Page:Columbus and other heroes of American discovery; (IA columbusotherher00bell).pdf/153

 the broad waters of the parent stream, past the mouth of the Missouri, between Tennessee and Arkansas, and again between Arkansas and Mississippi, beyond the most southerly point reached by Marquette, past the spot where De Soto's body was committed to the deep, until at last the final home of the Mississippi and its many tributaries was reached, and Frenchmen stood once more on the northern shores of the Gulf of Mexico.

Having set up the arms of France in the low alluvial plains overlooking the gulf, and named the whole district Louisiana in honor of the French monarch, La Salle retraced his steps, and hastening to France with the good news of his successful trip, he was shortly placed in command of an important expedition for the colonization of newly-discovered districts.

Full of wild hopes of the great things he was now to achieve, La Salle sent a message to his old friend Tonti, begging him to meet him at the mouth of the Mississippi; but alas! the latter appeared alone at the rendezvous. Accompanied by twenty Canadians and thirty Indians, Tonti paddled down the now familiar Mississippi from Fort St. Louis with little difficulty, and awaited the coming of his old commander near the site of the present New Orleans. Day after day, week after week passed on, and no La Salle appeared. The four vessels bearing his little company of 280 persons, including two young relatives of the commander, named Cavalier and Moranget, were tossing about in the Gulf of Mexico, unable to make the land. La Salle, who believed he could have acted as pilot with the best results, was thwarted at every turn by Beaujeu, the admiral of the fleet, who, after passing between Florida and Cuba, insisted on maintaining a western course till he came to the Bay of Matagorda, in Texas.

Recognizing no landmarks, La Salle entreated Beaujeu not to disembark the forces without some further exploration of the coast; but he was unheeded. The boats were lowered, and the colonists were put on shore. The wrecking of the store-ship was the first disaster to overtake them; it was followed, as a necessary result, by famine and discontent, and in the midst of the confusion some Indians surprised the new-comers, and murdered two of them.

In this terrible crisis Beaujeu at last yielded to the superior experience of La Salle, who, restored to the command, had a fort constructed out of the wreck of the store-ship, and, leaving 230 persons in it, he started with sixteen picked men to try and find the Mississippi. His search was unsuccessful, and, fearing that the colony would suffer on the low lands by the bay,