aspect of things was suddenly
changed; abundance and hope reappeared in the land, whose population
was increased by the arrival of seventeen persons, who came, under the
guidance of Chateaugue, with the intention of making a permanent
settlement, and who had provided themselves with all the implements of
husbandry.

This excitement had hardly subsided when it was revived by the
appearance of another ship, and it became intense when the inhabitants
saw a procession of twenty females, with veiled faces, proceeding arm
in arm, and two by two, to the house of the Governor, who received them
in state and provided them with suitable lodgings. What did it mean?
The next morning, which was Sunday, the mystery was cleared by the
officiating priest reading from the pulpit, after mass, and for the
general information, the following communication from the minister to
Bienville:

"His majesty sends twenty girls to be married to the Canadians and to
the other inhabitants of Mobile, in order to consolidate the colony.
All these girls are industrious and have received a pious and virtuous
education. You will take care to settle them in life as well as may be
in your power, and to marry them to such men as are capable of
providing them with a commodious home."...

Many were the gibes and high was the glee on that occasion; pointed
were the jokes aimed at young Bienville on his being thus transformed
into a matrimonial agent and _pater familiae_. The intentions of the
King, however, were faithfully executed, and more than one rough but
honest Canadian boatman of the St. Lawrence and of the Mississippi
closed his adventurous and erratic career and became a domestic and
useful member of that little commonwealth, under the watchful influence
of the dark-eyed maid of the Loire or of the Seine.

[1] From Gayarre's "History of Louisiana" (1847). La Salle's
expedition to the mouth of the Mississippi, when he took
possession of the country in the name of the King of France, had
taken place in 1682. Louis XIV in 1689 sent out an expedition to
colonize the lower Mississippi. It comprized about two hundred men
and was commanded by Sieur d'Therville. Among his companions were
two brothers, one of whom, Sieur de Bienville, was the real
founder of New Orleans, and long served as Governor of Louisiana.
Gayarre describes the arrival and experiences of these brothers.

Gayarre lived in New Orleans. He began