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Waters of the River that is not Far from That village. I also took time to look
for a medicinal plant which a savage, who knows its secret, showed to Father
Alloues with many Ceremonies. Its root is employed to Counteract snake-bites,
God having been pleased to give this antidote Against a poison which is very
common in these countries. It is very pungent, and tastes like powder when
crushed with the teeth; it must be masticated and placed upon the bite
inflicted by the snake. The reptile has so great a horror of it that it even
flees from a Person who has rubbed himself with it. The plant bears several
stalks, a foot high, with rather long leaves; and a white flower, which greatly
resembles The wallflower.18 I put some in my Canoe, in order to
examine it at leisure while we continued to advance toward Maskoutens, where we
arrived on The 7th of June.
SECTION 3RD. DESCRIPTION OF THE VILLAGE OF MASKOUTENS; WHAT PASSED THERE BETWEEN THE FATHER AND THE SAVAGES. THE FRENCH BEGIN TO ENTER A NEW AND UNKNOWN COUNTRY, AND ARRIVE AT MISSISIPI.
Here we are at Maskoutens. This Word may, in Algonquin, mean "the fire Nation," - which, indeed, is the name given to this tribe. Here is the limit of the discoveries which the french have made, For they have not yet gone any farther.
This Village Consists of three Nations who have gathered there - Miamis, Maskoutens, and Kikabous. The former are the most civil, the most liberal, and the most shapely. They wear two long locks over their ears, which give them a pleasing appearance.
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They are regarded as warriors, and rarely undertake expeditions without being
successful. They are very docile, and listen quietly to What is said to Them;
and they appeared so eager to Hear Father Alloues when he Instructed them that
they gave Him but little rest, even during the night. The Maskoutens and
Kikabous are ruder, and seem peasants in Comparison with the others. As Bark
for making Cabins is scarce in this country, They use Rushes; these serve Them
for making walls and Roofs, but do not afford them much protection against the
winds, and still less against the rains when they fall abundantly. The
Advantage of Cabins of this kind is, that they make packages of Them, and
easily transport them wherever they wish, while they are hunting.
When I visited them, I was greatly Consoled at seeing a handsome Cross erected in the middle of the village, and adorned with many white skins, red Belts, and bows and arrows, which these good people had offered to the great Manitou (This is the name which they give to God). They did this to thank him for having had pity On Them during The winter, by giving Them an abundance of game When they Most dreaded famine.19
I took pleasure in observing the situation of this village. It is beautiful and very pleasing; For, from an Eminence upon which it is placed, one beholds on every side prairies, extending farther than the eye can see, interspersed with groves or with lofty trees. The soil is very fertile, and yields much indian corn. The savages gather quantities of plums and grapes, wherewith much wine could be made, if desired.
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No sooner had we arrived than we, Monsieur Jollyet and I, assembled the elders
together; and he told them that he was sent by Monsieur Our Governor to
discover New countries, while I was sent by God to Illumine them with the light
of the holy Gospel. He told them that, moreover, The sovereign Master of our
lives wished to be known by all the Nations; and that in obeying his will I
feared not the death to which I exposed myself in voyages so perilous. He
informed them that we needed two guides to show us the way; and We gave them a
present, by it asking them to grant us the guides. To this they very Civilly
consented; and they also spoke to us by means of a present, consisting of a Mat
to serve us as a bed during the whole of our voyage.
On the following day, the tenth of June, two Miamis who were given us as guides embarked with us, in the sight of a great crowd, who could not sufficiently express their astonishment at the sight of seven frenchmen, alone and in two Canoes, daring to undertake so extraordinary and so hazardous an Expedition.
We knew that, at three leagues from Maskoutens, was a River which discharged into Missisipi. We knew also that the direction we were to follow in order to reach it was west-southwesterly. But the road is broken by so many swamps and small lakes that it is easy to lose one's way, especially as the River leading thither is so full of wild oats that it is difficult to find the Channel. For this reason we greatly needed our two guides, who safely Conducted us to a portage of 2,700 paces, and helped us to transport our Canoes to enter That river; after
|
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which they returned home, leaving us alone in this Unknown country, in the
hands of providence.20
Thus we left the Waters flowing to Quebeq, 4 or 500 Leagues from here, to float on Those that would thenceforward Take us through strange lands. Before embarking thereon, we Began all together a new devotion to the blessed Virgin Immaculate, which we practiced daily, addressing to her special prayers to place under her protection both our persons and the success of our voyage; and, after mutually encouraging one another, we entered our Canoes.
The River on which we embarked is called Meskousing. It is very wide; it has a sandy bottom, which forms various shoals that render its navigation very difficult. It is full of Islands Covered with Vines. On the banks one sees fertile land, diversified with woods, prairies, and Hills. There are oak, Walnut, and basswood trees; and another kind, whose branches are armed with long thorns. We saw there neither feathered game nor fish, but many deer, and a large number of cattle. Our Route lay to the southwest, and, after navigating about 30 leagues, we saw a spot presenting all the appearances of an iron mine; and, in fact, one of our party who had formerly seen such mines, assures us that The One which We found is very good and very rich. It is Covered with three feet of good soil, and is quite near a chain of rocks, the base of which is covered by very fine trees. After proceeding 40 leagues on This same route, we arrived at the mouth of our River; and, at 42 and a half degrees Of latitude, We safely entered Missisipi on The 17th of June, with a Joy that I cannot Express.
Jesuit Relations, vol. 64.
>
R. G. Thwaites
Footnotes.
pp. 273-281.
278 |
LES RELATIONS DES JÉSUITES |
by his brother Louis le Moyne, sieur de Châteauguay - born in January, 1676,
and slain at Fort Nelson Oct. 4. 1694.
20 (p. 121). - It will be remembered that the Sulpitians had directed the religious affairs of the Montreal colony since 1657, when they came to replace the Jesuits; and that they had been, since 1663, seigniors of the island (vol. xii., note 13). The Jesuits reëstablished a residence at Montreal in 1692. The Récollets had preceded them by ten years; Le Clercq relates (Gaspésie, pp. 568-571) that in 1682 he went thither, by command of his superiors, to secure a piece of land (which was granted by the Sulpitians) whereon a residence might be established for priests of their order.
21 (p. 135). - The bread here mentioned as "made of medlars or services " was probably composed of the dried fruit of the persimmon (Diospyros Virginiana). Gravier, in his Voyage of 1700, mentions cakes of piakimine, presented to him by the savages - apparently the same as the "bread " described in our text.
22 (p. 139). - Pierre François Pinet was born at Périgueux, France, Nov. 11, 1660; and entered the Jesuit novitiate at Bordeaux, Aug. 29, 1682. He was an instructor at Tulle, Périgueux, and Pau, successively, from 1684 to 1690; he then completed his studies at Bordeaux, and departed for Canada in 1694. He was at first sent to Michillimackinac; but in 1696 he went to Illinois, and founded the mission of the Guardian Angel at Chicago, among the Miami bands located there. This mission was broken up in the following year - according to Jesuit writers, through Frontenac's hostility, but Laval's influence procured Pinet's return thither. The latter went, probably early in 1700, to the Tamaroas, an Illinois tribe located on the Mississippi, not far from the mouth of the Missouri - a place known later as Cahokia. By letters patent of May, 1698, St. Vallier deprived the Jesuits of this mission, bestowing it upon priests sent out by the Séminaire des Missions Étrangères. This proceeding was strongly opposed by the Jesuits, and they did not consent to the change until 1701. Meanwhile, Pinet remained with the Tamaroas (by order of his superiors, according to Rochemonteix) until probably the spring of 1702, and then labored among the Kaskaskias. According to Shea (Mississippi Voyages, p. 53, note), he died at Cahokia, about 1704.
Rochemonteix's account of Pinet's mission (Jésuites, t. iii., pp. 550-554, 568-572) differs in some points from the above; we have followed allusions in contemporary documents, and Shea's account as given in Church in Colon. Days, pp. 537- 539.
23 (p. 141).-Regarding Pierre Moreau, see vol. Iix., note 44. Jean Bouillet, sieur de la Chassaigne (Chassagne), a native of Paray,
Jesuit Relations, vol. 65.
Jacques Gravier
Letter to Bishop Laval,
September 17, 1697.
pp. 53-57.
|
1696-1702] |
GRAVIER TO LAVAL |
53 |
Two letters by Father Jacques Gravier to Monseigneur
de Laval.
MONSEIGNEUR,
I beg Your Grace to pardon the liberty that I take in asking once more for your blessing, which will call down upon me that of God, to enable me to reach my beloved Mission in safety after so long an exile. Nothing has more comforted me, Monseigneur, than the kind manner in which Your Grace was pleased to manifest to me, during the visits that I took the liberty of paying you, that You felt an interest in that mission. If Monseigneur of Quebec5 has the same Sentiments for us, as We all hope, We shall perform our duties in our Outaoais Missions more peacefully than We have done for some years. We shall also be safe from the threats of Monsieur the Count de Frontenac to drive us from our Missions, as he has already done from that of l'Ange gardien of the Miamis, at Chicagwa, - the charge of which Monseigneur of Quebec had confided to me, by his patents giving me the care of the Missions to the Ilinois, Miamis, and Scious, and confirming the powers that Your Grace had conferred upon Father Marquette and Father d'alloués, who were the first Missionaries to those Southern nations.6 If Monsieur the Count de frontenac had learned that in our Missions we had done anything unworthy of Our Ministry, he could easily have applied to Monseigneur The Bishop or to his
Jesuit Relations, vol. 65.
Jacques Gravier
Letter to Bishop Laval,
September 17, 1697.
pp. 53-57.
|
1696-1702] |
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61 |
known that it was Monsieur de Tonty who introduced them to the Akansea, for
they would pass as his envoys; and that Monsieur de Montigny himself must speak
to them, through his interpreter. He did not give me time to compose a short
speech in Ilinois, as an introduction. Father Binteau, who knows the customs of
the savages as well as I do, will do it better than I can. He, as well as
father Pinet at Chicagwa, will do themselves the pleasure of rendering them
every kind of service.7
Moreover, should Monsieur de Montigny tell your grace, as he has threatened me with doing, that we have given him for his journey seven sacks of indian corn, and have retempered two hatchets for him, I humbly beg you to say nothing about it to the father superior, for our house has incurred no new expense; and to be pleased, Monseigneur, to spare us the chagrin that we would feel on learning that an attempt is made to take into account, as with Strangers, a little indian corn that we have shared with our brethren. If a sack of old corn be worth at the present time more than 25 livres, ours did not cost us more than 15 livres; and the new corn, such as it is, will not fail us, - to say nothing of the fact that our brother Jacques has sold for 50 livres a canoe that Monsieur de Montigny had left with us.
I take the liberty of mentioning these details to your grace, to beg you not to deprive us of the joy and consolation that we always hope to have, of receiving in all our missions Messieurs the missionaries of the Seminary of Quebec, and those who are in any way connected with it, that they may act therein with the same freedom as in their own
|
1710-56] |
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183 |
The 26th. The Chaouanons gave a 2nd response which was somewhat more
satisfactory than the 1st. After which, we continued our journey to rivière à
la Roche.
The situation of the village of the Chaouanons is quite pleasant, - at least, it is not masked by the mountains, like the other villages through which we had passed. The Sinhioto river, which bounds it on the West, has given it its name. It is composed of about sixty cabins. The Englishmen there numbered five. They were ordered to withdraw, and promised to do so. The latitude of our camp was 39° 1'.
The 28th. We encamped at the mouth of rivière Blanche ["White river"], where we found a small band of Miamis with their chief, named le Baril ["the Barrel"]. They had established themselves there a short time before, and formed a village of 7 or 8 cabins, a league distant from the river. Monsieur de Celoron requested them to accompany him to the village of la Demoiselle ["the young Lady"], and they promised to do so. We passed two days waiting for them. Finally, on the morning of the 31st, they appeared, followed by their women, their children, and their dogs. All embarked, and about 4 o'clock in the afternoon we entered rivière à la Roche, after having buried the 6th and last leaden plate on the western bank of that river, and to the north of the Ohio.44
This Beautiful River - so little known to the French, and, unfortunately, too well known to the English - is, according to my estimate, 181 marine leagues from the mouth of the Yjadakoin (or Tjadakoin) to the entrance of rivière à la Roche. In all
|
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187 |
made. On the 3rd day after his disappearance, we saw him, when we least
expected to do so, at a bend in the river, conducted by two Miamis.
On the 13th of September, we had the honor of saluting la Demoiselle in his fort. It is situated on a vast prairie which borders Rivière à la Roche; its latitude is 40° 34'. This band is not numerous; it consists at most of 40 or 50 men.46 There is among them an English trader. Monsieur de Celoron did not talk with la Demoiselle until the 17th, because he awaited an interpreter from the Miamis, for whom he had asked Monsieur Raimond. But, wearied with waiting, and seeing the season already advanced, he determined to take for an interpreter an old Sounantouan who was in le Baril's company.
On the 18th, la Demoiselle replied, and in his answer promised to take back his band to their old village in the following spring; he even gave his word that he would go with us as far as there, in order to prepare everything for his return. But the arrival of the Miami interpreter put him in a bad humor; he forgot all his promises, and in spite of all that we could do, he constantly refused to see us. We then left him; and, after having burned our canoes and all that we could not carry, we took leave of him on the morning of the 20th.
Our journey by land was only five days. We were divided into four brigades, each commanded by two officers. We marched in single file, because the narrowness of the path would not permit us to do otherwise. The road was passable, but we found it quite tedious. In my estimation, the journey from la Demoiselle's to the Miamis might cover 35 leagues. Three times we crossed Rivière à la Roche; but
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