canoes.

peace was also made with the Koroas, whose chief came there from the principal village of the Koreas, two leagues distant from that of the Natches. The two chiefs accompanied M. de la Salle to the banks. of the river. Here the Koron chief embarked with him, to conduct him to the village, where peace was again concluded with this nation, which, besides the other villages of which it is composed, is allied to nearly forty others. On the 31st, we passed the village of the Oumas without knowing it, on account of the fog, and its distance from the river. On the 3rd of April, at about ten o'clock in the morning, we saw among the canes thirteen or fourteen M. de la Salle landed, with several of his people. Footprints were seen, and also savages, a little lower down, who were fishing, and who fled precipitately, as soon as they discovered us. Others of our party then went ashore on the borders of the marsh, formed by the inundation of the river. M. de la Salle sent two Frenchmen, and then two savages, to reconnoitre, who reported that there was a village not far off, but that the whole of this marsh, covered with canes, must be crossed to reach it; that they had been assailed with a shower of arrows by the inhabitants of the town, who had not dared to engage with them in the marsh, but who had then withdrawn, although neither the French nor the savages with them had fired, on account of the orders they had received not to act unless in pressing danger. Presently we heard a drum beat in the village, and the cries and howlings with which these barbarians are accustomed to make attacks. We waited three or four hours, and, as we could not encamp in this marsh, and seeing no one, and no longer hearing anything, we embarked.

An hour afterward, we came to the village of Maheouala, lately destroyed, and containing dead bodies and marks of blood. Two leagues below this place we encamped. We continued our voyage till the 6th, when we discovered three channels, by which the River Colbert discharges itself into the sea. We landed on the bank of the most western channel, about three leagues from its mouth. On the 7th, M. de la Salle sent to reconnoitre the shores of the neighboring sea, and M. de Tonty likewise examined the great middle channel. They found these two outlets beautiful, large, and deep. On the 8th, we reascended the river, a little above its confluence with the sea, to find a dry place, beyond the reach of inundations. The elevation of the North Pole was here about twenty-seven degrees. Here we 5repared a column and a cross, and to the said column were affixed the arms of France, with this inscription:

LOUIS LE GRAND, ROI DE FRANCE ET DE NAVARRE, REGNE LE NEUVIEME AVRIL, 1682.

The whole party, under arms, chanted the Te Deum, the Eraudiat, the Domine salvum fac Regem ; and then, after a salute of fire-arms and cries of Vive le Roi, the column was erected by M. de la Salle, who, standing near it, said, with a loud voice, in French:

"In the name of the most high, mighty, invincible, and victorious Prince, Louis the Great, by the Grace of God King of France and of Navarre, Fourteenth of that name, this ninth day of April, one thousand six hundred and eighty-two, I, in virtue of the commission of his Majesty, which I hold in my hand, and which may be seen by all whom it may concern, have taken, and do now take, in the name of his Majesty, and of his successors to the crown, possession of this country of Louisiana, the sens, harbors, ports, bays, adjacent straits; and all the nations, people, provinces, cities, towns, villages, mines, minerals, fisheries, streams, and rivers, comprised in the extent of the said Louisiana, from the mouth of the great River St. Louis, on the eastern side, otherwise called Ohio, Alighin, Sipore, ar Chukagona, and this with the consent of the Chouanons, Chikachas, and other people dwelling therein, with whom we have made alliance; as also along the River Colbert, or Mississippi, and rivers which discharge themselves therein, from its source beyond the country of the Kious or Nadouessious, and this with their consent, and with the consent of the Motantees, [linois, Mesigameas, Natches, Koroas, which are the most considerable nations dwelling therein, with whom also we have made alliance either by ourselves, or by others in our behalf;* as far as its mouth at the sea, or Gulf of Mexico, about the twenty-seventh degree of the elevation of the North Pole, and also to the mouth of the River of Palms; upon the assurance, which we have received from all these nations, that we are the first Europeans who have descended or ascended the said River Colbert; hereby protesting against all those, who may in future undertake to invade any or all of these countries, people, or lands, above described, to the prejudice of the right of his Majesty, acquired by the consent of the nations herein named. Of which, and of all that can be needed, I hereby take to witness those that hear me, and demand an act of the Notary, as required by law."

To which the whole assembly responded with shouts of Vive le Roi, and with salutes of fire-arms. Moreover, the said Sieur de la Salle caused to be buried at the foot of the tree, to which the cross was attached, a leaden plate, on one side of which were engraved the arms of France, and the following Latin inscription:

LVDOVICVS MAGNVS REGNAT.

NONO APRILIS CIƆ IỌC LXXXII.

ROBERTVS CAVELIER, CVM DOMINO DE TONTY, LEGATO, R. P. ZENOBIO MEMBRE, RECOLLECTO, ET VIGINTI GALLIS, PRIMVS HOC FLVMEN, INDE AB ILINEORVM PAGO, ENAVIGAVIT, EJVSQVE OSTIVM FECIT PERVIVM, NONO APRILIS ANNI CIƆ IƆC LXXXII.

* There is an obscurity in this enumeration of places and Indian nations, which may be ascribed to an ignorance of the geography of the country; but it seems to be the design of the Sieur de la Salle to take possession of the whole territory watered by the Mississippi, from its mouth to its source, and by the streams flowing into it on both sides.

After which, the Sieur de la Salle said, that his Majesty, as eldest son of the Church, would annex no country to his crown, without making it his chief care to establish the Christian religion therein, and that its symbol must now be planted; which was accordingly done at once by erecting a cross, before which the Verilla and the Domine salvum fac Regem were sung. Whereupon the ceremony was concluded with cries of Vive le Roi.

Of all and every of the above, the said Sieur de la Salle having required of us an instrument, we have delivered to him the same, signed by us, and by the undersigned witnesses, this ninth day of April, one thousand six hundred and eighty-two.

LA METAIRIE, Notary.

GILLES MEUCRET.

JEAN MICHEL, Surgeon.
JEAN MAS.

JEAN DULIGNON.

NICOLAS DE LA SALLE.

JAQUES CAUCHOIS.

NOTE VI.

La Salle's death is related by Joutel, in his Journal Historique, as follows: “They all repaired to the place where the wretched corpse lay, which they barbarously stripped to the shirt, and vented their malice in vile and opprobrious language. The surgeon, Leotot, said several times, in scorn and derision: There thou liest, great Bassa, there thou liest." In conclusion, they dragged it naked among the bushes, and left it exposed to the ravenous wild beasts. So far was it from what a certain author writes of his having buried him, and set up a cross on his grave.”

"Hennepin says: "He (La Salle,) was accompanied by Father Anastasi and two natives, who had served him as guides. After travelling for about six miles, they found the bloody cravat of Saget, (one of La Salle's men,) near the bank of a river, and at the same time, two eagles were hovering over their heads, as if attracted by food on the ground. La Salle fired his gun, which was heard by the conspirators on the other side of the river. Duhaut and L'Archiveque immediately crossed over at some distance in adLa Salle approached, and meeting the latter, asked for Moringuet, and was answered vaguely, that he was along the river. At that moment, Duhaut, who was concealed in the high grass, discharged his musket, and shot him through the head. Father Anastasi was standing by his side, and expected to share the same fate, till the conspirators told him they had no design upon his life.

vance.

La Salle survived about an hour, unable to speak, but pressing the hand of the good father, to signify that he understood what was said to him. The same kind friend dug his grave and buried him, and erected a cross over his remains."

Duhaut assumed command of the conspirators, seized the effects of La Salle and those who adhered to him, and took up their line of march toward the savages.

CHAPTER VIII.

English Revolution in 1688—The prototype of our own-Rise of Holland-Dutch, East and West India companies-Henry or Hendrick Hudson-New-York colonized by the Dutch-Taken by the English in 1664-The Iroquois allies of the Dutch-Afterward of the English-The only barrier between the English settlements and the French of Canada-The English Indians, (the Iroquois,) and the French Indians, (the Hurons, Illinois, and others,) become parties in the wars of Europe-Catholic missions established among the Onondagas-Abandoned-War between the French and Iroquois-Western New-York severed from Canada by the Mohawks-Montreal taken by the latter-Congress at Albany-The Six Nations attend-Frontinac reappointed Governor of Canada-Holds a council with the Western Indians-Schenectady and other towns, destroyed-Jesuit missionaries in Illinois-Allouez Rasles -Pinet-Binnitau, his death-Marest succeeds him-Marmet, afterward-Ibberville appointed Governor of Louisiana-Builds fort Biloxi-Colonizes Louisiana-A line of fortified forts between New-Orleans and Quebec completed-Sir David Kirk at. tacks Quebec-It surrenders for want of provisions-Is restored to France by treaty -Congress at Albany-Colonel Nicholson captures Port Royal and AcadiaColonel Schuyler visits England-Takes Iroquois chiefs thither-They are presented to Queen Ann-Sir Hoveden Walker, under the auspices of Lord Bolingbroke, sails for Quebec-Is shipwrecked, and the expedition abandoned-Louis XIV. desires peace-It is granted to him, and signed at Utrecht in 1713, the peace party having previously triumphed in England-Canada and Louisiana confirmed to FranceEngland becomes false to the principles she had avowed, that free ships make free goods"-Louisiana granted to Crozat-Its extent-Illinois included in the grantDe La Motte appointed Governor of Louisiana-St. Denys sent as agent to Mexico -Spaniards seize upon Texas-Bienville succeeds De La Motte as governor-Crozat surrenders his patent to the crown.

Soon after the death of La Salle, in 1687-when the arms and religion of France, (closely united,) were permanently established, to all human appearances, not only in Canada, but in Hudson's Bay and Newfoundland, in a part of Maine, a part of Vermont, and more than one half of New-York; in the whole valley of the Mississippi, and in Texas, as far as the Rio Bravo del Norte-James the Second, of England, abdicated its throne, and fled to the Continent. On his arrival in France, he was received by his friend and ally, Louis XIV., " with the highest generosity, sympathy and regard," and lodged in splendor at St. Germains.

It may, perhaps, here be asked, what had the abdication of a British monarch, in 1688, to do with the history of Illinois? We answer, much. It unburied the tomahawk. It aroused the savage warrior from his lair, and wrapt whole villages in flames. Its native and French population. participated in all its vicissitudes, and even he, who was afterward its

governor, (Ibberville,) was a volunteer in the midnight attack upon Schenectady, and there signalized himself by an act of mercy. It had, too, another effect-it laid the foundation of our glorious Revolution. In the wars between England and France that followed the event above referred to, the same questions were agitated between the prince and people of England, which severed the British empire afterward in twain. Every argument for and against ship money, might have been pleaded for and against the Stamp Act. The right of self-government in the people of England, was as distinctly avowed by Parliament in the act of settlement, transferring the crown to William of Orange, as in the American Declaration of Independence. Still, English historians speak of theirs, as a glorious revolution, and of ours, as a successful rebellion. There is also another point of resemblance. The tomahawk and the scalpingknife were employed by Louis XIV., " in the cause of legitimacy," precisely as they were by George III. and his emissaries, when our ancestors, in 1775, "unfurled their banners to the breeze."

In the war between England and France, concluded by the peace of Ryswick, in 1697, and also in the war which commenced on the death of William of Orange, and was afterward concluded by the peace of Utrecht, in 1713, Louis of France took up arms in defence of legitimacy. England, on the other hand, asserted the right of self-government. In both contests, France was aided by all those powers unfriendly to change. Having encroached, however, upon every neighbor, and threatened Europe with universal monarchy, during the long and apparently triumphant and prosperous reign of Louis XIV., fear, and a sense of wrong, made every nation upon the Continent her enemy. William of Orange, (now King of England,) before he ascended its throne, was at variance with Louis, and that enmity was in no respect impaired by his subsequent elevation. In the wars, therefore, which succeeded, he was not only the defender of England against the encroachments of France, but he was also the defender of the territorial freedom of Europe. The German empire feared the power, and trembled at the name of Louis. Germany became, therefore, the ally of England. The Spanish Netherlands, lying between Germany and France, and a barrier between Holland and the latter, followed her example. Other nations upon the Continent, entertaining similar fears, and threatened by Louis with subjugation, embarked also in the contest. An issue was thereupon joined between England, Germany and the Netherlands, on the one side, and France on the other.

In this contest, the roving enterprise, and religious faith of the French colonists, secured to Louis XIV. an active support.

The English colonies, on the other hand, sided heartily with England. The revolution which had just taken place, was regarded by them as the pledge of American freedom; and the exile of a tyrant, followed by the election of a constitutional king, in their estimation, the exhibition of its first fruits.

In 1688, the whole number of French colonists in North America, was only eleven thousand two hundred and forty-nine; and those were scattered along the St. Lawrence, through the whole extent of its valley, and from the neighborhood of Frontenac or Kingston, to Mackinaw and the Illinois. The English, at that time, far exceeded them in numbers, and then were scattered along the Atlantic coasts and rivers. The savages were important allies. Hence the French, and also the English, (sometimes honorably, and sometimes otherwise,) sought their friendship.

The forest rangers, who penetrated every grove, and the Jesuit missionaries, who visited every Algonquin's cabin, and the homes of the Sioux, the Illinois, the Miamies, and the Pottawatomies, were to France the origin and the end of all her hopes. Denonville, Governor of Canada, "God alone could have saved Canada in speaking of the year 1688, says, this year. But for the missions at the west, Illinois would have been abandoned the fort of Mackinaw would have been lost; and a general rising among the natives, have completed the ruin of New-France."

Previous to the time of which we have been speaking, the United Netherlands, by incessant toil, had emerged into consequence. A country of limited extent, stolen, as it were, from the sea, and protected from its encroachments by extensive embankments, and numerous pumps driven by windmills, had become, in a few years, the richest in Europe. The muster of her patriot emigrants was on board her ships, and the rendezvous of her martyrs on the deep. They had pursued their enemies as the whaler his game, from sea to sea. Every house was a school for mariners, and the sports, even of children, were among the breakers. A boat was the infant's toy; and a ship, laboring on the billows without oars and without a sail, stamped upon her coin. Without agriculture, Holland had become a granary for the Continent; without flax, the residence of weavers; without sheep, the manufacturer of woollens; and without forests, the ship-yard and workshop of Europe. Amsterdam, her chief town, had become the pride and the glory of cities; and Antwerp, and Lisbon, and Cadiz, and Venice, had been despoiled to do her service.*

In 1600, the plan of a West India company was presented to the States General, and referred to a committee, of which the celebrated Grotius was a member. The United Provinces, it was said, had mariners and capital to spare, and America was unable to exhaust their enterprise ; the sea itself was their home, and the storm and the tempest but play. things. On the other hand, it was urged by those who desired peace with Spain, (and of this number was Grotius,) that wars, at all events, were uncertain; and that the sea itself was treacherous. This last opinion predominating, the charter, of course, was refused.

The Dutch, however, soon found their way to the Continent, through another and a different channel.

Some English merchants, excited by the enormous profits of voyages

* Bancroft.