COALING A MOVING BOAT ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.]

We might tell the story of the return voyage and of the fierce conflict
which the voyagers had with the hostile Quinnipissa Indians, who had
attacked them so savagely in their descent, but it will be of more
interest to give the account written by Father Membre of the country
through which they had passed.

"The banks of the Mississippi," he writes, "for twenty or thirty leagues
from its mouth are covered with a dense growth of canes, except in
fifteen or twenty places where there are very pretty hills and spacious,
convenient landing-places. Behind this fringe of marshy land you see the
finest country in the world. Our hunters, both French and Indian, were
delighted with it. For an extent of six hundred miles in length and as
much in breadth, we were told there are vast fields of excellent land,
diversified with pleasing hills, lofty woods, groves through which you
might ride on horseback, so clear and unobstructed are the paths.

"The fields are full of all kinds of game,--wild cattle, does, deer,
stags, bears, turkeys, partridges, parrots, quails, woodcock, wild
pigeons, and ring-doves. There are also beaver, otters, and martens.
The cattle of this country surpass ours in size. Their head is monstrous
and their look is frightful, on account of the long, black hair with
which it is surrounded and which hangs below the chin. The hair is fine,
and scarce inferior to wool.

"We observed wood fit for every use. There were the most beautiful
cedars in the world. There was one kind of tree which shed an abundance
of gum, as pleasant to burn as the best French pastilles. We also saw
fine hemlocks and other large trees with white bark. The
cottonwood-trees were very large. Of these the Indians dug out canoes,
forty or fifty feet long. Sometimes there were fleets of a hundred and
fifty at their villages. We saw every kind of tree fit for
ship-building. There is also plenty of hemp for cordage, and tar could
be made in abundance.

"Prairies are seen everywhere. Sometimes they are fifty or sixty miles
in length on the river front and many leagues in depth. They are very
rich and fertile, without a stone or a tree to obstruct the plough.
These prairies are capable of sustaining an immense population. Beans
grow wild, and the stalks last several years, bearing fruit. The
bean-vines are thicker than a man's arm, and run to the top of the
highest trees. Peach-trees are abundant