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t 
 

 ^yt^ ?f/>^ 
 
 THE JOURNEY 
 
 oy 
 
 MONCACHT-APE, 
 
 ar 
 
 Ain^RBW McFARLAND DAVIS. 
 
 W^ 
 
 B. " 
 
 
 S^giSKt "MUm-S' 
 
j^iJi..'^ 
 
 Z O — 
 
 M 
 
 
 Ac: 
 
THE JOURNEY 
 
 OF 
 
 MONC ACHT-APE, 
 
 AN INDIAN OF TIIF. YAZOO TRIBE, 
 
 I 
 
 ACROSS THE CONTINENT, ABOUT THE YEAR 1700. 
 
 ANDREW McFARLAND DAVIS. 
 
 [FEOH PRiMEElllXGB "F THE AMEB *N ASTl.Jl ABI.IN SiKlirrV, APSIL 3S, 188S.] 
 
 WORCESTER, MASS., U. S. A.: 
 
 PRINTED BY CHAKLKS HAMILTON, 
 
 No. 311 Main Stuf,et. 
 
 18S3. 
 
 1 
 

 I 
 
T 
 
 THE JOntN'EY OF MONCACHT-APf:. 
 
 Is the nutumu of 1718 M. LcPagc tin Pratz IpiidoU In America. lu 
 company with abont clirht hundred others forwarded by the " Company 
 of the West " he hud come to this country to settle. Ho Urst located 
 near New Orleans, where Bienville was Mien just starting a new settle- 
 ment, but tlie situiitiou of his grant provlni: unhealthy, he shortly after- 
 wards moved up to Natchez. There he scoured a farm, on which he 
 spent eight of the sixteen years lie was in tli's country. He had served 
 In the army in Germany and had received a air education. He was of 
 a speculative turn of ndnd, fond of theorl/Z.n;.' and always on the alert 
 for Information. While at Natchez lie collected and transmitted to 
 Paris no less than three hundred plants used liy the Indians as remedies. 
 He cultivated the friendship of Ids Indian nei^'libors and studied their 
 hal)Its and tlieir language. In 1758 he published at Paris his '• Histoire 
 <ie la Louislane," in wlilch in addition to the personal experiences and 
 observations there recorded lie lias treasured up much tliat he garnered 
 from conversations wltli the old men of tlie tribes concerning the tradi- 
 tions of their origin, tlieir religion and their forms of government. 
 
 The Importance attached to one of these conversations by M. de 
 Quatrefages, In an article In the Revue d' Anthropologie,' is the occ«- 
 slon of this paper. The story of JIoncacht-Apf's journey across the 
 continent and of his encounter with the bearded white men on the 
 North Pacillc Coast of this country, has, to all intents and purposes, 
 slumbered in the i)ages of LePage du Pratz until it was revived liy de 
 Quatrefages. who takes pride in tlie tliouglit tliat he is. as he believes, 
 the llrst to call attention to its importance. 
 
 To understand the merit of the arguments upon which he bases h'.s 
 faith in the story, it is essential that the whole of the story should l)e 
 read, otherwise one can neither appreciate tlie importance attaclied to 
 the verisimilitude of its style, nor measure the value of the coincidences 
 between tlie statements of the Indian concerning this unknown region 
 and the facts as revealed by Lewis and Clark anil other subsequent 
 explorers. 
 
 We turn therefore to tlie pages of LoPage du Pratz' and allow Ulm to 
 introduce the story In his own words ; — 
 
 " Wlien the Natchez came to tlie part of America lu which I found 
 them there were several tribes living on botli sides of the Mississippi 
 
 ' Revue d'Anthropologie. Tome 4me. 1881. ' 
 
 • Histoire de la Loulsiaue, par M. LePage du Pratz, Paris, 1758. v. III., 
 p. 87 et seq. 
 
 184246 
 
Thfv cnllid ("111 li oiIht Tinl Mm. iiiul llii-lr orlu'In i> cxtrciiu'ly tiilllfiilt 
 to cllxiivii-. I'lir ilii'V Imvi- iidl, like tin' Niitrlicz. picM'TVcd tlicli- trndi- 
 tlnii^ ii'ir li.'ivc tlicy ni't> iiiiil ^ciciiLi'. like Hit' Mi'xicaiis, fmiii whicli one 
 can ilnnv iniliiiliinis. 'i'iw (nily tliiiiir to he Iriinicd fnun tlicrii Is, what 
 tlifV iiniirliilily >ny. tliiil llic y ciiim' Inini tlic Nuitli-Wist, ami llic spot 
 llial tlicy point oiii « itli tliclr lliii.'i-rs no mailer wlicrc they imiy lir at the 
 tiiiir, >lioulil I'l' altoiit llfiy-lhc Ui'lth's of latitude. This ineatfi'e inl'or- 
 nintlon not helnu sallsraeiory to me, I made imiuii'y. If amoni.' the iiel^ili- 
 iioiinu' tl'ilieslhel'ewiis not »ome wise old man whoeoiild enli;;lilen me fiir- 
 lliiT on ihi- point. I \va- e.Mi-emely i-ejoleed to learn thai in the nation 
 of the Yazoo-, Ml a di«lanee of foi'ty leairiu's from .Vatelie/., sneh an one 
 eonld he fonnd. UN name was Moncaeht-.\pf'. He was a nnni of conr- 
 aiie and spirit. I can I'.o no hettor than eonipare him to tlio early 
 tireeks, who travelled anioni; the Kastern people to examine the man- 
 ners and customs of the dlH'erent countries and then returned to coin- 
 mnnicate what they had learne<| to their countrymen. Not that Mon- 
 eacht-.\pe ac'lually carrhMl out sncli a project as this, hut lie ronceived 
 the idia and did what he could to carry it out. I took advantaije of a 
 vi«it thill was |i,ai(l me hy this native (d' the Va/.oo Nation. calle<l by the 
 French • the interpi'eter ' tiecause he sjicaks so many Indian lanauaifes, 
 but known amom; his ow n people, as 1 iiave already said, as Moncacht- 
 Ape. which mean- • one who kills dillicultles or fntl'j;iu'.' In fact, the 
 tra\ els (d' many viMr- did not alt'eet lii- pliy-i(|Ui'. I beijiied him tore- 
 pent to me iin account of his travel-, ondftinir nothinir. My proposition 
 seemed to please him. I shall make om- traveller speak in the llrst per- 
 son, but 1 -hall aliridne hi- voyage to the Kastern Toast, hecau.se he 
 "speaks there laru'ely of Canada which is very well known. I shall only 
 report what there was in it of importance. He hsi-an as follows: — 
 
 '• ■ I hail lo-t my wife, and the children tliat I had l)y her were dead 
 before her, when I undertook my trip to tlie country wliere the sun 
 rises. I left my village notwithstandiiiif all my relations. I was to 
 take counsel with the t'hickasaws. our friends and neiiilihors. I re- 
 nniined some days to tind out if they knew whence we nil came, or at 
 lea-t, if thiy knew whi'nce they themselves came: they who are our 
 ancestors, -ince It i- from them that the l:uii:uay:e of the people comes; 
 hut they coidd teach nie iiotliiuy new. For tills reason I resolved to jjo 
 to the nations on the coast where the sun rises, to learn al)OUt them, 
 and to know if tlieir old ianuuai:e was the -anie. They tauirlit me the 
 route that I mn-t take, in order to avoid the lnri;e villages of the whites 
 for fear that they miirht he :invny to see me — me a strantier. I reached 
 tile country of the Shawnee-, the point where I was to take up the 
 river Wabash (ihio:. and I followed it up nearly to its source which Is 
 in the country of the Iroiniois. but I left them to the side of the cold 
 [north] and I went into a villafre of the Alienaiiuai- which was in my 
 route. I remained there until the cold weather, wliicli In Ihis country 
 Is very severe and very Ion,:;, was over. Dnrins this winter I grained 
 tile friendship of a man a little older than myself, who was eiiunlly fond 
 of traveliliitf. He promised to come witli me luul to conduct me, be- 
 cause he knew the way, to the tJreat Water which I wished to see .sineo 
 I li:iil heard it talked abonl. As soon as the snows were melted nnd the 
 weather settled, I started with hini and we avoided the Indian settle- 
 ments. We rested frequently on the way, liecnuse this country is full 
 of stiiiie- which made our feet sore, especially mine, beliiff nnaccustomed 
 to anythiuL' of the sort. After havliiy; travelled several days we saw 
 the Great Water, When I saw it I was so content that I could not 
 speak, and my eyes seemed to me to be too small to look at It at my 
 ease, hut ni^rlit overtook us and we encainpeil near at hand, upon an 
 elevation. The water was near Ijut below us. The wind was high nnd 
 
■without (loulit vi'Xi'il lh(.' fiiTnt Wiitor. for it iii!i(l<: --o iiindi iiuNc lliat 
 1 ciiiild iiDt slfep. I feared llinl llu' hlcivvs Hint It «i\\c> wmilil bi^'tik 
 tlo« a the hel^lit where we were, nlthoiijili it wa- of ••liiiie. 
 
 "■Tliesiiii had not a]i|ieared wlieii 1 rose to «ee tlie dreat Water. I 
 was imieli siu'prl?*ed to see tliat it was far away. I was a lom; time 
 wlth(piit speakiiii; to my <oiiirade, wIki llioiiaiif from seeing ine all tiie 
 time lookliiu: iilioiit aii(i not speaking that Iliad lost my wits. I eoiiUl 
 not understand how tliiseoidd be. Finally, the wind havliii.' ceased, the 
 sun arose. The (ireat Water was not so much dlstnrhed a« it was on 
 the precedin;: niy;lil, and I saw with sm-piise that it returned towards 
 us. 1 sprang lip fl"l<'kly and lied with all my streiiirth. My comrade 
 called out to me not to lie afraid. I sliouti'd to him. on my p.irt, that 
 the (ireat Water was comiii!; towards us anil that we should lie drowned. 
 He then reassiu'ed me, sayliii; that the red men who had seen tin' I ireat 
 Water had observed that it always ailvaiiced as much as it rei'eilcd, but 
 that it never came farther up on the earih at oiu' tiiiK- than anothi-r. 
 When he had thu-. satisiled me we returned to the shore of tie- (ireat 
 Water, and remained there until the inlddh' of tlu' <lay when I saw It, 
 reeedinii, l'o afar oil'. We left to an to sleep far oH' from the noise, 
 which followed me everywhere, and even till eveninit I spoke of iiothinjf 
 else to my comrade. We arrived ai the lianUs of a lillle river, where we 
 lay down to rest, but I thouu'ht of it all I he niylit. Wi- retook the route 
 that we had followed 111 iroin^ and arrived at his home, where they 
 were ;:lail to see us. 
 
 '• • This village Is in the country at some distance from the (ireat 
 Water whence we hail come, and they hail not seen It except between the 
 lands where the iffc'it river of the country loses itself. In this ivuion 
 where they had seen it, it advances and receiles. but much less than in 
 the place where we had seen it. These peoide believe that the (ireat 
 Water over which the French come with their tloatinir villaiies. which 
 the winds move by pullln;; out the irreat sails which tliey bear, they 
 believe, I say, that this (ireat Water was like several (ireat Waters that 
 they have In their countrv which are surrounded w itii land and of which 
 the water Is ifood to drink, in place of wiiich that where we were i- ~alt 
 and bitter. I know It liecaiise 1 put sume of it in my mouth. More- 
 over the French say it takes more than two niooii^ to come to our 
 country, whereas the (ireat Waters of their coiiutry can be crossed in 
 two or three, or at most in four days for the larirest. anil all that I liave 
 seen agrees with what the French have told inc. that this water touches 
 all lanils and Is as lar;ie as the earth. 
 
 " • They listened to me with pU'asure for n hmu: time, and an old innn 
 who was there told me that he had been in a [ilace where t'le :;reat river 
 of their country [.St. Lawrence] precipitated itself from so liiiih and 
 with so much noise that it could be heard a li;df day's jour ley distant; 
 that as I was curious, I should do well to see this place when the cold 
 weather should be over. 1 resolved to ;io there. I told my coinr.ide who 
 had .iccompaniid me to the (ireat Water, and In promised to an with 
 mo. I liad in truth a jireat desire to see tills jihice whicii seemed wortiiy to 
 be seen. I passed the winter in th's place and v.as very impatii'iit because 
 It was lon.ii. It Is impossible to hunt 'Xcept with rackets on the feet, to 
 get accustomed to which caused me iniicli troulile. This is unfortunate, 
 for the country is ^ood. Finally, the winter beiiiLr over, the snow 
 melted, the weather ^ood, ami our provisions prepared, >ve packerl our 
 bundles, and my comrade took a hatchet, with tlie use of which he was 
 familliir. It was for the purpose of makin;; me a duir-out. upon which, 
 foUowlujj the counsel that was u;iven me, I should cinliark upon the river 
 Ohio, as it is called in this country, the Wabash as we call it, and by 
 this menus I could return to mv villavre more ea-ilv and in less time than 
 
■^^ 
 
 If I should rotiini on font. W*- (lc;mrvi< 'Hun mil rraTclltMl for sovoral 
 (lays ln'fiiri' HiiiliuL' the ^Tfiit rUi-r 'A rnar '."inrry. «'.• illil not lack 
 for MKiit on our rout*. Jlit-r*- i» uu u'.mv!im"'i» ■■? huifiiloei unci also of 
 other i;nnic. liuf ii« tlii>.i' niiiimii* lun» i xi'»ar lenl of trouhU- to live 
 wliilo «uo\v 1m on the u'roiinil tiny «>t>ii'.>i ■}*r f.ir. Wlit-n wi> linil nrrlved 
 upon the Imnks of tlii- j.'''>-iit r!\w. ««• f<v*T^t\. Tht- nt-xt day we 
 trnviUfd with tin.' curri'iit of tin «Bt,»i» i,;v «•,• nrciv too hlifli up for 
 the pln.c tliat we cunie to Kt-e. J- oli' -w-utr >rl>iir, hivl heen told us, we 
 co:'ld iiot he di'celvid in tludiiii: thiK » i!i.»''-i!;iJl, for iWf. hrars the noise 
 from afar, as we disi o\ereil on our umffiMH-li. Wf iin-..sfd the nlifht 
 wheri' the noise wa- already stron;: 'nr. ii-iii i»noiiarh to hinder us from 
 sleeplnu'. As soon as day broke wt '\t^ywM f.ir rhis plare of wlileh all 
 men speak with wonder. Fortuuut^ly mi '.ii'l miin li.id indiieed us to take, 
 before leavlni; the vilhij.'e some buBitti'j ♦ -w.mh r.o pur, in our ears; with- 
 out that we should truly have beioui» '>:ii5 rlirnnurh the irreat noise uiado 
 by this wati'r in falllut' from >•<> liii'ti. 3 iiul iji»v'i»r been able to believe 
 w'hat the old man had told me. but \vii.-i ti-j ..y,.^ ,ind my sen.ses beheld, 
 1 thouirht he had not »aid eiiouirh for liiiirt viiiett my eyes saw. 
 
 •• • This river does not fall. It i^ u* J5 '' were i-iwr, the same a.s \.ien 
 an arrow falls to the ground. Tlu^ ».ijiin Auult* my hair "tand on end and 
 my itesh creep. Xeverthele>■^. ufVM iiiiviair Uwt<.-d for a suttlclently lonjj 
 time, my heart whiih had been iiirit«1^-l ^eeame .piii-t. .\s soon as I 
 perceived It was (piiet I -i>oke to niy«td uut <iiid, U'liat thenl Am I 
 not a man? AVhat I see is naiorul ttu<l wttii»p men have passe<l under this 
 river. Why should not I |'a»-s therer Jt ;* twif rhar only Frenchmen 
 have passed there and that red mt^u ^'j tiin iinilerTake the pa.-sa8;e ; but I, 
 Moueacht-Ai)<'. ouclit I to fear more iiiittv .murlier man?' -No.' .said I, 
 In a low tone. I ou;fht not to few. .1 iew.i'niled at onre and passed 
 under and rame aek. 1 pastted tTrtjitiuniy .'lUicli. for althou;{h I had 
 buffalo's wool In my ear-, the uoixe «jt» ov ♦rpinar rliat I was ;;lddy. I 
 ■was not so mneh drenched u^ 3 iiu'.l w^i^ffM 'o he liefore I wi'ut In. 
 After Imvln;: examined the heiirht of T.ut* ftij; I believe that the Kcd 
 men -|)eak tin' truth wli.-n 'hey aowwn "iuir it i-» of tlie heif.'ht of one 
 hundreil Hed men who are rather luli"jiiuui wliires. U'e were detained 
 so loni; lookini.' at what J Inne wwrve^i t'aat. we were compelled to 
 camp for the nljilit on the other ••kle "i i. -v.vid. ivhlch notwithstanding 
 Its thickness did not «top the ui>iM. .,rj -liii* \vaTi»rs. fi,r we still heard It. 
 It is true that our ear-. althou;rh »rti.>)>;«i'! up, wert- full of It, and for 
 more than ten day- after J "till ihoiu^iii D ieavd ir. 
 
 • • The next day we toi.,k tlie •.uor,*-*.- >iwli f.ip the Ohio River. When 
 we reached thiTe we followed do«i; '.x;>* f.v.^v ro a point where there 
 was no more wood to jirevfut me is'.tui JsUiwvluu; its waters to the great 
 river of our coiuitry. which pa<-he^ \ <iri iHa» here. This was the way 
 that 1 wished to take, as I had beei; ii.ii41 ji iroiild rake me to my village. 
 When we were at the place where 3 wv*hr to take the water, we cut 
 down a tree of -oft wood: we iiiatle Ui i;*tiiirt rime my little diiir-out. 
 In truth it wa- not well finished. Oiri ih- Lr wa.'* ro de-ceinl with the 
 current, it was better than a liirirt ',uie. Jfy duir-out belnir made, I 
 slia|ied a [laildle. I also made ii \i\u% J'Mjit VCrf placed the dug-out in 
 the water and fastened it with my biu't mii)e ; then we went hunting. 
 AVe killed two l)Ut1'aloes. the meat 'JS 'V''\\i''.\ x.» smoked. My comradfr 
 took his -hare, and I jilaeed the r'f-n tu niii* dnur-out. We parted with 
 hearts botuid toi.'etlier like good JWrnitU 'v!io love one another. If he 
 had been without a wife and ihU<U«u 'oi* ■.vnitld have ji.ined me in my 
 trip to the West of whieli 1 h.ave ".jKiiniu 
 
 •• • I entered my dug-out and det,e«U'li»i41 M my ea.-<e the Ohio River ta 
 our great river, which we call Mea'-fl-'uncr-Hpi. without n\eeting any 
 man in the Ohio River. I .'lai.i not ))r•,K^^}v'^'^^ ix( in the Great River before 
 
I rai't two plrojriii'>i full of Arkaiw.**. »Uiv "..ins :i calnmet to the Illinois, 
 niio nre tluMr t>r()tli<T«. Tli»'Ui-.»- I •:i»*M»ttili'il :ill flit- tlmi' oven to our 
 little river. «l 'ili I enured, hut t*'i»ij<I J.w .in.» at ■iiir nelithljori, whom 
 I happily met. i nevi-r ^lioulil Uav. 4»»tti .Wii^ u, ■x-cfni\ to our village. I 
 saw with joy my rehitiou-. « ho •♦•r* x!M' r,t «»i« nif in ifood hcnltli.' 
 
 '• Suoii \va* tile uarrHtivf il^ut J8imu'.»'1i1!-.%p* ir.ive me of liU jour- 
 ney to the En^t. wlierc he Ifurutid WJ^AviXis ''.i;af f.mlnit the matters which 
 lie WHS inve-tliratinif. It \>- tru* itf iM'. *>'»n thr- oc> He had seen It 
 
 In 11 «tnte of ajritiitiou. H»- had \viiiii>*«.»d rhn i>bli nnd i of the tide. 
 He liad examined tlie famous liUl- w Jf.ii'xii":i. .md ne m r i talk Intelll- 
 irentiy of tliem. .ill thi^ '"Uld ii'.<t iM: r., i-,i> ^uri-if.irto 'v to a curious 
 nuin, wii(j had nothluj: eKe to ''.io tiiui w:i\t.^I for 'i.rornintion, to ilo 
 which he had but to malie sUuilw ■ssjji'ilitionH ' i that vhlch he had 
 made to the East. 
 
 '•Tlie fnliure of the Mf)i» tii.li>-i, •.■' Hr.nctu-ht-Apf: ilurini; f-everol 
 years, far from extiuii-ulKhiiiju' ili». :.wrri» rh.-ir he had to learn, only 
 excited him tlie more. iJel'-niinif:' Vr M.Mmpt ivnyfUinii to dispel the 
 ignorance in which he j«erceiv»'.i Hii!,i m ww lmnrjr§ed, he persisted 
 
 hN j-i-oplfi- rt design which 
 d which w )Uld never have 
 - lerermineii tli-n to go from 
 .:" in rho country from wliich 
 ■ :\T. he couM there learn many 
 • crrni'i*. He undertook the 
 liC return for tive years. He 
 lay after he had repeated to 
 
 lu tlie desijfn of di»covennt' the 
 demanded as much spirit a- ■ ' ■ ■ i . ! 
 entered tlio liruin of an ordiuu!> ■ i ■ 
 nation to nation until he '•houli.i ♦■. 
 his ancestors eniiirriited, beint' l"' ■ i 
 thini;s whicli tliey had fort'"!'' • ■ 
 journey to the West, from wlij'; ... 
 gave me tiie following detaJJt 1Ii» irtsr. 
 me tliat of the East ; — 
 
 '• • My preparations were umd' viiC '«'ii»a 'I'le arrain wa* ripe' I prepared 
 some provisions for the joui-u*^. bu; I! .|Kparr.-il, follovvin;: tlic hijfh 
 laud in which we live [to the euM <.4 n;ii» rt?i»v to the Wabash Ohio)]. 
 I followed the stream uji for a ijujutiw '<'l! .i day aljove the place where it 
 loses itself in the Great Kiver 'M.i*«i*»tj>sii ' . in order to he able to cross 
 it witliout being carried into tin ',«tll«ir When I s.aw tliat it was liiah 
 enough, I made a raft of cune» uu'U » i!.:.rl,» onni-h of canes wliicli served 
 nie for a paddle. I thus cro«j,»ii:l tin W:th(wh [Ohio], and began my 
 journey on the prairies, wlicrt liit iaJ:i»-< irin hut just t)ei.'inning to 
 spring' up. Tlie next day. lowaj-'J* liitt midiile of the day. I found a 
 small troop of l)ull'aloes. whicb |iernij!ti!,»i 1 la^. to approach so near to tliem 
 that I killed a cow suttlcieutly iiel. i n.',i-,k the tenderloin, tlie hump and 
 the tongue, and left the rest for iiIm; w.ii?.*^. [ w;is heavily loaded, Viut 
 I did not liave far to go to lem-ii l^* TTiiim.iraas, one of the villages of 
 the Illinois nation. When J vn* in nlii-» nation I rested a few ilays, 
 prejiaring to continue my jourm-j.. Atfj^v this little rest I pursued my 
 way, mounting to tlit Noith. evrm Vii she Mi-'souri. As soon as I was 
 opposite tills river. I jirepared to 'ir'j>»+-he 'i-reat River [Mississippi] so 
 as to arrive on the north of ih»- >fi>*'iivvi. To etfect this. I ascended 
 sulliciently high and made a rajl *•• S lunl done to cr^i^s tlie Wabash 
 [Ohio], i crossed the <irfiit iijv.ttf- 'J|Ii:-«i'-»ippi^ from East to West. 
 When I was near the bank I perui.rtAM'J luy-^if to ilrift with the curi'cnt 
 until I wa.A at tlie st".l point whfj'e oHie swo rivers meet. In descending 
 upon this point I found tliere vjuie SniWiWrls. which h.icl no fear of man. 
 I killed one. .4s I went to iikils jl nt) I! -^w my raft, which I had 
 abandoned liecause I liad uo funlliw '«'«» for it. It had been drawn 
 quietly down Iiy the ciineut kIoiu: "V ■•h.ire. but when it reached the 
 point wliere tlie two water* uiMei.. iili»5 r,'i«'-«t»d it iboiit and scemetl to 
 quarrel as to which should iiavt^ ii. i v wrlied it as long as I could, for 
 
 'Probably when the corn wa* ^'ixitCii* foas'ing ear." 
 
I had never seen waters flftlit like that, as if eacii of tliem wislied to 
 have a part of it. Finally I lost si}j;ht of it. What seemed extraordinary 
 to me and gave me jrreat iileiisure was to see the two waters niini^le 
 themselves tojretlier. Their (litferencc is threat, for the Great Kiver 
 [Mississippi] wliicli I had just evussed, is very clear above the Missouri, 
 although lielow it is muddy even to the fireat Water [ocean]. This 
 conies from the >Iiss(juri. whose waters are always muddy in all its 
 course, which is very loni'. I saw also that these two waters flowed 
 for a long distance, side l)y side, that on the West lieing muddy, and on 
 the Kast the water is clear. I a>ccniled the Missouri on the North l)ank, 
 and I travelled several days before arriving at tlie Missouri nation, 
 whom I liad some dilllculty to find. I remained there long enough not 
 only to rest myself, but also to learn the language spoken a little further 
 on. I was surfeited on my trij) with tlie humps and tenderloins of 
 buffaloes which I had killed. I never saw so many of these animals as 
 in this country, where you can see prairies of the length of a day's 
 journey and more covere<l witli tliem. The .Missourls live almost 
 exclusively on meat, and they only use maize as a relief from l)uft'alo and 
 other game, of which they have great (|uantity. 1 passed the winter 
 with them, during wliich so much snow fell that it covered the earth as 
 deep as a man's waist. 
 
 " ' Wlien the wintei- vva-.^ over 1 resunnil my journey and ascended the 
 Missouri till 1 arrived at the nation of thi^ We>t. [They are also called 
 the Canzfs]. There I gathered Information of what I wanted to know 
 so as to arrange for the future. They told nie that to go to the country 
 from whence we as well as they came would be very ditlioult, because 
 the nations were far away from tlie Mi.-s,iiiri. That alsv; when I should 
 have travelled about a montli, it would be necessary for nie to liear to 
 my right, taking directly Nortli, where I should (Ind at several day's 
 journeys another river wliicli runs from the East to the West, conse- 
 quently directly opposite to the Missouri. That I shoulil follow this river 
 until I should tlnd the nation of the ()tter>, where I could rest myself 
 and couUl learn more fully w hat was necessary, and perhaps tlnd some 
 persons who would accominuiy me. For the rest I coi|ld descend this 
 river in a dug-out and travel a great distance without fatigue. 
 
 " ' With these instructions I continued my route, following constantly 
 for one moon the Missouri, and although I had travelled sutliciently fast, 
 I did not yet dare to take to the right as they had told me, t)ecause for 
 many days 1 had seen mountains which I hoitated to pass for fear of 
 wounding my feet. Xevertheless, it wa> ueeosary fur me ti> come to a 
 conclusion. Having taken this resolve for the next day. 1 determined to 
 sleep where I was and made a tin-. Shortly after, while wntchlnu' the 
 sun which had already gone considerably down, I saw some smoke at 
 some distance oil'. I did not doulit that this was a party of hunters who 
 proposed to pass tlie night in this place, and It entered my mind that 
 they might lielong to the (Jtters. I liiiniediately left In order that I 
 might be guided to them by the ~moki' while it was yet daylight. I 
 joined them and they saw me with surprise. Thi'y were a [larty of thirty 
 men and some women. Their lanirmige was unknmvn to nie and we 
 were only able to comniunieati' by siu-ns. Nevertlieless, ivith the 
 exception of their surprise, they received nie well enough,^ and T 
 remained three days with thein. At the end of this time one 'of tlie 
 ■wives told her husbainl 'that she bellevi'd herself ready for lying in. 
 Upon that the others sent this man and Ills wife to the village, iind told 
 them to take me with them in order that I mly:ht travel by an easier 
 road than that which I was mi tlie |ioint of takini;. 
 
 " ' We ascended the Missouri still for nine short days, tlien we turned 
 directly North and travelled for live ihiys. at the cud d' wlilcli time 
 
!1 
 
 we found a river witli clear and beantll'iil water. They called it 
 " The lieaiitifnl liiver." 'I'liis man and Ids wife a-kid nie by sijins 
 if I did not wi'^li to liatlie, as tliey did, because i uas loni; since 
 they liad liatlied. I tcld tlieui in tlie »aine way tijat J also liad ureat 
 need of a hatli, but that I was afraid of croeiidiles. Tliey made me 
 understand tliat tiicre were none liere. Upon their assurance I bathed 
 and did it witli srreat pleasure in this beautiful water. 
 
 " ' We descended the Beautiful liiver diirinn- tlie rest of the day, till we 
 arrived upon the Ijanks of a stream which we recoirnized wliere this 
 trooj) of hunters had concealed their dug-outs. My guide liavini; drawn 
 out his own. we three entered and descended to theb- village, where we 
 did not arrive till night. I was as well received by this nation as if I 
 had l)een one of them. Dnrini; the journey I had picl<ed up a few words 
 of tlieir language and I very ^oon learned it, becau.se I was always with 
 the oh! men who love to instruct tlie younir, as the young love to be 
 instructed and converse freely with each other. l" have noted this 
 generally in all the natives tliat I have seen. This nation was really the 
 Utters wleini I souiiht. As I was very well treated there I would 
 willinirly liave made a longer stay, and it seemed to me tliat they also 
 wished it. But my desi4.'U 'ccupied me always. I determined toleave 
 with >-ouie of this people who were L'oing to carry a calumet to a nation 
 thronirh wliicli I must pass, who, I)eing brothers nf those whom I was 
 about to iiuit, spoke the same language with some slight dltfercnces. I 
 parted then with the Otters, and we doceiided the •• Beautiful Kiver" in 
 a piroitnt for eigliteeu days, putting mi slifire from time to time 
 to hunt, and we did not want for game. I sliould have liked to 
 pnsli on further, following alwys the •' Beautiful Kiver," for I did not 
 become fatigued in the pirogne, but it was necessary for me to yield to 
 the reasons opposed to it. They told me that tlie lieat was already 
 great, that the iirass wa^ hiiih and the serpents dangerous in this season, 
 and that I miirht lie liitten in goiiiir to the cliase, and that moreover it 
 was nece>sary that I should iearii the laii:iuage of .lie nation where I 
 wished to no, whicli would be much easier wlien I should know tluit of 
 tlie country where I was. I followed the advice that the oUl men of 
 t'.'s nation yave me witii tiie less hesitation that I saw tliat their liearts 
 am! their mouths -poke to^'ether. They loved nie and I did not go 
 to till cliase except for amusement, liurinii the winter that I passed 
 with tlieni. I set myself to work to learn the lauauauo of the peojile 
 where I iuteiideil to go, becau-e with it they assured me that I could 
 make myself understood by all the peojde that I should llnd from that 
 point to the "(ireat Water," wliicli is at the West, tlie ditl'erence 
 between their lanKUage- not being L'l'eat. 
 
 ••'The warm weather was not yet entirely over wlien I got in a 
 piroirne with plenty of breadstnlt's' [ vuaules eu farine IhQcixufiC these 
 nations do not cultivate maize. aU''ough the soil seems very good. 
 They cultivate only a little as a cur' ... . I had in my pirogue only my 
 provision-, a pot, a bowl and what i needed for my beti, and if I had 
 liad some Indian corn nothing would have been wantiiiir. Tims, not 
 beiu:,' enibiirrassed willi aiiytliin;r, I lloated at my ease, and in a short time 
 I arrived at a very simill nation, who were suv|U^i-ed to see me arrive 
 alone. Tills tribe wear lonn' hair and look upon those who wear short 
 slaves, whose hair lias l.ieen i;ut in order that they m.ay be recog- 
 
 nizi 
 
 d. The chief of this tribe, who was on the bank of the river, said 
 
 ' l*. S. G. and G. Survey, Conlvibiitions to Xorlli .American Ethnology, 
 
 vol. I., 1113. Tribes of Western Washiiiitton and Northeastern Oregon, 
 
 by George Glbbs, M.D. The roots used [for food] arc numerous 
 
 the wappatu, or sa<juitt'iria. and the kamas are the principal. 
 
 2 
 
 but 
 
10 
 
 brusquely to me : ' Who are yon? Wliero do yon come fromV Wl\nt do 
 you want lieriMvitli yoiiv >liort liair?' I saiti to him. 'I am Monraclit- 
 Ape; I come from the nation ot tlie Otters. I am in searcli of informa- 
 tion, and 1 eome to yon for yon to jrive it: my luiir is --liort so tliat it 
 may not botlier me, l)nt my cotirane is yood. 1 do nut eonie to asl< food 
 from you. I Inive enotiyh to hist me for some time, and wlieii I shall 
 have no more, my bow and my arrows will rnrni~li nie more tliaii I need. 
 Durinii winter, lilie tlie l)ear, I seel\ a eovert, and in summer I imitate 
 tlie oairle, wlio move- about to .satisfy ids eiiriosity. Is it possi'de tliat 
 a single man, wlm travel> by dayli-ilit, makes you afraidr' 
 
 "'He replied that altliouj;h I mijilil eome from the nation of the 
 Otters, lie easily saw that I was not of them: but that I could remain 
 since I was so courasreous, a(hlin.sr th.at he e<nild not understand how I 
 spoke his lani^iuijje, which none of the people east of tliere understood. 
 I told hiin that I had learned it of an old man called Salt Tear, and at 
 the same time 1 re-embar!-:ed iu order to go, l)ecause I disliked his 
 conversation, l)ut at the name of Salt Tear, who was oni' of his friends, 
 he retained me, assuring: tne thai I shouhl confer a pleasure on him by 
 remaininu: in his villajre as lonjr as I was willing'. I came ashore rather 
 to learn what I could than to rest myself, for I was not satislled with 
 his talk. ' What,' said I to myself, ' when two bears meet they stop, 
 rub nose aarainst nose, mutter some sounds that they understand without 
 doubt, and seem to caress each other, and here men speak rudely to cacli 
 other.' Being then disembarked I told him that Salt Teai' liad charged 
 me to see on his part an old man called •• Big UoeljucU." It was the 
 father of him with whom I was talking. He had him called. The old 
 man came, being led l)y the hand, for he could not see very well, and 
 learidug from wl'.at parts I ha<l come, he received mi.' as ix I were his 
 son, took me into his cabin and had all that was in my pirogue brocght 
 there. The next day he taught me those things that I wished to know, 
 and assured me that all the nations on the sliores of the Great Water 
 would receive me well on telling them that I was the friend of big 
 Hoebuck. I remained there only two days, during which he catised to 
 be made some gruel from certain snudl grains, smaller than French peas , 
 which are very good, which pleased me all tlie more that it was so long 
 that I had eatei; only meat. Having re-embarked in my pirogue, I 
 descended the Beautiful liiver without stopping more than one day with 
 each nation that I met on my way. 
 
 "'The last of these nations is at a day's journey from the Great 
 Water, and withdrawn from the river the journey "of a man [abi)Ut 
 a league]. They remain in the woods to conceal themselves, they say, 
 from the bearded men. I was received in this nation as if I had arrived 
 in my family, and I had there good cheer of all sorts, for they have in 
 this country an abundance of that grain of winch Biir Hoebuck had 
 made me a gruel, and although it springs up without l)eiug sowed, it is 
 better than any grain that I have ever eaten. Some large blue l)irds 
 come to eat this grain, but they kill them because they are very good. 
 The water also furnishes this people with meat. There is an' animal 
 which comes ashore to cut grass, which has a head shaped like a young 
 butt'alo, but not of the same color. They eat also many llsh from the 
 Great Water, which are larger than our large brills and much better, as 
 well as a great variety of shell-tlsh, amongst which some are very 
 beautifid. But if they live well in this country it is necessary always 
 to bo on the watch agains^ th>j bearded men. who do all that they can to 
 carry away the youna persons, for they never have taken any men, 
 although they could have done so. They told me that these men were 
 white, that tliey had long, lilack beards 'which fell upon their breasts, 
 that they appeared to bo short and thick, with largo heads, which they 
 
 
11 
 
 t 
 
 \'f Wliat do 
 .Moiicai-'Iit- 
 of iiil'oniia- 
 o that it 
 tn a»k rood 
 uhcii I shall 
 tliaii I iii'L'cl. 
 ii-'i' I imitate 
 o-.siblo that 
 
 lion of tlie 
 
 oiild remain 
 
 ■taud liow I 
 
 imdi'i'stood. 
 
 rear, and at 
 
 dislilicd Ills 
 
 liis Iriciuls, 
 
 ■e on liim by 
 
 ■•lioie rather 
 
 itistled with 
 
 It thi/y stop, 
 
 and witliout 
 
 dc'ly to each 
 
 :iad charucd 
 
 It was the 
 
 ■d. Tlif okl 
 
 ry woll, and 
 
 I wcri' his 
 
 no brorifhl 
 
 I to know. 
 
 Great Wiiter 
 
 icnd of hig 
 
 10 caii-ed to 
 
 Freneli peas, 
 
 was so Idii!? 
 
 ■ piroirne, I 
 
 jne (lay with 
 
 n the Great 
 man [about 
 's. tliey say, 
 
 liad arrived 
 
 lioy liavc in 
 loobnek lind 
 
 soweil, it is 
 L- blue liirds 
 
 very ;rood. 
 s an animal 
 like a young 
 ■li from tlie 
 h better, as 
 le are very 
 sary always 
 
 they can to 
 n any men, 
 e men were 
 eir Iji'oasts, 
 
 which they 
 
 covered with clotli ; that tiiey always wore their clothes, oven in the 
 hottest weatlier: tliat tlieir coats fell to the middle of the lc:is. which 
 as well as the feet were covei'ed witli red or yellow cloth. Toi' the rest 
 they did not know of wliat tlieir clothim; was made, because they had 
 never lieeii alile to kill one. iheir arm> makinii' a irreiit noise and a LTeat 
 llanie: tha"" they nevertheless retire when they see more red men than 
 tlieir own numbers; that then they j.'o aboard their plro;:ue [witliout 
 doubt a bar(|Uo] where there were sometimes liiirty and even more. 
 They added lliat those strani;cr.s came from where the sun sets to seek 
 upon this coa-l a yellow and tiad-smelliny- wooil which dyo> a beautif il 
 yellow. That a« they hail o)i^er\cMl that the bearded men came to carry 
 oil' this wood each year when Ilie cold weathi'r liad ceased, they had 
 destroyed all these trees, followinL; the advice of an old man, so that they 
 came no more, because they fonml no more of this wood. In truth, tlie 
 banks of the river, which were formerly covered, were then naked, and 
 there remained of this wood in this country but a small iiuantity, only 
 sullicieiit for the dyeiny' of the people themselves. Two nations, ueiith- 
 bor.s of each othci' and not far distan' from the one where I was. could 
 not imitate them in tliis stoii. because they had no other than this yellow 
 Avood, and the bearded men, having: discovered this, went there every 
 year, which inconvenienced these natic:us very nuicli. as they did not dare 
 •ro on the coast for fear of losiutr their youni;- people. In order to drive 
 them oiV thoi'ou;.dily, they had invited all the neiirhborin^r tribes to 
 rendezvous with them in arms towards the ciw .uencoment of the 
 followiuir summer, at a irivon moon, and this time wa^ near at hand. As 
 I told them that I had seen ilre-arms and wa~ not afraid of them, these 
 people invited nie to tut with them, sayiiii; that these two nations were 
 on the route that I must take to co to the country from uliich we came, 
 and for the rest there wmild be so many red uu'ii that they would easily 
 destroy the bearded men. which would liimler others from coiniiij!;. I 
 replied that my heart found that it was yood that I should l'o with 
 them, and in actimr thus I had a desire that I wished to satisfy. I was 
 anxious to see these beardeil men, who did not resemble French, Eniflish 
 nor Spaniards, sucli as 1 had seen, all of whom trim their beards and are 
 dilferently clothed. .My cheerful assent created much pleasure anion^ 
 these tribes, who tliouiiht witli roa-oii that a man who had seen whites 
 and many nathes. oiiuht to have more intelliyroncc than those who had 
 never lofi their hoino^ .'lud had only seen red men.' 
 
 "I ti?id Moucaclit-.Vpe to take a rest until the next day. I gave 
 him a glass of brandy and set to work as usual transcribing what 
 he had told mo. During the second niiiht that >Ioncacht-Ape staid 
 with me I recalled what the native had told me <d' the Great Water into 
 which the Beautiful Hiver discharges; I thought this sea of which lie 
 spoke might lie the " Sea of the West.'' for which they have sought so 
 long. Therefore I proposed to submit certain i|Uestioiis to him before 
 he began his recital of his journey to tlie West. The next day. as he 
 prepared to continue, I asked him what roifo he had followed with 
 respect to the sun. When one triivels in Enroiie one does not notice 
 whether one goes Xortli. South. East or West, liecause one follows roads 
 "■'''"h lead where yon are iXQUVS, without disturbing oneself with the 
 • earing of the stars; but in the rouions which are only sjiursely 
 inhabited it is necessary that the sun sliould serve as a i.'uido, there 
 being no other way; and the natives, throuirh habit anil necessity, 
 observe closely the bearing' of the sun in their travels. Thus I was 
 assured of a reply on Monoaclit-.ApL''s part. 
 
 "He answeroil. then, that in asceniliuL' the Missouri as far as the 
 nation of that name he had travelled according to his idea between 
 North and West: that from this nation to the Gauzes he had travelled 
 
12 
 
 to til.' NoiMli, ainl lliiit iU'tii' Icaviiii: the Cnnzes, in foUowiiiir th« 
 Missdiii'i, lie liad iihvays travi/llcil Ki-twecu North and Wo-t, and tljatthe 
 J*Ii>i-oiiri went thu>. That when lii' i|'iitf''l t'l'^' .Mi»i>ouri to i;o to the 
 Bfantifiil liiviT he liad travi'lU'd .lircct to the Xorlli: that in deseelidinjj; 
 the lieaiitiful liivir lie had always tiMvelliii between North and We.st, 
 even to the (ireat Water; that the iiiir Hoeliiiek liad told him that the 
 MiNSonri and tlie l!eaiitil'iil IJivir had their eoiir>e> always ei|Uiilly 
 (iistnn; the one from the other. A Irr having: answered my questions, 
 he eonliniieil the narrative of hi- lra\els in the-e terii.v : 
 
 ■•• When the time wa-- eoiiie. I left with the warrior>. and we travel- 
 led live ;;reat day-' journey-. lieiiiir arrived we waited a lom: time for 
 the liearded iiieii. who eaiue tin- year a little later than ti-iial. Wliile 
 waitinir I wii- -how n tlie jihite where they put their lar^e pirojjne. It 
 was between two elitls wliieh are sullieiently hli:h and lonjr, and are 
 conneeted with the main land. I'etweeii them Hows a little river bor- 
 dered with the treis whieh furnish the yellow wood, but this river being 
 too -hallow to permit the entry of their hirj.'e |dromies, they had a smaller 
 one with w liieli they wi'iit ii]i. 'I hey told me that the bearded men would 
 not mi-tru-t aiiythiiii;. beeau~e the people all withdrew two days' journey 
 fr<Mii the -pDt as -oon as tliey pereeivetl them eomiiii; on the (ireat Water, 
 and did not aiii'ear airain until they had left. That nevertheless they 
 Were always watched without the wateher- beini: seen. After having 
 instructed me in a'.! tlie-e thiiiir-, they held a eouueil and were of opinion 
 that tliey oiifjht to eiuiceal llifciii-eives behind these two clifl's, and 
 when the bearded men sIkiuUI arrive, everybody should cry out and 
 draw upon them to jirevent them from landiu;;. 1 had not spoken at 
 lirst, but tiiially -eeiiii: how thinirs were L'oin;:. I told tiieiii that althongu 
 1 had not made warairainst tlie whites, I knew that they were brave and 
 skillful, that althouiiU I did not know if these white men resembled the 
 others. 1 nevertlii-le-s thoii;ilit that they 'the Indians) would not do 
 nnich harm in tiie way they projiosed to act: that Ijy their plan, if they 
 shouhl secure three or four scalps, they would have accomplished a 
 great deal; which would not be much honor for so many warriors, and 
 they would lie badly received on their return to their (leople, for it would 
 be believed that they were afr;ud. I cnunselled them to place two men 
 upon the two elill'- to watch t!ie bearded men witlmut their knowledge, 
 and to warn us of their arrival : that time should then be given for them 
 to come ashore to cut woml and that when they were thus occupied a party 
 of warriors should mniiiit upon the eiilfs, another should conceal itself in 
 last year's underbru-h. and the rest openly attack. It cannot be doubted, 
 I ailded. that there uill not be many bearded men who will save them- 
 selves, but wlu'ii they wl -li to rcL'ain their -mall pirogue, those C(Uicealed 
 in the underbni-h will kill many, and when they apiu'oach the large 
 pirogue, those on tlic elitls will do the same. All the warriors were 
 of my opiniiui, and were very glad that I had been willing -ime 
 
 with them. 
 
 • ' We waited for the bearded men (hiring seventeen uays, at the end 
 of which time they were seen to apiu'oach in two large pirogues. They 
 placed themselves between the two dill's, where they busied themselves 
 in filling with fresh water, vessels of wood similar to those in which the 
 French [tlace the (ire water. It was not until the fourth day that they 
 went ashore to cut wood. The attack was carried out as I had advised, 
 nevrtheless they only killed eleven. I do not know why it is that red 
 men w ho shoot si> -urely at i.'ame, aim so badly at their enemies. The 
 rest of them ^'allied their jiirogues and lied upon the Great Water, where 
 we fidlowed tliem lontr with our eyes and linally lost sight of tliem. 
 They were as much afraid of our numliers as we were of their lire-arms. 
 We th.-n Went to examine the dead which remained with us. They were 
 
 
13 
 
 )llowiiiir ih« 
 iiul flat the 
 II yi> to the 
 
 li iiiiil Went, 
 liini thiit the 
 iii.vs uiiually 
 ly (iiiestions, 
 
 il we travel- 
 iii; time for 
 -Hill. While 
 pii'ii;j;ile. It 
 oiijf, and are 
 le river bor- 
 s river being 
 lad a Kinaller 
 (1 men would 
 lays' jonrney 
 ireat Water, 
 tlieless tliey 
 Ifter Imving 
 ■c of opinion 
 ) clitl's, and 
 cry ont and 
 ot spolveu at 
 liat althougii 
 re brave and 
 
 umliled the 
 
 onld not do 
 
 plan, if they 
 
 oniplislied a 
 
 rarriors, and 
 
 for it would 
 
 ace two men 
 
 linowledge, 
 
 ien for them 
 
 iipiedaparty 
 
 ceal itself in 
 
 be doubted, 
 
 save tlicm- 
 se concealed 
 I'll the large 
 arrlors were 
 iiig nne 
 
 s, at the end 
 guos. They 
 I themselves 
 in which the 
 !iy that they 
 liad advised, 
 : is that red 
 emies. The 
 'ater. where 
 It of tliem. 
 ir lire-arms. 
 They were 
 
 ■ 
 
 mncli smniler tlian we were, auil very whilr. Thiy bad liirao heads and 
 bodies s'lltlcieiitly lariic for tlwii- liciL'lit. 'I'hiii- hair was unly lunir in 
 the mi Idle of the head. Tliey diil iii;i wear liat« li'Kc you, bill their 
 heads were twisted aroninl with cl'ith: tliclr ilntiie> were neither 
 wo'iUen nor bark [he wouUl say »ilk] but siniu-lhiiiL: similar to yonr old 
 shirts [without doubt cotton] very soft and of dilferent colors. That 
 which covered their limbs anil their feet was of a single piece. I 
 wisliei! to try on one of these covcriiifis. but my feet would not enter 
 it. [The leL';riiiirs were bnttiiies which have the ^enin l)ehind. Natives 
 can not wear siioes and s|ii<-kin^-. because their tuc^ are spread so far 
 apart.] All the tribes assembled in this place divided up tlieir garments, 
 their beads and their scalps, of the eleven killed, two only had Hre 
 arms with powder and balls. Althoiiirh I did nut know a- niiich about 
 flre-arms as I d>i now. still, as I had seen Nuine in Canada, I wished to 
 try them, and found that they did not kill a> far as yours. Tliey were 
 much heavier, 'file powder wa- mixed, coarse, medium ami line, but 
 the coarse was in y:reati-r i|iiantity. 
 
 " ' See what I have obseived cnncei'iiin;.' tlie lii^arded men. and in what 
 ■way the natives relieved themselves of tliem. After thi^ I thouudit only 
 of coutinuinit my joiu'in y. 'I'o iieconipli-h this. ie;'.viiiu tlie red men to 
 return to their home~, I joined tlio-^e who lived further to the West on 
 the coast, alid we travelled always fol!ov\inu' at a short distance the 
 coast line of the Great Water, which L:oes directly between North and 
 AVest. When I reached the lionu- of this people I rested several days, 
 during which I studied the way that remained for me to travel. I ob- 
 served that the days were much lonirer than with ii~. and the nights 
 very short. I wanted to know from them the reason. Init they could 
 not tell me. The old men ad\ i«ed me that it would be useless to under- 
 take to go further. They -aid the I'oast still exteinleil for a great 
 distance to the North anil'Wesi ; that llnally it turned sinu't to the West, 
 and Unal'y it was cut tlirouLdi by the ("ireat Water directly fiom North 
 to Sonth. One of tliiMii adiled that when vouni;' he had known a very 
 old man who had seen this land [before the ocean Ini'l eaten its way 
 through] which went a lonir ilislance. and that when the (ireat Waters 
 were lowered [at low tide] thiTe are rock- wliieli ^iiow where this laud 
 was. Everyone turned me asiih' from undi'rtiiking this journey, because 
 they assured me that tlie country was sterile and cold and ciuiseipiently 
 vvithont inhabitants, and they counselled mo to return to my own 
 country.' 
 
 " Moncacht-Ape returiiod home by the same route that he had taken 
 In going, -which he recounted to me in few words. After which I asked 
 him if he could say how many days' journeys then; were of actual 
 travel; he told me that the lleautiful liiver lieing very swift and rapid 
 he had uescended very fast, and that in reducinn- this march to ilays' 
 journeys by land, he coinited to have journeyed in all tliirly-«ix moons, 
 that is to say during thi'ei' years. It is true, a- he ailiuittcd. tliat 
 travelling throu;;li countries wliieli to him were absolutely unknown, he 
 had followed the sinuosities of the Missouri, ami if he had to return to 
 the same jilaces he could shorten his path ami would iK>t travel more 
 than thirty-two or thirty-three moons. It is true as he said that he 
 travelled faster than red men ordinarily do, who generally make but sis 
 leairues n day when loaded with at least two hiindreil i)ouuds burthen, 
 but as Moncncht-Aiie carried only one hundred pounds, or siuuetimes not 
 more than sixty, lie ouuht to have made often even idni' or ten leagues. I 
 know myself from experience in returniui! from my expedition to the 
 interior, that not losing time in makini: investii.'atiiuis. my iieople, 
 although loaded, made nearly ten leagues a day. Thus, in estitnating 
 his day's journeys at seven leagues' travel, he oiiirht to have made, with 
 
 jyjfct.-- 
 
 cs:?; 
 
14 
 
 some cortninty, at loa>t oiglitoeii liuiulrcd Icafrups. Tims I reason : He 
 traVflli.Ml aliont tliii'ty-«ix moons, a-^ many iroing as eominj;. It is 
 noet'S-ary to ilfduct lialf this tinit' for liis return. At seven leagues a 
 (lay thiri? will remain three tlioiisaml. seven lunulred and forty-eiglit 
 leau'iies. I deduct ajiaiu liall' for tlie lU'tours that he was oblij^ed to 
 nuike. which were in itreat nuiiihci', and I lln<l still eiirhtcen hundred and 
 ninety leairiies that there was from the Vazoo to the coast, which was 
 at the mouth of the lieautifiil Kiver. He was live years making this 
 journey to the West," 
 
 M. de Quatrefnges was mistaken in supposini; that he was the flrst to 
 call attention to the ethnological value of this tale, for we find that the 
 first volume of the transactions of tlie Literary and Historical Society 
 of Queiiec' contains a paper liy Andrew Stuart, Ksq,, which is entitled 
 "Journey Across the Continent of Xorth America, by an Indian Cliief," 
 etc, etc. Mr. Stuart evidently places contidenee in the story, for after 
 giving a translation of it and reciting nntny things whicli subsequent 
 explorations have proved to be true, he says: "None of these could 
 have been known to the Indian cldcf , .anil the general tone and character 
 of M. du Pratz's work excludes the idea of his having fabricated the 
 story."' 
 
 Greenho w, in his History of Oregon,-' quotes a version of the story with 
 the following endorsement : '•there is indeed, nothing about it which. 
 shouUl induce us to reject it as false, except the part respecting the ships 
 and white men." In the Hevue d'Anthro]iologie, tome 4nie, 1881, M. A. 
 de Quatrefages,^ in tlie article to whieli we have already alluded, 
 reprints LePnire's story in full, explains and elucidates tlie obscure por- 
 tions with voluminous notes, cites a vast amount of testimony to show 
 that the white men must have come from Lieou Tchou or some of the 
 Eastern isles of Japan, and arrives at the conclusion that the journey of 
 Moncacht-Ap6 was really accomplished, and tliat, prior to the time when 
 the Europeans knew anytliing about tliat part of tlie shores of North 
 .■Vmerica, the mouth of the ('olniiibia Itiver and the adjoining shores 
 were known and frequented Ijy this peoide. 
 
 Let us examine the story to see w hat are its elements of strength and 
 
 'Transactions of tlie Literarv and Historical Society of Quebec, Que- 
 bec, 1829, Art, XL, vol. I., p. i98 et seq. 
 
 'As early as 17(15 Die discussion of tills subject began, in a 4to. 
 entitled '• Memoires et (.)bservations (ie<)^raphi(|Ues," fte. Par Mr. 
 • • * (SniiK'.el Eugel). Lausanne, ITO.'i. This was accomiianied 
 by a chart illustrating the tlieory of the author and sliowing Moncacht- 
 Ajie's journey. 
 
 ■'Greenhow's Oregon, Boston, \SH, p. 145. 
 
 * The reputation of M. de Quatrefages probably requires no endorse- 
 ment in this country, but if any doubts exist as to the value of his 
 opinions, such languay;e as tliis, '• M. de Quatrefages is acknowledged 
 to be the most disthiguished Anthropologist In France," used by Major 
 Powell, in Science, vol. I., No. 10, p. 290, [633], will dispel tliem. See 
 also [034] where Major Powell brlelly alludes to the Moncaclit-Ap6 
 storv. 
 
15 
 
 what its eleuit'iits of weakiic'>s. We can at tlio ^-aiiie time, pt'i'linps, 
 deternilue wliptlier lliuro wvro any motives suilicient to iiuliice a writer 
 of tliat pcrioii to fabiicate or iMiibclii-iii a proiliiftioii of tliis 
 kind. We must bear In inincl lliat t-i'I'ai:i.' ilii I'rat/ was inanifestlv a 
 tliL'orif.t and an ontlinsiast. To liini the romantic iKition tliat tliis vener- 
 al)lc red >lvin was luuitin;; npa ijcucaloi;i<al rci'ord, wonld t)e conspicu- 
 ously apparent as tlic all-iniiKjrtant factor of tlie journey, wliere tlie 
 mention of sncli a motive niiylit liave licen entirely overlooked by one 
 not alliicted with the ethnoloirical craze. But wliatever the motive, was 
 the journey a possil)ility? Could tids solitary traveller have penetrated 
 a reijion the secrets of which wore only yielded to the bold assaults of 
 Lewis and Clark in l.'^m? Cal>eca de Vaca' with Ids three companions, 
 tossed about from tribe to trilie, half-starved and terribly maltreated, 
 was nine years in workinir his way across the arid deserts of New Mex- 
 ico and Arizona, !)ut lie survived his terrible experiences and llnally 
 reached a place of safety under th(.' .Spanish Hair on the Pacillc slope. 
 Col. Dod^e, in "Our Wild Inilians,"- tells of a native who travelled 
 " on foot, jrenerally alone, from the banks of the Mississippi to the 
 mouth of the Columbia River, and who afterwards in repeated journeys 
 crossed and re-crossed. North, South, East and West, tlie vast expanse 
 of wilderness, until he seemed to know every stream ami moinitain of 
 the whole great continent west of the Mississippi river." Capt. Marcy, 
 in the "Prairie Traveller,"' tells of anothi'r " who had set his traps 
 .ind spread his Ijlanket ujion the head-waters of the Missou .;nd Co- 
 lumbia, and his wandcriiiL's liad led him .Soutli to the Colorailo and 
 the Gila, and thence to the slii)res of tlie I'acilic' Tlie physical 
 possibility of the trip may tliereforo be accepted. 
 
 The .i;eoi?raphy of the lower Missouri, the character of the river, the 
 tribes of Indians, tlie anim.ils and the plants to be found there were 
 known to LePage du Pratz. We llnd in his liistory an account of an 
 expedition by IJoiii'sinoiit throuiili this country. Little or nothiuj; could 
 have beer, known, however, by him, coiicerninLT tl.e habits or the modes 
 of life of the Indians livlni;- near the s.)urce of the Missouri,' and the 
 
 'Relation of Alvar Nunez Cabei^'a deVaca, Translated by Buckingham 
 Smith, N. Y., IsTl. 
 
 ^"Our Wild Indians," Col. Richard C. Dodge, Hartford, 1882, p. 5.54. 
 I wish here to acknowledge tlie assistance rendered me by Mr. Luclen 
 Carr, of the Pealiody Museum, who kindly pointed out to ine these 
 instances of travel and endurance, and has otlierwise materially helped 
 me in this investigation. 
 
 ^The Prairie Traveller, Capt. R. B. Marcy, N. Y., Iso'J, p. 188. 
 
 ' Hennepin, while a captive ainoiig the Sioux, " saw Indians wlio cime 
 from about live hundred leagues to the West; they informed us tliat 
 the Asseiiipovalacs were then only seven or eii:ht days distant to the 
 Nortlieast of us; all the other known tribes on the West and Northwest 
 inhabit immense plains and praiiii's ab,)Uiiding in luilfalo and peltries, 
 where they are sometimes obli:red to make ilres with buH'alo dung for 
 want of wood." Hennepin's Loui-ianii, Sliea, New York, ls80, p. 230. 
 
16 
 
 existence even of llic Cohimbia river liail not Ixm'Ii cstuljlisheil. What- 
 ever coincidences are f(j\inil Ixlween the >tor.v and the facts wliich 
 relate to tlie rei^ion West of tlie lieail-waters of tlie ifisioiiri are there- 
 fore valualile us indications of tlie probable truth of the story. The 
 astonlsliMient of the sava;;e at the absence of Indian corn, his yearning 
 for it after Ids meat-diet, and tlie inadei|iiacy of the bread-sttitl's ' fur- 
 nished liiin as a siibsiitiite, are tlie natural experiences of a traveller 
 over tills wnsie. Of tlie ^'rain used liy Hi:.' lioeliiick in Ids tuoliisonie 
 gruel we linve no knowledge. It is not Inclmhjd in any Hsi of the arti- 
 cles of food of these Indians in such a way as will enalile us to Identify 
 it. There are. however, several varieties of wild peas in i ireiion, which 
 might make a good relish as a dinner vegetable, and It is not impossible 
 that they may have been used in tliis manner in a limited way. We have 
 no record of any Indians alonir the liauks of the Columbia or Its tribu- 
 taries, wlio cut the hair of their slaves as a mark of indignity, but in 
 his '• Native Haces of the I'acillc,"' H. II. Bancroft tells us that "to cut 
 the liair sliort is to the Xootkn a disirrace," and in a note lie f|Uotes from 
 Sproat's " Scenes and Studies of Savage Life," Loiidon. I.SDS, i)p. 2o-2", 
 as follows : " Tlie hair of tlie natives is never sliavcn from tlie head. It 
 is black or dark brown, without gloss, coarse and lank, but not scanty, 
 worn long. • * * Slaves wear tlieir hair sliort."^ The 
 abundant opportunity for personal observation which Sproat had dur- 
 ing Ills residence on tlio Pacific Coast, makes this a valuable addition to 
 the list of coincidences. The seal does not come on shore and browse 
 on the grass, but the movements of the animal would suggest to one 
 ignorant of its habits, that this was probably what it was doing ; hence 
 w. nave no dilllculty in identifying the animal that furnished the "meat 
 from the water " to tlie natives. While it required no great imagina- 
 tion to suggest as prob.iijle the alnindanee of fish and shell-llsh which 
 the savage mentions, tlie habitual use of seal's meat as food could not 
 have been known to the Indian. Such knowledge was not, how- 
 ever, absolutely beyond LePage's power of acquisition at the time 
 of tlie publication of his book. 
 
 To appreciate the ignorance, at this time, of the geographers concern- 
 ing the region about tlie Columbia Kiver, it is necessary to establish 
 approximately the date of tiie interview between LePage dii Pratz and 
 Moncacht-Ape. Following the date of LePau'e's movements, this must 
 have taken place about 1725. JIoncacht-.Ape was tlieii an ohl man, and 
 the journey was a story drawn from liis memory. If we allow that 
 
 'For account of food used by Indians in Oregon, see Contributions to 
 North American Ethnology, .\rt. liy George Gibbs, M.IJ., vol. I., p. 193. 
 
 'Bancroft's Native Rtices, vol. I., p. 17'.'. and note. 
 
 'Lafitau, in vol. 2, p. 51, of his Manirs des Sauvages, Paris, 1724, 4to, 
 says that Mausolus, king of Carla, compelled the Lycians to cut their 
 hair, which was tiieii a mark of siM-vitude, also that the hair is cut as a 
 mark of servitude among tlie Caribsand the Indians of the South. 
 
r 
 
 lied. What- 
 facts which 
 
 ii'i lire tliLTe- 
 
 st<jry. The 
 
 hi-j yi'.inilnt; 
 iil-ritnrt'ji' fiir- 
 of a travellur 
 lis tcjolhsDiiie 
 t of the arti- 
 us to identify 
 >i'ei:on. which 
 ot lin|>o^slbIe 
 uy. \Vc have 
 : <>v its tiilju- 
 iirnity, Ijut in 
 
 tiiat "to cut 
 i? (j notes fioin 
 iiiS, 1)11. L'5-L'7, 
 
 the liend. It 
 It not scanty, 
 hort."' The 
 I'oat had dur- 
 le addition to 
 e and browse 
 iKgest to one 
 dolnj; ; lience 
 ed tlie " meat 
 rcat Iniagina- 
 ell-llsli wliich 
 )od could not 
 IS not, how- 
 
 at the time 
 
 liers concern- 
 V to establish 
 In Pnitz and 
 ts. tills must 
 old man, and 
 te allow that 
 
 itriliutions to 
 ol. I., p. 193. 
 
 •is, 1724, 4to, 
 5 to cut their 
 ir is cut as a 
 .South. 
 
 the trip took place aliont 1700. we shall uot jilace it too early. We iiave 
 no account of the landins: of any white man on tlie I'acltic coast North 
 of 43° N. prior to that time. The only explorer said to have jieiiitrated 
 that region wliosc elaiiiis have in any way been recoifnized by jiostiTity. 
 Is Fuca. His <liscovery, in 1592, of the straits wliiili bear lil> name, in 
 accepted liy many as proljabie. If to this we should add tlie alle:ied 
 discovery liy Airiiilar of a river in 40° X., as Ijeinn jios^ibly tlie mouth 
 of the C'olnnibiii. tlie error in the location of wliicli wii> cliio to the 
 inadequate instruments and the inellicient metiiods of the times, we 
 shall then have cxleiided the area of actual knowledge of the day to 
 Include all tliat could possibly be claimed. Ail else was pure conjec- 
 ture, and more speculation. There were, however, anion;; tlie Imllans, 
 rumors concernini; a ;,ieat sea to the West and a great river llowiiig 
 Into it, and stories about tlicin were pa>sed from month to nmuth, 
 treading closely upon facts and suiri^esting a foundation in knowledge. 
 Wo cnunot to-day strip the embellishiiK'iits from tlie fundamental facts 
 with certainty, liiil we can come nearer to it than ever before. Aiiiniig 
 tliese stories one lliids place in the '• Kelation of mfifi," ' where we are 
 told that the " Sioux say that beyond the Kari/.i the earth is < 'it otV and 
 there is notliiiiir but a salt lake." 
 
 I'ather Jlaripiette, at the Mission of the " Outaou.acs " in l(i69, states 
 in his Kelation- that he was told of a "river at some distance to the 
 West of ills station, wliich Mowed into tiie Sea of the West, at the 
 moutli of which ids informer liad seen four canoes under sail." 
 
 Father Dablon, .Suiierior of tlie same Mission, in his ijelalioii-' for 
 the same year, gives other details of the river and sea, on which lie was 
 told " there was an ebb and How of the tide.'' 
 
 Sngard-Thfodat* gives some curious details of a tribe " to whom 
 each year a certain people having no hair on head or chin, were wont to 
 come liy way of the sea in large ships. Their only purpose seemed to 
 be that of tratllc. They had tomahawks shajied like tiie tall of a 
 partridge, stockings with slioes attaciied, which were supple a'- a ;.'lovc, 
 and many otlim- things which tliey cxciianircd for peltries." 
 
 Piirchas* tells of a "friend in Vir;:inia to wiiom came nimor> even 
 there, from Indians to the Xortliwest. of tlie arrival on tiieir coa-t of 
 ships • which he concluded to liave come from Jajian.' " 
 
 In his history of Carolana, publislied in 1721', Coxe° tells n.* of a yellow 
 river called the Massorlte. tlie most uortlierly branches of whicli "are 
 
 ' Relation 1000-67, ch. XII.. p. 114. 
 
 'Relation 1009-70, Part III., ch. XI., p. CO. 
 
 »Id.,ch.X., p. 12. 
 
 • Le grand voyage du pays des Hiiroiis, F. Sagard Thi'odat. p. 74, 
 Paris, 1032. New ed., Paris, 180,5 : and also, Histoire du Canada. Snsjard 
 ThCodat, 1630; New ed., Paris, 1800, p. 227. 
 
 'Purchas his Pilgrimes, The Third part. London, 102">, p. 849. 
 
 'Description of Carolana, Daniel C.)xe, Loudon, 1722. p. l.o. 
 
T 
 
 18 
 
 Interwovoii with otlu'i' braiiclii'S wlili'h liiivo a (.■ontrary course, pro- 
 ceeiliiiit to the AVoHt, ftiul cmiity tlieiiiselvesi into tlie South Si-a.' The 
 Indians allli'ui they see ureal sliips sailiui.' in tliat lake, twenty times 
 bij:i!er tliau tiieir canoes." 
 
 An eiliiion of tlie " liilations de la Loulsiane "' [attrihuleil to Chev. 
 Tiinti anil by liini relniiiiiUcil], was |uiblislieil at An erdani in 1720. 
 There is an Inti'oductoi'y cliaiitor in tlii> e<lition from the pen of an 
 olllccr, eontaiiiiiiir a Ueseription of the Missinn'i, in wliich the followini; 
 stateiiuiit occurs: -'The savaifes witli whom the banks of this river 
 are tliickly peopled, assert that it rises in a moiuitain, from tlie other side 
 of which a torrent forms anotlier great river wliieh flows to the West 
 and empties into a jtreat lake which can only be, acceptiiii; the truth of 
 the statement, the Sea of Jajian." 
 
 We have in tlie fort'^oiiig, evidence of the character of information 
 on this subject open tfi Moncacht-Apfi as well as to Leraire, at the date 
 of the Indian's journey. There was no knowledite whatever of the 
 Pacitic coast oi liic chariicter of its iiihal>itants, but there were rumors 
 amongst the natives of the liiver, of the Ocean and even of visits from 
 foreigners, whom the French Fathers iilentitied with the Chinese or 
 Japanese. 
 
 In proceeding to examine the i|uestion of motive, we must (Irst call 
 attention to a curious t"act which seems to have l)een overlooked by 
 those wlio iiave referred to tills story in print. ■" Dnriuir tlie time 
 that Lel'aire was at Xatchcz a Freucli olllcer named Duniont was sta- 
 tioned in that vicinity. He met Lel'aire and interchanged notes and 
 observations witli him. In 17.5M he published a book on Louisiana 
 wliicli contained a digest of the Moncacht-.\iie story, duly credited to 
 LcPage du I'ralz as authority. This story, liowever, has an entirely 
 different ending from tlie one already quoted, and Its peculiarities 
 justify its quotation.' It is as follows ; 
 
 "I will tinish what I have to sny on Louisiana by >ome remarks sent 
 me by a friend.' wliom I liave cited many times in these memoires, 
 concernini: tlie situation of the Sea of the West and the means of 
 arriving tiiere l)y the river Mi-souri. I shall permit him to speak in this 
 chapter. 
 
 • ' An Indian,' said he, ' from the Yazoos, called Moncachtab6, whom 
 the French call the interpreter because lie speaks nearly all the Indian 
 language* of Xortli Amerioa, was In'ouuht to me as I requested. He 
 h.ad been described to me as a man remarkalde for his hniif journeys. 
 In fact lie had made one of three years into Canada, and another in the 
 
 'The raciflc. 
 
 ^Relations de la Louisiauo, etc., par Cliev. Tonti, Amsterdam, 1720. 
 
 ■'Kxcept in the contemporaneous publication of Mr. Samnel Engel, 
 " Memoires et observation* Geograpliiipies." etc. • Lausanne, 17(>5. 
 
 'Memoires snr La Louisiane, composes snr les .Memoires de M. 
 Dninopt. par M. L. L. M., vul. II., p. lmc, et seq., Paris, 1753. 
 
 ^LePage du Prat/.. 
 
 S 
 
 Mm 
 
 msm 
 
 <-"-'fS 
 
T 
 
 m 
 
 course, pro- 
 1 Si'ji.' The 
 wont}' times 
 
 It'll to Chev. 
 lam III 1720. 
 pi'ii of ftn 
 lie I'ullowlni; 
 if this river 
 In; oilier sWe 
 to the West 
 the truth of 
 
 iiforinatlon 
 , nt the date 
 ever of the 
 wore rumors 
 f visits from 
 
 Chiueso or 
 
 ust first call 
 erlooktd by 
 ii!i the time 
 rint ^vas sta- 
 ll notes and 
 n Louisiana 
 ■ credited to 
 i an entirely 
 peculiarities 
 
 eniarks sent 
 B memoires, 
 le means of 
 speak in this 
 
 :itab6. whom 
 1 the Indian 
 I nested. He 
 lit journeys, 
 other in the 
 
 erdani, 1720. 
 inuel Enf^el, 
 0, 170.5. 
 )lrcs de M. 
 3. 
 
 ' 
 
 ^ 
 
 oppcxiie iliroetlim. mid lo the \Ve^t-X(irtli\ve«l of .\iiieriia, I n i-eivo<l 
 lihii favoriilily al iiiv hmi^e. where he lived »niiie time, and I |i;i(| the 
 leisure to iiiuaire liim in eoiivef^alioii eonceniiin; U\- travel>. In one of 
 tlie-e ei>iiver>atioiis that ue had toL'etlier. >ee u hat 1 leaniecl of the 
 joiiriH'V that he made to the We^t-Norlhwest. He axciided the ri\erSt. 
 I.oiii- [Mi'si»»l|ipi] to the Illinois. 'I'heiiei', liaviiii.' <ios»i'd thi- river 
 liy swimiiiliiir or on n rait, lie heu:iiii to travel on the .Vortli hank of the 
 .\il>-oUfi river, w liieh Sieur de lioiirmoiit. whoa-eeiided it to its -oiiree, 
 calls eiiilil Imiidied lea^iie^ in leiiifth from that point to where it empties 
 into tlie St. l.oiiis [Mi«si-isippi]. Kollow iiu.', tlieii, the North liank of 
 thi^ river. .MoiieaelitahC' arrived at a nation which had been pointed out 
 to him as the nearest to tho<e whom he hail left, and he made a -"'joiirn 
 there, as well to perfect himself in llieir hin^'na^'c, which he knew 
 already, as to learn tliat of the next nation in the direction wliicli he 
 wished to take, for in all tlie^e nations there is always some one who 
 kiiow-^ how to >p(ak the laiii;uai:e of the iiei::liliorintr native-^. He did 
 tlii>i always in moviiiir I'rom one nation to another, which delaineil him a 
 loiii: time on his journey, whicli oeeii|iied live year-. Finally, haviii;; 
 arrived ipiite at tlie source of the JUssonri r«'er. piirsniiii: crjii-tantly 
 the We-t-Xorthwest direction, he vi-lted many iiiitioii-, situated iijion 
 another river unite ne.ir to this hi-t, but which liad a coinve directly 
 opposite, for he supiioses that it llows from Ka-t to West into a sea 
 who>e name as well as that of the river the savaiic did not know. 
 Moiicachtabe nevertheless fcdlowed it for a loiiir time, takiiii; always the 
 same route, but he was not able to reach its month, for the last native 
 tribe where he was forced to terminate his journey was at war with 
 anotlier iiviim' lietwceii them and the sea. He wished very much to see 
 it, but the open war between tlie-e nations prevented lilm. It was 
 inipo-<ible for hini to lenrn anytliinir tibout it, because the lew slaves 
 that this tribe had captured from their eneniie> were too youm; to ^ive 
 him any information on the subject. Xcverthcless. the hope of i.'aining 
 perchance scnne knowicdfio In the end. determined him to live for a long 
 period with this tribe, lie was even desirous of iroinit with hi- lio-ts to 
 war, and when the winter wa- come, the season that the Indians choose 
 ordinarily for their hnntiujj: and military e.vpedilions, he joined the llrst 
 party of this tribe which inarched au'ainst the enemy, lint the expeilition 
 was not fortunate; not only did tiny not capture a sin^de slave, they 
 even lost some of their own number. Thus it is that these tirst 
 expeditious rarely -uccecd becan-i' the enemy are then upon their jiiuard. 
 Moneachtabf' did not back ont. He joined the second party of these 
 sava^ic-, which returned to tlie war against this nation, and had more 
 good fortune this time than the llrst. They defeated a party of the 
 enemy and took four prisoners, three men and a woman of jibout thirty- 
 two years of age. who. having been taken by our traveller, liccame in 
 conse<|Ueuce ills slave. These four prisoners were conducted in triumph 
 by these savages to their village, to be there burned with ceremony, 
 which was carried (uit with tlie three men. .Vs for the woman 
 Moncachtabfi took her to his house, married her and treated her kindly, 
 in the liope of drawing from her some ligli, conceruinir what he wanted 
 to know. In fact, after having staunched her tears, this woman liad the 
 less trouble to reply to the numerous ((Ucstions put to her by her 
 husband and to satisfy his cnriositv. because lie -howed so much friend- 
 ship to her, and she knew that he was not a mniiber of the tribe which 
 was ail enemy of her own. See what she taught him. 
 
 "•The country where we live," said she, Ms only about two days' 
 journey from the Great Water [that is to say the .Sea]. I went there 
 about four vears ago with maiiv men and women from onr village, to 
 
 tlsh for those larae shell tlsh whicli serve to make our ear-rina 
 
 and 
 
 "■f\ 
 
j^» 
 
 those lariri' plmiiie* wliicli iiinti \m:w m flii»(r hi'i»a*r-<. Wlilk' wc were 
 engaLTcil in ir.iilirriiir tli'-in. tli'Mt u)')>';u'i»i! upon rln- aivnr wnter n Inrjje 
 plroiiui' ill uliiih tw ij or ilirm iiuui.* •.< rivi-. n-^ri> .m i^iid. fiuiii wliicli 
 iiilii;; siiini'tliiii;: :ittai'lii-i liiiiii \ty viiti-'i ir i-* iiula'."! '"< Mic iiiuliT- 
 8tniiil> llKil tills ha'l iN'horiiiti'iii via 'inij mi-'in :i vi"<-<.-l -.vitli lu.-i' >ails]. 
 Beliliiil tliiis iireat vckHcl.' '.•imtiiiuji'.i >,ih, • «•>• *;tw a •"iiiallcr oiii'. [It 
 was a baru;f]. 'J'lii« v^i-Hel fuv-n-c t '.w** nnil hpantifiil river wlu're 
 tliey tooli ill water, nliicli tli>-\ i:«Wi»i| xm w.>ll «■» wddiI to the lartte 
 vessel. Tlio'ic wIid were in t'l- «iuiikU>i> f.»*«.«l <inv iis. and It api'enrctl 
 that we iiiutiially feureil ntvl i.iUi«! ff .r iiirst'he-' Wf ri'tlicd under 
 CDViT of a wood upon a hfi^tlii A''.ii*m^ ir w.t)» i»a«y for ii- to >^oe tlicni 
 without liein;; prrciivcd ouiM-:vf<.. TJlii»y \v>ri» ilvi- ilays taking' !u wood 
 mill water, after wliieli tliev u!l j>t,urii'd inro rlie laru'e vi-^id, wltliout 
 our heiiii; al)li' to uuder^tiiu'l li"\v lii'V '^vilrt raNe the <iiialli'r vessel 
 into tile lar^e one. liecaii-f w. \\>Ye<.vi!B' 'iif. .Vfvr tlmt. liavlnir made 
 to inilate that whleli « »• Kti*|ieu(i"<i Uit'A up in rlje Lti'i'.'it ve«<el, tliej- 
 were lioriie far olfan.l ili^a]ipeare(l fy".M .ui* "iichr a.-« if they had entered 
 into the water. .\« we liud tiiu'- <lui'u<r rli^n live day- that thi'V were 
 near us to examine them.' addwd tlii* -v .man. • we reiuarkivl that tliese 
 men were smaller lhauour>-. ha'iw; i .vliii-e *kin : hair upon the eliin, 
 blank and white : no hair '>ut »oiii.n;ii«!i: ;"r.'ind upon the head : they hore 
 upon llieir shoulder- itarmeu',> \vUi''i .<m',.r4-ii their liodie-. uiioii the 
 arms lieinir pa— ed tlivouzh tliem. uii<' "ae-w .|e-.eeuded just to the ealf of 
 the le^. They had also le;:_'iiij:» loi^ ^iioe* .lirtV-rent from ours. What- 
 ever we could do we were iie\er «■•> -,, ■■onnt over -even in the sninll 
 boat witli a small hoy, witlioiri uvf vim.an.' • .""ui-h i- in substance,' 
 added my friend, -the reply that iUi> -v;;.» of jrom-aclitaiie made to the 
 questions of her hu-buiid.' iiiKl wjmt r]\i-< recital 1 was very luiich 
 tenii)ted to believe that this <.rr»:ir VWirer. .il" wiiich she speaks, niiuht 
 very well lie the Sea of tlie \Vk«i «»ihk>tv «'e have souirht for so loiij; a 
 time." 
 
 We have liere an account wliii-U J» 3»'-ev.Ml from nuicli tiiat is calcu- 
 lated to tax tlie credulity 'jf tlie ir»ni<i»i! ivi! co-<l.ay. We are not called 
 upon to explain au unnuai lit.itBti'.'U ro,> l.ave no lireanns and no 
 powder with its laru'e and smiill irruiu*. The ni'>rthwe-t coast, tlie Alas- 
 kan Peninsula and ISehriiiz'^ Kt'urt* \vi' '.ei*: .lut of thl- account. Who 
 is responsible for the chanire'r JU'i^fja' > Hi^r^'ivy w.a- published in 1758. 
 Diimoufs "Meiiioire- -ur In i.oui»<tuii' ' ivimt* out in IT."):}. Prhu- to tlie 
 publication of l)umoni> \\ork. liej^mj. 'luul contributed to tiie .lournal 
 fEcoi oiniqne n series of article* wlu'il. 'it^wrme in hi.s preface an abridg- 
 ment of his liistory. In Duui'-urr'*- 'cult there Is abundant evidence of 
 jealousy and hard feelini: toward*- lit-J'iic'. He alluiles repeatedly to tiie 
 articles in the Journal (Kioiioiui'iu* mi'. .ii-i-HHes the' writer of l)orrow- 
 ini; his manuscript and apjiropviat'^m: ii* vork. While repeatedly speak- 
 ing of him as a frieml. he ehiirjB»«t- iiin. \v\th hhinders. inaccuracies and 
 falsehood.' "His friend" had :t»)')i«ri»iirly fnrni.shed Duiiiout with 
 the information he had ;:iitli>'r«i u>nni riii» *uhjerts in which he was 
 interested. Tliese (lUolutious « eiii jiH^i-red in the Menioire- with due 
 acknowiedirraent only for the (>ui3'*.h*. we -^lionld judae, of being 
 attacked with arifumeut or ricli'-ai«<' 'v'^tti ■♦atire. We have no otlier 
 
 'Dumont's Memoire-. vol. %. p. Jltl uul iii-.re ■ 
 »Id., vol. III., p. 2ny. 
 
 clue to 1)1 
 His Memo 
 LeMascrle 
 Diiiiuuit.' 
 tliese Men 
 (plestion t 
 against I.i 
 accepted 
 two liook- 
 has been 
 attack, an 
 incredible 
 liimself SI 
 when Dm 
 length, an 
 if it was i 
 About t 
 going on 1 
 not enabh 
 the relatic 
 might hav 
 .loseph 
 sented to 
 charts, til 
 Admiral I' 
 of the 'Wi 
 our coutii 
 West whi 
 then recei 
 phers clu 
 H better cai 
 tight, and 
 ill tracts ! 
 ridiculed 
 " But wi 
 
 ' Nouv* 
 '' Dumo 
 'Id., v< 
 *Id., v, 
 
 »DeLif 
 Paris, 17 
 I desire 
 looking 
 attention 
 
 " Rema 
 By T. Gi 
 
 5 
 
*l 
 
 liilr wo were 
 wntiT a Inr/Jte 
 
 I'i'llil Wlllcll 
 
 ' 'Ml- llllilrr- 
 
 Ih lll;r Nllils], 
 
 llfl' one. [It 
 
 rhir wliiTe 
 t" tlic \ariie 
 1 it apiu'ni'ud 
 •itiri'il miller 
 
 « t.i sfi; tliclll 
 
 kini.' ill WDOfl 
 
 ~-i-i. witlidut 
 iiialliT vosel 
 
 iiiivliii; iiiaile 
 ■ ^•l•«l•i, they 
 y liad I'liti'i'c'd 
 i:U tliry were 
 i-"i that these 
 pMll llie cllill, 
 111 ; tlii-y hore 
 
 ••«, iiiPDii the 
 tofhc calf of 
 i)iir>. Wliat- 
 
 I ill the Miinll 
 
 II ^iiihstaiice," 
 • maile to tlie 
 - very iiiiich 
 ■|)eak>, iiiiiiht 
 for so lipiitc a 
 
 that is cnlcu- 
 re not called 
 arms niid no 
 ast, the Alas- 
 roiiiit. Who 
 ished ill 1768. 
 Prior to tlie 
 ) the Journal 
 :ce an abrldg- 
 t evidence of 
 atedly to the 
 r of borrow- 
 atedly speak- 
 ■I iiracie.s and 
 )iinioi!t with 
 liicli he was 
 ire- witli due 
 e, of ijcing 
 vc no other 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 -i 
 
 clue to Duinoiifs identity than « iiifl .-» ^inii«hed in the liook itHelf. 
 His Meniuire* were ediled by M i.. i, J|.. -.aiil to have lieeii L'Alib6 
 I.e.Mascrier. They have been ••ni.(U»i'.n.-»!.y .irrrlhiited by some to Hutel 
 Uumoiit.' a French lawyer uu'i ittridi',i? '■,t',ni in 17:;.'. As tin' luithor of 
 tliese Meiiioires was in Li'iii-iB iii r ::7i^,' ic i< of eoiir-e out of tlie 
 question that JJutel Diiiuoui eoalol uv)*- written the book. The charge 
 apiinst LePnj;c of platriaritm. vUi-ii ?* made in this book, has been 
 accepted l)y many as true, o" iiii- tv Hi* ♦tniiljirity of the contentH of the 
 two books, but a careful ei.aiiiiu«iii'.«i vS rhi»m m.iy prove tliat injustice 
 has been done Lel'at'e du Pratt. M:W ?:inra.-«tlc theories ni.-.y invite 
 attack, and lu' may record hlorif* jitijituvi i ro him iiv other;< which seem 
 incredible, but when he coutine* li.:.ui«;.l! rc> rhe description of wiiat he 
 himself saw, there is hcldoni rooit l';W i«ni;ici"ni. On the otlier hand, 
 when Duinmit telN us that be >.»" ii iriirrli»-.nakK' twenty-two feet lu 
 lenatli. and a fro^' whicli «iii;be'.i liirj'y-fw.) pounds, we may well ask 
 if It was in the reijion tliat we k.ii'.'w \» r.iit* Louisiana of that time. 
 
 About the same time that tUebe '.i'.i'^-» i.».*re published, a great war wan 
 doing on aniona the carto<:rapliw>. ;» invafew of whicli. although it may 
 not enable us to reach an exact c.'.»U" itt+ii'.*. ^viil aid us in compreheiiiling 
 the relations of these two men imJ tiW i«ri»nt to which partNaii feelings 
 might have been aroused iu sucii a '.i':ttJi.»>rt. 
 
 Joseph Xicolas J)e Lisle iu 1754. viui' Pllilippe Buache in 17,53, pre- 
 sented to the French Academy lA V.-i»iiiii». .Vtemoires' accompanied liy 
 charts, the oliject of which wu*. tv ;T*ti'iHc.ile riu- fabulous voyages of 
 .\dmiral Fonte : Maldonado't uijili;':u ♦."ittuh* ol* .Vnian : tlie unknown .Sua 
 of the West, which occupied tUt «v>".* or any part of the interior of 
 our continent to suit the geogriit«liW* «*«« ; anil the alleged river of the 
 West which was dotted iu to t-v'n. iil«t imry of the engraver, with the 
 then recent discovery of our c.oa»l \f KiiiiMa:^. The French cartogra- 
 phers clung to Fouie and Maklyuttilv •with :v pertinacity worthy of a 
 better cause. Writers iu KUMiia. ''ii«m:iny and Fjigland took up the 
 tight, and articles were publi«,lie'.l inllirt^ -icientirtc works of tlie day and 
 iu tracts specially devoted t.u liie *iu'.;-^<:'. iu wliii-h these charts were 
 ridiculed and unworthy motive* -ww* Mi:dhuteil 'o the geographers. 
 "But within this ceutujw." buy* 'lUrt^ if these tracts,' "tlie French 
 
 ' Nouveiie Biograpliie 'jeuf-raW. ♦*« Bi'VT,.:i-r>umout. 
 
 '' Duraoufs Memoire», Prefuoe BiUi t; BC, p. •■;;». 
 
 'Id., vol. I., p. lO'J. 
 
 •Id., vol. II., p. 2C7. 
 
 *DeLlsle's Espilcatioii de la cart* '.<»* Jfonvelles decouvortes, etc., 
 Paris, 1752. 15uache"B Cou^idera^i'.a^♦ Oo-i-raphiijUes, etc., Paris. 1753. 
 I desire to ackuowlec'ge the iftTtii+ftincit of .\rr. Jn-tiu Winsia- in 
 looking up the cartography oi' ritt **!» >->i the U'est. He called my 
 attention to these Memoire*. for Mlkt'ii my i;hanks are especially due. 
 
 'Remarks in Support of the Sevr CiiWfi: if Xorth and South America. 
 By T. Green. Esq.. Li.iidon. ITr.S. ;•. ix 
 
 foKorri 
 
 S S w t •-; 
 
22 
 
 geographers have wliolly omitted Xow AUiioii, and converted Port Sir 
 Francis Drake into Port San Francisco, dishonoring tlie name of the 
 knight and clianging it into one ol" their spurious saints." Our two his- 
 torians, wlio were tlien at work upon tlieir l)ooks, were necessarily 
 afl'ected by lliis contest. To take sides wiili liis countrymen would have 
 cost LePaije dn Pratz his faith in Moncnelit-Apr. To him the tale of 
 the Indian, crossing the country in scirch of the lionie of his ancestors, 
 was more in synipatliy than were the wild conjectures about the sea lu 
 the hea''t of the continent. It must be borne in nnnd that the measure of 
 the breadth of our continent from ocean to ocean had only been taken at 
 Mexico. Every league tliat the explorers on the Jllssouri a.lded to its 
 width was a surprise. California' was an island on many charts for nearly 
 two hundred years afier an expedition sent out by Cortez had settled the 
 fact that it was a peninsula. If the ishnid theory liad to be abandoned, 
 then the next way to narrow the distance from shore to shore was l)y 
 means of an inland sea. Fuca's inlet and .Aguilar's alleged river were 
 accepted as entrances to this theoretical sea. The tales of the Indians 
 were believed to prove its existence. The most incredible thing to the 
 French geograi)her of that day— the thing which he was least prepared 
 to admit — was the broad stretch of land from Nova Scotia to Oregon. 
 La Houtan, in 1703, pul)lished in his book a copy of an Indian map 
 drawn on deer's skin, showing the Kocky Mountains and a river heading 
 al)ont where the Columbia heads and Ilowiug indetlnitely West. Tills 
 chart is recognized by LePage- in the map which accompanied his 
 history. Such a river might, perhaps, have been permitted to llow into 
 the "Sea of the West," as the distance from its source to its mouth 
 was absolutely an unknown quantity, l)ut LePai;e was aware and admi's 
 the fact,^ that belief in Moncacht-Ape's tale involved giving up this 
 favorite speculation of the French geographers. He thus was com- 
 pelled to t.ake the opposite side in this controversy from that maintained 
 by the " Premier Geographer of the King of France, and one of the 
 most eminent Astronomers of the Ac.ademv of Science."' 
 
 ' Remarks in Support of the New Chart of North and >South America. 
 By T. Green, Esq., Loudon, 1753, p. 22. 
 
 'LePage du Pratz. Histoire de la Louisiane, Vol. III., pp. 138, 139, 
 note. La Houtan'.'- chart is there alluded to with the statement that this 
 river must have been the one which Moncacht-Ap6 descended to the 
 " Sea of the South or Pacitlc." 
 
 ^Histoire de la Louisiane. Vol. III., p. 138. Speaking of the Pea of 
 the West of the cartographers, he says. " For my part I am strongly 
 impelled to believe that it exists only in imagination." .Same, p. 137 ; 
 " I can not persuade myself otherwise than that he travelled upon the 
 shores of the Sea of the Sontli, of which the northern part may l)c called 
 if you wish, the Seu of the West. Same, p. 139 : '• This beautiful river 
 fails Into the sea, at the West, . . . which by this account iudlcates only 
 the Sea of the South or Pacific Ocean." 
 
 * Remarks in Support of the New Chart of North and South America. 
 By T. Green, Esq.. London. 175:!, p. 40. 
 
 I 
 
 _a 
 
f 
 
 23 
 
 i-icd Port Sir 
 iiiuiic of the 
 ijiii' two Iiis- 
 
 e iifcesMirily 
 
 II would have 
 
 III tlio tale of 
 his ancestors, 
 out the sea lu 
 lie lueasiire of 
 beeu taken nt 
 i ailded to it*, 
 irts for nearly 
 lad settled the 
 )e abandoned, 
 shore was by 
 ed river were 
 of the Indians 
 1' tiling to tlie 
 east prepared 
 ia to Oregon. 
 11 Iiulian map 
 
 river heading 
 West. This 
 onipaniod his 
 I'd to tlow iuto 
 to its mouth 
 ire and adnii'M 
 [iving u|) this 
 ins was com- 
 iiit maintained 
 id one of the 
 
 •juth America. 
 
 ., pp. 13S, 139, 
 meiit that this 
 lended to the 
 
 : of the Rea of 
 I am strongly 
 .Same, p. 13"'; 
 elled upon the 
 may be called 
 tieautiful river 
 indicates only 
 
 outh America. 
 
 ! 
 
 Duinont ranged himself with lii-^ countrymen. lie had written to 
 Buaclie' a letter in wliicii he L..\i)rfssed opinliiii-^ on the subject similar 
 to those which may \>u found in his boul;. His opinion i> also jdainly 
 shown in the following extract, taken from his Imok. wliicli iiuniediately 
 follows the Indian's story := "Whatever one may think of this narra- 
 tive of Sienr LePage, w-liich some perhaps will look upon less as n 
 reality than as a bad copy of Robinson, it cannot possibly snlllco to give 
 more light to our geographers concerning the tine position of the Sea 
 of the West and the route to take to arrive there through North 
 Ainrrica. To make this more certain it is necessary to consult the new 
 chart of North America recutly made liy Messrs. De Lisle ami Buache." 
 A change had come over the spirit of his dream since writing in his 
 preface: "his (LePage's) rolh^ctions seem just; amongst others, those 
 where he points out to u~ a route to Hnd the Sea of the West by the 
 river Missouri, based upon a description made to him by a Yazoo 
 Indian known to the author." 
 
 We find no trace of a controversial sjjirit in LePage's book,'' and 
 yet we may rest assured that the inlluence^ which cost Duinont his 
 belief in Moncachl-.Ape's stoi-y would only fan the tires of faith with one 
 of Lei age's enthusiastic temperament. 
 
 Although Duinont claims in his prefaie to have known the Yazoo 
 Indian, still he credits tlie story, as we have seen, to LePage. and there 
 is enough of identity to assure the coinnion origin of the two versions. 
 Their dilfereuces, however, are so radical that thev cannot be explained 
 as the ordinary changes to which such stories are subject in passing 
 from person to person. The ill-will that Duniont entertained toward 
 LePage might perhaps have furnished .an adequate motive for him to 
 Inve altered or supjiressed the story: but, inaildition to the fact that 
 Dnmonl's version is much tlie more credible of the two, it must be 
 hijrne in mind that LePage had recently published a series of articles in 
 the .louriial (Ecouoini.jue and it is presumable that he was on the spot, 
 or wliere lie could see Dumont's book when it should come out, and 
 would therefore notice any changes in statements attributed to himself 
 as authority. With LePage on the spot and with the pages of a period- 
 ical at his command, Dumont might venture to prod him with satire and 
 comineiits. but would scarcely have dared to falsify liini. It seems 
 incredible that LePage should not have seen Dumont's liook, but if he 
 did so his failure to notice in his own work the references to himself 
 with which Dumont's pages bristle, remains a mystery to puzzle us still. 
 
 'Considerations Geographiques, etc., par Philippe Buaclie. Paris 
 1753, p. 36. 
 
 'Dumont's Memoires sur la Louisiane, Paris. 1753, p. 24i;, et seq. 
 
 ■■" Unless the following extract fr jm tlie preface, referring to certain 
 other Hclations, may be considered as alluding to some individual, 
 perhaps Dnmoiit: "It is then absolutely necessary to destroy these 
 false opinions occasioned by these untrue accounts, often full of malig- 
 nity and nearlv alwavs of ianorance. " 
 
24 
 
 TIr' review of tliis partisiui ooiitroversy aiul the proof of its close 
 connection witli tlie Monciiclil-Ape story has enaljletl us to sec some of 
 the sources of information which would inevitably have attracted the 
 observation of a ^eocrrapher diirini; the interim between Moncacht-Ap6's 
 telling his story and LePage's publication of his liistory. That LePago's 
 attention was attracted to the controversy of the cartographers we 
 know,' because he tells us that the French charts show the possibility 
 of the connection of tlie land at the North-west of America and the 
 North-ea<t of Asia, as suggested l)y the Indian. But these were not the 
 only sources of information oj)en to LePage in 175'i which have not been 
 included in our revievv of the Ivuowledge which he might have obtained 
 at the date of the Indian's story. During the si.xteen years which had 
 passed "oetwoen the return to Siberia of the Behring's Expedition in 
 1742' and the time of LePage's going to press, more or less of the 
 iuforujation gathered by that expedition had lieen furuislied to the public. 
 The war of the geographers as to the aullienticity of the Fonte and 
 Maldouado forgeries necosarily attracted great attention to the reports 
 of the men who accompanied Behring. Buachc' in his Jlejnolro to the 
 Academy seeks to identify their land-falls witli the Fou-Sang of the 
 Chinese. Among other things recorded l)y the naturalists who accom- 
 panied the expedition, and published by Miiller* in 1758, we And the 
 facts that i : coast Indians were in the hiibit of eating seals, and were 
 observed Ij eat roots which they had dug ont of the ground. It will 
 thus be seen that information upon these two points had been in posses- 
 sion of European naturalists for at least fifteen years. It would not 
 have been remarkalile if during tliat time it had come to the ears of a 
 man of LePage's' tastes, but on the other hand there had been no such 
 pul)lication of it as to Justify us in saying lliat he mu-t have seen it. 
 
 The knowledge of the coa>t-line iliseovered liy Heliring must have 
 been brought to his attention by DeLisie and by Buache's cliarts, and as 
 he was not hampered by the necessity of reconciling the actual discover- 
 ies with the hypotlictical maps bused upon the alleged voyages of Fontfe 
 and Maldouado, he would naturally have constructed a coast line which 
 would approximate the real one. If the coa.st line of Siberia, explored 
 
 'LePage du Pratz, "Histoire de la Louisiane," Paris, 1758, vol. III., 
 p. 13G. 
 
 •Miiller returned to St. Prtersl)uru' Fel). 15. 1748. See -Miiller's 
 Voyages Asia to .\nierica, Jefferys' translation, p. 107. 
 
 ■"Considerations Geographiques, etc., P. Buaehe, Paris, 1750, p. 47. 
 
 ^See .Jetrerys' translation of Miiller's Vovages, Asia to .\nierica, 
 1764, p. 00. 
 
 ^That he was in such close contact with the savants of the period 
 as to justify this l)elief, would appear from the fact that he says in his 
 Preface, tliat he was urged by " the savants to reproduce his ethno- 
 logical papers for the Journal iFIconoralque in book form." 
 
 S by Behring ! 
 
 navigator, 1 
 
 in 1741, and 
 
 chart, the e 
 
 ^ -without see 
 
 ' siaus acccp' 
 
 •,' duced by J( 
 
 , to-day, and 
 
 , Up to thi 
 
 I of the histc 
 
 J was entitle- 
 
 ^ in its relati 
 
 its writer. 
 
 came habit 
 
 be predict( 
 
 cargo of dj 
 
 visits? If 
 
 difflculty li 
 
 prove that 
 
 Japan, but 
 
 one to bell 
 
 \ the Japani 
 
 '* both recoi 
 
 \ 
 
 coast,' but 
 the theory 
 from Islan 
 should be 
 Is no knov 
 and there 
 of a partic 
 The coUec 
 woods for 
 and if, coi 
 vessels ca 
 then we n 
 A careful 
 
 ' Vovaf! 
 don, 1764, 
 dou, 1753 
 
 • Iudec( 
 "The pa.- 
 proves to 
 Apt's sto 
 
 ' Proce 
 Paper on 
 West Coi 
 
 *"Cou 
 
▼ 
 
 25 
 
 r of its close 
 see some of 
 iittnictcd the 
 iicacht-ApO's 
 liat LcPajje's 
 raplicrs we 
 ; possibility 
 lica anil the 
 were not the 
 iiive not been 
 lave obtained 
 which had 
 ixpedition iu 
 r kss of the 
 to the public, 
 le Fonte and 
 o the reports 
 emoiro to the 
 Sans? of the 
 ' who accom- 
 we anil the 
 als. and were 
 iiind. It will 
 •CM in posses- 
 It would not 
 the ears of a 
 been no such 
 e seen it. 
 li must have 
 :Ii:iits, and as 
 tual iliscover- 
 ises of Fontfe 
 St line which 
 iria, explored 
 
 '•iS, vol. III., 
 
 See MUller's 
 
 1753, p. 47. 
 to America, 
 
 )f the period 
 le says In his 
 e his ethuo- 
 
 v 
 
 ' by Behrlng In 1728 j the strcngv; coast opposite reached by Gwosdew,' the 
 i uavigator, In 1730 ; the points ou the American coast reached by Bchrlug 
 in 1741, and the general trend of the known coast below be plotted on a 
 chart, the existence of the strait through which Behrlug twice sailed 
 without seeing America will be Inferred wit. .out hesitation. The Rus- 
 sians accepted this inference, and published a chart which was repro- 
 duced by Jefl'erys iu 17i')4. This cliart closely resembles the mai)s of 
 to-day, and Moucacht-ApC's descri|ition may fairly be applied to it.' 
 
 Up to this point we have sought to analyze the sources of knowledge 
 of the historian so as to know what weight the argument of coiucldeuces 
 was entitle^ to, and also to discover if there was aught iu the story or 
 in its relation to the controversies of the day to imperil the judgment of 
 its writer. It remains for us to ask, what about the bearded men who 
 came habitually to the coast with such regularity that their arrival could 
 be predicted within a few days; whose purpose was simply to get a 
 cargo of dye-wood and who had no expectation of tralHc on these annual 
 visits? If we admit this part of the story to be true we shall have no 
 difllculty in accepting the learned argument of M. de Quatrefages to 
 prove that the foreigners came from Lieou-Tchou or the Ea.steru Isles of 
 Japan, but if we submit the talc to a careful scrutiny, it is not an easy 
 one to believe. There Is no sutlicient evidence to justify the belief that 
 the Japanese habitually made such venturesome voyages. We have 
 both record and tradition of the arrival of Japanese vessels on our 
 coast,' but they have always plainly been unwilling visitors. Even if 
 the theory that tlie Cliluese found their way ivom coast to island and 
 from Island to coast, until they reached the so-called laud of Fou Sang* 
 should be accepted, there is no evidence of habitual visitations. Tliere 
 is no known wood upon our coast of particular value as a dye-wood, 
 and tiiere is no part of the North I'acitlc coast wliere the extermination 
 of a particular species of tree would leave the inhabitants without wood. 
 The collection of a cargo of dye-wood In a country which has no valuable 
 woods for that purpose, Is not a suHicient reason for an annual visit, 
 and If. correcting tlie story to make it more probable, we admit that the 
 vessels came for purposes of trade as indicated in the Indian leseuds. 
 then we must insist upon lludiug traces of that trade along the coast. 
 A careftil csamiuatlou of the authorities does not disclose in the hands 
 
 'Voyages from Asia to America. Jliiller translated by Jelt'erys. Lon- 
 don, 1764, p. 5.5. Green's "Keuiarks In support of the New Chart." Lon- 
 don, 1753, p. 25. 
 
 •Indeed this is just what LePage himself says of it, vol. III.. i36 : 
 "The passage of the Kussiaus from Asia to America where they landed, 
 proves to us that the coast may run In a Hue conformable to Moncacht- 
 Ap6's story." 
 
 'Proceedings of the American .Antiquarian Society, April 2.'?. 1872. 
 Paper on the likelihood of an admixture of Japanese blood on our North- 
 West Coast, by Horace Davis. 
 
 *"Cousid6rations Geographiques," etc., P. Buaclie. Paris, 17.i3. p. 11. 
 
26 
 
 of the luiliaiis evidence suillcleut to prove the existence of sncb a trade. 
 Bodega' In 1775. at Port Trinidad, fouud some Iron among the Indians, 
 but the chronicler of the expedition reports that what they chiefly valued 
 In traffic "was iron and particularly knives or hoops of old barrels." 
 Cook' found iron and brass among the Indians. Their tomahawks were 
 made of .'<tone. Their arrows were generally pointed with bone. They 
 had chisels and knives of iron ; the latter shaped like pruning-knives 
 with the edge on the back. He also met one Indian who had two silver 
 spoons, apparently of Spanish manufacture. And yet he says:" "We 
 never observed the least signs of their having seen ships before, nor of 
 their having traded with such people. Many circumstances seem to 
 prove this almost beyond a doubt." )^ 
 
 In addition to the foregoing evidences of some sort of traffic with 
 outsiders on the part of the Indians on the Northwest coast, Greenhow* 
 cites Friar Penas's journal of a voyage of Juan Perez, and also quotes 
 from the narrative of the expedition of Behring,'both of which expedi- 
 tions, he F.iys, found knives and articles of iron in the hands of the 
 natives. But he concludes each account with the statement that they 
 appeared never before to have held any intercourse with civilized people. 
 The uniform testimony of the early voyagers to the existence of metallic 
 ornaments and knives in the hands of the Indians, which had apparently 
 been introduced from outside sources, can leave but little doubt of the 
 fact. The negative testimony of Vancouver" as to the Indians at 
 Trinidad, whom Bodega had found with both iron and copper, but who 
 in 1793 had neither, must be accepted as proof only that the supply of 
 these Indians was not constant, and that the amount owned by them 
 must have been small. The unfamiliarity of the Indians with vessels 
 and the irregularities of the stock of these metals, especially when taken 
 in connection with the silver spoons, would point to some Inland source 
 of supply. 
 
 The flr.st glance at the Japanese chart brought to Europe by Kaempfer, 
 a copy of whicli is given In the DeLisle and Buache Memoires, showing 
 as it does a familiarity with our coast at lea.st as great as that shown in 
 the original charts of tliese cartograpliers, would suggest that this was 
 in itself a strong argument in favor of the annual visits of the Japauese 
 vessels to this part of the world. The trouble with the chart, however, 
 for this purpose is that it shows too much. The accuracy of the outlines 
 of the Gulf of CalH'ornia and of the Gulf of Mexico could not have come 
 from Japanese sources. The same authority that contributed these out- 
 
 llines may hai 
 Icoiijectures c 
 fthis chart. 
 So far as i 
 
 'Miscellanies of Dnines Ba;'riugton, London, 1775, pp. 488, 489. 
 
 'Cook's Voyages, London, 17S4, pp. 207, 271, 279, 282, 311, 327, 330. 
 
 'Id., 1784, p. 331. 
 
 * Greenhow's Oregon, Boston I.?44, p. 116. 
 
 'id., 1844, p. 132. 
 
 'Vancouver, London, 17'J8, v. IL, 243. 
 
 « concerned 
 
 'tfi 
 
 tl 
 
 day, when w 
 Chinese, hav 
 unravelling t 
 we do not V 
 people, to m 
 facts of the s 
 his own day, 
 about the mi 
 One word 
 draw our c( 
 review touc 
 Moncacht-A 
 Xow if he c 
 description 
 the general 
 what we kii 
 North Flatti 
 should expi 
 river and ta 
 of the raout 
 knew whicl 
 where he ci 
 conclusion 
 bank,' evei 
 have seen 
 we have oc 
 them to thi 
 accept, noi 
 may conce 
 Indian's a 
 stationed 
 for Le Pay 
 in more dl 
 its founda 
 
 ' It is 111 
 years afte 
 "been spca 
 the West 
 America. 
 London, 
 " Dumo 
 'This a 
 Duniont i 
 
iich a trade. 
 
 the ladiaus, 
 
 hiefly valued 
 
 !d barrels." 
 
 ibawks were 
 
 Doue. They 
 
 uing-knives 
 
 id two silver 
 
 says;' "We 
 
 efore, nor of 
 
 ces seem to 
 
 traffic with 
 
 :, Greenhow* 
 
 1 also quotes 
 
 hich expedi- 
 
 lands of the 
 
 nt that they 
 
 llzed people. 
 
 le of metallic 
 
 d apparently 
 
 doubt of the 
 
 J Indians at 
 
 )er, but who 
 
 ;he supply of 
 
 ned by them 
 
 with vessels 
 
 y when taken 
 
 nland source 
 
 )y Kaempfer, 
 res, showing 
 liat shown In 
 hat this was 
 the Japanese 
 rt. however, 
 the outlines 
 It have come 
 ed these out- 
 
 ?, 489. 
 
 11, 327, 330. 
 
 1 
 
 'lines may h.ive furulshod, and probably did furnish, the knowledge and 
 iconjectiii'es on which the line of our Northwest coast was assumed In 
 'tills chart. 
 
 So far as the guns and the details with reference to the powder are 
 concerned, the curious statements of Moiicaclit-ApO may at some future 
 day, when we shall know more about the history of the Japanese and 
 Chinese, have a irreatMr value than they possess at present, as factors in 
 unravelling this complicated riuestion. All that we can now say is that 
 we do not know enough about the weapons or the powder of the^e 
 people, to make any use of the statements in our attempts to get at the 
 facts of the story. Moucacht-Ap6 not only anticipated the knowledge of 
 his own day, but also, as yet, of ours, for we have not learned enough 
 about the matter to say whether he told the truth. 
 
 One word as to the route of the Indian, and we shall be prepared to 
 draw our conclusions from this protracted discussion, having in our 
 review touched upon the various points which we started to examine. 
 Moncacht-Ap6 specifies that he kept up the North bank of the Missouri. 
 Now if he continued on the North bank of the river to its source, his 
 description of the way to reach the head-waters of the Columbia and of 
 the general direction of that river from that point is irreconcilable with 
 what we know of its course. On the other hand, if he went up the 
 North Platte, which would agree with the general courses he gave, we 
 should expect some record in the narrative, of his crossing the main 
 river and taking up the tributary, for he spent the winter in the vicinity 
 of the mouth of the Platte, aud there could be no doubt that the Indians 
 knew which was the main stream. Further he is particular in mentioning 
 where he crossed the Ohio and the Mississippi rivers, which favors the 
 conclusion that his course was, as he Intimates, constantly on the North 
 bank,' even at the expense of making his account a little foggy. We 
 have seen that the story of the journey was not only a possibility, but 
 we have occasional records of men whose habits of mind and body ie.id 
 them to these solitary expeditions. It does not ret|iilre that we should 
 accept, nor need we reject the alleged motives of the expedition, but we 
 may concede the probability that the outline of the tale came from the 
 Indian's mi/Uth. Dumont, who tells us that he knew him, h.id been 
 stationed among the Yazoos' as well as at Nfitchez, and in his contempt 
 for Le Page's speculations he would have been glad to denounce the story 
 in more direct terms if he had not believed that there was some truth at 
 its foundation." 
 
 'It is Init just to allude here to the fact that Charlevoix says, a few 
 years after the savage's journey, ".VII these natives of whom 1 have 
 been speaking (The Mlssouris and Canzes were inchided i dwell upon 
 the Western bank of the Missouri." Journal of a voyage to North 
 America. Translated from the French ol' P. de Charlevoix, Vol. II., 
 London, 1761, p. 224. 
 
 ■Dumont's Memolres, &c., Paris, 17,i3, v. II., p. G9. 
 
 'This argument was anticipated by Mr. Samuel Engcl, who says, " M. 
 Dumont who has given another relation of Louisiana, in which he, or at 
 
'2» 
 
 The Isolation of a life at, Natchez kept LePaue's active liraln at work 
 upon the facts that he haO accmnulatetl eoncernin;; the migrations of the 
 Indians aiul their forms of government. He frameil theoriej* and then 
 proponnded lending interrogatories wliich were better calculated, per- 
 haps, than he thought to lirlng. forth the answers that he wanted. The 
 running commentaries hy Dunmnt in his Memolres call attention to this 
 weakness ou the part uf Lel'age, and the conelnsiou is irresistible tliat 
 he colored the statements of the Indians, or the Indians cheerfully 
 adapted their answers to his needs. 
 
 Tlie argument of coincidence l)etween wliat was stated by Moncaeht- 
 Ape concrning this unknown rc'gion and suljsetiueut discoveries is very 
 properly claimed by M. de Quatrefages as of great value. But if its 
 application should show that there is no error of statement so long as 
 tlie narrative deals with regions that were thoroughly explored; that it 
 introduces statements concerning whidi we are incredulous or doubtful 
 only whi'n it arrives at a region about which nothing was then known; 
 and that in some of the more fanciful iiortions of tlie tale we think that 
 we can trace the rei>roduction of legends already familiar to us from the 
 Relations ; if these are the coincidences that our e.xaniiuation establishes, 
 then our couclusion will i)e that the personality of LePage has materially 
 affected the value of the story. To sliow that this is really so, it hardly 
 ueeds that we should point to tlic wonderful truthfulness of the story so 
 long as it is conflned to the East and to the lower Missouri : to tlie ac- 
 curacy with which tlie course of that river is given where it had l)een 
 e.NploriHl ; to the fact that our tlrst conlllct with moderu explorations 
 conies at the point where tin.' traveller treads on entirely new ground; 
 to the strong family roseml)lance between the bearded men with their 
 strange clothing, and Sagard Theodafs smooth-laced men with tlieir 
 leggings and shoes; to the e.xtraordiiiaiy differences between the two 
 eudings, in whicli many of the additional materials found in the later 
 publication correspond closely with new facts brought to the notice of 
 European scientists by the Behring's Expedition. 
 
 As to the curious details concerning the guns and the powder, the 
 only place to which we can look for their corroboration is the Orient. 
 Sliould research fail to discover the use of similar weapons and materials 
 tliere, it would stamp this part of the story as a lictiou. 
 
 In examining tlie qnestioii of motive and responsibility we have 
 learned enough of the cartograpliic controversy to see that not alone 
 DeLlsle and Buaclie on the one side and Green and Jefferys on the 
 other, l)Ut that men from all parts of Europe drifted into that discussiou. 
 
 least his editor, is often of a contrary opinion to M. LeP.age, far from 
 contradicting tills journey of JIoncacht-Ape gives an extract from it iu 
 his work. Now M. Duiiiont has. tliey say. lived twenty-two years in 
 this country. He would not have lost the opportunity to contradict M. 
 LePage, if he had recounted a fable." 
 
 '• Memoircs et Observations Oeographiques, etc. Par M. • * * 
 [Saiiuiel Engel] Lausanne, 1765, 'p. 108. 
 
 •■ 
 
 1 
 :* 
 
 ^\Ve have set 
 
 Iwhile we c« 
 
 f^have found 
 
 able to shov 
 
 Ithat the Dm 
 
 ^that the rai 
 
 presence of 
 
 the memoirt 
 
 on LePage h 
 
 him. The f 
 
 Dumout, hi' 
 
 emphasis to 
 
 EiiKilly, ' 
 
 cliauge froi 
 
 men of the 
 
 to in the pu 
 
 Spangber 
 
 stature " w 
 
 middle age 
 
 } 1748, says, 
 
 search of i 
 
 affirm that 
 
 towards thi 
 
 them men 1 
 
 Bunche* 
 
 Bob6 Lazai 
 
 the land of 
 
 French tra 
 
 found in tl: 
 
 that the sa 
 
 and who cc 
 
 distance fi' 
 
 unknown t 
 
 ' Dumon 
 
 of his pre 
 
 articles in 
 
 from one i 
 
 ' Jeffervi 
 
 17fi4, p. 72 
 
 'Ellis's 
 
 * Buach< 
 
 ' This b- 
 
 the beach 
 
 Hudson's 
 
 there is i 
 
 Hudson," 
 
 having tr; 
 
 y 
 
 -i 
 
▼' 
 
 >, 
 
 29 
 
 iraln at work 
 ;r;itioii,s of tlie 
 rii.'> aiKi theu 
 ikulatetl, pcr- 
 wnnted. Tlie 
 eiitioii to tills 
 esistlble that 
 ii.s cheerfully 
 
 by Moiicncht- 
 
 vcries is very 
 But if Its 
 
 ;iit so loiif;; as 
 ilort'il; that It 
 us or doubtful 
 i theu kuowu; 
 
 we Ihiuk that 
 to us from the 
 )u establishes, 
 las uintcrially 
 y so, it hardly 
 )f the story so 
 iiri : to the ac- 
 re it had been 
 u explorations 
 • new ground; 
 len witli their 
 en with tlieir 
 ween the two 
 I in the later 
 > the notice of 
 
 i powder, the 
 is the Orient, 
 and materials 
 
 lity we have 
 lat not alone 
 Berys on the 
 at discussion. 
 
 'age, far from 
 act from It in 
 ■two years in 
 contradict M. 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 We have seen that LePage and Duinont espou.sed o|)poslte sides, and 
 wliile we could not discover in the liistory signs of bad temper, we 
 have found the menioires bristling witli ill will. Thu.'< we have been 
 able to show a motive for misrepresentation, jind if we had concluded 
 that the Dumoiit ending wa.'- a forgery, we should have had little doubt 
 that the rancor that he showed was a sulllclent f.\planatlon of It. The 
 presence of the two men in France' at the time of the publication of 
 the memoircs, and Dnmont's bold charge of tlie authorship of the story 
 on LePage has served to fix the responsibility for the two endings upon 
 him. The fact that notwithstanding the ill-will that we have traced to 
 Diimont, his version of the story Is the more credilde of the two adds 
 emphasis to the conviction. 
 
 Eiiially, we fancy that we may be able to account, even for the 
 change from the smooth-faced men of Sagard Theodat to the bearded 
 men of the story by showing that such bearded men were alluded 
 to in the publications of the period. 
 
 Spangberg' in ITSU saw on the northern isles of Japan, men of small 
 stature " with pretty long hair all over their bodies, and the men of 
 middle age had black, while the old men had grey beards." Ellis. ^ in 
 1748, says, descrjbing the most recent voyage to Hudson's Bay in 
 searcli of a northwest passage: "Tlie southern Indians constantly 
 alHrm that a great oceau lies but a small distance from their country 
 towards the Sun's setting. In which they have seen slii|)s, and on board 
 them men having large beards and wearing caps." 
 
 Buache* tells us that he had a letter written March 15, 1716, by M. 
 Bob6 Lazariste de Versailles, in which tiie statement is made that " in 
 the land of the Sioux, at the head of tlie Jlississippi there are always 
 French traders ; that they know that near the source of the river can be 
 found in the high lands a river which leads to the Sea of the West; 
 that the savages say that they have seen bearded men who have caps, 
 and who collect gold dust on the edge of the Sea.^ But it is a very long 
 distance from their country, and the\'* must pas.s through many tribes 
 unknown to the French." 
 
 ' Dumont's presence at this time may be inferred from the language 
 of his preface. LePage returned in 1734. lie published some of his 
 articles in the Journal (Ecouomlqne in 17.'>1. .\t least Miiller quotes 
 from one of tiieni In the September number ol' that year. 
 
 'Jetfervs' Translation, Midler's Voyages .Vsia to .Vmerlca, London, 
 1764, p. 72. 
 
 'Ellis's Voyage to Hudson Bay, London, 1748, p. 304. 
 
 '' Biiache, Considerations Geographkiues, Paris, 17.")3, p. 38. 
 
 "■This belief In the bearded men and also in the gold-bearing sands of 
 the beaclics of the Pacific llnds occasional expression among these 
 Hudson's Bay savages. In the Hecnell d'.Arrests, Amsterdam, 1720, 
 there Is a Relation by M. Jeremle, entitled " Kelatlon de la Bale de 
 Hudson," in which occurs this passage. " Tiie saviiiies say that after 
 having travelled many months to the West-Southwe>t. they found the 
 
^ 
 
 30 
 
 We come then practically to the coucluslon that there Is nothlnjf In 
 the story to tax our credulity If we are uot called upon to believe In the 
 annual visits of the bearded men and the various doubtful Incidents 
 which their presence Involves. We have not been able to trace to the 
 historian a knowledge, or a possibility of Ivuowledge of all the details of 
 the Indian's story which subsequent discovery has verified, and this 
 adds to the probability that the journey was actually accomplished, ind 
 the story of it related to Le Page du Pratz. We are not, however, able 
 to relieve him fi-oni responsibility for the double endings, and although 
 the general tone and character of his work justify the high esteem lu 
 •which Mr. Stuart' held It, we are nevertheless forced to the unwilling 
 conclusion that the original story of the savage suffered changes at his 
 hands. 
 
 In coucluslon we express the hope that the students who mayherf- 
 after have access to Oriental records, will bear in mind, that proof 
 ought there to be found, If proof there be, of the habitual presence on 
 our shores, at that period, of the bearded men,— a presence which we 
 have seen indicated in tradition and story, but for which as yet we have 
 found no other authority than the helpless wrecks which have been 
 borne upon our coast by the Japanese current. 
 
 i 
 
 
 sen, on which they saw large canoes [these are ships] with men who 
 had beards and caps, who collect gold upon the edge of the sea [that is 
 to say at the mouth of the rivers]." — p. 12. On the 26''' page of the 
 same Relation there is another allusion to bearded men who build stone 
 forts, &c. 
 
 ' Transactions of the Quebec Literary and Historical Society of 
 Quebec, Quebec, 1829, vol. I., p. 198. 
 
 ■-■112:'.=^ . - , ^-^' 
 
e Is nothinf; In 
 ) believe In the 
 nful lucldeuta 
 
 trace to the 
 11 the details of 
 ■ifled, and this 
 iraplishcd, and 
 
 however, able 
 ), and although 
 ligh esteem lu 
 
 1 the uuwUliug 
 changes at bis 
 
 tvho may here ■ 
 nd, that proof j 
 lal presence on 
 seuce which we 
 as yet we have 
 ilch have been 
 
 with men who 
 the sea [that is 
 5"' page of the 
 vho build stone 
 
 cal Society of