|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 60
Having descended the river as far as 41� 28', we found that turkeys
took the place of game, and the Pisikious that of other animals. We
called the Pisikious wild buffaloes, because they very much resemble
our domestic oxen; they are not so long, but twice as large. We shot
one of them, and it was as much as thirteen men could do to drag him
from the place where he fell....
We continued to descend the river, not knowing where we were going,
and having made an hundred leagues without seeing anything but wild
beasts and birds, and being on our guard we landed at night to make
our fire and prepare our repast, and then left the shore to anchor in
the river, while one of us watched by turns to prevent a surprize. We
went south and southwest until we found ourselves in about the
latitude of 40� and some minutes, having rowed more than sixty leagues
since we entered the river.
We took leave of our guides about the end of June, and embarked in
presence of all the village, who admired our birch canoes, as they had
never before seen anything like them. We descended the river, looking
for another called Pekitanoni [Missouri], which runs from the
northwest into the Mississippi....
As we were descending the river we saw high rocks with hideous
monsters painted on them, and upon which the bravest Indians dare not
look. They are as large as a calf, with head and horns like a goat;
their eyes red; beard like a tiger's; and a face like a man's. Their
tails are so long that they pass over their beads and between their
fore legs, under their belly, and ending like a fish's tail. They are
painted red, green, and black. They are so well drawn that I cannot
believe they were drawn by the Indians. And for what purpose they were
made seems to me a great mystery. As we fell down the river, and while
we were discoursing upon these monsters, we heard a great rushing and
bubbling of waters, and small islands of floating trees coming from
the mouth of the Pekitanoni [Missouri], with such rapidity that we
could not trust ourselves to go near it. The water of this river is so
muddy that we could not drink it. It so discolors the Mississippi as
to make the navigation of it dangerous. This river comes from the
northwest, and empties into the Mississippi, and on its banks are
situated a number of Indian villages. We judged by the compass, that
the Mississippi discharged itself into the Gulf of Mexico. It would,
however, have been more agreeable if it had discharged itself into the
South Sea or Gulf of California....
Having satisfied ourselves that the Gulf of Mexico was in latitude 31�
40', and that we could reach it in three or four days' journey from
the Akansea [Arkansas River], and that the Mississippi discharged
itself into it, and not to the eastward of the Cape of Florida, nor
into the California Sea, we resolved to return home. We considered
that the advantage of our travels would be altogether lost to our
nation if we fell into the hands of the Spaniards, from whom we could
expect no other treatment than death or slavery; besides, we saw that
we were not prepared to resist the Indians, the allies of the
Europeans, who continually infested the lower part of this river; we
therefore came to the conclusion to return, and make a report to those
who had sent us. So that having rested another day, we left the
village of the Akansea, on the seventeenth of July, 1673, having
followed the Mississippi from the latitude 42� to 34�, and preached
the Gospel to the utmost of my power, to the nations we visited. We
then ascended the Mississippi with great difficulty against the
current, and left it in the latitude of 38� north, to enter another
river [Illinois], which took us to the lake of the Illinois
[Michigan], which is a much shorter way than through the River
Mesconsin [Wisconsin], by which we entered the Mississippi....
[1] Father Marquette was born at Laon, in France, in 1637, and
died on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan in 1675. Marquette had
kept daily memoranda of his expedition, but during the return
voyage up the Mississippi his papers were lost. He afterward
composed from memory his narrative published under the title
"Travels and Discoveries in North America." It has been printed in
the "Historical Collections of Louisiana," and in Hart's "American
History Told by Contemporaries."
In this journey, occupying about four months, Marquette and Joliet
paddled their canoes more than 2,500 miles. It has been maintained
by some writers, and among them Mr. Thwaites, that Joliet and
Marquette were as much the real discoverers of the Mississippi as
Columbus was the discoverer of America. While Europeans had
actually reached the Mississippi before them, just as Asiatics and
Norwegians probably had reached America before Columbus, it was
Joliet and Marquette who first wrote narratives of their
expedition, prepared excellent maps, and were followed by others
who opened the region to enterprise and settlement. Of de Soto's
century-and-a-quarter earlier discovery, nothing came, while the
contention put forth for La Salle that he made an earlier visit
than Joliet and Marquette is based "on the merest surmise."
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|