ness, to Fort Frontenac, he despatched
Father Louis Hennepin to explore the Mississippi River from the mouth
of the Illinois to its source. So little was then known of this
continent that La Salle had strong hopes that near the source of the
Mississippi, another stream might be found, flowing toward the west,
which, by a short voyage, would conduct one to the Pacific Ocean. In
this way he hoped that the long-sought-for northwest passage to the
Pacific might be discovered.

On the morning of the 29th of February, 1680, Father Hennepin, with but
two companions, entered his birch canoe, to prosecute his grand and
perilous enterprise. They were to explore unknown realms, crowded with
savage tribes. They had their guns, not for attack or defence, but for
taking game, with a good supply of ammunition, and with several hundred
dollars worth of goods, to conciliate the savages by presents, and to
exchange with them for provisions.

With the early dawn they commenced their voyage. The day was fine, the
river placid in its gentle flow, and the scenery, on both sides of the
stream, of undulating hills, majestic forests, and wide-spread
prairies, upon which herds of wild cattle were grazing, was picturesque
and alluring in the extreme. As they rapidly descended the river, they
met several parties of Illinois Indians, returning to their village at
the head of the lake. Their canoes were laden with the game they had
taken. The Frenchmen and the Indians exchanged friendly greetings.

The kind-hearted savages endeavored to dissuade them from their
perilous voyage, assuring them, with all the wildest exaggerations of
Indian superstition, that they would encounter birds as large as
buffaloes, who would carry them in their talons as an eagle seizes a
rabbit; that there were enormous beasts in the river, doubtless
referring to the alligators, who would dash their canoe to pieces, and
devour a man at a mouthful; then there were rapids and whirlpools from
which they could not escape, and in which they would be surely
engulfed; and that if by any possibility they escaped, all these
perils, they would fall into the hands of ferocious tribes, who would
enslave them, torture them, cook them, and eat them. They entreated the
Frenchmen to go back with them to their village, where they could live
in safety and in abundance.

The two boatmen, Anthony Auguelle and Michael Ako, were alarmed by
these representations, and were strongly inclined to r