s and add to
their number. An Indian woman revealed to him a plot to set fire to his
brigantine on the stocks.

He kept a careful watch, ordered all his men to be secretly ready for a
surprise, and pushed forward the building of the vessel with all vigor.
Early in April the vessel was launched. The sublime Te Deum resounded
through the solitudes of the forest as thanksgivings were offered to
God for the success of the enterprise thus far. Prayers were breathed
forth that God would guide and bless the vessel and its crew. The
vessel was moored at a safe distance from the shore. All the men swung
their hammocks on board their floating fortress, and were quite secure
from any intrusion of the savages.

CHAPTER V.

_The Voyage Along the Lakes_.

The Embarcation. Equipment of the Griffin. Voyage through the Lakes and
Straits. The Storm. Superstition of the Voyagers. Arrival at Mackinac.
Scenery there. Friendship of the Indians. Sail on Lakes Huron and
Michigan. Arrival at Green Bay. The well-freighted Griffin sent back.

On the 7th of August, 1679, the Griffin spread her sails for her
adventurous voyage into the vast unknown. Her armament consisted of
five small cannon, two of which were of brass, and three clumsy guns
called arquebuses. The vessel was of but sixty tons burden. Most of the
men had muskets for taking game. The current in the river, where the
vessel was moored, was very rapid. But by aid of a fair wind, and
twelve men pulling by a rope on the shore, all difficulties were
overcome, and the Griffin entered triumphantly the broad expanse of
Lake Erie.

As the anchor was raised and the canvas spread, a simultaneous salute
was fired from the five cannon, the three arquebuses, and all the
muskets. Such an uproar was never before heard in those silent wilds.
An immense number of Indians crowded the shore. They gazed with
astonishment, awe, and indefinable dread upon the novel spectacle. The
whole company of Frenchmen embarked, being thirty-four in number. None
were left at Erie. But at Niagara, as the magazine at Queenstown was
called, Father Melethon remained, with one or two laborers, to receive
such supplies as might be forwarded to that place.

Three missionaries accompanied the expedition, Fathers Hennepin,
Zenobe, and Ribourde. They were venerable and good men, ready at any
moment to lay down their lives in advocacy of the Christian faith. Lake
Erie is about two hundred and sixty miles long, an