pitality; but the Quinipissas, who inhabited the shores more to the
south, assailed him with showers of arrows. He wisely pursued his
important journey without seeking to avenge the insult. Tangibao, still
lower down the stream, had just been desolated by one of the terrible
irruptions of savage war: the bodies of the dead lay piled in heaps
among the ruins of their former habitations. For leagues beyond, the
channel began to widen, and at length became so vast that one shore was
no longer visible from the other. The water was now brackish, and
beautiful sea-shells were seen strewn along the shore. They had reached
the mouth of the Mississippi, the Father of Rivers.

La Salle celebrated the successful end of his adventurous voyage with
great rejoicings. Te Deum was sung, a cross was suspended from the top
of a lofty tree, and a shield, bearing the arms of France, was erected
close at hand. They attempted to determine the latitude by an
observation of the sun, but the result was altogether erroneous.

The country immediately around the outlet of this vast stream was
desolate and uninteresting. Far as the eye could teach, swampy flats and
inundated morasses filled the dreary prospect. Under the ardent rays of
the tropical sun, noisome vapors exhaled from the rank soil and
sluggish waters, poisoning the breezes from the southern seas, and
corrupting them into the breath of pestilence. Masses of floating trees,
whose large branches were scathed by months of alternate immersion and
exposure, during hundreds of leagues of travel, choked up many of the
numerous outlets of the river, and, cemented together by the alluvial
deposits of the muddy stream, gradually became fixed and solid, throwing
up a rank vegetation.[397] Above this dreary delta, however, the country
was rich and beautiful, and graceful undulations succeeded to the
monotonous level of the lower banks.

After a brief repose, La Salle proceeded to re-ascend the river toward
Canada, eager to carry the important tidings of his success to France.
His journey was beset with difficulties and dangers. The course of the
stream, though not rapid, perpetually impeded his progress. Provisions
began to fail, and dire necessity drove him to perilous measures for
obtaining supplies. Having met with four women of the hostile tribe of
the Quinipissas, he treated them with great kindness, loading them with
such gifts as might most win their favor. The chief of the savages then
c