account many of these same
tribes, perceiving that the peace is likely to be established with the
Iroquois, have turned their attention to this point so convenient for
a return to their own country, and will follow the examples of those
who have made a beginning on the islands of Lake Huron, which by this
means will soon be peopled from one end to the other, an event highly
desirable to facilitate the instruction of the Indian race, whom it
would not be necessary to seek by journeys of two or three hundred
leagues on these great lakes, with inconceivable danger and hardships.

"In order to aid the execution of the design, signified to us by many
of the savages, of taking up their abode at this point, where some
have already passed the winter, hunting in the neighborhood, we
ourselves have also wintered here, in order to make arrangements for
establishing the mission of _St. Ignace_, from whence it will be easy
to have access to all the Indians of Lake Huron, when the several
tribes shall have settled each on its own lands.

"With these advantages, the place has also its inconveniences,
particularly for the French, who are not yet familiar, as are the
savages, with the different kinds of fishery, in which the latter are
trained from their birth; the winds and the tides occasion no small
embarrassment to the fishermen.

"The winds: For this is the central point between the three great
lakes which surround it, and which seem incessantly tossing ball at
each other. For no sooner has the wind ceased blowing from Lake
Michigan than Lake Huron hurls back the gale it has received, and
Lake Superior in its turn, sends forth its blasts from another
quarter, and thus the game is played from one to the other--and as
these lakes are of vast extent, the winds cannot be otherwise than
boisterous, especially during the autumn."

"Old Mackinaw," the Indian name of which is Pe-quod-e-non-ge, an
Indian town on the south side of the Straits, became the place of the
first French settlement northwest of Fort Frontenac, or Cadaraeque on
Lake Ontario. The settlement was made by father Marquette, in 1671.
Pe-quod-e-non-ge, as we have seen in a previous Chapter, with its
coasts and islands before it, has been the theatre of some of the most
exciting and interesting events in Indian history, previous to the
arrival of the "white man." It was the Metropolis of a portion of the
Ojibwa, and Ottawa nations. It was there that their Congresses met