1655, but those peoples did not conduct them home until toward the end of August of this year 1656."

Their arrival caused the country universal joy, for they were accompanied by fifty canoes laden with goods which the French came to this end of the world to procure. The fleet rode in state and in fine order along the mighty river, propelled by five hundred arms, and guided by as many eyes, most of which had never seen the great wooden canoes of the French, that is to say, their ships.

Having landed amid the stunning noise of cannon and having quickly built their temporary dwellings, the Captains ascended to Fort St. Louis to salute Monsieur our Governor, bearing their speeches in their hands. These were two presents, which represent words among these peoples. One of the two gifts asked for some Frenchmen to go and pass the winter in their country; while the other made the request for some fathers of our society, to teach all the nations of those vast regions the way to heaven. They were answered in their own way, by presents, and were very willingly granted all they asked. But, while those assigned to that great undertaking are making their preparations, let us learn some news from the two French Pilgrims and their hosts. First it is well to note that the Huron language extends fully five hundred leagues toward the South, and the Algonquins more than five hundred toward the North. I know well that there are some slight differences among these nations; but they consist in different dialects, which are soon learned, and which do not affect the fundamental principles of the two languages.

In the second place, there are in the northern regions many lakes which might well be called fresh water seas, the great lake of the Hurons and another one near it being as large as the Caspian Sea.

In the third place, we were told of many nations surrounding the nation of the sea which some have called "the Stinkards," because its people formerly lived on the shores of the sea, which they call Ounipeg, that is "Stinking Water."

The two thousand mile and more canoe trip did not satisfy our young adventurers. In spite of hardship, privations and dangers of many kinds ever to be met, whirlpools and rapids to be passed in a frail canoe, surrounded by whimsical, barbarous and jealous companions, and the ever-present lurking, bloodthirsty Iroquois, the wanderlust was upon them, they must go. Radisson, now a seasoned coureur de bois of twenty-two years, wrote, "I longed to see myself in a boat." When the swarthy tradesmen from the West on their annual expedition to the St. Lawrence departed for their homes, Radisson, Groseilliers and their party were soon to follow.

Thirty-one Frenchmen and fourteen natives constituted the expedition. On the Ottawa they overtook a large number of natives whose canoes were loaded with merchandise and guns, the proceeds of their barter with the French. The combined forces now numbered more than one hundred and forty men. But the show of strength was a delusion. '

I

2

Proceeding in detached parties, without order or precautions, they were exposed to the attack of the Iroquois, who lay in wait for them. After suffering the loss of four canoes and thirteen men the French and their allies fled up stream with all possible speed. Two missionaries who had accompanied the expedition were left to their own resources to find their way back to Montreal. The French canoe men, unable to keep up with their equally terrified and more fleet Indian friends, abandoned the attempt. Radisson and Groseilliers, with their dusky guides, pressed on and reached Georgian Bay in safety.

Here the party separated. The Saulteurs, Amikones3 'Benjamin Sulte in Memoirs of Exploration in the Basin of the Mississippi, P. 74.

2 Canada and its Provinces, vol. i, p. 72.

3 "The Nez Percés, called also Amikones, lived on the north of that lake" (Nipissing). Amikone means beaver or castor. Sulte.

and Ottawas went to the north and west to their homes, while Radisson, Groseilliers and their Hurons took a circuit toward the south to satisfy the curiosity of the exiles who wished to look again upon the ruins of their old homes. Passing the devastated country on Matchedash Bay, they observed from a distance large, open fields where were once their homes of comfort and plenty, now deserted and destroyed. After many days' travel they reached Manitoulin Island and the homes of their Indian companions. "About a dozen Iroquois roving in the neighborhood were slain by Chouart, Radisson and the Hurons."

After resting a time at the Huron village, our explorers with their guides continued the voyage. Radisson says:

Our equipage and we were ready to wander on that sweet sea [Huron] but most of that coast is void of wild beasts, so there was great famine amongst us for want. Yet the coast afforded us some small fruits. There I found the kindness and charity of the wilderness, for when they found any place of any quantity of it [the fruit, blueberries] they called me and my brother to eat and replenish our bellys shewing themselves far gratefuller than many Christians even to their own relations."

Continuing, Radisson favors us with the first description of St. Mary's River granted by any traveler who had thus far visited the region. Brule, Nicollet and the Jesuit Fathers, Jogues and Raymbault, had all traversed the same course and witnessed similar scenes, but no word of theirs in the way of description has reached us. Radisson writes:

Afterwards we entered into a strait which had ten leagues in length, full of islands where we wanted not fish. We came * Sulte. ? Radisson's Voyages.

afterward to a rapid that makes the separation of the lak of the hurrons, that we call Superior or Upper, for that the Wild men hold it to be longer and broader, besides a great many islands which makes appear in a bigger extent. This rapid was formerly the dwelling of those with whome we weare. We made cottages at our advantages, and found the truth of what these men had often [said] that if once we could come to this place we should make good cheare of a fish they call assickmack, which signifies a white fish. The beare, the castors and the Orinack' showed themselves often, but to their cost; indeed it was to us like a terrestrial paradise. After so long fasting, after so great paines that we had taken, finde ourselves so well by choosing our dyet, and resting when we had a mind to it, it is here that we must taste with pleasure a sweet bit. We do not ask for a good sauce; it is better to have it naturally; it is the way to distinguish the sweet from the bitter. But the season was far spent, and use diligence and leave that place so wished, which we shall bewail, to the cursed Iroquois.

We left that inn without reckoning with our host. It is cheaper when we are not to put the hand to the purse; nevertheless we must pay out of civility; the one gives thanks to the woods, the other to the river, the third to the earth, the others to the rocks that stayes the fish.

The moose-so called.

CHAPTER IX

The Voyageurs Visit Green Bay-Radisson Reaches the MississippiFrench Traders at the Sault in 1659-Winter Passed in Sioux Country -Sixty Canoes Reach Montreal in 1660-Radisson and Groseilliers Honored-They Immediately Return to Lake Superior Accompanied by Father René Ménard-They Build a Fort Near the Present City of Ashland-Spend the Winter with the Famished Hurons-Visit the Crees North of Lake Superior-Journey to Hudson's Bay-Accompany a Fleet of 360 Canoes from Chaquamegon Bay to Montreal-Are Alienated from the French by Confiscation of One Third of Their Cargo.

AT "that place so wished" our voyageurs persuaded the Ottawas' to make peace with the Pottawattomies, between whom there had been bad blood for some time. The latter came from their homes on Green Bay and the peace compact was celebrated with the customary feasting.

Accepting the invitation of the Pottawattomies the two Frenchmen returned with them to their homes, where they were well received. During the winter there came an embassy of Mascoutins to urge them to visit their tribe. Accordingly in the spring, the two, with their guides, proceeded up the Fox River to the portage leading to the Wisconsin. Sulte says: "From there Radisson descended the Wisconsin River, entered the Mississippi,

'Ottawas-Radisson called them "the Staring Hairs." They were known by that name amongst the French since 1615. The French also called them Ondataonwa-the men of the woods-and contracted the term into "Ontaona" (Sulte). The French applied the name indiscriminately to practically all Indians of the Algonquin Nation.