nch
settlements. Thus the band of twenty which had left the bay of St.
Louis had dwindled down to seven. They had three horses, thirty
hatchets, five dozen knives, thirty pounds of powder, and thirty pounds
of bullets. Three Indians volunteered as guides for a portion of the
way.

When the Cenis chief found that M. Joutel was about to undertake so
long and perilous a journey, with so small a band, he was astonished,
and did everything in his power to dissuade him from such an
enterprise.

"If you will remain with us," said he, "we will give you cabins and
wives, and food in abundance. The dangers before you are appalling, not
only from hostile Indians, whose territories you must pass through, but
from the innumerable difficulties of broad rivers and deep marshes you
must encounter by the way."

M. Joutel and his companions were firm. Very reluctantly the chief
consented that the three Indian guides should, for a time, accompany
them. It was about the 25th of May, when they resumed their march from
the village of the Cenis. The second day they came to a broad river,
which they crossed on a raft, swimming their horses. The country was
quite densely populated. They daily passed cabins and villages of the
Indians, but encountered no opposition. We have minute accounts of
their reception in many of these villages. All are essentially the same
with those which we have already narrated.

Day after day, with occasional halts in consequence of rains, the
travellers pressed on, through the month of May and to the middle of
June. Their route was generally in a northeastern direction. Their path
led them through a rugged country of forests, ravines, and rivers. The
average territory of each Indian tribe was about twenty miles square.
Friendly Indians were always found to guide them, as it were, from post
to post on their way.

CHAPTER XVIII.

_The Close of the Drama._

Ludicrous Scene. Death of M. Marle. Sympathy of the Savages. Barbaric
Ceremonies. The Mississippi Reached. Joyful Interview. Ascending the
River. Incidents by the Way. The Beautiful Illinois. Weary Detention.
The Voyage to Mackinac. Thence to Quebec. Departure for France. Fate of
the Colony.

The latter part of June they approached a village, when a large number
of men came out to greet them, and to escort them in. The Indians
insisted upon carrying the Frenchmen into the village upon their backs,
saying that it was their invariable custom in the