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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m^thode. rrata to pelure, . n d 43*, □ 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 6 6 / i \^ \ i <^m mmmmummrtmmmmmmm 3 '1^ I «: ^ '» < l> ?5L I iiiiiiaii.iMiikliiiiiiiili EPT£MTJl O I ■JCLO a ^ o a6o 0,70 %oo igo 3ooJWjj^j3jo m ?Sl]Liniy^^ • ,i ■ i '; i 1 V' • ■.' ' II. i . i i J A, \ ! 1 1 \ ' - • i i»- T'r *-" V^.ii** %■ 1 PPBH|aPHH| J 'i^ 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 mm^mmm 1 f '. ?' 1 1 Jm 1 1 ill! : I c^ DESCRIPTION Of { :^~ > i LOUISIANA 1 i f if ■I n J 3 a .y ,,, .1 V\.A{?.\ UO I -V( -.H A1, ■■'.-1 ■; ':'i.S.:'\ V.',V(''. I ". J-* ■; ):. f A r-, , ; ,-, . ■ '\ : a /^ a ■' ' ' ' % 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. r 9 'f! 66 A DKSCRIPTION i. u- 1 !)) 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. ■,r- 'z nn 3 t- ■ > n I e < i ^ ■•i !^ ■ *L.- '•/ f- I I 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. ■>%. o^. \t>T^^. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 t I.I ;: iiiiiM 11^ 12.2 Itf 10 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 ^ 6" ► V] ^ /}. /a ^. VI ^ c^^ ^a '> ^!> 'w .'%" <$>^ c'J d? / /A Photographic Sciences Corporation i^ %^ s ^^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. MS80 (716) 87'?-4503 % ^V v \\ <i; ^^ f^Q\ %^ % ^^ <i,^ 5U^ £?x I' C'. ' t^- "^. 1^ O \ 1^ m i 'i f I', 70 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 m 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 |: 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. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST T ' RGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 la 125 iii IIIILM |||||22 ^ 2.0 1.4 1.8 1.6 V} i9 /}. A '<^. e. (TA % 6> V /A Photographic Sciences Corporation # :i>^ ^ \\ % .V <s> 6^ % ^^^^ C^ <> 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4S03 &^ fr' C<'< Q' Cp. \ m 164 A DESCRIPTION -■! It M >l 1 1 r 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." T 1 66 A DESCRIPTION m ^•'^ in mt' «■»• iii^ J. il : I- 1 ' i ■ ' i .H:| |; ;:■ |,| l'iM\ mE 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^?*^ ' li 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." T '•I 172 A DESCRIPTION ;): I ' I 'h ^ ■w T r (, i f 1 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 I :''i 'PI i ■ ! t 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. ! A/. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) / o .,,* «?. •^/ 1.0 I.I 2.0 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 < 6" ► Va <9 /2 A m. c*; ^1 'm oi % <p eWcy '/ /A Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 S'x t^- -^z ^ v\ .c ■ mmmmmn wmmmt 258 A DESCRIPTION ! m I; 11 k 1 V ? 1 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 ^ ■ w It ' ' D ■■ 1 1 1 ( » 1 ^- 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. m^ <? /a // C>1 > V y /^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT»3) 1.0 I.I Ir^ i" IIIII2.0 1.8 Photographic Sciences Corporation V / O {./ :/ Vs A 1.25 1.4 1.6 "^ 6" — ► 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.