Page:Readings in European History Vol 2.djvu/385

 isconsin The Expansion of England 347 our fathers labor successfully for the conversion of these people, over two thousand of whom they have baptized while they have been there. . . . We left this bay to enter the river that discharges They leave into it. It is very beautiful at its mouth and flows gently. Green Ba y It is full of bustards, ducks, teal, and other birds, attracted ^j thither by the wild oats, of which they are very fond. But River, after ascending the river a short distance it becomes very difficult of passage on account of both the currents and the sharp rocks, which cut the canoes and the feet of those who are obliged to drag them, especially when the waters are low. . . . We continued to advance toward the Maskoutens, where we arrived on the 7th of June. Here we are at Maskoutens. This word may, in Algonquin, mean the " Fire Nation," — which, indeed, is the name given to this tribe. Here is the limit of the discoveries which the French have made, for they have not yet gone any farther. ... I was greatly consoled at seeing a handsome cross erected in the middle of the village and adorned with many white skins, red belts, bows and arrows, which these good people had offered to the great Manitou (this is the name which they give to God). They did this to thank him for having pity on them during the winter by giving them an abundance of game when they most dreaded famine. . . . On the following day, the 10th of June, two Miamis, who were given us as guides, embarked with us in the sight of a great crowd, who could not sufficiently express their astonish- ment at the sight of seven Frenchmen alone in two canoes daring to undertake so extraordinary and so hazardous an expedition. We knew that at three leagues from Maskoutens was a river which discharged into the Mississippi. We knew also that the direction we were to follow in order to reach it was west- southwesterly. But the road is broken by so many swamps and small lakes that it is easy to lose one's way, especially as the river leading thither is so full of wild oats that it is difficult to find the channel. For this reason we greatly needed our two guides, who safely conducted us to a portage