 
 opinion that the narrative is really Hennepin's ; 
 
 * The charge made by Hennepin that La Salle was aiming 
 at the Santa Barbara mines was long put down as a falsehood 
 and a slander on La Salle. Yet now with the official docu- 
 ments of the French government, the papers of Beaujeu and 
 Dainmaville's account, it is evident that Hennepin was right. 
 4 
 
+2 
 
 * 
 
 SKETCH OF 
 
 
 V'i 
 
 
 
 and that ii.^ document in Margry was compiled 
 from it by an unknown hand. 
 
 Only one question remains, and that is whether 
 Margry's anonymous compiler plagiarized from 
 a document drawn up by Hennepin in America, 
 or from his printed work. 
 
 Hennepin publishing his book at Paris, very 
 naturally mentions the (act that his fellow trave- 
 ler Antoine Auguelle, known by the soubriquet 
 of Le Picard du Gay, was at that time actually 
 in Paris, appealing as it were to his testimony in 
 confirmation of his statements. Yet in the 
 Margry Relation (i, p. 478), it mentions that 
 the Picard " is at present in Paris." Now how 
 could La Salle who did not see Hennepin or 
 Auguelle after their return, know exactly in 
 what part of France Auguelle was ? The state- 
 ment is perfectly irreconcileable with the idea 
 that this document was written by La Salle in 
 America ; and the fact that it appears in the 
 Margry Relation seems to show that its compiler 
 used Hennepin's book without giving credit, and 
 
i 
 
 . 
 
 HENNEPIN 
 
 43 
 
 * 
 
 used, not a draft or copy made in America, but 
 the edition printed in Paris but had not the 
 honesty to cite Hennepin and refer to him. A 
 careful comparison of the first and second parts 
 of Margry's Relation with Hennepin's Descrip- 
 tion de k Louisiane, 1683, will satisfy any one 
 that the vaunted Margry document is a mere 
 plagiarism from Hennepin's first work as far as 
 it goes. 
 
 Now what is the credit to be given to Henne- 
 pin's work here given ? It will not do to assert 
 that it is not trustworthy and say that Margry's 
 Relation is. They are so near alike that if one 
 is not trustworthy, the other is not. 
 
 In the following pages references are made to 
 documents of La Salle, Tonti and others relating 
 to the same events, in not a single case is Hen- 
 nepin contradicted or shown to be in error. Mr. 
 Parkman alluding to the claims set up in the 
 Nouvelle Decouverte says : " they are not in the 
 early editions of Hennepin which are compara- 
 tively truthful." "Hennepin's account of the 
 
 !¥ 
 
 1 
 
-■WWMB* IJtlT.rW-^ 
 
 +4-^ 
 
 SKETCH OF 
 
 
 I I 
 
 I 
 
 11 
 
 falls and river of Niagara, especially his second 
 account on his return from the west, is very 
 minute and on the whole very accurate." " His 
 distances on the Niagara are usually correct," 
 'Hennepin's account of the buffalo is interesting 
 and true." " Fortunately there are tests by which 
 the earlier parts of his book can be tried ; and 
 on the whole they square exceedingly well with 
 contemporary records of undoubted authenticity. 
 Bating his exaggerations respecting the Falls of 
 Niagara, his local descriptions, and even his 
 estimates of distance are generally accurate."* 
 
 " As for his ascent of that river (Mississippi) to 
 the country of the Sioux, the general statement 
 is fully confirmed by allusions of Tonty and other 
 contemporary writers. For the details of the 
 journey, we must rest on Hennepin alone ; 
 whose account of the country and of the peculiar 
 traits of its Indians afford, as far as they go, good 
 evidence of truth." 
 
 Such is the testimony of Parkman given at 
 various points of his work. 
 
 nV 
 
 * Discovery of the Great West p. 124, 126, 133, 155, 228. 
 
HENNEPIN 
 
 45' 
 
 Hennepin is certainly the first who gave Da- 
 kota words : and he gives them accurately as 
 will be seen by the reference to Riggs' Dakota 
 Dictionary. Parkman who lived for some weeks 
 in a Sioux lodge says that a variety of trivial in- 
 cidents mentioned by Hennepin are perfectly in 
 accordance with usage. In regard'to Hennepin's 
 Dakota terms he says: "These words as far as 
 my information reaches, are in every instance 
 correct." Even the word Louis, which Hennepin 
 says signifies the sun, is no invention. " The 
 Yankion band of this people, however, call the 
 sun oouee" which, it is evident, represents the 
 French pronunciation of Louis, omitting the 
 initial letter.* 
 
 The only charges that remain are that he was 
 vain, boastful and exaggerated. 
 
 His vanity must be admitted. Not even 
 superior of thelittle band of missionaries, he makes 
 himself a kind of joint commander with La Salle: 
 and his vanity leads him to exaggerate his own 
 
 * lb., p. 228-9. 
 
46=^ 
 
 SKETCH OF 
 
 I 
 
 ■I 
 
 I 
 
 
 u 
 
 deeds. But except ii. the estimate of the height 
 
 of Niagara Falls, where Tonty is equally in error, 
 
 his figures are accurate. 
 
 The Descriptio'i de la Louisiane is valuable, 
 
 though we must bear in mind the real position 
 
 of the writer. 
 
 His next book the '' Nouvelle Dkouverte" 
 
 contains the famous addition where he claims to 
 
 have descended to the mouth, before going up to 
 
 the Sioux country. 
 
 A careful examination of this volume, which 
 
 is in the following pages compared closely with 
 the Description reveals some points heretofore 
 overlooked. 
 
 The book was not published, as originally 
 printed, and seems to have been set up in two 
 different offices. From page 313 where the 
 account of his voyage up to the Sioux begins, the 
 chapters have arabic numbers, while in the pre- 
 vious part of the book, they have Roman numerals : 
 the line at the top of the page omits a letter and 
 an accent, and the type generally seems more 
 
HENNEPIN. 
 
 +7 
 
 * 
 
 worn and the spacing is different. Practical 
 printers and bibliographers alike agree that the 
 two portions have every appearance of being 
 printed in different offices. 
 
 Before this point there are ten pages all num- 
 bered 313'''; so that certainly these were printed 
 after the book v is complete, and there is nothing 
 to show but what much more was printed as an 
 afterthought. 
 
 This much is clear regarding the Nouvelle Z)/- 
 couverte merely from the mechanical pointof view. 
 Examining the matter, we find that the book 
 introduces a great deal of personal detail and 
 generally expands the narrative, but it substan- 
 tially follows the Description de la Louisiane down 
 top. 216. Then with no apparent reason six 
 pages are taken from La Clercq's Etablissement 
 de la Foi (ii, pp. 173-181), when Hennepin him- 
 self could have given a better account. It then 
 follows his first work to p. 247-8, where the pre- 
 tended voyage down is introduced and the voyage 
 described in terms taken from Le Clercq (ii, p. 
 
 '\ : 
 
 ■""vmuesti^ 
 
48 
 
 * 
 
 SKETCH OF 
 
 I 
 
 
 2 1 6). This matter continues to the last of the 
 pages marked 3 1 3'", and may all have been printed 
 after the book had actually been completed in its 
 original form. On Its very face Hennepin can 
 scarcely be held absolutely responsible for a book 
 thus tampered with. 
 
 Hennepin had been on the Mississippi and had 
 heard reports of the lower river from the Indians, 
 he might easily have drawn up a plausible account 
 of a voyage down ; he would have had no reason 
 to take Membre's account and garble it. There 
 are, moreover, actual errors in the book that 
 Hennepin would not have made. He knew the 
 country too well to make a nation Ouadebache, 
 to give name to the river ; he would not have 
 made "sasac»„uest," the Algonquin word for war- 
 cry which the French had adopted, pass muster 
 as a Chickasaw word meaning : " Who goes 
 there ?" Hennepin might like La Salle dispute 
 Jolliet's priority, but he would scarcely make 
 JoUiet disavow having sailed down the Mississppi. 
 
HENEPIN. 
 
 49 
 
 * 
 
 The place where he refers to his girdle as being 
 worn as a cord of St. Francis would scarcely be 
 written by a Franciscan. 
 
 This intrusive matter cannot therefore abso- 
 lutely be ascribed to Hennepin, and he be called 
 a liar because it is false. 
 
 Hennepin was disappointed in finding a pub- 
 lisher at Amsterdam, and at Utrecht may have 
 been required by Broedelet to put his book 
 with the additional matter into the hands of some 
 literary hack to edit. The whole book has been 
 re-written and there are traces of another 
 hand in various parts, in some cases making what 
 is accurate and clear in the first book, unintelli- 
 gible in the second. On p. 14 it reads: "I 
 then embarked with Messire Francis de Laval 
 then created Bishop of Petraa in partibus infide- 
 lium." In the Avis au Lecteur it reads : " I was 
 sent to Canada as a missionary in the year 1676." 
 " I made it (iiiy travels) in North America from 
 
 :t 
 
 J 
 
i.l; 
 
 50* 
 
 SKETCH OF 
 
 ^1,1;; 
 
 iU ':. ' 
 
 the year 1679 to 1682, when I returned to 
 Quebec." " I published a part of my voyage at 
 Paris, in the year 1688." 
 
 Now he really came over in 1675; Mgr. Laval 
 had just been made Bishop of Quebec, and as 
 Hennepin came in the same vessel he could not 
 forget the fact. He returned to Quebec in 
 1681, and published his first book in 1683. We 
 cannot suppose that Hennepin himself could 
 possibly make such a series of blunders. He would 
 not apply the recognized Protestant term pasteur 
 to a Catholic cure, nor would he have altered his 
 accurate account of the cove where the Griffin 
 anchored at Michilimakinac, so as to lose all 
 value in the second book. 
 
 At this time English projects of expeditions 
 to the mouth of the Mississippi were attracting 
 attention,* and the careless irresponsible editor 
 whose additions had already injured the work, 
 
 See Coxe's Carolana, London 1727. Preface. 
 
HENNEPIN. 
 
 5' 
 
 may have sought to increase the popularity of 
 the book, by suppressing part and inserting a 
 voyage down to the mouth of the Mississippi, so 
 as to make the volume bear directly on a question 
 of the day. 
 
 That this addition really helped to commend 
 It to public favor, will be readily seen by the 
 result. 
 
 The Nouvclle DkouverLe was reprinted at 
 Amsterdam in 1698, in French, and issued in 
 Dutch in 1698 and 1699. The Nouveau Voyage 
 under his name came out at Utrecht in the same 
 year 1698, made up from Le Clercq and con- 
 taining the Indian matter of the " Description de 
 la Louisiane " omitted in the " Nouvelle Decou- 
 verte." 
 
 The two books are embraced in the '* New 
 Discovery:' of which two editions appeared in 
 London in 1698, and another edition in 1699, in 
 which year also a Spanish summary of the 
 Nouvelle Decouverte appeared. 
 
 h 
 
 I 
 
\J II 
 
 52' 
 
 SKETCH OF 
 
 To sum up all, the case stands thus : " The 
 Description of Louisiana " by Father Hennepin, 
 is clearly no plagiarism from La Salle's account, 
 and on the contrary the so called La Salle Re- 
 lation, is an anonymous undated plagiarism from 
 Hennepin's book, and moreover the Description 
 of Louisiana, is sustained by contemporary evi- 
 dence and by the topography of the country, and 
 our knowledge of the language and manners of 
 the Sioux. It shows vanity in its author, but no 
 falsification. So far as it goes it presents Henne- 
 pin as truthful and accurate. 
 
 A later work shows a suppression after print- 
 ing, introduction of new and untrue matter, and 
 the evident hand of an ignorant editor. For this 
 book as finally published, Hennepin cannot be 
 held responsible, nor can he justly be stigmatized 
 as mendacious by reason of its false assertions. 
 
 The third book is evidently by the same editor 
 as the second, and the defence which it puts 
 
HENNEPIN. 
 
 53 
 
 * 
 
 forward in Hennepin's name cannot alter the 
 facts, or make the original author responsible. 
 
 In view of all this, it seems that now at least 
 the case of Hennepin should be heard with more 
 impartiality ; and we call for a rehearing in the 
 view of documents now accessible, under the 
 conviction that our earlier judgments were too 
 hasty. 
 
 I i 
 
 ill 
 
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 1 
 
 
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 : 
 
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 DESCRIPTION 
 
 Of 
 
 { :^~ 
 
 > i 
 
 LOUISIANA 
 
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 f 
 
 
 
 
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 n J 3 a 
 
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 ■' ' ' 
 
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I! 
 
 DESCRIPTION 
 
 DE LA 
 
 LOUISIANE, 
 
 NOUVHLLBMENT DECOUVERT8 
 
 au SuaOli.ll dc la Nouvclic France, 
 
 PAR ORDRE DU ROY, 
 
 JivtcU Curtt du fay I • Let Mtenrt 
 & /« Atttnitre it vivre 
 det 6«HVAgts. 
 DEDIE'E A SK MAJESTE* 
 
 P«r/*R. P. Louis HE^^lE^>xK, 
 
 Mi(fionnaire Recollct {jf 
 NotAirt ApoJloUque. 
 
 A PARIS, 
 
 Ch« la Veuye Sibastiin Huri', rut? 
 
 Saint Jacques, a i'lmagt S.judmc, 
 
 pris S. Soverin, 
 
 M. DC. I XXX in. 
 
 :, I, 
 
DESCRIPTION 
 
 LOUISIANA, 
 
 RBCBNTLY DISCOVnitBD SOUTHWEST OP 
 
 NEW FRANCE, 
 
 BY ORDER OF THE KINO. 
 
 WITH A MAP OF THE COUNTRVj THE MANNERS AND MODE 
 OP LIFE OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 DEDICATED TO HIS MAJESTY, 
 
 By THE Rev. FATHER LOUIS HENNEPIN, 
 
 RECOLLECT MISSIONARY AND 
 NOTARY APOSTOLIC. 
 
 PARIS. 
 
 Th. Widow or Sebastian Hure, Rue 
 
 St. jAc<yiEs, at the Picture of St 
 
 Jerome near St. Severin. 
 
 1683 
 
 WITH THE ROYAL PRIVILEGE. 
 

TO THE KING. 
 
 
 Sire : 
 
 I never should have ventured to take the 
 liberty of offering to your Majesty the Relation 
 of a new Discovery which the Sieur de la Salle, 
 Governor of Fort Frontenac, my Companions and 
 myself, have just made southwest of New France, 
 had it not been undertaken by your orders, and 
 had not the glory of obeying so glorious a 
 Monarch, in an employment having in view the 
 conversion of the heathen, led me into this enter- 
 prize. 
 
 It is in this thought, Sire, that I undertook so 
 long and so painful a voyage, without fearing the 
 greatest dangers. I even venture to assure your 
 Majesty, that the bloody death of one of my Re- 
 collect companions, massacred by those savages, a 
 captivity of eight months in which I have seen my 
 life cruelly exposed, could not weaken my courage, 
 having always made it a consolation amid my 
 
4+ 
 
 EPISTLE. 
 
 hardships, to labor for a God, whom I wished to 
 see known and adored by these nations, and for 
 a King whose glory and whose virtues are un- 
 bounded. 
 
 It is clear, Sire, that as soon as we have been able 
 to tame them and win their friendship, the par- 
 tial account we have given them of your Most 
 Christian Majesty's heroic virtues, your sur] rizing 
 actions in your conquests, the happiness and love 
 of your subjects, has inclined them to receive 
 more readily the principles of Gospel truths and 
 to reverence the cross which we have carved on 
 trees above your Arms, as a mark of the con- 
 tinual protection which you give the Christian 
 religion, and to make them remember the prin- 
 ciples which we have happily taught them. 
 
 We have givt-n the name of Louisiana ■'' to this 
 great Discovery, being persuaded that your 
 Majesty would not disapprove that a part of 
 
 =•' As for the credit of naming Louisiana, see La Salle's Grant 
 of an island to Fran9ois Daiipin, Sicur de la Forest, June lo 
 1679. Margry ii, p. 21, where the term Louisiana is used. 
 
 n 
 
F.PISTLE. 
 
 45 
 
 the earth watered by a river more than eight 
 hundred leagues in length, and much greater than 
 Europe, which we may call the Delight of Ame- 
 rica and which is capable of forming a great 
 Empire, should henceforth be known under the 
 august name of Louis, that it may thereby have 
 some show of right to aspire to the honor of your 
 protection, and hope for the advantage of belong- 
 ing to you. 
 
 It seems. Sire, that God had destined you to be 
 its Master, by the happy correspondence that there 
 is between your glorious name and the Sun, which 
 they call Louis in their language, and to which 
 in token of their respect and adoration, they 
 extend their pipe before smoking, with these 
 words: Tchendiouba =;= Louis, that is to say 
 « Smoke O Sun." Thus your Majesty's name 
 
 * Riggs gives in his Dakota Dictionary pp. 40-1, Ch,ndu- 
 hupa, a Dakota pipe, evidently Hennepin's word : and wi, the 
 sun or moon, lb. p. 240, equivalent to the French oui; in Yank 
 ton uwi, Parkman's Discovery, p. 229; equivalent to the 
 f rench ouis (oo-we) and approaching nearer to Louis. 
 
+6 
 
 EPISTLE. 
 
 is every moment on their lips, as they do nothing 
 till they have rendered homage to the Sun under 
 this name of Louis. 
 
 After that, Sire, no one will doubt that it is a 
 -"cret mystery of Providence which has reserved 
 to your care and your piety, the glory of causing 
 the Light of Faith to be borne to these blind 
 ones, and of drawing them from the darkness in 
 which they would always have lived, had not 
 your Majesty, more devoted to the service of God 
 and religion than to the government of your States, 
 honored us with this pious task, while you labor 
 successfully for the destruction of heresy. 
 
 I implore of heaven. Sire, that the happiness 
 which attends the justice of your actions, may 
 crown such noble, grand and holy undertakings. 
 These are the prayers and vows which all the 
 Recollects of your kingdom offer to God at the 
 foot of the Altars, and especially myself, who 
 only desire to have the happiness of continuing 
 to render your Majesty the service which I vowed 
 
EPISTLE. 
 
 +7 
 
 h 
 
 to you at the time of the Campaigns in Holland, 
 where I had the happiness of following your 
 sacred person as a missionary, my greatest passion 
 being to worship my God, to serve my King and 
 to give him marks of the zeal and the most 
 profound respect with which I am, Sire, 
 
 Your Majesty's most humble, most 
 
 obedient and most faithful subject 
 
 and servant. 
 
 F. Louis Hennepin, 
 
 Recollect Missionary. 
 
 
Extract From The Royal Privilege. 
 
 By the grace and privilege of the King, given 
 at Chaville, September 3d, 1682, signed by the 
 King in his Council, Junquieres, it is permitted 
 to the Widow of Sebastian Hure, late book- 
 seller at Paris, to cause to be printed a book en- 
 titled Description of Louisiana, a Country 
 newly discovered in North America, composed 
 by the Rev. Father Louis Hannepin, Recollect 
 Missionary and Apostolic Notary, for the time 
 and space of twenty consecutive years, to date 
 from the day when the printing of said book is 
 completed for the first time. And proliibition 
 to all publishers and others to print, sell and cir- 
 culate, under any pretext ./hatever, even of 
 foreign edition or otherwise, without the con- 
 sent of the said publisher or her representatives, 
 under the penalty of 3,000 livres tine, payable 
 without deposits, by each offender, confiscation 
 of copies, counterfeits, and all expenses, damages 
 
 + 
 
+9 
 
 and interest, as is more amply set forth in said 
 privilege. 
 
 Registered m the book of the Community of 
 Booksellers and Printers of Paris, September 
 I oth, 1 682, according to the Arret of Parliament, 
 April 8, 1653, and that of the King's Privy 
 Council, Feb. 27, 1665. 
 
 (Signed) Angot, Syndic. 
 
 Printing for the first edition completed January 5th, 1683. 
 
 ;«• 
 
 .- IP 
 
 1 
 
¥■ 
 
 ^ 
 
DESCRIPTION 
 
 •r» 
 
 OP 
 
 NEWLY DISCOVERED SOUTHWEST OF NEW FRANCE, 
 BY ORDER OF HIS MAJESTY. 
 
 It is some years=^- since the Sieur Robert Cave- 
 lier de la Salle was convinced from the informa- 
 tion which he had derived from several Indians 
 of various nations that important establishments 
 might be made in a southwesterly direction, 
 beyond the great lakes, and that even by means 
 of a great river which the Iroquois call Hohio, 
 
 * This is followed closely by the " Relation des descouvertes 
 et des voyages du Sieur de la Salle, seigneur et gouvcrneur du 
 fort de Fronteiiac, au dela des grands lacs de la Nouvelle 
 France, faits par I'ordre de Monseigneur Colbert 1679-80-81.' 
 Margry 1, p. 435, etc. 
 
52 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 which empties into Meschasipi, which in the 
 language of the Islinois means great river,-'' one 
 could penetrate even to the sea. 
 
 With this design he purchased a house on the 
 Island of Montreal, at the spot called la Chine, 
 where they embark to ascend higher up along 
 the great river St. Lawrence; he subsequently 
 imparted his idea to Monsieur de Courcelles, 
 Governor of New France, who found it well 
 grounded, and who for this reason encouraged 
 him to carry it out ; he made several voyages, 
 sometimes with Frenchmen, sometimes with 
 Indians, and even for a distance of a hundred 
 leagues, to the end of Lake Frontenac with Mes- 
 srs. Dolier and Galinee, priests of St. Sulpice, in 
 the year 1669, but a violent fever compelled the 
 latter to leave them as they entered Lake de 
 Comty, and the former sometime afterwards were 
 compelled by other unforeseen accidents to lay up 
 among the Onttaouactzf and to return to Canada 
 
 * The Relation in Margry gives none of these interpretations. 
 It says : "some Indians call Ohio, others Mississipi," 
 t Ottawas. 
 
 7 ^'*=S3SjSfiEiSiBC«* 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 53 
 
 1 
 
 «>5« 
 
 without their having ever since dreamed of carry- 
 ing out their first design, the Providence of God 
 having thus permitted it and reserved it to the 
 religions of our order.* 
 
 The Sieur de Courcelles and the Sieur Talon, 
 the very vigilant Intendant of New France, wrote 
 urging him to continue his discoveries, and a 
 favorable opportunity offered. 
 
 Atter the Sieur Tracy sent by the King to 
 Canada in 1665, had forced the Iroquois to sue for 
 peace, he deemed it necessary in order to keep in 
 check these savages, to erect some forts in the 
 places by which the Iroquois had been accustomed 
 to pass, in order to come and attack our settle- 
 ments. With this view, Forts Sorel and Cham- 
 bly were built on Richelieu river, which empties 
 into the Saint Lawrence ; and some years later 
 Fort Frontenac was erected one hundred and 
 twenty leagues further South near the outlet of 
 
 * For this expedition see P'aillon, Histoire de la Colonic 
 Franv'aise, 3 pp. 286-306, Dollier de Casson, Histoire de Mon- 
 treal, pp. 198-9. An anonymous document in Margry (i, p. 
 377), misrepresents it most audaciously. See " Margry's La 
 Salle Bubble Bursted." 
 
54 
 
 A DRSt'RIPTION 
 
 Lake Frontenac or Ontario which means Beauti- 
 ful Lake.* 
 
 Thisf fort was sodded and surrounded by 
 palisades and four bastions by the care of the 
 Count de Frontenac, governor general of the 
 country, to resist the Iroquois and this gallant 
 nobleman for the ten years of his administration 
 has made himself beloved, by the awe with which 
 he inspired these savages, by planting Fort Fron- 
 tenac which is situated within their country, and 
 by this fortress he has revived in America the 
 name of his ancestors, who were the favorites of 
 one of our greatest Kings, Henry IV, and gover- 
 nors of the castle of St. Germain en Laye, and 
 without disparaging the Governors General who 
 preceded him, this one has been the father of the 
 poor, the protector of the oppressed, and a perfect 
 model of piety and religion. Those who come 
 after us in Canada will regret him and admire 
 
 ♦Ontara, lake ; Ontario, beautiful lake. 
 
 t This paragraph is not in Margry. The barracks near the 
 western end ot Cataraqui bridge, at Kingston, mark the site of 
 the French fort. Parkman, p. 83. 
 
 - 
 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 55 
 
 * 
 
 
 *« 
 
 1 
 
 his wise administration and his zeal for the King's 
 service in his perilous canoe voyages, on which 
 this illustrious governor has often risked his life 
 for the good and defense of the country.* 
 
 The command of tort Frontenac falling 
 vacant, the Sieur de la Salle, who had experienced 
 great difficulties in ascending the frightful falls 
 and rapids, which are encountered for more than 
 thirty leagues between Montreal and Fort Fron- 
 tenac, resolved to come to France to solicit this 
 post from the King. 
 
 He arrived at Rochelle in 1675,! and offered 
 to complete this fort at his own expense, and to 
 maintain a sufficient garrison and as the Count 
 de Frontenac had advanced more than 15000 
 livres in establishing the fort and maintaining 
 the garrison, he offered besides to reimburse him, 
 provided the Court would grant him, the gov- 
 ernorship and ownership of the fort. His pro- 
 posals were accepted by Mr. Colbert, who caused 
 
 * Father Gabriel de la Ribourde, was the first Chaplain at 
 Fort Frontenac, LeClercq, Etabiissment de la Foi 2 p , 1,2. 
 t Really in 1674. 
 
1 
 
 S6 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 the grants to be issued to him,-'' through the in- 
 riuence of Mr. de Belizani, who greatly aided 
 this noble enterprise, and the establishments that 
 will be formed hereafter will owe him this 
 obligation. 
 
 As soon as he had returned to Canada, the 
 Count de Frontenac proceeded to the spot, to 
 aid him in demolishing the first fort, which was f 
 enclosed only by stout palisades and turf. He 
 erected another three hundred and sixty fathom 
 in circumference, revested with four bastions of 
 cut stone. They worked so diligently on it that 
 it was brought to completion at the end of two 
 years, although the Sieur de la Salle was not ob- 
 liged to make so great an outlay. "j" 
 
 This fort stands on the north side and near 
 the outlet of Lake Frontenac on a peninsula, the 
 isthmus of which he has dug through, the other 
 three sides being surrounded by the lake and by 
 
 * The rest of this paragraph not in Margry. See Le Clercq. 
 Etablissement, 2 p. 117. The grant and patent of nobility are 
 in N. Y. Colonial Documents, ix pp. 123-5. 
 
 t Only 60 fathoms in circuit according to i Margry, r p. 437. 
 
 I Compare Nouvelle Decouverte, pp. 30-2. 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 5^ 
 
 a large har'oor, where vessels of all kinds can 
 anchor in safety. Lake Frontenac is eighty 
 leagues long and twenty-Hve or thirty wide ; it 
 abounds in fish, is deep and navigable in all parts. 
 The five cantons of the Iroquois live mainly 
 south of this same lake, and some of them on 
 the north. 
 
 The Count de Frontenac having gone several 
 years in succession to the fort escorted by soldiers 
 and by forty canoes, managed by men of great 
 resolution in action, his presence has impressed 
 fear and respect for the whole French nation on 
 the mind of the haughtiest of these savages. He 
 annually convened the most influential of the 
 Iroquois in council, explaining to them the means 
 they should adopt in order to embrace Christianity, 
 exhorting them to hear the voice of the mis- 
 sionaries, giving them the bias that they should 
 take to entertain friendly relations with him, and 
 to maintain trade with the French, whom after 
 the mode of expression of the Indians, he called 
 his nephews, and the Iroquois his children. It 
 8 
 
w^m 
 
 :8 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 is by these methods that this wise governor has 
 preserved peace as long as he has been in Canada, 
 making presents to the Indians in favor of the 
 Missionaries. •f' 
 
 The situation of this fort is so advantageous, 
 that by means of it, it is easy to cut off the Iro- 
 quois on their raids or their return, or to carry 
 the war into their country in twenty-f ur hours, 
 during the time that they are out on war parties, 
 by means of barks from Fort Frontenac ; the 
 Sieur de la Salle having built three, full decked, 
 on the lake, has trained his men so well to manage 
 canoes in the most frightful rapids, that they are 
 now the most skillful canoemtn in America. 
 
 As the land bordering on the lake is very fertile, 
 he has cultivated several acres, where wheat, pulse 
 and potherbs have succeeded very well, although 
 the wheat was at first injured by grasshoppers, as 
 generally happens in new clearings in Canada on 
 account of the great humidity of the earth. He 
 has raised poultry and horned cattle, of which he 
 has now thirty-five head ; and as there are very 
 
 * Briefly in Margry, i, p. 438. 
 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 59 
 
 rine trees there fit for house and ship building, 
 and the winter is nearly three months shorter 
 than in Canada, there is reason to believe ihat a 
 considerable colony will be formed, there being 
 already thirteen or fourteen families and a mission* 
 house which I built with our dear Recollect 
 Father. Lake Buisset, with the help of Sieur de la 
 Salle, whereby we have attracted a pretty large 
 village of Iroquois, whose children we teach to 
 read with our little French children, and they 
 teach each other their language in turn. This 
 mamtains a good understanding with the Iro- 
 quois, who clear the land in order to plant Indian 
 corn so as to subsist all the year except the hunt- 
 ing season. 
 
 While the Sieur de la Salle was engaged in 
 buildmg his fort, men envious of him, judging 
 by this hne beginning what he might be able to 
 do in the sequel,! with o"r Recollect missionaries, 
 
 * The rest of the paragraph is omittted in Margry's Relation 
 The Nou.,, Decou..ru^ p. 24, speaks of building' a'chtbu; 
 on p. 60 calls it as here a mission house. ' 
 
 t To " fo: t " omitted by Margry. 
 
Km 
 
 60 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 who by their disinterested life, were attracting 
 several families which came to settle at the Fort, 
 put forward the Sieiir Joliet to anticipate him in 
 his discoveries. He went by the Bay of the 
 Puants to the river Meschasipi, on which he 
 descended to the Islinois, and returned by the 
 Lakes to Canada, without having then or after- 
 wards attempted to form any post '^ or made any 
 report to the Court. 
 
 At the end of the year 1678 f the Sieur de la 
 Salle came to France to report to Monsieur Col- 
 bert, what he had done to execute his orders; he 
 then represented to him that this Fort Frontenac 
 gave him great advantages for making discoveries 
 with our Recollects, that his main object in build- 
 
 * Rest of sentence omitted by Margry. Joliet did make a 
 report to Frontenac, see the letter of the Count to Colbert. 
 N. Y. Col. Doc, ix, p. 121. Joliet applied for a grant and 
 was refused. Joliet knew of the Mississippi and the routes to 
 it before La Salle, and as early as i66g advised him and the 
 Sulpiiians, Uollier de Casson and (lalinee, to go by way of the 
 Wisconsin. Margry 1, p. 144. Faillon, Histoire, iii, p. 286. 
 
 Hennepin here follows the general story of the La Salle party 
 In regard to Joliet. 
 
 t 1677, Margry, i, p. 439. 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 6i 
 
 ing that fort had been to continue these dis- 
 coveries in rich, fertile and temperate countries, 
 where the trade merely in the skins and wool of 
 the wild cattle, which the Spaniards call Cibola, 
 might establish a great commerce, and support 
 powerful colonies ; that nevertheless, as it would 
 be difficult to bring these cattle skins in canoes, 
 he petitioned Monsieur Colbert to grant him a 
 commission to go and discover the mouth of the 
 great river Meschasipi, on which ships could be 
 built to come to France; and that in view of the 
 great expense that he had incurred chiefly for 
 building and keeping up Fort Frontenac, he would 
 deign to grant him the privilege of carrying on 
 exclusively the trade in bufl="alo skins, of which 
 he had brought one as a sample. This was 
 granted him. 
 
 He set out from France in the month of July 
 in the year 1678 with the Sieurs la Motte * and 
 Tonty, a pilot, sailors and several others, to the 
 number of about thirty persons, anchors and rig- 
 
 * La Mottc omitted in Margry • p. 439. Compare Lc Clercq 
 ii, p. 139. 
 
62 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 ging for the barks which he intended to build, 
 and the necessary arms and goods. At the close 
 of September he reached Quebec, whence he 
 sent on his men to transport the goods and pro- 
 visions to Fort Frontenac. He brought'-' me 
 from France an order from our Reverend Father 
 Germain Allart, who is at present Bishop of 
 Vence.f and letters from the Very Reverend 
 Father Hyacinth le Fevre, now provincial of our 
 Recollects in Artois, by which he manifested to 
 me great zeal for the progress of our American 
 missions, and begged me to accompany the Sieur 
 de la Salle in his discoveries. Father Valentine 
 le Roux, our Commissary Provincial in Canada 
 gave me a complete chapel for my voyage, I 
 then went to obtain the blessing of Monsieur 
 Francis de la Valle, first Bishop of Quebec, and 
 his written sanction.;}; We then dined at the 
 
 *Thisdown to words "'Mission House" does not appear in the 
 Margry Relation. 
 
 t He held the see from 1681 to 1685. 
 
 X Nouvelle Decouverte, p. 62. 
 Francis de Laval de Montmorency. 
 
 he Bishop's name is 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 63 
 
 table of the Count de Frontenac Governor of the 
 country, who during the repast did us the honor 
 to say to the company that he would report to 
 the court the zeal of the Recollects and the cour- 
 age of our undertakings. 
 
 We embarked to the number of three, in our 
 little bark canoe with our portable chapel, a 
 blanket and a rush mat which served as a bed. 
 This composed our whole outfit. 
 
 The people on the banks as we passed between 
 Quebec and Monreal, earnestly begged me to 
 say mass for them and administer the sacraments, 
 explaining to me that they could be present at 
 divine service only five or six times a year, inas- 
 much as there were only four missionaries in a 
 stretch of fifty leagues of country. At Saint 
 Hour I baptized a child, giving notice to the 
 missionary who was absent. We continued our 
 route by Harpentinie=== where the Seigneur of the 
 place would have given me one of his sons for 
 the voyage, if our canoe had been large enough 
 
 * St. Ours, and Arpentigny. 
 
64 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 H 
 
 • (, 
 
 ■ r 
 
 for four men/'' On my arrival at Monreal.f 
 they debauched my canoemen from me, which 
 compelled me to take advantage of the offer of 
 two other canoeman who gave me a little corner in 
 their frail vessel, and after surmounting the rapids 
 for thirty leagues, we arrived at Fort PVontenac 
 on All Souls* Day, 1678, at eleven o'clock at night. 
 Father Gabriel de la Ribourde and Father Luke 
 Buisset, missionaries, received me with extraordi- 
 nary zeal in our Mission house. ;{; The Sieur de 
 la Salle arrived some time after us, as soon as he 
 had completed his arrangements, and at the close 
 of the same year he sent on fifteen of his men 
 with goods to the amount of six or seven thous- 
 
 * While at La Chine he gave rise to the ajf'aire Roland, an 
 ecclesiastical case which embruiled Canada. See Margry i, pp. 
 
 3'0. 3>3> 3»5- 
 
 t The Nouvelle Decouv. mentions his stopping at Three 
 Rivers and officiating there, Oct. i, p. 64. 
 
 \ Nouvelle Decouv. p, 66. Le Clercq, Etablisscment dc la Foi, 
 1 p. 1 14, adds that Father Hennepin, " made excursions among 
 the Iroquois nations, attracted families to the fort and having 
 perfected himself in the knowledge of their language and 
 the means of gaining them to God, labored several years there 
 with fruit." He eulogizes Father Luke. 
 
 1 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 65 
 
 and livres, with orders to proceed in canoes, and 
 await us at the Islinois, who live in the neigh- 
 borhood of Meschasipi, in order to begin by 
 establishing there a good understanding with 
 these Indians, and to prepare provisions and 
 other things necessary for the continuation of 
 our discoveries.-^^ 
 
 Wef had a conference with our two Religious 
 at the Fort, on the measures necessary to be 
 taken to extend the Kingdom of Jesus Christ 
 among these numerous nations which had never 
 heard the true God spoken of, or conversed with 
 Europeans. 
 
 On the 1 8th of November 1678 J I took leave 
 of these Fathers, who accompanied us to the 
 lake shore, and with sixteen men we entered a 
 
 * Margry i, p. 440, says 7 or 8000. That Relation always 
 writes Mississipi, 
 
 t This down to " return to Fort Frontenac" is not in Margry. 
 There is merely a brief statement of the sending of carpenters 
 and other men under the direction of Sieur de la Motte and 
 F. Louis Hennepin. Margry i, p. 440. The Nouv. Dec, p. 
 68, amplifies. 
 
 JLe CIcrcq ii, p. 141. 
 
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 9 
 
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 66 
 
 A DKSCRIPTION 
 
 i. 
 
 
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 brigantine. The autumn winds and cold being 
 then very violent, our men were afraid to embark 
 in a craft of about ten tons. This obliged the 
 Sieur de la Motte who commanded, to keep con- 
 stantly along the north shore of Lake Frontenac 
 so as to be sheltered from the Northwesters 
 which would have driven us on the so utherii 
 shore. On the 26th, our vessel being weather- 
 bound two good leagues from land, we were 
 compelled to anchor all night, with sixty 
 fathoms of cable and in evident danger. At last 
 the wind shifting from East to Northeast, we 
 reached the upper end of Lake PVontenac at an 
 Iroquois village called Teiaiagon, situated on the 
 north about seventy leagues from Fort Frontenac.'"^ 
 We bought some Indian corn of the Iroquois, 
 who often came to visit us on our brigantine, 
 which we had run up a river, j- and placed safely, 
 but we ran aground three times before we got 
 in, and we were obliged to land fourteen of our 
 
 * The Nouv. Dccouv. p. 73 here gives Skamiailario as the 
 Iroquois name of the lake. 
 
 f Le Clercq, Etablissement, de la Foi, ii, p, 141. This 
 was the Humber. Marshall, Building of the Griffon, p. 257. 
 
OK LOUISIANA. 67 
 
 men and throw our ballast overboard, to extricate 
 ourselves. We were obliged to cut away with axes 
 the ice that would have locked us in the river. 
 As a suitable wind failed us, we could not pro- 
 ceed till December 5th, 1678, and as we had fif- 
 teen leagues passage to make from the land at 
 the extremity of the lake to Niagara, we succeeded 
 in making only ten leagues towards the southern 
 shore, where we anchored about three leagues* 
 from land, and were roughly tossed all night 
 by the stormy weather. On the 6th, St. Nicho- 
 las' day, we entered the beautiful river Niagara, 
 which no bark had ever yet entered. After the 
 Te Deum and ordinary prayers for thanksgiving, 
 the Tsonnontouanf Indians of the whole lit- 
 tle village situated at the mouth of the river, 
 with one draught of the seine, took more 
 than three hundred white fish, larger than carp, 
 which are of excellent taste, and the least inju- 
 rious of all fishes in the world. These savages 
 gave them all to us, ascribing their luck in fish- 
 ing to the arrival of the great wooden canoe. 
 
 * Four or five. Nouv. Decouv. p. 257. 
 t Senecas. 
 
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 68 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 On the seventh we ascended two leagues up 
 the river in a bark canoe,''^ to seek a place 
 suitable for building and being unable to go any 
 higher up in a canoe, nor to surmount some very 
 violent rapids, we proceeded to explore on land 
 three leagues further, and finding no earth fit 
 to cultivate, we slept near a river which flows 
 from the west, one league above the great fall 
 of Niagara. f There was a foot of snow, which 
 we removed to build a fire, and the next day we 
 retraced our steps. On our way we saw a great 
 number of deer, and Hocks of wild turkeys ; and 
 after the first mass that had ever been celebrated 
 in those places, the carpenters with other men 
 were employed under the direction of the Sieur 
 de la Motte, who was never able to endure the 
 rigor of such a life of hardship. He was com- 
 pelled to give up some time afterwards and return 
 to Fort Frontenacj" 
 
 * As far as the Mountain Ridge. Marshall, p. 258. 
 t Chippewa Creek, lb. 
 
 X Dec. II. Nouv. Decouv p. 76. He then continues, saying 
 that tlie winds prevented their doing anything the three follow- 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 69 
 
 The Sieur de la Salle not having been able to 
 build a bark at Fort Frontenac on account of a 
 portage of two leagues at the great Fall of Niag- 
 ara, but for which, one might sail in a large bark 
 from Lake Frontenac to the end of Lake Dau- 
 phin, through lakes which may justly be styled 
 Fresh Seas. 
 
 The great river St. Lawrence takes its rise from 
 several large lakes, among which there are five 
 of extraordinary size and which are all badly 
 portrayed on the printed maps. These lakes 
 are, first. Lake Conde or Tracy ; second. Lake 
 Dauphin or Islinois ; third, Lake Orleans or of 
 the Hurons ; fourth, Lake Conly or Erie, and fifth 
 
 ing days. The 15th the ba-k was towed up to the great rock, 
 he steering. On the 17th a cabin of logs was made for a 
 storehouse. The 18th and 119th they had to pour boiling water 
 in the ground to drive posts ir,i. From the 20 to 23d they were 
 engaged in drawing the bark ashore to save it from the ice and 
 Thomas Charpentier of Artois effected it. Marshall, p. 258 
 makes Lewiston the site of this cabin. The Great Rock since 
 known as Hennepin's, though less conspicious and no longer 
 separated from the bank by water is to be seen under the 
 western end of the old Suspension Bridge, Marshall, p. 265. 
 
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 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 Lake Ontario, called Frontenac* They are all 
 of fresh water very good to drink, abound in fish, 
 surrounded by fertile lands, except the first. 
 They are of easy navigation, even for large vessels, 
 but difficult in winter on account of the high 
 winds which prevail there. 
 
 Lake Conde and Lake Dauphin are the most 
 distant westward. The former which runs from 
 East to West is one hundred and fifty leagues 
 long, about sixty wide and about five hundred 
 leagues in circuit. The latter which is situated 
 to the north and south, is one hundred and twenty 
 or one hundred and thirty in length, and forty to 
 fifty leagues in width, and nearly four hundred 
 leagues in circuit. These two lakes empty into 
 that of Orleans, the former by a rapid full of 
 rocks, which you cannot navigate and the other 
 by the strait of Missilimakinac. Lake Orleans 
 
 * Margry's Relation calls them simply, Lake Superior, Lake 
 of the Islinois, Lake of the Hurons, Lake Erie and Lake Fron- 
 tenac. I p. 440. They are described more at length in the 
 Nouv. Decoiiv., p. 40, etc. He there calls them Lake Superior, 
 Lake Illinois, Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Frontenac or 
 Ontario, Lake Illinois being the modern Michigan. 
 
 HA^ 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 71 
 
 empties by a long, very beautiful and navigable 
 channel into Lake ( onty, so that as these two latter 
 lakes, are about equal to Lake Dauphin and are 
 not separated h'om each other by any inconvenient 
 rapid, you can sail by hark from the extremity of 
 Lake Dauphin for a distance of four hundred 
 leagues to the end of Lake Conty, where naviga- 
 tion is interrupted by the great Fall of Niagara. 
 Lake Conty empties into Lake Frontenac, 
 but during ten leagues of this last lake it closes 
 in='= at a great island which forms two channels, 
 and at some islets, and this narrowing in is called 
 the Niagara River, which after a course of 
 fourteen leagues empties into Lake Frontenac at 
 40" 20' N. The waters of this strait, or of this 
 part and river oi Lake Conty, have a current, and 
 are very diffi ;ult to ascend by sail, especially one 
 league from its issue from Lake Conty. Four 
 leagues from Lake Frontenac there is an incredi- 
 ble Cataract or Waterfall, which has no equal. 
 The Niagara river near this place is only the 
 eighth of a league wide, but it is very deep in 
 At a " to " islets " omitted by Margry. 
 
 * C( 
 
72 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 places, and so rapid above the great fall, that it 
 hurries down all the animals which try to cross 
 it, without a single one being able to withstand its 
 current. They plunge down a height of more than 
 five hundred feet,* and its fall is composed of 
 two sheets of water and a cascade, with an island 
 sloping down. In the middle these waters foam 
 and bcii in a fearful manner. 
 
 They thunder continually and when the wind 
 blows in a southerly direction, the noise which 
 they make is heard for from more than fifteen 
 leagues. Four leagues from this cataract or fall, 
 the Niagara river rushes with extraordinary 
 rapidity especially for two leaguesf into Lake 
 
 * Six hundred in Margry i, p. 441. Tonty in his Relation 
 (Margry i, p. 577), estimates it at 500 The Nouvelle 
 Decouv., has 600, p. 45. Charlevoix (iii, p. 233) supposed 
 they counted the three ascents they had to make to reach the 
 river above. Is may be too that this estimate is of the whole 
 descent from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, which is about 350 
 feet. For Hennepin's fuller description, see Appendix. 
 
 f As far as the Great Rock. Nouv. Dec, p. 45. It adds 
 that in the second two leagues the impetuosity diminishes. 
 Vessels from Lake Ontario could ascend to this rock which 
 was in the river on the west side. 
 
 i 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 IZ 
 
 Frontenac. It^= is during these two leagues 
 that goods are carried. There is a very fine road, 
 very little wood, and almost all prairies mingled 
 with some oaks and firs, on both banks of the 
 river, which are of a height that inspire fear 
 when you look down. 
 
 It is at the mouth of Lake Frontenac, that a 
 fort was begun, which might have been able to 
 keep the Iroquois in check and especially the 
 Tsonnontonans,f the most numerous and most 
 powerful of all, and prevent the trade which they 
 carry on with the English and Dutch, for quan- 
 tities of furs which they are obliged to seek in 
 the western countries, and pass by Niagara going 
 and coming, where they might be stopped in a 
 friendly way in time of peace, and by force in 
 time of war ; but the Iroquois excited by some 
 persons envious of the Sieur de la Salle, took 
 umbrage, so that as they were not in a position 
 to resist them, they contented themselves with 
 
 * Not in Margry i, p. 442, down to " look down." 
 t Tsonnontouans, that is, Senecas. 
 9 
 
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f. 
 
 t : 
 
 mam 
 
 n 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 f- w ■ 
 
 ':■ 
 
 building there a house defended by palisades, 
 which is called Fort de Conty "'' and the place is 
 naturally defensive, and beside it there is a very 
 fine harbor for barks to retire to in security. 
 There is also a very abundant fishery of several 
 kinds of fish, among others of white fish, admira- 
 bly good and with which you might supply one 
 of the best cities in Europe. 
 
 The great Fall of the River Niagara, compelled 
 him also to build his bark two leagues above 
 it, and six leagues from the mouth of this river. 
 But ■{■ before beginning it, the Sieur de la Motte 
 had orders to take his precautions and go to the 
 great village of the Tsonnontouans Iroquois, to 
 endeavor to dispel the umbrage which these en- 
 vious men had already unpressed on their minds, 
 in regard to all our proceedings, and as I was 
 laboring to build a cabin of the bark of trees 
 which was to serve me as a house and chapel,|" to 
 
 * After "palisades" omitted in Margry down to "Europe." 
 The Nouv. Decouv., says that the fort was on the east side, 
 p. 48. 
 
 f The account of LaMotte and Hennepin's mission is given 
 briefly in Margry r, 442-3. 
 
 I Supply " I had orders." 
 
 ^ 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 7.5 
 
 say the same thing to our people. The Sieur de 
 la Motte begged me to accompany him to the 
 Iroquois, and during the whole time of his em- 
 bassy ; I beirged him to leave me with the greatest 
 number of our men. He answered me that he 
 was taking seven with him, that I knew some- 
 thing of the language, and of the customs of the 
 Iroquois, that these Indians had seen me at Fort 
 Frontenac at the council which the Governor of 
 the country had held with them ;'^ that the King's 
 service required it, and the Sieur de la Salle's 
 especially, that he could not trust those whom he 
 was taking. All these reasons compelled me to 
 follow himf through the woods, on a march of 
 thirty-two leagues, over ground covered with 
 
 ;es 
 to 
 
 /en 
 
 * Hennepin has already said that Frontenac went up to 
 Fort Frontenac with La Salle. This may have been in 1677, 
 as he was there in September (Margry i, p. 296;) but we 
 have no details of any council. 
 
 t Tonty mentions Hennepin's accompanying la Motte, Re- 
 lation ecrite de Quebec 14 Nov., 1684, Margry i, p. 576. 
 Margry oddly misprints embuscade for ambassade. Tonty's 
 Memoir is so brief as to all this that we need not refer to it. 
 See translation in French's Louisiana Hist. Coll. i, p. 52. 
 
^WHWi 
 
 76 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 ¥- 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 k 
 
 snow. We all carried our blankets with our little 
 equipage, often passing the night in the open air, 
 and as we had only some little bags of roast 
 Indian corn, we met on the way Iroquois hunters 
 who gave us some venison and fifteen or sixteen 
 black squirrels very good to eat. After live days 
 march we arrived at Tegarondies,"''' a great village 
 of the TsonnontoUans Iroquois, and as our French- 
 men were then well supplied with arms and fine 
 clothes, the Indians led us to the cabin of the 
 great chief where all the women and children 
 came to look at us, and after the cries made in 
 the village by a sachem, according to the maxim 
 of the Indians, the next day after the mass and 
 sermon of New Year's Day, 1679,^ forty-two 
 Iroquois old men appeared in the council with us, 
 and although these Indians who are almost all 
 large men, were merely wrapped in robes of 
 beaver or wolf skins, and some in black squirrel 
 
 * On Boughton Hill near Victor in Ontario Co., Marshall, 
 Building of the Griffon, p. 260. New York Col. Doc, iii, 
 p. 251. 
 
 t Nouv. Decouv., p. 81 says he preached in the little bark 
 chapel, Fathers Garnier and Rafeix, being present. 
 
 i 
 
 
 11! 
 
 * 
 
 ss 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 n 
 
 1. 
 
 skins, often with a pipe in the mouth, no senator 
 of Venice ever assumed a graver countenance or 
 spoke with more weight than the Iroquois sachems 
 in their assemblies. 
 
 One of our men named Anthony Brassart who 
 served as interpreter, told them that we came to 
 visit them in the name of Onnontio (which is 
 the name that all the Indians give the Gover- 
 nors of the French), and to smoke their calumets 
 on their mat ; that the Sieur de la Salle, their 
 friend, was going to build a great wooden canoe, 
 to go and seek goods in Europe by a shorter way 
 than that by the rapids of the St. Lawrence, in 
 order to supply them with them at a cheaper rate. 
 He added several other reasons* to facilitate our 
 enterprise and we gave them in the name of the 
 whole nation, about four hundred livres worth of 
 goods according to the usage of this country, 
 where the best reasons are never listened to, if 
 they are not accompanied by presents. 
 
 The Sieur de la Motte before beginning the 
 
 * They promised to keep a blacksmith and armorer at 
 Niagara to mend their guns and axes. Nouv. Decouv. p. 84. 
 
 t 
 
 I 
 

 ,,i 
 
 
 
 I . 
 
 ^^ ! 
 
 78 
 
 A ORSCRIPTION 
 
 speech told the Iroquois, that he would not speak 
 to them till they had caused a Frenchman* who 
 was suspicious to him, to leave the council. The 
 old men begged him to withdraw and that he 
 should not receive the whole aftVont, tor having 
 presented himself at an assembly to which he had 
 not been invited, I went out with him to keep 
 him company, dispensing myself on the first day 
 from the matters laid before the Iroquois. The 
 following day the Iroquois replied to our pre- 
 sents, article by article. They put little sticks on 
 the ground to recollect all that had been told them, 
 and at each reply the maker of the harangue held 
 one of the little sticks in his hand, and threw down 
 to us in the midst of the assemblage, some white 
 and black wampum, which was strung ; and at 
 
 * The Nouvellc Decouv. says that this was the Jesuit Father 
 Gamier, and that Hennepin left to show the Sieur de la Motte 
 that he had no business to bring him to the Council when he 
 intended to offer an affront of that kind to a Jesuit missionary 
 *' who was among these Indians only to instruct them in the 
 truths of the gospel," p. 86. LaMotte in a letter (Margry ii, p. 
 g), gives a brief account of what he did. La Salle complains 
 of La Motte's unfaithfulness and appeals to Hennepin, 
 Margry ii, p. 230. 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 79 
 
 each present from the first to the last, one of the 
 sachems having hegiin at the top of his voice, all 
 together ended the last syllable three times by a 
 tone coming from the very pit of the stomach, 
 "Niaova," which means, "See, that is good, I 
 thank you."' 
 
 All the reasons that we gave the Iroquois, sat- 
 isfied them only in appearance, for entire in- 
 difl^erence to everything is a maxim with these 
 Indians; and a man among them would pass for 
 an ill regulated mind, if he did not agree to every- 
 thing, and if he contradicted the arguments made 
 to them in council ; even though one should go 
 so far as to utter the greatest absurdities and non- 
 sense, they will always say " Niaova." " See 
 that is right my brother, you are right," but they 
 believe only what they please in private. The 
 greatest part of the Indians, of all those whom I 
 have examined carefully, show that the indiffer- 
 ence which they entertain for all the maxims of 
 our Christian religion, as for everything else is 
 the greatest obstacle to the faith which I have 
 known among these Savages. 
 
 mi 
 
N 
 
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 I 
 
 1 
 
 1/ T 
 
 ( 
 
 
 80 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 I 
 
 On the last day of our assembly, the Iroquois 
 warriors brought in a slave whom they had taken 
 from the Hontouagaha, which signifies in their 
 language the Stammerers or great talkers ;•' and 
 I think that the Neros and Maximins have never 
 
 * Ontwagaiiiiha from Atw.iganncn, to speak a toieigii 
 language, Bruyas, Racines Agnicres p. 40; French Mk. Dictv. 
 It is applied to the Maskoutens, Rel. 1660, p. 7-, to the Shawnees 
 Rel. 1672, p. 25; and is now the Mohawk term for the 
 Ottawas, Mr. Marcoux in Hist. Mag. iv, p 369. 
 
 In the Nouv. Decouv. p. go, he mentions a second prisoner. 
 "The other was of the nation of the Ganniessinga near whom 
 there were English Recollect missionaries. The Iroquois spared 
 the latter." No Franciscan mission in Maryland of that date 
 was known till recently. I showed this to the Very Rev. 
 Pamphilo de Magliano, Provincial of the Recollects in tliis 
 rountry as a specimen of Hennepin's misstatements. In a visit 
 to Europe he discovered some documents of the old Franciscan 
 province in England, including the record of the annual chapters 
 and they showed the sending of missionaries of the oider to 
 Maryland from Oct. 1672 to Sept. 1720. Facts that have 
 since came to light convince me that the Franciscans extended 
 their labors into Pennsylvania, and that Hennepin was correct. 
 Up to this point Hennepin's narrative is of what Hennepin saw 
 and La Salle did not see. To pretend as Margry does that the 
 La Salle Relation, he gives, is the original and that Hennepin 
 plagiarized from a man who did not see, an account of what he 
 himself did see, is about as absurd an idea as ever entered the 
 mind of man. 
 
 lit 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 8i 
 
 found out greater cruelty to exercise the patience 
 of the martyrs, than the torments which the 
 Iroquois make their enemies undergo. And as 
 we saw that their children each cut a hit of flesh 
 from the prisoner, whom their parents had put 
 to death with unheard of cruelties, and that these 
 little cannibals ate the flesh of this man before 
 our eyes, we withdrew from the chief's cabin, 
 and would no longer eat there, and we retraced 
 our steps across the forests to the Niagara river. 
 The Sieur de la Salle -^ had come there in a 
 bark, from Fort Frontenac to bring us some pro- 
 visions, and rigging to equip a vessel at the en- 
 trance of Lake Conty ; but that in which he 
 had come with merchandize, was wrecked by 
 the fault of two opposing pilots on the south 
 shore of Lake Frontenac, ten leagues from Nia- 
 gara, near a place which the sailors have named 
 "Cap Enrage."! They succeeded in saving the 
 
 * Margry i, p. 442, gives this more briefly. Hennepin, 
 Nouv. Decouv. p. 92, says that La Motte and he reached their 
 cabin at Niagara Jan. 14, and 011 the 20th he heard La Salle's 
 voice on the bank on which he was. 
 
 t Mr. Marshall thinks Cap Enrage to be 
 
 Point. 
 
 irty 
 
 M 
 
 lie 
 
& ' 
 
 I i 
 
 82 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 anchors and cables of the vessel. He also lost 
 some canoes with a good deal of merchandize, 
 and had several reverses, which frequently would 
 have made any one but him, abandon the under- 
 taking.* 
 
 After he had given his orders and transferred 
 the workmen to the shipyard, which was above 
 the great Fall of Niagara, j- in order to build a 
 
 * He adds here in the Nouv. Decouv. p. 94, that La Salle 
 told them that he had visited the Senecas before the loss of his 
 bark and had gained their consent to his enterprise. This is 
 confirmed by Tonty in Margry i, p. 576, although in the Rela- 
 tion which we are asked to accept as La Salle's, this personal 
 fact is omitted. According to Tonty La Salle landed in a canoe 
 at the mouth of the river of the Senecas, went to their village 
 and then kept on by land to the Niagara. La Salle in a letter 
 (Margry ii, p. 35) mentions his visit to the Senecas. 
 
 t The site of the stocks where the Griffin was built was 
 fixed at various points by Bancroft, Sparks, Cass, Schoolcraft 
 and others. O. H. Marshall examining the matter by the 
 light of documents and topography, decides it to have been at 
 the mouth of Cayuga creek, on the American side. Building 
 of the Griffon, p. ^64, Hennepin says in the Nouv. Dec. p. 
 94. "The fort we were building at Niagara began to advance; 
 but there was so much underhand work that this fort became an 
 object of suspicion to these Indians. We had to suspend its 
 erection for a time, and we contented ourselves with building a 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 87 
 
 second bark, being anxious, he returned to Fort 
 Frontenac. He undertook this march of more 
 than eighty leagues by land and on foot, with a 
 little bag of roast Indian corn, and that even 
 failed him two days march from the fort, where 
 nevertheless he arrived safely, with a dog which 
 dragged his little baggage over the ice.J 
 
 The greater part of the Iroquois had gone to 
 
 house there surrounded by palisades." (This was at the foot 
 of the mountain ridge on the side of Lewiston). " On the 22d 
 (Jany. 1679), we proceeded to a point two leagues above the 
 great falls of Niagara. There we put up stocks to build the 
 vessel we needed for our voyage. We could not construct it in 
 a more convenient place than near a river, which descended 
 into the strait, which is between Lake Erie and the great 
 fall." The mouth of Cayuga creek is five miles above the falls 
 on the American side, and be.ng covered by an island is well adapted 
 for ship building and has been so used by our government. Fran- 
 quelin's maps of 1688, and 1689, note the spot on the American 
 side just above the falls. " Cabane ou le Sr. de la Salle a fait 
 faire une barque." " Chantier ou le Sr. de la Salle a ft. fre. une 
 barque," Marshall p. 268. Hennepin adds in the Nouv. Dec, 
 that the keel was all ready on the 26th, and that La Salle 
 wished him to drive the first bolt, but he modestly dechned. 
 
 X He was accompanied to Lake Ontario by Tonty and set 
 out after laying out the plan of Fort Conty at the mouth 
 of the river Feb. i. Tonty in Margry i, p. 577. !„ the 
 Nouv. Decouv. p. 96, Hennepin says he accompanied him. 
 
8+ 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 t 
 
 I 
 
 L 1 t 
 
 ' } 
 
 
 war beyond Lake Conty during the construction 
 of our bark, but although their absence ren- 
 dered those who remained, less insolent, never- 
 theless, they did not fail to come frequently to 
 our shipyard, where they were working on the 
 vessel, and to manifest their displeasure, but one 
 of them pretending to be drunk wished to kill 
 the blacksmith, but the resistance of the French 
 and the preparations which they made to repulse 
 the Iroquois, and the reproach which I made to 
 these savages, compelled them to withdraw 
 quietly. Some time after a woman warned us 
 that they wished to set the bark on fire on the 
 stocks, and they would have done so, had we not 
 kept a very strict watch. 
 
 These frequent alarms, fear of running out of 
 provisions, after the loss of the bark from Fort 
 Frontenac, and the refusal of the Tsonnontouans 
 Iroquois to give us Indian corn on our paying 
 for it, astonished our carpenters,* who were 
 
 * Down to " our subsistance " not in Margry which says 
 " They would infallibly have deserted if the Sieur de la Salle 
 and Father Louis had not taken care to reassure them and en- 
 couraged them to work with greater diligence to shake off" this 
 uneasiness." 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 85 
 
 moreover suborned and solicited to leave us, by 
 a dissolute, fellow who had made several attempts 
 to go over to the Dutch. He would beyond 
 doubt have seduced our workmen, if I had not 
 reasHired them, by the exhortations I made them, 
 after divine service on holidays and Sundays, show- 
 ing them that our enterprise had in view purely 
 God's glory, the good of the French colony and 
 their honor ; in this way I animated them to 
 labor more diligently to banish these disouiets. 
 Moreover the orders which they saw me give the 
 Indians of the Wolf* nation to supply us with 
 deer for our subsistance, made them pick up 
 courage again, so that by applying themselves 
 with more assiduity to their work, our bark 
 was in a short time ready to be launched, and 
 having blessed it with the ceremonies prescribed 
 by the Church, it was launched into the water, 
 although it was not yet entirely finished, in order 
 to secure it from the fire with which it was 
 threatened-! 
 
 * Mohegans. 
 
 i Nouv, Decouv., pp. 96-9. 
 

 86 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 V; 
 
 \l. 
 
 Ill 
 
 ■■1 
 ■J 
 
 :"■' 
 
 It was named the Griffin.* We fired three 
 salutes with our cannons, and sang the Te Deum 
 in thanksgiving, which was followed by several 
 " Vive le Roy." 
 
 The Iroquois who stood wondering at this 
 ceremony, shared in our rejoicing. A glass of 
 brandy was given to all of them to drink, as well 
 as to the French. 
 
 From this time we left our bark cabins to 
 lodge in the vessel on water, where we slept in 
 repose, and safe from insults of the Indians. The 
 Iroquois on returning from their beaver hunt 
 were extremely surprised. They said that the 
 French were spirits f and they could not under- 
 stand how they had been able to build in so short 
 a time and with such ease so large a wooden 
 
 * " In allusion to the arms of the Count de Frontenac which 
 have griffins as supporters." Nouv. Decouv., p. 99, which adds 
 *' moreover the Sieur de la Salle had often said of this vessel 
 that he wished to make the griffin soar above the crows." 
 
 f Otkon in the Nouv. Decouv. Hennepin derives his Iro- 
 quois mainly from Bruyas' Racines Agnieres, and makes 
 the Senecas use the Mohawk dialect. See Marshall, p. 278, 
 Parkman, Discovery, p. 123. 
 
 1 
 
mmmm 
 
 OF LOUISIANA. 87 
 
 canoe, although this vessel was only of about 
 forty-five tons and which we might call an am- 
 bulant fort, and which made all the Indians 
 tremble, who extend over more than five hundred 
 leagues of country.* 
 
 Meanwhile the envious seeing the bark fin- 
 ished, notwithstanding the difficulty of trans- 
 porting the rigging across so many rapids and the 
 opposition of the Iroquois, published that it was 
 a rash enterprise, that we would never return, 
 and many other things of the kind. By this 
 talk they roused up all the Sieur de la Salle's 
 creditors, who without consenting to await his 
 return, and without warning him, seized all 
 his property that he had in Montreal and in 
 Quebec, even to his secretary's bed, and they had 
 it adjudged to them at such price as they chose, 
 although Fort Frontenac of which he is 
 proprietor was alone enough to pay all his debts 
 twice told and more. 
 
 § The Margry Rel. give all this briefly omitting the blessing 
 of the vessel and even its name, which La Salle would scarcely 
 do. Hennepin in his Nouv. Dec, p. loi, here states that 
 Tonty took offense at his keeping a journal and tried to seize it. 
 
'U 
 
 il 
 
 I 'i 
 
 
 :ii 
 
 88 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 He was then at Fort Frontenac, where he 
 received tidings of these disorders, but as he 
 deemed this misfortune past help, and that they 
 had no other design than to compel him to forego 
 an expedition, of which he nad made the pre- 
 parations with such pains and cost, he gave what 
 orders he deemed necessary at the fort.-^ 
 
 Our boat being in the water out of reach of 
 insult, I proceeded to the fort by Lake Frontenac, 
 in the little brigantine f in order to rejoin our 
 
 * The Margry relation instead ot the following merely states 
 that La Salle returned to Niagara early in August, 1679. In 
 the Nouv. Dec., Hennepin here claims to have twice ascended 
 the Niagara to Lake Erie in a canoe, p. ic?. 
 
 f Tonty says he sent Father Hennepin with 1 1 men. Margry, 
 I p. 578. Hennepin in the Nouv. Dec. p. 104, says he went 
 with the Sieur Charon, a Canadian. They descended the 
 Niagara in a canoe making a portage at the falls. At the 
 mouth of the river they embarked in the brigantine under the 
 Sieur de la Forest. They took on board a number of Indian 
 women and ran along to Aoueguen where they bought beaver 
 skins for liquor, then ran across to Kente and landed on Gull 
 Island. Le Clercq, Etablissement de la Foy, 2 p. 145, says that 
 the Commissary of the Recollects went up to Fort Frontenac, 
 to organize the projected mission, and made F. Gabriel de la 
 Ribourde, Superior, stationing F. Luke Buisset at Fort Fron- 
 tenac, F. Melithon Watteau at Niagara. 
 
 — ««M. n> «i W >n*j > '«' 
 
OK LOUISIANA. 
 
 89 
 
 Recollects who resided there, in order to enjoy 
 spiritual consolation with them, obtain wine for 
 the celebration of masses, and make the Sieur de 
 la Salle a report of affairs, and we proceeded with 
 him,"'" we three Recollect missionaries, to Niagara, 
 in the beginning of the month of August in the 
 same year, 1679. He found his bark ready to 
 sail, but his people told him that they had not 
 been able to make it ascend beyond the entrance 
 of Lake Conty, not having been able to stem with 
 sails the strong current of Niagara river.f We 
 
 * The Nouv. Decouv. mentions La Salle's assembling 
 the missionaries, iennepin, Ribourde, Membre and Watteau, 
 May 27, 1679, anc his grant of land for their residence and ceme- 
 tery. They reached the Niagara July (June) 30. 
 
 Tonty confirms this. Margry i, p. 578. The Nouv. Decouv, 
 says they found the Griffin anchored a league from Lake Erie, 
 p. 112. 
 
 t The Nouvelle Dec. goes into details, describing the 
 vessel with its flag bearing a Griffin and an Eagle above it. 
 He returned to Lake Ontario July, 16-17, ^"'^ ^he bark from 
 Frontenac went up to the Great Rock, where the poitage was 
 made. All the anchors, rigging and arms were carried around 
 the falls. Father Gabriel toiled up the rocky path in spite of 
 his age and with Hennepin and La Salle visited the falls. La 
 10 
 
90 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 I! I 
 
 embarked to the number of thirty-two persons, 
 with our two Recollect Fathers who had come 
 to join me, our people having laid in a good 
 supply of arms, merchandise, and seven small iron 
 cannon. 
 
 At last, contrary to the pilot's opinion we suc- 
 ceeded in ascending Niagara river. He made 
 his bark advance by sails when the wind was 
 strong enough, and he had it towed in the most 
 difficult places, and thus we happily reached the 
 entrance of Lake Conty. 
 
 We made sail the 7th of the month of August, 
 in the same year 1679, steering west by south. 
 After;}; the " Te Deum " we fired all the cannon 
 and wall pieces, in presence of several Iroquois 
 warriors who were bringing in prisoners from§ 
 
 Salle tried to make Hennepin acknowledge having criticized the 
 Jesuits, pp. 1 1 2-6, La Salle set men to clear ground near his 
 post for cultivation, Father Melithon Watteau was left as 
 chaplain. Divine service was oftered on the Griffin, the people 
 joining in from the shore, pp. 118-9. 
 
 X Rest of the paragraph not in Margry. 
 
 § Tintonha, that is to say the Nation of the Prairies, Nouv. 
 Dec. p. I20. 
 
 hf i 
 
 r ■ 
 
OF LOUISIANA. ^I 
 
 the nations on the prairies, situated more than five 
 hundred leagues from their country, and these 
 savages did not neglect to give a description of 
 the size of our vessel to the Dutch of New Yjrk * 
 with whom the Iroquois carry on a great trade in 
 furs, which they carry to them i'j order to obtain 
 fire arms and goods to clothe themselves. 
 
 Our voyage was so fortunatef that on the 
 morning of the tenth day, the feast of Saint 
 Lawrence, we reached the entrance of the De- 
 troit (strait) by which Lake Orleans empties into 
 Lake Conty, and which is one hundred leagues 
 distant from Niagara river. This strait is thirty 
 leagues long and almost everywhere a league wide, 
 except in the middle where it expands and forms 
 a lake of circular form, and ten leagues in diame- 
 
 * See Andros to Blathwayt, N. Y. Col. Doc. iii, 278. 
 
 t The Nouv. Dec. says they ran 20 leagues the first night. 
 On the 8th, 45 leagues, almost always in sight of land, the lake 
 being 15 or 16 leagues wide. He mentions three point's running 
 out into the lake, the first and largest of which he named St. 
 Francis (Long Point, Marshall, p. 280). On the 9th they 
 passed the other two points and saw an island at the mouth of 
 the strait, sev^n or eight leagues from the north shore, pp. 12 1-2 
 
1 
 
 i' 
 
 92 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 ■ •' 
 
 ter, which we called Lake St. Clare, on account 
 of our passing through it, on that Saint's day. 
 
 The country on both sides of this beautiful 
 strait is adorned with fine open plains, and you 
 can see numbers of stags, does, deer, bears, by no 
 means fierce and and very good toeat, poules d'inde''' 
 and all kinds of game, swans in abundance. Our 
 guys were loaded and decked with several 
 wild animals cut up, which our Indian and our 
 Frenchmen killed. The rest of the strait is cov- 
 ered with forests, fruit trees like walnuts, chest- 
 nuts, plum and apple trees, wild vines loaded with 
 grapes, of which we made some little wine. 
 There is timber fit for building. Itf is the place 
 in which deer most delight. 
 
 We found the current at the entrance of this 
 strait as strong as the tide is before Rouen. We 
 ascended it nevertheless, steering north and north- 
 east, as far as Lake Orleans. There is little 
 depth as you enter and leave Lake St. Clare, 
 
 * These are not hen turkeys, >s some have rendered it, nor 
 prairie hens, but evidetitly water fowl. Charlevoix iii, p. 156; 
 Lemoine, Ornithologie du Canada, p. 75. 
 
 t This sentence not in iVIargry. The Nouv. Dec, says he 
 tried to induce La Salle to establish a post here. 
 
OF LOUISIANA, 
 
 93 
 
 especially as you leave It. The discharge from 
 Lake Orleans divides at this place into several 
 small channels, almost all harred by sand- 
 banks. We were obliged to sound them all, 
 and at last discovered a very fine one, with a 
 depth of at least two or three fathoms of water, 
 and='= almost a league wide at all points. Our 
 bark was detained here several days by head 
 winds and this difficulty having been surmounted, 
 we encountered a still greater one at the entrance 
 of Lake Orleans, the north wind which had been 
 blowing some time rather violently, and which 
 drives the waters of the three great lakes into the 
 strait, had so increased the ordinary current the e, 
 that it was as furious as the bore is before Caude- 
 bec.f We could not stem it under sail, although 
 we were then aided by a strong south wind; 
 but as the shore was very fine, we landed twelve 
 of our men who towed it along the beach for 
 
 * Here Margry inserts " beyond the sand bars." 
 t Gravier refers to this mention of Caudebec as a proof that 
 Hennepin tooic his matter from La Salle's Report, Decouvertes 
 et Etablissements p. 104, as though Hennepin publishing at 
 Paris could not refer to a French river. 
 
 
 
. 
 
 94 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 'i 
 
 I 
 
 i\ 
 
 '! 
 
 half a quarter of an hour, at the end of vvliich 
 we entered Lake Orleans'^ on the 23d of the 
 month of August, and for the second time we 
 chanted a Te Deum in thanksgivini^, blessing 
 God, who here brought us in sight of a great bi>v-j- 
 in this lake, where our ancient Rccoile:' t ' 
 resided to instruct the Hurons in the faith, ii. •' „ 
 first landing of the PVench in Canada, and these 
 Indians once very numerous have been for the 
 most part destroyed by the Iroquois/}; 
 
 The same day the bark ran along the east coast 
 of the lake, with a fair wind, heading north by 
 cast, till evening when the wind having shifted 
 to southwest with great violence, we headed 
 northwest, and the next day we found ourselves 
 in sight of land, having crossed by night a great 
 bay, called Sakinam,^ which sets in more than 
 thirty leagues. 
 
 On the 24th we continued to head northwest 
 
 * Margry omits from here to " Iroquois." 
 
 f Georgian Bay. 
 
 J Nouv. Dec. pp. 128-9. 
 
 § Saginaw Bay. 
 
 1 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 95 
 
 till evening, when Me were becalmed among some 
 islands, where there was only a fathom and a half 
 or two fathoms of water. We kept on with the 
 lower sails a part of the night to seek an anchor- 
 age, but finding none where there was a good 
 bottom and the wind beginning to blow from the 
 west, we headed north so as to gain deep water 
 and wait for day, and we spent the night in 
 sounding before ihe bark, because we had 
 noticed that our pilot was very negligent, and we 
 continued to watch in this way during the rest 
 of the voyage. 
 
 On the 25th the calm continued till noon, and 
 we pursued our course to the northwest, favored 
 by a good southerly wind, which soon changed 
 to southwest. At midnight we wore compelled 
 to head north on account of a great Point which 
 jutted out into the lake ; but we had scarcely 
 doubled it, when we were surprised by a furious 
 gale, which forced us to ply to windward with 
 mainsail and foresail, then to lie to till daylight. 
 
 On the 26th the violence of the wind obliged 
 us to lower the topmasts, to fasten the yards at 
 
g6 
 
 A DESCRIPTFON 
 
 the clew, to remain broadside to the shore. At 
 noon the waves running too high, and the 
 sea too rough, we were forced to seek a port in 
 the evening, but found no anchorage or shelter. 
 At this * crisis, th<; Sieur de la Salle entered the 
 cabin, and quite disheartened told us that he 
 commended his enterprise to God. We had 
 been accustomed all the voyage to induce all to 
 say morning and evening prayers together on our 
 knees, all singing some hymns of the church, 
 but as we could not stay on the deck of the 
 vessel, on account of the storm, all contented 
 themselves with making an act of contritior , 
 There was no one but our pilot alone, whom we 
 were never able to persuade. 
 
 At this time the Sieur de la Salle adopted in 
 union with us Saint Anthony of Padua as the pro- 
 tector of our enterprises and he promised God if 
 He did us the grace to deliver us from the 
 tempest, that the first chapel he should erect in 
 Louisiana should be dedicated to that great Saint. 
 The wind having fallen a little we lay to, all 
 * Down to "great Saint" not in Margry, i, p. 447. 
 
 i 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 97 
 
 the night and we drifted only a league or tw'o at 
 most. 
 
 On the morning of the 27th we sailed north- 
 west with a southwest wind, which changed 
 towards evening into a light southeast trade wind, 
 hy favor of which we arrived on the same day at 
 Missilimakinac/'' where we anchored in six fathoms 
 of water in a bay, where there was a good bottom 
 of potter's clay. This bay is sheltered from south- 
 west to north, a sand bank covers it a little on 
 the northeast,! ^^^ ^^ ^^ exposed to the south 
 which is very violent.^ 
 
 Missilimakinac is a point of land at the entrance 
 and north of the strait, by which Lake Dauphin 
 
 * Derived according to Bishop Baraga, Diet., p. 243, from 
 Misliinimakinago, a set of men in the woods, who are heard 
 but seldom seen. 
 
 t Northwest, Nouv. Decouv. 
 
 X The bay where the Griffin anchored is that which is over- 
 looked by the Buttes, two steep and rocky bluffs famous in 
 Indian tradition and worshiped by the Indians who called them 
 the He and She Rabbit. The former is also styled Sitting 
 Rabbit or Rabbit's Back, Wabos Namadabid. The Kiskakons 
 Ottawas were here in 1677 and their chapel is mentioned, Rel., 
 1673-9, pp. 42, 56. Very Rev. E. Jacker. 
 
 k 
 
1 
 
 1- 
 
 in 
 
 y i 1 
 
 
 .1 '! i 
 
 i 
 
 • 
 
 
 4 
 
 V 
 
 : 
 
 
 
 : ■ 
 
 I 
 
 t 
 
 I 
 
 .! i 
 
 i8 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 empties into Lake Orleans. This strait is a league 
 wide and three long, and runs west northwest.* 
 Fifteen leagues east of Missilimakinac you find 
 another point which is ai the entrance of the 
 channel by which Lake Conde empties into 
 Lake Orleans. This channel has an opening of 
 five leagues, and is fifteen in length. It is inter- 
 spersed with several islands, and gradually narrows 
 in down to Sault Sainte Marie, which is a rapid 
 full of rocks, by which the waters of Lake Conde 
 are discharged and are precipitated in a violent 
 manner. Nevertheless -j" they succeed in poling 
 canoes up one side near the land, but for greater 
 security a portage is made of the canoe and the 
 goods which they take to sell to the nations north 
 of Lake Conde. 
 
 There are Indian villages in these two places; 
 those who are settled at Missilimakinac, on the 
 
 ♦ Nouv. Dec, p. 133, has simply "west." 
 
 f These sentences not in Margry, i, p. 448, with what 
 follows down to " liollowcd out by fire." "I he Nouv. Decouv., 
 adds : Those settled at the Point of Land of Michilimakinak 
 
 are Hurons, and the others who are five or six arpents 
 beyond are called the Outtaoiiactz. 
 
n 
 
 OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 99 
 
 day of our arrival, which was August 26th, 1 678,* 
 were all amazed to see a ship in their country, 
 and the sound of the cannon caused an extraordi- 
 nary alarm. We went to the Outtaoiiactz to say 
 mass and during the service, the Sieur de la Salle, 
 very well dressed in his scarlet cloak trimmed 
 with gold lace, ordered the arms to be stacked 
 along the chapel f and the sergeant left a sentry 
 there to guard them. I he chiefs of the Outtaiio- 
 actz paid us their civility in their fashion, on 
 coming out of the church. And in this bay 
 where the Griffin was riding at anchor, we looked 
 with pleasure at this large well equipped vessel, 
 amid a hundred or a hundred and twenty bark 
 canoes coming and going from taking white fish,t 
 * Noiiv. Dec, says 28th August, 1679. 
 
 t Which was covered with bark, Nouv. Dec, p. loe. 
 This chapel is evidently not the mission church, nor the bark 
 chapel dedicated to St, Francis Borgia, erected in 1677, between 
 the Kiskakons and the new Ottawa village. Relation i67'i-9 
 pp. 58-9, but the ch..pel at the KisUakon village near the Rabbit 
 Buttes. Tonty in Margry, i, p. 579, mentions the two 
 churches. The positions of all these points has been made a 
 special study by the careful antiquarian V. Rev. E. Jacker. 
 
 I And trout of 50 or 60 pounds, Nouv. Dec, p. 135. 
 
a 
 
 ■i t{ 
 
 
 I h 
 
 ! H 
 
 ,, 
 
 
 lOO 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 which these Indians catch with nets, which they 
 stretch sometimes in fifteen or twenty fathoms 
 of water, and without which they could not 
 subsist. 
 
 The Hurons who have their village surrounded 
 by palisades twenty-five feet high and situated ■=' 
 near a great point of land opposite the island of 
 Missilimakimac, proved the next day that they 
 were more French than the Outtaoiiactz, but it 
 was in show, for they gave a salute by discharging 
 all their guns, and they all have them, and renewed 
 it three times, to do honor to our ship, and to the 
 French, but this salute had been suggested to 
 them by some Frenchmen, who come there, and 
 who often carry on a very considerable trade with 
 these nations, and who designed to gain the Sieur 
 de la Salle by this show, as he gave umbrage 
 to them, only in order better to play their 
 parts subsequently by making it known that the 
 bark was going to be the cause of destruction 
 
 * Very advantageously on an eminence. lb., Pointe St. 
 Ignace. The Nouv. Dec, p. 135, er.-oneously makes more 
 than one Huron village. 
 
 If 
 
 a 
 
ii 
 
 OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 lOI 
 
 to individuals, in order to render the one who 
 had built her odious to the people. 
 
 The Hurons and the Ouattaouactz form 
 alliances with one another in order to oppose with 
 one accord the fury of the Iroquois, their sworn 
 ei .my. They cultivate Indian corn on which 
 they live all the year, with the fish which they 
 take to season their sagamity. This they make 
 of water and meal of their corn which they crush 
 with a pestle in a trunk of a tree hollowed out 
 by fire. 
 
 The Indians of Sainte Marie du Long Sault are 
 called by us the Saulteurs on account of the place of 
 their abode, which is near the Sault, and where 
 they subsist by hunting stags, moose or elk, and 
 some beaver, and by the fishing of white fish, 
 which is very good, and is found there in great 
 abundance, but this fishery is very difficult to all 
 but these Indians who are trained to it from 
 childhood. These latter do not plant any Indian 
 corn as their soil is not adapted to it, and the fogs 
 on Lake Conde which are very frequent, stifie all 
 the corn that they might be able to plant. 
 
 
}'t 
 
 102 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 'ii 
 
 9 I 
 
 h 
 
 Sault St. Marie and Missilimackinac are the 
 two most important passes for all the Indians of 
 the wesi and north who go to carry all their furs 
 to the French settlements and to trade every year 
 at Montrea with more than two hundred loaded 
 canoes.* 
 
 During our stay at Missilmakinac, we were 
 extremely surprised to find there the greater part 
 of the men whom the Sieur de la Salle had sent 
 on ahead to the number of fifteen, and whom he 
 believed to be long since at the Illinois. Those 
 whom he had known as the most faithful, re- 
 ported to him that they had been stopped by the 
 statements made to them on their way at Missili- 
 makinac ; that they had been told that his enter- 
 prise was only chimerical, that the bark would 
 never reach Missilimakinac, that he was sending 
 them to certain destruction, and several other 
 things of the kind, which had discouraged and 
 seduced most of their comrades, and that they 
 had been unable to induce them to continue their 
 
 * Sentence not in Margry. 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 103 
 
 voyage ; that six of them ^ had even deserted and 
 carried ofl-more than 3,000 livres worth of goods, 
 under the pretext of paying themselves, saying 
 that they would restore the surplus ovtr what 
 was due them, and that the others had stupidly 
 wasted more than twelve hundred livresf v^^orth, 
 or spent it for their support at Missilimakinac,' 
 where they had been detained, and where provis- 
 ions are very dear. 
 
 The Sieur de la Salle was all the more pro- 
 voked at this conduct of his men, as he had 
 treated them well, and made some advances to 
 all. among the rest having paid on account of 
 one of them 1200 livresj" that he owed various 
 persons at Montreal. He had four of the most 
 guilty arrested without giving them any harsher 
 treatment. Having learned that two of the six§ 
 deserters were at Sault Sainte Marie, he detached 
 
 * Named Sainte Croix, Minime, le Barbier, Poupart, Hu- 
 naut and Roussel dit la Rousseliere, Margry, i, p. 449. 
 t Maigiy gives the amounts 4000 liv., 1300 liv. 
 J La Rousseliere, 1800 liv. Margry, i, 449, 
 § Hunaut and la Rousseliere, lb. 
 
 m 
 
I 
 
 104 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 1'' 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 the Sieur de Tonty with six men who arrested 
 them and seized all the goods which they had in 
 their hands, but he could not obtain any justice 
 as to the others. The'*^ high winds at this season 
 long retarded the return of the Sieur de Tonty, 
 who did not reach Missilimakinac till the month 
 of November, so that we were dreading the ap- 
 proach of winter and resolved to set out without 
 waiting till he arrived. 
 
 On the 2ndf of the month of September, from 
 Missilimakinac we entered Lake Dauphin, and 
 arrived at an island^' situated at the entrance of 
 the Lake or Bay of the Puants, forty leagues from 
 Missilimakinac, and which is inhabited by Indians 
 of the Poutouatami nation. We found some 
 Frenchmen there, who had been sent among the 
 Illinois in previous years, and who had brought 
 back to the Sieur de la Salle a pretty fair amount 
 of furs.§ 
 
 * This is all abridged in the Nouy. Dec. pp. 138-9. Com- 
 pare Tonty, Mcmoire, p. 6. La. Hist. Coll. i, p. 53. 
 
 f Margry has 12th, Le Clercq ii, p. 150, has 2nd. Tonty 
 reached Missilimakinac Sept. 17, Margry 1, p. 579. 
 
 J Washington or Pottawatamie Island. 
 
 § 1200 livres, Margry i, p. 450. What follows to ''took 
 any one's advice," is not in Margry. 
 
 HgS 
 
OP LOUISIANA. 
 
 i05 
 
 The chief of this nation who had all possible 
 affection for the Count de Frontenac, who had 
 entertained him at Montreal, received us as well 
 as he could, had the calumet danced to the Sieur 
 de la Salle by his warriors; and during four days' 
 storm while our vessel was anchored thirty paces 
 from the bay shore, this Indian chief believing 
 that our bark was going to be stranded, came 
 to join us in a canoe at the risk of his life and in 
 spite of the increasing waves, we hoisted him with 
 his canoe into our vessel. He told us in a martial 
 tone that he was ready and wished to perish with the 
 children of Onnontio, the Governor of the 
 French, his good father and friend. 
 
 Contrary to our opinion, the Sieur de la Salle 
 who never took any one's advice, resolved to send 
 back his bark from this place,* and to continuf, 
 his route by canoe, but as he had only four, he 
 was obliged to leave considerable merchandise in 
 the bark, a quantity of utensils and tools he 
 
 * "To Niagara loaded with all his furs to pay his creditors." 
 Nouv. Dec. p. 141, which abridges all this. 
 11 
 
 uaBBsan 
 
' I 
 
 1 06 
 
 A DFSCRIPTION 
 
 '1 
 
 ordered the pilot to discharge every thing at 
 Missilimakinac, where he could take them again 
 on his return. He also put all the peltries in the 
 bark with a clerk and five good sailors. Their 
 orders were to proceed to the great fall of 
 Niagara, where they^*" were to leave the furs, and 
 take on board other goods which another bark 
 from Fort Frontenac, which awaited them near 
 Fort Conty was to bring them, and that as soon 
 as possible thereafter, they should sail back to 
 Missilimakinac, where they would find instruc- 
 tions as to the place to which they should bring 
 the bark to winter. 
 
 They set sail on the i8th of September, with 
 a very favorable light west wind, making their 
 adieu by firing a single cannon ; and we were 
 never afterwards able to learn what course they 
 had taken, and though there is no doubt, but that 
 she perished, we were never able to learn any 
 other circumstances of their shipwreck than the 
 following. The bark having anchored in the 
 
 * Margry has "to the storehouse which he had built at the 
 end of Lake Erie." 
 
 u 
 
m 
 
 OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 107 
 
 north of Lake Dauphin, the pilot* against the 
 opinion of some Indians, who assured him that 
 there was a great storm in the middle of the lake, 
 resolved to continue his voyage, without consider- 
 ing that the sheltered position where he lay, 
 prevented his knowing the force of the wind. 
 He had scarcely sailed a quarter of a league from 
 the coast, when these Indians saw the bark 
 tossing in an extraordinary manner, unable to 
 resist the tempest, so that in a short time they 
 lost sight of her, and they believe that she was 
 either driven on some sandbank,f or that she 
 foundered. 
 
 We did not learn all this till the next year, and 
 it is certain that the loss of this bark costs more 
 than 40000 livres in goods, tools and peltries as 
 well as men and rigging which he had imported 
 into Canada from France and transported from 
 Montreal to Fort Frontenac in bark canoes. 
 
 *"Luke who was a malcontent as we have remarked." 
 Nouv. Dec. pp. 142-3. 
 
 t Margry has : " which are near the Huron islands, where 
 she was swallowed up." The whole account of the loss of 
 the Griffin is in La Salle's letter, Margry ii, p. 73. 
 
T 
 
 i ! 
 \ l I 
 
 toH 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 II 
 
 This would appear impossible to those who know 
 the weakness of this kind of craft, and the weight 
 of anchors and cables,* on which he paid eleven 
 livres per hundred pounds. 
 
 We set out the next day, September I9th,f 
 
 with fourteen persons in four canoes, I directing 
 the smallest, loaded with five hundred pounds, 
 with a carpenter just arrived from France, who 
 did not know how to avoid the waves, during 
 rough weather, I had every difficulty to manage 
 this little craft. These four bark canoes were 
 loaded with a forge and all its appurtenances, 
 carpenter's, joiner's and pit sawyer's tools, arms 
 and merchandise. 
 
 We took our course southerly towards the 
 mainland four good leagues distant from the 
 island of the Poutouatamis.|* In the middle of 
 the traverse and amid the most beautiful ca!m 
 in the world, a storm arose which endangered 
 our lives, and which made us fear for the 
 
 * The rest not in Margry. 
 
 t Le Clercq who abridges the voyage says i8th. 
 
 I Still called Pottawatomie Island. 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 109 
 
 bark.^*" and more for ourselves. We com- 
 pleted this great passage amid the darkness of 
 night, calling to one another so as not to part 
 company. The water often entered our canoes, 
 and the impetuous wind lasted four days with a 
 fury like the greatest tempests of ocean. We 
 nevertheless reached the shore in a little sandy 
 bay, and stayed rive days, waiting for the lake to 
 grow calm. During this stay, the Indian hunter 
 who accompanied us, killed while hunting only 
 a single porcupine which served to season our 
 squashes and the Indian corn that we had. 
 
 On the 25th we continued our route all day, 
 and a part of the night favored by the moon, 
 along the western shore of Lake Dauphin, but 
 the wind coming up a little too strong, we were 
 forced to land on a bare rock, on which we 
 endured the rain and snow for two days, sheltered 
 by our blankets, and near a little fire which we 
 fed with wood that the waves drove ashore. 
 
 * For all from this to "that we had" Margry has only 
 " because it lasted four days, with a fury like the greatest storms 
 at sea. He nevertheless gained the shore, where he remained 
 six days for the lake to calm." 
 

 i 
 
 
 II 
 
 if 
 
 ^ 
 
 ' 
 
 'I ' ' 
 'I 
 
 
 l\ 
 
 I lO 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 On the 28th after the celebration of mass* 
 we kept on until far into the night, and until a 
 whirlwind forced us to land on a rocky point 
 covered with bushes. Wc remained there two f 
 days, and consumed the rest of our provisions, 
 that is to say, the Indian corn and squashes that 
 we had bought of the Poutouatamis and of which 
 wc had been unable to lay ir a greater supply, 
 because our canoes were too heavily laden, and 
 because we hoped to find some on our route. 
 
 We set out the first of October, and after 
 making twelve |' leagu»,i> fasting, arrived near 
 another village of the Foutouatamies§. These 
 Indians all flocked to the lake shore to receive us 
 and to haul us in from the w^ves which rose to 
 an extraorai— -y height. The Sieur de la Salle 
 fearing that his men would desert, and that suine 
 
 * These four words omitted in Margry. 
 
 t Three in Nouv. Decouv., p. 147. 
 
 X Ten in Margry, i, p. 452. 
 
 § Margry adds : " The bank was high and steep, and cxpused 
 to the northeast, which was then bl')u''nj|, and increased to such 
 a degree that the waves b"..'lce on :hv- jhorc in an extraordinary 
 manner." What follows down to '■ tv'Crn. peril and " is not 
 in Margry. 
 
OF LOUISIANA. I I I 
 
 of them would carelessly waste some of the goods, 
 
 pushed on and we were obliged to follow him 
 three leagues beyond the v'llage of the Indians, 
 notwithstanding the evident peril, and he saw 
 no other alternative to take in order to land in 
 safety than to leap into the water with his three 
 canoemen, and all together take hold of the 
 canoe and its load and drag it ashore in spite of 
 the waves which sometimes covered them over 
 their heads. 
 
 He then came to meet the canoe, which I 
 guided with this man who had no experience in 
 this work, and jumping waist high into the water, 
 we carried our little craft all at once, and went 
 to receive the other two canoes in the same 
 manner as the former. And* as the waves break- 
 ing on the shore formed a kind of undertow, 
 which drags out into the lake those who think 
 they are safe, I made a powerful effort and took 
 on my shoulders our good old Recollect who 
 accompanied us, and this amiable missionary of 
 Saint Francis, seeing himself out of danger, all 
 * The rest of this paragraph is not in Margry. 
 
1 12 
 
 A DI'.SCRIPTION 
 
 II 
 
 drenched as he was with water never failed to 
 display an extraordinary cheerfulness. 
 
 As we had no acquaintance with the Indians 
 of this village, the Commandant first ordered all 
 the arms to be got ready, and posted himself on 
 an eminence where it was difficult to surprise us, 
 and whence he could with a small force defend 
 himself against a greater number. He then sent 
 three of his men to buy provisions in the village, 
 under the protection of the calumet of peace 
 which the Poutouatamis of the Island had given 
 the Sieur de la Salle, and which they had pre- 
 viously accompanied with their dances and cere- 
 monies, which they use in their feasts and public 
 solemnities. 
 
 This calumet * is a kind of large pipe for 
 smoking, the head of which is of a fine red stone 
 well polished, and the stem two feet and a half 
 long is a pretty stout cane adorned with feathers 
 of all sorts of colors, very neatly mingled and 
 arranged, with several tresses of woman's hair, 
 
 ♦The Nouv. Dec, p. 149, prefaces this with some remarks 
 on the esteem in which the calumet was held. 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 "3 
 
 braided in various ways, with-*^ two wings, such 
 as are usually represented on the Caduceus of 
 Mercury,! ^^^^ nation embellishing it according 
 to its especial usage. A calumet of this kind is a 
 sure passport among all the allies of those who 
 have given it ; and they are convinced that great 
 misfortunes would befall them, if they violated 
 the faith of the calumet. And;}; all their enter- 
 prises in war and peace and most important 
 ceremonies are sealed and attested by the calumet 
 which they make all smoke with whom they 
 conclude any matter of consequence.^ 
 
 * The rest of the sentence omitted in Margry. 
 
 fNouv. Decouv. adds: This cane is inserted in necks of 
 Hilars (loons) which are a kind of bird spotted white and black 
 as large as our geese or in necks of woodducks which build 
 their nests in the hollows of trees, although the water is their 
 usual element. These ducks are striped with three or four 
 different colors, p. 150. 
 
 I This is omitted in Margry. 
 
 § I should have perished several times during this voyage, if 
 I had not used the calumet. This will be seen in the sequel 
 of this history, where I shall have to speak of the monsters J 
 had to overcome and the precipices where I have been obliged 
 to piss in this discovery." Nouvelle Dccouv., p. 151. 
 
 ''T'inriwi«i 
 

 114 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 •I 
 
 I 
 I 
 
 fVj 
 
 I 1 
 
 ' 'M 
 
 ; Bi 
 
 s 
 
 ; P 
 
 f* 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 ■r- 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 These three men with this safeguard and 
 their arms, arrived at the little village of the In- 
 dians three leagues distant from the landing, but 
 they found no one. These Indians, at the sight 
 of our canoes, perceiving that we had not landed, 
 on passing them, had taken fright and abandoned 
 their village. Accordingly these men after using 
 all endeavors in vain to speak to some one of 
 these Indians, took what Indian corn they could 
 carry from their cabins, and left goods there in 
 place of what they appropriated ; and then took 
 the road to return to us. 
 
 Meanwhile twenty of these Indians armed with 
 guns, axes, bows, arrows, and clubs which are 
 called casse-tetcs, approached the place where 
 we were. The Sieur de la Salle advanced to 
 accost them with four of his men armed with 
 guns, pistols and sabres. He asked them what 
 they wished ; seeing that they appeared perplexed, 
 he told them to come on, for fear his men, who, ^•• 
 he pretended were out hunting, might kill them, 
 if they found them out of the way. He made 
 
 * Rest of sentence not in Margry. 
 
^ 
 
 OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 115 
 
 them sit down at the foot of the rising ground 
 on which we had camped, and from which we 
 could watch all their movements. We began to 
 occupy them with different things, to amuse them 
 till our three men got back from the village. 
 These men appearing some time afterwards, as 
 soon as the Tndians perceived the peace calumet 
 which one of our men carried, they rose uttering 
 a great cry of joy, and began to dance after their 
 fashion. Far from being angry about the Indian 
 corn which they saw and which had been taken 
 from them, they on the contrary sent to the village 
 to bring more, and gave us some also the next 
 day, as much as we could conveniently put in our 
 canoes. 
 
 It was nevertheless deemed prudent to fell the 
 trees around and to command our men to pass 
 the night under arms, for fear of any surprise. 
 About ten o'clock the next day, the oldmen of 
 the village arri.ed with their peace calumet and 
 feasted all the French. The Sieur de la Salle * 
 thanked them by a present of some axes, knives 
 
 * "We" Nouv. Dec, p. 154. 
 
i 
 
 ii6 
 
 A DF.SCRIPTION 
 
 
 1 
 
 ■ i 
 
 i 
 
 k;! 
 
 i 
 
 ! ' 
 
 and some masses of beads for their women's 
 adornment, and left th'jm very well satisfied. 
 
 We set out the same day, October 2d, and we 
 sailed for four days along the shore. It was 
 bordered by great hills running abruptly down 
 to the lake, where there was scarcely place to 
 land. We were even forced every evening to 
 climb to the summit, and carry up there our 
 canoes and cargoes, so as not to leave them ex- 
 posed by night to the waves that beat the foot. 
 W2 were also obliged by too violent headwinds, 
 during these four days and very frequently after- 
 wards, to land with the greatest hardship. To 
 embark it required that two men should go waist 
 high into the water, and hold the canoe head on 
 to the wave, pushing it ahead or drawing it back 
 as the wave rolled in or ran out from land until 
 it was loaded. Then it was pushed out to wait till 
 the others were loaded in the same way ; and we 
 had almost as much trouble at the other land- 
 ings. The Indian corn * that we ate very 
 
 * The following to " timely aid " is almost all omitted in 
 Margry. In the brief reference to FatherGabriel his age 64 is 
 mentioned. 
 
 \ti , 
 
 
 n > 
 
OP LOUISInNA. II7 
 
 sparingly and provisions failing us, our good old 
 Recollect had several times fainting fits. I twice 
 brought him to, with a little confection of 
 hyacinth, which I preserved preciously. For 
 twenty-four hours we ate only a handfull of 
 Indian corn cooked under the ashes or merely 
 boiled in water, and during all this time we were 
 obliged to keep on towards a good country and 
 to paddle with all our strength whole days. 
 Our men frequently ran for little haws and 
 wild fruit, which they ate with great avidity. 
 Several fell sick who thought that these fruits 
 had poisoned them. The more we suffered, the 
 more God seemed to give me especially strength, 
 and I often outstripped in paddling our other 
 canoes. During this scarcity. He who cares for 
 the smallest birds, allowed us to see several 
 crows and eagles, which were on the lake shore. 
 Plying our paddles with redoubled zeal towards 
 these carnivorous birds, we found there half a 
 very fat deer which the wolves had killed and 
 half eaten. We recruited ourselves on the flesh 
 of this animal, blessing Providence which had 
 sent us such timely aid. 
 
 B 
 
A DESCRIPTION 
 
 
 xhus our little fleet advanced toward the 
 South where we found the country always finer 
 and more temperate. 
 
 On the 1 6th of October we began to find a 
 great abundance of game, and our Indian, a very 
 excellent hunter, killed stags and deer, and our 
 Frenchmen very fat poules d'inde. And at last 
 on the 28th * of the month of October we reached 
 the extremity of Lake Dauphin, where the heavy 
 wind forced us to land. 
 
 We went out to scout, as we were accustomed 
 to do in the woods and prairies. We found very 
 good ripe grapes, the berries of which were as 
 large as damson plums. To get this fruit wc 
 had to cut down the trees on which the vines 
 ran. We made some wine f which lasted us 
 nearly three months and a half and which we 
 kept in gourds. These we put every day in the 
 sand to prevent the wine from souring, and in 
 order to make it last longer, we said mass only 
 
 * Nouv. Dec. p. 157 says i8th. 
 
 t For the rest of this sentence and the two following, Margry's 
 Relation says merely " in order to say mass." 
 
OF LOUISIANA. I I9 i 
 
 on holidays and Sundays, one after the other. 
 All the woods were full of vines which grow wild. 
 We ate this fruit to make the meat palatable 
 which we were forced to eat without bread. 
 
 Fresh footprints of men were noticed at this 
 place. This fort td the Sieur de la Salle to keep his 
 men on their guard, and without making any noise. 
 All our men obeyed for a time, but one of them 
 having perceived * a bear, could not restrain him- 
 self from firing his gun at it, ^^hich killed the 
 animal and sent it rolling from the top of the 
 mountain to the bottom to the very foot of our 
 cabins. 
 
 This noise revealed us to a hundred and twenty- 
 five Indians of the nation of the Outouagamis,f 
 who live near the extremity of the Bay of the \ 
 
 Puants;}; who were cabined in our vicinity. The \ 
 
 Sieur de la Salle was very uneasy about the trails 
 we had seen. He blamed our men for their 
 lack of prudence, and then to prevent surprises, \ 
 
 * Margry's Relation for the rest of the sentence has " a bear ' 
 
 and a stag, they could not forbear firing at them." \ 
 
 t The Foxes. 
 J Green Bay. 
 
?s 
 
 120 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 I. 
 I 
 
 it 
 
 ii' 
 
 '(ij 
 
 
 he placed a sentinel near the canoes, under which 
 all the goods were placed to protect them from 
 
 the rain.* 
 
 This precaution did not prevent thirty Outoua- 
 gamis, under cover of the rain which was falling 
 in torrents, and through the negligence of the 
 sentinel who was on duty, from gliding by night 
 with their usual dexterity, along the hill where 
 our canoes were, and lying on their bellies near 
 one another, succeed in stealing the f coat of the 
 Sieur de la Salle's lackey,]and a part of what was 
 under, which was passed from hand to hand. 
 Our sentinel hearing some noise and rousing us, 
 each one ran to arms. J; These Indians seeing 
 themselves thus discovered, their chief called out 
 that he was a friend. He was told in answer, 
 
 * And another near the cabins, Margry, i p. 456, 
 
 t For " the coat " etc., ..." and a " Margry's reads " a good." 
 
 X For this sentence Margry's Relation gives a different state- 
 ment. " The Sieur de \\ Salle awoke at this moment and 
 having risen to ascertain whether his sentinels were discharging 
 their duty, he saw something move which induced him to call 
 his men to arms, and with them he occupied an eminence 
 by which the Indians were compelled to pass." 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 121 
 
 that it was an unseasonable hour, and that people 
 did not come in that way hy night except to 
 steal or kill those who were not on their guard. 
 
 He replied that in truth, the shot that had 
 been fired, had made his countrymen all think 
 that it was a party of Iroquois, their enemies, as 
 the other Indians, their neighbors, did not use such 
 fire arms, and that they had accordingly advanced 
 with the intent of killing them, but having dis- 
 covered that they were Frenchmen whom they 
 regarded as their brethren, the impatience which 
 they felt to see them, had prevented their waiting 
 for daylight to visit us and to smoke in our 
 calumet with us. This is the ordinary com- 
 pliment of these Indians and their greatest marks 
 of affection. 
 
 We pretended to credit these reasons, and they 
 were told to approach to the number of four or 
 five only, because their young men were given to 
 stealing and that our Frenchmen were in no 
 humor to put up with it. Four or five old men 
 having advanced we endeavored to entertain them 
 
 12 
 
rr 
 
 122 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 ! 
 
 :^'! 
 
 ) 
 
 till daylight ; when day came we left ihem at 
 liberty to retire. 
 
 After their departure our ship carpenters per- 
 ceived that they had been robbed and as we knew 
 perfectly the disposition of the Indians, and we 
 knew that they would form similar enterprises 
 every night, if we dissembled on this occasion, 
 we resolved to insist on redress. The Sieur de la 
 Salle at the head of our men ascend M an eminence 
 of peninsular form ; he tried in person to find some 
 Indian off by himself He had scarcely marched 
 three hundred paces, when he found the fresh 
 trjiil of a hunter. He followed him pistol in 
 hand and having overtaken him soon after ''''■ 
 opposite a hill where I was gathering grapes with 
 Father Gabriel, he called me and begged me to 
 follow him. He seized and put him under 
 guard of his men, after having learned from him 
 all the circumstances of the theft. He again took 
 the field with two of his men and having arrested 
 one of the most important Indians of his nation, 
 
 * Fioin here to " follow him " omitted in Maigry where 
 " we •• is fe-Jnerally " he." 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 123 
 
 he showed him at a distance the one he already 
 held as a prisoner, and sent him back to tell his 
 p-ople, that he would kill their comrade, if they 
 did not bring back ail that they had stolen during 
 the night. 
 
 This proposition embarrassed these savages, 
 because they had cut the lackey's coat in pieces, 
 and laken some goods with the buttons =^ to 
 divide them among them. Thus unable to restore 
 them whole, and not knowing by what means 
 to deliver their comrade, as they have a 
 strong friendship for one another, they resolved 
 to rescue him by force. 
 
 The next morning, 30th of the month of 
 October, they all advanced arms in hand to begin 
 the attack. The peninsula where we were en- 
 camped, was separated from the wood where the 
 Indians appeared, by a long sandy plain two gun 
 shots wide. At the end of this plain towards 
 the wood we noticed that there were several small 
 mounds, and that the one nearest to us comman- 
 
 * For " the lackey's coat the buttons " Margry has, " some 
 
 goods." 
 
124 
 
 A DFSCRIPTTON 
 
 m 
 
 I' 
 
 1. 
 
 ded the others. This the Sieur de la Salle occu- 
 pied and commanded five men who carried their 
 hlankets half rolled around the left arm to shield 
 themselves against the arrows of the Indians.* 
 He followed his men immediately after, to sup- 
 port the former, hut the youngest of the Indians 
 seeing the French approach to charge on them 
 drew off and took to cover under a large tree 
 on the hill. This did not prevent their chiefs 
 from continuing to remain near us. 
 
 There were only seven or eight who had guns, 
 the others had bows and arrows only ; and during 
 all these manoeuvres on both sides, we three 
 Recollects were there saying our office, and as I 
 was the one of the three who had seen most iii 
 matter of war, having served as King's chaplain 
 iMider the direction of the Very Rev. Father 
 Hyacinth le Fevre, I camef out of our cabin to 
 
 * Maigry's Relation acids '• who had seized all these emi- 
 nences," and instead of what follows down to 125 Indians reads 
 " But these savages seeing the French approach to charge them 
 abandoned the nearest and gave the Sieur de la Salle time to 
 mount the highest. This action" 
 
 f The Nouvelle Decouverte omits this name and adds " in 
 sieges and battles." What precedes corresponds mainly in both 
 editions. 
 
 r" 
 
 iil 
 
w^ 
 
 OF LOUISIA:«.A. 
 
 125 
 
 see what figure our men made under arms and to 
 encourage two of the youngest whom I saw grow 
 pale, and who nevertheless made for all that a 
 show ol being brave and haughty as much as 
 their leader. I approached in the direction of 
 the oldest Indians, and as they saw that I was 
 unarmed, they readily inferred that I approached 
 them with a view to part the combatants and to 
 become the mediator of their differences. One 
 of our men seeing a band of red stuff, which 
 served as a head band to one of these Indians, 
 went and tore it off his head, giving him to 
 understand that he had stolen it from us. 
 This bold act of eleven armed Frenchmen against 
 a hundred and twenty-five Indians, so intimidated 
 these savages that two of their old men near whom 
 I was. presented the peace calumet, and having 
 advanced on the assurance given that they could 
 do so without any fear, they said that they had 
 not resorted to this extreme course, except from 
 the inability"^ they were in to restore what they 
 had stolen from us, in the condition in which 
 * The text has impatience^ evidently a misprint for impuissanct. 
 
 msammoBBA 
 
^^ 
 
 126 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 II > 
 
 they had taken it : that they were ready to restore 
 what was whole, and to pay for the rest. At the 
 same time they presented some beaver rohes 
 to the Sieur de la Salle to dispose his mind 
 to peace, excusing themselves for the small value 
 of their present, as the season was too far advanced. 
 We contented ourselves with their excuses, they 
 fulfilled what they had promised, and thus peace 
 was restored. 
 
 The next day was spent in dances, in feasts and 
 speeches,=^= and the head chief of these Indians 
 turning towards the Recollects, said : " See, the 
 Grey Gowns, for whom we feel great esteem ! 
 they go barefooted like us, they despise the beaver 
 robes whi :h we wish to give them, without any 
 hope of return ; they have no arms to kill us : 
 they flatter and caress our little children, and give 
 them beads f for nothing, and those of our nation 
 
 * The following is omitted in Margry down to " He added 
 that " the connection being by the words " in which they ex- 
 hc-ted the Sieur de la Salle to remain with them and not go 
 among the Illinois whom it would be impossible to resist, and 
 who had resolved to massacre all the French." 
 
 t "And little knives" Nouv. Decouv., p. 166. 
 
■^^ 
 
 EWHN 
 
 OK LOUISIANA. 
 
 127 
 
 who have carried furs to the villages of the French 
 have told us that that Onnotio* the great chief of 
 the French loves them, because they have left 
 everything that the French esteem most precious, 
 to come and visit us, and to remain with us. 
 You who are the chief of those who are here, 
 arrange so as to make one of the Gray gowns 
 remain with us. We will give them part of all 
 we have to eat, and we will take them to our 
 village after we have killed some buffalo ; and 
 you who are master, arrange so as to stay here 
 also with us ; do not go to the Islinois, for we 
 know that they wish to massacre all the French. f 
 It will be impossible for you to resist that numerous 
 nation. He added that since an Iroquois, whom 
 the Islinois had burned, had assured them that the 
 
 * Oiioiitio, Nouv. Decouv. Huron and Onondaga word 
 meaning Beautiful mountain. Ononta^ meaning mountain, and 
 to in composition meaning beautiful. The tern s given 
 originally to Moritmagny, Governor of Canada, . parently 
 in the sense of " Mont magnifique," " Beautiful mountain " 
 and was subscqnentiv given to all the governors of Canada. 
 The Nouv. Dec. has " Canadians " for " French " throughout 
 this part. 
 
 t Your followers. Nouv. Dec, p. 167. 
 
12 
 
 8 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 
 i 
 
 m - ' 
 
 war which the Iroquois made on them, had been 
 advised by the French, who hated the Islinois. 
 They added several like reasons which alarmed 
 almost all our French men,='= and greatly disquieted 
 the Sieur de la Salle, because all the Indians whom 
 he had met on our whole route, had told him 
 pretty nearly the same thing. 
 
 Nevertheless as he knew that these reason 
 might have been have been inspired by those who 
 opposed our enterprise and by the jealousy of 
 the Indians to whom the Islinois were formid- 
 able by their valor, and who feared thaf they 
 might become still more haughty, when by 
 means of the Frenchf they had acquired the use 
 of fire arms, we resolved to pursue our course, 
 taking all necessary precautions for our safety. 
 
 He accordingly answering the Outouagamis, 
 told them that he thanked them for the infor- 
 mation which they gave us, but that the French 
 who are spirits (the Indians so style us, saying 
 that they are only men, but that we are spirits) J 
 
 * Canadians. Nouv. Dec, p. 167. 
 f By our means Nouv. Dec. 
 
 t For "the French ...spirit " Margry leads " he " For 
 French, the Nouv. Dec. has " we." 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 129 
 
 did not fear the Islinois, and that we would 
 bring them to reason by friendship or by force. 
 
 The next day, the first of the month of No- 
 vember, we all reembarked and we arrived at the 
 rendezvous, which we had arranged with * twenty 
 other Frenchmen who were to come and meet 
 us by the other side of the lake. It was at the 
 mouth of the river of the Miamis, which coming 
 from the south empties into Lake Dauphin. 
 
 We were surprised to find no one there, be- 
 causef the French whom we expected, had had 
 a much shorter route to make than we had, and 
 their canoes were not heavily laden ]; 
 
 We had resolved to make the Sieur de la Salle, 
 see that he ought not to expose us unseasonably 
 and not to wait for winter, to conduct us to the 
 
 * Maigry reads " the Sieur de Tonty has had etc." Sec 
 LcClercq, Etablissment de la Foi 2 p. 151. 
 
 t Margrv adds: "nevertheless he profited by this conjunc- 
 ture to gain time and carry out the design that he had formed. 
 He had resolved not to expose himself" unseasonably." etc. 
 
 I All the rest is omitted in Maigry, which reads, "and that 
 having been joined by the Sieur de Tonty who was to bring 
 him 20 men he would be able without danger," etc. 
 
I30 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 Ili 
 
 Islinois, because during that season these nations, 
 in order to hunt more conveniently, brealc up 
 into families or bands of two or three hundred 
 persons each,]}; and that the longer we lingered 
 in that spot, the greater difficulty we should find 
 in getting there. That as the hunting began to 
 fail where we were, his whole party ran a risk 
 of starving to death, and that among the Islinois 
 we should find Indian corn for our food, and 
 that we should live better, being only fourteen 
 men by our route, than if wj were thirty-two; 
 that if the rivers should freeze over, we would 
 not be able of ourselves to carry all the equipage, 
 for a hundred leagues. He answered us that 
 when the twenty men whom he expected had 
 joined us, he would be able without danger to 
 make himself knov/n to the first band of Islinois 
 whom he should find huniimg, and gain them by 
 kind treatment, and by presents, learning some 
 tincture of the Islinois language, and that by this 
 means he would easily form alliance with the 
 rest of the nation. 
 
 We* understood by similar remarks, that he 
 
 * This sentence omitted in Margry. 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 131 
 
 regarded his own will alone as reason ; and he 
 told us that if all his men deserted he would 
 remain with our Indian hunter, and that he 
 would easily find means by hunting to enable 
 the three Recollect missionaries to live. 
 
 In this thought, he availed himself of the 
 delay of the Frenchmen * whom he expected ; 
 he told his men that he was resolved to wait, 
 and to amuse them by some useful occupation, 
 he proposed to them to build a fort, and a house 
 for the security of the bark and of the goods 
 which she was to bring, in order to serve us as a 
 refuge in case of need. 
 
 There was at the mouth of the river of the 
 Miamis,f an eminence with a kind of platform 
 on top and naturally fortified. It was high and 
 steep, of triangular figure, formed on two sides 
 by the river, and on the other by a deep ravine. 
 He felled the trees by which it was covered and 
 cleared away the underbrush for two gun shots 
 in the direction of the woods. Then he began 
 
 * Our men. Nouv Jcc, p. 170. 
 
 t Now known as the St. Joseph's. The mouth forms 
 Benton Harbor. Beckwith's Historic Notes, p. 75. 
 
It: 
 
 m p 
 
 132 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 Mi 
 
 •^ II 
 
 a redoubt forty feet long by eighty "' broad, 
 fortified by squared beams and joists, and musket 
 proof, laid one on another : his design being to 
 put inclined palisades around the two sides facing 
 the river. He cut down palisades which he 
 wished to plant en tenaille twenty-five feet high 
 on the land side. 
 
 The month of November was spent in these 
 works,f during which time we ate nothing but 
 bear meat that our hunter killed. There were 
 at this place many of these animals, that were 
 attracted to it, by the great quantities of grapes 
 growing everywhere there ; but our people seeing 
 the Sieur de la Salle all unmanned by the fear 
 he entertained of the loss of his bark, and utterly 
 annoyed also at the delay of his men, whom the 
 Sieur de Tonty was to bring us, the rigorous set- 
 ting in of winter as a climax disheartening them, 
 the mechanics worked only reluctantly, storming 
 
 * Margry has 30. 
 
 •}■ Instead of what follows down to " perseverance " Mar- 
 gry reads : "except the holidays and Sundays, when all the party 
 attended divine service and the sermon which Fathers Gabrie] 
 and Louis delivered alternately after Vespers." 
 
 ..I 
 
^ p 
 
 OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 133 
 
 against the fat bear meat, and at their being de- 
 prived of liberty to go and kill deer to eat with 
 the bear fat, but their aim all tended to deser- 
 tion.* 
 
 We made a bark cabin during this halt, in 
 order to say mass more conveniently, and on holi- 
 days and Sundays Father Gabriel and I preached 
 alternately, chosing the most impressive matters 
 to exhort our men to patience and perseverance. 
 
 From the commencement of the same month 
 we had examined the mouth of the river. We 
 had marked a sand bank there, and to facilitate 
 the entrance of the bark, in case it arrived, the 
 channel was marked out by two tall poles planted 
 on either side of the entrance, with bear skinf 
 pendants, and buoys all along. We had more- 
 over sent to Missilimakinac two of our men, in- 
 formed of all things to serve as guides to Lukef 
 the pilot. 
 
 On the 20th of November, the Sieur de Tonty 
 
 * Le Clercq gives this briefly. Etablissemem de la Foi. ii, p. 
 
 151. 
 
 t This word not in Margry. 
 
■■ 
 
 '34 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 arrived* with two canoes loaded with several 
 stags. This revived a little the drooping spirits 
 of our workmen, but as he brought us only half 
 of the men whom we expected, and had left the 
 rest at liberty three days from our works, this 
 gave the Sieur de la Salle some uneasiness ; our 
 new comers said that the bark had not touched 
 at Missilimakinac, and that they had heard no 
 tidings of her from the Indians, coming from 
 all sides of the lakes, nor from the two men 
 who had been sent to Missilimakinac and 
 whom they had met on the way. He feared 
 and with reason that his bark had been wrecked. 
 Nevertheless he kept his men working at the 
 Fort of the Miamis, as he called it, and not 
 seeing her appear after waiting so long, he 
 resolved to set out, for fear of being stopped by 
 the ice which began to close theriver,f and which 
 broke up at the first light rain. Nevertheless we 
 
 * Instead of the following to " new comers, said." Margry 
 has simply " who said to the Sieur de la Salle." Tonty says 
 he arrived Nov. 12 Margry i, p. 580. 
 
 t The rest of the sentence and down to " deserted " is not 
 in Margry. 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 135 
 
 had to wait for the rest of the men whom the 
 Sieur de Tonty had left behind, and to repair the 
 fault that he had committed, he retraced his steps 
 to make them come on and join us at once. 
 On the way he wished to hold a little, and re- 
 sist the highwind, against the opinion of Sieur 
 Dautray " and his other canoemen, and as he had 
 only one hand and could not help his two men 
 the waves made them yaw and threw them broad 
 side on the lake shore, where they lost their guns 
 and their little baggage. f This obliged them 
 to come back to us, and fortunately the rest of 
 our men followed soon after them, except two 
 whom we most mistrusted and who, we believed, 
 had deserted. 
 
 We embarked on the 3d of December with 
 thirty men in eight canoes and ascended the 
 river of the Miamis, taking our course to the 
 
 * John Francis Bourdon, Sieur d' Autray, son of John Bourdon, 
 Attorney General and Chief Engineer of Canada, born at 
 Quebec, Feb., 1647. Tanguay, Dictionaire, p. 78. 
 
 t Tonty in Margry i, p. 581. Tonty, Memoire p. 7. La 
 Hist. Coll. I, p. 54. 
 
II 
 
 -_«-.^ -L. 
 
 ^m 
 
 •^■BP^iWPP 
 
 I I 
 
 ?' i 
 
 r 
 
 P 
 
 Li 
 
 136 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 southeast for about twenty-five* leagues. We f 
 could not make out the portage which we were 
 to take with our canoes and all our equipage, in 
 order to go and embark at the source of River 
 Seignelay,|* and as we had gone higher up in a 
 canoe without discerning the place where we 
 were to march by land to take this other river, 
 which runs to the Islinois, we halted to wait for 
 the Sieur de la Salle, who had gone exploring on 
 land, and as he did not return, we did not know 
 what course to pursue. I begged two of our 
 
 * Margry say twenty. 
 
 fThis down to "He told us that the marshes" is Henne- 
 pin's account, the Margiy Relation has : " One day the Sieur de 
 la Salle kcnt his canoes ahead and tullowed them on land accord- 
 ing to his custom, hunting and seeking to make some profita- 
 ble discovery. He gave chase to a stag that he had wounded 
 and that he could not overtake till he plunged 4 or 5 leagues 
 into the wood. He thought that the two men whom he had 
 with him were following his trail on the snow and would soon 
 overtake him ; but they got astray and turned back to their 
 starting place in the morning instead of following the path that 
 he took. Accordingly after wailing sometime in vain, he 
 took his route to come up to the canoes again. Marshes. 
 
 X The Nouv. Dec, say " River of the Illinois. This river 
 empties and loses its name in the river Meschasipi which in the 
 language of the Illinois means " Great River" p. 176. It was 
 the Theakiki, now Kankakee branch of the Illinois. 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 m 
 
 most alert men to penetrate into the woods, and 
 fire oft" their guns so as to give him notice of the 
 spot where we were waiting tor him. Two others 
 ascended the river hut to no purpose, for the 
 night ohliged them to retrace their step.. 
 
 The next day I took two of our men on a 
 lightened canoe, to make greater expedition, 
 and to seek him by ascending the river, but in 
 vain, and at four o'clock in the afternoon we 
 perceived him at a distance, his hands and face 
 all black with the coals and the wood that 
 he had lighted during the night which was 
 cold. He had two animals of the size of 
 musk rats, hanging at his belt, which had a 
 very beautiful skin, like a kind of ermine, 
 which he killed with blows of a stick, with- 
 out these little animals taking flight, and which 
 often let themselves hang by the tail from 
 branches of trees, and as they were very fat, our 
 canoemen feasted on them. He told us that the 
 marshes he met with obliged him to make a wide 
 sweep, and as moreover he was hindered by the 
 
 snow which was falling rapidly, he was unable 
 13 
 
 MHttiiMiHi 
 
 HHIHIIH 
 
138 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 to reach the bank of the river before two o'clock 
 at night. He fired two gun shots to notify us, 
 and no one having answered him, bethought that 
 the canoes had gone on ahead of him, and kept 
 on his way, along and up the river. After march- 
 ing in this way more than three hours, he saw fire 
 on a mound, which he ascended brusquely, and after 
 calling two or three times but instead of finding 
 us asleep as he expected, he saw only a little fire 
 among some brush, and under an oak tree, the 
 spot where a man had been lying down on dry 
 herbs, and who had apparently gone off at the 
 noise which he had heard. •=" It was some Indian 
 who had gone there in ambush to surprise and 
 kill some of his enemies along the river. He 
 called him in two or three languages, and at last 
 to show him that he did not fear him, he cried 
 that he was going to sleep in his place. He 
 renewed the fire and after warming himself well, 
 he took steps to guarantee himself against sur- 
 prise, by cutting down around him a quantity of 
 bushes, which falling across among those that 
 * Tonty describes this adventure briefly, Margry i, p. 581. 
 

 OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 139 
 
 remained standing, blocked the way, so that no one 
 could approach him without making considerable 
 noise, and awakening him. He then extinguished 
 his fire and slept although it snowed all night. 
 
 Father* Gabriel and I begged the Sieur de la 
 Salle, not to leave his party as he had done, show- 
 ing him that the whole success of our voyage 
 depended on his presence. 
 
 Our Indian had remained behind us to hunt, 
 and not finding us at the portage, he went higher 
 up, and came to tell us that we would have to 
 descend the river. All our canoes were sent with 
 him, and I remained with the Sieur de la Salle, 
 who was very much fatigued, and as our cabiu 
 
 * Instead of the following to " their load of meat," the 
 Margry Relation reads : 
 
 " The next day he went to seek Indian trails and he found 
 that some had come three or four times to his rampart of brush- 
 wood, but that they had not dared to cross it for fear of being 
 discovered. He returned to the bank of the river, where find- 
 ing no sign of the passage of the canoes, he retraced his trail 
 of the day before and was following the current when he met 
 Father Louis who was coming in search of him in his canoe, 
 in which he embarked to proceed to the spot where the rest of 
 his little fleet awaited him." 
 

 14.0 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 n 
 
 was composed only of flag mats, it took fire at 
 night and would have burnt us, had I not 
 promptly thrown off the mat which served as a 
 door to our little quarters, and which was all in 
 flames. 
 
 We rejoined our party the next day, at the 
 portage where Father Gabriel had made several 
 crosses on the trees, that we might recognize it. 
 We found there a number of bufi^alo horns and 
 the carcasses of those animals, and some canoes 
 that the Indians had made, of buffalo skins to 
 cross the river with their load of meat. 
 
 This place is situated on the edge of a great 
 plain, at the extremity of which on he western 
 side is a v'.llage of Miamis, Maacontens* and 
 Oiatinon gathered together. 
 
 The river Seignelay f which flows to the 
 
 * The Nouv. Dec. has Miamis Mascouteins, p. 181. The 
 Ouiatenon are the Weas. 
 
 f The portage was not far from the present city of South 
 Bend, Indiana. " West of the city is Lake Kankakee, from 
 which the Kankakee rivtr takes its rise. The distance inter- 
 vening between the head of this little lake and the St. Joseph is 
 about two miles, over a piece of marshy ground, where the 
 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 141 
 
 Islinois (Indians,) rises in a plain in the midst of 
 
 much boggy land, over which it is not easy to 
 
 walk. This river is only a league and a half 
 
 dictant from that of the Miamis, and thus we 
 
 transported all our equipage and our canoes by a 
 
 road which ^" we marked for the benefit of those 
 
 who might come after us, after leaving at the 
 
 portage of the Miami river as well as at the fort 
 
 which we had built at its mouth, letters § ' j 
 
 serve as a guide to those who were to come and 
 
 join us by the bark to the mimher of twenty-five. 
 
 The river SeigweUy is navigable for canoes to 
 
 withiu i. hundred paces of its source, and it 
 
 increases to such an extent in a short time, that 
 
 it is almost as broad and deeper than the Marne.|| 
 
 It takes its course through vast marshes, where it 
 
 elevation is so slight, " that," says Levette in his report on the 
 Geology of St. Joseph County, " in the year 1832, a Mr. A. 
 Croquillard dug i race and secured a flow of water from the 
 lake to the St. Joseph, of sufficient power to run a grist and 
 saw mill." Beckwith, Historic Notes, p. 24. 
 
 X This marking is not in Margry i, p. 463. 
 
 § Which were hung on trees at the pass. Nouv. Dec, p. 
 182. 
 
 II The Sambre aud the Mcuse. Nouv. Die, p. 182. 
 
' 1 
 
 ! I 
 
 ; ! 
 
 I 
 
 14.2 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 K 
 
 f 
 
 winds about so, though its current is pretty strong, 
 that after sailing on it for a whole day, we some- 
 times found that we had not advanced more than 
 two leagues in a straight line. As far as the eye 
 could reach nothing was to be seen but marshes 
 full of flags and alders. For more than forty 
 leagues of the way, we could not have found a 
 camping ground, except for some hummocks of 
 frozen earth on which we slept and lit our fire. 
 Our provisions ran out and we could find no 
 game after passing these marshes, as we hoped to 
 do, because there are only great open plains, 
 where nothing grows except tall grass, which is 
 dry at this season, and which the Miamis had 
 burned while hunting buffalo, and '■• with all the 
 address we employed to kill some deer, our hun- 
 ters took nothing ; for more than sixty leagues 
 journey, they killed only a lean stag, a small deer, 
 some swans, and two wild geese for the subsist- 
 ance of thirty-two men.f If our canoe men had 
 found a chance, they would infallibly have all 
 
 * The rest of the paragraph not in Margry. 
 f Thirty or thirty-two, Nouv. Dec, p. 184. 
 
 L. I 
 
w 
 
 OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 H3 
 
 abandoned us, to strike inland and join the Indians 
 whom we discerned by the flames of the prairies 
 to which they had set fire in order to kill the 
 bufl^alo more easily. 
 
 These animals are ordinarily in great numbers 
 there, as it is easy to judge by the bones, the horns 
 and skulls that we saw on all sides. The Miamis 
 hunt them at the end of autumn * in the follow- 
 ing manner : 
 
 When they see a herd,f they gather in great 
 numbers, and set fire to the grass every where 
 around these animals, except some passage which 
 they leave on purpose, and where they take post 
 with their bows and arrows. The buffalo, seek- 
 ing to escape the fire, are thus compelled to pass 
 near these Indians, who sometimes kill as many 
 as a hundred and twenty |' in a day, all which they 
 
 * The Noiiv. Dec, here introduces the paragraph " We con- 
 tinued " to " cable " which is in this edition after the account of 
 the buffalo. 
 
 f *' When the Indians see a herd of these cattle or bulls, they 
 gather, etc." Nouv. Decouv., p. i86. 
 
 J Margry has "two hundred in a day " and omits rest of 
 paragraph. 
 
144- 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 distribute according to the wants of the families ; 
 and these Indians all triumphant over the massacre 
 of so many animals, come to notify their women, 
 who at once proceed to bring in the meat. Some 
 of them at times take on their backs three hundred 
 pounds weight, and also throw their children on 
 top of their load which does not seem to burthen 
 them more than a soldier's sword at his side. 
 
 These cattle have very line wool instead of hair, 
 and the females have it longer than the males. 
 Their horns are almost all black, much thicker 
 than those of cattle in Europe, but not quite so 
 long. Their head is of monstrous size ; the neck 
 is very short, but very thick,* and sometimes six 
 hands f broad. They have a hump or slight ele- 
 vation between the two shoulders. Their legs 
 are very thick and short, covered with a very long 
 wool. On the head and between the horns they 
 have long black hair which falls over their eves 
 and gives them a fearful look. The |' meat of 
 
 * Rest of sentence omitted in Margry. 
 
 t In the Nouv. Decouv., pants, apparently palmes or paumes. 
 I All the description that follows down to "as commonly as 
 in Europe," is omitted in Margry. 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 '45 
 
 these animals is very succulent. They are very 
 fat in autumn, because all the summer they are 
 up to their necks in the grass. These vast 
 countries are so full of prairies, that it seems this 
 is the element and the country of the buffalo.* 
 There are at near intervals some woods where 
 these animals retire to ruminate, and to get out 
 of the heat of the sun. 
 
 These wild cattle or bulls change country 
 according to the season and the diversity of cli- 
 mate. When they approach the northern lands 
 and begin to feel the beginning of winter, they 
 pass to the southern lands. They follow one 
 another on the way sometimes for a league. They 
 all lie down in the same place, and their resting- 
 ground is often full of wild purslain, which we 
 have sometimes eaten. f The paths by which 
 they have passed are beaten like our great roads 
 in Europe, and no grass grows there. They cross 
 
 * " The element of the buftalo and the country of the deer." 
 Nouv. Dec, p. i88. 
 
 t " This leads to the conjecture that it is introduced into these 
 parts by the dung of these bulls and cows." Nouv. Dec, p. 
 189. 
 
 IBilHilttli 
 
1^6 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 rivers and streams.* The wild cows go to the 
 islands to prevent the wolves from eating their 
 calves ; and f even when the calves can run, 
 the wolves would not venture to approach them, 
 as the cows would exterminate them. The 
 Indians have this forecast not to drive these 
 animals entirely from their countries, to pursue 
 only those who are wounded hy arrows, and the 
 others that escape, they suffer to go at liberty with- 
 out pursuing them further, in order not to alarm 
 them too much. And although these Indians 
 of these vast continents are naturally given to des- 
 troy the animals, they have never been able to 
 exterminate these wild cattle, for however much 
 they hunt them these beasts multiply so that they 
 return in still greater numbers the following year. 
 The Indian women spin on the distaff the 
 wool of these cattle, out of which they make 
 bags to carry the meat, bcucanned and some- 
 times dried in the sun, which these women keep 
 
 ♦ " Tliat they find in their way by swimming in order to pas- 
 ture from one land to another." lb. 
 
 t*' But when once the calves are large enough to run after their 
 mothers, the wolves." lb. 
 
 »« 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 ^M 
 
 frequently for three or four months of the year, 
 and although they have no salt, they dry it so 
 well that the meat undergoes no corruption, four 
 months after they have thus dressed this meat, 
 one would say on eating it that the animals had just 
 been killed, and we drank the broth with them* 
 instead of water which is the ordinary drink of all 
 the nations of America, who have no intercourse 
 with Europeans. 
 
 The ordinary skins of these wild cattle weigh 
 from one hundred to a hundred and twenty pounds. 
 The Indians cut off the back and the neck part 
 which is the thickest part of the skin, and they 
 take only the thinnest part of the belly, which 
 they dress very neatly, with the brains of all 
 kinds of animals, by means of which they render 
 it as supple as our chamois skins dressed with oil. 
 They paint it with different color ., trim it with 
 white and red porcrpine quills, and make robes 
 of it to parade in their feasts. In winter they 
 use them to cover themselves especially at night. 
 
 * In which this meat had boiled, like the Indians. Nouv. 
 Dec, p. 190. 
 
If 
 
 14.8 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 I 
 
 Their robes which are full of curly wool have a 
 very pleasing appearance. 
 
 When the Indians have killed any cows, the 
 little calves follow the hunters, and go and lick their 
 hands or fingers, these Indians sometimes take 
 them to their children and after they have played 
 with them, they knock them on the head to eat 
 them. They preserve the hoofs ='' of all these 
 little animals, dry them and fasten them to rods, 
 and in their dances they shake and rattle them, 
 according to the various postures and motions of 
 the singers and dancers. This machine somewhat 
 resembles a tambour. 
 
 These little animals might easily be domesti- 
 cated and used to plough the land. 
 
 These wild cattle subsist in all seasons of the 
 year. When they are surprised by winter and 
 cannot reach in time the southern land and the 
 warm country, and the ground is all covered with 
 snow, they have the tact to turn up and throw 
 aside the snow, to crop the grass hidden beneath. 
 They are heard lowing, but not as commonly as 
 in Europe. 
 
 * In the Rel., it is ' argots ' but in the Nouv. Dec, ' ongles.' 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 149 
 
 These wild cattle are much larger in body than 
 ours in Europe especially in the forepart. This 
 great bulk however does not prevent their moving 
 very fast, so that there are very few Indians who 
 can run them down. These bulls often kill those 
 who have wounded them. In the season you see 
 herds of two and even of four hundred. 
 Many other kinds of animals are found in these 
 vast plains of Louisiana, stags, deer, beaver and 
 otter* are common there, geese, swans, turtles,f 
 poules d'inde, parrots, partridges,;}; and many other 
 birds swarm there, the fishery is very abundant, 
 and the fertility of the soil is extraordinary. 
 There are boundless prairies interspersed with 
 forests of tall trees, where there are all sorts of 
 building timber, and among the rest excellent 
 oak full like that in France and § very different 
 from that in Canada. The trees are of prodigious 
 girth and height, and you could find the finest 
 
 * The rest 01 the sentence omitted in Margry. 
 ■f The French has tortues, evidently " tourtres " wild pigeons. 
 X There is a prodigious quantity of pelicans which have mon- 
 strous beaks. Nouv. Dec, p. 193. 
 
 § More solid and dense than that in Canada. Ibid 194. 
 
 MHi 
 
I50 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 i 
 
 pieces in the world for ship building which can 
 be carried on upon the spot, and wood could be 
 brought as ballast in the ships to build all the 
 vessels of France, * which would be a great 
 saving to the State and would give the trees in 
 our nearly exhausted forests time to grow again. 
 
 Several kinds of fruit trees are also to be seen 
 in the forests and wild grape vines which produce 
 clusters about a foot and a half long which ripen 
 perfectly, and of which very good wine can be 
 made. There are also to be seen fields covered 
 with very good hemp, which grows there naturally 
 to a height of six or seven feet. To conclude, 
 by the experiments f that we have made among 
 the Islinois and the Issati, we are convinced that 
 the soil is capable of producing all kinds of fruits, 
 herbs and grain, and in greater abundance than the 
 best lands in Europe.J The air there is very 
 temperate and healthy, the country is watered 
 
 * Europe, Nouv. Dec, p. 194. 
 
 f In Margry it reads : " by the essays which the Sieur de la 
 Salle made among the Miamis on returning from his second 
 voyage we are convinced, etc." 
 
 \ As two crops can be gathered a year. Nouv. Dec, p. 195. 
 
 mi 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 15^ 
 
 by countless lakes, rivers and streams, most of 
 which are navigable. One is scarcely troubled at all 
 by musquitoes or other noxious creatures,=^ and by 
 cultivating the ground, people could subsist there 
 from the second year, independent of provisions 
 from Europe. 
 
 This vast continent will be able in a short time 
 to supply all our West India islands with bread, 
 wine and meat, and our French buccaneers and 
 fillibusters will be able to kill wild cattle in 
 greater abundance in Louisiana than in all the 
 rest of the islands, which they occupy. 
 
 There are mines of coal, slate, iron, and the 
 lumps of pure red copper which are found in 
 various places, indicate that there are mines and 
 perhaps other metals and minerals, which will 
 one day be discovered, inasmuch as a salt and 
 alum f spring has already been found among the 
 Iroquois. 
 
 We continued our route on the river Seignelay 
 
 * The rest of this paragraph and the next omitted in Margry. 
 
 t Margry has " salt, alum and sulphur," i p. 466. The 
 Nouv, Dec, p. 196, reads "sah of alum." 
 
 I'j. 
 
 t .: 
 
f 
 
 I • 
 
 152 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 'I . 
 
 during the rest of the month of December ; and 
 at last after having sailed for a hundred and 
 twenty or a hundred and thirty leagues from 
 Lake Dauphin on the river Seignelay, we arrived 
 at the village of the Islinois towards the close of 
 the month of December, 1679.* We killed on 
 the river bank only a single buffalo, and some 
 poules d'inde, because the Indians having set lire 
 to the dry grass of all the prairies on our route, 
 the deer had taken fright, and with all the 
 skill adopted in hunting, we subsisted only by a 
 pure Providence of God, who gives strength at 
 one time that he does not at another, and by the 
 greatest happiness in the world, when we had 
 nothing any more to eat, we found an enormous 
 buffalo mired on the bank of the river, that 
 twelve of our men had difficulty in dragging to 
 solid ground with a cable. 
 
 This Islinois f village is situated at forty de- 
 
 ♦Margry has January 1, 1680. He says two buffalo, ami 
 omits from ' because " to " cable." 
 
 fThe Nouv. Decouv., inserts here "The etymology of the 
 word Illinois comes as we have said from the term Illini, which 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 15^^ 
 
 grees of latitude in a somewhat marshy plain, and 
 on the right bank of a river as broad as the Seine 
 before Paris, which is divided^^ by very beautiful 
 islands. It contains four hundred and sixty cabins, 
 made like long arbors and covered with double 
 mats of flat flags, so well sewed, that they are 
 never penetrated by wind, snow or rain. Each 
 cabin has four or five fires, and each fire has one 
 or two families, who all live together in a good 
 understanding. f 
 
 As we had foreseen,^ we found the village 
 e'"pty,.^ all the Indians having gone to pass the 
 
 ill the language of this nation signifies a perfect or complete 
 man just as the word Alleman signifies all men, as though they 
 wished to intimate that a German has the heart and bravery of 
 all the men of any nation whatever." lliniwek means "we 
 are men." In the form irini, lenni, itcnters into many names 
 of Algonquin tribes. 
 
 * Meuse before Namur. Nouv. Dec, p. 197. For the 
 position of the village, see Parkman's Disc, of the Great West 
 p. 156. It was near the present village of Utica. 
 
 t As to the population, compare Marquette, Discovery of 
 the Mississippi, p. 56 ; Voyages p. 98 ; Allouez. Rel , 1673-9, 
 p. 129 ; Discov., p. 74; Membre in LeClercq., ii, p. 173. 
 
 I This is supported by La Salle's Letter, Sept. 29, 1680, 
 Margry ii, p. 36. 
 
 § Dec. 31, Tonty in Margry, i p. 581. He makes lat. 39° 
 
 14 
 

 w 
 
 '54 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 ; 
 
 winter hunting in various places according to 
 their custom. Their absence, nevertheless, put 
 us in great embarrassment; provisions failed and 
 we durst not take the Indian corn which the 
 Islinois hide in trenches under ground to preserve 
 it, and use on their return from the hunt for 
 planting and subsistence till harvest. This stock 
 is extremely precious in their eyes, and you could 
 not give them greater offense than by touching 
 it in their absence. Nc\'ertheless, as there was no 
 possibility of our risking a further descent without 
 food, and the lire that had been set to the prairies 
 had driven off all the animals, the Sieur de la 
 Salle resolved to take twenty ''^ bushels of Indian 
 corn, hoping that he would be able to appease the 
 Islinois by some means. 
 
 The same day we reembarked with this new 
 supply, and for four days we descended the same 
 river, which runs south by west. 
 
 On f the first day of the year 1679,]; discov- 
 
 * Margry has 30, Tonty 40. 
 f This paragraph not in Margry. 
 
 :j: 1680 ill Nouv. Dec, p. 199, and down to "winters" 
 omitted. 
 
Of LOUISIANA. 
 
 155 
 
 eringone of our deserters, of whom I have here- 
 tofore spoken, and that he had returned to us, only 
 to seduce our men, who, moreover, were dis- 
 posed to abandon us, through the fear they had 
 ot suffering hunger during the winter, I made 
 an exhortation after the mass, wishing a Happy 
 New Year to the Sieur de la Salle and all our 
 party, and after the most touching words, I begged 
 all our malcontents to arm themselves with 
 patience, representing to them that God would 
 provide for all our wants, and that if we lived in 
 concert, he would raise up means to enable us to 
 subsist. Father Gabriel, Father Zenobius and I 
 embraced them with the most affectionate senti- 
 ments, encouraging them to continue so important 
 a discovery. 
 
 Towards the end of the fourth day, while 
 crossing a little lake formed by the river,* we 
 observed smoke, which showed us that the In- 
 
 * Lake Peoria. The Nouv. Dec. here abandons the original 
 narrative and copies almost literally from Le Clercq, Etablisse- 
 ment dc la Foi, ii, pp. 153-9, beginning "called Pimiteoui." 
 Nouv. Decouv., np. aoo-7. See Discovery of the Mississippi, 
 pp. 94-6, La Salle in Margry, ii, p. 37. 
 
^. 
 
 156 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 '^ : 
 
 ; 1: 
 
 dians were cabined near there. In fact, on the 
 fifth,* about nine o'clock in the morning, we saw 
 on both sides of the river a number of parrakeets f 
 and about eighty cabins full of Indians, who did 
 not perceive our canoes, until we had doubled 
 a point, behind which the Islinois were camped 
 within half gun shot. We were in eight canoes, 
 abreast, all our men arms in hand, and allowing 
 ourselves to go with the current of the river. 
 
 We f first gave the cry according to the custom 
 of these nations, as though to ask whether they 
 wished peace or war, because it was very im- 
 portant to show resolution at the outset. At 
 first the old men, the women and children took 
 flight across the woods by which the river is 
 bordered, the warriors ran to arms, but with so 
 much confusion, that before they recovered them- 
 selves, our canoes had touched land. The Sieur 
 de la Salle was the first to leap ashore. 
 
 * Tonty in Margry, i p. 53, and Le Clercq., ii, p. 153, say 
 Jan. 4, 1680, La Salle, ii, p. 37, has however 5th, 
 
 fThe French printer put peroquets. but Margry's Relation 
 gives the real word " pirogues," " canoes." Compare La Salle's 
 letter Margry ii, p. 37. 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 ^S7 
 
 The Indians might have been routed in the 
 disorder they were in ; but as this was not our 
 design, we hahed in order to give the Islinois 
 time to regain confidence. One of their chiefs 
 who was on the other side of the river and who 
 had observed that we had refrained from firing 
 on seven or eight Indians whom we might easily 
 have killed, began a harangue to stop the young 
 men who were preparing to discharge arrows 
 across the river. Those who were encamped on 
 the side where wc had landed, and who had 
 taken flight at first, having understood the situa- 
 tion, sent two of the chief men among them to 
 present the calumet from the top of a hill, soon 
 after those who were on tne other side did the 
 same thing and then we gave them to understand 
 that we accepted the peace ; and ^' at the same 
 time I proceeded in haste with Father Zenobius 
 in the direction of the Indians who had taken 
 llight, taking their children by the hand, who 
 
 * The following down to " missionaries " is not in Margry. 
 
11 
 
 ! 1 
 
 
 158 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 were all trembling with fear ; we manifested 
 much affection for them, entering with the old 
 men and the mothers ^ into the cabins, taking 
 compassion on these souls, which are going to 
 destruction, being deprived of the word of God 
 and lacking missionaries. The joy of both was 
 as great as their fear had been violent ; that of 
 some having been such that it was two f days be- 
 fore they returned from the places to which they 
 had gone to hide. 
 
 After;}; the rejoicings, the dances and feasts to 
 which they devoted the day, we assembled the 
 chiefs of the villages, which were on both sides 
 of the river ; we^ made known by our interpreter, 
 that we, Recollects, had not come among them to 
 gather beaver, but to give them a knowledge ot 
 the great Master of Life, and to instruct their 
 
 * The Nouv. Dec, p. 202, has Maitres, here for meres. 
 
 t " Three " in Margry, i p. 468, ii, p. 38. 
 
 I Down to " friendship " omiued in Margry. 
 
 § " We told them that we had come among them only to make 
 known to them the true God, to protect them against their ene- 
 mies and to bring them fire arms of which they had no knowl- 
 edge, and the other comforts of life. We heard, etc." Nouv. 
 Dec, p. 203. 
 
 U 
 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 *59 
 
 children ; that we had left our country which was 
 beyond the sea to come and dwell among them, 
 and to be of the number of their greatest friends. 
 We heard a great chorus of voices, Tepatoui 
 Nicka, which means : " See what is good, my 
 brother, you have a mind well made to conceive 
 this thought," and at the same time they rubbed 
 our legs down to the sole of the feet near the fire 
 with bear's oil and buffalo grease to relieve our 
 fatigue. They put the first three morsels of meat 
 in our mouth with extraordinary marks of friend- 
 ship. 
 
 Immediately after the Sieur de la Salle made 
 them a present of tobacco and some axes. He 
 told them that he had convoked them to treat of 
 an affair, which he wished to explain to them, 
 before he spoke to them of any other ; that he 
 knew how necessary corn -^ was to them ; that 
 nevertheless, the want of provisions in which he 
 found himself on arriving at their village, and the 
 
 * " The corn they had in reserve." Margry, i, p. 468, ii, p. 
 39. This account is substantially the same in La Salle's letter, ii, 
 p. 32, etc. 
 
i6o 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 
 1 ■ 1 
 
 ' 1 
 
 impossibility of rinding any game on the prairies, 
 had obliged him to take a certain quantity of In- 
 dian corn, which he had in his canoes, and which 
 he had not yet touched; that it' they were willing 
 to leave it in his hands, he would give them in ex- 
 change axes and other things which they needed, 
 and that if they could not spare it, they were free 
 to take it back ; but that if they could not supply 
 him the provisions necessary for his subsistence 
 and that of his men, he would go to their neighbors 
 the Osages, "•' who would furnish him some on 
 paying for it, and that in return he would leave 
 with them the blacksmith whom he had brought 
 to mend their axes and other instruments.^ 
 
 He spoke to them in this manner, because he 
 was well aware that the Is!inois would not fail to 
 bejealousof the advantages that the French might 
 give their neighbors, and especially that they 
 
 * These words omitte^l in Nouv. Dec, p. 205. 
 
 f " Which we Europeans might give them in future. The 
 Indians granted Mr. de la Salle what he wished and we made 
 an alliance with them. To render this alliance firm and in. 
 violable which we contracted with the Illinois, we had to take 
 several necessary precautions." 
 
 
 I > 
 

 OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 i6i 
 
 would derive from a blacksmith, of whom they 
 were themselves excessively in need. They 
 accordingly accepted with great demonstrations 
 of joy the payment that he offered them for their 
 Indian corn. They even gave more and earnestly 
 begged us to settle among them. 
 
 We answered that we would do so willingly, 
 but that as the Iroquois were subjects of the 
 king and consequently our brethren, we could 
 not make war on them ; that for this reason we 
 exhorted them to make peace with that nation, 
 that we would aid them to do so, and that if in 
 spite of our remonstrances, that haughty nation 
 came to attack them, we would defend them 
 provided they permitted us to build a fort, in 
 which we could make head against the Iroquois 
 with the few Frenchmen that we had ; that we 
 would even furnish them arms and ammunition, 
 provided they used them only to repel their ene- 
 mies, and did not employ against the nations that 
 lived under the protection of the king whom the 
 Indians call the Great Chief who is beyond the 
 great lake. 
 
 HM 
 
i 
 
 162 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 i 
 
 We then added that we also intended to bring 
 over other P'renchmen who would protect them 
 from the attacks of all their enemies, and would 
 furnish all that they needed ; that we were hin- 
 dered only by the length and difficulty of the way. 
 That to surmount this obstacle, we had resolved 
 to build a great wooden canoe to sail down to 
 the sea, and bring them all kinds of merchandise 
 by that shorter and more easy way. But as this 
 enterprise required a great outlay, we wished to 
 learn whether their rii'er was navigable to the 
 sea, and whether other Europeons dwelt near its 
 
 mouth. 
 
 The Islinois replied that they accepted all our 
 proposals, and that they would assist us as far as 
 they could. Then they gave a description of the 
 river Colbert or Meschasipi ; they told us won- 
 ders of its width, and beauty, and they assured us 
 that the navigation was free and easy, and that 
 there were no Europeans near its mouth; but 
 what most convinced us that this river was navi- 
 gable, is that they named four nations to us, of 
 whom there is mention in the Relation of the 
 
 ' t 
 
 ■I 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 163 
 
 Voyage of Ferdinand Soto, in Florida ; these are, 
 the Tula, Casquin,* Cicaca and Daminoia. They 
 added that prisoners whom they had taken in war 
 in the direction of the sea, said that they had seen 
 ships far out which made discharges, that re- 
 sembled thunder, but that they were not settled 
 on the coast, because if they were there, they 
 (the Indians), would not neglect to go and trade 
 with them, the sea being distant only twenty 
 days in their canoes. 
 
 The f day passed in this way to our mutual 
 satisfaction, but things did not remain long in this 
 state. 
 
 * Ciuquh in Margry p. 470. For these places see Smith's 
 Narratives of the Career of Hernando dc Soto, Tula, pp. 305 ; 
 Casqui, no, 250 ; Chicasa. 92, 247; Aminoya, 167. The 
 term Chitasa is easily identified, as the tribe held the same 
 territory from the days of De Soto to the present century. 
 Casqui may be Kaskaskia, but it is not easy to see how La 
 Salle recognized Tula and Aminoya in any Indian tribe of his 
 time. 
 
 t Paragraph omitted in Margry, i p. 470, but appears partly 
 in La Salle's letter, ii, p. 4 1. 
 
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 The next day one of the chiefs of the Miamis * 
 named Monso, arrived accompanied by five or six 
 others loaded with kettles, axes, and knives in 
 order by these presents to prepare the mind of the 
 Islinois to believe what he was to say to them. He 
 secretly assembled the sachems and assured them 
 that we f intended to go and join their enemies, 
 who live beyond the great river Colbert, ;|]that 
 we would furnish them arms and ammunition, 
 and that after having assembled them we would 
 join the Iroquois, and hem them in on all sides 
 to exterminate them entirely ; that we were 
 friends of the Iroquois, that the French had a 
 fort in the midst of the Iroquois country, that 
 we would furnish them arms and powder, and 
 that there was no other means of avoiding their 
 ruin, than by preventing our voyage or at least 
 delaying it, because a part of our men would 
 
 * From F. Allouez's mission according to LaSalle's letter, 
 Margry ii p. 41, 100, where Monso is said to mean a Deer, but 
 the Chippewa Mons, is our Moose, Baraga p. 252. The 
 Nouv. Dec, calls him a Maskoutens. 
 
 t " The Sieur de la Salle " is here and generally in Margry 
 substituted for Hennepin's " wc.' 
 
 X Omitted in Margry. 
 
 '!t 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 i6s 
 
 soon abandon us, and that they should not believe 
 anything we might tell them. 
 
 After having said many things of the kind, the 
 Miami chief returned by night with as much 
 secresy as he came lest we might discover all this 
 mystery. 
 
 Nevertheless one of the Islinois chiefs named 
 Omaouha '■'•'• whom we had gained on arriving by 
 a present of two axes and three knives, came to 
 see us the next morning and secretly informed us 
 of all that had passed. We thanked him and to 
 induce him to keep us informed of all that went 
 on, we made him a new present of powder and 
 lead,f easily judging that this Miamis had been 
 sent and instructed by other Frenchmen, jealous 
 of our success, because this Monso did not know 
 us, and had not even been within four hun- 
 dred leagues of Fort Frontenac, and that never- 
 theless, he had spoken of our affairs with as 
 
 * Omoahoha, in Margry i p. 471, ii p. 42, where La Salle 
 calls him chief of" the Koeracoenetanoii. He is not mentioned 
 in the Nouv. Decouv. 
 
 t "The Sieur de la Salle and all his men judged, etc.," in 
 Margry, and " us, our," reads " him, his." 
 
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 1 66 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
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 much detail and circumstantiality as though he 
 had known us all his life. 
 
 This affair gave us all the more uneasiness, 
 because we knew that Indians are naturally sus- 
 picious and because many bad impressions had 
 already been made on our men to induce them to 
 desert, as •* six of their comrades had already done 
 at one stroke. 
 
 In the afternoon of the same day, Nicanape, 
 brother of Chassagouasse,| the most important 
 of the Islinois chiefs, who was then absent, invited 
 us all to a feast, and when all were seated in the 
 cabin, Nicanape took the word, and made us 'I 
 an address very different from those which the 
 sachems had made us at his arrival, saying that he 
 had not invited us, so much to give us good 
 cheer as to cure our mind of the disease which 
 we had, wishing to descend the great river, 
 
 * " Their comrades had done at Missilimakinak," Margry. 
 
 t Chassagoac. lb. He accompanied F. Marquette from 
 Green Bay. Disc, of the Mississippi, p. 259. 
 
 I Margry has ''the Sieur de la Salle," and apparently this 
 was Hennepin's original reading. 
 
T 
 
 IVBHW 
 
 ■■MP 
 
 ■■■«■■ 
 
 OF LOUISIANA. 1 67 
 
 which no one had ever yet done without perish- 
 ing there, that its banks were inhabited by an 
 infinite number of barbarous nations, who would 
 overwhehn the French by their numbers, what- 
 ever arms and whatever valor they might possess; 
 that this river was full of monsters, tritons,* 
 crocodiles, and serpents, and even if the size of 
 our canoe should protect us from this danger, 
 there was another and inevitable one, that the 
 lower part of the river was full of falls and preci- 
 pices with a current above them so evident,f 
 that men go down helplessly, and that all 
 these precipices ended in a gulf where the 
 river was lost under ground, without any 
 one's knowing whither it went. He added to 
 this so many circumstances and pronounced his 
 address so seriously with so many marks of good 
 will, that our men who were not all accustomed 
 to the manners of the Indians and two I of whom 
 understood the language, were shaken by it. We 
 marked their apprehension in their faces, but as 
 
 * Tritons, crocodiles omitted in Margry. 
 
 t " Violent," in Margry. 
 
 X Two or three, Margry i, p. 472. 
 
i68 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 
 IP 
 
 I'll 
 
 ii. 
 
 1=-:.! 
 
 
 I -1; 
 
 it is not the custom to interrupt Indians, and by 
 doing so, we should only have increased the sus- 
 picion of our men, we let liim finish his speech 
 in peace, and then we replied without any emo- 
 tion, that we were very much obliged to him tor 
 the information he gave us, and that we should 
 acquire all the more glory, if we found difficulties 
 to overcome ; that we all served * the great 
 Master of the life of men, and him f who was 
 the greatest of all the chiefs who commanded 
 beyond the sea : that we esteemed ourselves 
 happy to die, while bearing '^ the name of both 
 to the very end of the earth ; but that we feared 
 that all that he had told us, was only an invention 
 of his friendship to prevent our leaving his nation, 
 or rather that it was only an artifice of some evil 
 spirit who had given them some distrust of our 
 
 * Down to "who was '' omitted. Margry. 
 
 t Of our chiefs ; that he commanded the sea and all the 
 world i that we should deem ourselves happy to die bearing the 
 name of the great chief of heaven and of him who had sent us 
 to the end of the world. Nouv. Dec, p. 210, 
 
 J His name. lb. 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 169 
 
 plans, although they were full of sincerity ; that 
 if the Islinois had any real friendship for us, they 
 should not dissemble the grounds of their uneasi- 
 ness; from which we should endeavor to deliver 
 them, that otherwise we should have reason to 
 believe, that the friendship they manifested for 
 us on our arrival was only on their lips. 
 
 Nicanape remained unable to reply, and pre- 
 senting us food changed his discourse.* 
 
 After the meal our interpreter f took up the 
 word again, and told him that we were not sur- 
 prised that their neighbors became jealous of the 
 advantages, that they would receive from the 
 trade which they were going to have with the 
 French, nor that they should spread reports to 
 our damage, but that he was astonished to see 
 them so easy to give them credence, and that 
 they concealed them from the French,+ who had 
 so frankly revealed to them all their designs. 
 
 * All this is substantiated by La Salle's letter, Margry ii, p 
 43-4- 
 
 t The Si.'ur de la Salle, lb. 
 I A man, lb. 
 16 
 
 " ^f'^^^WWWP^?*^ 
 
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 170 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 
 }f 
 
 " We were not asleep, brother," he added, 
 addressing Nicanape, "when Monso spoke to you 
 in secret at night to the prejudice of the French, 
 whom he depicted to you as spies of the Iroquois. 
 The presents that he made you to convince you 
 of his Hes are still secreted in this cabin. Why 
 did he take flight imnrediately afterwards ? Why 
 did he not show himself by day, if he had only 
 truth to tell ? Have you not seen that at our 
 arrival we might have killed your nephews, and 
 that in the confusion prevailing among them, we 
 might have done alone, what they wish to per- 
 suade you, we will execute with the help of the 
 Iroquois, after we are settled among you, and 
 have formed a friendship with your nation ? At 
 this moment that I am addressing you, could not 
 our French, kill all of you, old men that you are, 
 while your young men are off at the hunt ; do 
 you not know that the Iroquois, whom you fear, 
 have experienced the valor of the French, and 
 that consequently we should not need their help, 
 if we intended to make war on you. But to cure 
 your mind entirely, run after this imposter, whom 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 171 
 
 we will wait here to convict and confound. How 
 does he know us,^= since he has never seen us, and 
 how can he know the plots which he says we 
 have formed with the Iroquois, whom he knows 
 as little as he does us ? Look at our stores, they 
 are only tools and goods that can but serve us to 
 do you good, and which are not suited either for 
 attacking or for retreating." 
 
 These words influenced them and induced them 
 to dispatch runners after Monso to bring him 
 back, but the heavy sno\Y that fell by night 
 before and which covered his tracks, prevented 
 th.iir overtaking him ; nevertheless our French- 
 men who had been alarmed already, were not 
 relieved of their false fears. Six of them who 
 were on guard, and f among them two pit-saw- 
 yers, without whom we could not make a bark 
 to go to the sea, fled the next night, after having 
 carried ofl^ whatever they thought likely to be 
 necessary to them, and exposed themselves to a 
 danger of perishing and dying of hunger much 
 
 * All this is in the first person in Margry, " mv " " mv 
 people," "me." " ^ 
 
 t Margry omits to " sea." 
 
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 172 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 
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 more certain than that which they sought to 
 avoid.* 
 
 The Sieur de la Salle having gone out of his 
 cabin in the morning and finding no one on duty, 
 he entered the cabins of his men, and found one 
 where there was only a single man left, whom 
 his comrades had not notified, because he was 
 suspected by them. He called them all together 
 and asked for information in regard to these 
 deserters. Then he expressed his displeasure 
 that they should have deserted against the King's 
 orders and all justice, and abandoned him at the 
 time when they were most necessary to him, 
 after he had done everything for them. To 
 counteract the bad impression that this desertion 
 might produce in the mind of the Islinois he 
 ordered them to say that their comrades had gone 
 off by his order, and said that he was well able 
 to pursue and punish them as an example, but 
 that he did not wish to let the Indians know how 
 little fidelity there was among the French. He 
 
 * The proceedings against these deserters will be fouud in 
 Margry 2 p. 1Q3, etc. 
 
1- 
 
 OP LOUISIANA. 
 
 ^7Z 
 
 exhorted them to be more faithful to him than 
 these runaways, and not to go to such extremes 
 through fear of the dangers which Nicanap6 had 
 falsely exaggerated to them ; that he did not in- 
 tend to take with him any but those who would 
 wish to accompany him willingly, and that he 
 would give them his word to leave the others at 
 liberty in the spring to return to Canada, whither 
 they might go without risk and by canoe, 
 whereas they could not then undertake it but 
 with evident peril of their lives, and with the 
 disgrace of having basely abandoned him, by a 
 conspiracy which could not remain unpunished 
 on their arrival in Canada. * 
 
 He endeavored to reassure in this way, but 
 knowing their inconstancy, and dissembling the 
 chagrin he felt at their lack of resolution, he re- 
 solved to remove them from the Indians, to pre- 
 clude any new subornations, and in order to make 
 them consent without murmuring, he told them 
 that they were not in security among the Islinois ; 
 that moreover such a stay exposed them to the 
 
 * At Quebec, Margry i, p. 475. 
 
 HI 
 
 irfi43S!j1ip«(S^«SSIBss 
 
I' 
 
 I' 
 
 •Il 
 
 IM 
 
 174 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 arms of the Iroquois, who perhaps might come 
 before * winter to attack the village, that the 
 Islinois were not capable of making any resistance 
 to them, that apparently they would take flight 
 at the first shock, and that th«. Iroquois would 
 not be able to overtake them, because the Islinois 
 run much faster than they do ; they would vent 
 their rage on the French whose small number 
 would be incapable of making head against these 
 savages ; that there was only one remedy, and 
 that was to fortify themselves in some post easy 
 of defence ; that he had found one of this kind 
 near the village, where they would be proof 
 aj,''inst the insults of the Islinois and the arms of 
 the Iroquois, who would not be able to storm them 
 there, and who for this reason would not under- 
 take to attack them.f 
 
 These reasons and some others of that kind 
 which J I made them, persuaded them, and 
 
 h 
 
 * Margry reads: " During the," " Villages." 
 
 f All this confirmed by La Salle's letter. Margry ii, p. 47 
 
 I This clause not in Margry. 
 
 (li 
 
T 
 
 w 
 
 OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 175 
 
 brought all to work with a good grace * in 
 building a fort which was called Crevecoeur f 
 situated four days' journey from the great village 
 of the Islinois descending towards the river 
 Colbert.]; 
 
 * For the rest of this sentence Marjory reads : " on a very 
 •cvere undertaking for so small a party." Tonty in Margry i, 
 p. 583, makes the fort begun Jany. 15, 1680. 
 
 t The name is not given in the Nouv. Dec. The account 
 of this council there, pp. 207-216, is substantially the same as 
 here given. 
 
 It is commonly supposed that La Salle dejected at the loss 
 of the Griffin and his increasing difficulties called this fort 
 Crcvecoeur, Broken Heart, on that account. TheTonty of 1697, 
 so asserts ; but at a moment when La Salle sought to encourage 
 his men he would not be likely to do this. As Louis XIV, 
 had recently demolished Fort CreveccEur, a stronghold in the 
 Netherlands near Bois-lc-Duc, captured by him, in 1672, 
 Zedler's Univ. Lexicon vi, p. 161 2-3, the name may have been 
 a compliment to that monarch ; and this would explain the 
 omission of the name in the Nouv. Decouverte published in 
 Holland. Parkman, Discovery, p. 168, says that the site of 
 the fort is still recognizable a little below Peoria, It was on 
 the east side of the river. Franquelin's map. 
 
 I The Nouv. Decouv., pp 217-222, here introduces matter 
 from LeClercq ii pp. 1 73-181. Discovery of the Miss- 
 issippi, pp. 150-2, making however Miamis southwest of Lake 
 Michigan where LeClercq has south by east. 
 
■li 
 
 I 
 
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 'PI 
 
 i 
 
 ■ ! 
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 176 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 A great* thaw having set in on the 15th of 
 
 January, and rendered the river free below the 
 
 village, the Sieur de la Salle begged f me to 
 
 accompany him, and we proceeded with one ot 
 
 our canoes to the place which we were going to 
 
 select to work at this little fort. It was a little 
 
 mound about two hundred paces distant from the 
 
 bank of the river, which in the season of the 
 
 rains, extends to the foot of it ; two broad deep 
 
 ravines protected two other sides and a part of 
 
 the fourth, which we completely entrenched by 
 
 a ditch which united the two ravines. Their 
 
 exterior slope which served as a counterscarp, was 
 
 fortified, we made |" chevaux de frise and cut 
 
 this eminence down steep on all sides, and the 
 
 earth was supported as much as was necessary 
 
 with strong pieces of timber, with thick planks,§ 
 
 * From this place to " after our departure," is substantially 
 the same in the Nouv. Decouv, pp. 223-9. 
 
 f " Proceeded with all his canoes to the spot which he had 
 selected to build a fort." Margry t, p. 176. 
 
 t For " we made," Margry reads " with good." 
 § The Nouv. Dec, omits to " barracks." 
 
 I'' 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 177 
 
 
 and for fear of any surprise, we planted a stockade 
 around, the timbers of which were twenty-five 
 feet long and a foot thick.* The summit of the 
 mound was left in its natural figure, which formed 
 an irregular square, and we contented ourselves 
 with putting on the edge a good parapet of earth 
 capable of covering all our force, whose barracks 
 were placed in two of f the angles of this fort, in 
 order that they might be always ready in case of 
 attack. Fathers Gabriel, Zenoble and 1 1' lodged 
 in a cabin covered with boards, which we ad- 
 justed with the help of our workmen and in 
 which we retired after work,§ all our people for 
 evening and morning prayer, and where, being 
 unable any longer to say mass, the wine which we 
 had made from the large grapes of the country 
 having just failed us, we contented ourselves with 
 
 * Twenty teet long and stout in proportion, Margry. 
 
 t Margry omits "two of." 
 
 J The Recollects were lodged in the ihird. The store house 
 solidly constructed was placed on the fourth, and the forge 
 along the curtain, which, etc., Margry i, p. 477, compare La 
 Salle's letter ii, p. 49. 
 
 § Supply " and gathered." 
 
 1 } 
 
u 
 
 'I I 
 
 If. 
 
 p.' 
 
 l- 
 
 ¥' 
 
 •it 
 
 it 
 
 m: 
 
 ■'I 
 
 178 
 
 A DRSCRIPTION 
 
 singing Vespers on holidays and Sundays, and 
 preaching after morning prayers. 
 
 The forge was set up along the curtain which 
 faced the wood. The Sieur de la Salle posted 
 himself in the middle with the Sieur de Tonty ; 
 and * wood was cut down to make charcoal for 
 the blacksmith. 
 
 While they were engaged at this work, we 
 were thinking constantly only of our exploration, 
 and we saw that the building of a bark would 
 be very difficult on account of the desertion of 
 »:he pit sawyers. It occurred to us one day, to 
 tell our people that if there was a man of good 
 will among them, who was willing to try and 
 make sheathing planks there was hope of succeed- 
 ing, with a little more labor and time, and that at the 
 worst we should after all only spoil a few. Im- 
 mediately two of our men offered to work at it. 
 The trial was made and they succeeded pretty 
 well, although they had never before undertaken 
 a similar piece of work. We began a bark of 
 forty-two feet keel, and only twelve broad. We 
 * Rest of sentence not in Margry. 
 
 SLaKagj Bag-raJ 
 

 OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 179 
 
 pushed on the work with so much care, that not- 
 withstanding the building of Fort Crevecoeur 
 the sheathing was sawed, all the wood of the 
 bark ready and curved * in the first of the 
 month of March. f 
 
 It is to be remarked that in the country of the 
 Islinois, the winter is not more severe than in 
 Provence, but that of the year 1679,^ the snow 
 
 * Hennepin reads "en bois tors." Margry "en chantier,'' 
 on the stocks. 
 
 f Instead of the following down to confortetur cor tuum, the 
 Margry Rel i p. 477, has merely': "At the same time the 
 Sieur de la Salle proposed to have the route he was to take to 
 the riverMississippi explored in advance, and the course of 
 that river above and below the mouth of the Divine river or 
 cf the Illinois. Father Louis Henpin offered to take this 
 ', oyage in order to begin and make acquaintance with the nations 
 among whom he soon proposed to go and settle in order to 
 preach the faith there. The Sieur de la Salle was reluctant to 
 impose this task on him, but seeing that he was resolute, he 
 consented. He gave him a calumet and a canoe with two 
 men, one of whom called le Picard is now in Paris, the other 
 named Michael Accault, unrlcistood moderately the Illinois 
 and Nadouessioux languages. He entrusted the latter with 
 some goods intended to make presents and valued at 1000 or 
 1200 livres." Compare Margry 11, p. 246. 
 
 J 16P0, in Nouv. Dec, p. 226. 
 
i^ 
 
 i8o 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 M 
 
 i 
 
 I* 
 
 ^! 
 
 lasted more than twenty days, which was an 
 extraordinary surprise to the Indians, who had 
 not yet experienced so severe a winter, so that 
 the Sieur de la Salle and I saw ourselves exposed 
 to new hardships, which will perhaps appear in- 
 credible to those who have no experience in 
 great voyages and new discoveries. 
 
 Fort Crevecceur* was almost completed, all the 
 wood had been prepared to complete the bark, 
 but we had neither rigging nor sails, nor iron 
 enough ; we heard no tidings of the bark which 
 we had left on Lake Dauphin nor of the men 
 who had been sent to learn what had become of 
 her. Meanwhile the Sieur de la Salle saw that 
 summer was approaching, and that if he waited 
 uselessly some months more, our enterprise 
 would be retarded a year, and perhaps two or 
 three, because being so far from Canada, he could 
 not put his affairs in any order or cause the things 
 he needed to be forwarded. 
 
 In this extremity f we both adopted a resolu- 
 
 * This paragraph is substantially in Margry, i p. 483. 
 
 t Margry i, p. 484, has : In this extremity, he adopted a 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 i8i 
 
 tion, as extraordinary as it was difficult to carry 
 out, I to go with two men into unknown coun- 
 tries, where one is at every moment in a great 
 danger for his life, and he to proceed on foot to 
 Fort Frontenac itself, a distance of more than 
 five hundred leagues. We were then at the close 
 of winter which had been, as we have said as 
 severe in America as in France, the ground was 
 still covered with snow which was neither melted 
 nor able to bear a man in snow shoes. It was 
 necessary to load ourselves with the usual equipage 
 on these occasions, that is to say, a blanket, a 
 kettle, an axe, a gun, powder, and lead, dressed 
 skins to make Indian shoes, which often last only a 
 day, those which are worn in France being of no 
 use in these western countries. Besides this he 
 must resolve to push through bushes, to walk in 
 marshes, and melting snow, sometimes waist high, 
 and that for whole days, sometimes even with 
 nothing to eat; because he and three others who 
 
 resolution as extraordinary as it was difficult to execute, namely 
 to proceed on foot to Fort Frontenac more than live hundred 
 leagues distant. We were there etc. 
 
 itfiiie 
 
l82 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 ! 
 
 I f- 
 
 accompanied him, could not carry provisions, 
 being compelled to depend for all iheir subsistence 
 on whst they might shoot, and expect to drink 
 only the water they might find on the way. To 
 conclude he A^as exposed every day and especially 
 night to be surprised by four or five nations which 
 made war on each other, with this difference, that 
 these nations where he was to pass, all know the 
 French, and that those where I was going had 
 never seen Europeans. Nevertheless all these 
 difficulties did not astonish him * any more than 
 they did me. Our only trouble was to find among 
 our force, some men robust enough to go with us» 
 and to prevent the others, already greatly fluctua- 
 ting, from all deserting after our departure. 
 
 Some t days after we fortunately found means 
 to disabuse our people of the false impressions 
 which the Islinois had produced on them at the 
 instigation of Monso, chief of the Miamis.J 
 Some Indians arrived at the village of the Islinois 
 
 * Margry continues " and his only trouble was, etc. 
 t This is virtually in Margry, i p. 485. 
 tMaskoutens. Nouv. Dec, p. 230. 
 
OF LOUISIANA 
 
 183 
 
 from these remote nations, and one of them assured 
 us of the beauty of the great river Colbert or 
 Meschasipi. We were confirmed in it by the 
 report of several Indians, and by a private Islinois, 
 who told us in secrtt on our arrival that it was 
 navigable. Nevertheless this account did not 
 suffice to disabuse our people and completely 
 reassure them. We wished to make the Islinois 
 themselves avow it, although we had learned 
 that they had resolved in council always to tell 
 us the same thing. Soon after a favorable occasion 
 presented itself 
 
 A young Islinois warrior who had taken some 
 prisoners in the direction of the south and who 
 had come on ahead of his comrades, passed to our 
 shipyard. They gave him some Indian corn to 
 eat. As he was returning from the lower part 
 of the river Colbert, of which we pretended to 
 have some knowledge, this young man traced 
 for us with coal, a pretty exact map, assuring us 
 that he had been everywhere in his periagua ; 
 that there was 1 ot down to the sea, which the 
 Indians call the great lake, either falls or rapids. 
 
184 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 But that as this river became very broad, there 
 were in some places sand banks and mud which 
 barred a part of it. He also told us the name of 
 the nations that lived on its bank, and of the 
 rivers which it receives. I wrote them down and 
 I will be able to give an account thereof in a 
 second volume of our Discovery.* 
 
 We thanked him by a small present, for having 
 revealed to us the truth, which the chief men of 
 his Islinois nation had disguised from us. He 
 begged us not to tell them, and an axe was given 
 to him to close his mouth after the fashion of the 
 Indians when they wish to enjoin secrecy. 
 
 The next morning after our public prayers, we 
 went to the village where we found the Islinois 
 assembled in the cabin of one of the most impor- 
 tant who was giving a bear feast, which is a meat 
 that they esteem highly. They made place for 
 us among them on a fine mat of flags, which they 
 spread for us. We told them through one of 
 their men, who knew the language, that we 
 wished to make known to them, that He who 
 
 * This is in La Salle's letter. Margry, ii p. 54. 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 185 
 
 has made all, whom we call the great Master of 
 Life, takes a particular care of the French, that 
 he had done us the favor to instruct us as to the 
 condition of the great river, called by us Colbert, 
 as to which we had difficulty in ascertaining the 
 truth, since they had rendered it impcosible for us 
 to navigate, and then we informed them what 
 we had learned the day before. 
 
 These savages thought that we had learned 
 all these things by some extraordinary way ; and 
 after having closed the mouth with their hand, 
 which is a way that they often employ to express 
 their surprise, they told us that it was only the 
 desire which they had to retain our chief with 
 the Greygowns or Bare feet (as all the Indians of 
 of America call our Religious of Saint Francis) 
 to remain with them, had obliged them to con- 
 ceal the truth. They confirmed all that we had 
 learned from the young warrior, and have since 
 always persisted in the same opinion. 
 
 This affair greatly diminished the fears of our 
 Frenchmen, and they were entirely delivered 
 16 
 
■T 
 
 i86 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 i 
 
 from them by the arrival of several Osages, 
 Ciccaca and Akansa,* who had come from the 
 southward in order to see the French and to buy 
 axes. They all bore witness that the river was navi- 
 gable to the sea, and that as the coming of the 
 French was made known,f all the nations of the 
 lower part of the river Colbert would come to 
 dance the Calumet of Peace to us, in order to 
 maintain a good understanding, and trade with 
 the French nation. 
 
 The Miamis came at the same time to dance 
 the calumet to the Islinois, and made an alliance 
 with them against the Iroquois their common 
 enemy. The Sieur de la Salle made some presents 
 to unite these two nations more firmly together. 
 
 Seeing that we were three Recollect mission- 
 aries with the few Frenchmen whom we had at 
 Fort CrevecoEuf, and having no more wine to 
 
 * The Osages from the Missouri ; the Chickasaws and 
 Akansas or Quappas from the lower Mississippi. Akansa, 
 Alkansas, Arkansas is the Aljronquin name for the Quappas a 
 Dacota tribe driven from the Ohio river. Gravier's Journal. 
 
 ■j- "They would be very well received " Margry i, p. 487. 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 187 
 
 say mass, Father Gabriel who had need of relief 
 at his advanced age, declared that he would 
 willingly remain alone at the fort with our 
 Frenchmen. Father Zenoble * who had desired 
 to have the great mission of the Islinois, composed 
 of about seven or eight thousand souls, began to 
 weary of it, finding it difficult to adapt himself 
 to the importunate manners of the Indians, with 
 whom he dwelt. We spoke about it to the Sieur 
 de la Salle, who made a present of three axes to 
 the Father's host, by name Oumahouha, that is 
 to say, the Wolf, who was the chief of a family 
 or tribe, in order that he might take care tr, 
 maintain the Father, whom this chief called his 
 son, and who lodged him and considered him as 
 one of his children. 
 
 This Father who was only half a league from 
 the fort, came to explain to us the subject of his 
 troubles, telling us, that he was not yet accustomed 
 to the ideas of the Indians, that nevertheless he 
 already knew a part of their language. I oftbred 
 
 * Zenobe is frequently written thus in documents of this time. 
 Margry by a blunder in one place makes another man Le Noble.' 
 
i88 
 
 A DFSCRIPTION 
 
 to take his mission, provided he would go in my 
 place to the remote nations of whom we had as 
 yet no knowledge, as that which the Indians had 
 given us was only superficial. This set the 
 Father thinking, and he preferred to remain wit)' 
 the Islinois, of whom he had some knowledg 
 rather than expose himself to go among unknown 
 nations. 
 
 The Sieur de la Salle left in Fort CrevecoL'ur 
 the Sieur de Tonty as commandant, with some 
 soldiers and the carpenters who were employed 
 building the bark intended for the attempt to 
 descend to the sea by the river Colbert, in order 
 to be by this means, protected from the arrows 
 of the Indians in this vessel. He left him powaer 
 and lead, a blacksmith, guns and other arms to 
 defend themselves, in case they were attacked by 
 the Iroquois. He gave him instructions to re- 
 main in his fort, and before returning to Fort 
 Frontenac, to go and get a reinforcement, cables 
 and rigging for the last bark, which he left built 
 up to the ribband,* he begged me to consent 
 
 * See proceedings against Deserters. Margry ii, p. 103. It 
 had four planks on each side. 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 189 
 
 to take the pains to go and explore in advance 
 the route which he would have to take to the 
 river Colbert on his return from Canada,* but as 
 I had an abscess in the mouth, which suppurated 
 continually, and which had continued for a year 
 and a half, I manifested to him my repugnance, 
 and told him that I needed to return to Canada 
 to have it treated. He replied that if I refused 
 this voyage, that he would write to my superiors, 
 that I would be the cause of the want of success 
 of our new missions. 
 
 The Reverend Father Gabriel de la Ribourde 
 who had been my lAither Master in the Novitiate, 
 begged me to proceed, saying that if I died of 
 this infirmity, God would be one day glorified 
 by my apostolic labors. " It is true, my son," 
 said this venerable old man to me ; who had 
 whitened more than forty years in the austerity 
 
 * La Salle, MaVgry ii, p. 54, says that Indians called Cbaa 
 who lived up the Mississippi visited him and invited him to 
 their country, and that Hennepin offered to go with two of" his 
 bravest men. It is not easy to tell who the Chaa were, unless 
 we take it to be a misprint for bsan, one Algonquin name for 
 the Sioux. 
 
igo 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 Wi 
 
 ^ 
 
 of penance, " thac you will have many monsters 
 to overcome, and precipices to pass in this enter- 
 prise, which demands the strength of the most 
 robust. You do not know a word of the language 
 of these nations, whom you going to try and gain 
 to God, but courage, you will gain as many 
 victories as combats." 
 
 Considering that this Father had at his age 
 volunteered to come and aid me in my second 
 year of our new discovery, in the view that he 
 had to announce Jesus Christ to the unknown 
 nations, and that this aged man was the only 
 male child and heir of his father's house, who 
 was a gentleman of Burgundy, I offered to un- 
 dertake this voyage to endeavor to go and form 
 an acquaintance with the nations among whom I 
 hoped soon to settle in order to preach the faith. 
 The Sieur de la Salle told me that I gratified him. 
 He gave me a peace calumet and a canoe with 
 two men, one of whom was called the Picard du 
 Gay, who is now in Paris, and the other Michael 
 
 ^* ;i V •rtBi S t- .T ■ •f^ ^j ^i w r^ 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 191 
 
 Ako.* He entrusted this latter with some goods 
 intended to make presents, which were worth a 
 thousand or twelve hundred livres, and he gave 
 me ten knives, twelve awls, a small roll of tobacco, 
 to give the Indians, about two pounds of black 
 and white beads, and a small package of needles, 
 assuring me that he would have given me more, 
 if he had been able. In fact he is very liberal to 
 his friends. 
 
 * Compare La Salle's letter, Margry ii, p. 55, Moyse Hil- 
 laret (lb. p. 108) says Aug. 17, 1680: "Feb. 28, the 
 Recollect F. Louis and the said Accault and Picard went to 
 trade with the Sioux," showing that this was the opinion in the 
 fort of the object of their voyage. Tonty in Margry i, p. 
 583, says : " Sometime after the Reverend Father Louis Hen- 
 nepin set out with Michael and Picard for the country of the 
 Sioux." See too Tunty, Memoire, p. 8. La Salle in Margry 
 i'l P- 24 , etc., gives an account and justifies sending them, see 
 Appendix. 
 
 Of his two companions Michael Accau.t is deemed by some 
 the real head oi the party. After La Salle's force were ennobled 
 by his discoveries, this man became the Sieur d' Accault, (d'Ako 
 d'acau, Dacan) just a:, honest Pierre You, blossomtd out into 
 Picri e You d'Youville dc la Decou verte. The Picard's real name 
 was Anthony Auguelle. In this volume, printed at Paris, Henne- 
 pin very naturally mentions Auguelle's being there. The Mar 
 gry document says the same, but La Salle would have referred 
 to Hennepin, not to Augnellc, had he known where they were. 
 
192 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 hi 
 
 Having received the blessing of the reverend 
 Father Gabriel and leave from the Sieur de la 
 Salle, and after having embraced all our men 
 who came to escort us to our place of embarking 
 Father Gabriel finishing his adieus by these words : 
 Viriliter age et confortetur cor tuujn^\ we set out 
 from Fort Crevecoeur the 29th of February, 1680, 
 and toward evening, while descending the river 
 Seignelay, we met on our way several parties of 
 Islinois returning to their village in their periaguas 
 or gondolas, loaded with meat. They would have 
 obliged us to return, our two boatmen were 
 strongly influenced, but as they would have had 
 to pass by Fort Crevecoeur, where our Frenchmen 
 would have stopped them, we pursued our way 
 the next day, and my two men afterward con- 
 fessed the design which they had entertained. 
 
 The river Seignelay on which we were sailing, 
 is as deep and broad as the Seine at Paris, and in 
 two or three places widens out to a quarter of a 
 
 fThis from " Some days after " is reproduced with some ab- 
 ridgment in the Nouv. Dec, ch. xxxv, pp. 230-240. 
 
 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 193 
 
 
 league.* It is skirted by hills, whose sides are 
 covered with fine large trees, Some of these hills 
 are half a league apart, leaving between them a 
 marshy strip, often inundated, especially in the 
 autumn and spring, but producing, nevertheless, 
 very large trees. On ascending these hills, you 
 discover prairies further than the eye can reach, 
 studded, at intervals, with groves of tall trees, 
 apparently planted there intentionally. The 
 current of the river is not perceptible, except in 
 time of great rains ; it is at all times navigable 
 for large barks about a hundred leagues,! from its 
 mouth to the Islinois village, whence its course 
 almost al'v.ays runs south by west. 
 
 On the 7th of March, we found, about two 
 leagues from its mouth, a nation called Tamaroa, 
 or Maroa, composed of two hundred families. 
 They would have taken us to their village lying 
 west of the river Colbert, six or seven leagues 
 below the mouth of the river Seignelay ; but our 
 two canoemen, in hopes of still greater gain, pre- 
 
 * One or two leagues. Margiy i, p. 478. The Nouv. Dec, 
 says at the Meuse at Namur. 
 
 11 
 
194- 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 .-^if 
 
 fcrred to pass on, according to the advice I then 
 gave them. These* last Indians seeing that we 
 carried iron and arms to their enemies, and unable 
 to overtake us in their periaguas, which arc 
 wooden canoes, much heavier than our bark one, 
 which went much faster than their boats, des- 
 patched some of their young men after us by land, 
 to pierce us with their arrows at some narrow part 
 of the river, but in vain ; for soon after discover- 
 ing the fire made by these warriors at their am- 
 buscade, we promptly crossed the river, gained 
 the other side, and encamped in an island, leaving 
 our canoe loaded and our little dog to wake us, 
 so as to embark more expeditiously, should the 
 Indians attempt to surprise us by swimming across. 
 Soon after leaving these Indians, we came to 
 the mouth of the river Seignelay, fifty leagues 
 distant from Fort Crevecceur, and aboyt a hun- 
 dred f leagues from the great Islinois village. It 
 lies between 36° and 37° J N. latitude, and 
 
 * Omitted in Margry. 
 
 f Ninety, Margry i, p. 479, ii, p. 247. 
 
 I 35° and 36°. Nouv. Dec, p. 245. 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 195 
 
 consequently one hundred and twenty or thirty 
 leagues from the gulf of Mexico. 
 
 In the angle formed on the south by this river, 
 at its mouth, is a flat precipitous rock, about forty 
 feet high, very well suited for building a fort. 
 On tb- northern side, opposite the rock, and on 
 tha west side beyond the river, are fields of black 
 earth, the end of which you can not see, all ready 
 for cultivation, which would be very advantageous 
 for the existence of a colony. 
 
 The ice which floated down from the north 
 kept us in this place till the 1 2th of March, whence 
 we continued our route, traversing J the river and 
 sounding on all sides to see whether it was navi- 
 gable. There are, indeed, three islets in the 
 middle, near the mouth of the river Seignelay, 
 which stop the floating wood and trees from the 
 north, and form several large sand-bars, yet the 
 channels are deep enough, and there is sufficient 
 water for barks ; large flat-boats can pass there at 
 all times. 
 
 X " Ascending along the river " concludes the paragraph, in 
 Margry i, p. 479. 
 
196 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 m 
 
 The River Colbert runs south southwest, and 
 comes from the north and northwest ; it runs 
 betwee>- two chains of mountains, very small 
 here, which wind with the river, and in some 
 places are j >retty far from the banks, so that be- 
 tween the mountains and the river, there are large 
 prairies, where you often see herds of wild cattle 
 browsing. In other places these eminences leave 
 semi- circular spots covered with grass or wood. 
 Beyond these mountains you discover vast plains, 
 but the more we approach the northern side 
 ascending, the earth did not appear to us so fertile, 
 nor the woods so beautiful as in the Islinois 
 country. 
 
 This great river is almost everywhere a 
 short league * in width, and in some place, two 
 leagues; it is divided by a number of islands 
 covered with trees, interlaced with so many vines 
 as to be almost impassable. It receives no con- 
 siderable river on the western side except that of 
 the Otontenta,f and another, which comes from 
 
 * " One or two leagues in width and is divided, etc." Margry 
 I, p. 479. 
 
 t Outoutanta, in Margry who omits the rest of the sentence. 
 
^ 
 
 OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 197 
 
 the west northwest, seven or eight leagues from 
 the Falls of St. Anthcny of Padua.* 
 
 On the eastern side you meet first an j- incon- 
 siderable river, and then further on another, 
 called by the Indians Onisconsin, or Misconsin, 
 which comes from the east and east-northeast. 
 Sixty leagues up you leave it, and make a portajje 
 of half a league to reach the Bay of the Puans 
 by another river which, near its sourse, meanders 
 most curiously. It is almost as broad as the river 
 Seignelay, or Islinois, and empties into the river 
 Colbert, a hundred leagues above the river 
 Seignelay. ,. 
 
 Twenty-four 'j^ leagues above, you come to the 
 Black river called by the Nadouessious, or Islati, 
 Chabadeba, or Chabaoudeba, it seems inconsider- 
 
 * After this paragraph the Nouv. Decouv. introduces the 
 voyage down the Mississippi at)i then repeats the paragraph, p. 
 313, after an introductory statement. Appendix B. 
 
 f Margry omits to " another " and has " first the river " 
 called, etc. The Nouv. Dec. has Ouisconsin, LaSalle (Margry 
 ii, p. 249) gives also the name Meschetz Odeba and mentions 
 the rock at the south and prairie north of its mouth. 
 
 I Twenty-three or twenty-four. Margry. 
 
<:; 
 
 it 
 
 198 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 able. Thirty leagues higher up, you find the 
 lake of Tears,* which we so named, because the 
 Indians who had taken us, wishing to kill us, 
 some of them wept the whole night, to induce 
 the others to consent to our death. This lake 
 which is formed by the river Colbert, is seven 
 leagues long, and about four wide ; there is no 
 considerable current in the middle that we could 
 perceive, but only at its entrance and exit.f 
 Half a league below the lake of Tears, on the 
 south side, is Buffalo river, full of turtles. It is 
 so called by the Indians on account of the 
 numbers of buffalo found there. We followed 
 it for ten or twelve leagues; it empties with 
 rapidity into the river Colbert, but as you ascend 
 it, it is always gentle and free from rapids. It is 
 skirted by mountains, far enough off in some 
 places to form prairies. The mouth is wooded on 
 * Lake Pepin. 
 
 t Margry omits down 
 
 twenty five leagues," « Issati." It makes the Lakes 
 
 Dec. has " 
 
 to "BufFalo river." The Nou\ 
 
 of Tears three leagues wide and the distance to the R 
 Wild Bulls a good league. 
 
 iver of 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 199 
 
 both sides, and is full as wide as that of the Seig- 
 nelay. 
 
 Forty leagues above is a river full of rapids, 
 by which, striking northwest, you can proceed 
 to Lake Conde, as far as Nimissakouat * river, 
 which empties into that lake. This first river 
 is called Tomb river, f because the Issati left 
 there the body of one of their warriors, killed 
 by a rattlesnake, on whom according to their cus- 
 tom, I put a blanket. This act of hu- 
 manity gained me much importance by the 
 gratitude displayed by the men of the deceased's 
 tribe, in a great banquet which they gave me in 
 their country, and to which more than a hundred 
 Indians were invited. 
 
 Continuing to ascend this river ten or twelve t 
 
 * Nemitsakouat, Margry. Nissipikouet, Nouv. Dec 
 This is probably the St. Louis of the map of the Jesuit Relation 
 of i670-'7i, marked as the way to the Sioux, sixty leagues 
 west, being nearly the distance here given by Hennepin between 
 Mille Lake and Lake Superior. 
 
 t St. Croix. 
 
 t Margry i, (p. 480,) says 80. 
 
i! 
 
 200 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 U i 
 
 leagues more, the navigation is interrupted by a 
 cataract which I called the Falls of St. Anthony 
 of Padua, in gratitude for the favors done me by 
 the Almighty through the intercession of that 
 great saint, whom we had chosen patron and 
 protector of all our enterprises. This cataract is 
 forty or fifty ''" feet high, divided in the middle 
 of its fall by a rocky island of pyramidal form.f 
 The high mountains which skirt the river Colbert 
 last only as far as the river Onisconsin, about 
 one hundred and twenty leagues ; at this place 
 it begins to flow from the west and northwest 
 without our having been able to learn from the 
 Indians, who have ascended it very far, the spot 
 where this river rises. They merely told us, 
 that twenty or thirty leagues below, \ there is a 
 second fall, at the foot of which are some villages 
 of the prairie people, called Thinthonha,^ who 
 
 * Margry says 30 or 40. The Nouv. Dec. 50 or 60, p. 313. 
 
 f Margry carries the mountains up to the falls of St. Anthony. 
 
 X For "below"' (dessous) the Nouv. Dec. has '"above" 
 (dessus). 
 
 § The Titonwan, Minnesota Hist. Coll. i, p. 297. 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 20I 
 
 live there a part of the year. Eight leagues 
 above St. Anthony of Padua's falls on the right, 
 you find the river of the Issati or Nadoussion,* 
 vi^ith a very narrow mouth, which you can ascend 
 to the north for about seventy f leagues to Lake 
 Buade or of the Issati J where it rises. We gave 
 this river the name of St. Francis. This last lake 
 spreads out into great marshes, producing wild 
 rice, like many other places down to the ex- 
 tremity of the Bay of the Puans. This kind of 
 grain grows in marshy places without any one 
 sowing it : it resembles oats, but tastes better, 
 and the stalks are longer as well as the ear. The 
 Indians gather it in due season. The women tie 
 several ears together with white wood bark to 
 prevent its being all devoured by the flocks of 
 duck and teal found there. The Indians lay in 
 
 * Rum River, 
 t fifty, Margry. 
 
 X Here the Nouv. Dec. strangely adds " where I was made 
 a slave by these savages." The lake is Mille Lake. 
 • ' 17 
 
r 
 
 2C2 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 
 a stock for part of the year, and to eat out of the 
 hunting season.* 
 
 Lake Buade, or Lake of the Issati, is situated 
 about seventy f leagues west of Lake Conde ; it is 
 impossible to go from one to the other by land on 
 account of the marshy and quaggy nature of the 
 ground ; you might go, though with difficulty 
 on the snow in snowshoes ; by water there are 
 many portages and it is a hundred and fifty 
 leagues, on account of the many turns to be 
 made. From Lake Conde, to go conveniently 
 in canoe, you must pass by Tomb river, where 
 we found only the skeleton of the Indian whom I 
 mentioned above, the bears having eaten the flesh, 
 and pulled up poles which the deceased's relatives 
 had planted in form of a monument. One of 
 our boatmen found a war-calumet beside the 
 grave, and an earthen pot upset, in which the 
 Indians had left fat buffalo meat, to assist the 
 departed, as they say, in making his journey to 
 the land of souls. 
 
 * Abridged in Margry. 
 
 f Sixty in Margry and he omits the rest of tiie paragraph. 
 
 ■■■4- 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 203 
 
 In the neighborhood of Lake Buiide are many 
 other lakes, whence issue several rivers, on the 
 banks of which live the Issati, Nadouessans, 
 Tinthonha (which means prairie-men), Ouade- 
 bathon * River People, Chongaskethon f Dog, 
 or Wolf tribe (for chonga among these nations 
 means dog or wolf), and other tribes, all which 
 we comprise under the name Nadonessiou.|" 
 These Indians number eight or nine thousand 
 warriors, very brave, great runners, and very good 
 bowmen. It was by a part of these tribes that I 
 and our two canoemen were taken in the follow- 
 ing way. 
 
 We scrupulously said our morning and evening 
 prayers every day on embarking, and the Angelus 
 at noon, adding some paraphrases on the Response 
 of St. Bonaventure, Cardinal, in honor of St. 
 
 * Onadebaton, Margry. The Warpetonwan. Minn. Hist. 
 Coll., I, p. 296. 
 
 t The Sissitonwan. Minn. Hist. Coll. i, p. 296. 
 
 J Nadouessiou is not a Dakota word, but the Chippewa 
 name for this tribe. Nadowessiwag, Baraga, Diet. p. 250. The 
 Algonquin name for the Iroquois Nadowe, Nottoway, is nearly 
 the same and probably means Cruel. 
 
204 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 Anthony of Padua. In this way we begged of 
 God to meet these Indians by day, for when they 
 discover people at night, they kill them as 
 enemies, to rob those whom they murder secretly 
 of some axes or knives which they value more 
 than we do gold and silver ; they even kill their 
 own allies, when they can conceal their death, so 
 as afterward to boast of having killed men, and 
 thus pass for soldiers.* 
 
 We had considered the river Colbert with 
 great pleasure, and without hindrance, to know 
 whether it was navigable up and down : we 
 were loaded with seven or eight large turkeys, 
 which multiply of themselves in these parts. We 
 wanted neither buffalo nor deer, nor beaver, nor 
 rish, nor bear meat, for we killed those animals 
 as they swam across the river. 
 
 Our prayers were heard when, on the nth of 
 
 * This paragraph omitted by Margry. The narrative of the 
 captivity and deliverance as given in Margry, will be found in 
 the appendix B. 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 205 
 
 April, 1680,* at two o'clock in the afternoon, 
 we suddenly perceived thirty-three bark canoes, 
 manned by a hundred and tvventy Indians, com- 
 ing down with extraordinary speed, to make war 
 on the Miamis, Islinois, and Maroha.f These 
 Indians surrounded us, and while at a distance, 
 discharged some arrows at us ; but as they ap- 
 proached our canoe the old men seeing us with 
 the calumet of peace in our hands, prevented the 
 young men from killing us. These brutal men 
 leaping from their canoes, some on land, others 
 into the water with frightful cries and yells, ap- 
 proached us, and as we made no resistance, being 
 only three against so great a number, one of 
 them wrenched our calumet from our hands, 
 while our canoe and theirs were made fast to the 
 
 * The Nouv. Decouv. says 12th. His men were cooking a 
 turkey and he was patching the canoe, p. 314. He says 50 
 canoes. La Salle in his letter ot Aug. 22, 1682, makes them 
 meet the Sioux above St. Anthony's Falls ! As Hennepin says 
 later that they had made 200 leagues since leaving the Illinois 
 Indians, and makes the Illinois camp one hundred from the 
 mouth, a like distance on the Mississippi will bring the c.ipture 
 about the Desmoines. 
 
 f Tamaroas. 
 
2o6 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 shore. We first presented them a piece of Petun 
 or French tobacco, better for smoking than theirs, 
 and the eldest among them uttered these words 
 Miamiha, Miamiha As we did not understand 
 their language, we took a little stick, and by 
 signs which we made on the sand, showed them 
 that their enemies, the Miamis whom they sought, 
 had fled across the river Colbert to join the 
 Islinois ; when then they saw themselves dis- 
 covered and unable to surprise their enemies, 
 three or four old men laying their hands on my 
 head, wept in a lugubrious tone, and I with a 
 wretched handkerchief I had left, wiped away 
 their tears. These savages would not smoke our 
 ptace-calumet. They made us cross the river 
 with great cries, which all shouted together with 
 tears in their eyes ; they made us paddle before 
 them, and we heard yells capable of striking the 
 most resolute with terror. After landing our 
 canoe and our goods, some part of which they 
 had been already stolen, we made a fire to boil 
 our kettle ; we gave them two large wild turkeys 
 that we had killed. These savages having called 
 
 t 
 
f 
 
 imi 
 
 OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 207 
 
 their assembly to deliberate on what they were 
 to do with us ; the two head chiefs of the party 
 approaching, showed us, by signs, that the 
 warriors wished to tomahawk us. This com- 
 pelled me to go to the war chiefs with one of 
 my men, leaving the other by our property, and 
 throw into their midst six axes, fifteen knives, 
 and six fathom of our black tobacco, then bowing 
 down my head, I showed them, with an axe, 
 that they might tomahawk us, if they thought 
 proper. This present appeased several individuals 
 among them, who gave us some beaver to eat, 
 putting the three first mors.^ls in our mouth 
 according to the custom of the country, and 
 blowing on the meat which was too hot, before 
 putting their bark dish before us, to let us eat as 
 we liked ; we spent the night in anxiety, because 
 before retiring at night, they had returned us our 
 peace-calumet. Our two canoemen were, how- 
 ever, resolved to sell thtir lives dearly, and to 
 resist if attacked ; they kept their arms and 
 swords ready. As for my own part, I deter- 
 mined to allow myself to be killed without 
 
« t 
 
 ': i 
 
 r 
 
 208 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 i ■ 
 
 ■ 
 
 any resistance, as I was going to announce to 
 them a God, who had been falsely accused, 
 unjustly condemned, and cruelly crucified, with- 
 out showing the least aversion to those who put 
 him to death. In our uncertainty, we watched 
 one after the other, so as not to be surprised 
 asleep. 
 
 In the morning, April 12th,* one of their cap- 
 tains named Narrhetoba, with his face and bare 
 body smeared with paint, asked me for our peace- 
 calumet, filled it with tobacco of his country, 
 made all his band smoke first, and then all the 
 others who plotted our ruin. He then gave us 
 to understand that we must go with them to 
 their country, and they all turned back with us ; 
 having thus broken off their voyage. I was not 
 sorry in this conjuncture + to continue our dis- 
 coveries with these people. But the greatest 
 trouble I had was, that I found it difficult to say 
 mv office;]; before these savages, many of whom 
 
 * Nouv. Decouv. p. 319 has 13th. 
 
 t " Conjecture " in the text. 
 
 I Daily portion of the Breviary which priests have to read. 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 209 
 
 seeing me move my lips said, in a fierce tone, 
 Ouackanche ; ''' and as we did not know a word 
 of their language, we believed that they were 
 angry at it. Michael Ako, all out of counte- 
 nance, told me, that if I continued to say my 
 breviary we should all three be killed, and the 
 Picard begged me at least to conceal myself for 
 my devotions, so as not to provoke them further. 
 I followed the latter's advice, but the more I 
 concealed myself, the more I had the Indians at 
 my heels, for when I entered the wood, they 
 thought I was going to hide some goods under 
 ground, so that I knew not on what side to turn 
 to pray, for they never let me out of sight. This 
 obliged me to beg pardon of my two canoemen, 
 assuring them that I ought not dispense with 
 saying my office, that if we were massacred for 
 that, I should be the innocent cause of their 
 death, as well as of my own. By the word 
 Ouakanche, thes" savages meant that the book I 
 was reading was a spirit ; but by their gesture 
 * Wakan-de. This is wonderful. Minn. Hist. Coll., i p. 
 308. 
 
 i 
 
 \ 
 
 i 
 
It; 
 
 2IO 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 ^ 1 
 
 
 they nevertheless showed a kind of aversion, so 
 that to accustom them to it, I chanted the Litany 
 of the Blessed Virgin in the canoe with my book 
 open. They thought that the breviary was a 
 spirit which taught me to sing for their diversion, 
 for these people are naturally fond of singing. 
 
 The outrages done us by these Indians during 
 our whole route were incredible, for seeing that 
 our canoe was much larger and more heavily 
 laden than theirs (for they have only a quiver 
 fnll of arrows, a bow, and a wretched dressed 
 skin, to serve two as a blanket during the night, 
 which was still pretty cold at that season, always 
 going north), and that we could not go faster than 
 they, they put some warriors with us to help us 
 row, to oblige us to follow them. These Indians 
 sometimes make thirty or forty leagues by water, 
 when at war and pressed for time, or anxious to sur- 
 prise some enemy. Those who had taken us were 
 of different villages and of different opinions as to 
 us ; we cabined every night by the young chief 
 who had asked for our peace-calumet, and put 
 ourselves under his protection ; but jealousy arose 
 
mam 
 
 OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 211 
 
 among these Indians, so that the chief of the 
 
 party named Aquipaguetin, one of whose sons 
 
 had been killed by the Miamis, seeing that he 
 
 could not avenge his death on that nation which 
 
 he sought, turned all his rage on us. He wept 
 
 through almost every night him he had lost in 
 
 war, to oblige those who had come out to av6nge 
 
 him, to kill us and seize all wc had, so as to be 
 
 able to pursue his enemies ; but those who liked 
 
 European goods were much disposed to preserve 
 
 us, so as to attract other Frenchmen there and 
 
 get iron, which is extremely precious in their 
 
 eyes ; but of which they knew the great utility 
 
 only when they saw one of our French canoemen 
 
 kill three or four wild geese or turkeys at a single 
 
 gun shot, while they can scarcely kill even one 
 
 with an arrow. In consequence, as we afterward 
 
 learned, that the words Manza Ouackange,* 
 
 mean " iron that has understanding," and so these 
 
 nations called a gun which breaks a man's bones, 
 
 while their arrows only glance through the flesh 
 
 * Hennepin uses the French nasals. In the nutation now 
 adopted it is Maza Wakande, that is " The supernatural metal." 
 Minn. Hist. Socy., i p. 308. Rigg's Dakota Diet., p. 138. 
 
 MMHme!Hr^t>,-v 
 
M 
 
 u 
 
 : ( 
 
 « ^ w 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 they pierce, rarely breaking the bones of those 
 whom they strike, and consequently producing 
 wounds more easily cured than those made by 
 our European guns, which often cripple those 
 whom they wound. 
 
 We had some design of proceeding down to 
 the mouth of the river Colbert, which more 
 probably empties into the gulf of Mexico than 
 into the Red sea ; but these tribes that seized us, 
 gave us no time to sail up and down this river. 
 
 We had made about two hundred leagues f by 
 water since our departure from the Islinois, and 
 wc sailed with these Indians who took us during 
 nineteen days, sometimes north, sometimes north- 
 west, according to the direction which the river 
 took. By the estimate which we formed, since 
 that time, we made about two hundred and fifty 
 leagues, or even more on Colbert river ; for these 
 Indians paddle with great force, from early in 
 the morning till evening, scarcely stopping to eat 
 
 f This clause of course is omitted in the Nouv. Decouveite. 
 The Red Sea, in Spanish Mar Bermejo, was the Gulf of Cali- 
 fornia. Compare this clause with the conclusion of the volum e . 
 
 m 
 
 ^i. 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 213 
 
 during the day. To oblige us to keep up with 
 them, they gave us every day four or five men to 
 increase the paddling of our little vessel, which 
 was much heavier than theirs. Sometimes we 
 cabined when it rained, and when the weather 
 was not bad, we slept on the ground without any 
 shelter. We had all the time to contemplate 
 the stars and the moon when it shone. Not- 
 withstanding the fatigue of the day, the youngest 
 of these Indian warriors danced the calumet to 
 four or five of their chiefs till midnight, and the 
 chief to whom they went, sent a warrior of his 
 family in ceremony to those who sang, to let them 
 in turn smoke his war calumet, which is distin- 
 guished from the peace- calumet by different 
 feathers. The end of this kind of pandemonium 
 was terminated every day by two of the youngest 
 of those who had had relations killed in war ; 
 they took several arrows which they presented by 
 the points all crossed to the chiefs, weeping 
 bitterly ; they gave them to them to kiss. Not- 
 withstanding the force of their yelling, the fatigue 
 of the day, the watching' by night, the old men 
 
 ■■.i'r^hj^'^^^''r^-:^^'^^^--r^-*'- ■'v^-:.^';s--;f;H-^ ■ 
 
 -M-ftii-'n-T' ii- i''iiiiTf"iii«i^i'rtiifiaitili1Mthirt 
 
<'•!'' 
 
 2 14- 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 'ii: 
 
 m 
 
 -i 
 
 IHi 
 
 ir 
 
 almost all awoke at daybreak for fear of being 
 surprised by their enemies. As soon as dawn 
 appeared one of them gave the cry, and in an 
 instant all the warriors entered their bark canoes, 
 some passing around the islands in the river to 
 kill some beasts, while the most alert went by 
 land, to discover whether any enemy's fire was 
 to be seen. It was their custom always to take 
 post on the point of an island for safety sake, 
 for their enemies have only periaguas, or wooden 
 canoes, in which they cannot sail as fast as they 
 do, on account of the weight of their craft. Only 
 northern tribes have birch to make bark canoes ; 
 the southern tribes who have not that kind of 
 tree, are deprived of this great convenience. The 
 result is that birch bark wonderfully facilitates the 
 northern Indians in going from lake to lake, and 
 by all rivers to attack their enemies, and even 
 when discovered, they are safe if they have time 
 to get into their canoes, for those who pursue 
 them by land, or in periaguas, cannot attack or 
 pursue them quickly enough.* 
 
 *■ The Nouv. Decouv. p. 328, here introduces a paragraph 
 on Indian ambuscades. 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 215 
 
 During one of these nineteen days of our very 
 jpainful navigation, the chief of a band by name 
 Aquipaguetin, resolved to halt about noon in a 
 large prairie ; having killed a very fat bear, he 
 gave a feast to the chief men, and after the repast 
 all the warriors began to dance. Marked in the 
 face, and all over the body, with various colors, 
 each being distinguished by the figure of different 
 animals, according to his particular taste or in- 
 clination ; some having their hair short and full 
 of bear oil, with white and red feathers ; others 
 besprinkled their heads with the down of birds 
 which adhered to the oil. All danced with their 
 arms akimbo, and struck the ground with their 
 feet so stoutly as to leave the imprint visible. 
 While one of the sons of the master of ceremo- 
 nies, gave each in turn the war-calumet to smoke, 
 he wept bitterly. The father in a doleful voice, 
 broken with sighs and sobs, with his whole body 
 bathed in tears, sometimes addressed the warriors, 
 sometimes came to me, and put his hands on my 
 head, doing the same to our two Frenchmen, 
 sometimes he raised his eyes to heaven and often 
 
 I! 
 
 i I 
 
 mm 
 
r •( ■. 
 
 m 
 
 i 
 
 Hi} 
 
 ' ' ''.\ 
 
 z 
 
 I- 
 
 . 
 
 
 2l6 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 Uttered the word Louis, which means sun, com- 
 plaining to that great luminary of the death of 
 his son. As far as we could conjecture this cer- 
 emony tended only to our destruction ; in fact, 
 the course of time showed us that this Indian had 
 often aimed at our life ; but seeing the opposition 
 made by the other chiefs who prevented it, he 
 made us embark again, and employed other 
 devices to get by degrees the go^ds of our canoe- 
 men, not daring to take them openly, as he 
 might have done, for fear of being accused by 
 his own people of cowardice, which the bravest 
 hold in horror. 
 
 This wily savage had the bones of some im- 
 portant deceased relative, which he preserved with 
 great care in some skins dressed and adorned with 
 several rows of black and red porcupine quills ; 
 from time to time he assembled his men to give 
 it a smoke, and he made us come several days in 
 succession to cover the deceased's bones with 
 goods, and by a present wipe away the tears he 
 had shed for him, and for his own son killed by 
 the MJamis. To appease this captious man, we 
 
 ;/ 
 
 ! 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 ♦■■■ 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 217 
 
 threw on the bones of the deceased several 
 fathoms of French tobacco, axes, knives, beads, 
 and sottie black and white wampum bracelets. 
 In this way the Indian stripped us under pretexts, 
 which we could not reproach him with,^as he 
 declared that what he asked was only for the de- 
 ceased, and t(i give the warriors. In fact, he dis- 
 tributed among them all that we gave him. By 
 these feints he made us believe that being a chief, 
 he took nothing for himself, but what we gave 
 him of our own accord. We slept at the point 
 of the lake of Tears, which we so called from 
 the weeping and tears which this chief shed there 
 all night long, or which were shed by one of his 
 sons, whom he caused to weep when tired him- 
 self, in order to excite his warriors to compassion, 
 and oblige them to kill us and pursue their ene- 
 mies to avenge his son's death. 
 
 These Indians at times sent their best runners 
 
 by land to chase the herds of wild cattle on the 
 
 water side; as these animals crossed the river, 
 
 they sometimes killed forty or fifty, merely to 
 
 18 
 
■I ■■ 
 
 •.:|'l 
 
 t 
 
 . m 
 
 
 III 
 
 n 
 
 /I 
 
 >■ .1 
 
 'I 
 
 
 2l8 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 take the tongue, and most delicate morsels, leav- 
 ing the rest with which they would not burthen 
 themselves, so as to travel more rapidly. We 
 sometimes indeed eat good pieces, but without 
 bread, wine, or salt, and without spice or other 
 seasoning. During our three years' * travels we 
 had lived in the same way, sometimes in plenty, 
 at others compelled to pass twenty-four hours, 
 and often more, without eating ; because in 
 these little bark canoes you cannot take much of 
 a load, and with every precaution you adopt, you 
 are, for most part of the time, deprived of all 
 necessaries of life. If a religious in Europe un- 
 derwent as many hardships and labors, and prac- 
 tised abstinences like those we were often obliged 
 to suffer in America, no other proof would be 
 needed for his canonization. It is true that we 
 did not always merit in such cases and if we suffered 
 it was only because we can not help it. 
 
 During the niglit some old men came to weep 
 piteously, often rubbing our arms and whole 
 
 * The Nouvelle Decouv., p. 334, has "durinr; the four years 
 of iieaily twelve that I remained in Ameiica." 
 
 i 
 
 ''/ 
 
 snanan 
 
T 
 
 j 
 
 or- LOUISiMN.\, 
 
 2 19 
 
 bodies with their hands, which they then put on 
 our head. Besides being hindered from sleeping 
 by these tears, I often did not know what to 
 think, nor whether these Indians wept because 
 some of their v/arriors would have killed us, or 
 whether they wept out of pure compassion at the 
 ill treatment shown us. 
 
 On another occasion, Aquipaguetin relapsed 
 into his bad humor : he had so gained most of 
 the warriors that one day when we were unable 
 to encamp near Narhetoba, who protected us, we 
 were obliged to go to the very end of the camp, 
 these Indians making it appear to us, that this 
 chief insisted positively on killing us. We accord- 
 ingly drew from a box twenty knives and some 
 tobacco, which we angrily flung down amid 
 the malcontents; the wretch regarding all his 
 soldiers one after another hesitated, asking their 
 advice, whether to ref ise or take our present ; and 
 as we bowed our head and presented him with an 
 axe to kill us, the young chief who v/as really or 
 pretendedly our protector took us by the arm, 
 and all in fury led us to his cabin. One of his 
 

 i •' 
 
 llli 
 
 ■ 
 
 i 
 
 \ 
 
 ) 
 
 
 if 
 
 
 
 220 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 brothers taking some arrows, he broke them all 
 in our presence, showing us by this action, that 
 he prevented their killing us. 
 
 The next day they left us alone in our canoe, 
 without putting in any Indians to help us, as they 
 usually did ; all remained behind us. After four 
 or five leagues sail another chief came to us, made 
 us disembark, and pulling up three little piles of 
 grass, for us to sit upon, he took a piece of cedar 
 full of little round holes in one of which he put 
 a stick, which he spun round 'between the two 
 palms of his hands, and in this way made fire to 
 light the tobacco in his great calumet. After 
 weeping some time, and putting his hands on my 
 head, he gave me his peace-calumet to smoke, 
 and showed us that we should be in his country 
 in six days. 
 
 Having arrived on the nineteenth day of our 
 navigation five leagues below the Falls of St. 
 Anthony, these Indians landed us in a bay and 
 assembled to deliberate about us. They distri- 
 buted us separately, and gave us to three heads of 
 families in place of three of their children who 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 221 
 
 had been killed in war. They first seized all our 
 property, and broke our canoe to pieces, for fear 
 we should return to their enemies. Their own 
 they hid all in some alders to use when going to 
 hunt; and though we might easily have reached 
 their country by water, they compelled us to go 
 sixty leagues by land, forcing us to march from 
 daybreak to two hours after nightfall, and to swim 
 over many rivers, while these Indians, who are 
 often of extraordinary height, carried our habit 
 on their head ; and our two canoemen, who were 
 smaller than myself, on their shoulders, because 
 they could not swim as I cou'd. On leaving the 
 water, which was often full of sharp ice, I could 
 scarcely stand ; our legs were all bloody from the 
 ice which we broke as we advanced in lakes which 
 we forded, and as we eat only once in twenty- 
 four hours some pieces of meat which these 
 barbarians grudgingly gave us, I wa; > weak 
 that I often lay down on the way, resolved to die 
 there, rather than follow these Indians who 
 marched on and continued their route with a 
 celerity which surpasses the power of Euro- 
 
( 
 
 Br ■ 
 i 
 
 o o o 
 
 *>• ^ A« 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 
 % 
 
 I 
 
 n 
 
 \ 
 
 h-':. 
 
 peans. To oblige us to hasten on, they often set 
 fire to the grass of the prairies where we were 
 passing, so that we had to advance or burn. I 
 had then a hat which I reserved to shield me 
 from the burning rays of the sun in summer, but 
 I often dropped it in the flames which we were 
 obliged to cross. 
 
 As we approached their village, they divided 
 among them all the merchandise of our two 
 canoemen,* and were near killing each other for 
 our roll of French tobacco, which is very pre- 
 cious to these tribes, and more esteemed than 
 gold among Europeans. The more humane 
 showed by signs that they would give many 
 beaver-skins for what they took. The reason of 
 the violence was, that this party was made up 
 from two different tribes, the more distant of 
 whom, fearing lest the others should retain all 
 the goods in the first villages which they would 
 have to pass, wished to take their share in ad- 
 vance. In fact, some time after they offered 
 peltries in part payment ; but our canoemen would 
 
 * Margry, i p. 482. See Appendix B. 
 
 Si 
 
 iinfflto 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 223 
 
 not receive them, until they gave the full value 
 of all that had been taken. And in course of 
 time I have no doubt they will give entire satis- 
 faction to the French, whom they will endeavor 
 to draw among them to carry on trade. 
 
 These savages also took our brocade chasuble, 
 and all the articles of our portable chapel, except 
 the chalice, which they durst not touch ; for 
 seeing that glittering silver gilt, they closed their 
 eyes, saying that it was a spirit which would kill 
 
 them.* They also broke a little box with lock 
 and key, after telling me, that if I did not break 
 
 the lock, they would do so themselves with 
 sharp stones ; the reason of this violence was that 
 from time to time on the route, they could not 
 open the box to examine what was inside, having 
 no idea of locks and keys ; besides, they did not 
 care to carry the box, but only the goods which 
 were inside, and which they thought more numer- 
 ous but they found only books and papers. 
 
 After five days' march by land, suffering hunger, 
 thirst, and outrages, marching all day long with- 
 
 * Margiy i, p. 482, Nouv. Decouverte, p. 344. 
 
 

 224. 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 7, 
 
 I 
 
 4. 
 
 r 
 
 n 
 
 out rest, fording lakes and rivers, we descried a 
 number of women and children coming to meet 
 our little army. All the elders of this nation 
 assembled on our account, and as we saw cabins, 
 and bundles of straw hanging from the posts of 
 them, to which these savages bind those whom 
 they take as slaves, and burn them ; and seeing 
 that they made the Picard du Gay sing, as he 
 held and shook a gourd full of little round 
 pebbles and seeing his hair and face were filled 
 with paint of different colors, and a tuft of white 
 feathers attached to his head by the Indians, we 
 not unreasonably thought that they wished to kill 
 us, as they performed many ceremonies, usually 
 practised, when they intend to burn their enemies. 
 The worst of it was, too, that not one of us three 
 could make himself understood by these Indians ; 
 nevertheless, after many vows, which every Chris- 
 tian ought to make in such straits,* one of the 
 principal Issati chiefs gave us his peace-calumet 
 to smoke, and accepted the one we had brought. 
 He then gave us some wild rice to eat, presenting 
 * " Conjectures" in text, for " conjonctures." 
 
 IM 
 
 SSE9P' 
 
 MMHliMM 
 
 a 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 225 
 
 it to us in large bark dishes, which the Indian 
 women had seasoned with whortleberries, which 
 are black berries that they dry in the sun in 
 summer, and are as good as currants.=^ After 
 this feast, the best we had had for seven or eight 
 days, the heads of families who had adopted us 
 instead of their sons killed in war, conducted us 
 separately each to his village, marching through 
 marshes, knee deep in water, for a league, after 
 which the five wives of the one who called me 
 Mitchinchi,f that is to say, his son, received us 
 in three bark canoes, and took us a short league 
 from our starting place to an island where their 
 cabins were. 
 
 On our arrival, which was about the Easter 
 
 * " Our Flemings call them in their lanfruagc Clakehesien." 
 Nouv. Decouv., p. 347. It then says there was a great con- 
 test between Aquipaguetin and the rest in regard to them 
 Aquapaguetin succeeded, gave him the calumet to smoke, 
 adopted him as his son, while Nar hetoba and another took away 
 the canoemen. The Picard du Gay went to confession but 
 it adds " I should have been charmed to see Michael Ako in 
 similar dispositions," p. ^48. Compare Gravier, Illinois Re- 
 lation, p. 20. Jesuit 1 Recollect agreeing as to Ako. 
 
 t Not \\y the Nouv. Dec. 
 
 iMfiirrrtiiiirii 
 
 iniwiiiTiimfiii'i 
 

 l!)- 
 
 I'' 
 
 226 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 1 1 ? 
 
 ft 
 
 n 
 
 Jii 
 
 ; t -'f 
 
 holidays in the year 1680,* one of these Indians 
 who seemed to me decrepid with age, gave me 
 a large calumet to smoke, and weeping bitterly, 
 rubbed my head and arms, showing his com- 
 passion at seeing me so fatigued, that two men 
 were often obliged to give me their hands to help 
 me to stand up. There was a bearskin near the 
 fire, on which he rubbed my thighs, legs and the 
 soles of my feet with wild-cat oil. 
 
 Aquipaguetin's son, who called me his brother, 
 paraded about with our brocade chasuble on his 
 bare back, having rolled up in it a dead man's 
 bones, for whom these people had a great venera- 
 tion. The priest's girdle made of red and white 
 wool, with two tassels at the end, served him for 
 braces, carrying in triumph what he called 
 
 Pere Louis Chinnien,f which means, as I after- 
 *This is somewhat vague; Easter Sunday, in 1680, fell on 
 the 2ist of April ; he was taken on the I ith of April, traveled 
 nineteen days in canoe, and five by land, which brings him to 
 the 5th of ^ y. The Nouv. Dec, says, that he arrived at the 
 beginning of May, and enters into long explanations. 
 
 f Shinna or Shina, a blanket. Rigg's Dakota Diet., p. 189. 
 Shinna or Shinnan means a buffalo robe. iMinn. Hist., Coll. 
 I, p. 3J0. 
 
 it' 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 227 
 
 wards ascertained " the robe of him who is called 
 the sun." After these Indians had used this cha- 
 suble as an ornament to cover the bones of their 
 dead in their greatest ceremonies, they presented 
 it to some of their allies, tribes situated about five 
 hundred ''^ leagues west of their country, who 
 had sent them an embassy and danced the calumet. 
 
 The day after our arrival, Aquipaguetin, who 
 was the head of a large family, covered me with 
 a robe made of ten large dressed beaver-skins,f 
 trimmed with porcupine quills. This Indian 
 showed me five or six of his wives, telling them, 
 -IS I afterward learned, that they should in future 
 regard me as one of their children '^ He set 
 before me a bark dish full of fish, and ordered all 
 those assembled, that each should call me by the 
 name I was to have in the rank of our new rela- 
 tionship; and seeing that I could not rise from 
 the ground but by the help of two persons, he 
 
 *Four or five hundred. Nouv. Dec, p. 352. 
 
 t Dressed buffalo belly skins, Nouv. Dec, p. 352, and adds 
 that he gave him one of ten beaver skins. The wives become 
 six or seven. 
 
 J Nouv. Voy. (Voy. au Nord., v. p. 284.) 
 
 me^Miatilatmai 
 
 fga^ttrnmntitm 
 
 ■ I ' ii V<- .. I.^i lh» i < > I 
 
 ^SnSSSaSc 
 
I 
 
 n. 
 
 if 
 
 f 
 
 !! ■' r 
 
 228 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 had a sweating cabin made, in which he made 
 me enter quite naked with four Indians who all 
 tied the end of their yard with white wood bark 
 before beginning to sweat. This cabin he cov- 
 ered with buffalo-skins, and inside in the middle 
 he put stones heated to a red heat. He made me 
 a sign to do like the others before beginning to 
 sweat, but I merely concealed my nakedness with 
 a handkerchief As soon as these Indians had sev- 
 eral times drawn their breath very violently, he 
 began to sing in a thundering voice, theothers sec- 
 onded him, all putting their hands on my body, and 
 rubbing me, while they wept bitterly. I began to 
 faint, but I came out of the cabin, andcould scarcti^ 
 take my habit to put on. When he had made 
 me sweat thus three times in a week, I felt as 
 strong as ever. 
 
 I often spent wretched hours among these 
 cavages; for, besides their only giving me a little 
 wild rice and smoked fish roes to eat five or six times 
 week, which they boiled in water in earthen 
 pots, Aquipaguetin took me to a neighboring 
 island with his wives and children to till the 
 
 [^iSBS!^^ 
 
 ii jMig i JJJL '^Hf ^ 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 229 
 
 ground, in order to sow some tobacco seed, and 
 seeds of vegetables that I had brought, and which 
 this Indian prized extremely. Sometimes he 
 assembled the elders of the village, in whose 
 presence he asked me for a compass that I always 
 had in my sleeve ; seeing that I made the needle 
 turn with a key, and believing justly that we 
 Europeans went all over the habitable globe, 
 guided by this instrument, this chief, who was 
 very eloquent, persuaded his people that we were 
 spirits, and capable of doing anything beyond their 
 reach. At the close of his address, which was 
 very animated, all the old men wept over my 
 head, admiring in me what they could not under- 
 stand. I had an iron pot with three lion feet 
 which these Indians never dared touch, unless 
 their hand was wrapped up in some robe. The 
 women had it hunii^ to the branch of a tree, not 
 daring to enter the cabin where this pot was. 
 I was some time unable to make myself under- 
 stood by these people, but feeling myself gnawed 
 by hunger, I began to compile a dictionary of 
 their language by means of their children, with 
 
 ' fe 
 
230 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 ■!,i 
 
 whom I made myself familiar, in order to learn. 
 As soon as I could catch the word Taketchi- 
 abihen,* which means in their language, " How 
 do you call that," I became, in a little while, 
 able to converse with them on familiar things. 
 At first, indeed, to ask the word run in their 
 language, I had to quicken my steps from one 
 end of their large cabin to the other. The chiefs 
 of these savages seeing my desire to learn, often "j* 
 made me write, naming all the parts of the human 
 body, and as I would not put on paper certain 
 indelicate words, about which these people have 
 no scruples, it afforded them an agreeable amuse- 
 ment among themselves. They often put me 
 questions, but as I had to look at my paper, to 
 answer them, they said to one another : " When 
 we ask Pere Louis (for so they had heard our 
 two Frenchmen call me), he does not answer 
 
 * Talcn kapi he, Minn. Hist. Coll., i p. 311. Takn kipan 
 he. Riggs' Dakota Diet., p. 130, 194. 
 
 \ " Often said to me f^atchhon egagah'c^ that is to say : Spirit 
 you take great pains, put black on the white." Nouv. Decouv., 
 P< 359? (Pi-'rliaps, wotehike, trouble ; icagopi, mark. Riggs' 
 Diet., p. 334, 310.) 
 
 ■1:1 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 231 
 
 US ; but as soon as he has looked at what is white 
 (for they have no word to say paper), he answers 
 us, and tells us his thoughts ; that white thing," 
 said they, " must be a spirit which tells Pere 
 Louis all we say." They concluded that our two 
 Frenchmen had not so much intelligence as I, 
 because they could not work like me on what 
 was white. In consequence the Indians believed 
 that I could do everything ; when the rain fell 
 in such quantities as to incommode them, or pre- 
 vent their going to hunt, they told me to stop it ; 
 but then I knew enough to answer them by 
 pointing to the clouds, that he who was great 
 chief of heaven, was master of everything, and 
 that what they bid me do, did not depend on me. 
 These Indians often asked me how many wives 
 and children I had, and how old I was, that is, 
 how many winters, for so these nations always 
 count. These men, never illumined by the light 
 of faith, were surprised at the answer I made 
 them ; for pointing to our two Frenchmen whom 
 I had then gone to visit three leagues trom our 
 village, I told them that a man among us could 
 
 mm 
 
 
 mftaim 
 
 mm 
 
 i^SSSBBSSSBBi 
 
I 
 
 232 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 i 
 
 
 have only one wife till death ; that as for me, I 
 had promised the Ma^tev of life to live as they 
 saw me, and 10 come and dwell with them to teach 
 them * that he would have them be like the 
 French ; that this great Master of life had sent 
 down fire from heaven, and destroyed a nation 
 given to enormous crimes, like those committed 
 among them. But that L^ross people till then, 
 lawless and faithless, turned all I said into ridicule. 
 " How," said they, " would you have those two 
 men with you get wives ? Our women would 
 not live with them, for they have hair all over 
 the face, and we have none there or elsewhere."+ 
 In fact, they were never better pleased with me, 
 than when I was shaved ; and from a complais- 
 ance certainly not criminal, I shaved every week. 
 All our new kinsfolk seeing that I wished to 
 leave them, made a packet of beaver skins worth 
 more than six hundred livres among the French. 
 
 * From this to " abundant country " is omitted in the Nouv. 
 Decouverte. 
 
 f Brother Sagard, a Recollect like Hennepin, but whose 
 works Hennepin seems not to have used, gives a similar remark 
 as made by the Hurons. Histoire. du Canada, p. 377. 
 
 3 
 
 m 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 233 
 
 These peltries they gave me to induce me to re- 
 main among them, to introduce me to strange 
 nations that were coming to visit them, and in 
 restitution for what they had robbed me of; but 
 I refused these presents, telHng them that I had 
 not come among them to gather beaver-skins, 
 but only to make known to them the will of the 
 great Master of life, and to live wretchedly with 
 them, after having left a most abundant country. 
 " It is true," said they, " that we have no game 
 in these parts, and that you sp'fer, but wait till 
 summer, then we will go and kill buffalo in the 
 warm country." I should have been satisfied had 
 they fed me as they did their children, but they 
 eat secretly at night unknown to me. Although 
 women are, everywhere more kind and com- 
 passionate than men, they gave what little 
 fish they had to their children, regarding me as 
 a slave made by their warriors in their enemies' 
 country, and they reasonably preferred their 
 children's lives to mine. 
 
 There were some old men who often came to 
 19 
 
? 
 
 I 
 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 ; 
 
 ■ 
 
 23 + 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 weep over my head in a sighing voice, one saying, 
 " my grandson," another, " my nephew, I feel sorry 
 to see you without eating, and to learn how badly 
 our warriors treated you on the way ; they are 
 young braves, without sense, who would have killed 
 you, and have robbed you of all you have. Had 
 you wanted buffalo or beaver-robes, we would 
 wipe away your tears, but you will have nothing 
 of what we offer you." 
 
 Ouasicoude, that is, the Pierced-pine,* the 
 greatest of all the slati chiefs, being very indig- 
 nant at those who had so maltreated us, said, in 
 open council, that those who had robbed us of 
 all we had, were like hungry curs that stealthily 
 
 snatch a bit of meat from the bark , and then 
 
 fly ; so those who had acted thus toward us, de- 
 served to be regarded as dogs, since they insulted 
 men who brought them iron and merchandise, 
 which they had never had for their use; that he 
 would find means to punish the one who had so 
 
 * Wazilcute, The Shooter of the Pines. Minn. Hist. Coll., 
 i p. 316. Long in 1823, met a Dakota at Red Wing who bore 
 this same name. Long's Travels. Wazi, pine ; Icutc, to shoot. 
 Riggs' Dakota Diet. pp. 239, 134. 
 
 ,: 
 
 hESh^S 
 
 -.-Sr«4£BH 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 235 
 
 outraged us. This is what the brave chief showed 
 to all his nation, as we shall see hereafter. 
 
 As I often went to visit the cabins of these last 
 nations, I found a sick, child, whose father's name 
 was Mamenisi ; having a moral certainty of its 
 death, I begged our two Frenchmen to tell me 
 their opinions, informing them I believed myself 
 obliged to go and baptize it. Michael Ako would 
 not accompany me, the Picard du Gay alo*- ^ 
 followed me to act as sponsor, or rather as witness of 
 the baptism.* I christened the child Antoinette in 
 honor of St. Anthony of Padua, as well as from 
 the Picard's name which was Anthony Auguellc. 
 He was a native of Amiens, and a nephew of Mr. 
 de Cauroy, procurator -general of the Premon- 
 stratensians,"-' both now at Paris. Having poured 
 natural .water on the head of this Indian child, 
 and uttered these words : " Creature of Go*:!, I 
 baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of 
 the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," I took half an 
 altar cloth which I had wrested from the hands 
 
 * And attei wards Abbot of Bcaulieu. Nouv. Decouv., p. 
 365. Margry i p. 478, mentions the Picard's being at Pisar. 
 
11 J I 
 
 
 * i 
 "'I 
 
 236 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 of an Indian who had stolen it from me, and put 
 it on the body of the baptized child ; for as I 
 could not say mass for want of wine and vest- 
 ments, this piece of linen could not be put to a 
 better use, than to enshroud the first Christian 
 child among these tribes. I do not know 
 whether the softness of the linen had refreshed 
 this newly baptized one because she was smiling 
 the next day in her mother's arms, who believed 
 that I had cured her child, but she died soon 
 after to my great consolation.* 
 
 During our stay among the Issati or Nadou- 
 es iou, we saw Indians who came as ambassadors 
 from about five hundred leagues to the west. 
 They informed us that the Assenipovalacs f were 
 then only seven or eight days distant to the north- 
 east of us ; all the other known tribes on the 
 west and north-west inhabit immense plains and 
 
 liries abounc 
 
 prai 
 
 ing 
 
 peltri( 
 
 ♦ He expatiates on this subject in the Nouv. Decouv., p. 
 367, as he does on Michael Ako's religious indifterence. 
 
 f Assiniboins. 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 237 
 
 they are sometimes obliged to make fires with 
 buffalo dung, for want of wood.* 
 
 TLreemonthsf after, all these nations assembled, 
 and the chiefs having regulated the places for 
 hunting the buffalo, they dispersed in several 
 bands so as not to starve each other, Aquipa- 
 quetin, one of the chiefs, who had adopted me as 
 his son, wished to take me to the west with about 
 two hundred families ; I made answer that I 
 awaited spirits (so they called Frenchmen), at the 
 river Oiiiscousin, which empties into the river 
 Colbert, who were to join me to bring them 
 merchandise, and that if he chose to go that way, 
 I would continue with him ; he would have gone 
 there but for those of his nation. In the be- 
 ginning of July, 1680, we descended in canoe 
 
 I This paragraph is in Margry i, p. 483. See Appendix B. 
 The Nouv. Dccouv., says they were four moons on the way 
 without stopping and knew no strait liice that of Anian, or sea, 
 p. 369. He enters into details of what they saw and offers to 
 accompany an English or Dutch expedition and reach the 
 Pacific bv the riven he discovered. 
 
 I 
 
 I Two months, Nouv. Decouv., p. 374. 
 
I 
 
 f 
 
 238 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 southward with the great chief named Ouasi- 
 coude,* that is to say, the Pierced-pine, with about 
 eighty cabins, composed of more than a hundred 
 and thirty iamilies, and about two hundred and 
 fifty warriors. Scarcely would the Indians give 
 me a place in their little craft, for they had only 
 old canoes. They went four days' journey lower 
 down to get birch bark t' make some more. 
 Having made a hole in the ground to hide our silver 
 chalice and our papers till we returned from the 
 hunt, and keeping only our breviary, so as not to 
 be burthensome, I stood on the bank of a lake 
 formed by the river we had called by the name of 
 St. Francis, and stretched out my hand to the canoes 
 as they rapidly passed in succession; our French- 
 men also had one for themselves, which the 
 Indians had given them ; they would not take me 
 in, Michael Ako saying that he had taken me long 
 enough to satisfy him. I was much hurt at this 
 
 * In the Nou •. Voy. (Voy. au Nord., v. p. 286, this chie 
 is said to have adopted Hennepin as a brother. His power was 
 absolute, and was actiuircd by valor in war against seventeen or 
 eighteen hostile tribes. 
 
 T^H 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 239 
 
 answer, seeing myself thus abandoned by * Chris- 
 tians, to whom I had always done good, as they 
 both often acknowledged ; but God having never 
 abandoned me in that painful voyage, prompted two 
 Indians to take me in their very small canoe, where 
 I had no other employment than to bale out with a 
 little bark platter the water which entered by little 
 holes. This I did not do without getting all wet. 
 This boat might, indeed, be called a coffin, trom 
 its lightness and fragility. This kind of canoe 
 does not generally weigh over tifty pounds ; the 
 least motion of the body upsets them, unless you 
 are long habituated to that kind of navigation. 
 On dis-mbarking in the evening, the Picard, as 
 an excuse, told me that their canoe was half 
 rotten, and that, had we been three in it, we 
 should have run a great risk of remaining on the 
 way. Notwithstanding this excuse I told hin, 
 that being Christians, they should never act so, 
 especially among savages, more than eight hundred 
 
 * The Nt»uv. Dec, has caiioemsn or some similar term to 
 avoid the word French, bat here says "men of m/ o,v.i naiion 
 and religion," p. 376. 
 
{ 
 
 240 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 11 
 
 Ji 
 
 leagues from the French settlements ; that if they 
 were well received in this country, it was only 
 in consequence of my bleeding some asthmatic 
 Indians, and my giving some orvietan ■•' and other 
 remedies which I kept in my sleeve, and by 
 which I had saved the lives of some of these 
 Indians who had been bit by rattlesnakes, and 
 because I had neatly shaved their tonsure, which 
 Indian children wear to the age of eighteen or 
 twenty, but have no way of making it themselves 
 except by burning the hair with flat stones heated 
 red hot. I reminded them that by my ingenuity 
 I had gained the friendship of these people, who 
 would have killed us or made us suiler more, had 
 they not discovered about me those remedies 
 which they prize, when they restore the sick to 
 health. However, the Picard only, as he retired 
 to his host's, apologised to me.f 
 
 * An antidote for poison said by some to have been invented 
 by Orvistano an Italian. 
 
 f According to the Nouv. Decouv., Ouasicoude was indig- 
 nant and was going to punish and even kill Hennepin's com- 
 panions for their treatment of him. 
 
 't 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 241 
 
 Four days after our departure for the buffalo 
 hunt, we hahed eight leagues above the Falls of 
 St. Anthony of Padua on an eminence opposite 
 the mouth of the river St. Francis ; here the 
 Indian women made their canoe frames, while 
 waiting for tnose who were to bring bark to make 
 canoes. The young men went to hunt stag, deer, 
 and beaver, but killed so few animals for such a 
 large party, that wc could very rarely get a bit of 
 meat, having to put up with a broth once in every 
 twenty-four hours. The Picard and myself went 
 to look for haws, gooseberries, and little wild 
 fruit, which often did us more harm than good 
 when we ate them ; this obliged us two to go 
 alone, as Michael Ako refused, in a wretched 
 canoe to Oviscousin* river, which was more than 
 a hundred f leagues off, to see whether the sieur 
 de la Salle had not sent to that place a reinforce- 
 ment of French men, \ ith powder, lead, and other 
 
 * Wisconsin. 
 f One hundred and thirty. Nouv. Dec, p. 382. 
 
 i Wl>i|WH I. " WI. «>l l'««g'-'>' 
 
'it 
 
 I 
 
 
 \\ 
 
 
 242 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 munitions, as he had piomised us on our departure 
 from the Islinois.* 
 
 The Indians would not have suffered this voy- 
 age, had not one of the three remained with them ; 
 they wished me to stay, but Michael Ako abso- 
 lutely refused. Our whole stock was fifteen 
 charges of powder, a gun, a wretched little earthen 
 pot which the Indians had given us, a knife, and 
 a beaver robe, to travel about two hundred f 
 leagues, thus abandoning ourselves to Providence. 
 As we were making the portage of our canoe at 
 the Falls of St. Anthony of Padua, we perceived 
 five or six of our Indians who had taken the start ; 
 one of whom had cli ubed an oak opposite the 
 great fall where he was weeping bitterly, with a 
 well-dressed beaver robe, whitened inside and 
 trimmed with porcupine quills which this savage 
 was offering as a sacrifice to the falls, which is in 
 itself admirable and frightful. I heard him while 
 shedding copious tears say, addressing this great 
 cataract : " Thou who art a spirit, grant that 
 
 * He mentions this arrangement with La Salle. Nouv. Dec, 
 pp. 375 and 382. It is also in Margry's Rel., ii, p. 257. 
 f Two hundred and fifty. Nouv. Dec, p. 383. 
 
J' ,! 
 
 OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 243 
 
 the men of our nation may pass here quietly 
 without accident, that we may kill buffalo in 
 abundance, conquer our enemies, and bring slaves 
 here, some of whom we will put to death * before 
 thee; the Messentcqr.f (so they call the tribe 
 named by the French Outouagamis), have killed 
 our kindred, grant that we may avenge them." 
 In fact, after the heat of the buffalo-hunt, they 
 invaded their enemies' country, killed some, and 
 brought others as slaves. If they succeed a 
 single tim., even after repeated failures, they ad- 
 here to their superstition. This robe offered in 
 sacrifice served one of our Frenchmen, who took 
 it as we returned.|' 
 
 A league be'.ow the Falls of St. Anthony of 
 P:idua, the Picard was obliged to land and get his 
 
 * " After making them sufFer greatly." Nouv. Decouv., p. 
 
 384- 
 
 t Riggs in his Dakota Diet., p. 34, gives " Besdeke, the Fox 
 Indians." If Hennepin's qz. was the old fashioned contraction 
 for que, the word is almost identical except in the first letter. 
 
 X Parkman, Discovery, p. 246, makes this an offering to 
 Oanktayhee, the principal deity of the Sioux, who was supposed 
 to live under these falls. See Carver. 
 
T 
 
 
 I 
 ;f 
 
 
 i 
 
 rl 
 
 i- 
 
 I 
 
 m 
 
 ill 
 
 244 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 powder-horn which he had left at the falls. On 
 his return, I showed him a snake ahout six feet * 
 long crawling up a straight and preciptous moun- 
 tain and which gradually gained on some swallow's 
 nests to eat the young ones ; at the foot of the 
 mountain, we saw the feathers of those he had 
 apparently eaten, and we pelted him down with 
 stones. 
 
 As we descended the river Colbert, we found 
 some of our Indians cabined in the islands, loaded 
 with buffalo-meat, some of which they gave us, 
 and two hours after our landing, fifteen or sixteen 
 warriors of the party whom we had left above the 
 Falls of St. Anthony of Padua, entered tomahawk 
 in hand, overthrew the cabin of those who had 
 invited us, took all the meat and bear's oil that 
 they found, and greased themselves with it from 
 head to foot ; we at first took them to be enemies, 
 but one of those who called himself my uncle, 
 told me, that having gone to the buffalo-hunt 
 before the rest, contrary to the maxims of the 
 country, any one had a right to plunder them, 
 
 * In the Nouv. Dec, p. 385, seven or eight feet. 
 
;j 
 
 OP LOUISIANA. 
 
 245 
 
 because tlity put the buftaloes to flight before the 
 arrival of the mass of the nation. 
 
 During sixty leagues that we sailed down the 
 river, we killed only one deer, swimming across, 
 but the heat was so great that the meat spoiled 
 in twenty-four hours. This made us look tor 
 turtles, which we found hard to take, as their 
 hearing is so acute, that as soon as they hear the 
 least noise, they jump quickly into the water. 
 We, however, took one much larger than the 
 rest, with a thinner shell and fatter meat. While 
 I was trying to cut off his head, he all but cut off 
 one of my fingers. We had drawn one end of 
 our canoe ashore, when a violent gust of wind 
 drove it into the middle of the great river ; the 
 Picard had gone with a gun into the prairie to 
 try and kill a buffalo ; so I quickly pulled off our 
 habit, and threw it on the turtle with some stones 
 to prevent its escaping, and swam after our canoe 
 which went very fast down the stream, as the current 
 was very strong at that point. Having reached 
 it with much difliculty, I durst not git in for fear 
 of upsetting it, so I either pushed it before me. 
 
 
T 
 
 
 rr 
 
 246 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 or drew it after me, and thus little by little reached 
 the shore about one eighth of a league from the 
 place where I had the turtie. The Picard finding 
 only our habit, and not seeing the canoe, naturally 
 believed that some Indian had killed me. He 
 retired to the prairie to look all around whether 
 there were no people there. Meanwhile I re- 
 mounted the river with all diligence in the canoe, 
 and had just put on my habit, when I saw more 
 than sixty buffalo crossing the river to reach the 
 south lands ; I pursued the animals, calling the 
 Picard with all my might ; he ran up at the 
 noise and had time to reenter the canoe, while the 
 dog which had jumped into the water had driven 
 them into an island. Having given them chase 
 the^e, they were crossing back when he shot one, 
 which was so heavy that we could get it ashore 
 only in pieces, being obliged to cut the best 
 morsels, while the rest of the body was in the 
 water. And as it was almost twice twenty-four 
 hours since we had eaten, we made a fire with 
 the drift-wood we often found on the sand ; and 
 while the Picard was skinning the animal, I 
 
 I 
 
 3^' it 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 247 
 
 cooked the pieces of this fat meat in our little 
 earthen pot ; we eat it so eagerly that we both 
 fell sick, and had to stay two days in an island 
 to recover. VVe could not take it uch of the 
 meat witl us, our canoe was so small, and besides 
 the excessive heat spoiled it, so that we were all 
 at once deprived of it, as it was full of worms ; 
 and when we embarked in the morning, we did 
 not know what we should eat during the day. 
 Never have we more admired God's providence 
 than during this voyage, for we did not always 
 find deer, and could not kill them when we 
 would ; but the eagles, which are very common 
 in these vast countries, scMiietimes dropped from 
 their claws bream, or large carp, which they were 
 carrying to their nests. Another time we found 
 an otter on the bank of the river Colbert eating 
 a large fish, which had, running from the head, 
 a kind of paddle or beak,'^' five fingers broad and 
 a foot and a half long, which made our Picard 
 say, that he thought he saw a devil in the paws 
 of that otter : but his fright did not prevent our 
 * The spade fish. 
 
 
II ti w •" ^ in* 
 
 ill 
 
 ^ 
 
 k 
 n' 
 
 !' 
 
 u\ 
 
 if 
 
 % 
 
 i'l 
 
 248 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 ^ 
 
 eating this monstrous ftsh which we found very 
 good. 
 
 While seeking the Oviscousin river, Aquipag- 
 uetin, that savage father, whom I had left, and 
 whom we believed more than two hundred 
 leagues away, suddenly appeared with ten warriors, 
 on the I ith * of July, 1680. We believed that 
 he was coming to kill us, because we had left 
 him, with the knowledge indeed of the other 
 Indians, but against his will. He first gave us 
 some wild-rice, and a slice of buffalo-meat to eat, 
 and asked whether we had found the Frenchmen 
 who were to bring us goods ; but not being sat- 
 isfied with what we told him, he started before us, 
 and went himself to Oviscousin to try and carry 
 off what he could from the French; this savage 
 found no one there, and came and rejoined us 
 three days after. The Ficard had gone in the 
 prairies to hunt, and I was alone in a ittle cabin 
 on the bank of the river, which I had made to 
 screen us from the sun, with a blanket that an 
 Indian had given me back. Aquipaguetin seeing 
 
 • About the middle. Nouv. Dec, p. 395. 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 249 
 
 me alone came up, tomahawk in hand : I laid 
 hold of two pocket-pistols, which the Picard had 
 got back from the Indians, and a knife, not in- 
 tending to kill this would be Indian father of 
 mine but only to frighten him, and prevent his 
 crushing me, in case he had that intention. 
 Aquipaguetin reprimanded me for exposing my- 
 self thus to the insults of their enemies, saying 
 that I should at least take the other bank of the 
 river for greater safety. He wished to take me 
 with him, telling me that he was with three hun- 
 dred hunters, who killed more buffalo than those 
 to whom I had abandoned myself I would have 
 done well to follow his advice, for the Picard 
 and myself ='= ascending the river almost eighty 
 leagues on the way, ran great risk of perishing a 
 thousand times. 
 
 We had only ten charges of powder left which 
 we were obliged to divide into twenty to kill 
 wild pigeons, or turtle-doves ; but when these 
 
 * According to the Nouv. Dccouv. p. 396, they kept on to 
 the Wisconsi 1, but not finding La Salle's men, sailed up again, 
 as is implied here. 
 20 
 
 I i 
 
■is 
 
 i 1 ! 
 
 ! 
 
 250 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 at last gave out we had recourse to three hooks, 
 which we baited with bits of putrid cattish 
 dropped by an eagle. For two whole days we 
 took nothing, and were thus destitute of all sup- 
 port when, during night prayer, as we were re- 
 peating these words addressed to St. Anthony of 
 Padua, 
 
 " Pereunt pericula, cessat et necessitas," 
 
 the Picard heard a noise, left his prayers, and ran 
 to our hooks which he drew from the waters 
 with two catfish so large that I had to go and 
 help him.* Without cleaning the slime from 
 these monstrous fish we cut them in pieces, and 
 roasted them on the coals, our only little earthen 
 pot having been broken. Two hours after night- 
 fall, Mamenisi, the father of the little Indian 
 girl, that I had baptized before she died, joined 
 us and gave us buffalo meat at discretion. 
 
 The next day the Indians whom we had left 
 with Michael Ako, came down fromf Buffalo 
 
 * In the Nouv. Decouv p. 398, they first took a small turtle, 
 and took the cattish after reaching BulTalc liver. 
 
 t Instead of" "from" the Nouv. Dec, has " this." 
 
 I, 
 
 (* 
 
 I , 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 251 
 
 river with their flotilla of canoes loaded with 
 meat. Aquipaguetin had, as he passed, told how 
 exposed the Picard and I had been while on our 
 voyage, and the Indian chiefs represented to us the 
 cowardice of Michael Ako, who had refused to 
 undertake it, for fear of dying by hunger. And 
 had I not stopped him, the Picard would have 
 insulted him. 
 
 All the Indian women hid their stock of meat 
 at the mouth of Buffalo river, and in the islands, 
 and we again went down the river Colbert about 
 eighty leagues way to hunt with this multitude of 
 canoes; from time to time the Indians hid their 
 canoes on the banks of the river and in the is- 
 lands ; then struck into the prairies seven or 
 eight leagues beyond the mountains, where they 
 killed, at different times, as many as a hundred and 
 twenty buffaloes.. They always left some of 
 their old men on the tops of the mountains to be 
 on the lookout for their enemies. One day when 
 I was dressing the foot of one who called him- 
 self my brother, and who had run a splinter deep 
 into his foot, an alarm was given in the camp, 
 
rs's^'wfw 
 
 fi 
 
 
 ! i' 
 
 I 
 
 I » 
 
 'i 
 
 252 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 two hundred bowmen ran out ; and that brave 
 Indian, although I had just made a deep incision 
 in the sole of his toot to draw out the wood, which 
 had been driven in, left me and ran even faster 
 than the rest, not to be deprived of the glory of 
 righting, but instead i-f enemies, they found only 
 abouteightystags,which took flight, 'ihe wounded 
 man could scarcely regain the camp. During 
 this alarm, all the Indian women sang in a lugu- 
 brious tone. The Picard left me to join his host, 
 and I remaining with one called Otchimbi, was 
 subjected to carrying in my canoe an Indian woman 
 more than eighty years old. For all her great age, 
 this old woman threatened to strike with her 
 paddle three children who troubled us in the 
 middle of our canoe. The men treated me well 
 enough, but as the meat was almost entirely at 
 the disposal of the women, I was compelled, in 
 order Ko get some, to make their children's ton- 
 sures about as large as those worn by our religious, 
 for these little savages wear them to the age of 
 fifteen or sixteen, and their parents make them 
 with red hot stones. 
 
 * I' 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 253 
 
 We had another alarm in our camp : the old 
 men on duty on the top of the mountains an- 
 nounced that they saw two * warriors in the 
 distance; all the bowmen hastened there with 
 speed, each trying to outstrip the others ; but 
 they brought back only two women of their own 
 nation, who came to report that a party of their 
 people who were hunting near the extremity of 
 Lake Cond6, had found five spirits (so they call 
 the French) ; who, by means of one of their 
 slaves, had expressed a wish to come on, 
 knowing us to be among them, in order to find 
 out whether we were English, Dutch, Spaniards, 
 or Frenchmen, being unable to understand how 
 we could have reached those tribes by so wide a 
 circuit. 
 
 On the 25th f of July, 1680, as we were 
 ascending the river Colbert after the buffalo-hunt, 
 to the Indian villages we met the Sieur de Luth, 
 
 * Omitted in Nouv. Dec. 
 
 f Nouv. Dec, p. 407, says 28th., Du L'hut confirms 
 Hennepin's account ; and the Jesuit Father Rafteix in 1688, 
 refers to it as a fact. See Appendix, C, Du L'hut, gives no 
 date. He makes hi» party four. 
 
 ■■. uu-V ' ^:^ — 
 

 -■»■». »-»-.-».— ^ — «> , ...^ . J l . »TS^WH 
 
 
 254- 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 .^ I,: 
 
 ij;l i, 
 
 I ' 
 
 ^ •' 
 
 •<l 
 
 
 who came to the Nadoussious, with five French 
 soldiers ; they joined us about two hundred and 
 twenty leagues distant from the country of the 
 Indians who had taken us;"-' as we had some 
 knowledge of their language, they begged us to 
 accompany them to the villages of those tribes, 
 which I did readily, knowing that these French- 
 men had not approached the sacraments for two 
 years. The Sieur de Luth, who acted as captain, 
 seeing me tired of tonsuring the children, and 
 bleeding asthmatic old men to get a mouthful of 
 meat, told the Indians that I was his elder 
 brother, so that, having my subsistence secured, 
 I labored only for the salvation of these Indians. 
 We arrived at the villages of the Issati on the 
 14th of August, 1680. I found our chalice and 
 our papers still there which I had hidden in the 
 ground ; the tobacco which I had planted, had 
 
 * This would make him meet de L'hut's party some where 
 below the Illinois, according to his description of the river. In 
 the Nouvelle Decouvertc, p. 408, he says, one hundred and 
 twenty which would bring it just below the Wisconsin. In an 
 account in the appendix it became one hundred and fifty leagues. 
 De L'hut himself says eighty leagues below the St. Croix, that 
 is about the mouth of Black River. 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 255 
 
 been choked by the weeds ; the turnips, cabbages, 
 and other vegetables were of extraordinary size. 
 The Indians durst not eat them. During our 
 stay, they invited us to a feast where there were 
 more than a hundred and twenty men all naked. 
 The first chief,* a relative of the one whose body 
 I had covered with a blanket, brought me a bark 
 dish of food which he put on a buffalo-robe, 
 dressed, whitened, and trimmed with porcupine 
 quills on one side, and the curly wool on the 
 other. He afterward put it on my head, saying : 
 " He whose body thou didst cover, covers thine ; 
 he has borne tidings of thee to the land of souls. 
 Noble was thy act in his regard ; all the nation 
 praises thee for it." He then reproached the 
 Sieur du Luth, for not having covered the de- 
 ceased's body, as I did. He replied that he 
 covered only those of captains like himself; but 
 the Indian answered, " Pere Louis is a greater 
 captain than you for his robe (meaning our bro- 
 cade chasuble), which we have sent to our allies, 
 
 * Ouasiconde Nouv. Decouv., p. 4U. 
 
 i i 
 
 ^ ' 
 
 ' 1-1 
 
;%s-x«ra.'*n 
 
 SRR 
 
 f 
 
 256 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 ro- 
 il 
 
 ■i 
 
 i'l 
 
 who dwell three moons from this country, is 
 more beautiful than that which you wear."'" 
 
 Toward the end of September, having no im- 
 plements to begin an establishment, we resolved 
 to tell these people, that for their benefit, we 
 would have to return to the French settlements.f 
 The great chief of the Issati, or Nadouessiouz 
 consented, and traced in pencil on a paper I gave 
 him, the route we were to take for four hundred 
 leagues of the way. With this chart, we set out, 
 eight Frenchmen, in two canoes, and descended 
 the rivers St. Francis and Colbert. Two of our 
 men took two beaver-robes at the Falls of St. 
 Anthony of Padua, which these Indians had hung 
 in sacrifice on the trees ^' 
 
 We stopped near Ouscousin river to smok^ 
 some meat; three Indians coming from the 
 nations we had left, told us that their great chief 
 
 ♦ The Nouv. Dec, explains that this means three months, 
 and reckons 15 leagues a day's march. 
 
 t The Nouv. Dec, details the deliberations, pp., 413-6. 
 
 I The Nouv. Dec, pp. 417-20, gives details as to a quarrel 
 about these robes between Du L'hut and the men. Accault 
 remained in the Sioux country. La Salle, lettre Aug. 22, 1682. 
 
 if 
 

 OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 257 
 
 named the Pierced-pine, having heard that one of 
 the chiefs of his nation wished to pursue and kill 
 us, had entered his cahin and tomahawked him, 
 to prevent his pernicious design. We regaled 
 these three Indians with meat, of which we 
 were in no want then. 
 
 Two days after, we perceived an army of one 
 hundred and forty canoes, filled with about two 
 hundred and fifty warriors; we thought that 
 those who brought the preceding news were 
 spies, for instead of descending the river on 
 leaving us, they ascended to tell their people. 
 The chiefs of this little army visited us and 
 treated us very kindly, the same day they de- 
 scended the river aid we kept down to 
 Ouscousin.* We found that river as wide as the 
 Seignelay with a strong current. After sailing 
 up sixty t leagues, we came to a portage of half 
 a league, which the Nadonessiouz chief had 
 marked for us ; we slept there to leave marks 
 
 * In the Nuuv. Dec, Father Hennepin saves the party by 
 hifi calun'iet. 
 
 t Seventy. Nouv. D6c., p. 427. 
 
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 and crosses on the trunks of the trees.* The 
 next day we entered a river which winds won- 
 derfully, for after six hour's sailing, we found 
 ourselves opposite the place where we had em- 
 barked. One of our men wishing to kill a swan 
 on the wing, capsized his canoe, fortunately he 
 touched bottom. 
 
 We passed four lakes, two of them pretty large, 
 on the banks of which the Miamis formerly lived* 
 we found Maskoutens, Kikapous, andOutaougamy 
 there, who plant Indian corn for their subsistence. 
 All this country is as fine as that of the Islinois. 
 
 We made a portage at a rapid called the 
 Cakalin, and after about four hundred leagues 
 sail from our leaving the country of the Issati, 
 and Nadouessious, we arrived safely at the ex- 
 tremity of the bay of the Puans, where we found 
 Frenchmen trading with the Indians f contrary 
 
 to orders. They had some little wine in a pewter 
 
 * This was the route taken by Marquette. The Kakalin 
 
 rapid had been explored by Allouez, and mentioned in the Rel. 
 
 i669-'70. 
 
 t This was the Jesuit mission at Green Bay. Tidings of 
 Hennepin's safe arrival there, reached La Salle through the 
 Outagamis or Foxes in March, 1681. Margry i, p. 530. 
 Hennepin here wrote to La Salle. Margry ii, p. 259. 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 259 
 
 flagon, which enabled me to say mass ; I had 
 then only a chalice and altar stone ; but Provi- 
 dence supplied me with sacerdotal vestments, 
 for some Islinois flying tVom the tyranny of the 
 Iroquois, who had destroyed a part of their nation, 
 took the vestments of the chapel of Father 
 Zenobius Membre, Recollect, who was with the 
 Islinois in their flight. These savages gave me 
 all, except the chalice, which they promised 
 to restore in a few days for a present of tobacco. 
 
 I had not celebrated holy mass for over nine 
 months for want of wine; I had still some altar 
 breads. We remained two days to rest, sing the 
 Te Deum, high mass, and preach. All our 
 Fienchmen went to confession and communion, 
 to thank God for having preserved us ami J so 
 many wanderings and perils. 
 
 One of our Frenchmen gave a gun for a canoe 
 larger than ours, with which, after sailing a 
 hundred leagues in the Bay of the Puants, we 
 reached Missilimakinac, where we were obliged 
 to winter. To employ the time usefully, I 
 
 preached every holyday, and on the Sundays of 
 
^mmsmmmmmmmmm 
 
 i\ 
 
 
 11 
 
 ^ 
 
 260 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 Advent and Lent.* The Outtaouctz and Hurons 
 were often present,*}* rather from curiosity than 
 from any inclination to live according to our 
 Christian maxims. These last Indians said, to 
 us speaking of our discovery, that they were men, 
 but that we Frenchmen were spirits, because, 
 had they gone so far as we had, the strange nations 
 would have killed them, while we went fearlessly 
 everywhere. 
 
 During this winter, we took whitefish in Lake 
 Orleans, in twenty or twenty-two fathoms water. 
 They served to season the Indian corn, which 
 was our usual fare. Forty-two Frenchmen who 
 were there trading with these Indians all begged 
 me to give them the cord of St. Francis, which I 
 readily did, making an exhortation at each 
 ceremony. 
 
 We left Missilimakinac in Easter week, 
 
 * The Nouv. Decouv., p. 435, tells us that he enjoyed, dur- 
 ing the winter, the hospitality of Father Picrson, a Jesuit and a 
 fellow-townsmen of his own. 
 
 ■j- In a church covered with flags and some boards which the 
 Canadians had built. Nouv. Dec, p. 434. 
 
'f : 
 
 OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 261 
 
 1681,'^' and were obliged to drag our provisions 
 and canoes on the ice, more than ten leagues on 
 Lake Orleans ; having advanced far enough on 
 this fresh water sea, and the ice breaking, we 
 embarked after the solemnity of Low Sunday, 
 which we celebrated, having some little wine 
 which a Frenchman had fortunately brought, 
 and which served us very usefully the rest of the 
 voyage. After a hundred leagues way on Lake 
 Orleans, we passed the strait for thirty leagues 
 and Lake St. Clare, :)" which is in the middle and 
 entered Lake Comty, where we killed, with sword 
 and axe, more than thirty sturgeon which came 
 U) spawn on the banks of the lake. On the way 
 
 we met an Outtaouact chief called le Talon, six 
 
 * Du L'luit says March 29, 1681, see Appendix C. His 
 rescue of Hennepin is attested by Raft'eix's Map, where that 
 Jesuit Father says : Mr. Du Lude who first was among the 
 Sioux or Nridouesiou in 1678, and who was near the source of 
 the Mississippi, and who then came to rescue F. Louis, who 
 had been taken prisoner among the Sioux. Harrisse, Notes, 
 p. 181, 208. La Salle's letter and Margry's Rel. deny any 
 captivity. 
 
 t This name is now written St. Clair, but we should either 
 retain the French form Claire, or take the English Clare. It 
 received its name in honor of the founder of the Franciscan 
 nuns, from the fact that La Salle reached it on her day. 
 
■t 
 
 •— — =SS!-S^^HHB»B 
 
 262 
 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 
 I 
 
 persons of whose family had died of starvation, 
 not having found a good fishery or hunting-ground. 
 This Indian told us that the Iroquois had carried 
 off a family of twelve belonging to his tribe, and 
 begged us to deliver them, if yet alive. 
 
 We sailed along Lake Conty, and after a hun- 
 dred and twenty * leagues we passed the strait of 
 the great falls of Niagara, and Fort Comty, and 
 entered Lake Frontenac. We proceeded along 
 the southern shore some thirty leagues from Fort 
 Comty, to the great Seneca village about the 
 Whitsuntide holidays in the year 1681. We 
 entered the Iroquois council and asked them, why 
 th^y had enslaved twelve of our Outtaouactz allies, 
 telling them that those whom they had taken, 
 were children of the governor of the French, as 
 well as the Iroquois, and that by this violence, 
 they declared war on the French. To induce 
 them to restore our allies, we gave them two 
 belts of wampum. 
 
 The next day the Iroquois answered us by two 
 
 * Nouv. Dec, p 443 has 140. He gives an extended de- 
 scription of the Fal. ivhich will be found in our appendix. 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 263 
 
 Other wampum belts, that the Outtaouactz had 
 been carried off by some mad young warriors ; 
 that we might assure the governor of the French, 
 that the Iroquois would hearken to him in all 
 things ; that they wished to live with Onnontio 
 like real children with their father (so they call 
 all the governors of Canada^, and that they would 
 restore those whom they had taken. 
 
 A chief named Teganeot, who spoke for his 
 whole nation in all the councils, made me a 
 present of otter and, beaver-skins, to the value of 
 over twenty-five =i= crowns. I took it with one 
 hand, and gave it with the other to his son, 
 telling him that I presented it to him to buy goods 
 of the other Frenchmen ; that as for us, Barefeet 
 as the Iroquois call us, we would receive 
 neither beaver nor furs, that I would assure the 
 Governor of the French of their good will; this 
 Iroquois chief was surprized at my refusal of his 
 present, and told the people of his tribe that the 
 other French did not act so. We took leave of 
 the most influential men and proceeded after 
 * Nouv. Dec, p. 461 has 30. 
 
264 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 abcut eighty leagues navigation on this lake, to 
 Fort Frontenac where the dear Recollect Father 
 Luke was very much surprised to see me, for it 
 had been currently reported for two years that 
 the Indians had hung me with our cord of St. 
 Francis, All the settlers French and Indian, 
 whom we had attracted to Fort Frontenac, gave 
 me an extraordinary welcome, rejoicing at my 
 return, the Indians calling me Otkon,-f^ laying 
 their hand on their mouth, which means to say 
 " Barefoot is a Spirit, to have made so long a 
 journey." 
 
 At the mouth of Lake Frontenac the current 
 is strong, and increases in velocity as you 
 descend. The rapids are frightful. In two days 
 and a half we descended this river St. Lawrence, 
 with so much speed that we reached Montreal, 
 which is sixty leagues from the said fort,j" where 
 the Count de Frontenac, Governor General of all 
 New France then was. This Governor received 
 me as well as a man of his probity can receive a 
 
 * Atkon, a demon, a spirit. Bruyas, Racines, p. 36. 
 f In less than two days. Nouv. Dec, p. 470. 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 265 
 
 missionary, as he believed me killed, by the Indians, 
 he was for a time thunderstruck, believing it to be 
 some other Religious.* He beheld meextenuated, 
 without a cloak, in a habit patched with bits of 
 buffalo skin. He took me with him for twelve 
 days to recruit me, and himself gave me the 
 meat I was to eat, in the fear he experienced ,at 
 I might fall sick, by eating too much after such 
 long fasts. 
 
 I made him an exact report of my voyage, and 
 showed him the advantages to result from our 
 new discovery.j- 
 
 * Nouv. Dec, p. 471, says Frontenac mistook Hennepin for 
 h.s chaplain, Father Luke Fiilatre, or a Recollect from Virginia, 
 " where we have English Recollects." 
 
 t The Nouv. Dec, p. 473, says he concealed his voyage 
 down from Frontenac as his two ! canoemen did, because they 
 would have been punished for making it against the ordinance 
 and their furs would have been seized. It states, p. 474, that 
 du L'hut remained among the Ottawas, and that in a letter to 
 Frontenac, the date of which is not given, he said that he had 
 been unable to learn any tidings of Father Hennepin, his 
 canoemen or their voyage. He states that while descending to 
 Quebec with Count Frontenac, he met Bishop Laval near the 
 river leading to Fort Champlain. 
 21 
 

 266 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 I 
 
 While I was recruiting at Mr. dc Frontenac's 
 table, he received letters from Father Zenobius 
 Membre, Recollect, whom I had left in the 
 Illinois, who informed him that the progress of 
 our discovery was interrupted by the Iroquois, 
 and by an inexplicable fatility of some French- 
 men who had abandoned Fort Crcvecoeur, that 
 the commandant, the Sieur de Tonty, had left 
 that post to go to the villages of the Islinois for 
 Indian corn, and that during his absence, all the 
 French whom he had left at that fort had de- 
 serted and abandoned the Recollect Father 
 Gabriel, who remained alone on the bank of the 
 river Seignelay till an Islinois, who was returning 
 from the hunt took the good old man to his village. 
 The Sieur de la Salle before returning to Fort 
 Frontenac had left the Miamis perfectly united 
 with the Islinois, but the Iroquois who are 
 cunning people, men of war and of deep designs, 
 gained the Miamis by presents, which was 
 accomplished just about the time that the French 
 who had abandoned us at the Islinois, had taken 
 refuge among the Miamis; the next Autumn * 
 ♦ Sept. 12, 1680, Nouv. Dec, p. 479. 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 267 
 
 the Iroquois with about eight hundred men armed 
 with guns joined the Miamis and tell upon the 
 Islinois who had only bows and arrows to defend 
 themselves. The noise of the Iroquois guns so 
 alarmed them, that these men who are great 
 runners, took flight towards the river Colbert ; 
 in this confusion, it was not difficult for the 
 Iroquois, joined to the Miamis, to carry off 
 about eight hundred slaves, including women and 
 young boys. These cannibals ate on the spot some 
 old Islinois men,' and burned several others, who 
 were not strong enough to follow them to the 
 country of the Iroquois, a journey of more than 
 rour hundred leagues. 
 
 A little before the great onset of these savage^ 
 some young Iroquois warriors, seeing the Sieur 
 de Tonty, v/ho had remained among the Islinois, 
 with Fathers Gabriel and Zenobius, Recollects, 
 and two other young PVenchmen, rushed upon 
 
 upor 
 
 um, 
 
 taki 
 
 m 
 
 iim 
 
 for 
 
 an enem^ 
 
 They g 
 
 ave hnn 
 
 a stab with a knife, the point fortunately meet- 
 ing a rib ; but the older Iroquois recognizing 
 him as a Frenchman, separated them, and seeing 
 
 J 
 
 i 
 
■>ka»«wah..;£^ 
 
 268 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 ' 
 
 him slightly wounded, made him a present of a 
 wampum belt, in the Indian fashion, to heal his 
 wound, and wipe away his tears, assuring the two 
 Recolleccs that they did not wish to kill the 
 children of Onnontio, that is, the Governor of 
 the French ; they asked from them a p-pcr, in 
 order to testify on their return to the whole 
 French nation, the sincerity of their intention. 
 They made the French embark to return to 
 Canada, The Reverend Father Gabriel, Recol- 
 lect, seeing the canoe loaded wrln beaver, threw 
 several to the Iroquois, giving them to understand, 
 that he was not there to amass furt ; their canoe 
 breaking, the French were forced to land about 
 eight leagues from the Islinois and light a fire in 
 order to repair it. Father Gabriel retired a little 
 way into the prairie to say his breviary, A panic 
 having seized the Sieur de Tonty, who thought 
 he had the Iroquois at his heels, he made Father 
 Zenobius and the two young Frenchmen embark 
 with such precipitation, that he crossed from one 
 bank of the Seignelay river to the other, which is 
 wide at this point, and left that good old man on 
 
 if 
 
4 
 
 OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 269 
 
 the other bank, doing nothing but fire a gun 
 about eight o'clock in the evening as a signal, 
 but in vain. Father Zenobius wrote to the 
 Reverend Father Valentine le Roux, Commissary 
 Provincial of the Recollects in Canada, that he 
 had implored the -^ieur de Tonty not to embark 
 without Father Gabriel, and that he had replied, 
 that if he did not embark who would answer for 
 him to the Governor of the country. Father 
 Zenobius not having vigor enough or words 
 sufficiently strong to persuade the Sieur de Tonty 
 to wait a little, he was forced to follow him, 
 although they perceived no enemies. The next 
 day they crossed the river to the spot where they 
 had left him, they saw foot prints in the grass of 
 those beautiful plains, and not finding that good 
 old man who undoubtedly was looking for them, 
 the Sieur de Tonty took up his route for Canada 
 by way of the Bay of the Puants. 
 
 We have subsequentl) learned by investigations 
 made by order of the Count de Fronteimc, Gov- 
 ernor of Canada, that the Onnontaguez Iroquois * 
 
 ■^ The Nouv. Dec , p. 494-5, and La Salle, Margry ii, p. 
 124, makes F. Gabriel killed by a band of Kickapoos. In the 
 proceedings against the deserters, Margry ii, p. 103, Petit Bleo 
 and Boisdardenne were accused of deserting F. Gabrie . 
 
 X ' mi^ ' lLtliUiKlU » ' .-!J.Hj.J| I I I |. ■ I L — 
 
r 
 
 ji) 
 
 ■ ^ji» i ^ ipCiSPvff 
 
 i{ 
 
 
 fl I: 
 
 a' I.' 
 
 'ill 
 
 f 
 
 f! I) 
 
 i;i ■ 
 
 }i: 
 
 270 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 seeing the French canoe abandon this old man, 
 
 hid in the grass, fearing the guns which the 
 
 French might have disch rged at them, and as 
 
 the canoe moved away, they advanced stealthily 
 
 and tomahawked that man of (lod, whom we 
 
 can style the Apostle of Louisiana. 
 
 Our Recollect Fathers informed me last year 
 
 from New France, that the Islinois after their 
 
 defeat, pursued in Lireat haste after the Iroquois 
 
 who were all returning home triumphant, and 
 
 that they found the body of Father Ciabriel with 
 
 his habit, that they carried him to their villages 
 
 and buried him in their manner, doing honor to 
 
 him who had gone among them to preach the 
 
 faith to them, and for their consolation. Others 
 
 have wished to assure us that the Kikapous had 
 
 killed him and carried off his habit of Saint 
 
 Francis to the village of the Miamis ; but the 
 
 Count de Frontenac will give us all authentic 
 
 information on his return. 
 
 Notwithstanding * all to traverse our plans, we 
 
 * From furt Champlaiii, he went down to Quebec in a 
 gayly painted canoe belonging to Count Frontenac, paddled by 
 two of his guards. He proceeded at once to the Recollect 
 convent to confer with F. Valentine le Roux, his Commissary 
 Provincial. Nouv. Dec, p. 501. He charges this Father 
 with copying his voyage down the Mississippi (p. 505). 
 
OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 271 
 
 i 
 
 have been more than eight hundred leagues be- 
 yond the capital of New France, where I was 
 for nearly eight months a slave among the Issati, 
 and the Sieur de la Salle has succeeded in build- 
 ing three barks, the last two of which one- 
 of about fifty tons and the other of eighty, are dis- 
 tant from one another nearly five hundred lea- 
 gues, — in advancing in canoes beyond the three 
 great lakes which are fresh water seas, and in 
 pursuing his enterprise with Fathers Luke Brisset, 
 Zenobiiis Membre, Recollects, and about fifty 
 men. 
 
 They wrote me this year (1682), from New 
 France, that the Sieur de la Salle seeing that I 
 had made peace with the nations on the north 
 and northwest, situated more than five hundred 
 leagues up the river Colbert, who were making 
 war on the Islinois, and on the nations of the 
 south, this brave captain, governor of Fort Fron- 
 tenac, who exalts by his zeal and courage the 
 names of the Caveliers his ancestors, descended 
 last year with his force and our Recollects, as far 
 as the mouth of the great river Colbert, and to 
 
^„ . L- ■ *■ i'j W! Mym mm \i Kmmmma 
 
 
 272 
 
 A DESCRIPTION 
 
 i 
 
 the sea, and that he passed among unknown 
 nations, some of which are somewhat civilized. 
 It is believed that he is on his way to France to 
 give the Court an ample knowledge of all Louis- 
 iana which we may call the Delight and Karthly 
 Paradise of America. 
 
 The King may form there an empire which 
 will soon become nourishing, without any foreign 
 power being able to prevent him, and his Majesty 
 by the Religious Ministry of Saint Francis may 
 easily extend the kingdom of Jesus Christ among 
 those many nations, which have hitherto been 
 deprived of the advantages of Christianity, and 
 the French colonies may thence derive great 
 benefits in future. 
 
 END 
 
THE MANNERS OF THE INDIANS.* 
 
 On the Fertility of the Indian Country. 
 
 Before entering here into details as to the 
 manners of the Indians, it is well to say a word 
 as to the fertility of their country ; it can 
 thus be judged how easy it is to found great 
 colonies there. Thr-e are indeed many forests 
 to clear, hut these uncultivated parts are none the 
 less advantageous. Thcie are scarcely any in 
 the world more fertile Nothing is -vanting 
 that is necessary for life ; every thing is in abun- 
 dance, the lands there are very well adapted for 
 sowing. In the vast countries of Louisiana, beau- 
 tiful prairies are discovered as far as the eye can 
 see, and to enter a little into detail as to things 
 which grow among the Indians, there arc many 
 grape vines, very much like those we have in 
 Europe, which bear grapes, somewhat sour, but 
 
 * This part of the Description is not reprinted in the Nou- 
 velle Decouverte^ but appears considerably enlarged in the 
 Nouveau Voyage^ Utrecht 1698 ; reprinted in the Voyages au 
 Nord^ vol. 5. 
 
8il 
 
 q:hi 
 
 h {■ 
 
 ^'1 
 
 274 
 
 THE MANNERS 
 
 ri 
 
 the wine goes very well with ours, it even pre- 
 vents it from spoiling. In Louisiana and the 
 southern country, the grape is as good as in France 
 but the seeds are larger. In both parts are found 
 hops, plums, cherries, cifons, apples, pears, nuts, 
 filberts, gooseberries of all kinds and a thousand 
 other fruits of that nature delicious in taste. In 
 both parts grow Indian corn, French wheat, 
 turnips, very fine melons, enormous squashes, 
 cabbages and a host of other vegetables, of which 
 I do not here recall the names. In the forests 
 there are great numbers of wolves, monstrous 
 bears, deer, stags, and all kinds of animals of 
 which I do not know the names, among others 
 wild cats, beavers, otters, porcupines, turkeys, and 
 all these animals are of extraordinary size there. 
 They catch there sturgeon, salmon, salmon trout, 
 pike, carp, eels, armed fish, gold fish, bass, 
 catfish, and all kinds of other fish.^^- There is 
 plenty of exercise too for our French sportsmen. 
 There you can kill patridges, ducks of all kinds, 
 wild pigeons, cranes, herons, swans, wild geese, 
 * Nouv. Voyage. (Voy. on Nord., v, p. 348.) 
 
 1 1 
 
OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 275 
 
 and other game in abundance. In Louisiana, 
 besides all these animals, there are also wild 
 cattle which the inhabitants of the country have 
 never been able to exterminate entirely, on 
 account of the great number of these animals 
 which change their country according to the 
 season. Several medicinal herbs are found there 
 which arc not in Europe, .vhich have an infallible 
 effect, according to the experience of the Indians' 
 who use them daily to heal all kinds of wounds, 
 for quartain and tertian fevers, to purge and to 
 allay pains in the kidneys and other like troubles. 
 There are also many poisons which these people 
 employ for self destruction. Snakes are common, 
 particularly the adders, asps and another kind of 
 serpent, which has a kind of rattles on its tail, 
 and is called on that account rattlesnake. They 
 are of prodigious length and bulk. They bite 
 passers-by dangerously ; but wherever they are, 
 there are found also sovereign remedies against 
 their bites. Frogs are seen there too of strange 
 size, whose bellowing is as loud as the lowing of 
 cows. The same trees are found here as in 
 
r 
 
 276 
 
 THE MANNERS 
 
 1 
 
 I > 
 
 Europe, and there are others also namely red 
 pine, red cedar, spruce, cotton wood, sh, 
 boisdiei and others. All these trees strike 1 oot 
 deeply and become extremely high, which 
 sufficiently attests the fertility of the soil. The 
 great river St. Lawrence ■•■ of which I have already 
 given a description in the Relation of Louisiana, 
 runs through the middle of the Iroquois country 
 and there forms a large lake which the Indians 
 call Ontario, and the French Frontenac, in 
 memory of the Count de Frontenac, Governor 
 of all New France. The river St. Lawrence 
 has on the north side a branch which comes from 
 a nation who ?.re called Nez-persez or Oniaonatz.f 
 On the north-east is the country of the Algon- 
 quains, which the French occupy. On the east 
 the nation of the Wolf J and New Netherland or 
 Jortz. On the south New England or Baton. 
 On the southwest Virginia, which is called New 
 Sweden. On the west the country of the Hurons, 
 
 * Nouveau Voyage (Voyages au Nord, v., p. 349.' 
 
 t Misprint for Outaouatz, Ottawas. 
 
 I Mohegans. 
 
 \\ 
 
 K 
 
OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 277 
 
 which is now almost entirely abandoned, and 
 which has been destroyed by the Iroquois. The 
 Hrst post which we have there is Fort Frontenac. 
 
 Origin of the Indians. 
 
 I am no longer surprised at the avowal of our 
 historians, that they can not tell how the Indian 
 country has been populated, since the inhabitants 
 who ought to be the best informed, know 
 nothing about it themselves. Besides which, if 
 in Europe, we were like them deprived of writ- 
 ing, and if we had not the use of that ingenious 
 art, which brings the dead back to life, and 
 recalls past times and which preserves for us an 
 eternal memory of all things, we should not be 
 less ignorant than they. It is true that they re- 
 count some things about their origin ; but when 
 you ask whether what they say about it is true, 
 they answer that they know nothing about it, 
 that they would not assure us of it, and that they 
 believe them to be stories of their old men, to 
 which they do not give much credit, (f all 
 North America had been discovered, we might 
 
 /■ ■ 
 
 />■' 
 
r 
 
 '.78 
 
 THE MANNERS 
 
 perhaps learn the spot where these persons came 
 over to it, which would contribute not a little to 
 throw light on some points of ancient history. 
 A rather curious story is related among them. 
 They say that a woman descended from heaven 
 
 and remained sometime Huttering in the air, un- 
 able to find a spot to rest her foot. The fish of 
 the sea having taken compassion on her, held a 
 council to deliberate which of them should re- 
 ceive her ; the Tortoise presented himself and 
 offered his back above the water. This woman 
 came there to rest and made her abode there. 
 The unclean matter of the sea having gathered 
 around this tortoise, a great extent of land was 
 formed in time, which now corstitutes America. 
 But as solitude did not at all please this woman, 
 who grew weary of having no one to converse with, 
 in order to spend her days a little more agreeably 
 than she was doing, a spirit descended from on 
 high, who found her asleep from sorrow. He 
 approached her imperceptibly, and begot by her 
 two sons, who came out of her side. These two 
 children could never, as time went on, agree. 
 
OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 279 
 
 
 because one was a better hunter than the other, 
 every day they had some quarrel with each other, 
 and they came to such a pitch that they could 
 not at all bear one another ; especially one who 
 was of an extremely fierce temper, conceived a 
 deadly envy or his brother, whose disposition was 
 completely mild. This one unable to endure the 
 ill treatment which he continually received, was 
 at last obliged to depart from him and retire to 
 heaven, whence as a mark of his just resentment, 
 he from time to rime makes the thunder roar 
 over the head of his unhappy brother. Some- 
 time after the spirit descended again to this 
 woman and had by her a daughter, from whom 
 have come the mighty nation which now occupies 
 one of the largest parts of the world. There are 
 some other circumstances, which I do not re- 
 member, but fabulous as this story is, you can 
 not fail to discern in it some truths. The 
 woman's sleep has some analogy with that of 
 Adam ; the estrangement of the two brothers 
 bears some resemblance to the irreconcili?,ble 
 hatred which Cain had for Abel, and the thunder 
 
Rr ' 
 
 280 
 
 THE MANNERS 
 
 U 
 
 ';■'{ 
 h 
 
 pealing from heaven, shows us very clearly the 
 curse which God pronounced upon that merci- 
 less fratricide.* One might even doubt whether 
 they are not of Jewish origin, because they have 
 many things in common with them. They 
 make their cabins in the form of a tent like the 
 Jews. They anoint themselves with oil, they 
 are superstitiously attached to dreams, they be- 
 wail the dead with lamentations and horrible 
 bowlings, women wear mourning for their near 
 relatives for a whole year, abstain from dances 
 and feasts, and wear a kind of hood on their 
 head. Usually the father of the deceased takes 
 care of the widow. It seems too that the curse 
 of God has fallen on them, as on the Jews, for 
 they are brutal and extremely stubborn. They 
 have no fixed and settled abode.f 
 
 Physical Condition of the Indians. 
 
 The Indians are very robust, men, women 
 and even children are extremely vigorous ; for 
 
 * Nouv. Voyage. Voy. au Nord., v., p. 264-6. 
 t Voyages au Nord. v., p. 268. 
 
 m 
 
 '>■,"»■, 
 
 my 
 
OF THF. INDIANS. 
 
 281 
 
 this reason they are rarely sick, they know 
 nothing about treating themselves dclica;„ly, 
 hence they are not subject to a thousand ailments 
 which too great effeminacy draws down on us. 
 They are not gouty or dropsical, gravel or fever- 
 vexed, they are always in movement, and take 
 so little rest, that they escape maladies which 
 beset most of our Europeans for want of exercise ; 
 appetite scarcely ever fails them, even when they 
 are far advanced in years ; they are as a rule so 
 given to eating, that they rise in the night to eat, 
 unless they have meat or sangamity near them, 
 for then they eat like dugs without getting up. 
 Yet on the other hand they undergo great absti- 
 nences, which would beyond doubt be unsupport- 
 able to us. They go two or three days without 
 eating, when such an occasion btfals them, with- 
 out on that account discontinuing their work, 
 whether they are engaged in hunting, fishing or 
 war. Their children are so inured to cold, that in 
 mid winter they run bare naked on the snow, and 
 roll in it like little pigs, without being in any 
 22 
 
282 
 
 THE MANNERS 
 
 way injured, and in summer when the air is full 
 of musquitoes, they also go naked, and play 
 without feeling the stings of these little insects. 
 I admit that the fresh air to which they are con- 
 stantly exposed contr^u ' omewhat to harden 
 their skin to fatigue, <is great insensibility 
 
 must also come from an extremely robust con- 
 stitution, in as much as our hands and face are 
 always exposed to the air, without being for all 
 that less sensitive to cold. When men are hunt- 
 ing especially in the spring time, they are almost 
 always in water, although it is very cold, and 
 they return from it cheerfully to their cabins 
 without complaining. When they go to v ir, 
 they sometimes remain three or four days behind 
 a tree, eating almost nothing. They are un- 
 wearied in their hunts ; they run very fast and 
 for a very long time. The nations of Louisiana 
 run faster than the Iroquois, so that there is not 
 a buffalo that they cannot run down. They sleep 
 on the snow in a scanty blanket, without a fire 
 and without cabin. The women act as porters, 
 and have so much vigor, that there are few men 
 
OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 283 
 
 in Europe who have as much as they. They 
 carry burthens that two of three of us would find 
 it difficult to raise. The warriors undertake 
 journeys of three or four hundred leagues, as 
 though it was only to go from Paris to Orleans. 
 The women bear children without great pain, 
 some of them leave the cabin and withdraw into 
 the wood apart, and afterwards return with their 
 children in their blanket. Others if labor comes 
 on in the night, bring forth the children on their 
 mats, without tnaking the least noise, and in the 
 morning rise and work as usual, inside and out- 
 side the cabin, as if nothing ailed them. Remark 
 also that while they are pregnant, they do not 
 cease to be active, to carry very heavy loads, to 
 plant Indian corn, and squashes, to go and come, 
 and what is a wonder, their children are very 
 well formed, humpbacks are very rare among 
 them. To conclude, they have no natural bodily 
 defects, which leads us to believe that their mind 
 would easily adapt itself to this external disposi- 
 tion, if they were civilized and had much inter- 
 course with the French.* 
 
 * Nouveau Voyage, (Voy. au Nord. v. pp. 295-7.) 
 

 284 
 
 THE K.ANNERS 
 
 I 
 
 Remedies against Diseases. 
 
 When they are weary they enter a vapor bath 
 to strengthen their limbs, and if their legs or 
 arms pain, they take a well sharpened knife and 
 make incisions in the part where the pain is. 
 When the blood flows they scrape it with their 
 knives or a stick till it ceases to flow. Then 
 they cleanse the wound and rub it with oil or 
 the fat of some animals. This is a sovereign 
 remedy. They do the same when they have a 
 pain in the head or arms. To cure tertian and 
 quartan fevers, they make a medecine with a bark 
 which they boil and give to drink immediately 
 after the fever. They know roots and herbs 
 with which they cure all kinds of diseases. They 
 have sure remedies against the poison of toads, 
 snakes and other animals, but have none against 
 the small pox. There are charlatans whom they 
 call jugglers. These are certain old men who 
 live at other people's expense, by counterfeiting 
 physicians in a superstitious manner. They do 
 not use remedies, but when one of them is 
 
OF THE INDIANS. 285 
 
 called to a sick man, he makes them entreat 
 him, as if it were for some affair of great impor- 
 tance and very difficult. After many solicitations 
 he comes, he approaches the patient, touches 
 him all over the body, and after he has well 
 considered and handled him. he tells him that 
 he has a spell in such or such a part, for example, 
 in the head, leg or stomach, which must be re- 
 moved, but that this can be done only with great 
 difficulty, and many things must be done pre- 
 viously. This 'spell is very malicious, he says; 
 but it must be made to come out at any cost. 
 All the sick man's friends who fall into the trap, 
 say " T. Chagon, T. Chagon, courage,* courage ; " 
 "do what you can, spare nothing." The juggler 
 sits down, deliberates for a time on the remedies 
 which he wishes to employ, then rises as if com- 
 ing out of a deep sleep, and cries out. "See the 
 thing is done ! Listen, such a one, your wife or 
 
 * Tsiagcn ! good courage, Bruyas, Mohawk Diet. ms. 
 Tchiguen, Courage, Onondaga Diet. p. 36. The Indian 
 words cited in these remarks are Mohawk, the language of 
 which Hennepin acquired some knowledge at Fort Frontcnac, 
 aided by Bruyas' works. 
 
m 
 
 ^ma^^^m 
 
 286 
 
 THE MANNERS 
 
 child's life is at stake, so spare nothing, you 
 must give a feast, to day," "give such or such a 
 thing," or do something else of the kind. At the 
 same time that these orders of this juggler are 
 carried out, the men enter the vapor bath and 
 sing at the top of their voice, rattling tortoise 
 shells or gourds full of Indian corn, to the sound 
 of which the men and women dance. Some- 
 times even they all get intoxicated, so that they 
 make frightful orgies. While all are thus en- 
 gaged, this superstitious old man is near the 
 patient, whom he torments, holding his feet or 
 legs, or pressing his chest, according to the spot 
 where he has said the spell is, in such a way that 
 he makes him undergo pain sufficient to kill 
 him. He often makes the blood issue from the 
 tips of his fingers or toes. At last after making 
 a hundred grimaces, he displays a piece of skin 
 or a lock of hair or something of the kind, mak- 
 ing them believe it to be the spell which he has 
 drawn from the patient's body, which is however, 
 only a pure trick. 
 
 I one day baptized a little child which seemed 
 
 
OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 287 
 
 to be in danger of death, but the next day, it 
 was cured. Some days after its mother related 
 to the others, in my presence, how I had cured 
 her child. She took me for a juggler, saying 
 that I was wonderful, that I knew how to cure 
 all sorts of diseases by putting water op the fore- 
 head. They often have recourse to our mede- 
 cines, because they find them very good, but 
 when we do not succeed, they ascribe the cause 
 to the medecine and not to the wretched state of 
 the patient.* 
 
 The Dress of the Indians. 
 
 The Northern Indian:, from the statement of 
 
 their old men, have alwayr been covered, and 
 
 before they had ever had an/ intercourse with 
 
 Europeans, for they dressed in skins, both men 
 
 and women. They now still tover themselves 
 
 sometimes with skins, but most generally they 
 
 wear a shirt, a coat with a hood, ip of cloth 
 
 *Nouveau Voyage, (V. au Nord v. ,pp. * -4). 
 
 m 
 
 iMiiiMifii 
 
 a«n 
 
T 
 
 288 
 
 . THE MANNERS 
 
 which covers them to the knees, and which is 
 tied before and behind with a little belt, then 
 they have footless stockings, which our French 
 generally call leggins, and shoes which are merely 
 of dressed skins. When they come in from their 
 hunts in the Spring there are some who buy 
 French body coats, shoes and stockings ; some 
 wear hats out of the respect they have for the 
 French. Sometimes they carry blankets in which 
 they wrap themselves, holding the ends in their 
 hands. When they are in their cabins, they 
 very frequently remain stark naked, even in 
 winter time, except a single band of cloth with 
 which they are girt. They daub their faces 
 with red and black colors, they redden their 
 hair which they cut in every fashion. The 
 southern nations do not burn them except to the 
 ears, and those of the North often let them hang 
 down on one side, and cut them on the other 
 according to their fancy. Sometimes they stick 
 little feathers all over the head, and sometimes 
 large ones behind the ears. There are some 
 who make themselves crowns of flowers ; others 
 
OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 289 
 
 of birch bark, some ofskins, very prettily worked. 
 
 The women are dressed like the men except a 
 band of cloth, wrapped around like a petticoat, 
 which they fasten to their girdle and which does 
 not hang down below the knees. When they 
 go to entertainments to dance, they take their 
 fineries, and paint their temples and cheeks and 
 the tip of the chin. 
 
 Young boys go naked till they are capable of 
 marriage, and when they cover themselves, if 
 they have no shii-t, they always show what natu- 
 does not permit to uncover. Little girls at the 
 age of four or five years, begin to gird a piece of 
 cloth around them. When we went into their 
 cabins to instruct them, we obliged them to cover 
 themselves, which produces a good effect, because 
 they now feel a little ashamed of their nakedness, 
 and cover their persons a little more frequently 
 than they did before. 
 
 Men and women, especially the young ones, 
 wear on the neck beads and sea shells of all kinds 
 of shapes. They have also some of these shells, 
 as long as the finger, made in the form of a little 
 
290 
 
 THE MANNERS 
 
 tube, which are used as earrings. They have 
 also belts, some made of beads, others of porcu- 
 pine hair, some of bear's hair, others of both 
 interwoven. The most important men among 
 them wear on the back a small bag in which 
 they carry their pipe, tobacco, steel and flint and 
 other trifles. 
 
 They are skilful in making a kind of cloak 
 with dressed skins of the bear, beaver, otter, 
 squirrel, wolf, lion, and other animals, in which 
 to appear in their assemblies.* 
 
 B. 
 
 h ■ 
 
 ''■i 
 
 Marriages of the Indians. 
 
 The marriage of the Indians is not a civil 
 contract because they have no intention of bind- 
 ing themselves, but they cohabit, till they disagree 
 with one another. Girls are married at the age 
 of nine or ten years, not for marriage, because 
 they know well that they are incapable, but 
 because the parents of this girl expect some profit 
 from their son in law. In fact when he comes 
 * Nouv. Voyage, (Voy. au. Nord v. pp. 297-9). 
 
 
OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 291 
 
 in from the hunt, the girl's father has the disposal 
 of the furs and the meat, but on the other hand 
 the girl carries the sagamity or porridge made of 
 Indian corn, for all her husband's meals, ?lthough 
 she does not live witn him. Some act thus five 
 or six years. On the day when they marry, 
 they give feasts with pomp and rejoicing. Some- 
 times the whole village goes there, and every one 
 makes good cheer. After the meal they sing 
 and dance. Very frequently they marry without 
 any noise, and for this only a word is needed, for 
 the Indian who has no wife goes in search of a 
 woman who has no husband, and says to her : ' 
 " Will you come with me. You shall be my 
 wife." She makes no answer at first, but thinks 
 for sometime holding her head in her two hands. 
 While she is thus thinking, the man holds his 
 head in the same posture without uttering a 
 word. When she has deliberated sometime she 
 lifts up her head and say? : " Niau, lam willing,"* 
 the man rises at once, and says to her; "One" 
 "that is settled."! In the evening the woman 
 
 * Nis, Yes, Bruyas, Mohawk Dicty. ms. 
 f Onne, That is settled, lb. 
 
r 
 
 8 
 
 i 
 
 292 
 
 THE MANNERS 
 
 takes her hatchet, and goes to cut a load of fire 
 wood ; on reaching the door of her husband's 
 cabin, she throws the wood on the ground, goes 
 in and sits down near the Indian, who gives her 
 no caress. When they have been thus long 
 together without speaking, the man says to her : 
 •' Sentaony," " lie down,"* and a little while 
 after this man lies down near her. 
 
 You see very few who make love like Euro- 
 peans, laughing and flirting. 
 
 They leave each other very easily and without 
 any publicity, for they have only to say " I leave 
 you," and the thing is done. They then regard 
 each other no more than if they had never niet. 
 They sometimes fight with each other before 
 separating, but this occurs very rarely. Some 
 have two wives, but it is not for a long time. 
 When they separate the woman sometimes carries 
 oflF all the goods, and all the furs ; sometimes 
 nothing at all but the short piece of cloth that 
 forms her petticoat, and her blanket. They 
 generally divide the children, if they have had 
 
 * Imperative of Gasataon, To lie down on the back, lb. 
 
OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 293 
 
 any together, so that some follow the father and 
 some the mother. Some leave them all to their 
 wives, saying that they do not believe they belong 
 to them. In fact they very often say the truth, 
 because there are very few who are proof against 
 a coat and any other present that may be offered. 
 If these children are of a French father, you can 
 detect it in the tace and eyes. Those of the 
 Indians are entirely black, and they can see 
 further than Europeans, and they have a more 
 piercing eye. If the Indian women were capable 
 of contracting marriage, we might marry as many 
 as we would to our Frenchmen, but they have 
 not the necessary dispositions, they have not the 
 faith necessary for that, nor the will never to 
 separate from their husband, as experience teaches 
 us, and the conversations they hold on the point, 
 show us clearly. When a man who has no wife 
 passes through a village he hires one for a night 
 or for two according to his fancy, and the parents 
 find nothing to censure in this; very far from 
 that, they are very glad to have their daughters 
 earn some clothes or some furs. Among them 
 
 •^.«*«»'l! 
 
"^ 
 
 294. 
 
 THE MANNERS 
 
 there are men of all kinds of dispositions as in 
 Europe; some love their wives a great deal, others 
 entirely despise them, some beat them and ill 
 treat them ; but this does not last, as the wives 
 leave them. There are some too who are jealous. 
 I saw one who had beaten his wife, for having 
 gone to the dance with other men. 
 
 Those who are good hunters chose the hand- 
 somest ; the others have only the ugly ones, and 
 the cast-off. When they are old, they never 
 abandon each other except in rare cases, and for 
 grave reasons. There are some, although very 
 few, who remain from twenty to thirty years 
 with their wives. The women grow desperate 
 when the husband who|^ is a good hunter leaves 
 them ; they even poison themselves sometimes, 
 as I saw one whose life I saved with treacle. 
 When these Indians go beaver hunting in the 
 spring, they often leave their wives in the village 
 to plant Indian corn, and squashes, and hire 
 another to go with them : when they return 
 home they give her a beaver or two, and send 
 her home in that way and go back to the first 
 
 ^■h ! 
 
OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 295 
 
 wife. If however the last pleases them better, 
 they change the first without any ado. They 
 are surprised that the Frenchmen do not act 
 like them. 
 
 One day while the husband of one of our 
 French women settlers had gone off twenty or 
 thirty leagues, the Indian women werit to see 
 this woman, and said to her : " You have no sense, 
 take another man for the present, and when your 
 husband comes, leave this one." This great 
 inconstancy and changing of wives, is a great 
 opposition to the maxims of Christianity, which 
 we wish to impart to the Indians, and one of the 
 most considerable obstacles to the faith. 
 
 It is not the same with the southern nations 
 among whom poligamy reigns, for in all the lands 
 of Louisiana, there are Indians, who have as many 
 as ten or eleven wives, and are often married to 
 three own sisters, alleging as a reason that they 
 agree better among themselves. 
 
 When a man makes presents to the father and 
 mother of a girl, she belongs to him as his own 
 for her whole life if he wishes; sometimes the 
 
296 
 
 THE MANNERS 
 
 il 
 
 parents take back children from their son-in-law, 
 restoring the presents which they have received 
 from him, but this is very rare. If a woman 
 should be unfaithful, lier husband would cut off 
 her nose, ear or would give her a slash in the 
 face with a stone knife, and if he should kill 
 her, he would clear himself by making a present 
 to the dead woman's kindred to dry up their tears. 
 I have seen several badly marked on the face, 
 who had nevertheless children by some scurvy 
 fellows. The men in the warm countries are 
 more jealous of their wives than those of the 
 north. The former are so sensitive in matters 
 of this kind, that they wound and sometimes 
 kill one another, through some love madness. 
 The young warriors do not often approach 
 women till they reach the age of thirty years, 
 because they say that intercourse with women 
 prevents their running. The men there go en- 
 tirely naked, but the women are partly covered 
 with very neat skins, especially at the dances and 
 ceremonies. The girls curl their hair and the 
 
 women wear theirs after the gypsy fashion.* 
 * Nouveau Voyage, (Voy. au Nord, v. pp. 286-291.) 
 
OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 297 
 
 Indian Feasts. 
 
 They have several kinds ot" feasts, war, death 
 and marriage feasts, feasts to cure the sick ; they 
 also have ordinary ones They formerly gave 
 obscene ones, where men and women associated 
 pell mell, but if they do so now, it is very rarely. 
 When they wish to go to war, it is for some 
 wrong which, they pretend, has been done them ; 
 sometimes in consequence of a dream, and often 
 because this fancy has come to them, or because 
 others ridicule them in these terms : " You have 
 no courage, you have never been to war, you 
 never killed a man." When they wish to go 
 alone, in such a case they make no feasts, but 
 they merely say to their wife: " Make me some 
 meal, I am going to war." When they w= 1 to 
 have companions they go through the whole 
 village to invite the young men to the feast. 
 These take each his kettle or platter and go to 
 the cabin of the one who has invited them, 
 where he awaits them singing. His songs all 
 28 
 
-t^ 
 
 ■Mi 
 
 
 298 
 
 THE MANNERS 
 
 turn on war. " I am going to war, I am going 
 to avenge the death of my kinsman. I will slay, 
 I will burn, I will bring back slaves, I will eat 
 men," and other things of the kind, which 
 breathe only cruelty. When all have come the 
 kettles are filled and they begin to eat. And 
 while the giver ot the feast continues his singing 
 all the while, exhorting all to follow him, they 
 do not say a word, and they eat all that they have 
 without speaking, unless trom time to time some 
 one or other will say : " Netho,"* or " Togenska,'* 
 "Yes, you are right." After they have eaten all, 
 this master of the feast makes them a harangue, 
 and they reply from time to time : " Netho," 
 " Yes." When he closes the speech, he says : 
 *' See it is settled. I start to morrow," or in two 
 days, three days, in a month, as his fancy dictates. 
 On the morrow or some other day, those who 
 chose to accompany him, go to him and say : "I 
 7^' J to war with you." He says : " There, that is 
 settled. Let us get ready for such a day." They 
 
 * Etho, Yes. Bruyas, Mohawk Dicty. ms. Neto, Yes. 
 Onondaga Diet., p. 76. 
 
OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 299 
 
 es. 
 
 sometimes give ten such feasts before setting out. 
 P'or.ijerly they gave very obscene ones before 
 going to war. For if a girl failed to give her- 
 self up to the one whom the leader of the party 
 had prescribed for her, all the misfortunes that 
 happened in the warlike enterprises was ascribed 
 to her, so ingenious is the devil in matter of lust. 
 When they marry their children, they give no 
 feasts ; sometimes they do, when they observe 
 certain ceremonies. The Hrst thing they do is 
 to think of the eating; for this purpose they fill 
 great kettles with meat, according to the number 
 of those whom they wish to invite, when the 
 meat or sangamity is cooked, they go to invite 
 their guests, saying as they place a little billet of 
 wood in the hand : "I invite you to my feast." 
 No sooner said than done, it is unnecessary to 
 return a second time there. All proceed thither 
 with their kettles and platters. The master of 
 the ht)use makes the distribution of the portions 
 very fairly, and the giver of the feast or soaie 
 other in his stead sings constantly, till all is eaten. 
 After the meal they sing and dance, and each 
 

 mm 
 
 wm 
 
 \ I 
 
 PI '■ 
 
 300 
 
 THE MANNERS 
 
 one returns hon^e without uttering a word, except 
 some who thank him who has invited them. 
 
 Feasts to heal a sick person are given almost in 
 the same way. 
 
 The death feasts are sad and mournful. There 
 no one sings or dances ; but the relatives of the 
 dead remain in deep silence, and show a downcast 
 countenance, in order to move the invited to 
 compaiision. All who come to this feast bring 
 presents and throwing them to the nearest rela- 
 tives they say : " Hold, this is to wipe away your 
 tears, to dig the deceased's grave, to cover him, 
 to build a cabin. Hold, here is to make a fence 
 around his grave." After they have thus given 
 their presents, and emptied their kettles, they 
 return home without saying a word. As for 
 common feasts, they are conducted in all sorts of 
 manners, according to their fancy.* 
 
 Games of the Indians. 
 
 They have games for men, for the women, 
 and for the children. The most common for 
 * Nouvcau Voyage. (Voyages au Nord v. pp. 281-4). 
 
 \ i 
 
OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 301 
 
 men are with certain fruits which have seeds black 
 on one side and red on the other; they put them 
 in a wooden or bark platter on a blanket, a great 
 coat or a dressed skin mantle. There are six or 
 eight players. But there only two who touch 
 the platter alternately with both hands, they raise 
 it, and then strike the bottom of the platter on 
 the ground by this shaking to mix up the six 
 seeds, then if they come five red or black, turned 
 on the same side, this is only one throw gained, 
 because they usually play several throws to win 
 the game, as they agree among them. All those 
 who are in the game, play one after another. 
 There are some so given to this game, that they 
 will gamble away even their great coat. Those 
 who conduct the game, cry at the top of their 
 voice, when they rattle the platter, and they strike 
 their shoulders so hard as to leave them all black 
 with the blows. 
 
 They also otten play with a number of straws 
 half a foot long or thereabouts. There is one 
 who takes them all in his hand, then without 
 looking he divides them in two. When he has 
 
302 
 
 THE MANNERS 
 
 1 
 
 ; ! 
 
 separated them, he gives one -^^rt to his antago- 
 nist. Whoever has an even number, according 
 as they have agreed, wins the game. 
 
 They have also anothei game, which is very 
 common among litt e children in Europe. They 
 take kernels of Indian corn or something of the 
 kind, then they put some in one hand, and ask 
 how many there are. The one who guesses the 
 number wins. 
 
 They also play a game which they call in their 
 language : Ounonhayenty. But it is rather a 
 trade than a game. They get into two cabins 
 six in one, and six in the other. Then there is 
 one who takes some goods or furs, and what he 
 wishes to exchange ; he goes to the door of the 
 other cabin and utters a cry. Those in the cabin 
 give it an echo. The first approaches and savs 
 chanting, that he wishes to sell what he holds in 
 his hands. Those within reply " hon, hon, hon, 
 hon, hon, hon." The seller having ended his 
 whole song, throws his merchandise mto the 
 cabin and returns home. Then the others having 
 examined the prize, and asked the seller whether 
 
OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 303 
 
 he desires in exchange a great coat, a shirt, a 
 pair of shoes or some other thing of the kind, 
 one of them goes to carry to the other cabin the 
 equivalent of what has been thrown in, or restores 
 the goods so thrown, if it does not suit him, or 
 if it is not worth what he brings as exchange. 
 These ceremonies are accompanied by songs 
 which gladden both parties. 
 
 The children play with bows and with two 
 sticks, one large and one small. They hold the 
 little one in the left, and the larger one in the 
 right hand, then with the larger they make the 
 smaller one liy up in the air, and another runs 
 after it, and throws it at the one who sprung it. 
 This game resembles that of children in Europe. 
 They also make a ball of flags or corn leaves, 
 which they throw in the air and catch on the 
 end of a pointed stick. 
 
 Adults both men and women, in the evening, 
 around the fire, tell stories after the manner of 
 Europeans.* 
 
 * Nouv. Voyage. (Vcn. au Nord v. p. 300.") 
 
li 
 
 r 
 
 !! 
 
 i^ 
 
 1-. 
 'I 
 
 !!l 
 
 304- THE MANNERS 
 
 T/ie Rudeness of the Indians. 
 
 The Indians trouble themselves very little with 
 our civilities, on the contrary, they ridicule us 
 when we practice them. When iLey arrive in 
 a place, they most frequently salute no one, but 
 remain squatting down, and though everybody 
 come to look at them, they look at no one. 
 Sometimes they enter the first cabin they come 
 to, without saying a word. They take their 
 place where they may happen to be, then they 
 light their pipes and smoke some time without 
 speaking. When they come into our houses, 
 they take the first place. If there is a chair 
 before the fire, they take possession of it, and do 
 not rise for any one. Men and women hide only 
 their private parts. They break wind before all 
 the world without caring for any one. They 
 treat their elders very uncivilly, even breaking 
 wind in their very faces. There conversation 
 whether among men or women is generally only 
 indecency and ribaldry. As regards their inter- 
 course with their wives, they generally conceal 
 
OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 305 
 
 ■A 
 
 themselves, yet sometimes they do not. How- 
 ever they show no other marks of outward inde- 
 cency either from hatred or caresses. And they 
 never show countenances like those we see 
 practised by Europeans. 
 
 They never wash their platters which are of 
 wood or bark, nor their bowls or their spoons. 
 When the women cleanse their children with 
 their hands, they rub them slightly on a bark, 
 and will then touch the meat they eat. They 
 scarcely ever wash their hands c. face. Chil- 
 dren have little respect for their parents ; fathers 
 allow their children to beat them, because they 
 say that if they punish their children, they would 
 be too timid and would not be good warriors. 
 They eat in a snuffling way and puffing like 
 animals. As soon as men enter a house they 
 smoke. If they find a pot covered they uncover 
 it, they often eat from the platter where their 
 dogs have eaten without washing it. When they 
 eat fat meat, they grease their whole faces with 
 it. They belch continually. Those who have 
 intercourse with the French, scarcely ever wash 
 
 r! 
 
3o6 
 
 THE MANNERS 
 
 their shirts, but let them rot on their backs. 
 They seldom cut their nails. They rarely wash 
 meat before putting it in the pot. Their cabins 
 are ordinarily very dirty. They eat lice. The 
 women make water before any one and in a full 
 gathering. When their children make water on 
 their blankets, they throw it off with their hands. 
 They often eat lying down like dogs. In fine, 
 they put no restraint on their actions, and follow 
 simply the animals.* 
 
 Courtesy of the Indians. 
 
 Amid all these incivilities, you find some 
 courtesies. When any one enters their cabins 
 while they are eating, they most frequently oflFer 
 him their kettle. So ne also offer us the best 
 place in their cabins when we pay them a visit. 
 Those who have had much intercourse with the 
 French, salute us when we meet them. It is 
 also a maxim of civility among them, to make a 
 return when you give anything. Although they 
 
 * Nouveau Voyage. (Voy. au Nord v. pp. 339-341.) 
 
 ii.i Tt- 
 
 .MMiSi. 
 
 ^.lAJ-. .;».,- i. t.-, .■...I. ■...•■^ 
 
% 
 
 OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 307 
 
 treat their elders uncivilly, they nevertheless re- 
 spect their advice, which they very often follow, 
 because they say that the old men have more ex- 
 perience and know affairs better. At feasts they 
 often make a distinction between men of con- 
 sideration and the others, for they give them the 
 whole head of the animal and the most honor- 
 able portion. They make presents to one another, 
 and very often give feasts. They also show de- 
 ference to the old in allowing them to govern 
 affairs, because this is honorable among them. 
 There are some also, although very few, who 
 salute us in French style. T have seen one who 
 was called Garakontie, that is to say, " the sun 
 which marches,'"'^ who haranguing before the 
 Count de Frontenac, took off his cap every time 
 he began a new topic. Another, Chief of the 
 Goiogoins (Cayugas) seeing a little girl whom 
 he had given to the govern )r of the country to 
 
 * This was not the great Daniel Gamkontie, who died about 
 the time Hennepin came to America, Rel. 1673-9 p. 190; but 
 his brother. From Garaicwa, sun, Bruyas Fr. Mohawk Dicty. 
 ms : Onondaga Diet., p. 94. Tie expresses action while 
 walking. Bruyas, Racines Agnieres, p. 6. 
 
fl 
 
 NSil 
 
 i 
 
 
 308 
 
 THE MANNERS 
 
 ' 
 
 be instructed, said very civilly, " Onontio (this is 
 what they call the governors of the French), you 
 are the master of this girl, so do that she may 
 learn to read and write well. When she is 
 grown up, you will give her back to me or take 
 her for your wife." I have seen another who 
 was called Atreouati, that is to say the Big Throat 
 (Grand Gueule) * who eat with us like the French. 
 He washed his hands, took his place at table last, 
 unfolded his napkin properly, ate with his fork, 
 in fine did all that we do, but frequently out of 
 malice and apishness and to get some present 
 from the French.-]" 
 
 ) 
 
 Manner of making War. 
 
 The Iroquois pass for being the most warlike 
 among the Indians whom we have known till 
 now. They have in fact defeated several nations, 
 and those which remain have been obliged to 
 surrender to them. They have among them 
 
 * This is a French nick name, not a translation of his name. 
 f Nouv. Voyage, (Voy. au Nord. v p. 341-3.) 
 
 iiffi 
 
 iii u i i 
 
OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 309 
 
 I 
 
 men of rank, who are, as it were, chiefs of bands. 
 These are masters when they travel. They have 
 men under them, who foUow them everywhere 
 and obey them in everything. Before setting 
 out, they get a supply of good guns, powder, 
 balls, kettles, axes and other munitions of war. 
 Sometimes young women and young boys accom- 
 pany them. In this trim they often march three 
 or four hundred leagues. When they approach 
 the place where they wish to kill men, they 
 march slowly and With much precaution, and 
 never fire a gun at animals, but then employ a 
 bow which makes no noise, and when firing they 
 look all around for fear of being surprised. They 
 send spies to discover the mode of entering 
 villages, and to see where they shall begin the 
 attack, or to watch when any one comes out so 
 as to surprise him, and this is what generally 
 happens. For they never strike, except treacher- 
 ously, watching a man behind a tree as though 
 they wished to kill a wild beast. It is by this 
 they know good warriors, when they know how 
 to surprise As soon as they have struck their 
 
 t 
 
 i 
 
Hi 
 
 
 
 :f 
 
 1 1\ H 
 
 V V ' 
 
 ■f 
 
 *^ 
 
 i 
 
 310 
 
 THE MANNERS 
 
 blow, if they know how to get well off, they 
 are incomparable. Their patience is wonderful, 
 for when they see themselves well hidden they 
 very frequently remain two or three days behind 
 a tree without eating, waiting for an opportunity 
 to kill a man. Sometimes they march openly 
 and fearlessly, but this is very rare. 
 
 When they were at war with the French 
 one of their considerable men, called Atreouati, 
 went with eleven or twelve others to kill one of the 
 priests of the Seminary of St. Sulpice, who was 
 in a village which is called La Chine. On arriv- 
 ing there he found some Frenchmen to whom 
 he said : I am going to kill such a one. In fact 
 he killed him some days after * This same man, 
 having on another occasion missed his blow, 
 marched into Montreal, crying : " Hay, hay," 
 which is a sign of peace. He was immediately 
 received. They made him presents and good 
 cheer, but as he went out he killed two men 
 who were roofing a house. Some have told us 
 
 * This was Rev. James Lemaitre, killed Aug. 29, 1661, 
 See Shea's Charlevoix, iii, pp. 35, 303. 
 
 'f 
 
 *l 
 
 !'• 
 
OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 3" 
 
 that they had been in war as far as the lands of 
 the Spaniards who arc in New Mexico, because 
 they relate that they have been in a country 
 where the inhabitants gathered red earth which 
 they took and sold to a nation, who sold them 
 axes, kettles and other like things. This earth 
 apparently was gold."'' Those who do not go to 
 war are despised and pass for poltroons and cowards. 
 They attack all other nations, and no one dare 
 resist them. This renders them proud and in- 
 sufferable, they call themselves on this account 
 men by excellence,! as though all other nations 
 were but beasts compared to them. J 
 
 t 
 
 Cruelty of the Indians. 
 
 We are surprised at the cruelty of tyrants and 
 hold them in horror : but that of the Iroquois is 
 
 * In the Nouv. Voy. he intimates that the Iroquois related 
 this to LaSallc at Fort Frontenac, and probably only to gratify 
 him. 
 
 t Ontwe Ongwe. Briiyas, Racines Agnieres, p. 119. 
 \ Noiiv. Voyage (Voy. au Nord. v. p. 303-7.) 
 
^? r 
 
 312 
 
 THE MANNERS 
 
 I 
 
 
 I 
 
 Jr 
 
 not less horrible. When they have killed a man, 
 they tear off the skin from his skull and carry it 
 home as a sure mark of their trophies. When 
 they have made a prisoner, they bind him and 
 make him run. If he cannot tollow them, they 
 give a blow on the head with a hatchet and 
 leave him after taking his head of hair or scalp. 
 They do not spare even children at the breast. 
 If the prisoner can walk, they bind him a 
 night. They treat him the most cruelly they 
 can. They plant four posts in the ground to 
 which they tie his hands and feet, thus exposing 
 him all night on the ground to the rigor of the 
 season. I say nothing of a hundred other evils 
 they wreak on him during the day. When they 
 are near their villages, they utter loud cries by 
 which their countrymen know that it is their 
 v/arriors returning with slaves. At the same 
 time men and women put on their best dress and 
 go out to receive them at the entrance of the 
 village, where they draw up in a double line to 
 make the prisoners pass in the middle ; but it is 
 a pitiable reception for these wretched people. 
 
 : it 
 
 I 
 
 . 
 
OF THE INDIANS. 313 
 
 inasmuch as this rabble fall upon the like 
 dogs on their prey, beginning at once to torment 
 them, while the warriors pass in file quite haughty 
 over their exploits. Some kick these poor slaves, 
 others beat them with clubs, many give them 
 slashes with their knives. Some tear off their 
 ears o. cut off the nose and lips, so that most 
 succumb and die during this pompous entrance. 
 Those who have most vigor, are reserved for a 
 greater torture. Nevertheless they spare some, 
 but rarely ; when the' warriors have entered their 
 cabins, all the elders assemble tc hear the report 
 of all that has occurred in the war, then they dis- 
 pose of the slaves. If the father of an Indian 
 woman has been killed by their enemies, they 
 give her a slave in his place, and it is optional 
 with this woman to grant him life or put him to 
 death. The following is what they do, when 
 they wish to burn them ; they bind them to a 
 stake by the feet and hands, then they heat red 
 hot gun barrels, axes and other iron ware, and 
 apply them from the legs to the head. They 
 34 
 
: IV 
 
 I 
 
 I *! 
 
 I 
 
 'I 
 
 ::! i; 
 
 J 
 
 i 
 
 li 
 
 'f 
 
 ■1 
 
 / 
 
 -M i ' 
 
 
 '»■ (I 
 
 )<ll 
 
 
 I 
 
 314 
 
 THE MANNERS 
 
 tear out their nails with their teeth, they cut off 
 slices of flesh from their back, and often scalp 
 them. Then they put live coals on the wound, 
 cut out their tongue and make them undergo 
 all the tortures that they can think of. After 
 having tormented them in this style, if they are 
 not yet dead, they unbind them and by blows of 
 clubs compel them to run. It is related that 
 there was a slave who ran so well that he escaped 
 in the woods, without their being able to catch 
 him, but who apparently died for want of help. 
 What is moreover surprising is, that these slaves 
 sing amid their tortures, which provokes their 
 executioners immensely. 
 
 It is related that there was one who said to 
 them : "You have no sense, you do not know the 
 way to torture ; you are cowards ; if I had you in 
 my country, I would makeyou suffer much more;" 
 but while he was speaking in this way a woman 
 heated a little iron skewer red hot in the fire and 
 ran it into his private parts. Then he uttered a 
 cry, and told her : " You have sense, you know, 
 that is the way to do." 
 
 f 
 
 I 
 
OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 3^5 
 
 When the prisoner whom they have burned 
 dies, they eat him and make their children drink 
 his blood, in order to render them cruel and in- 
 human. Those whose lives they spare, are like 
 slaves and servants among them, but in course of 
 time, they lose their slave state, and are treated 
 as belonging to the nation. 
 
 The Indians of the whole of Louisiana, which 
 is more than 600 leagues from the Iroquois, par- 
 ticularly the Nadousiouz among whom I was 
 made a prisoner, are not less brave in person. 
 They also make all tht surrounding nations 
 tremble, although they have only bows and 
 arrows. They run faster than the Iroquois, but 
 are not so inhuman, and they do not eat the 
 flesh of their enemies, being satisfied with burn- 
 ing them. Having e day seized a Huron who 
 was eating human fle h like an Iroquois, they 
 cut slices from his body, and told him : You 
 who love human flesh, eat your own, to show 
 your nation, that we look with horror on your 
 

 : 
 
 316 
 
 THE MANNERS 
 
 <7. 
 
 . i 
 
 1^ 
 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 maxims, tor your people are like dogs that eat 
 every kind of meat, when they are hungry* 
 
 Indian Policy. 
 
 What keeps the Iroquois up and renders them 
 so formidable is their councils, which they hold 
 continually for the slightest matter. For a mere 
 trifle they assemble and reason together a long 
 time, so that they undertake nothing rashly. If 
 a complaint is made that any one of them has 
 stolen anything, they first use every effort to find 
 the one who committed the theft. If they can- 
 not discover him, or he has not wherewith to 
 make restitution, provided they are convinced of 
 the truth of the fact, tl»ey make some presents 
 to the injured party to satisfy him. When they 
 wish to put any one of their own to death whom 
 they deem guilty, in order that his relatives may 
 hvae no ground for vengeance, they hire a man 
 who drinks to excess, then when he has struck 
 
 * Nouv. Voyage ; Voyages au Nord v. v. pp. 307-IO. 
 
 I 
 
OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 317 
 
 the blow, they give as the only reason, that he 
 
 had no sense, that intoxication impelled him to 
 
 do so. They formerly had another way of doing 
 
 justice, but it is abrogated. They had one day 
 
 in the year which might be called the Feast of 
 
 Fools, =^ for in fact they played the fool, running 
 
 from cabin to cabin, so that if they ill treated 
 
 any one, or took any thing, the next day they 
 
 said : I was crazy, I had no sense, and the others 
 
 are satisfied with this excuse, without taking 
 
 vengeance or requiring satisfaction. When they 
 
 wished to kill a man, they hired one, who while 
 
 playing the madman, killed the one marked out 
 
 tor him. They have spies among them who are 
 
 all the time coming and going, and who report 
 
 all the news they hear. 
 
 As regards trade, they are shrewd enough, they 
 
 do not easily allow themselves to be deceived, 
 
 but they consider everything attentively and study 
 
 to know the goods. The Ounontaguez are more 
 
 * The Ononhouaroia, see Rel. de la Nouvclle France, 1656, 
 p. 26 ; L636, p. 1 10. 
 
t 
 
 i; i 
 
 i 
 
 H !!i ^ 
 
 318 
 
 THE MANNERS 
 
 cunning than the others and more adroit in 
 stealing and in doing other things of the kind.* 
 
 li ; 
 
 H 
 
 1 - 
 
 ii 
 
 I [ 
 
 Manner of hunting. 
 
 For their hunts they observe the times and 
 seasons. They kill moose and deer at all times, 
 but especially when there is snow. They hunt 
 wild cats during the winter and .>orcupincs ; 
 beaver and otter in the spring and sometimes in 
 the fall. They generally surprise moose or elk 
 by a running noose. They kill bears on the 
 trees when they are eating acorns. As for wild 
 cats they cut down the trees on which they are, 
 then their dogs spring on them and strangle them. 
 The porcupines are taken almost in the same 
 way, except that they are killed with blows of 
 their hatchets, when the tree falls, because the 
 dogs cannot approach them on account of their 
 long pointed hairs like awls (quills) which can 
 insensibly pierce a man's body. They kill dogs 
 that attempt to strangle them, if these hairs are 
 
 * Nouv. Voyage. (,Voy. au. Nord v. p. 31 1-2.) 
 
 Hi 
 
 K* 
 
OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 319 
 
 not taken out, which are longer and sharper than 
 those of hedge hogs. These animals do not run 
 fast, a man can easily fun them down. As for 
 otters they are taken in a trap or they are killed 
 with gun shot, and very seldom with axes, be- 
 cause they are very cunning. 
 
 The Indians take beaver in winter under the 
 ice. They first seek the lakes of these animals. 
 The beavers have admirable ingenuity ; when 
 they wish to change their place, they select a 
 stream in the woods, which they ascend till they 
 find a flat country suitable for making a pond. 
 When they have well considered the place in all 
 directions, they set to work to make dams to stop 
 the water, as strong as those of ponds in Europe. 
 The dam being built of wood, earth and mud 
 as high as is necessary to make a large pond, 
 which is sometimes a quarter of a league in length, 
 they build their cabins in the middle, on a level 
 with the water, with wood, flags and mud, neatly 
 I lastered by means of their tails, which are longer 
 and broader than a trowel. Their structure has 
 three or four stories, full of flag mats, where they 
 
rrr 
 
 :< 
 
 
 ■! ( 
 i 1 
 
 A 
 
 i 
 
 
 I 
 
 [•< 
 
 •( 
 
 320 
 
 THE MANNERS 
 
 bear their young, which tliey engender by coition 
 like all land animals. At the bottonn of the 
 water there are upper and lower places of exit. 
 When the ponds are frozen, they can only go 
 under the ice ; hence when winter sets in, they 
 lay up a stock of aspen wood, which is their 
 ordinary food ; they put it in the water all around 
 the cabin. There are sometimes three or four 
 cabins in a lake. The Indians break the ice 
 around their house, with an axe handle or a pole. 
 They make a hole and sound the bottom of the 
 water to know whether it is the path by which 
 the beaver come out. If they really find that it 
 is their passageway, they insert a net about a 
 fathom long and two stakes which touch the 
 bottom of the water at one end, while the other 
 passes through the hole and is high above the 
 ice. There are two cords fastened to the poles 
 to draw the net when the beaver is taken ; but 
 that the cunning animal may not see the net nor 
 their persons, they spread over the water rotten 
 wood, cotton or some thing of the kind. An 
 Indian remains on the watch near the nets with 
 
I; 
 
 OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 3^1 
 
 a hatchet to draw the beaver on the ice, while 
 the others go to break, in the cabins with great 
 labor, because there is often a toot of earth and 
 wood to be broken and cut by blows of the axe, 
 the whole being frozen as hard as stone. And 
 then they sound the lake in all directions : where 
 they find a hollow, they break, the ice for fear 
 the beaver may hide, and in order that being 
 forced to run from place to place, they may at 
 last run into their nets. They labor with the 
 same force, often from morning to night, without 
 taking anything. Sometimes they catch only 
 three or four. They also take beaver in the 
 spring in traps in the following manner. When 
 the ice begins to melt, they observe the places 
 where they come out, and there they set a trap. 
 The bait or lure is a branch of aspen, which runs 
 from the trap into the water. When the beavers 
 come to it, they eat it up to the trap, where they 
 cause two heavy blocks of wood to fall which 
 crush them. They take martins almost in the 
 same manner except that they do not bait the 
 traps. 
 
ill 
 
 I 
 
 1 1 
 
 I 
 
 ^ 
 
 
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 ii 
 
 I 
 
 322 
 
 THE MANNERS 
 
 All the nations in the south or Louisiana, are 
 more superstitious in their hunts, than the 
 northern tribes and the Iroquois. While I was 
 there, their old men, six days before setting out 
 to hunt the wild cattle, sent four or Hve of their 
 most alert hunters on the mountains to dance 
 the calumet, with as much ceremony as to the 
 nations, to which they are accustomed to send 
 embassies to form an alliance. On the return of 
 their deputies they exposed to the sight of all 
 the world for three days, one of the largest kettles 
 which they had stolen from us, which they sur- 
 rounded with feathers of all sorts of colors, with 
 a gun of our French canoemen, which they placed 
 across the top. During three days the first wife 
 of a chief carried this kettle on her back in great 
 pomp, at the head of more than 200 hunters, who 
 followed an old man, who had fastened one of 
 our Armenia handkerchiefs at the top of a stick 
 in the shape of an ensign, holding his bow and 
 
 arrows 
 man 
 
 in his hand in de 
 
 ep 
 
 SI 
 
 lence. This old 
 
 made them halt three or four times to weep 
 bit^^erly for the death of the cattle. At the last 
 
OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 323 
 
 halt, the oldest among them sent two of their 
 ablest to discover the buffalo. They whispered 
 in their ears very softly. On their return before 
 beginning the attack on these monstrous animals, 
 they lit dry buffalo dung, and lit their pipes or 
 calumets with this new fire, to make the couriers, 
 whom they had sent, smoke, and immediately 
 after this ceremony, a hundred men went behind 
 the mountains on one side, and a hundred on the 
 other to shut in the buffalo whom they killed in 
 great confusion. The women boucanned the 
 meat in the sun, eating only the poorest, in order 
 to carry the best to their villages, more than two 
 hundred leagues from this great butchery. 
 
 
 Their manner of Fishing. 
 
 They catch all kinds of fish which they take 
 with snares, nets and harpoons. As in Europe 
 they also catch some with lines, but very few. 
 I have seen them fish with snares in a very curious 
 way. They take a little fork, at the end of 
 which between the two points they fix a string 
 
 * Nouv. Voyage. (Voy. au. Nord., v. p. 317.) 
 
I , 
 
 324 
 
 THE MANNERS 
 
 I' ^i 
 
 i 
 
 It 
 
 III 
 
 almost in the same manner that they set them in 
 France to take partridges. Then they put it in 
 the water and when the rish pass, present it to 
 them. The fish having gone in, they jerk it and 
 the fish is caught by the gills. I taught them 
 to take them by hand in the spring. 
 
 The most important of their fisheries is that of 
 eels, salmon and white fish. The chief fishery 
 of the Mohawks who are neighbors of New 
 Jork is that of frogs, which they put whole 
 into their kettles, unskinncd even, to season their 
 sagamity of Indian corn. They take white fish 
 in great abundance at Niagara where Fort Conty 
 stands. The salmon or rather salmon trout, are 
 taken in several other places around Lake Fron- 
 tenac. They take eels by night when it is a fair 
 calm. Thes( fish descend along the river St. 
 Lawrence in great quantities. They put a large 
 piece of bark full of earth on the end of a log 
 and light it as a kind of torch, which makes a 
 very clear fire, then a man 01 two at most, enter 
 a canoe with a spear placed between the two 
 tines of a little fork. When by the light of the 
 
 i 
 
 I3ZZ 
 
OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 325 
 
 fire they see an eel, they harpoon a very great 
 quantity. They take sahnon with spears and 
 white fish with nets. The people of the south 
 are so keen, ahhough fish pass very quick in the 
 water, they never tail to kill them with strokes 
 ot darts, which they send very far into the water 
 with their bows, and they have pointed poles so 
 long and eyes so sharp sighted that they spear 
 and bring in large sturgeon and trout, which are 
 seven or eight fathoms in the water/^ 
 
 Utensils of the Indians. 
 
 Before the Europeans went to America, the 
 Indians used, and all the nations of Louisiana 
 still use to this day, earthen pots instead of kettles, 
 sharpened stones having no axes or knives. They 
 put small stones in a split stick, and a certain bone 
 which is above the heel of the elk to serve as an 
 awl. They have no firearms, but only bows 
 and arrows. To make fire they take two little 
 sticks, one of cedar and the other of a harder 
 
 * Nouv. Voyage, (Voy. au. Nord v. p. 319.) 
 
 r 
 
WiP' 
 
 ,.h 
 
 1 1 
 
 !i 
 
 
 I 
 
 326 
 
 THE MANNERS 
 
 wood and by rubbing them between the two 
 palms of their hands, the hardest on the weakest, 
 a hole is made in the cedar, from which a dust 
 falls which is converted into fire. When they 
 wish to make a platter, bowl or spoons, they 
 trim the wood with their stone hatchets. They 
 h'^llow it with live coals and then scrape them 
 with beaver teeth to polish them. As for the 
 northern nations, where the winters are long, they 
 use raquettes to walk on the snow. 
 
 And those who are near Europeans, have now 
 guns, axes, kettles, awls, knives, flints and steels, 
 and other utensils like us. To plant their Indian 
 corn they make wooden spades, but when they 
 can get iron ones, they prefer them to the others. 
 They have gourds in which they put their bear, 
 wild cat and sun flower oil. There are none of 
 the men who have not a little bag to hold their 
 pipe and tobacco. The women make bags of 
 Indian corn leaves, of linden bark or flags to hold 
 their grain. They make thread of nettles, linden 
 bark, and a certain other root of which I do not 
 know the name. To sew their shoes they 
 
 „!■« 
 
OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 327 
 
 use only babiches or laces. They make mats 
 of flags to lie on and when they have none, they 
 use bark. They swaddle their children almost 
 in the same way as women in Europe ; they tie 
 them to a board, in order to take* their kettles, 
 some have cranes, those who have not use branches 
 of trees. I 
 
 Manner of burying th Bead. 
 
 They bury their dead with much magnificence, 
 especially their kindred. They give them all 
 their best finery, and rub their faces with all 
 sorts of colors. Then they put them in a coffin, 
 whicn they arrange like a kind of mausoleum. 
 It it is some child which they can easily put in 
 their blanket or on a sled, in presence of all his 
 relatives, in order thereby to elicit the presents, 
 which are usually made to wipe away their tears. 
 They put in the grave with him, all that belonged 
 to him, even if it should amount to the value of 
 
 * Prendre, misprint for pendre, hang. 
 
 t Nouv. Voyage, (Voy. au. Nord., v. p. 323.) 
 
1h 
 
 i ! 
 
 :ii 
 
 328 
 
 THE MANNERS 
 
 two hundred crowns. They put there even his 
 shoes, snow shoes, awls, a steel, an axe, belts of 
 wampum, a kettle full of sagamity, Indian corn, 
 meat and other things of the kind. And if it is 
 a man, they put also a gun, powder and balls, 
 because they say that when he is in the land of 
 the dead or the spirits, he will need all this out 
 fit to hunt.* 
 
 h 
 
 Superstitions of the Indians. 
 
 There are sotr ■ among them more supersti- 
 tious than oti.crs, especially the old men and 
 the women, who adhere stubbornly to the tradi- 
 tions of their ancestors, so that when they are 
 told that they have no sense, that they ought 
 not to cling to such follies, they ask us : " How 
 old are you ? You are only thirty or forty 
 years old and you pretend to know things better 
 than our aged men. Begone, you do not know 
 what you are saying. You may know very 
 
 Voyages au Nord., v. p. 325. 
 
OF THF, INDIANS. 
 
 329 
 
 well what is going on in your country, be- 
 cause your old men have told you, but not what 
 occurred in ours before the French came. We 
 tell them in reply, that we know all by means of 
 writing. These Indians ask : Before you came 
 into these lands where we are, did you know that 
 we were there. We are obliged to say No. 
 Then you do not know eve. thing by writing, 
 and it does not tell you everything.* 
 
 * Nouv. Voyage in Voyages au Nord., v. p. 329. While 
 I was among the Issati and Nadouessans an affair occurred 
 connected with this matter. An Indian died who had been 
 bitten by a rattlesnake, I could not give him soon enough an 
 infallible remedy which I always had with mc ; that is, orvietan 
 in powder. When this accident befel any one in my presence, 
 I first .-nadc scarifications about the bite and dropped in a little 
 of this powder. Then I made the bitten man swallow some 
 to prevent the poison reaching his heart. One day these 
 Indians wondered at my curing one . f their warriors, who had 
 been bitten by one of these snakes. They called me a spirit, 
 for so they generally style Europeans. " We looked for you 
 in the hunting ground where you were with two other spirits, 
 who accompany you, but we were so unlucky as not to find 
 you. Do not leave us hereafter. We will take care of you. 
 If you had been with us, our warrior whom you see dead, 
 would still be in a condition to give you banquets. He knew 
 very well the trade of surprising and killing our enemies. He 
 supported his ten wives by his hunting. If you had been with 
 26 
 
330 
 
 THE MANNERS 
 
 'I. 
 
 
 tf 
 
 Ridiculous Beliefs. 
 
 There are many who do not believe what their 
 aged men relate, and there are also some who 
 do. I have already stated the opinions they en- 
 tertain as to their origin, and the cure of their 
 sick. They believe in the immortality of the 
 soul, and they say that there is a very delicious 
 country towards the west, where there is good 
 hunting. There you can kill all kinds of animals, 
 as much as you wish. It is to this place that the 
 souls go, so that they hope to see each other all 
 
 us you would have prevented his dying. You could have done 
 so easily, as you have saved the lives of several of our kindred. 
 You would not have failed to do this for the one we bewail 
 here ?" I admired the neat manner in which they had laid out 
 this corpse. They had placed him on very pretty mats, and 
 arranged him in the guise of a warrior with his bow and arrows. 
 They had painted his body with several colors. One would 
 have said, to look at him, that he was still alive. They told 
 me that I must give them some Martinique tobacco of which I had 
 still a little left, for the deceased to smoke. This gave me 
 occasion to answer them that the dead do not smoke or eat in 
 the land of souls, and that men have no further need of bows 
 and arrows, because there is no hunting in the country where 
 souls go ; that if they wished to acknowledge the great chief, 
 who is master of heaven and earth, they would there be so 
 
 ir 
 
OF THF, INDIANS. 
 
 331 
 
 together there. But they are more ridiculous in 
 saying that the souls of kettles, guns, steels, and 
 other arms which they put in the graves of the 
 dead, go with the dead to serve their use there. 
 One day a girl having died after baptism, her 
 mother saw one of her slaves at the point of 
 death. She said : " My daughter is all alone in 
 the country of the dead among the French, with- 
 out kindred, without friends, and here it is Spring. 
 She will have to plant some Indian corn and 
 
 sated with seeing him, that they would not think of" hunting or 
 of eating and drinking, because the souls have no wants. These 
 Indians understood only grossly what 1 told them. I then pre- 
 sented to them two fathoms of our black tobacco. They love 
 it passionately. Theirs is not so well prepared nor so strong 
 as the Martinique which I gave them. I made them understand 
 that I gave it for them to smoke, and not the dead man who 
 could do nothing with it. Some of the Indians present, listened 
 very attentively ana very seriously to what I told them of the 
 other life and seemed very glad to hear me. The others said 
 in their language Tepatoui, that is to say : That is right. For 
 all that they smoked to their pleasure, without taking any further 
 trouble to profit by my words. I remarked that the tears which 
 they shed for the dead and the ceremonies which they practiced 
 in regard to him, such as rubbing him with bear's oil, and the 
 like, were the result of custom and of an old routine to which 
 they are inured by traditions, which seems to have some resem- 
 blance to Judaism. 
 
ii 
 
 332 
 
 THE MANNERS 
 
 ki.t 
 
 U 
 
 squashes. Baptize my slave that she may also go 
 to the country of the French and serve my 
 dauo^hter." A woman being at the point of death 
 cried out : "I will not be baptized, for the Indians 
 who die Christians, are burnt in the country of 
 souls by the French." Some say that we baptize 
 so that we may have them as slaves in the other 
 world. Others ask whether there is good hunt- 
 ing in the land to which we wish them to go. 
 When we reply that men live there without 
 drinking and eating. "Then, I do not wish to 
 go there," they say, " because I want to eat." 
 If we add that they will not feel any want of 
 eating or drinking, they put their hand on their 
 mouth, saying : "You are a great liar. Can any 
 one live without eating?" 
 
 A man once related the following to us in 
 these terms. One of our old men having died, 
 and having gone to the land of souls, at first found 
 French men who welcomed him, and gave him 
 good cheer. Then he came to the place where 
 the Indians are, who also received him very well. 
 There were feasts every day, to which the French 
 
 JBI 
 
OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 333 
 
 were almost always invited, because there there 
 are never any quarrels or wars between them. 
 After this old man had seen all these countries he 
 came back and related all to his countrymen. 
 We asked this Indian whether he believed it. 
 He answered no ; that their old men said that, 
 but that perhaps they lied. They recognize some 
 sort of genius in all things. They all believe in 
 a Master of Life, but apply the idea differently. 
 Some have a crow which they always carry with 
 them, and which they say is the master of their 
 life. Some an owl, others a bone, a sea shell or 
 some thing else of the kind. When they hear 
 an owl hoot, they tremble and draw sinister 
 omens from it. They put fiith in dreams ; they 
 go into their vapor baths in order to obtain fair 
 weather to take beaver, to kill animals in the 
 hunt. They do not give beaver or otter bones 
 to the dogs. I asked the reason ; they answered 
 me that there was a spirit in the wood which 
 would tell the beavers and otters, and that after 
 that they would take no more. I asked them 
 what a spirit of this kind was. They replied 
 
II 
 
 " 
 
 33+ 
 
 THE MANNERS 
 
 
 that she was a woman who knew every thing, 
 and was the mistress of all hunting. It must 
 always be remarked that as I have said, most do 
 not believe all this. 
 
 About two years ago an Indian woman had 
 poisoned herself while on the hunt. The hunters 
 had brought her back to her cabin. I went to 
 see whether she was dead, I heard them talking 
 with each other near the corpse, and say that they 
 had seen on the snow the trail of a snake that 
 had come out of the woman's mouth, and they 
 related this very seriously. While they were 
 discussing it, there was a superstitious old woman 
 who said: Otkon : it is the spirit who killed her, 
 who went that way. 
 
 I have seen a boy seventeen or eighteen years 
 old who had dreamed that he was a girl. He 
 gave such credit to it, that he believed himself 
 to be one. He dressed like the girls and did all 
 the same works as women. ' 
 
 The chief of our village ^'- once said to me ; 
 
 * Evidently that near Fort Frontenac, Nouv. Voy., p. 333 
 where he is called "Gannecouse Kaera, that is the Bearded. " 
 Bearded, deyagonouskeronda, Onondaga Diet., p. 26. 
 
OF THF, INDIANS, 
 
 335 
 
 Onontio, that is to say the Governor General of 
 the French, the Count de Frontenac, will arrive 
 to day, when the sun is at such a place. In fact 
 he arrived at the very hour, of which however 
 this old man knew no tidings, and I did not 
 know what deduction to draw from this predic- 
 tion.* 
 
 The Obstacles to the Conversion of the Indians. 
 
 There are several, both on the part of the 
 Indians, and on that of the Dutch, the English 
 and the Missionaries. On the part of the Indians 
 their first obstacle to the faith is the indifference 
 which they feel for everything. When we relate 
 to them the history of our Creation, and the 
 mysteries of the Christian religion, they tell su 
 that we are right, and then they relate their 
 fables, and when we reply that what they say, is 
 not true, they retort, that they agreed to what 
 we said, and that it is not showing sense to in- 
 terrupt a man when he is speaking and to tell 
 him that belies. " This is all very well," they say, 
 
 * Nouv. Voyage, Voy. au Nord., v. p. 329. 
 
 mmmm 
 
 m 
 
 tfUHMi 
 
336 
 
 THE M ANNKRS 
 
 i 
 
 ■li 
 
 ,;i 
 
 "for your countrymen ; for them it is as you say, 
 but not for us who belong to another nation." 
 The second consists in their superstitions. The 
 third is that tliey are not sedentary. The obsta- 
 cle to the faith caused by the Du.ch and English 
 is that they reverse all our maxims and in general 
 do before the Indians the very opposite of what 
 they say, making no scruple ot lying to them at 
 every moment from a spirit of lucre. They en- 
 deavor maliciously to turn on us the hatred of 
 these tribes, in order that they may give no credit 
 to the truths which we preach them. 
 
 The obstacle found to the faith on the part of 
 the missionaries, is first, the difficulty they have 
 in learning the language of the Indians. The 
 second consists in the different opinions concern- 
 ing the method of instructing them and teaching 
 them the catechism. The third obstacle which 
 might also hinder the progress of the faith, would 
 be the temporal traffic, which would render the 
 missionaries suspected by the Indians, when they 
 wish to carry it on against the laws of the church.* 
 
 * Nouv. Voy. (Voy. au Nord., v. p. 333.) 
 
tlffmr- 
 
 OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 337 
 
 Indifference of the Indians. 
 
 They have so great an indifference for all things, 
 that there is nothing like it under heaven. They 
 take great complacency in hearing all that is said 
 to them seriously, and in all that they are made 
 to do. If we say to thein : " Pray to God, 
 brother, with ine," they pray and they repeat 
 word for word all the prayers you teach them. 
 "Kneel down," they kneel. "Take off your 
 hat," they take it off. " Be silent," they cease 
 to speak. " Do not smoke," they stop smoking. 
 If one says to them : " Listen to me," they listen 
 calmly. When we give them pictures, a crucifix 
 or beads, they use them as adornments, just as if 
 they were jewelry, and array themselves in them, 
 as though they were wampum. If I should say to 
 them : "To-morrow is the day of prayer," they 
 say " Niaova." " See, that is right." If I said 
 to them : " Do not get drunk," they answered : 
 " There, that is right, I am willing." Yet the 
 moment they receive drink from the French or 
 Dutch, these latter never refusing them liquor 
 
 t\ 
 
 s 
 
l« i»^* I' 
 
 I'll 
 
 If 
 
 If 
 
 
 1 1 
 
 2^S THE MANNERS 
 
 for furs, they inevitably get drunk. When I 
 ask them whether they believe, they say " Yes," 
 and almost all the Indian women whom some 
 missionaries have baptized and married to French- 
 men according to the rites of the church, leave 
 and often change their husbands, because they 
 are not subjected to the ordinances of our Chris- 
 tian laws, and that they have all liberty to change. 
 These tribes must absolutely first be civilized to 
 make them embrace Christianity, for so long as 
 Christians are not absolutely their masters we 
 shall see little success, without a most special 
 grace of God, without a miracle which he does 
 not work in regard to all nations. These are 
 my sentiments, from the experience which I have 
 had with our Recollects in America, and the 
 simple statement which I have made without in- 
 tending to offend any one whatever, being bound 
 to write the truth. 
 
 Those who come after us will know in 
 
 time the progress of our new discovery ; since 
 
 this year 1682, they write me from America, 
 
 that the Sieur de la Salle with our Recol- 
 
OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 .?39 
 
 lects have been to the mouth of the river 
 Colbert, as far as the South Sea. They have 
 found the Akansa, Taensa, Keroas and theOuamats 
 civilized tractable nations, who have laws, a king 
 who commands as a sovereign, with equitable, 
 liberal and settled officers, these nations live on 
 the banks of the River Colbert, which is more 
 than 800 leagues in length 500 to our knowledge 
 which we have acquired by ascending it, and 300 
 which the Sieur de la Salle has made descending. 
 These last nations live in a country very fertile in 
 all kinds of fruits. It is as warm as Italy. The 
 corn ripens there in fifty days. The soil bears 
 two crops a year. There are found there, palms 
 trees, canes, laurels, forests of mulberry trees, a 
 quantity of game and wild animals, and other 
 like things of which we shall give the public 
 some account more amply hereafter. 
 
 I pray God to give his blessing to our new 
 discovery of Louisiana, and that the King may 
 derive all possible benefit from it. 
 
 END. 
 
APPROBATIONS 
 
 A 
 
 "DESCRIPTION OF LOUISIANA," 
 
 [Published in the Nouvcau Voyage, L'trecht, 1698.] 
 
 I the undersigned, certify that I have read and 
 examined a hook entitled the " Description of 
 Louisiana," newly discovered southwest of New 
 France, with the customs of the Indians of the 
 same country, composed by the Rev. Father 
 Louis Hennepin, Recollect Preacher and Apos- 
 tolic Missionary, and that I have observed nothing 
 therein contrary to faith and good morals ; but 
 that it i.; full of various reflections and most 
 useful marks, as well for laboring in the conver- 
 sion of the Indians, as for the good of the state 
 and the kingdom. Given at our convent of the 
 Recollects of Paris, this i 3th of December, 1 682. 
 Father C/ESARi^us Harveau, 
 Lecturer in theology. Father of the Province, 
 and Custos of the Recollects of the Prov- 
 ince of St. Denis in France. 
 
 ! 
 
APPROBATIONS. 
 
 34-* 
 
 I have read a book entitled the " Description 
 of Louisiana, newly discovered southwest of New 
 France, with the customs of the Indians of that 
 country," in which I have not only found nothing 
 but what is conformable to the faith of the 
 Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church, the 
 laws of the kingdom and good morals, but which 
 moreover gives great light to establish the faith 
 of Jesus Christ in that new world, and to extend 
 the empire of our Invincible Monarch, over a 
 great country abounding in all kinds of goods. 
 Given at our convent of the Recollects of St. 
 Germain-en-Laye, this 14th of December, 1682, 
 and signed. 
 
 Father Innocent Micault, 
 Definitor of the Recollects of the Province 
 of St. Denis in France, and Commissary 
 General in the Province of the Recollects 
 of St. Anthony in Artois. 
 
t\. 
 
 r 
 
 4' 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 ACCOUNT, 
 oft 
 
 VOYAGE DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 [From the Nouvellc DicouTcrte, pp. 24!.] 
 
 It is lii're, that I desire, that all thi- worlil know the mystery of this dii- 
 covery, which I liMve concealed to the present, so as not to mortify the 
 8ieiir de la Salle who wished to have alone all the glory and all the most 
 secret knowledge of this discovery. It i.s on this account that he sacrificed 
 several persons, whom he ex|)oseil, in order to prevent their publishing 
 what they had seen and that this should not injure his secret designs. 
 
 It must be av'iwpd, that it is very pleasant and agref able to repass in 
 one's mind the hardiihijis and labors one has undergone. I never think 
 but with admiration of the very great embarrassment in which I found 
 myself at the mouth of the river of the Illinois in the River Mescbasipi, 
 having only two men with me without provisions, in no condition to de- 
 fend ourselves against insults to which we were incessantly exposed, and 
 that in the design of going on to an iniknown country and among savage 
 nations, without feeling a secret joy in my heart to see myself escaped from 
 so numy dangers and happily returned from a voyage of so much difflculty 
 and peril. 
 
 This river of the Illinois empties into the Mescbasipi between the 36 and 
 33 degrees of latitude. At least this appears so to me from my observa- 
 tio'i at the time, that I pus. ed tlieii% although it is ordinarily put at 38. 
 Those who ninke the voyage hereafter, will have more time than I had 
 to take the idiitude correctly, because I li.uiid myself enveloped liy the 
 conjuncture of llie time in great xinl vexaiious affairs both in regard to 
 the Sieur de la !>alle, and in regard ; these two men whom I had with 
 me, and who were to accompany me in my voyage. 
 

 H+ 
 
 VOYAGF, TO THE GULl FROM 
 
 i t 
 
 I was assured in anianiiortlmt could not be doubted, thai if I dcsceiulpd 
 to [\\(' lower |piirt of the river Meschasipi, the Sieur de lu Sidle would not 
 fail to decry me in the mind of my superiors, hecausi' I left the route 
 nortliward, wliich I was lo follow, nccordinj; to his request and accorilini,' 
 to the project which we had formed togellier. Hut moreover I saw niyseli 
 on the eve of dying of hun^jer and of not kimwinu; what \v;is lo become 
 of nie, because these two men who accompanied me, openly threatened 
 to abandon me during the niyht, and carry ol! the canoe with all it 
 contained, if 1 prevented Ihem from desiendini; to the nations who 
 live on the lower part of the river. 
 
 Seeing myself then in this strait. 1 thought that I oiiijht not to hesilale as 
 to the course I had to adoi)t, and that I ought to prefer my own safety to llie 
 violent passion, w hich the Sieur de la Salle had lo enjoy alone the gloiy 
 of this discovery. Our two men, seeing me then resolved to follow them 
 everywhere, promised me entire fidelity. Thus after clasping hands as 
 our mutual assurance, we put ourselves on the way lo begin our vo/age. 
 
 It was on the Slh of March in Ihe year ItiSO that wi' embarked in our 
 canoe, after having said-our ordinary prayers. In this way we continued 
 our customary evening and morning devotions acconling lo the usage 
 practiced among us. 
 
 The ice* which was coming down the river ai this point, troubled us 
 greatly because our bark canoe coidd not risist it. However we always 
 gained some cunvenii'iil distance to escape among the cakes of ice Thus 
 we arrived after abotit six leagues way at the liver of a nation, who are 
 called the Osagcs and who live towards thi' Missorites. This river comes 
 from the west, and it appeared to us almost as strong as Ihe river Mes- 
 chasipi, on which we then were, and into which it empties. Its waters 
 are very much disturbed by ihe muddy earth it hears down with it, so 
 that you can scarcely drink it. 
 
 The Issati who live up this river Meschasipi, often go to war even 
 beyond the place where I then was. These nations, whose language I 
 knew, because 1 had occasion lo learn it, during the stay that I aflt^rwards 
 made among them, informed me that this river ol the i)sag( s andof Messo 
 rites was formed by many others, aiuUhat its source was found by ascending 
 ten or twelve days jouiney to a mountain from which all these streams 
 are seen flowing, that then lonn this river. They added that beyond this 
 mountain the sea is seen and great vessels, that these rivers are peopled 
 by a great number of villages, in wliich are found several d'tferent nations ; 
 
 • Compare Le Olercq, ii, p. *!«. DlscoTcry of ilie Umpisiippl. p. l«i'i. 
 
 C 
 
IHK "nOUVKLLE DECOUVKRl" 
 
 .H5 
 
 that there arc IbikIs iiml pi-Hincs nml ii iricnl hunt of wild bulls and 
 btiiivers. 
 
 Althouirli tUia river is very liiri>c, ilic riviir on wliicli we Iheu were 
 (lid not seem iiicreiised by it. It beiirs in sn much mud, thiit below its 
 moulli the wiiter of tlu' jtreiii riviT, the bed of which is also lull of nnul, 
 resembles real slime rather Ihnn river water. This continues to the sea 
 lor more than two hundred leni?nes beeause Me.scliii8i|(i meanders in several 
 phiees, and receives seven hiriii' rivers, ihe walei' of which is very line, and 
 which are iilmo.st as lar^rc as ^[eschasipi. 
 
 We cabined every day on the jsliinds, al liasi when we conid, and dur" 
 inj; the iiisht we (?.\tin;;nished the fire which we Inid kindled to cook our 
 Indian corn. You can smell in these countri<'s a lire that is light ed 
 iiccordinK t<) the clianne of wind, as lar (it! as I wo or Ihni' lca;;iies. It is 
 in this way that the Indian warriors know I he places where their enemies 
 are, so as to upproacb them. 
 
 On the 0th Ihc ice which canic ilowii tVimi the iiorili, began to dinnidsh 
 a little. After ahcnit six leagues >ad, we found on the sonthern bank o 
 the river ii village which we thought wiis inhabited by the Tanniroa*, who 
 had previously pursucid us. Wc lounil no oue there and having entered 
 their cabins wc took some bushels ol Indian rorn, which was u great 
 advantage to us on our journey. We durst not strike '>(1 from the river 
 to hunt for fear ol'falliiiL', into an ambuscade of some savages. We left 
 six knives with handles, and some fathoms of black beads instead of the 
 Indian corn which we carried oil, in order to make compensation to the 
 Indians. 
 
 On tlie Utth we d(!scended lo about thirty-eight or forty leagues from 
 the Tamaroa. There we fouml a rivc^r which the Illinois warriors had 
 previously told us was situated near a luiliou which they called Oilade- 
 bache.f We saw there only nuid and flags, and we found the shores of 
 the river very marshy, so that we had to descend out of sight without 
 finding a place lit to cabin. 
 
 We accordingly ren\aincd all day in this place to boiican a wild cow, 
 that we had kilted, while this monstrous beast was swimming from laud 
 to land. The parts of this cow that wc could not carry away, because 
 our canoe wa> too small, we left there, and contented tairselves with 
 
 *lie Clcicq, Ii, p. 2in. Olscovcry of the MlHSlSHlppi, p. IBT. 
 
 tCompiiro F. Zouolw Membro la Lo Clorcq, 11, p. 219. DIscoTery of tlie Mleeiselppl^ 
 p. 1«7. Uennepln know < nouvti atwut the country not l<> make a nation called Oiude 
 btche, as In done ticre. 
 
346 
 
 VOYAGK lO I'HK CULF FROM 
 
 suine which we lunt sniokt.'d like strips of liticon, liccuusr we coulil not 
 preservi' tins niciit in an}' dtlicr »viiy lor wiinl of s;ilt. 
 
 We eiiibiirked on llio 14lli loaded with liiiliau corn und good meal 
 whicii served us Imllast, luul on wliicli we lived for nciiily forty lea^rmtt). 
 We could Hcurccly laud in conscqucnec of lite great (inauiily of thigs and 
 mud that we lonnd on liolli liiiiiks of tlic river. If wr hiid been in a 
 sloop, we slionld have slept on lio ird, Iteeauso il was very ditlicull to land 
 on account of the mud, l'o;un and (pnikinn earth. 
 
 On the intli we found three Indians on our way. They were relurninff 
 from war or hunting. As we were in a condition to resist them, we met 
 
 hem ami this put them to llight. One of lliem however after taking u 
 jCW steps retiwned to usand ollered us the calumet of peace which we 
 received joy lully. This ohliged the others to letiirn to us. Wc did not 
 understand their language. We named two or three different nations ti 
 them. One of them aiiswi.red us thice times C.'hikacha or Sikacha,* whicli 
 was apparently the name of his nation. Tlie}- presented us some peli- 
 cans whicli llicy Inid killed with tlieir arrows, and we gave them some of 
 our houciiuned ini'iit. Thesis people not being able to enter our canoe, 
 because it was too small and loaded, kept on their way by land' 
 
 making signs that we would follow lliemlo their village. But at last we 
 lost sight of them. 
 
 After sailing down two days, we found nniny Indians on the west side 
 
 of the river. We had previously heard a dull souml like that of a drum 
 
 and several voices of men, which called out Sasacoiiest.t which means 
 
 " Halloo ! " or " Who goes there ? " 
 
 As we durst not approacli, these Indians sent a peringua or large woodeu 
 
 canoe to us. These lliey make of the trunk of a tree hollowed out by Are 
 
 like little boats or Venetiiin gc.ndohis. 
 
 We presented thtr calumet of peace to them antl the three Indians, of 
 
 whom we spoke above, intimated to us by their gestures and their word*, 
 
 that we must land and go witli ilnin to their friends the Akaiisa. They 
 
 accordingly carried our canoe and the goods of oiif men very faithfully. 
 
 »Thl» encounter of I'hlcliiHawK \f in I,i' C'lercq, 11. p. 210. DUcovery of Hlsel^iippi, 
 p. 168. 
 
 + Le C'lercq, 11. p. iBl, Discovery of the .MiBsleslppl, i>. I(j8, baa •' Wo heard on the 
 right (IniDi* beating and fiisDccmeBt niade." t*ai>ttkwi'.win, joyful Bhoiitlng, Baraga's 
 Olcblpwe Dictionary, p. :)II4. "Sasacouest, that is to xay war cries," Le Clercq, 11, 
 p. 235. and in the East, ChichliuoU was u word adopted by the Piench, and is used by 
 Membrd. Uenuepln must have known its ueaulng and would not hkTe made the 
 blander here committed. 
 
THK "noUVRLI.F, DECOU VRR'I'F,' 
 
 34-7 
 
 ThCBrt pi'ople reifuletl uh after their rnshion with many inivrkH uf trieDdihip, 
 They ^ftve us a cabin to oiirsHlvci*, beans, Indian nioul. and buucanued 
 niL'iit. ()u c)ur sidt^ we made tlicm pn-scnts of our European goods, for 
 wbicli they shewed ijreiit esteem. They placed tlieir finsers on tlicir 
 mouth to siiow lIuU tliey nilinircd lliein iiud especially our Hrc arms. 
 
 Tliese Indians are very ditl'ereni from thom- ol' llic .North, who are 
 generally of a sad, stern and wivere disposition. These are much belter 
 formed, upriijht, liberal and very gay. Their young people an; so modest, 
 that they would not dare to spciilx before the aged, unless a (piestion is 
 put to them. We perceived domestic fowls among these people, ;*>«&» 
 il'indf in great nnmhirs, »ud tamed wild geese like geese iu Europe. Their 
 trees already began to sliow liieir I'ruil, like pnaehes and other (Vuits of 
 that nature.* 
 
 Our two men began to relish llie mode nf acting of these people. If 
 they had been able to gui l)ea\ er skins aud furs in exchange lor their 
 goods, the}' would have bartered them all aud lell me among t hese savages. 
 But I made them H('e t hit t ihis •!; c ivery was ol the greater importance 
 to them, than the ri'liirn oftheir gooils, and that .so it was not yet time to 
 think of trade. 1 accordingly advised them to look out lor a suituble 
 l)lace to bide all the goods which tlicy had brou,'lil wilii us in the cauoe, 
 till their return. They enilmiced my view h, and we had no thought e.v 
 cept how to carry out this plan. 
 
 On the 18th after several daiucs and feasts by our hosts, we embarked 
 with all our equipage a little after riomi. These Indians could not with- 
 out regret see us carry otf our goods. However ia as much as they hud 
 received our peace calnnn't anil had given us another, they allowed us to 
 go with full liberty. 
 
 Descending the river we toiiml a spot lietween two hills, which had a 
 little wood on the east. We ha<i a siiadw anil a pick, which we used to 
 dig a hole. VVe (Miclosed in it all our men's goods, reserving tor ourselves 
 only the ntost necessary, and v\hat w.as suitable to nuike presents. After 
 which we placed pieces of wcod over this little cell.ir. \\ hich we covered 
 with sods, so that nothing louM t)c observed We gathered all the earth 
 which we had taken out and threw it inio the river. 
 
 We re-embarked very prouipil\ after completing this task, and \\e look 
 oft bark from tlni^' oaks ami im a large cotton wood we made a figure of 
 four crosses in order to recognize the place of our cache. We then 
 arrived at (a spot) six le.igui's from the Akansa whom we had left, and 
 
 * This if from Le Clercq ii, p. 234. OtBCorary of the Miss., p. m. 
 
H« 
 
 VOYAGF. TO THR GULF FROM 
 
 there round anolhur village of the Hanie nation, and then another of the 
 same, two or lliii'i' leiigut's lower down* 
 
 It seemed lliiit llicse saviifjes had sent nieHscn;C('rs to all thene nations to 
 notily lhun> of mir arrival. These people ijiivc us th<! bent reception in 
 the world. Their women, their childri'iiand the whole village gave us 
 loud acrlaiualii)ns. niul showed every possible mark of .loy. We pive 
 them oil our side marks of our gratitude !)y bestowing presents on them, 
 whieh showed that we had cdine in peace ami Iriemlship. 
 
 On the 'Jlst this nation took us in a periagua to a nation further on, 
 whose luuno they made us learn by dint ol repealing it to us. They were 
 the Taeusa They accordingly (^ondueteil us to that place. These Indians 
 live near a little ialvc, which the river Meschasipi forms in the land. 
 Time did not permit us to consider several of their villages, by wliich we 
 passed. 
 
 These people received us with much more ceremony than the Akansa, 
 One of tlieir chiefs came in state to meet us on the bank of the river. 
 He was covered with a white ri)l)e or blanket, made of the bark of a tree 
 whieh they spin in llial country. Two of his nun preceded liiin witli a 
 kind of blade or plate of copper which glittered in the sun like gold. 
 They received our peace calumet with i;reat marks of joy. Their chief 
 held himself gravely in his posture, and all the men, women and children 
 there rendered very great respect to him as well as to me.f They kissed 
 the sleeves of my l''ranciseaii habit, which I have always worn anu)ng all 
 the nations of America. This made me understand that these tribes liad 
 doubtless seen some of our religious among the Ppaniaids, who live in New 
 Mexico, because they are accustomed to kiss the habit of our order, but 
 all tids is merely conjecture. 
 
 These Taensa ciuidiicled us with all our erpupage, wlille two of their 
 men carried our bark canoe on their l)ack. They placed us in a tine 
 cabin. cov( fed w ith mats of Hat riisbis, or polislied canes. The chief 
 regaled ua with all that this nation could give us to eat, after which they 
 performed a kind of dance, the men imd the wouum holding their arms in- 
 terhiccd. As soon as the \uen had liidsiied tlie last syllable of their songs, 
 the women who are halt covered in Hull co'intry, sang alternately in a 
 shari) and disagreeable voice that pierced our ears. 
 
 Tills country is fidl of jialm Ircns, wild laurel and several other trees, 
 which are like ours in Europe, as plum trees, multjerries, peach, pear and 
 
 • Le Clercq II, p. '■ S6. D!»coverj nf the MUs., p. 170. 
 
 t Thl8 account of the Taensas l» from Le L Ivrcq, II, p. •iid-l. Diacovery of th< Hiea. 
 pp. iTO-l. 
 
THF, "noUVKLLK DfiCOUVF.RTR' 
 
 .>49 
 
 apple treeg of nil kinds. Tlirrc nre five or six kindo of wnlniil trers, the 
 nuts of which are of (ixtnionlinaiy si/c. Tht-y Imve also severiil dry 
 fruits, which are vciy lar^c and which wc found very ^'ood. There arc 
 also several fruit trees which we have not in Europe. Hut the season 
 was not then far enough advanced to observe the fruit. We saw vines 
 there which were rc;idy to hliissoin. In a word the mind and disposilion 
 of this peo])le s(!cnied to us very agreeable. They are docile, tractable 
 and capable of reason. 
 
 We slept amonc this nation and there received every good treatment 
 that we could desire. I made our men put on their best clothes, and they 
 armed themselves Irom bead to foot, I showed them a pistol which fired 
 four consecutive shots. The habit of St. Francis, which I then wore with 
 the white /.jirdle over it, was still almost all new, when I started from 
 Fort Crevecn-ur. These Indians admired our sandals and our bare feet. 
 All this as well as our manner of actiii<;, attracted alike the allection and 
 respect of these people and impressed such fiivorahhi sentiments for us on 
 their minds, tliiil they did not kni>w what courtesies to show us. 
 
 They would have * much wished to detain us amouL; them, in order 
 even to give us stronger marks of their esteem, they sent during the night 
 to inform their allies the Koroa of our arrival among them. For this 
 object the chiefs and headmen among them came to see us the next day 
 to testify to us the joy they I'elt at our coming among their friends. I had 
 a white wood tree hewn square by our two men, and then we mad(' a 
 cross which we planted twelve feel from the house or great cabin where 
 we were lodged. 
 
 On the 22d. we left tliis nation and the chief of the Koroa accompanied 
 us to his village. It stands ten leagues lower down in a very agreeable 
 country. On one »id(! there you see Indian corn, and beautiful prairies on 
 the other. We presented to them thre<! axes, six knives, four fathoms of 
 Martinique tobacco, some awls and little packages of needles They re- 
 ceived them with great acclamations of joy. This chii^f presented to us a 
 peace calumet of red niai ble, the stem of which was trimmed with feathers 
 of four or live diflerent kinds rf birds. 
 
 During the baiiqtiet which this chief gave us, he showed us with a stick, 
 by which he made varioii.s marks on the sand, that it was still six or seven 
 days sail tn the sea, which he ri'iircsented to us as agreat lake, where great 
 wooden canoes were to be seen. 
 
 • 'I'liis If mill ol Ihr Nucliir (Niitchrz) in I,o I'lerci). il p. *!l. DiHCOvery of the Miss., p 
 173, wlio were e-omloa of the Tuonsus, but who are entirely omitted here. 
 
35<^ 
 
 VOYAGF TO THF (;ULF FROM 
 
 I 
 
 5- 
 
 i 
 
 ^ 
 
 On the 'i'M, llii»clii«'f i)f llii- Knion Ncciiii^ iisdlHposoil to set out to goto 
 the iu'ii, III- niiidi' mcvciiiI oI' liix iiii'ii I'liilmik in Iwo pfHtiiriiaH to (l<-8('onrl 
 tlic river «illiii>. llr liml nuiilc iliciii lul.c provisions with llicni, ami 
 IIiIh prt'VRntcd our U'ellnkr nny illslrnsi. 
 
 I'm wlirn 1 ixrriivtil \\\v ilinc (')iikiuhii. wtiom 1 have nit-ntioned 
 wlio r<ill(iw«'il Us tiniiinir nil tlii' uuliiiii« wlicrc wo wi'tti, I WHrni'd our 
 nu-n to lit'Wiirc of tliciii nnd to ^'^(• tlint lliry did not lif in tunlxi^h to sur- 
 prise ns nt (nir liindin>.'s. W'f weic ilicn ni Kiistrr diiv, lint wo could not 
 siiy niiiss, for Wiinl iifwiiic, wliidi liiul ftiiled u« ;it F^ort Crfvcco'ur We 
 HTcM'dinsjlv willidriw ,i|iiirl from iIh'm- pcnplf, wlio iilwiiys kept their 
 ey('» on im, in order tn siiy onr priiycrs iind InKII the ohilirallon of true 
 ('lirisli:ins on ihiit solemn diij I exhorted our men to eonfldence ni 
 God, lifter which we eniliurked in thi' siijhl ot the whole village. 
 
 Tie three CldkneliM entered the pi-riiiiiuiis of llie Koroiis who escorted 
 tissix k'liirues l)el(i\v llieir villiine. There the river Mesclmsipi divides* 
 inio Iwo ehiinnels. which form a Kreiil'islHnd that seemed to ne extremely 
 lonir. It UKiy lie iihoiil sixty leagues in eMeiil accordiii>f to ilu( observa- 
 tions, thill we mild'' as we folldwid iIh eliannel wideli is mi llie west 
 side. The Koroa ohli^jed us to take ithy tlie slunnl which they made us. 
 The Chikacha « islied lo iiinki' us i;(» liy llie othi r channel which is on tlie 
 east. It was perhaps to have the jiimoi nl taking Us to nine or ten dif- 
 fereut nations which are on lliHl side, i;iid who appeiifed to tie very good 
 people, as we remarked cm our icliirii. 
 
 We there lost llie IiniiaiiH wiio ucciimpunied im because their periuguas 
 could not go as fast as our hark cnnoe. which was lighter than these 
 periagiias. The etirreiit of this channel heinp very rapid, we made that 
 day according to our Judgment liiirty-tlve <))• forty leagues, and were not 
 then at the end of this island of which we have just spuken. We crossed 
 the channel, and cabined on this island, leaving it the next day. 
 
 On the 24lli after sailing a^ain nearly thirty-tive or forty leagues, we per- 
 ceived two men fishing on the hank of the river, who took flight. Sometime 
 after we heard some war cries and according to all appearances the roll 
 of some drum. We afterwanls luitrned that it was the nation of the 
 Quinipissa,* and us we were in dread of the Chikacha, we always kept 
 the thread of the channel and thus pursued our route with all possibh 
 diligence. 
 
 * Lt! Clercq ii p. 'HA. Diacovery ol the Misfiuippl, p. ITS. 
 
 t,Le Clercq, 11. p. 286. At tlie wnrd 8a-aconest ii there explained to mwui war ciiea, li« 
 
 omitv thc.Indlaii word. 
 
 
 ^ 
 
THE "nOUVKLI.K DfiCOUVF.RTF,' 
 
 351 
 
 Wo landed very lafc nt 11 vlllaffc on the bunk of the river. Tliey told 
 UM afterwiinls thiit it was lliu nali'>n of tlu' Tan^iliao. There is every 
 reanon h\ the world to bflieve that these Iu8i Imd been Murpri.sed by thei'" 
 enemlcK. We fonnil in liieir cabinH ten men killed by arrows. This com- 
 pelled us to leave their vilhifje jiroinplly and to cross the river always 
 advancing on our way lo the great channel. We cabined aH late as we 
 could on the bank of the river, where we promptly built a fire of drlfl- 
 wood which we found at llie wati.'r's edge. ^V^• then cooked our Indian 
 corn meal and seasoned it witii hoiiciinnwl meat, after pounding it. 
 
 On tiic 25th the ten Indians killed by arrows hiving troubled us all 
 night long, we ctnliarked at the (Irs! Ijrcak of dayiiiid aft(!r a sail that was 
 even longer than that of the day before, w(i arrived at a i)oint where the 
 river divides into three channels.* W(! passed with speed through the 
 middle one which was very be.uitifiil and very deep. Tlie water tliero 
 «iut brackish, or half salt, and three or tour leagues further tlown, we 
 found it entirely salt. Pushing on a little further ntill, we (liscovered the 
 sea, which obliged us first to laud on tlie east of tlie river .Meschasipi. 
 
 Our two men wi re e.xln'mely afraid o( being taken by the Spaniards of 
 New Slexico, who are west of this river. They were in strange distress, 
 and every nmnient told me, that if unliai)p'.ly they should bap|)en to fall 
 into the hands of t'le Spaniards of this continent, they would never see 
 Europe again. I did not t(^ll ihem all that I thouglit Our religious have 
 twenty-five or thirty provinces in Old and New Mexico. So thali.'ven if I 
 had been taken, I should only have felt consolation and joy to end uiy days 
 among my brethren in so charndng a country as this. I should thus inive 
 been guaranteed from a world of ha/.ards and all the dangers that I after- 
 wards had to encounter. 1 would even inseMsibil)ly have spent my days 
 laboring for my salvation, in a country that uniy justly be called the dcliffht 
 of America ; but the extraordinary trouble of our men made lue adopt 
 another resolution. 
 
 I do not jirofess lo l)e a matbemati<^ian. However I had learned to take 
 altitudes by means of the astrolabe. Monsienr de la Salle was careful 
 not to trust me with that instrument while we were together, because he 
 wished to reserve to himself the honor of everytldng. Wc have however 
 subsefiuently ascertiiinc d that this river Meschasipi falls into the Gulf of 
 Mexico between the 27th and 28th degree ofl.ititude and as it is believed, 
 in the place where nil the maps place the Rio Escondido,f which means, 
 
 » Le Clercq, il. p. -SB. Di8C0»ery of the MloBlBgippI, p. \14. 
 t Le Clercq, il, p. S38. DlwoTery of be MUriseippi, p. 115. 
 
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 n WEST MAIN STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, NY. 14580 
 
 (716) 872-4503 
 

 (p.- 
 
 Q. 
 
 \ 
 
3 5'^ 
 
 VOYAGE TO THE GULF FROM 
 
 I; 
 
 M'«: 
 
 Hidden river. The river Ma^ilaleim is between tliis river luul the mines 
 of Santa Barbara in >Jew Mexieo. 
 
 Tliis month of ilie Meseliiisipi is ;ib()ut thirty li auues distant t'rom tlic 
 Rio Binvo, sixty leaunes Ironi l';ilni;is, 80 to 100 from tlie llio de Paunco 
 on tiie eousl nearest Ilie Spiiiiis-h ^.i^tllement s. Aeeordiiig to this we 
 judj^ed l)y iiieiins of the conii^Mss, wliieli lias jdwiiys l)een very necessary 
 to us, duriuL' our whole diseovery, that Espirilu Santo lay is north- 
 east of this UKiiith. 
 
 Duriuu' all our route I'mni ll.e luoulh of the river of the Illinois, whieh 
 
 enters into Jlesc hnsipi, we ulmost always salkd w>utli, ami southwest to 
 
 the sea. This rivir winds in various pluces, and is almost always a league 
 
 wide. It is very deep and has no sand banks. Xnihius interferes witli 
 
 navif;ation, ;id even ilie largest shii'.- nuirht sail into it without dillieulty. 
 
 It is estimated that this river runs iiioie than eight hundred leagues in length 
 
 inland liuin its sonrie to ilie sea, eounliiig the bends which it makes as it 
 
 winds along. Its iiiouth is more llinn tliree hundred and forty leagues 
 
 from tliat ot the rivei of the IlliiK is. In tine iis we have sailed from one 
 
 end of this river to Ihf other on our nay up, we shall deseribe its source 
 
 hereafter. 
 
 The two men wlio aecoiii|)anied iiu lelt greai joy, as well as myself, 
 
 at having cmdured the fatigue of our voyage. They felt however dis- 
 appointed that they had not amas.sed furs for the goods which wc had 
 hidden. Moreover they were in constant fear of being tnkeii by the 
 Spaniards. Tlu-y consequently did not give me the time that 1 would have 
 desired to observe tlie place exactly where wc were. They would never 
 help me to build a cabin, whicli we might have covered witli dry grass 
 from the prairies. My design was to leave a letter there written with my 
 own hand and sealed to make it hill into the hands of the people of the 
 country. This obliged me *or fear of irritating th(un, to tell them, that 
 we would use all possible diligence to ascend the river northward, where 
 they would easily be able to barter their goods. I made tlieni always 
 hojie, that I would contribute in every thing to their success. 
 
 All that I could obtain of tliem before going up the Jle.schasipi again 
 was that they should square a tree of hardwood, of which wc made a 
 cross about ten or twelve feet high, which we then planted in the earth, 
 which fortunately was at that place a firm clay. To this wc fastened a letl<'r 
 with my name and that of tlu' two men who were witli me, with a brief 
 account of our rank and the object of our voyage. After which kneeling 
 down we chanted some hymns proper for our design, like the Vfxilla lUgh 
 and others and then we set out.* 
 
 • Le Clercq, II, p. 237. 
 
 I 
 
 w;.. 
 
THF, "nOUVF.LLE DfiCO iVERTF,' 
 
 -» r -) 
 
 .t 3 ."» 
 
 During the slay wliicli we made at tlic mouth of Meschasipi. \vc did 
 not perceive a livinfrsmil. Fleuce W(!havc not lieen able to know whethc'" 
 there are nations thai dwell nn thr seashore. We 8lei)t during that time 
 only in the open air, as during all the rest of the voyage, when it did not 
 raiu. But during the rain we covered ourselves with our canoe, which 
 we placed bottom up on fmir stakes. Then we fastened to it birch barks 
 which we unrolled, hanging them lower down than our canoe to shelter 
 us from tlie rain. 
 
 AVe set out at last on the first of .Spril because our provisions 
 began to diminish. It is very remariinble that during all this voyage, 
 God hai)pily for us preserved us from the crocodiles whicli are tound in 
 abundance in this river Meschasipi, espiicially as you approa(th the sea 
 They are nuich to be dreaded, when one is not carefully on his guard- 
 We husbanded our Indian corn as well as we could possibly, because the 
 lower river is extremely skirted by canes md landing there is very incou- 
 venieiit Accordingly we durst not hunt, because that would have made 
 us lose too much time. 
 
 However our canoe being loaded only with a little provisions and some 
 suudl presents drew ordinarily only tW" or three inches of water. By 
 this means approaching the land as near as possible, we avoided the cur- 
 rents and the rajiidity of tlie river. We used such diligence in cu'der to 
 avoid being surprised, that we reached the village of the Tangibao. 
 But because we had always borne in nund tliose dead men pierced with 
 arrows whom we had seen in tlusir cabins, on i)assing there the first 
 time, we contented ourselves witli eating our Indian corn meal steeped 
 in water, and we had besides that, wild bull meat boucanned which we 
 dijiped in bear oil, that we kept for this i)urpose in bladders, in order to 
 swallow more easily this dried meal. After having said our evening 
 prayers, we sailed all night with a great piece of tinder or a lighted torch 
 to put to flight the crocodiles, which might l)e encountered on the route, 
 because they are e\tremely afraid of fire. 
 
 The next day, the 2nd,Michac' Ako at daybreak as we advanced on 
 our route called our attention to a very great smoke which was not very 
 far from tis. We believed that it was the Quinipissa* and some time 
 after we perceived four women loaded with wood, who redoubled their 
 steps to reach their village before us. But we passed tb(!in by dint of 
 rowing. I held in my haiul the peace calumet which the Indians liad 
 given us. Our Pieard du Quay could not p'strain himself from firing a 
 
 * Le Clercq, ii, p. 240. Discovery of the MisHtfotippi, p. 176. 
 
«p 
 
 354 
 
 VOYAGE TO THE GULF FROM 
 
 chnrge of his gun into a flock of wild geese which showed themselves in 
 the reeds. These four Indian women luiving iienrd the report, threw 
 their wood on tlie ground, and beginning to run with all their might, 
 arrived nl the village before ns and filled all with alarm 
 
 The Indian.-* alTrighted at all this, because thej' had never seen fire- 
 arms, beean to flee. They thought that it was thunder, not understnnd. 
 ing how it could be done, that a piece of wood and iron which they 
 see in the liands of Euroi)ean9 can belch out fiie and go kill people at a 
 great distance. Accordingly these savages, 'hough all armed as they 
 were in their fashion, did not hesitnto to scamper off in great confusion. 
 This obliged me to land, and show the pcaci; valiimet, which was the 
 symbol of our alliance with them. We then ascended into tluir village 
 with thern, and they in'cparcd us a renast in their fashion. 
 
 At the name time they notified their neighbors of our arrival. As we 
 were engaged in taking our meal in ilic largest of their apartments, we 
 saw several Indians enter in file, who gave us all the iiearty welcome 
 that they coidd conceive. Our two men had well nigh remiiined witli 
 this nation. Nothing but the goods that we had cached obliue! 'hem to 
 leave tills tribe, and this is also the secret motive which 1 had in hiding 
 them, so that our mm should think only of performing our voyage. 
 These last Indians having given us as much provisions as we desired, we 
 left them after making them some presents. 
 
 We set out on the 4th of April, and made great diligence on our voyage, 
 because we h;id gained strengtli. Wc arrived at the Koroa. These 
 Indians were not surpriseil at our iinival as l hey were the first lime. 
 They received us in a very extraordinary ninimtr. They cinried oiu' 
 canoe in triumph on their slioulders. There were twelve or fifteen men 
 who marched before us, dancing with bouquets ol featbcrBin tlieir hands. 
 All the women of the village followed with the children some of whom 
 took hold of my cincture of white wool, which I wore as a (;ord of St. 
 Francis. Others caught hold of my cloak, or habit. They did the same 
 to our two men, and thus they led us to the apartment set apart for us. 
 
 They adorned this place with flag mats, painted two colors, and white 
 blankets spun very neatly with the bark of a ti'ce, as we have already re- 
 marked. After we had satisfied our hunger with all thiit these people 
 presented ti) regale us, tbev left, us at liberty to repose in peace and refresh 
 ourselves. We were surprised to see in this |)la('e that the Indian corn 
 which was only two feet from the ground, when we passed the first time 
 •mong this people, was already milky and fit to eat. We learned by the 
 
 -^^^»H| 
 
THE "nOUVFXLK DECOUVERTE' 
 
 355 
 
 natioiisiinir, of their climate, tliat tliis corn ripens in sixty days. We also 
 itniurlied other urain, wliicli wns already out of tlie ijround, and three 
 or four inches hli^h. 
 
 We set out tVoiii Koroii the next day, April 5tli, and if I could have 
 made my men listen to ri'ason, I would cerlainlj' have made the acquain- 
 tance of several different niiiioiis which live on the south side of this river. 
 But tlunrouly thought was to reachlhenoftlurn nations to pick up all the 
 furs they could in exchange for the goods which they had left below the 
 AkunsH. (ireed of gain carried the day, and I was constrained to follow 
 them, because il was impossible to remain alone among so many nations 
 far distant from Kuiope. 1 had liicn to take patience and keep up a good 
 countenance. F(u- all the efforts which I made to persuade them, that 
 the public good should be preh'ned to the advantage of individuals, thcj' 
 got the best of nie, and I was obliged to yield, l)eing unable to do otherwise. 
 We were not able lo reach tlie Taensa, till April 7. 
 
 These Indians had already received couriers who had notified them of 
 our coming. 'I'liis caused them lo summon several of their neighbors 
 who livcil far inland on the east, and west, in order to get some of our 
 goods, il it was possible, because these savages never can weary admiring 
 them. They have sent some lo several other nations more remote, with 
 whom they arc allied. 
 
 They used every effort lo retain us among them. They offered us one 
 of their best lodges foi- our use, and calumets of black, red and jaspercd 
 marble. Bui our nu'u had their hearts set on the spot, where they had 
 cached their goods, so thai they paid no regard to all tlieir offers. They 
 then told me that we must absolutely set out. If I had had with me all 
 that was necessary, us I had my i)ortable chapel, I should have remained 
 among these good people, who showed nie so cordial a friendship. But 
 it has lonjr since been said that our companions are of^en our masters. I 
 was then oblijjed ti) follow the opinion of our men. 
 
 We embarked on the 8tli of Ai)ril, and some Taensa came to escort us 
 iu their lightesl periaguus, because they could not paddle fast enough to 
 follow our bark canoe with the others. Even witli all the efforts that 
 they made with their |Miles, they could not go fast enough. Thus they 
 were obliged to lot vc us, and let us go on. We threw tliem two fathoms 
 of .Martinique lol)acco to oblige them to remember us, and these Indians 
 on leaving us wondered how we could shoot three or four ducks, with a 
 single gun shot, which made them utter yells and cries of amazement. 
 After our men had saluted them taking o'f their hats with great respect 
 

 356 
 
 VOYAGE TO THE GULF FROM 
 
 
 : ii 
 
 !i 
 
 they redoubled tlieir ettbrts at llic puddle to sliow these savagcn, that they 
 were ciipablc of doing soiuethinj; more than thcsy liad yet seen tliem do. 
 
 On the 9th we arrived at the Al<aiisa ahoul two liom's alter sun rise. 
 It seemed to us that alter having heen received with so niiieh liumanity 
 by all these nations, whieh deserve the name of humane rather than bar- 
 barous nations, from their wonderful mildness, we had no ground for fear 
 or distrusi, and that we were in as great seciuily among them, as though 
 we had traveled through the cities of Ilollaiul, in which there is nothing 
 to fear. Yet we were not free from uiieasiniss, when we came to the 
 place where we had cached the goods of our men. The Indians had 
 burned the trees on which we had made crosses to recognize ihe place of 
 our cache. At first our two men turned pale from fear thai their treasure 
 had been swept away li'om llicm. They lost no time, and posted in haste 
 to the spot in question. 
 
 For my part I remained on lliebank of the river to gum over our canoe 
 which leaked in several places. The Picard dn Guay came in liasle to 
 seek me in order torejoice withnie, Ihat they had found the cache again in 
 good condition. He told me witli great transports of joy, iliat all was 
 just as we had left it. Meanwhile to prevent llie Akansa who were com- 
 ing to us in file, from seeing our men while busy in un(;(ivering their 
 goods, I took the peace calumet and stopped them lo smoke. It is an in- 
 violable law among tlieni to smoke on such an occasion, hecau.';e if one 
 refused he would nm the risk of being massacred by Ihe Indians -ho 
 have an extreme veneration for the calumet. 
 
 While I amused the Indians our two men came and took the canoe, 
 which I had regummed and they adroitly replaced in it the goods which 
 they had taken from Iheir cache, and then they came lo gel uu' at the 
 place where I was with the Indians 1 entertaiiu'd them by signs marking 
 my thoughts on Ihe sand, wliich I en<leiivorcd to make them understand in 
 this way. I did not understand a wonl of their language which is en- 
 tiiely different from that of the nations with whom we had conversed 
 before and since this voyage. 
 
 We ascended tlie river very gaily. We advanced by dint of paddling 
 with such celerity that the Akansa who were marching by land, weru 
 obliged to double tlieir steps to follow us One among them more alert 
 than the rest, ran to the village where we were received with even greater 
 marks of joy than they had shown the tirsl time. All this was done on 
 tlieir part with a view of profiting by our goods, which pass for great 
 riches among these people. 
 
THE "nOUVRLLR D£C0UVRRTE' 
 
 357 
 
 It would be UHClesu lo describe all the circuiuatuuces of what passed in 
 tlie daiioes and leasts, vvliicii these Indiana gave us. Our two men seeing 
 that they could not enrich tiieniselves l)y Iradiiij; for furs with tiiese 
 people, because they have never traded with Europeans, and do not care 
 either for heaver or deer skins, of whicli lhey<lo not know the use, pressed 
 nie to j;() witli all diligence towards thi' nor; hern nations, where they 
 liopeil to (iiul these goods in plenty. And in fact the Indiana who live 
 near the source of the river Meschasipi, were hegining to go and trade in 
 the direction of Lake Superior, union;;' nations wiiich have intercourse 
 witli Europeans. We left marks of our friendship wilii tlie Akansa by 
 some presents wliicii we ma<le them. 
 
 We set out the Ist of April* and for the space of about si.xty leagues said 
 we found no Chikacha or Messoriie Indian. Apparently tliey were all at 
 the liunt with tiieir families, or jiorliaps they were in flight for the fear 
 wliich they had of tlu' Nation of tlie prairies, who are called Tintonlia be 
 the inhabitants of these countries. These are their swora enemies. 
 
 We were only the more linpi)j' during our route, because we found 
 plenty of game every wliere. However before reaching the place where 
 the river of tlie Illinois empties into the said river, we found a band of 
 Messorite Indians, wlio were coming from up the river. IJntas they had no 
 periaguas to ciiiiu' to us, we crossed to the other bank on the east side and 
 or fear of being suiprised during the night, we did not sinp at any place. 
 We accordingly contented ourselves with eiitiiig roast Iiuliau ci/rn meat 
 and boucaniieil meat, liecausii wo ilurst not make a tire for fear of being- 
 discovered by some ambuscade of Indians, wlio would undoubtedly have 
 massacred us, taking us for enemies before they could recognize us 
 Tills preciuition made us liappily avoid the danger, which but for that we 
 should have run. 
 
 I had forgotten, while Isailed on the river Meschasipi to relate wliat the 
 Illinois hail ollea told us, and wliicli we took for tales invented to amuse. 
 It is that about near the| sjjot called on the map Cap de St. Autoine, very 
 near the nation of the Mcssorites, Tritons and Sea monsters are to be seen 
 painted, which tlie boldest men dare not look at, because there is an en- 
 chantment and something supernatural there. These pretended frightful 
 monsters are after all (Uily a Imrse very biidly tainted with matacliia of 
 red color, and snme deer daubed by the Indians, who add that they can- 
 not be reached. But if we had not been pressed to avoid being surprised 
 by the Indians, it would have been easy for us lo toucli them, for the said 
 Cape of St. Anthony is not so steep or so higli as the cha f mountains, 
 • The last date waB tho 9th. 
 
'i 
 
 358 
 
 VOYAGF. TO THE GULF IROM 
 
 1 f 
 
 
 which are along aide the fallti of 81. Anthony ot Ptuhiu, which is ncp.r the 
 source of the Meschnsipi. These savngos acliled, moreover, that tht /ock 
 wliere tliese monsters were pnintcd, wiis so steep Ihiit passers by eoiiU' not 
 <;o there. And in tact the common tradition among these nations is, iliut 
 there were formerly several Miands drowned in this place on the river 
 Meschasipi, because they were vigorously pursued by tlie Matsigamea. 
 From that time the Indians, who pass by that plaie, are accustomed to 
 giuoke and present tobacco to these puppets, which are very rudely painted, 
 and this, Ihey say, to appease the Alanitou, which iucordiug to the language 
 oftlie Algonquinsand of Acadie, signifies an evil spirit, which the Iroquois 
 call Otkon, which is a kind of sorceiy and wicked spirit, whose malignity 
 tliey igiu)re. 
 
 While I was at Quebec 1 was told that the Sieur Jolliel had formerly 
 been on this river Meschasipi and thai he had been obliged to return to 
 Canada, bccauae he had not beer able to pass beyond these monsters, 
 partly because he had been terriued by them, and partly too because he 
 feared he might be taken by the Spaniards. But I must say here, that 
 I have very often sailed in r vanoe with the said Sieur Jolliet on the river 
 St. Laurence, aiul even in very dangerous times <ui account of the higli 
 winds, from which liowever we fortunately escaped to the great astonish, 
 ment of all the world, because he was a very gooil canoemau. I there 
 had occasion to ask Idni many a time, whether in fact he hud been as far 
 as the Akansa. 
 
 This man who had great ctuisideration for the .Jesuits who were by nation 
 Normans, (because his father was from Normandy), avowed to me that he 
 had often heard these monsters spoken of among theOuttaoUats, but that 
 he had never been as far as that, and that he had remained among the 
 Ilurons and the OuttaoUats to trade in beaver and other pcllries. But 
 that these people had often told him that this river could not be descended 
 on account of the Spaniards, whom they had nuule him dread extremely. 
 I have given great credit to this statement of the Sieur Jolliet,* because 
 in fact during our whole route on the river Meschasipi, we found no mark, 
 that could shew us that the Spaniards are in the habit of sailing on it, 
 as we shall show in our second volume. 
 
 When one arrives at 20 or 80 leagues below the Maroa, the banks of 
 this river Meschasipi are full of canes to the sea." 
 
 • At DO fact i8 better eetabliehed than the voyace ofMarquette aud Jolliet, thiB asser- 
 tion that Jolliet disavowed it, wonld have to come from nndoabted autboritj to be 
 credlt«d. 
 
 I 
 
 
 KTZ: 
 
T 
 
 THR"N0UVF.LLF, DfiCOUVRRTF,' 
 
 359 
 
 [Here follow general observations on the river, the prairies, forests, 
 nniiniils, trees, mines, Indian mnnuers, pro8i)ects for missions, pp. 295-310.] 
 
 " But in order not to wear}' the ri iider, it is time to pursue our voyajie to 
 tlie source of the river Mescliiisipi. We emlmrked on tlie 24tli of April 
 and the Indian corn or large millet failing us as well ns the bouennned 
 meat, we liad no otlier means of sudsistence than hunting or fishing. 
 Deer were very scarce in the partF where wo theu were, because the 
 Illinois often come there and ruin the hunting. Fortunately we found 
 some long beaked sturgeons, of wliich I shall speak licrcafter. We killed 
 them witli blows of our luitclirts or swords fixed in liiiudlea which we 
 used on the occasion, in order to save our powder and lend. It was then 
 tlie time wlicn thei<e fish s])awn, and they are usually seen approaching 
 tlic shore of the river in order to spawn. We accfirdingly easily killed 
 tluni with blows of axe or sword, without going into the water and 
 because we killed as many as we wished, we took only the belly and the 
 most delicate morsels, and left the rest. 
 
 If our men had some pleasure in this abundant fishery, they were 
 on the other linnd in great fear of the people whom we liad left at the 
 fort of the Illinois or Creveccrnr. Although we were still more than a 
 liundred leagues distant, which is a trifle, on account of the great speed 
 that is made with bark canoes, they feared lest some of the ])e()j)Ie from 
 the fort should come, and seeing tlnU tiiey had not bartered their goods 
 with the northern nations, might seize tiieir effects. I proposed to them 
 to sail by night and to cabin by day on the island.s with wliicb the river 
 is filled, and which we might find on our way. 
 
 The river is all full of these islands, especially from the mouth of the 
 river of the Illinois to the falls of St. Anthony of Padua of which I shall 
 speak hereafter. This expedient succeeded, and in fact after having sailed 
 during tlie whole night, we found ourselves tar enough from this mouth 
 approaching the north. On the wliole the land did not seem to us so 
 fertile nor the woods so fine, as those which wu had seen in the countries 
 whicli are on the lower part «)t I he river Meschasipi." 
 
 ..! 
 
360 
 
 .ACCOUNT FROM MARGRY. 
 
 |l ' 
 
 ) ■(! 
 
 ACCOUNT 
 
 OK 
 
 HENNEPIN AND THE SIOUX. 
 
 tKrom Marnry 1, p. 481 etc.J 
 " Tliey were ascciulinj,' the river Colbert or jMiissisHipiii willi i;ruiit pleasure 
 ami williout any obstacle wlieti on tlic lllb of April, lOSO. iliey l)ebel(l 
 tlieinselvcs invested by a hundred or hundred and Iwenly Niidouessious 
 wIki descended in tliirty-three canoes to make war 011 the Tcliatchakigoiias. 
 Father Louis at once presented them the eahiinet, which ihey received, 
 but they woidd not smoke it, w hicb is a mark of peace, till ntk'r they bad 
 nnidethem cross to the other side of the river, whither tliey pursued tlicni 
 with loud cries, to give, according to tlieir custom, some satisfaction to 
 their dead. 
 
 Nevertheless these savages plundered tli(;m ol' some goods and although 
 Michael Accault made tliem a present ot two Ijoxes of goods, liiey carried 
 them off to their village to which they returned, Iliis encounter having 
 unidethem abandon tlieir voyage. They did not however give the French, 
 who were not displeased at this opportunity to continue their discoveries, 
 any otiier ill treatment than to make tliem inarch with them afoot from 
 the great river for fifty leagues, with great bardsliip and very little food. 
 It is true, nevertliele.ss, tliat on approacliing their village, ihey divided all 
 the goods among them, half by consent, Indf by force, but they promised 
 at the same time to pay for them ; and the reason of this violence is that 
 this baud was made up from two dillercnl tribes, the more remote of 
 which, fearing that the others would retain all the goods, when thej' got 
 to their village, determined to take their share in advance. 
 
 In fact, sometime aller they offered a part of tiio payment to Michael 
 Accault, who would not take it until tliey gave liim the value of all the 
 goods, and the Sieur de la Salle does not doubt but that these Indians 
 gave him complete satisfaction. They also stole leather Louis' chapel, 
 except the chalice which they durst not touch, because seeing it shine, 
 tliey said that it was a spirit that would kill them. 
 
 This treatment made the Father believe that they wished to put him to 
 death, because they performed several ceremonies, which they are also 
 accustomed to practice, when tliuy intend to burn their enemies, and 
 Michael Accault, who then did not understand their language, although 
 he knew i^several oiuers, could not converse with these Indians. Never- 
 theless they left the Fritnchmen al perf cl libeity in theii village. 
 
 Three months after they went with the Indians on a biillalo hunt along 
 
 [4^ 
 
 ^m 
 
ACCOUNT BY LA SALLE. 
 
 361 
 
 tlio riviH- Colbort, aljoiit iTiO len},'Ufis from tlicir villagf, wliere they met 
 the Sieiirdii Liitli, who was f;"in,^; to tho Na(h)Ucssi()us, under tlie guid- 
 ance of a soldier of the 8ieurde La Halle nanwx] Fuffurt, who Imd deserted 
 from FortFroiitcuac. 'IMicv wcnlui)a;j;!iiii idl togetlierlo the villageof the 
 Nadoucssious, wh(!i(! liioy reimdned alwut lour moutiis, and at last tliey 
 all* ruturnod to Canada by the river Ouisoonsing and l)y tlie Ray of tlie 
 Puans. 
 
 During the stay of Fiilhcr Louis and llie two Frenclimau among tlie 
 Niulouessious, they saw Indians come ns ambassadors, who lived nearly 
 fiOO leagues to the westward, and they ascerliiined that tlie AsHinipoualac, 
 who are seven or eight days journ(;y from llic Sioux to the northwest 
 ward, and all the other nations, who are known to the west and north- 
 west live in immense prairies, where there arc quantities of wilil cattle 
 and peltry, and wlicie they are somelimes forced to make fire with 
 butfalo dung, for want of wood.'' 
 
 ACCOUNT 
 
 HENNEPIN'S EXPLORATION IN LA SALLE'S 
 LETTER OF AUGUST 22, 1862. 
 
 [l''rom Margry, 11, p. 845.] 
 
 The river Colbert, called by the Iroquois Gastacha, by the Outaouas 
 Mississipy, into which the river of tlie Illinois, called Teakiki, empties 
 flows from the northwest. I caused it to be ascended by a canoe, con- 
 ducted by two of my men, one named Michael Accault, and the other 
 Picard, wliom the Rev. Father Louis Hennepin joined, not to lose the 
 opportunity of preaching the gospel to the nations that dwell above, and 
 who had never yet heard it sjjoken of. They started from Fort Crevecceur 
 on the 28th of February in the evening, with a peace calumet which is a 
 safeguard that the Indians of these parts rarely violate. The said 
 Michael Accault, was tolerably versed in their languages and manners. 
 He knew all their customs and was esteemed by several of these nations 
 among whom I Imd already .sent him, where he succeeded completely. 
 He is moreover prudent, brave and cool. They had about a thousand 
 livres worth of the goods most esteemed in these paita, which accom- 
 
 * Accault did not return. 
 
 27 
 
 I 
 
< 
 
 I 
 
 'J i 
 
 362 
 
 ACCOUNT OF HENNEPIN 
 
 piwiicil by tlie ])cii(o ciilunu'l iiro uover rcfiisoil by theeo kind of 
 people wlio need evt'iyiliins;. Tlicy first met a number of Islinojs ascend" 
 ing their river Id reiieli tluir villajie, wlio used every ofTorl to induce tliem 
 to turn l)ack. Jliclmcl Acdiull wlio deeniid liis iinnor pledged to curry 
 out tiie enterprise, nnimiited liy tlie example of Fiillier Louis Hennepin^ 
 who iilso desired to signiilize bis zeol, mid idpowisliing to keep the promise 
 lie liiul niiidu me to pciisli or succeed, eiuouriigeil Ids eomriulc, wlio was 
 wavering iit the words ol llie Indians, iind mude him see that the olijeet of 
 the Islinois was to get li{)ld of their goods uiul de|>rive their ueigldiois of 
 them, mid thalthis should not change the resolution which (ii.'y had taken. 
 In tiict lliey continued their way along the river Theakiki till tlie 7th of 
 March, 1680, when two leagues from its monlli, by which it empties into 
 the Colbert, they met a nation ealled 'i'liiiuuoa or Maroa, to the numb(^r of 
 two imndred families or thereabout, who wished to take them to their 
 village, which then lay on the west side of the (Ireiit river, six or seven 
 leagues below the month of the Theakiki. Thiiv refused to follow them 
 and arrived the same day at tlii! coiilluenco of these two rivers, about fifty 
 leagues distant from Fort Crevecfrur, and ninety from t\w village of the 
 Islinois. The river Trakiki is idniost always of uniform width during 
 these nini'ty leagues, approaching the widlli of the Seine before Paris, that 
 iswhiireit is conflne(l to its bed; but in various place, as at Pimiteoui, 
 one league east of Creveco>- and at two or three other points lower 
 down, it widens out to a league or two, and in many places where the 
 two high grounds, which skirt it from the Islinois village down, recede 
 for about a half a league from each other, the ground which they leave 
 between them is marshy .and often overflowed, especially after the rains 
 which easily cause these rivers to leave their channels, and swell them to 
 
 *Thi» extract iR Klveii, SH il was writuii M Fort Krontoimc in lti,Si, while Hennepin 
 was In France preparini; liin boolt lor |iiil>!ir>ition, anil niui't have hi'on hased on reports 
 from llonnepin or Accanlt. It recoijnizcH Hi'iinepin'x discovery and maintains hiis 
 priorlly over Dn Lhiit, but like the Mart'ry Relation tries to show that the party 
 were not prlnonerH. Yet all the Btotemcnis are bailed on Information derived from 
 HoiiiKipln. there bclnu' proof that he wroli! to Lii Salle, and no evidence that Accanlt 
 did or conld write. Yet the priority of exploration of Ihii HUnix. country helon'fs to 
 neittu r. The ,)esuiti< in their Kelal ion of KMO-ipeak of the NidoucKia an known. Uaym- 
 bault nod .lognes (Relation 10421 indicate the route to their country by way of l,ake 
 Superior anil St. LouIh river. During the winli'r ol' KiWl-fiO de Oioaeliliers and another 
 Frenclinian visited their country and itti forty vUlaKUB. Rel. IWUl : .lournal dop 
 JiJBUiteii, p. 2S7; Charlevoix, Hiet. New Krnuce, 3 p., 48 n. See also pp. HSOl. Hen- 
 oepin curiouuly enough protusses to have known this pioneer explorer ot' Dakota land. 
 Voy. au Nord, v, p. 849. 
 
FROM LA SALLE'S LETTER. 
 
 363 
 
 iin exliaorilinary degree, imd ot'ton more tliiiii a pikehigli.* The IsliiiolB 
 river from their village to tlic Great river liaa a very deep and even bed. 
 It is skirted l)y woods ulinost nil llic way, all llie luaislies jjroducing very 
 large trees of all kinds, and tin; slopci of the hills is usually covered ; but once 
 you cross the lands overflowed by the river from time to time, and ascend 
 the hills, you find nothing but beautiful plains further than the eye can 
 reach, dotted here and their with tufts of wouil, whicli seem to be there 
 only because needed. These clearings f extend in many places to the river 
 shore, especially ■ ";ir the village, anil about sixty leagues east and north- 
 east, where wnoi;.- arc; very rarely Necn along the bank, which is more 
 uniformly skirted by woods as you descend. The current is scarcely per- 
 ceptible wlien there have been no heavy rains, except in spring, it is very 
 navigable however at all limes for the largest barks up to the Islinoisln- 
 dlauB, and above only lor canoes, botii on account of the rapidity of the 
 water, and the snuill (juantity at several places where the rapid slope and 
 the bars prevent any dejith. 
 
 The ico which came down the (ircat river stopped them at the mouth 
 of ll';- Islinois till the 13th of March. On the south side it washes a steep 
 rock 'vboul forty feet high adaiHeil lor building a fort, and on the otiier 
 side it v.'aters a beautiful prairie, of wi>ich the end cannot bo discerned, 
 very sui.rble for cultivation. This place seems to me the most suitable 
 of all to settle, for many reasons which I have not time to deduce here, 
 and I sb.tll be able to make a post there as I return from my voyage. 
 
 From there to Piniiteoui the livei' runs almost south, so that its mouth 
 is between 40 and 47' north laiituile, and about 130 or 130 leagues from 
 the north shore of the Gulf of Mexico. From Quebec to Montreal there 
 is about 43 leagues difference east and west; from Montreal to Fort 
 Frontenac 01 leagues ; from the fort to Niagara, 05; from Niagara to the 
 end of Lake Erie 133 ; from there to the mouth of the river of the Miamis 
 117; thence to the Islinois 53; thence to Piniiteoui or Crevecoeur 37; from 
 Creveco;ur to Mississipi 16, whicli makes about 500 leagues, eijual to 
 about 24° of longitude. The Mississipi, going down, appears on leaving 
 the Teatiki, to run soulli southwest, anil ascending north northwest; it 
 runs between two cliams of pretty high mountains, much higher than 
 Mont Valerien, which wind like the river, from which they aometimcs 
 recede a little, leaving moderate praii'ies between them and its bed, and 
 sometimes they are bathed by the waters of the river, so that while on one 
 
 *Tlie pike was 13 fuel loug. 
 t Deierti still used in Cauada 
 
 tills sense. 
 
f 
 
 J'/ 
 
 !l^' 
 
 ^p^ipi 
 
 ■■ 
 
 ; ij 
 
 36+ 
 
 ACCOUNT OF HENNEPIN 
 
 it «; 
 
 *i 
 
 ■! I ! 
 
 Vn 
 
 8ide it is bordered by the spur of a mountain, it forniB on the other a bay, 
 the end of which is met by a prairie or a woody plateau. The slope of 
 these hills, which are either of gravel or stone is covered from time lo 
 time with dwarf oalcs or i:i other places with very small plants. The top of 
 the mountains icveals plains of very jioor land, very different from that 
 amon^ the Islinoi:*, but wliich is pastured by the 8;ui\e animals. The 
 channel of thi.s great river, almost every where one or two leagues wide, 
 is dotted all along by a number of islands covered with open woods, in- 
 terlaced by so many vines thai tlicy can be traversed onlj' with diftlcuUy 
 They* are subject to inundation in llie frrsliets. They ordinarily con- 
 ceal the sight of the other bank, wliich is only rarely discerned, on 
 account of these islands. The bottom is very unequal as you ascend above 
 the river ol the Islinois. You often meet shoals which traverse the 
 channel friim one side to the other, over which canoes find it difficult to 
 pass. It is true that when the waters are high, it is every where deep 
 enough for the largest vessels to puss, but tbecnncnts are then extremely 
 impetuous and diflicult to stem with sails. The Mississipi receives no 
 considerable rivers on the west side from the river of the Islinois to the 
 country of the Nadouesiou.v, e.vcept that of the Oioutantas Paote un<l 
 Maskoutens, Nadouesionx on the east side, and about one hundred leagues 
 from Teakil:' 
 
 Hy foUowujg tlie windings of tlie Mississipi you find the river Ouiscon- 
 sing, Misconsinjr, or Meachetz Odi'ba,f which conu's fVoni between the 
 Bay of the Piians and the (heal Kiver. Il flows at first from north to 
 south till about 45 n. latitude, and then turns west and west southwest, 
 and afier a course of si.xty leagues falls info the Jlississipi. It is almost 
 as large as that of the Islinois, navigable to this elbow, and perhaps above, 
 wliere the portage of canoes is made, across an oak swamp}: and a 
 drowned prairie to reach the river Kakaling which falls into the Bay of 
 the Fuans. Misconsing flows between tv.o hills whi"h recede from time 
 to time and leave between them and tlu; river pretiy large prairies and 
 open ground sandy and not very fertile. At other places the plateau 
 which is between tlicse liills and the river is in spots lower and marshy, 
 and then it is covered with wood and inundated in the overflow of the 
 river. The mountains diminish insensibly in proportion as you ascend 
 the river, and at last abuut thiee leagues from the ))ortage, the ground 
 becomes flat and is marshy, uncovered on the portage side, and covered 
 
 * Down to " aatiD " not to Ileunepin. 
 t Not in Hennepin. 
 % Obaiinfie. 
 
 t 
 
 mm 
 
FROM LA SALLE'S LETTER. 
 
 365 
 
 with pines on the otlier. The i)lace where the canoes are transported is 
 marked by a tree, wliore there are two * grossly painted by the Indians 
 whonci! nftor having niarchcu nboi.t lialf a league, yon lind the river 
 Kakaling, whioli is only n strea.ii iliat rises in the marshes, whore:*, 
 meanders extremely and forms little lakes, often widening and narrowing 
 You follow it ahout forty leagues, following the turns which it makes, 
 tlien you come to tlu> village of the Outaganiis. Haifa league from the 
 river on the north side before arriving there, lli< river falls into a lake 
 wliich may l)e eight leiigues long and three leagues wide, and aftt r having 
 passed the village about two leagues, you find the rapids called Kakaling, 
 difficult to descend on account of the rapidity of the water, the quantity 
 of rocks found there, and three fulls where the canoe and its loud must be 
 carried. They last six leagues, iiiidliuee leagues lower down, and at the 
 mouth of Ibis river in the Bay of the Puans, is a house of the Jesuits, who 
 liave truly the key of the country of Castorie,f where a brother blacksmith, 
 whom they have and two companions convert more iron into beaver than 
 tlic Fathers do Indians into Christians.^ 
 
 At about 28 or '24 leagues north or northwest of the mouth of the 
 Ouisconsing, wliidi has also a rock on llie south side and a beautiful 
 prairie on the north side, near three beautiful basins or bays of still 
 water, you find Black River, called by the Nadouesioux Chabadeba, by 
 no means huge, the juontli of which is lined by alders on both sides. 
 Ascendii'g about thirty leagues almost always towards the same point of 
 the compass, you meet lUiirido river as wide at its mouth as the Islinois. 
 It is called by this name on account of the number of these animals found 
 there; it lias been followed ten or twelve leagues, where it is always 
 even and free from rapids, lined by mountains, which recede from time 
 to time to form ])raines. There are several islands at its mouth, which is 
 lined by woods on botii sides. Thirty-eight or (oity leagues above, you 
 tind the river by which th(! SIcnr Du I.ulh descended to the Mississippi. 
 He had be(Mi for tliree yi ars contrary to orders on Lake Superior with a 
 band of twenty roxrcuvK tie boin ; he ha<l carried it boldly tliere, armounc- 
 ing every wlufre that at the head of these braves he did not fear the Grand 
 Prevost and tli;\t, Ik; would compel them by force to grant him an 
 amnesty. The coureurixk hoi*, whom he was tin; first to induce to raise 
 the mask h.ive been and have n turned to the settlements several times, 
 • Not ill Ileiuicpln. 
 + BcaMTlnnd. 
 
 t Little of tills iB la II nuoplii ; ami It is somewhat iinKoncroiiB In La dalle after the 
 Jeeulte hud trfvcn hospitulitj to two cf lil» party, MembrS and ncnnepln. 
 
 ill 
 
I i 
 
 llll 
 
 I 
 
 r^ 'ii 
 
 r' '■' 
 
 
 i\ I 
 
 366 
 
 ACCOUNT OF HENNEPIN 
 
 loaded with goods nnd peltries, of wliii'li (lui'in;^' that tiim; tlicy (litiincil 
 Lnke Superior, every aveiine of which iliey bcsii^ired. iind this year they 
 liMve prevented the Otitaouiics from desocmliiig to Mont real, 
 
 At that time and while he was on Lake Bnperior, the Nadonesioux, 
 invited by the presents whicli iIk; lat(! Sieiir Uandin luul nHid(' them in 
 the name of the Count de Frontcnac, and the SiuitciirH wli" arc tlie 
 Indiana who bring most peltries to Montreal and who dwell on Lake 
 Sniierior, wishing to obey tlie lepeiiteil commands of my said Lord 
 Count, negotiated a ])eMC(! to unite the nation of the Sauteurs to tlie 
 French, and go to trade in thecounlry of the Nadonesioux, about sixty 
 leagues distant west of Lake Superior. Du Lulli In cover his desertion 
 took this occasion to give him some color, and passed himself dir v.'itli 
 two of his deserters for an envoy of the Count, "and eulni.sted with his 
 orders to negotiate this peace, during which liis (iomradcs negotiated 
 beaver still better. There were many t.'onferenees witli the Nadouisioux 
 and as he liad no interpreters, he debauched one of mine named Faflart, 
 then a soldier at Fort Frontemie. At last the Sauteurs having visited 
 the Nadonesioux several times and returned, and the Nadonesioux 
 the Sauteurs, seeing Unit there was nothing to lear, and that 
 he could increase the number of his beaver, he sent this Fatfari by 
 land with some Nadonesioux and Sauteurs who were returning togciher. 
 On his return this young man having made him a report of the quantity 
 of beaver that he might have in that part, he resolved to endeavor to go 
 there himself and led by a Sauteur and a Nadonesioux and four French- 
 men, they iiscended the river Nemitsakouat, whence after a short portage; 
 ho descended into this one, where he says that he passed more than 
 forty leagues of rapids, and having seen that the Nadonesioux wen; 
 lower down with my people and the Father, who had descended again 
 from the village of the Nadonesioux wliere th<y had already been, he 
 came in seareh of thimi.* He mounted again to the village whence they 
 descended again all together, ascended by the river Ouisconsing, and 
 thence he came down again to Mmitreal aa jiroudly as he had set out, having 
 even insulted the commissaries and the substitute for the Procurator Gene- 
 ral, named d'Auteuil, now actually Procurator General. The Count de 
 Frontcnac had him arrested and held as a prisoner in the castle of Quebec, 
 intending to send him to France, on charges made by the Intendaut, 
 unless the amnesty granted to the coureurs de bois should cause his 
 discharge. 
 
 • Hennepin mittes their meeting July a6, 1B80. 
 
 
 11 
 
' 
 
 FROM LA SALLE'S LETTER. 
 
 367 
 
 To know what the said Du Lutli is, it is necessarj' only to iiuiuire of 
 Mr. Dalera. Neveithiiless lie pretends (o have made an ini;'ortant dis- 
 covery, and to ask tliis country iia (huvin;;) the advantage of the lalinois, 
 whicli is amuning enough that he hopes a reward lor his rebellion. In 
 the second place there are only three ways to go there, one by Lake 
 Sui^erior, tiiootlier by the Hay of the T^uaus, the third by the Islinois and 
 the lands of my commission. Tiie two former are suspicious, and it would 
 not be necessary to open the third to liim to my disadvantage, he having' 
 incurred no expense, and having gained much witliout risk, while I have 
 underg(me great hardships, perils and losses ; and by the Isliuois there is 
 a circuit of three hundred leagues for him to make. Moreover the country 
 of th ' Nadouesioux is not a country which he has discovered. It has 
 been long known, and the Rev. Father Hennepin and Alichael Accault 
 were there before him. The (irst one indeed of his fellow-deserters who 
 readied it, having been one of my soldiers whom he seduced. Moreover 
 this country is uniiiiinbitahk', unlit for cultivation, there being nothing but 
 marshes full of wil '. rice on w liich these nations live, and no benefit can 
 be derived from this discovery, wlietlier it is ascribed to my people or to 
 Du Lulh, because 1 he rivers thi're are not navigable. But tlie King having 
 granted ub trade in buffalo skins, it vfM be ruined by coming and going 
 to the Nadouesioux liy any other route than the Lake Superior one, 
 through which the Count de Fronlcnaccun send to obtain beaver, accord- 
 ing to the power which he has to ;>'ant Coiigis. But if they go byOuis- 
 coiising, where they make tlieir hiijalo hunt in siunmer, and wliere I have 
 begun a post,* tlie coiir.nerce will be ruined on which alone I rely from 
 the great number of bullalo killed there every year, beyond what can be 
 believed. 
 
 Still ascending the Mississippi, twenty f leagues above this river, you 
 find the falls which those whom I had sent, and wiio first reached there, 
 have named St. Antliony's. It is thirty or forty feet high, and the river ■ 
 is narrower there than elsewhere. There is an island in the middh' of 
 the lall, and the two banks of the river are no longer skirted by mountains, 
 wliich descend insensibly to that point ; but tlie ground on both sides is 
 covered with open woods as we call them, that is to say oaks and other 
 hard woods planted far apart, which grow only on poor soil. There are 
 also some prairies. Canoes are carried there tor about three or four 
 
 * This Is a positive statement, but Is it true ? Whore did La Salle begin a eettlement 
 on the Wisconsin ? 
 t Hennepin saye 10 or 12; the Ruliition Margry, p. 480, has SO. 
 
 >l 
 
 
 1* 
 

 368 
 
 ACCOUNT OF HHNNEi'IN 
 
 I, I 
 
 ■1 
 
 hundred paces; iiiul fiiplit le.ij^uos above yoii fiiul on the wost side the 
 river of tlie Nndonesionx, narrow ut its month, and whicli waters a 
 wretched land covered willi tni.slii'3 for altoiit fifty leai^ues, at the end of 
 which i* ends in a hike called Ihe L;il<e <if the Issati, which spreads 
 into great marshes, in wliicli wild lite groA\s. Towards the moutli of 
 thh river the iMississipi comes from tlie west, bnt it hiiB not been 
 folh)wed on netonnt of an acv'idi.'nt which helcl the Kev. Father 
 Lonis, Michael Accault and his comrade.* The thing took phice 
 in this way. After having saiii'd along Ihe Mississipi till the 11th 
 of April, ahont tliiee o'clock in the aflevnoon, paddling along the 
 shore on the Illinois side, a hand of a hundred Nadonesioux warriors, 
 who were coming for the purpose of killing some Tchatclmkigoiia de- 
 scended the same river in thirty-three hirch bark cnnoes. Theref were 
 with tliem two women and one of lh(is(! wietches who serve as women 
 althongh they are men, whom the Lslinois call Ikoneta. They passed 
 along and beyond some islands, and several canoes had already descended 
 below that of the Frenclanen. Having perceived it, Ihey all gathered, 
 and those which had )>assed, paddling up with all their might, easily 
 blocked their way. Tliore was a part on land which invested thorn on 
 that side. Michael Accault who was the conductor, had the ctdumet 
 presented to them. They received it and smoked alter having made a 
 circle on land covered with straw, in wliich they made the Frenchmen 
 sit. Immediately two old men began to Ix^wail the death of those relatives, 
 whom they intended to avenge; and after having taken s(mie tobacco, 
 they made our people ( mhark and cross first to tli(^ other side of Ihe river. 
 They followed them after giving three yells and paddling Avith all lluir 
 might. On landing Michael Acc^ault made Iheni a jin sent of twenty 
 knires and a fathom and a half of tobacco, which they accepted. They 
 had already stolen a half pike and somi- other trifle. They then marched 
 ten days together without showing any mark of discontent or ill will, bnt 
 on the 22d of Ajjril, having reached islands where they had killed some 
 Maskoutens, they put the two dead men whom they were going to a\enge 
 and whose bones they carried with them, between Father Louis and 
 Michael Accault. It is an equivocal ceremony which is done to friends 
 to excite their compassion, and obtain presents lo cover them, and to 
 
 • ThU geems to make th«m captured above St. Anthony's Falls while II«ane|)iii sajs 
 that after saillDg Dinotoen days up the river with thn Indians thoy reached a pohit five 
 leagaea below the falls. 
 
 t Sentence not In Hennepin. 
 
 [f 
 
FROM LA SALLES LETTER, 
 
 369 
 
 slaves wlio nro taken in war to give tlirm to uiide'^tand that they must 
 
 expect to be treated ms tlic deceased was. Michael Aecaiilt nnfortuiintcly 
 
 did not undeistand this nation, and there was not a single slave of the 
 
 other nations whom he understood, which scarcely ever hapjicns, all the 
 
 nations in America having a ninnhcr ol those whose lives they spare hi 
 
 order to replace their dead, alter liavinf: sacriticed a great many to.thenj 
 
 to appease their vengeance. Asa result of this, one can make himself 
 
 understood by almost all nations, whfu he knows three or four languages 
 
 of those who go fnrihest in war, such as the Iroquois, the Islinois, tlie 
 
 Akansa, the Nadouesiou.x and Saulenrs.* Accault understood all these 
 
 except theNadoucsioux.f but th<'re are many among them who have been 
 
 prisoners among the others, or who have come from others and been 
 
 taken in war, but chance willed that not one could be found in that band 
 
 to interpret lor the others. It was necessary to give a full box of goods 
 
 and the next day twenty-four axes in trade. When tlu'y were eight leagues 
 
 beh)W the falls of St. Anthony, they resolved to go by land to their village 
 
 sixty leagues or thereabout distant from the landing i)lace, not being will 
 
 ing to carry our people's things or take them by water. They also made 
 
 them give the rest of the axes, wliich they distributed, promising to pay 
 
 for them well at the village, but two days after they also divided among 
 
 them two boxes of goods, and having qiiarrelied over the division, as 
 
 well ol the goods as of the tobacco, each chief pretending to be master, 
 
 ihej- parted in jealou.sy, and took the Frenchmen to the village, wliere 
 
 they promised salisfr.ction in beaver of which they professed to have a 
 
 large number. 
 
 They were well received there and at lirst feasted Accault who was in 
 a difl'erent village from that in which the Rev. Father Louis and the 
 I'icard were, who were also well received, except that some wild young 
 fellows having told the Picard to sing, the fear wliicli he felt made him 
 cnnimil an act of cowardice, as it is only slaves who sing on reaching a 
 village. Accault who was not there could not prevent it, but they had 
 subjected them to no treatment appioaching that given to slaves. They 
 were never tied, and payment was at once promised for what the young 
 men had taken, because Accault having found some by whom he could 
 
 • Chlppowas or OJibwai. called Sautcurs by the Frencli from tlieir living at Saiilt Sle 
 Marie. 
 
 t How Accault could luivo undiTHtood the Akuiifa?, that is the Arkansas or Quappae 1 
 whoee language Is n dialect ol the Dakota is not clear, unlew he had been amoii({ that 
 nation. And irheunderatood Akansae, he oufe'litto have been able tocomprcfaund some 
 what the Dakota. 
 
 « 
 
 I 1 I 
 
 VI 
 
 i 
 
370 
 
 ACCOUNT OF HENNEPIN 
 
 1/ 
 
 make himself undeidtood, made tlicm feel the importance of doing so ; and 
 two calnmots were nt once danced and some beaver robes presenlcil to 
 begin the payment ; but as there was too little, Accanlt would not be 
 satisfied with it. Six weeks after* havintr »11 rolurned with the Nadoue- 
 sioux hunting towards Ouisconsing, the Rev. Father Louis Henipin and 
 Picard resolved to come to the mouth of the ri. er wliere I had promised 
 to send tidings of myself, as 1 did by si.x men, whom the Jesuits de 
 bauched, telling liiem that the Kev. Father Louis and his traveling com- 
 panions had been killed. Tliey were allowed to or> there alone to show 
 that they were not treated as slaves, and that Du Lhut is wrong in boast- 
 ing that he delivered them from bondage, inasmuch as on the way and an 
 long H3 they had provisions, the French had the best, although they fasted 
 well when the Indians ran out of food. The phtndering was caused by 
 jealousy only, for as they were from ditferent villages and very tew from 
 that where the French were to go, they did this to have a share of the 
 goods, of which tliey were afraid they would get nothing, if tiiej- once got 
 into the village, where tiie French were ; but the old men blamed the 
 young greatly and offered and began the satisfaction whicrh the said 
 Accanlt was to receive. So littU; did they retain the French as slaves 
 that they gave to Rev. Father Louis and the Picard, a canoe to come aud 
 obtain tidings of m(^ 
 
 All that ])\\ Luth can say is, that having arrived at the jilnce where the 
 Father and the two Frenchmen had come hunting from the village 
 whither he went for the first time with them, when they returned there, 
 he facilitatotl for them the means of returning more speedily than thev 
 would have done, inasmuch as they had dissuaded the men whon» I had 
 sent from going there ; but we should have gone for them the following 
 spring, had we not ascertained their return a^; we did, durmg the winter, 
 from some Outagamia among whom they Imd passed, Accanlt finding 
 himself so little a slave, that he chose to remain till he had received the 
 \)aymcnt promised him. 
 
 Several remarks, I have no doubt, will be made on this voyage. 
 
 Ist. That 1 ought to have sent a man that understood the language. 
 To this it is easy to reply, that I did not send Accaidt to the Nadoue- 
 sioux, but to ascend the Great river; that he underetood the language of 
 those who were nearest, as the Otoutanta, the Aiouuouea,f the Kikapou 
 
 ♦ Hennepin eays iu the bCKinniDgof July, 1K80. 
 
 tTl>e Uttoea and lowae. Tlieao two were Dakota tribei, whose language it is not 
 Ikely Accault knew. 
 
 1 
 
 I i 
 
FROM LA SALLE'S LETTER. 
 
 371 
 
 ftitd Miiskoutous >'(uloue8loiix, aiiioiifj wlumi lie wns to pass first, iiiul 
 there get interpreters to proceed further, it l)eiiig iinposHible to seiul one 
 wlio understood ail langtiages. 
 
 It will also 1)6 siiid that Iti llic first voyages, they should not go with so 
 many goods, wbicli tempt the young lucn when disobedient to their 
 elders, and leads them to acts which they would not eoinmit, it tliey saw 
 nothing to tempt them. To this I n^jily that sending to those nations 
 with wl)oni we nindc acquaintance anmng tlie Illinois, and by whom 
 Accault was liked, Ijccause ho had spent two winters and one summer 
 there, during wbicli time he had seen several of the most important vil" 
 lages, by which he was to pass, wlimn he liad gained by lilth- presents 
 there was nothing to fear at least probably, there being no likelihood, 
 that they were going to encounter a war party of Nadouesiotix three 
 hundred leagues from that country. In tlie second place these voyages 
 being toilsome, those who luidertake tlieni do so only by the hope of 
 gain, which cannot be made without goods. In the third place several 
 of these Indians having come to tlie Islinois while we wiire staying 
 tliere, and having seen the goods which we liad, would have felt umbrage 
 or jealousy, believing that their going to their country wita little, showed 
 a want of friendsliip o; some ill desinrn. Finally, wishing to allure them 
 to come and buy our goods and to make them relish their use, it required 
 a somewhat considerabli^^ stock. 
 
 1 liave deemed it seasonable i <;ive you a narrative of the adventures 
 of this canoe, l)ecau8e I have no doubt it will be spoken of, and if you 
 desire to confer with Father Louis Hempin, Recollect, who has gone 
 back to France, it is necessary to know him somewhat, for he will not 
 fail to exaggerate everything; it is his character; and to myself, he has 
 written me, as though he had b(;cn all ready to be burned, although he 
 was not even in danger ; but ho believes that it is honorable for him to 
 act in this way, and he speaks more in keeping with what he wishes than 
 what he knows." * 
 
 * Margry gives this document as an autograpli letter of La Salle signed by litm and 
 exiRtinfr ill the National Library among the Clairainbault papers, and siiin^sea it addrceeed 
 to the AbbfiBernou. It Is pretcntiouB in style and bnt for this positive statement of 
 Margry, might well be auspected of being rewritten by Uemou lu I'ailB after interviews 
 with Hennepin. 
 
 The following letter of Hennepin to the Al)b6 lienandot, shows that he deemed himself 
 ill treated by that gentleman who had apparently thrown doubts on his good faith: 
 
 MoMBiKun, vous sfavC'S que je vons ai donnS la premiere connoissance de nre dcscoo- 
 
372 
 
 TONTY'S ACCOUNT OF 
 
 ! 
 
 ACCOUNT 
 
 
 M 1 
 
 HENNEPIN'S EXPEDITION IN THE WORK PUB- 
 LISHED IN 1697, AS BY THE CHEVALIER 
 TONTY.* 
 
 Mr. dc la Sulle " cast liis eyes 011 Mr. Diican to make an exploration of 
 tlif lands whic'li lie aloiijf the r'^er Mississipi ruiiiiint'; norlliuast. To 
 accomjiany him he selected the r<erollcct Father l.,()ui8 with ftnir French- 
 men and two IndiaiiB, supplied iheni with urnis and nccesuary niuuitions, 
 and gave them goods lo trade with the nations whom they might meet. 
 
 vertn a nion nrriyfe el que jc voiia ny prls pour rarbltrudes peniiea quo j'ay ei>9nl6 dcpuls 
 quatreang. NdHnnioliif ju vois que M. I'abW Bcriiou n"un a pas ub6 a mon egard comrac 
 il lo devroit. II couuoietra daDi< le tempn ct duiia rcteruitu la sclucurlte do ineR iutcD- 
 tU>u9 ct vouB, Mone Icur, volre» un Jour que Je suls daus tout lo respect pustlblo 
 
 Lo plup huniblo ct le plus passlonfi do vob servitourg' 
 
 F. Louia llENNKPIN, 
 
 Pauvre esclave des b irhara. 
 
 Sin : You know Ibnt I give you the flrst Intelligence of onr discovery on my arrlTal 
 
 and that I took yon ns ibc arbiter of tl e hardnhlps which I had undergone for four year?. 
 
 Niivertheli'RP I Bte that the Abbe Burnon ha» not acted in my regard a» ho should. Ho 
 
 will know in time and eternity the sincerity of my imenUons, and you, Sir, will one day 
 
 see tluit I nm In all posciblc rcsp' , 
 
 The moat hnmble and devoted of 
 
 Your Servanla, 
 
 P. Louis HlNNKriN, 
 
 Poor Slave of the Savagoa. 
 
 Margry atlll poaseaged with the Idea that Uornou who never wae in America wrote the 
 authentic account of what he never saw, the Upper MisBiBsipi, and that Hennepin who 
 actually made the voyage plagiarized an account of what he saw and did Ironi La Salle 
 or this c'airvoyaiit llernou, thinks Bernou's discontent legitimate at Ilcnnepin'a 
 prclcndlug to be able to tell what ho saw and did. The manner in which La Salle here, 
 and Bernon in the Margry Kvlation garble Hennepin's ace mnt, and deny bis being a 
 captive Is evidently what Hennepin complains of, and hie si;;natnre sliowf that this point 
 of Ills slavery, was tlic o:ie In v.hich lie insisted that they wronged him. 
 
 There Is not a particle of evidence that .\ccault or Auijuello furnished La Salle any 
 information, and Hennopln says they could not write. La Salle admlta receiving a letter 
 from Hennepin, who Is therefore the primary authority. 
 
 • Tonty disavowed this work but it was clearly based on data furnished by him. 
 althongh the editor took the widest liberty. The portion here given is very curious. 
 Accault, or with thcnoble prefix d'Accan it here written Uacnn, Instead of Uacau, remained 
 n the Sioux country, as already noted, but was subsequently In Illinois (Qr-avler, Rola- 
 lon Illinois, 1693, p. 3i) and the Information of bis and Hennepin's expndltion here given 
 wae evidently derived from Accault. The latter in 1693 married a daughter of the Chief 
 of the Kaskaakias. Wo need not aay that most of the statements are fklse. 
 
HENNEPIN'S VOYAGE. 
 
 373 
 
 They embarked on the 28th of Febnmry in the yenr 1^80 on the river 
 of the Iwlinois, descended it to tlio river MisHisBipi.and jiuslied tlieirtrnde 
 while nscending this river, until 450 lengues northward, seven leagues 
 from its souree, striking off' from linu; to lime on one side of the river or 
 tlie other, to I'econnoilre the vaiioim nations who dwell there. 
 
 This river springs from a great fountain on topof ahill, wliich is skirled 
 by a very beauiifu" plain in the country of llie Issati, at 50° n. latitude. 
 Four or live leagues from its tiource, it heeomes so swollen by five or six 
 riviirs that empty into it, that it is capable of bearing boats. Thesurround. 
 ing country i.s inhabited by many nations, the liant'lims, Issati, Ona. 
 Tintonbrts, Nadouessans. Mr. Dacau was very well receiveil by all these 
 nations, traded with them, made several slaves, increased his party by 
 several Indian volunteers, and two leagues from the source of this great 
 river set up tlie King's arms on tlie trunk of a great tree iu siglit of all 
 these nations, who recognized them as that of their prince and sovereign 
 nuister. lie also founded several settlements there, one among the Issati, 
 wliere several Euroiieans who had joined liim in his course, wislied to 
 take up their residence; another among tlie Hauetous; another among 
 the Ona, and finally another anu)ng the Tintonluis or River men. 
 
 Charmed with the docility of these tribes, and moreover attracted by 
 the great trade in jieltries, he advanced inland to the lake of the Aaseni- 
 poils. It is, a lake meie than tlurty leagues in circuit. Fierce as tins 
 nation is it received him very liunninely. He Ibunded there a post (or the 
 French nd another among the Chongaskabes or Nation of the Strong' 
 their neighbors." 
 
 I A> 
 
T" 
 
 
 t 
 
 f! if 
 
 I i 
 ^ 
 
 ¥ 
 
 
 374 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 MEMOIR 
 
 SIEUR DANIEL GREYSOLON DU LUTH ON THE 
 DISCOVERY OF THE COUNTRY OF THE 
 NADOUECIOUX IN CANADA OF 
 WHICH HE GIVES A VERY DETAIL- 
 ED RELATION, 1685. 
 
 [Arcblves of the Ministry of the Marine.] 
 To Monteignem' the Marquis de Seiynelay. 
 
 MONSKIONEUn, 
 
 After having niitde two voynges from here to New France, where nl| 
 the people there were there, did not believe it poasihle to discover llie 
 country of the Nadoucciotix, nor have any trade with tlicni, botli on iic- 
 count of tlieir renioteiie.i», wbicli is more tlian 800 leagues from our settle 
 nients, and because they were generally at war with all kinds of nations 
 
 Tiiis diflicully niude me form the resolution to go among thoni, a project 
 whicli I could not then carry out, my iifi'Hirs having compelled me to return 
 to this country, whereafter having made the campaign of Franche Comte 
 and tlie battle ofSenef, where I had the honor of being a gendarme in his 
 Majesty's gmird, and squire of the Marquis deLassay, ourensign, I set out 
 to return to Quebec, where 1 had no sooner arrived, than the'desire whicli I 
 badnheady liadto carry out this design increased, and I began to take steps 
 to make myself known to the Indians. Who having assured me of their 
 friendship, and in proof thereof given me three slaves, whom I had asked 
 from them <mly to accompany me, I set out from Montreal with them and 
 seven Frenchmen on the first of September in theyear 1678 to endeavor to 
 make the discovery of the Nadouecioux and Assenipoualaks,* who were 
 
 * Tlieet! nameti .'\rc both ChipiivwH, niid not tho»e U8cd hy thetu tribus themtelvcs 
 1'hc C'hippcwiiR ciUlud tliu Dakolup, Nuduwtii-iii-wat:, and Bwaii-ag, the Nadouecbioiiuk 
 ■lid I'milnk of tlie French. Oiic part of the l)al<olas tlicy gtyletf Aexinl-Bwan, Stoao 
 Sioux, Assini meaning stone among Algonquin trilies from Lake Superior to Delswan 
 Bay. Baraga, Otchlpwe Diet., pp. 46, 91. This word is oar Assinlboin, and with the 
 plural aufilx the AeeinlpoDaiak of the French. 
 
 i 
 
 W \ 
 
GRKYSOLON DU LHUT. 
 
 375 
 
 unknown to us, and to nmko thorn make peace with all the nations around 
 Lake Superior, wlio livr under tlie Hway of our invincible monarch. 
 
 I do not think that Huch a departure could give occasion to any one 
 whatever to charije me wiili having contravened the orders of the King iu 
 the year 167(1, since' he merely forliid all his suhjecis to go into the remote 
 forests, thereto trade with the Indiai.s. This 1 have never done, nor have I 
 even wished to take any presemts from them, although they have repeatedly 
 thrown tliem to me, which I hiive always refused and left, in order 
 that no one niiglit tax me with haviu;,' carried on iiny indirect trade. 
 
 On the 2d of July, 1071), I had the honor to plant lii.f majesty's arms In 
 the gnat village of the Nadoueciou.x, called Izalys, where never had a 
 Frenchman been, no more than at the Soiig.iskitons and llouetbatons, 
 distant six score leagues from the lornicr, where I also planted his 
 mnjcBty's arms, in the same year 1079. 
 
 On the 15th of September, having given the Agrenipoulaks as well as 
 all the oilier norihern nations a rendezvous at the extremity of Lake 
 Superior to induce them to uuikc jieace with the Nadoi«ecloux their 
 common enemy. Tliey were all there, and I was happy enough to gain 
 their esteem and friemlahip, to luiite Ihem together, and in order that the 
 peace might be lasting among them, I Mioufihl thiit I could not cement it 
 better than by inducing the nations to make reciprocal marriages witli each 
 other. This I coulii not elfect without j^reat expeufe. Tlu^ following 
 winter I made them liold meetings iu the woods, which I altended, in 
 order that they niight hunt together, give banquets and by this means 
 contract a closer friendship. 
 
 The pieseuls which il cost me to induce the Indians to go down to 
 Montreal, wlio had been diverted by the Openugaux and Abenakis at the 
 instigation of the English and Dutch, who made them believe that the 
 plague raged in the Freneh seltlenu'uts. !ind that it had spread as far as 
 Nipissingue, where most of the Nipissiriniens had died of it, have also 
 entailed a greater expense. 
 
 In June, 1080, not being satisfied witli luiving made my discovery by 
 land, I took two canoes with an Indian who was my interpreter and four 
 Frenolimeii, to seek mcimsio make it l)y water. Willi this view I entca-ed 
 a river wlucli emptier' ei^'lit leagues Iro'in the (extremity of Lake Superior 
 on the south side, where after having cut some trees and broken about a 
 himdred beaver dams, I reached the u|iper waters of the said river, and 
 then I made a portage of half a league to reach a lake, the outlet of whicli 
 
TT 
 
 376 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 fell Into II very tine rivor, which look me di)wn into tlic MisMlssipi. Doiun 
 tliLTi! 1 ii'arni'tl tVoni eiiflit culihis of Nmlouccioux whom I nii.'l. that tin- 
 Uovcri-nd Fiilhi^' liOiiis llfniiin, I{c'i.<illw;t, now iit the convent of HI. 
 Oerinikln, with two otiicr Fronclnnen, Imd been rohliud and carried utf a» 
 sliivcH for more tliiin 300 leujjiieH l)y (he Nadouedonx tiiemneiveti. 
 
 TliiK lhl(,'lii>>ence Binpriseil me so imicii, that wltiioiit liesilating, I left 
 two Frenclimun witli tliese miid ciglit cabins of Indianx, as well as the 
 ((oodn which I had to niaki! preseiitH, and took onr oftliO Buid Indiana, to 
 who.n I made a present to ;^nidc n\u with my intei prelur and two Frencli- 
 men to wliere tlie 8uid Reverend Fntlier Lonl» was, and as it was n |j;ood 
 80 leagues I proceeded in canoe two days an(l two niglits, and the next 
 day at ten o'clock in tlie morning I found him -„iili about 1000 or 1100 
 souls. Tho want of retipect whicli tlicy showed to tho said Reverend 
 Father provoked me, and this I showed them, tellinjj; them that he was 
 my brother, and I had him placed in my canoe lo C(nnc with nie into llie 
 villages of tho said Nadouecioux, whither I took bim, and in which, a 
 week after onr arrival lliere, I cansed a council to be convened, exposing 
 the ill trealnieni which they liad been guilly of botli to the said Reverend 
 Father and to the other two Frenchmen who were with him, having 
 robl)ed llicn\ and carried them off as slaves,* and even taken the priestly 
 Testments of the said reverend Father. I had two calumets which they 
 had danced to them, returned to them, on account of the insult which 
 tliey iiad offered tiiem, l)eing w hat they hold most in esteem among them 
 to appease matters, telling thi m that I did not take cniumets from people^ 
 who after they had seen me and received my peace presents, and been 
 for a year always with Frenchmen, robbed tliem when they went to 
 visit them. 
 
 Each one in the council endeavored to throw tlie blame from himself, 
 but tiieir excuses did not prevent my telling the Reverend Fatlier Louis 
 tliat he would have to come with me towards the Outagamys, as he did, 
 showing bim that it would be to strike a blow at the French nation in a 
 new discovery, to suller an insult of this nature without manifesting n^ 
 sentment, although my design was to push on lo the sea iu a west north- 
 westerly direction, which is that which is believed to be the Red Sea (Gull 
 of Califciuia), whence the Indians who bad gone warrmg on that side 
 gave salt to tliree Frenchmen whom 1 had sent exploring, and who brought 
 me said salt, having reported lo me that the Indians had told them, that it 
 
 * Dn Lbut an eye witneBs here declares Uenuepin'it piirty to liavc been held «8 prieoners 
 and thuB conflrmB Hennepin as against La Saile and Bornou. 
 
GREYSOLON DU LUHT. 
 
 Ill 
 
 was only twenty days journey from whore they were to flml tboKreut lake 
 of which the wntcrs were wortliless to drink. This has made nie believe 
 that it wonld not be n1)Solulcly (lilllcult to flml it, if pcrmisHinn would be 
 given to go there. However I preferred to retrace my Bteps, manifeHting 
 to them tlie J.mt iridigofitloii which I felt against them, rather than to 
 remain after the violence whi(;li they had done to the Reverend Father 
 and the other two Frcnehnien who were with him, whom I put in my 
 ' 'oea and brought tliem back to Mlchelimnkinalc, a misgion of the 
 
 overcnd Jesuit Fathers, where while wintering together, I learned that 
 lur from being ajiproved for what I was doing, consuming my property 
 and risking my life daily, I was regarded as the chief of a band, although 
 I never had more than eight men with inc. It was not necesmry to tell 
 mo more to Induce me to set out over the Ion on the 29fh of Mnr"h in the 
 year lOSl withthesai.i Reverend Father and two other Frenchmen, having 
 our canoe and provisions dragged along, in order to reach our settlements 
 as soon as possilile, and to make manifest the uprightness of my conduct, 
 having never Veen in a humor to wish myself withdrawn from the 
 obedience which ii due to the King's orders. 
 
 I accordingly proceeded to our settlements three months before the 
 anmcsty, which it lias pleased his majesty to grant to his subjects, who 
 might have contruveued his orders, had arrived, but the Intcndant was 
 unwilling to hear any request that I might have been able to present to 
 him. 
 
 As to the manner in which I lived on my voyage, it would be super- 
 fluous for rae to expatiate on the subject and to annoy your grace by a 
 ong story, being convinced that thirteen original letters of the Reverend — 
 Nouvel, Superior of the Outaouais missions, the Reverend Father Enjalran, 
 missionary of Saint Francis de Borgias, the Reverend Father Bailioquet, 
 missionary of Sainto Marie du Sault, and the Reverend Father Plerson, 
 missionary of the Ilurons at Saint Ignace, all Jesuits, will suffice on the 
 whole to inform your Grace amply and fully." * 
 
 * Ilarrlese, NntcR pour «ervtr i I'blatolro, &e., do la NouTolla Krance, pp, 1T7-181. 
 
 " In the lart years of the flret administration of Monsieur de Frontenac, the Sleur da 
 Lnt, n man of ability and experience, opened the way for missionaries and the gospel in 
 several different nations, strllclng north of said Lake (Superior), where he even bnllt a 
 fort; be pei.etrared even to the Lake of the Issatl, called Lxke Baade, from the family 
 name of Honsirnr de Frontcaae, planting the King's arms among several nations to the 
 right and left, where miaslonarles are still doing their best to introduce Christianity," Ac. , 
 Le Clercq, Btabllssement, U, p. 137-8. 
 
 28 
 
378 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF 
 
 ' » 
 
 DESCRIPTION OP NIAGARA FALLS. 
 [Nouvello D6coaverte, pp. 443-4S6.] 
 
 ' 'We passed back by the great Fall of Niagara and employed ourselves 
 during half a day in conteniplating this prodigious cascade. I could not 
 conceive, how it could be, tluit four great lakes the least of which is 
 four hundred leagues in circuh, and whicli empty into one another, 
 which all come at last massed at this great fall do not inundate this great 
 part of America. What is more surprising in this is, that from the mouth 
 of Lake Eric to this great fall, the laud appear^ nlmost all smooth and level. 
 You can scarcely perceive that one part is higher than another, and this 
 for the space of six leagues. It is only the surface of the water, the cur- 
 rent of which is very rapid, that makes it noticeable. What is still more 
 surprising is, that from this great cataract to two leagues lower down pro- 
 ceeding towards Lake Ontario or Frontcnac, the land appears as level as 
 in the part above from Lake Erie to this prodigious fall. 
 
 Our admiratiou redoubled especially at tliere being no mountain in sight 
 till two good leagues below this cascade. And yet the discharge of so 
 much water, coming from these fresh water seas, centres at this spot and 
 thus plunges down more than six hundred feet, falling as into an abyss 
 which we could not behold without a shudder. The two great sheets of 
 water which are on the two sides of the sloping islaud that is in the middle, 
 fall down without noise and without violence, and glide in this manner 
 without din ; but when this great mass of water reaches the bottom then 
 there is a noise and a roaring greater than thunder. 
 
 Moreo • the spray of the water is so great that it forms a kind ot 
 clouds above this abyss, and these are seen even at the time when the sun 
 is shining brightest at midday. No matter how hot it is In the midst of 
 summer, they are always set'u over tlie spruces and the tallest trees on 
 this sloping island, by means ot which the g^eat sheets of water, I have 
 mentioned, are formed. 
 
 Many a time did I wish that day that I had persons able to describe 
 this great and horrible fall, in order to give t, just and circumstantial 
 account, capable of satisfying the reader, and enabling him to admire 
 this wonder of nature; as fully us it deserves. But here is a description of 
 this prodigy of nature, such as 1 can give it in writing, to enable the 
 curious reader to conceive as true an idea as possible." 
 
 " From the issue of Lake Erie to the great fall, is reckoned si.\ leagues, as 
 I have said, and . jis continues the Great river St. Lawrence, which 
 
lil r 
 
 ,< . 
 
 
 "r: 
 
 i ■ 
 
 1 - 
 
 
 ■ 1 ' 
 
 i ! 
 
i : 
 
 NIAGARA FALLS. 
 
 379 
 
 issues from all tlicsoulakes already mentioned. It is easy to conceive 
 that in this space ihe river is very rapid, since it is the outlet of this vast 
 mass of water, issuing from all tliese lakes. The land on both sides, east 
 and west of this current, seem always level from the said Lake Erie to 
 the great fall. The banks are not steep and the water is almost every 
 where even with the land. You see indeed that the land below is lower, 
 as in fact the waters How with very great rapidity. This however is 
 almost inpercepliblc during tiie si.K leagues mentioned. 
 
 After these six leagues of great rapiditj' the waters of this river meet a 
 sloping island, about half ii quarter of an hour long, and about three 
 hundred feet wide, as well as can be judged by the eye, because it is im- 
 possible to cross over to this island in bark canoes without exposing one- 
 self to certain death on account of the violence of the waters. This 
 island is covered with cedar and spruce. Yet the surface is not more ele- 
 vated than that of the two banks of the river. They seem even level 
 down to the two great cascades which compose the greet fall. The two 
 banks of the channels, which are formed on meeting this island, and 
 which flow on either side, all but wash the very surface of the land on 
 this island, as well as that on the two banks of the river, on the east and 
 west, descending from south to north. But it is to be noted, that at the 
 extremity of the islands, on the side of the great sheets or water falls, 
 there is a projecting rock which descends into the great gulf into which these 
 waters plunge. Yet this projecting rock is not swept by the two sheets of 
 water that fall on either side of it, because the two channels which are 
 formed by meeting this island, rush down with extreme rapidity, one on 
 the east, the other on the west, from the point of this island, and there the 
 great fall is formed. 
 
 So after these two channels flow on either side of the island, they all 
 at once come and hurl their waters in two great sheets, which fall com- 
 pactly and are thus sustained by the rapidity of their fall without wetting 
 this projecting rock. Then it is that they are precipitate-^ into an abyss 
 which is below at a depth of more than six hundred feet. 
 
 The waters which flow on the east, do not descend so impetuously as 
 those that fall on the west. The sheet flows more gently because this 
 projecting rock at the end of the island, rises higher on this side than on 
 the west; and this supports the waters longer that are on that side. But 
 this rock leaning more to the west and not sustaining them so long, causes 
 them to fall sooner and more precipitately. This arises too from the fact 
 
 i 
 
 I' 
 
 ■"*-*ii 
 
3«o 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF 
 
 i 
 
 '! 
 
 
 I' ^ 
 I ! 
 
 that the land on the western side is lower than that on the east. Hence 
 we see that the water of the sheet of water on the west falls in the form 
 of a square making a third sheet, less than the two others, which falls 
 between the south and north. 
 
 And because there is high ground on the north, which is before these 
 two great cascades, there the prodigious gulf is much wider than on the 
 east. Yet it must be remarked, that a man can descend from this high 
 ground, which is opposite the two last sheets of water, which you find 
 west of the great fall, down to the bottoui of this frightful abyss. The 
 author of this discovery has been there, and has witnessed near at hand 
 the fall of the great cascades. There can be seen a considerable distance 
 below the sheet of water which falls on the cast, so that four carriages 
 could drive abreast without getting wet. I3ut because the ground east of 
 the desceu ling rock, where the firet sheet of water plunges into this gulf, 
 is very sf ep, almost perpendicular in fact, no man can on that side reach 
 the spot where the four carriages could pass without getting wet, or can 
 pierce this great mass of water which falls towards the gulf. Hence it is 
 very probable, that it is to this dry part, that the rattle snakes retire 
 reaching it by subterranean passages. 
 
 It is at the end then of this sloping island that these two great sheets, 
 of water are formed, with the third that I have mentioned, and it is thence 
 that tliey plunge, leaping in a frightful manner into tliis prodigious gulf, 
 more than six hundred feet down, as we have remarked. I have already 
 said that the waters falling on the east plunge and descend with less 
 violence, and on the other hand, those on the west descend all at once> 
 and form two cascades, one moderate, the other very violent. But finally 
 the^e two last falls makes a kind of hook or bent form and descend from 
 south to north and from west to east. After which they meet the waters 
 of the other sheet, which falls on tlie east, and then it is that they both 
 fall, although unequally into this fearful abyss, with all the impetuosity 
 that can be imagined in a fall six hundred feet high, formmg the finest 
 and at the same time the most awful cascade in the world. 
 
 After these waters have thus plunged into this frightful gulf, they 
 resume their course and continue tlie great River St. Lawrence for two 
 leagues to the three mountains, on the east side of this river, and (o the 
 great rock which is on the west and which seems to rise very high out of 
 the water three fathoms from the land or therealwuts. The abyss into 
 which tuese waters descend, continues thus for two leagues between two 
 
NIAGARA FALLS. 
 
 381 
 
 chains of mountains, forming a great rock-lined ravine, ou both sides of 
 tlie river. 
 
 It is into this gulf then that all these waters fall with an impetuouaity 
 that can be imagined iu so high a fall, so prodigious, for its horrible mass 
 of water. Tlicre are formed those thunders, tl'.oae roarings, tliose fearful 
 bounds and scetbings, with that perpetual cloud rising above the cedars 
 and spruces, that are seen on the projecting island, already mentioned. 
 
 After the channel reunites below t; J horrible fall, by the two ranges 
 of rocks of which we have spoken, and which is filled by this prodigious 
 quantity of water, continually falling there, the River St. Lawrence begins 
 again to flow from that place; but it is with so much violence, and it, 
 waters lash the rocks on both sides with such terrible impetuosity, that if 
 iB impossible to sail there even in a bark canoe, in which however by 
 sailing close in shore you can pass the most violent rapids. 
 
 These rocks and this ravine continue for two leagues from the great 
 fall to the three mountains and great rock already mentioned. However 
 all this diminishes insensibly as you approach the three mountains and 
 the great rock; and then the ground begins to be almost even wiih the 
 river and this continues to Lake Frontenac or Ontario. 
 
 When you are near the great fall and cast your eyes down this fearful 
 gulf, you are filled with awe, and all who attempt to look steadily at this 
 horrible fall get giddy. But at last this ravine diminishes and becomes 
 a mere nothing, at the three r.ountains, the waters of the River St. 
 Lawrence begin to flow more gently. This great rapid slackens, the river 
 almost resuming the level of the laud. It is thence navigable to Lake 
 Frontenac, across which you sail to reach the new channel formed by its 
 discharges. Then you re-enter the River St. Lawrence, which soon afler 
 forms what is called the Long Fall, a hundred leagues from Niagara. 
 
 I have often heard people talk of the Cataracts of the Nile, which 
 deafen those who are near. I do not know whether the Iroquois who 
 formerly dwelt near this fall and who lived on deer which the waters of 
 this fall dragged with them, and which they hurled dow" such a prodi 
 gioua depth, have retired from the neighborhood of this great waterfall 
 from fear of losing their hearing, or whether this was induced by the 
 danger they wore constantly exposed to from rattlesnakes, which are 
 found here during the great heats, and which retire to cavities in the 
 rocks as far iia the mountains two leagues below, where they cannot be 
 attacked." 
 
I 
 
 1 
 
 II J i 
 
 382 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
 
 • 
 11 
 
 J 
 
 .% 
 
 i| 
 
 I ! 
 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHTOF HENNEPIN.* 
 
 1. THE " DESCRIPTION DE ."A. L0UI8IANE." 
 Frgmch. 
 
 1. Description | de la | Louisiane, | nouvellen ent decouverto | au Sud' 
 Ouost de la Nouvelle France, | Par ordre du Roy. | Avccla Carte du Payi: 
 Lei Moeurs | tfe la maniere de vit>re | (lea Sauvages. \ Dcdie'e a sa Majeste' | 
 Par le R. P. Louis Hennepin, | Mmionnaire Recollet & \ Notaire Aposta- 
 ligue. I Monoirrani A A | A Paria, | Chez la Veuve Sebastian Hure', 
 ruS I Saint .lacques, a l' Image S. Jerome, | pres S. Severin. | — | M. 
 DC.LXXXIII. I Avec Privilege dv Roy. | 
 
 12°, pp. (18), 812, Les Moeurs des Sauvages, pp. 107. Map by Guerard. 
 Carte | de la | Nouuelle France | et de la i Louisiane | Nouuellement de- 
 couuerte | dediee | Au Roy [ I'an 1683 | Par le Reuerend Pere | Louis 
 Hennepin | Missionaire Recollect | et Notaire Apostolique. | 
 
 Privilege granted Sept 3, 1682, registered Sept. 10. Printing completed 
 Jan. 5, 1683. 
 
 The map carries the Mississippi below the mouth of the Illinois, does 
 not indicate the Ohio or Missouri : Pictures a tree with the French 
 arms, and marks the spot near Lake Buadc, and a church and " Missions 
 des Recollects " near the Lake des Assenipoils, evidently to inform readers 
 that a church indicated a Recollect mission. 
 
 2. Some copies of this edition with the same privilege and note 
 as to printing, have on title, Apostolique, in a line by itself and. 
 A Paris, | Chez Amable Auroy, Proche la Fontaine 8. Severin, | 
 M.DC.LXXXIV. 1 
 
 The A A on the title is the monogram of Amable Auroy. 
 
 8. Title to A Paris as in No. 1. A Roman q. in Apostolique. Chez 
 Amable Auroy, rile Saint | Saint Jacques a I'lmage S. Jerome, | attenant 
 la Fontaine S. Severin. | M. DC. L. XXXVIII | Avec Privilege dv Roy. | 
 
 12mo, pages as is No. 1. After privilege " Acheve d'impriiner pour la 
 seconde fois, le 10. Mars 1688. De ITmprlmerie de Laurent Rondet." Same 
 map. 
 
 • In this I received valaable aid from Dr. Q«ot«a H. Mooro, Hon. John R. Eart- 
 lett, and Mr. Sabln's Dictionar;. 
 
'J 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
 
 Itaijan. 
 
 383 
 
 4. Descriziono 1 1 della | Lvigiana ; | Paese nuovamente scoperto nel- | 
 1' America Settentrionale, | sotto gl'auspicij | del Christianissinio | Lvigi 
 XIV. I Con la Carta Geograflca del niede | simo, Costiimi, e manicre di 
 t viuere di que' Saluaggi. | Del P. Lvigi Hennepin | Francescano Recol- 
 letto, e Miasionario | ApDstolico iu questa Scoperfa. | Tradotta del 
 Francese, c Dedicata [ al Re 'crendiss. P. D. Ludovico | do' Conti Qverra | 
 Abbate Cnsinense de S. Prcculo | di Bologna. | In Bologna, per Giacomo 
 Monti, 1G86. | Con Licenza le' Superiori. 
 
 12°, pp. 12, 396. Map. 
 
 Page 2 contains Vidit rnd Imprimatur. Then follows a Dedication 
 by the translator Casimiro Freschot diitcd Jan. 21,1680. Bologna, 10 pp. 
 
 DCTCU. 
 
 5. Engraved title. Outdekking van 1 Louisania | Door deu Vader | 
 L. Hennepin. | Benevens de Beschryving van Noord-America | door den 
 Heer Denys. | t' Amsterdam by Jan ten Hooru, 1088. 
 
 Printed title. Beschryving | van | Louisania, | Niewelijks ontdekt ten 
 Zuid-Wosten | van | Nieuw-Vrankryk, | Door order van den Koning. 1 
 Met de Kaart dcs Landts, en een nauwkeurige verhande- | liug van de 
 Zeden en raanieren van leeven der Wilden. I Door den | Vader Lodewyk 
 Hennepin, | Recolletsche Missionaris in die Gewesteu, en | Apostolische 
 Notaris. | Mitsgaders de | Geographische en Historische Beschrijving der 
 Kuston I van | Noord America, | Met deNatuurlijkellistoiredes Landts. 1 
 Door den Heer Denys, | Gouverneur Lieutenant Generaal voor Zijn 
 Allerchriste- 1 lijkste Majesteit, en Eigenaar van alle de Landen en Ei- | 
 land™ gelegen van Cap f^e Campseaux tot aan Cap des Roziers. | 
 Ver(;eirt met Kopere Figuren. 1 1' Amsterdam, | By Jan ten Hoorn, Boehver- 
 kooper over 't Oude | Heeren Logement, in de Histori-Schryver. a, 1688 
 
 4°. Engraved title, pp. (4), 158, (5), map, 6 plates, pp. (4), 20C (4). 
 
 German. 
 
 6. Beschreibung | der Landschaffl | Lovisiana, | welche 'auf Befehl des 
 K6uigs in Frank- | reich' neulich gegen SUdwesten | Neu-Frankreichs | 
 in America | entdecket worden. | NebensteinerLand-Carteu' | und Bericht. 
 von deu Sitten und | Lebens-Art der Wilden in Sel- | biger Laudschafft. 1 
 In Frauzosischer Spraclie heraus | gegeben | durch | P. Ludwig Henne- 
 pin' Mission. Recoil. I und Notarium Apostolicum. | NunaberinsTeutache 
 Qbersetzet | (ornament). NSrnberg' In Verlag AndreiE Otto, 1689. | 
 
 mmm 
 

 
 38+ 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
 
 ij 
 
 I 
 
 12", 435 pp, map. Hennepin ends on p. 852, then new title ; IJeschrei- 
 bung I einur sonderbarcn Reisc | etliclier | bisher noch unbekannter | 
 Lfinder und VOlckur | iniMitter-nacbligen America, | wclclie 1073 | durch 
 P. Marquette, S. J. und llerrn Jolliet | verriclitet worden. | Aua deia 
 Fmnzosischen ins Teutsche iibcrsetzet. Nllrnbflrg, 1680. 
 
 7. Same. Nuinbeig: Andreas Otto, 1692, 18°, pp. 427, map. 
 
 Enomsh. 
 
 8. A I Description | of | Louisiana. | By Fatlier Louis Hennepin | Re. 
 collect Missionary. | Translated from the edition of 1683, and compared 
 with the Nouvelle D^couverfe, the La Salle documents, and other con- 
 temporaneous papers. | By John Qilmnry Shea. | New York. | John G. 
 Shea. I 1880. 
 
 8", pp. 408, map, facsimile ot title of edition of 1683, Tiew of Niagara 
 from the Nouvelle D^couverte, 1697. 
 
 n. THE "NOUVELLE DftCOUVERTE." 
 FiiKNcn. 
 
 1. (Engraved title) Nouvelle Decouverte | d'untres grand | Pays | Hitue 
 dansi'Amcrique | ParR. P. Lovisdc Hennepin. | a Utroc | chezGuiliaurae 
 Broedelet. 
 
 (Printed title) Nouvelle | Decouverte j d'un tres grand [ Pays | Situo 
 dans I'Amerique, | entre | Le Nouveau Mcxique, | et | La iler Qlaciale, | 
 Avec les Cartes, & les Figures ncccssaires, & de plus | I'Histoire Naturelle 
 & Morale, & les avantages, | qu'on en pent tirer par I't'tablisscment des 
 Colonies. | Le tout dedie | a | Sa Majeste Britannique. | Guillaume IH. I 
 Par le | R. P. Louis Hennepin, | Missionairc Recollect & Notaire Aposto- 
 lique. I A Utrecht, | — | Chez Guillaume Broedelet, | Marchaud Libraire. 
 MDCXCVIL 
 
 12°, pp. (70) 1-812, 10 pp. marked 313,» 313-506. 3 maps, plate of 
 Niagara Falls, p. 44 and of Bison. 
 
 This work begins with Epistre Dedicatoire 23 pp., Avis an Lecteur, 26 
 pp., giving details as to liis trials and difficulties. Table do Chapitres, 19 
 pp. The text begins with sonie general remarks, and biographical details, 
 and then follows the Description de la Louisiane, expanding it, to p. 200 
 when it copies from Le Clercq'a Etablissment de la Foi, p. 153. From p. 249 
 to 312 is an account of a pretended voyage down the Misbissippi. The 
 star pages and most of the remainder are from the Description de la 
 
THE "NOUVELLE DfiCOUVERTE." 
 
 3«5 
 
 Lonisiane enlarged. From 813 to end is in different type from preceding 
 portion, the chapter heads have nrabic figures, wliilu in the earlier p-irt 
 they have Roman numerals, the head lines differ, being nouvell d£codv. 
 before 318 and Nouvkl. Decouv., after 313. The spacing is also diflcrent, 
 all tending to show that it was set in another oflice and by other hands. 
 The introduction of star pages shows that the succeeding portion was 
 printed first. The type on last page is smallerthau the bodyof ihework. 
 The work has been rewritten by some literary man, not versed in Canadian 
 affairs f)r Catholic terms. The Moeurs des >?iuivagcs is omitted. Whether 
 all from 849 to the last 318 * was inserted after the work was printed In Us 
 origincl form is a question on which Hennepin's credit depends 
 
 The m«p continues the Mississippi to the gulf, calls the Missouri, R. 
 Otenia, puts the Chiquacha on the R. Tamnroa below it, the Akansa on a 
 R- Ouma, and to two rivers below on the west absurdly gives the names 
 Hiens and Sablonniere taken from La Salle's last voyage It omits the 
 tree with the French arms. 
 
 " Nouvelle | Decouvcrte | d'un tres grand | Pays | Sitae dans 1' Amerique | 
 enire | Le Nouveau Mexiqne, | et la Mer Glaciale, | Avec IcpCnrtes, ct les 
 Figures necessaires, et de jlus | I'Histoiie Naturche et Morale, et lesavan- 
 tagcs I qu'on en peut tirer par I'etablissement des Colonies |L'; toutdedie | 
 a sa Majeste Brltanniqiie, | Guillaume III | par le R. P. liouis ITennepin | 
 Missiouairc Recollect & Notairc Aposlolique. j A. Amsterdam, Chez 
 Abraham van Snmeren. MDCXCVIII. 
 
 12°, pi). (70) 506 Ei.graved title, 10 star pages 313 as before, 2 maps 
 2 plates. This edition corresponds page for page with the edition of 1697 
 including the star pages to p. 600, but is uniformly printed as regards head- 
 ings. After that a little is gained on each page to bring it all in on p. 
 506 in the same type. 
 
 8 Voyage | on Nouvelle Decouverte | d'un tres grand pays, ( dans | 
 I'Amerique, | entre le Nouvenu | Mexlque | et la Mer Glaciale, | Par le R. 
 P. Louis "^..lnepin, | Avec toutes les partlcularitez de ce Pais, & de celui 
 connu sous le nom de La Louisiana; | les avantages qu' on eu peut tirer 
 par I Tetablissement des Colonies | enrichie de Cartes Qeographiques. | 
 Augmeute de quelques figtires en taille douce. | Avec un ( voyage | Qui 
 contient une Relation exacte de rOrigine, Moeurs, | Coutumes, Religion, 
 Querres & Voyages des Caraibes, | Sauvages des Isles Antilles do I'Ame- 
 rique, I Faite par le Sieur de la Borde, | Tiree du Cabinet de Monsr. 
 Blondel. | A. Amsterdam, Chez Adriaan Braakmau. MDCCIV, 
 
 89 
 
 '. 
 
[1' 
 
 1 
 
 (11 
 
 1 ■ 
 
 1 
 
 w 
 
 i1 
 
 386 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
 
 13", pp. (84) 004, (82). 498 printed 2(»8. 2 mnpa, engraved title, 6 plates 
 Niagnru, BIsod, tlie Building of the Gritlln, Indians alarmed nt a Mon- 
 strance, Ihu BulFulo country, aiid Ilcunepin's cunipanious taking goods 
 from llie cnehe. 
 
 Hennepin's voyage ends on p. 510. 
 
 4 Voyage Curieu.x | Du U. P. LouIb Hennepin, | Missionnaire Recollect 
 «& Notaire Apostoli(iuc, | Qui contient uno | Nouvcllo Decouverte | 
 I D'un Trfes-Qrand Pays | Situt' dans 1' Amerlque, | Entre le Nouveau 
 Me.xique & In iMer Glacials, | Avec | Toute» les parlicularitez do co Pays, 
 & les avantnges qu' on | en peut tirer par retablissement des Colonies, 
 cnriclii | de Cartes & augment^ do (iucl(|ucs figures | en taille douce ne- 
 ccBBaires. | Outre celu on a aussi ajoute ici un | Voyage { Qui contient une 
 Relation exiicte do 1' origiue, Mceurs, Coiltumes, Religion, Guerres & 
 Voyages | Des Caraibes, | Sauvages | des Isles Antilles del' Amerique, | 
 Faite |iar le 8ieur de la Borde, | Employe a la Conversion des Caraibes, | 
 Ot tiree du Cabinet de Mr. Ploiulel. A lia Ilayc, | Chez Jeau Kitto, 
 Marchand Libraire, dans | le Hpuy-Siniet. | 1704. 
 
 12', Engraved title, jjp (82) 004 (32) 2 maps, plates, same misprint of 
 203 for 493. 
 
 5. Same 
 
 A Leide, | Chez Pierre Van der Aa, 1704. 
 
 0. Voyages | Curieux et Nouveau.x | do Messieurs | Hennepin & De la 
 Borde, | On 1' on volt | une Description tres Particuliere, d'un Grand Pays 
 dans 1' Amerique, entre le | Nouveau Mcxique, »& la Mer Glaciale, avec 
 uue Relation Cuiicuse des | Caraibes Sauvages des Isles Antilles de 1* 
 Amerique, | Icurs Moeurs. Cofltumes, Religion »&c. | Le tout accompagnfi 
 des Cartes & figures necessaires. | A Amsterdam, Aux depens de la Com- 
 pagnie, MDCXI. 
 
 Same as preceding, but with title printed oblong and folded in. Same 
 misprint of 293 for 493. 
 
 7. Voyage ( on Nouvelle Decouverte d'un trSs ( grand Pals, dans 1' 
 Am6rlque, | entre le Nouveau Mexique | et la | Mer Glaciale. | ... 
 
 . . . Augmento de quelques figures en taille douce | aveo un voyage 
 I qui contient uue relation exacti; de 1' Origine, Moeurs, Contflmes, Reli- 
 gion, Guerres et Voyages des Caraibes, | Sauvages des Isles Antilles de 1' 
 Amerique. Faite par le Sieur de la Borde. Amsterdam. Jacques Des- 
 bordes, 1712. 
 
THE "NOUVELLE DECOUVERTE." 
 
 387 
 
 12°, Engraved title. Title, dedication (11) avis au lecteur (18) Table (0) 
 604 pp Table dc nintlerea (HO). Map, plates. 
 
 8. Decouverte | d'un Pays | i)lu9 j^rand que | rEuropc, | sllue' dans | L' 
 Ameri(iiie | cntre Ic | Nouveau Mexique & la Mor Olarlnlc. | printed In 
 Reciiiil de Voingca an Nord, Tome Neuvit'me. A Amsterdam Chez .lean 
 Frederic Bernard, MDCCXXXVII. 
 
 12, pp (2) 404 (10). Map, 
 
 Ddtcu, 
 
 9. Nieuwe Outdekkinge | Van euu groot Land, gelegeii in | America 
 I tussclien nleuw Mexico | en de Ys-Zee, | Hehelzeude de gelegenliieid der 
 Eelve nleiiwe ontdekte Landen : de Rlvieren en | gruote Meeruu iu't 
 zelve. Eu voor al van de groote Rivier Meschasipi gcnaamd. | Do 
 Eolonleu die men l)y do zelve tot voor deel van de/.en 8laal, zo ten 
 opzicli I te van den Koopliandel, als tot verzekeringe der Spaanschc 
 GoudMijnen, zou konneu oprccbten. Dc nitneemcnde vriiclitt)aar- 
 held vQu't Land ; over- | vlood der VisHcben in den Kivieren. De ge- 
 daanten, inborst, geloovo en oetfe- | nulgen der Wildeii aldaar wooneude 
 Dc vrcemde Dierou in baare Rosscben en | veldcn. Mel een Korte aan- 
 merkinge oevr de 20 gcnaamde Straat Aiiiam ; en | 'I iniddel oni door een 
 korleweg, zonder de Linio yEquinoctiaal te pasaeeren, | ua China en 
 Japan le komen met veele curieuse dlngeu meer. Alles met goede | 
 Kaarten tot deze nanwijzinge nodig, en met Kopere Plaaten vercierd' 
 met goi'd-vlndinge van den | Eoning van Engeland. | Wilhelmus 
 deen IIL | In't licht gegeeven : | En aan de Zelve zijne Mnjcstcit opge- 
 drangen door | Lodcwyk Hennepin, | Missionaris Recollect en Notaris 
 Apostoliek. | Tot Amsterdam, | By Abraham van Somcren. 1699. | 
 
 4° pp (26), 220. (14). 2 maps, 2 plates. 
 
 10. Nieuwe Ontdekking | van een Groot Laud, gelegeu In | America, | 
 Tusscheu Nieuw | Mexico en de Ys-Zeo. | Behelzendc de gelegenbeid 
 der zelve nieuw ontdekte Landen, | de Rlvieren en groote Meeren, en 
 voor al de groote Rlvieren Meschasipi ge- | naamd : | de Colonlen die men 
 by de zelvo tot voordeel van dezen Staat, | zo ten opzichte van den 
 Eoophandel, als tot verznkeringe der Spaan- | sche Goud-Mijnen, zon 
 konnen oprechten ; . . . . Benevens een Aanhangsel, behelzende een 
 Reize door een | gedeclle van de SpaanscbeWest-Indlen.eneen Verhaal | 
 van d'Expldltle der Franschen op Cartagena. | Door L. de C. | Tot 
 Amsterdam, | By Andrles van Damme, Boekverkooper . . . 1702. | 
 
 I 
 
t;l 
 
 i 
 
 388 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
 
 4° engraved title, pp. (24) 220, (14) 2 mnps, 2 plates. 2n(l part, pp. 47, 
 map, plate. 
 
 11. At'iiiiRTkcljkc Voyagle | Oeilaan na't | Oedeelle van Noorder 
 America, | IJehelzcndo een iileinve ontdckkliigo vau ecu seer | Groot 
 Laud, geli'geii tiisschen | Nii'iiw Mexico en de YsZce. | Vervatteiido de 
 golegciitliL'id der /.clve nicuw ontdcklu Li'.n | dei. ; do Revleren en groote 
 Meeren in't zelve. | En voor al van de groote Ituvier Mescliaslpi geuaauid- 
 Die Kolonicu die men by de zolve tot voordi'cl van dozen Staat, zo ten 
 opziclite vim dei. | Koopliandel, alH tot verzekeringo der Spaaudche 
 Ooud Mijncn | zoii konncn oprcchtcn. Do iiilnoniende vruchlbaarheld 
 van't I Land ; overvloed der VisHclien in die Hivicren. De godaantcn, | 
 inborst, j;oloove en oefreningon dor Wildon alduar woononde. | De 
 vreeinde Dicren in Haare Hoosclien en Voldon. Met eon | korte aanmer- 
 klni^o over de ziigt-naanule Slraat Auiain; en't | middel on» door een 
 korte woj:, zonder dor Linie .iliquinoctiaal | te passoerou, na China en 
 Japan to konien met v(clc andore by- | sondurlieden meer. Door Lode- 
 wyk llonnopin, | Missionaris Recollect en Notaris Apostollek. | Desen 
 laastoa Dndi is nict allocn veri;ierd, mot uoodigo Kaarlon | niaar 00k met 
 verachede Kopere Printverbooldingen, | noyt te vooren soogesien. | Te 
 Leyden, | Hy Piotor van der Aa, 1704. | 
 
 4', i)p. (22), 210, (13), 3 maps, plates: Niagara, Bulfalo, Building of 
 Orittln, Indians alarmed at Monstrance, Buffalo coimtry, At the Cache. 
 
 12. Aannierkelyke voyagie | gcdaan na't | gcdeelde van | Noorder 
 America, | behelzoude con niouwe onldekkinge van een seer | groot 
 Laud.gclcgcn tuschen | Nieuw Mexico en de Ys-Zoe, | &c. Te Rotterdam, 
 By Barent Bos, 1704. | 
 
 4% pp. 22, (219,) 13. 2 maps, C plates. 
 
 ' I 
 
 13. Do Gedeukwaardige | Wcst-Indise Voyagien, | Gedaan door | 
 Cliristoffel Columbus, | Amorlcus Vesputius, | en | Lodewijck Hennepin. | 
 Behelzendo een naaukeurige en wnaraclitige Boschrijving | der eerste en 
 laatste | Americaansc ontdekkingen, | Door de voornoemde Reizigers 
 gedaen, met alle de | byzondere voorvallen, het overgekomen. | Mits- 
 gaders een | Oetrouw en aenniaorkelyk Verhaal, «&c. Te Leyden | By 
 Pieter van der Aa. 1704. | 
 
 4°, pp. 22 (219,) 13. 2 maps, 6 plates. 
 
 14. Nieuwo Ontdckkiuge, vau groote Laude in Amcrika, tusschen 
 
THE "NOUVEAU VOYAGE." 
 
 389 
 
 Nlouw-Mexlco en de YB-Zoe Boncvens cen AanhangBel, be- 
 
 holzcndo coii Uuizo door een Kedoelte van ile 8paan»cli West Indleu door 
 L, de C. Amsterdam 1723. 
 
 (iSHMAN. 
 
 15. None I Kntdockung | vleler Holir grosscii Landsehatrteu I in | America 
 zwlsclien Neu-Mexlco iiiid dnm Eyss-Mcer gelegcn .... Ins Tcutsche 
 Ilbersctzt durcli | M. J. (}. Liiiigen. | Mil Land-Cliarten and Kiipffer 
 Piguren. Uronien; Philip Ooltfr. Saurnians 1690. 
 
 12° pp. (60), 382. Engraved frontispiece, map and two plates. 
 
 16. Neue | Uolse | Besclireibung | naclio | America, | und derer | bisher 
 nocli unbeltundten Liin- | dur und V('ilci<er, | vornomlicli | von der Land- 
 sclialFt I Lovi.siana, | und dun Bitten und Lebcns Art der Wii- | den in 
 selblger Landbclnitft. | Aus dem Frnnz^sisclien ttber- | setzt und rait 
 Kupfern geziert. | NUrnberg. 1780. | Im Veriag Clirist. Fried Feisze. 
 
 18°, pp. 426. 2 maps. 
 
 ABRIDGEMENTS. 
 Spanish. 
 
 1. Reiacion | de un pais | que nuevamente se lia desou- | bierto | en la | 
 America | Septentrionai | de mas ostendido que es | l.i Europa. | Y que 
 saca a iuz en Cnstcllnno, debajo de ia pro- | toccion de el Exnio 8r. 
 Duqne de el InCantado, | Pastrana, &c., el Sargente General de Batalln 1 
 Don Sebastian Fernandez de Me- | drano. Director de la Academia Rea| 
 y I Miiitar de el Exercito de los Paiscs Bajos. | En Brusselas, | En casa de 
 Lamberto Marcliant, | MDO.XCIX. | 
 
 12% pp. (8) 86, map, 2 plates. 
 
 English. 
 
 2. A Discovery of a Lfirge, Rich and Plentiful | Country | in the | North 
 America ; | Extending above 4000 Leagues. | Wherein, | By a very short 
 Passage, | lately found | out, thro' the Mcr-Barmejo into the South- | Sea ; 
 by which a considerable Trade might | be carry'd on, as well in the 
 Northern as | tlie Southern Parts of America. | London: Printed for W. 
 Boreham, at the Angel in Pater- Noster Row. | [1720.] 8°, pp. (2) 22. 
 
 III. THE " NOUVEAU VOYAGE." 
 FuENcn. 
 1. Nouveau | Voyage | d'un Pais plus grand que | I'Europe. | Avec lea 
 reflections des entreprises du Sieur | de la Salle sur les mines de Ste 
 
I 
 
 390 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
 
 Barlie, &c. ) Enrichi de la Carte, de figures expressives, des raoeurs, | & 
 manierea de vivre dea Sauvages du Nord, | & du Sud, de la prise de 
 Quebec, Ville Capital- | le de la Noiivelle Prance, par les Anglois, & 
 des I avantages qu'oii pent retirer du cheniin racourci i de la Ciiiue & da 
 Japon.par lemolen de tant | de Vastcs Contrees & de Nouvclles Colonies. | 
 Avoc approbation & dediC; a sa Majcste | Guillaunie III. | Roy de la 
 Grande | Bretagne | par le| R. P. Louis Hennepin, | Missionnaire Re- 
 collect & Notaire Aposlolique. |'A Utrecht | Chez Antoine Schouten, | 
 Marcliand Librairc, 1098' | 
 8\ pp. (70) (2) 389, 4 plates, 1 map. 
 
 2-3. Voyage | en un Pays plus gi'aud | que | I'Europe, | Entre la Mer 
 Qlaciale & le Nouvcau | Mexique. | ^ar le | P. Hennepin, | printed in 
 Recueil | de Voyages | au Nord, | contenant | Divers Menioires tres 
 utiles au | Conunerce & A la | Navigation. | Tome V. | Troisieme 
 Edition | augmenti'e d'une Relation. | A Amsierdam, | Chez Jean Frederic 
 Bernard. 1 MDCCXXXIV. | 
 
 12% pp. 197-370. 
 
 Also cue called second edition, 1720. 
 
 The first edition of the Voyages au Nord in four volumes 1715-9, 
 did not include Hennepin at all. 
 
 The second edition gave the Nouveau Voyage ; tlie third edition, 10 vols., 
 the Nouveau Voyage in Vol. V, and the Nouvelle Decouverte in Vol. IX. 
 
 Dutch. 
 
 4 (Engraved title) Reyse | door | Nieuwe o. "elite | Landen | (Printed 
 title) Aenniorckelycke i Ilistorische | Reijs Beschryvinge | Door verschcyde 
 Landen veel grooter als die van gelieel | Evropa | oiilanghs ontdeckt. | Be- 
 hclsenila een nauivkenrige Bj.schi'ijviuge van gelegenlheyd, natuur, en 1 
 vrugbtbaerheyd, van't Zuyder, en Noorder gedeelte van America ; niits- 
 gaders | de gedaente, nerd, manieren, kledingeu, en't geloove der talrijke 
 Wilde Nation, de Hooftstad van Cana | da, doorde Euglisclien. De geivig- 
 tige aeumerkingen op do ondernemiiige van de Heer de la Salic, op de 
 Qoud-Mijnen van 8t. Barbara, met veel meerandere | waeragtige en .elsd- 
 same geschiedenissen. En in't besoniler de aenwijsingcn om | 'li^creen 
 korten wegh sonder de Linie Equino'.'tiael te passeeren, n.i Chiui , ok | , 'ip? i 
 te komen ; en de groote voordeelen die men hier door, als mede d-vi dv ; 
 nieuwe Volckplantigen in dese vrughtbaare Landen sou konnon trecken. 
 Allea I met eeu netto Kaert tot dese | aenwijsinge uodig, en kopere Platea 
 
 ^ 
 
"NEW DISCOVERY, ETC." 
 
 391 
 
 verciert. / Met Approbatie van | Willielmus den III. | Komnugh | van | 
 Qroot-Bri(anie. | En aau deselve sijne Majestcyt opgedragen | door | 
 Lodewyck Hennepin, | Missionaris Recollect, en Notaris Apostolick. | 
 Tot Utrecht, | By Anthony Schouten. | 1698. 
 
 4°, pp. (28) 143, lust page misprinted 242, (18). 
 
 Map "Carte d'un Nouvenu Monde cntre lo Nouveau Mexique et la Mer 
 •Glaciale. Gasp. Bouttats fecit." 
 
 German. 
 
 5 Neue ( Ueise Beschreibung ) durcb viele Liinder weit grosser als 
 
 gantz Europa | durch L. Hennepin. | Bremen : Phil. Gottfr. 
 
 Saurmans, 1698. | 
 
 8\ pp. (64) 288, 4 plates. 
 
 6 Reisen | und seltsehnie | Begebenheiten ; Oder sonderbare Entaeckung 
 vieler sehr grossen | Liinder | in 'Vnierika. Welche biszhero noch unbe- 
 kannt | gewesen, und an Grosse gantz Euro- | pa llbertrefien, t&c, Bre- 
 men : Nathaniel Saurmann, 1742. | 
 
 18°, pp. (24) 383, 2 maps, 2 plates. 
 
 THE " NOUVELLE DECOUVERTE " AND "NOUVEAU VOYAGE" 
 
 TOGETHER. 
 
 1. 
 
 English. 
 A I New Discovery | of a | Vast Country in America, | extending above 
 
 Four Thousand Miles, | between | New France and New Mexico ; | with 
 a I Description of the Great I-akes, Cata- i racts, Rivers, Plants, and 
 Animals. | Also, the Manners,! Customs and Languages of the se- 1 veral 
 native Indians; and the advantage of Com- | merce with those differen, 
 Nations. \ With a | Continuation, | Giving an Account of the | Attempts 
 of the Sieur de la Salle upon the | Mines of St. Barbe, &c. The Taking 
 of Quebec by the English ; With the Advantages | of a Shorter Cut to 
 China and Japan. | Both parts illustrated with Maps, and Figures, | and 
 Dedicated to His Majesty K. William. | By L. Hennepin, uow Resident 
 in Holland. | To which are added, Several New Discoveries in North- I 
 America not publish'd in the French Edition. | London, Printed for 
 M. Bentley, J. Tonson, | H. Bonwick, | T. Goodwin, and 8. Manship 
 1698. I 
 
392 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
 
 ii< 
 
 f 
 
 '^ 
 
 8% Engraved title, pp. (20) 209 ; pp. (82), 178 (2), 301-355. 2 maps, 
 7 plates. 
 
 This is evidently ilic' first Erplisli rditioii. The 299 pages of Part I 
 coutain a translation of the Kouvtlle, Decoiivcric, und supplementary 
 matter enihracicg Marquitte's voyage was printed in the same time and 
 foiled 301-355, 3C0 being blank. Then appnrently, it was resolved to 
 translate also the IsovreaiiVoyage, and this was printed in smaller type as 
 Part II, making 178 pages with a catch word on last page, and in binding 
 up the work, tlie supplemental portion of Part I was placed after this 
 without regard to folios. 
 
 2. Same Title, bvi H. Bon- in inij)rint on tliu firel line. 
 
 8°, Engraved title, title, pp. (20) 243 (32), 228. 2 maps, 7 plates. 
 
 It is not a reprint of No. 1. 
 
 There are slight alterations on Part I, hut Part II is entirely rewritten 
 and improved. This part in the first edition begins " Men ought to be 
 satisfy'd": but in this one "Reason oiiglit to rule" : and in this edition 
 two chapters arc numbered XXII. 
 
 3. Same title as^Ko. 1. otherwise apparently as No. 2 but without the 
 error i;i chapter XXII. 
 
 4. A I New Discovery | of a j Vast Country in America; | Extending 
 over Four Thousand Miles, | between | New France & New Mexico ; | with 
 a I Description of the Great Lakes, Cataracts, | Riveis, Plants, and Ani* 
 mals. I Also, the Manners, Customs, and Languages of the several I 
 Native Indians; ( And the Advantage of Commerce with | those difl'erent 
 Nations. | With a | Continuation | Giving an Account of the | Attempts 
 of the Sieur de la Salle upon the | Mines of St. Barbe, &c. Tht Taking 
 ofQuebi'C I by the English ; With tlie Advantages of a | shorter Cut to 
 China and Japan. Both Illustrated with Maps, and Figures ; and Dedi- 
 cated I to his Majesty King William. | By L. Hennepin now Resident 
 in Holland. | To which are added, Several New Discoveries in North- 1 
 America, not Publish'd In the French Edition. | London, Printed for 
 Henry Bonwicke, at the Rod Lion | in St. Paul's Church Yard, 1099. | 
 
 8°, Engraved title, pp. (20) 240, pp. (24) 216. 2 maps, 6 plates. 
 Reprint of No 2. 
 
 
 I 
 
 jUl-jMtt 
 
 
 IHilui 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Abenakis, 375. 
 
 Accault, Michael, 360-1, 368, see Ako, Dacan. 
 
 Account of" a Voyage down the Mississippi, from the " Nou- 
 
 velle Decouverte," 343. 
 Account of Hennepin and the Sioux, 360. 
 AfFaire Roland, 64. 
 Agniers (Mohawks), 23, 
 Agrenipoualacs, 374. 
 Aiounouea, 370. 
 Akansa, 186, 347-8, 356-7. 
 
 Ako, Michael, 190, 225, 241-2, 250-1, 353, 360, 368. 
 Allart, Rev. Germain, 62. 
 Allouez, Father Claude, 164. 
 Andris (Andros), Major, 23. 
 Anian, Aniam, strait of, 237. 
 
 Aquipaguetin, chief, 211, 215-6, 2ig, 225-8, 248. 
 Arpentigny, 63. 
 Artois, 12. 
 Assenipoits, 373; Assenipovalacs, 236; Assinipoulak, 361, 
 
 374- 
 Ath, 9. 
 
 Atreouati, (Grande Gueule), 308, 310. 
 
 Auguelle, Anthony, nicknamed Le Pic.^rd du Guay, 188, 19 1, 
 
 225. 235. 36'' "' Picard. 
 
 B 
 
 Bailloquet, Father, 377. 
 
 -,-^ 
 
' 
 
 394- INDEX. 
 
 Bay of the Puants (Green Bay), 104, 119, 201, 258 269. 
 
 361, 367. 
 Belmont, Abbe, 32. 
 Benton Harbor, 131. 
 Bernou, Abbe, 37, 372. 
 Bison, 143. 
 
 Black River, 197, 365. 
 Blaithwayt, 27. 
 Bois d' Ardenne, 269. 
 Bourg Royal, 21. 
 Brassart, Anthony, 77. 
 Brisset, F. Luke, 271. 
 Broedelet, William, 29. 
 Bruyas, F. James, 24, 25, 285. 
 Buffalo River, iq8, 251, 365. 
 Buisset, F. Luke, 59, 88, 63, 264, 271. 
 Buttes, The, 97. 
 
 HI 
 
 1 
 
 Calais, 1 1. 
 
 Calumet, 11 2. 
 
 Cap de St. Antoine, 357. 
 
 Ce, 81. p Enrag 
 
 Cap Tourmente, 21. 
 
 Casquin, 163. 
 
 Castorie, 365. 
 
 Cayuga Creek, 82. 
 
 Chaa Indians, 189. 
 
 Chabadeba, Chabaoudeba, 197, 365 
 
 Charlevoix, Father, 34. 
 
 Charon, Sieur, 88. 
 
 • •<r\ 
 

 
 INDEX. 395 
 
 CI A'-pentier, Thomas, 69. 
 Chassagouasse, Chief, 166. 
 Chikacha, 346, 357, see 163, 186. 
 Chinnien, 226. 
 Chongaskabes, 373. 
 Chongaskethon (Sisitonwan), 203. 
 Cicaca, 163 ; Ciccaca, 186. 
 
 D 
 
 Dacan, M., 372, see Accault. 
 
 Dakota language, 45, 45*, 
 
 Dalera, M., 367. 
 
 Daminoia, 163. 
 
 d' Auteuil, M., 366. 
 
 d' Autray, Sieur, 135. 
 
 de Barrois, Mr., 18. ' 
 
 de Belizani, Mr., 56. 
 
 de Cauroy, 235. 
 
 de Courcelles, Gov., 52-3. 
 
 de Coxis, Mr., 28. 
 
 de Groseilliers, Sieur, 362. 
 
 de Lassay, Marquis, 374. 
 
 de la Ribourde, Father Gabriel, 10, 43, 55, 63, 89, iii, 117, 
 
 122, 133^ HO, 155, 177, 187, 189, 267, 269. 
 Description of Louisiana, 41 ; Bibliography of, 382. 
 de Tonty, Chevalier, 61, 87, 103, 133, 135, i8b, 267, 
 Detroit, 91. 
 
 Dollier de Casson, Rev., 52, 60. 
 Du Guay, the Picard, 224, 353, 356, set Auguelle. 
 du L'hut (Lude, Luth), 253, 255, 261, 365. Memoir of, 373. 
 Dunkirlc, 11. 
 
 f ^ 
 
 '■ <>*0-'«^ 
 
39^ 
 
 Enjalran, Father, 377. 
 Espiritu Santo Bay, 352. 
 
 • 
 
 INDEX. 
 E 
 
 FafFart, 361, 366. 
 
 Falls of St. Anthony, 197, 200, 220. 241-4, 358-9- 
 
 Fillatre, Father Luke, 265. 
 
 Fort Chambly, 53. 
 
 Fort Champlain, 270. 
 
 Fort Crevecoeur, 175-6, 184, 194, 266, 349-50, 3S9i 3^'- 
 
 Fort de Conty, (Niagara), 74, 106, 262, 324. 
 
 Fort Frontenac, 43, 53-4, »o^i 26/,, 266, 363, 366. 
 
 Fort of the Miamis, 131. 
 
 Fort Sorel, 53. 
 
 Frontenac, Count de, 54-5, 57i 73^ 264, 270, 335. 
 
 G 
 
 Galinee, Abhe, 52, 60. 
 Gannieke/, or Agniez (Mohawks), 23. 
 Ganniessinga Indians, 80. 
 Garakonthie, Chief, 307. 
 Gamier, Father Julian, 76-7. 
 Gastacha (Mississippi), 361. 
 Goiogoins (Cayugas), 307. 
 Grande Gueule, 308. 
 Great Rock, 69, 72, 89. 
 Green Bay, 258, see Puants. 
 
 Griffin, first vessel on Lake Erie, commenced, 74 ; question as 
 to pl'ace where built, 82 ; named 85, 89 ; enters Lake Eric, 
 
 iiiiiii 
 
 
 m 
 
INDEX. 
 
 397 
 
 91 ; at Mackinac, 97, 104 ; at Green Bay, 104 : sent back to 
 Niagara, 105; lost, 107. 
 
 H 
 
 Halle, Hennepin at, 11. 
 
 Hanetons, 373. 
 
 Harpentinie, see Arpent-.gny. 
 
 Hempin, Father, 371. 
 
 Hennepin, Father Loui?, Notice of, 9 ; birth, 9 ; becomes a 
 Recollect friar, travels, 10; armv chaplain, 13, 124; at 
 Battle of Senert', 13 : sent to Canada, 14 ; trouble on voyage 
 with La SaHe, 17 ; fust mission labors, 20-1 ; visits Mo- 
 hawks, 22 ; builds Mission house at Fort Frontenac, 59 ; 
 selected to go with La Salle, 62 ; dines- with Frontenac, 63 ; 
 visits Iroquois cantons, 64 ; leaves Fort Frontenac, 64 ; 
 enters Niagara, ib; says mass near Falls, ib ; visits Senecas, 
 76 ; at Fort Frontenac, 88 ; returns to Niagara, 89 ; on 
 Lake Michigan, 11 1 ; in atFair with the Foxes, 122; erects 
 bark cabin as a chapel 011 Benton Harbor, 133; at Fort 
 Crevecaeur, 177; sent bv La Salle to upper Mississippi, 
 188; reluctance, 189; Sets out, 192; captured by Sioux, 
 205 ; had somt idea of descending the Mississippi, 212 ; a 
 Falls of St. Anthony, 220; begins Dakota Dictionary, 229 ; 
 found by du Lhut, 253; returns, 256; at Fort Frontenac, 
 265 ; returns to France, 25 ; at St. Germain-en-Laye, ib ; 
 at Chateau Cambresis, 26 ,• at Renti, ib ; at Gosselies, 27 ; 
 at Antwerp, 28 ; Amsterdam, 29 ; Utrecht, 29 ; his Nou- 
 velle Decouverte published, 29 ; forbidden to return to 
 Canada, 30 ; at Rome, ib ; examination of his veracity, 31 ; 
 testimonies in his favor, 32, 43* ; impeached, 33, 35; voyage 
 down the Mississippi from the Nouvelle Decouverte, 343 ; 
 
 
n 
 
 398 
 
 IK 
 
 account of voyage up from Margry, 360 ; from Tonty, 372; 
 Du L'hut's memoir, 374 ; account of Niagara Falls, 377 ; 
 letter of, to Renaudot, 372 ; bibliography of, 382. 
 Herinx, Rt. Rev. William, bishop of Ipres, opposes Hennepin, 
 
 1 1. 
 
 Hillaret, Moyse, 191. 
 
 Hohio (Ohio), 51. 
 
 Honnehioats (Oneidas), 23. 
 
 Honnontaguz (Onondagas), 21. 
 
 Humber, 64. 
 
 Hunaut, 103. 
 
 Huron Isles, 107. 
 
 Hurons, 100, 260, 276, 315, 358. 
 
 Hontouagaha, 80. 
 Houetbatons, 374. 
 
 I 
 
 1\ 
 
 
 t 
 
 Ikoueta, 369. 
 
 Indians, manners of the, 273 ; fertility of country, ib ; origin 
 of 277 ; physical condition, 280 -, dress, 287 ; marriages, 
 290; feasts, 297; games, ,300; rudeness, 304; courtesy, 
 306; cruelty, 311; policy, 316; hunting, 318; fishing, 
 323 -, utensils, 325 ; burial, 327 ; superstitions, 328 ; ridi- 
 culous beliefs, obstacles toconversion of, inditference, 335, 337, 
 
 Illinois, 361, 37^^''" Islinois. 
 Illinois river, 141, 361. 
 Iroquois, 57, "64, '86, 262, 266, 268, 315. 
 Isati (Issati), 197. 
 
 Islinois (Illinois), 60, 130, 152-3. '55, «68, 186,205, 242, 
 259, 266, 343, 352, 359. 3^9, 373- 
 
 . 
 
 aC- 
 
 '^■. 
 
INDRX. 
 Issati, 201, 203, 236, 256, 344, 373, 374. 
 Isle of St. Laurent, 21. 
 Izatys, 374. 
 
 399 
 
 Joliet, Louis, 60, 358. 
 
 J 
 
 K 
 
 Kakaling, 364. 
 
 Kankakee river, 136, 141. 
 
 Keroas, 339. 
 
 Kickapoos, 269 ; Kikapous, 258, 269-70, 371. 
 
 Koroa, 339, 349, 350, 354-5- 
 
 La Chine, 52, 310. 
 
 Lake Buade or Issati (Mi He Lake), 201-2, 373-4. 
 
 Lake Conde or Tracy (Superior), 69, 70, 98, 199, 202. 
 
 Lake Conty, Comty, or Erie (Erie), 52, 69, 71, 83-4, 89-91 
 
 261-2, 363, 377. 
 Lake Dauphin, or Islinois (Michigan), 69; described, 70; 
 
 La Salle on, 104, 1 18. 
 Lake Frontenac (Ontario), 52, 57, 262, 264, 276, 324. 
 Lake Huron, 69. 
 Lake Michigan, 69. 
 Lake ot the Issati, 368. 
 Lake ot" Tears (Pepin), 198, 217. 
 Lake Ontario or Frontenac, 57, 70, 276. 
 
 Lake Orleans, or of the Hurons (Huron), 69, 70, 91, 260-1. , 
 Lake St. Clare, 92, 261. 
 
 
 i^ 
 
400 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 '\ , 
 
 Lake Superiur, called Conde, 6q, ^65, 366, 374. 
 
 Lake Tracy, 69, 
 
 La Motte, Sieur, 61, 64, 74. 
 
 La Rousseliere, 103. 
 
 La Salle, Rene Cavelier, Sieur de, projects discoveries by the 
 other route, 51 ; acquires establishment at Lachine, 52; 
 encouraged by de Cuurcellcs, 52 ; sets out with Dolier and 
 Galince, falls sick, ib ; solicits command ot Kort Frontenac, 
 
 55 ; governor ot Fort Frontenac, 15, 43, 56 ; rebuilds fort, 
 
 56 ; returns to France, 60 -, obtains commission and exclu- 
 sive privilege, 61 ; sails with Hennepin, 15; trouble with, 
 I 7 ; at Fort Frontenac, 63; wrecked on his way to Niagara, 
 81 i returns to Frontenac, 83 ; at Niagara,, 81^ ; sails in 
 Griffin, 90 i at Mackinac, 97 ; at Green Bay, 104 ; sends 
 back Griffin, 105 ; proceeds in canoes, 108 ; meets Pottawa- 
 tamies, 115; trouble with Foxes, 119; builds tort of the 
 Miamis, 131 ; ascends river ot the Miamis, 135 ; lost, 137 ; 
 reaches Illinois village, 152; at Illinois camp, 156; .Vlonso 
 prejudices Illinois against, 164; deserted by men, 172; begins 
 Fort Crevecceur, 175 ; begins a bark, 178 ; sets out for Fort 
 Frontenac, 188 ; sends Hennepin to Mississippi, 188 ; reaches 
 mouth of Mississippi, 338 ; extract from letter of, 361. 
 
 Laval, Francis de, bishop of Petr«*a, and of Quebec, 15, 62, . 
 
 265. 
 Le Barbier, 103. 
 
 Le Fevre, Father Hyacinth, 26, 62, 124. 
 Le Fevre, Father Louis, 27. 
 Le Maitre, Rev. James, 310. 
 Le Roux, Rev. Valentine, 62, 268. 
 Lc Talon, 261. 
 Lewiston, 69. 
 l,ong Point, 91. .... 
 
 t 
 
 I 
 
•w 
 
 INDF.X, 
 
 401 
 
 
 see Pdinaroi. 
 
 Louisiana, 44, 149. 273, 295, 322, 325. 
 Luke, pilot, 96, 107^ I J J. 
 Luke, Father, 264, see Buisset. 
 
 M 
 
 Maestriclit, 1 1. 
 Malquenech, Baroii de, 28. 
 Mamenisi, 235, 25O. 
 Man/a Ouakange, 211. 
 Manic, river, 141. 
 Margry^, Pierre, 35. 
 Maroa, 358, 3'>2 ; Vlaro'ia, 205 
 Marquette, Father James, 258. 
 Mascouteiis, 140, 16+, 258, 364,369. 
 Maskouteiis Naiiouesioux, 371. 
 .Matsiganiea, 358. 
 Memore, Father Zeiiobius, 26, 89, 155, 157, 177, 187, 259, 
 
 265, 267, 271. 
 Meschasipi, 5^ 60, 3+3-5, 350-ii .iS?-^, ^'' Colbert. 
 Meschet/., Odeba, 197, 364. 
 Messenecq/. (Outagamis), 243. 
 Messorite, 344, 357. 
 Meuse, river, 141, 153, 193- 
 
 Miamis, 140, 143, 186, 205-6, 216, 258, 266, 270, 358, 363. 
 Miamis, river of the, 129, 131. 
 Michelimakinac, 376. 
 Mille Lake, 199. 
 Miiiime, 103. 
 
 Misconsin, 187 i Misconsing, 364. 
 Missiliinakinac, 97, 104, 133, 259, 260, 
 Missisipi, 360 ; Mississipy, 361. 
 
 -y-an*** 
 
402 
 
 Missorites, 344. 
 Mitchinchi, 225. 
 Mohawks, 24, 324. 
 Mohegans, 85, 276. 
 Monso, Chief, 164, 1 70- 1. 
 Montreal, 264. 
 
 INDKX. 
 
 
 Nachie (Natchez), 349. 
 
 Nadouecioux, 374-5, Nadouesioux, 364 ; Nadonessiou, 203 ; 
 
 Nadouessaiis, 203, 373 ; Nadouessious, 197, 236, 258, 360-1 ; 
 
 Nadonessiou/., 257 ; Nadoucssiouz, 256 ; Nadousiouz, 315; 
 
 Nadoiissions, 201 ; Nadoiissioiis, 254; Nadousiouz, 315. 
 Namur, 153, 193. 
 Narrhetoba, Chief, 166, 169-70. 
 Nemissakouat river, 199 j Nemitsakouat, 366. 
 New England, 276. 
 New Jork, Joriz, 276, 324. 
 New Mexico, 351. 
 New Netherland, 23, 276. 
 New Sweden, 276. 
 New York, 23, 276, 324. 
 Nez Persez, 276. 
 Niagara river, 64, 89, 324, 363. 
 Niagara Falls, 6<; described, 71 ; description from Nouvelle 
 
 Decouverte, 377. 
 Nicanape, Chief, 166, 169 70. 
 Nipissingue, 375. 
 Nipissiriniens, 375. 
 Nouvel, Father, 377. 
 
 ^^2u|i«g3>>M|ai|i 
 
 mmm 
 
 ...■iCl\*1L*<H.'t->i^,--.L! *K.i 
 
 Hg-^ 
 
 
INDEX. 
 
 4-03 
 
 Nouvelle, Decouvertc, The, how made up, 46 ; matter from 
 Le Cleicq, 47* 1 errors in, th;u Hennepin could not make, 
 15, 16, 48', 200, 201, 218, 265, ;^45, 346 i prepared 'jy an 
 editor ignorant ot C'anaJa, 49* ; extract from, 343 biblio- 
 graphy ot, 382. 
 
 Nouveau Voyage, The, 51*, bibliography of", 389. 
 
 o 
 
 Oiatinon I Weas), 140. 
 
 Omaouha or Omoahoha or Oumanouha, chief, 165, 187, 
 
 means Wolf, 18''. 
 Oncidas, 21. 
 Onisconsin river, 197, 
 Oniioiitaguez, 269. 
 Onontio, Iroquois name for French governors of Canada, 77, 
 
 127, 268. 
 
 Onondagas, 21, 269, 317. 
 
 Ononhouaroia, 317. 
 
 Ontaonai/. ( Ottawasj, 276. 
 Ontario, 54. 
 
 Onttaouactz (C)ttawas), 52. 
 
 Openagaux, 375. 
 
 Osages, 186, 343. 
 
 Otchbmii, 252. 
 
 Otontenta, Outontanta, 196 ; ( )toutantas, (Ottoes), 371. 
 
 Otoutantas Paot4, 364. 
 
 Ottawas, 52, 97, 99, 260 2, 276, 361, 366. 
 
 Qua, 373 i Ouadebathon or River people (VVarpetonwan), 203. 
 
 Ouadebache, 345. 
 
 Ouakanche, 209. 
 
 Ouamats, 339. 
 
 Ouasicoudc (Pierced Pine), chief, 234, 238, 240, 255, 
 
 x^-;k,^^^' 
 
404 
 
 INDKX. 
 
 Ouiscoiisin river, 237, 361 j Ouisconsing, 366; Ouscousin, 
 
 256-7 ; Oviscousin, 241, 248 (Wisconsin), 
 Ounonhayentv, 302. 
 Ounontaguez, 317. 
 Outagamis (Foxes), '376; Outouagainis, 119, 126, 243, 257, 
 
 370, 376- 
 Outaouacs, 366 ; Outaouas, 361 ; Outtaouais, 358 ; Outta- 
 ouactz, 99, 261, 2 ; Outraouctz, 260. 
 
 Palmas, 352. 
 
 Payez, F. Rennere de, 28. 
 
 Peoria, 175. 
 
 Peoria Lake, 155. 
 
 Picarci, The, 240, 241, 243, 245-50, 252, 253, 261, see Au- 
 
 guelle. 
 Pierced Pine (Ouasiconde), 257. 
 Pierson, Father, 260, 377. 
 Pimiteoui, Lake, 155, 262-3. 
 Poerius, V. Rev. F., 28. 
 Pointe de Levi, 21. 
 Poupart, 103. 
 Poutouatamis (Pottawatamies), 104 ; chief devoted to Fron- 
 
 tenac, 105; island of the, 108 ; second village, 1 10. 
 Puants (Winnibagoes), 104, 258, 269, 361, 367.. 
 
 Quappas, 186. 
 Quebec, 363. 
 Quinipissa, 350, 353. 
 
 Rafcix, Father, 74, 261, 
 
 Q 
 
 R 
 
 sasfii 
 
 iti^iyimiiiiiitiHTi^ir'i JtMiiiilfcBawiiMHia 
 
 - r * 
 
 ttmmm 
 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Randin, Sieur, 366. 
 
 Recollects, 14, 185. 
 
 Red Sea (Gulf of California), 212. 
 
 Relation des Decouvertcs, 36-7, 42*. 
 
 Richelieu river, 53. 
 
 Rio Bravo, 352. 
 
 Rio Kscondido, 351. 
 
 Rio He Panuco, 352. 
 
 River Seignelay, 136, 192. 
 
 River of the Issati (Rum), 201. 
 
 Rochelle, 14, 55, 
 
 Roy, 9. 
 
 405 
 
 Sagard, Brother, 232. 
 
 Saint Anthony of Padua, 96. 
 
 Saint Croix, deserter, 103. 
 
 Sainte Croix river, 199. 
 
 Saint Francis river, 201, 241, 256. 
 
 Saint Hour (Ours), 63. 
 
 Saint Joseph's river, 131. 
 
 Saint Lawrence river, 264, 276. 
 
 Saint Louis river, 199. 
 
 Sainte Anne, 21. 
 
 Sakinam (Saginaw), 94. 
 
 Sambre river, 141. 
 
 Sault, St. Marie, 98 ; Indians of, loi. 
 
 Sauteurs, loi, 366. 
 
 Seignelay (Illinois) river, 136, 141, 197, 257. 
 
 Seine river, 362. 
 
 Senecas, 64, 73, 262. 
 
 ^■*-- 
 
 M.M^ 
 
M 
 
 4.06 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Senert, Hennepin at battle ot, 13, Du Lhiit at, 374. 
 
 Sikacha (Chickasaw), 346, see Cicaca. 
 
 Soto, Ferdinand, 163. ' 
 
 Taensa Indians, 348, 355. 
 
 Talon, Sieur, 53. 
 
 Tamaroa Indians, 193, 345, 362, see Maroa. 
 
 Tangibao Indians, 351, 353. 
 
 Tchatchakigoua Indians, 360, 369. 
 
 Teakiki river, 361. 
 
 Teganeout, 263. 
 
 Tegarondies, 74, • 
 
 l^eiaiagon, 64. 
 
 Theakiki river (Kankakee), 136, 361, 362. 
 
 Thinthonha (Titonwan) Indians, Tintonha, Nation of the 
 
 Prairies, 90, 203, 357, 373 ; Tintonbas, 373. 
 Three Rivers, 21. 
 Thirty Mile Point, 81. 
 Tomb River, 199, 202. 
 
 Tonty, Chevalier de, 61, 87, 103, 133, 135, 188, 267. 
 Tracy, Marquis de, 53. 
 Tsopnontouan (Senecas), 64, 73, 84. 
 Tula, 163. 
 
 u 
 
 Utica, 153. 
 
 Virginia, 276. 
 
 Voile, Father Alexander, 26. 
 
 - ..... . .. . *r:»- ...----.■ ' ■ ■ '• ■ '*-^jf 
 
 T"! iiii ^BMiiiiliiiiiliMMMM 
 
INDEX. 
 
 w 
 
 407 
 
 Watteau, F. Melithon, at Niagara, 88, 90. 
 
 Wazikute (Ouasiconde), 234. 
 
 Wild rice, 201. 
 
 William III, Hennepin presented to, 29 ; the Nouvelle De- 
 
 couverte dedicated to, ib ; De Michel's remarks, 33. 
 Wisconsin river, 197, 237, 241, 249, see Ouisconsin, Mis. 
 
 cousin. 
 Wolf Indians (Mohegans), 85, 276. 
 
 ERROR. 
 
 Page 384 line 13, for 408 read 407-16.