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There were in Canada, at this date, six of these Jesuits--Le Jeune, Masse, De Nou?, Daniel, Davost, and Br?beuf; to the last three had been assigned the Huron mission. On the first day of July, 1634, Daniel and Br?beuf left Quebec for Three Rivers, where they were to meet some Hurons. Davost followed three days after. About the same time another expedition started up the St. Lawrence, destined for the same place, to erect a fort. The Jesuits were bound for the scene of their future labors in the Huron country. They were to be accompanied, at least as far as Isle des Allumettes, by Nicolet on his way to the Winnebagoes.

At Three Rivers, Nicolet assisted in a manner in the permanent foundation of the place, by helping to plant some of the pickets of the fort just commenced. The Hurons, assembled there for the purposes of trade, were ready to return to their homes, and with them the missionaries, as well as Nicolet, expected to journey up the Ottawa. The savages were few in number, and much difficulty was experienced in getting permits from them to carry so many white men, as other Frenchmen were also of the company. It was past the middle of July before all were on their way.

That Nicolet did not visit the Winnebagoes previous to 1634, is reasonably certain. Champlain would not, in 1632, have located upon his map Green bay north of Lake Superior, as was done by him in that year, had Nicolet been there before that date. As he was sent by Champlain, the latter must have had knowledge of his going; so that had he started in 1632, or the previous year, the governor would, doubtless, have awaited his return before noting down, from Indian reports only, the location of rivers and lakes and the homes of savage nations in those distant regions.

It has already been shown, that Nicolet probably returned to Quebec in 1633, relinquishing his home among the Nipissing Indians that year. And that he did not immediately set out at the command of Champlain to return up the Ottawa and journey thence to the Winnebagoes, is certain; as the savages from the west, then trading at the site of what is now Three Rivers, were in no humor to allow him to retrace his steps, even had he desired it.

It may, therefore, be safely asserted that, before the year 1634, "those so remote countries," lying to the northward and northwestward, beyond the Georgian bay of Lake Huron, had never been seen by civilized man. But, did Nicolet visit those ulterior regions in 1634, returning thence in 1635? That these were the years of his explorations and discoveries, there can be no longer any doubt. After the ninth day of December, of the last-mentioned year, his continued presence upon the St. Lawrence is a matter of record, up to the day of his death, except from the nineteenth of March, 1638, to the ninth of January, 1639. These ten months could not have seen him journeying from Quebec to the center of what is now Wisconsin, and return; for, deducting those which could not have been traveled in because of ice in the rivers and lakes, and the remaining ones were too few for his voyage, considering the number of tribes he is known to have visited. Then, too, the Iroquois had penetrated the country of the Algonquins, rendering it totally unsafe for such explorations, even by a Frenchman. Besides, it may be stated that Champlain was no longer among the living, and that with him died the spirit of discovery which alone could have prompted the journey.

Furthermore, the marriage of Nicolet which had previously taken place, militates against the idea of his having attempted any more daring excursions among savage nations. As, therefore, he certainly traveled up the Ottawa, as far as Isle des Allumettes, in 1634, and as there is no evidence of his having been upon the St. Lawrence until near the close of the next year, the conclusion, from these facts alone, is irresistible that, during this period, he accomplished, as hereafter detailed, the exploration of the western countries; visited the Winnebagoes, as well as several neighboring nations, and returned to the St. Lawrence; all of which, it is believed, could not have been performed in one summer. But what, heretofore, has been a very strong probability, is now seen clearly to be a fact; as it is certainly known that an agreement for peace was made some time before June, 1635, between certain Indian tribes , which, as the account indicates, was brought about by Nicolet in his journey to the Far West.

The sufferings endured by all the Frenchmen, except Nicolet, in traveling up the Ottawa, were very severe. The latter had been so many years among the Indians, was so inured to the toils of the wilderness, that he met every hardship with the courage, the fortitude, and the strength of the most robust savage. Not so with the rest of the party. "Barefoot, lest their shoes should injure the frail vessel, each crouched in his canoe, toiling with unpracticed hands to propel it. Before him, week after week, he saw the same lank, unkempt hair, the same tawny shoulders, and long naked arms ceaselessly plying the paddle." A scanty diet of Indian-corn gave them little strength to assist in carrying canoes and baggage across the numerous portages. They were generally ill-treated by the savages, and only reached the Huron villages after great peril. Nicolet remained for a time at Isle des Allumettes, where he parted with Br?beuf.

It was now that Nicolet, after all ceremonies and "talks" with the Hurons were ended, began preparations for his voyage to the Winnebagoes. He was to strike boldly into undiscovered regions. He was to encounter savage nations never before visited. It was, in reality, the beginning of a voyage full of dangers--one that would require great tact, great courage, and constant facing of difficulties. No one, however, understood better the savage character than he; no Frenchman was more fertile of resources. From the St. Lawrence, he had brought presents to conciliate the Indian tribes which he would meet. Seven Hurons were to accompany him. Before him lay great lakes; around him, when on land, would frown dark forests. A birch-bark canoe was to bear the first white man along the northern shore of Lake Huron, and upon Saint Mary's strait to the falls--"Sault Sainte Marie;" many miles on Lake Michigan; thence, up Green bay to the homes of the Winnebagoes: and that canoe was to lead the van of a mighty fleet indeed, as the commerce of the upper lakes can testify. With him, he had a number of presents.

What nations were encountered by him on the way to "the People of the Sea," from the Huron villages? Three--all of Algonquin lineage--occupied the shores of the Georgian bay, before the mouth of French river had been reached. Concerning them, little is known, except their names. Passing the river which flows from Lake Nipissing, Nicolet "upon the same shores of this fresh-water sea," that is, upon the shores of Lake Huron, came next to "the Nation of Beavers," whose hunting-grounds were northward of the Manitoulin islands. This nation was afterward esteemed among the most noble of those of Canada. They were supposed to be descended from the Great Beaver, which was, next to the Great Hare, their principal divinity. They inhabited originally the Beaver islands, in Lake Michigan; afterward the Manitoulin islands; then they removed to the main-land, where they were found by Nicolet. Farther on, but still upon the margin of the great lake, was found another tribe. This people, and the Amiko?ai, were of the Algonquin family, and their language was not difficult to be understood by Nicolet. Entering, finally, St. Mary's strait, his canoes were urged onward for a number of miles, until the falls--Sault de Sainte Marie--were reached: and there stood Nicolet, the first white man to set foot upon any portion of what was, more than a century and a half after, called "the territory northwest of the river Ohio," now the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and so much of Minnesota as lies east of the Mississippi river.

Among "the People of the Falls," at their principal village, on the south side of the strait, at the foot of the rapids, in what is now the State of Michigan, Nicolet and his seven Hurons rested from the fatigues of their weary voyage. They were still with Algonquins. From Lake Huron they had entered upon one of the channels of the magnificent water-way leading out from Lake Superior, and threaded their way, now through narrow rapids, now across little lakes, now around beautiful islands, to within fifteen miles of the largest expanse of fresh water on the globe--stretching away in its grandeur to the westward, a distance of full four hundred miles. Nicolet saw beyond him the falls; around him clusters of wigwams, which two centuries and a half have changed into public buildings and private residences, into churches and warehouses, into offices and stores--in short, into a pleasantly-situated American village, frequently visited by steamboats carrying valuable freight and crowded with parties of pleasure. The portage around the falls, where, in early times, the Indian carried his birch-bark canoe, has given place to an excellent canal. Such are the changes which "the course of empire" continually brings to view in "the vast, illimitable, changing west."

Nicolet tarried among "the People of the Falls," probably, but a brief period. His voyage, after leaving them, must have been to him one of great interest. He returned down the strait, passing, it is thought, through the western "detour" to Mackinaw. Not very many miles brought him to "the second fresh-water sea," Lake Michigan. He is fairly entitled to the honor of its discovery; for no white man had ever before looked out upon its broad expanse. Nicolet was soon gliding along upon the clear waters of this out-of-the-way link in the great chain of lakes. The bold Frenchman fearlessly threaded his way along its northern shore, frequently stopping upon what is now known as "the upper peninsula" of Michigan, until the bay of Noquet was reached, which is, in reality, a northern arm of Green bay. Here, upon its northern border, he visited another Algonquin tribe; also one living to the northward of this "small lake." These tribes never navigated those waters any great distance, but lived upon the fruits of the earth. Making his way up Green bay, he finally reached the Menomonee river, its principal northern affluent.

In the valley of the Menomonee, Nicolet met a populous tribe of Indians--the Menomonees. To his surprise, no doubt, he found they were of a lighter complexion than any other savages he had ever seen. Their language was difficult to understand, yet it showed the nation to be of the Algonquin stock. Their food was largely of wild rice, which grew in great abundance in their country. They were adepts in fishing, and hunted, with skill, the game which abounded in the forests. They had their homes and hunting grounds upon the stream which still bears their name.

Nicolet soon resumed his journey toward the Winnebagoes, who had already been made aware of his near approach; for he had sent forward one of his Hurons to carry the news of his coming and of his mission of peace. The messenger and his message were well received. The Winnebagoes dispatched several of their young men to meet the "wonderful man." They go to him--they escort him--they carry his baggage. He was clothed in a large garment of Chinese damask, sprinkled with flowers and birds of different colors. But, why thus attired? Possibly, he had reached the far east; he was, really, in what is now the State of Wisconsin. Possibly, a party of mandarins would soon greet him and welcome him to Cathay. And this robe--this dress of ceremony--was brought all the way from Quebec, doubtless, with a view to such contingency. As soon as he came in sight, all the women and children fled, seeing a man carrying thunder in his two hands; for thus it was they called his pistols, which he discharged on his right and on his left. He was a manito! Nicolet's journey was, for the present, at an end. He and his Huron's "rested from their labors," among the Winnebagoes, who were located around the head of Green bay, contiguous to the point where it receives the waters of Fox river. Nicolet found the Winnebagoes a numerous and sedentary people, speaking a language radically different from any of the Algonquin nations, as well as from the Hurons. They were of the Dakota stock. The news of the Frenchman's coming spread through the country. Four or five thousand people assembled of different tribes. Each of the chiefs gave a banquet. One of the sachems regaled his guests with at least one hundred and twenty beavers. The large assemblage was prolific of speeches and ceremonies. Nicolet did not fail to "speak of peace" upon that interesting occasion. He urged upon the nation the advantages of an alliance, rather than war, with the nations to the eastward of Lake Huron. They agreed to keep the peace with the Hurons, Nez Perc?s, and, possibly, other tribes; but, soon after Nicolet's return, they sent out war parties against the Beaver nation. Doubtless the advantages of trade with the colony upon the St. Lawrence were depicted in glowing colors by the Frenchman. But the courageous Norman was not satisfied with a visit to the Winnebagoes only. He must see the neighboring tribes. So he ascended the Fox river of Green bay, to Winnebago lake--passing through which, he again entered that stream, paddling his canoe up its current, until he reached the homes of the Mascoutins, the first tribe to be met with after leaving the Winnebagoes; for the Sacs and Foxes were not residents of what is now Wisconsin at that period,--their migration thither, from the east, having been at a subsequent date. Nicolet had navigated the Fox river, a six-days' journey, since leaving the Winnebagoes.

The Mascoutins, as we have seen, were heard of by Champlain as early as 1615, as being engaged in a war with the Neuter nation and the Ottawas. But, up to the time of Nicolet's visit, and for a number of years subsequent , they were only known as living two hundred leagues or more beyond the last mentioned tribe--that is, that distance beyond the south end of the Georgian bay of Lake Huron. Their villages were in the valley of the Fox river, probably in what is now Green Lake county, Wisconsin. They had, doubtless, for their neighbors, the Miamis and Kickapoos. They were a vigorous and warlike nation, of Algonquin stock, as were also the two tribes last mentioned. Nicolet, while among the Mascoutins, heard of the Wisconsin river, which was distant only three days' journey up the tortuous channel of the Fox. But the accounts given him of that tributary of the Mississippi were evidently very confused. A reference to the parent stream as "the great water," by the savages, caused him to believe that he was, in reality, but three days' journey from the sea; and so he reported after his return to the St. Lawrence. Strange to say, Nicolet resolved not to visit this ocean, although, as he believed, so near its shores.

He traveled no further upon the Fox river, but turned his course to the southward. And the Jesuits consoled themselves, when they heard of his shortcoming, with the hope that one day the western sea would be reached by one of their order. "In passing, I will say," wrote one of their missionaries, in 1640, "that we have strong indications that one can descend through the second lake of the Hurons ... into this sea."

But why should Nicolet leave the Fox river and journey away from the Mascoutins to the southward? The answer is, that, at no great distance, lived the Illinois. Their country extended eastward to Lake Michigan, and westward to the Mississippi, if not beyond it. This nation was of too much importance, and their homes too easy of access, for Nicolet not to have visited them. Upon the beautiful prairies of what is now the state bearing their name, was this tribe located, with some bands, probably nearly as far northward as the southern counties of the present State of Wisconsin. It is not known in how many villages of these savages he smoked the pipe of peace. From their homes he returned to the Winnebagoes.

Before Nicolet left the country, on his return to the St. Lawrence, he obtained knowledge of the Sioux--those traders from the west who, it will be remembered, were represented as coming in canoes upon a sea to the Winnebagoes; the same "sea," doubtless, he came so near to, but did not behold--the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers! Although without beards, and having only a tuft of hair upon their crowns, these Sioux were no longer mandarins--no longer from China or Japan! Bands of this tribe had pushed their way across the Mississippi, far above the mouth of the Wisconsin, but made no further progress eastward. They, like the Winnebagoes, as previously stated, were of the Dakota family. Whether any of them were seen by Nicolet is not known; but he, doubtless, learned something of their real character. There was yet one tribe near the Winnebagoes to be visited--the Pottawattamies. They were located upon the islands at the mouth of Green bay, and upon the main land to the southward, along the western shores of Lake Michigan. On these Algonquins--for they were of that lineage--Nicolet, upon his return trip, made a friendly call. Their homes were not on the line of his outward voyage, but to the south of it. Nicolet gave no information of them which has been preserved, except that they were neighbors of the Winnebagoes.

So Nicolet, in the spring of 1635, having previously made many friends in the far northwest for his countrymen upon the St. Lawrence, and for France, of nations of Indians, only a few of which had before been heard of, and none ever before visited by a white man; having been the first to discover Lake Michigan and "the territory northwest of the river Ohio;" having boldly struck into the wilderness for hundreds of leagues beyond the Huron villages--then the Ultima Thule of civilized discoveries; returned, with his seven dusky companions, by way of Mackinaw and along the south shores of the Great Manitoulin island to the home thereon of a band of Ottawas. He proceeded thence to the Hurons; retracing, afterward, his steps to the mouth of French river, up that stream to Lake Nipissing, and down the Mattawan and Ottawa to the St. Lawrence; journeying, upon his return, it is thought, with the savages upon their annual trading-voyage to the French settlements. And Nicolet's exploration was ended.

FOOTNOTES:

, ... were a numerous people, separated into three great divisions, which were again subdivided into bands.... The other great divisions, the Yanktons and the Tintonwans, or Tetons, lived west of the Mississippi, extending beyond the Missouri, and ranging as far as the Rocky Mountains. The Issanti cultivated the soil; but the extreme western bands lived upon the buffalo alone....

, I embarked to go and commence the mission of the Outagamis , a people well known in all these parts. We were lying at the head of the bay , at the entrance of the River of the Puants , which we have named 'St. Francis;' in passing, we saw clouds of swans, bustards, and ducks; the savages take them in nets at the head of the bay, where they catch as many as fifty in a night; this game, in the autumn, seek the wild rice that the wind has shaken off in the month of September.

"The 17th , we went up the River St. Francis --two and sometimes three arpens wide. After having advanced four leagues, we found the village of the savages named Saky , who began a work that merits well here to have its place. From one side of the river to the other, they made a barricade, planting great stakes, two fathoms from the water, in such a manner that there is, as it were, a bridge above for the fishers, who, by the aid of a little bow-net, easily take sturgeons and all other kinds of fish which this pier stops, although the water does not cease to flow between the stakes. They call this device Mitihikan ; they make use of it in the spring and a part of the summer.

"The 18th , we made the portage which they call Kekaling ; our sailors drew the canoe through the rapids; I walked on the bank of the river, where I found apple-trees and vine stocks in abundance.

"The 19th , our sailors ascended the rapids, by using poles, for two leagues. I went by land as far as the other portage, which they call Oukocitiming; that is to say, the highway. We observed this same day the eclipse of the sun, predicted by the astrologers, which lasted from mid-day until two o'clock. The third, or near it, of the body of the sun appeared eclipsed; the other two-thirds formed a crescent. We arrived, in the evening, at the entrance of the Lake of the Puants , which we have called Lake St. Francis; it is about twelve leagues long and four wide; it is situated from north-northeast to south-southwest; it abounds in fish, but uninhabited, on account of the Nardo?ecis , who are here dreaded.

"The 20th , which was on Sunday, I said mass, after having navigated five or six leagues in the lake; after which, we arrived in a river , that comes from a lake of wild rice , which we came into; at the foot of which we found the river which leads to the Outagamis on one side, and that which leads to the Machkoutenck on the other. We entered into the former ....

"The 29th , we entered into the river, which leads to the Machkoutench , called Assista Ectaeronnons, Fire Nation , by the Hurons. This river is very beautiful, without rapids or portages ; it flows to the southwest.

, a river emptying into the Mississippi; we knew, too, that the point of the compass we were to hold to reach it, was the west-southwest; but the way is so cut up by marshes, and little lakes, that it is easy to go astray, especially as the river leading to it is so covered by wild oats, that you can hardly discover the channel."

, there arrived an Englishman, with a servant, brought in boats by twenty Abnaquiois savages. He set out from the lake or river Quinibequi in Acadia, where the English have a settlement, in order to search for a passage through these countries to the North sea.... M. de Montmagny had him brought to Tadoussac, in order that he might return to England by way of France.

"He told us wonderful things of New Mexico. 'I learned,' said he, 'that one can sail to that country by means of the seas which lie to the north of it. Two years ago, I explored all the southern coast from Virginia to Quinebiqui to try whether I could not find some large river or some large lake which should bring me to tribes having knowledge of this sea, which is northward from Mexico. Not having found any such in these countries, I entered into the Saguen? region, to penetrate, if I could, with the savages of the locality, as far as to the northern sea.'

The Ottawas were first visited by Champlain. This was in the year 1615. They lived southwest of the Hurons. It was he who gave them the name Cheveux Relev?s--Standing Hair. Sagard saw some of them subsequently, and calls them Andatahonats. See his "Histoire du Canada," p. 199.

NICOLET'S SUBSEQUENT CAREER AND DEATH.

It is not difficult to imagine the interest which must have been awakened in the breast of Champlain upon the return of Nicolet to Quebec. With what delight he must have heard his recital of the particulars of the voyage! How he must have been enraptured at the descriptions of lakes of unknown extent; of great rivers never before heard of--never before seen by a Frenchman! How his imagination must have kindled when told of the numerous Indian nations which had been visited! But, above all, how fondly he hoped one day to bring all these distant countries under the dominion of his own beloved France! But the heart thus beating quick with pleasurable emotions at the prospects of future glory and renown, soon ceased its throbs. On Christmas day, 1635, Champlain died. In a chamber of the fort in Quebec, "breathless and cold, lay the hardy frame which war, the wilderness, and the sea had buffeted so long in vain."

The successor of Champlain was Marc Antoine de Bras-de-fer de Chasteaufort. He was succeeded by Charles Huault de Montmagny, who reached New France in 1636. With him came a considerable reinforcement; "and, among the rest, several men of birth and substance, with their families and dependents." But Montmagny found the affairs of his colony in a woful condition. The "Company of One Hundred" had passed its affairs into the hands of those who were wholly engrossed in the profits of trade. Instead of sending out colonists, the Hundred Associates "granted lands, with the condition that the grantees should furnish a certain number of settlers to clear and till them, and these were to be credited to the company." The Iroquois, who, from their intercourse with the Dutch and English traders, had been supplied with firearms, and were fast becoming proficient in their use, attacked the Algonquins and Hurons--allies of the French, interrupting their canoes, laden with furs, as they descended the St. Lawrence, killing their owners, or hurrying them as captives into the forests, to suffer the horrors of torture.

At a point to which was given the name of Sillery, four miles above Quebec, a new Algonquin mission was started; still, in the immediate neighborhood of the town, the dark forests almost unbroken frowned as gloomily as when, thirty years before, Champlain founded the future city. Probably, in all New France, the population, in 1640, did not much exceed two hundred, including women and children. On the eighteenth of May, 1642, Montreal began its existence. The tents of the founders were "inclosed with a strong palisade, and their altar covered by a provisional chapel, built, in the Huron mode, of bark." But the Iroquois had long before become the enemies of the French, sometimes seriously threatening Quebec. So, upon the Island of Montreal, every precaution was taken to avoid surprise. Solid structures of wood soon defied the attacks of the savages; and, to give greater security to the colonists, Montmagny caused a fort to be erected at the mouth of the Richelieu, in the following August. But the end of the year 1642 brought no relief to the Algonquins or Hurons, and little to the French, from the ferocious Iroquois.

It was not long after Nicolet's return to Quebec, from his visit to "the People of the Sea," and neighboring nations, before he was assigned to Three Rivers by Champlain, where he was to continue his office of commissary and interpreter; for, on the ninth of December, 1635, he "came to give advice to the missionaries who were dwelling at the mission that a young Algonquin was sick; and that it would be proper to visit him." And, again, on the seventh of the following month, he is found visiting, with one of the missionaries, a sick Indian, near the fort, at Three Rivers. His official labors were performed to the great satisfaction of both French and Indians, by whom he was equally and sincerely loved. He was constantly assisting the missionaries, so far as his time would permit, in the conversion of the savages, whom he knew how to manage and direct as he desired, and with a skill that could hardly find its equal. His kindness won their esteem and respect. His charity seemed, indeed, to know no bounds. As interpreter for one of the missionaries, he accompanied him from Three Rivers on a journey some leagues distant, on the twelfth of April, 1636, to visit some savages who were sick; thus constantly administering to their sufferings.

Notwithstanding the colonists of New France were living in a state of temporal and spiritual vassalage, yet the daring Nicolet, and others of the interpreters of Champlain, although devout Catholics and friendly to the establishment of missions among the Indian nations, were not Jesuits, nor in the service of these fathers; neither was their's the mission work, in any sense, which was so zealously prosecuted by these disciples of Loyola. They were a small class of men, whose home--some of them--was the forest, and their companions savages. They followed the Indians in their roamings, lived with them, grew familiar with their language, allied themselves, in some cases, with their women, and often became oracles in the camp and leaders on the war-path. Doubtless, when they returned from their rovings, they often had pressing need of penance and absolution. Several of them were men of great intelligence and an invincible courage. From hatred of restraint, and love of wild and adventurous independence, they encountered privations and dangers scarcely less than those to which the Jesuit exposed himself from motives widely different:--he, from religious zeal, charity, and the hope of paradise; they, simply because they liked it. Some of the best families of Canada claim descent from this vigorous and hardy stock.

"The Jesuits from the first had cherished the plan of a seminary for Huron boys at Quebec. The governor and the company favored the design; since not only would it be an efficient means of spreading the faith and attaching the tribe to the French interest, but the children would be pledges for the good behavior of the parents, and hostages for the safety of missionaries and traders in the Indian towns. In the summer of 1636, Father Daniel, descending from the Huron country, worn, emaciated, his cassock patched and tattered, and his shirt in rags, brought with him a boy, to whom two others were soon added; and through the influence of the interpreter, Nicolet, the number was afterward increased by several more. One of them ran away, two ate themselves to death, a fourth was carried home by his father, while three of those remaining stole a canoe, loaded it with all they could lay their hands upon, and escaped in triumph with their plunder."

Nicolet frequently visited Quebec. Upon one of these occasions he had a narrow escape. He found the St. Lawrence incumbered with ice. Behind him there came so great a quantity of it that he was compelled to get out of his canoe and jump upon one of the floating pieces. He saved himself with much difficulty and labor. This happened in April, 1637. On the twenty-seventh of the same month Nicolet was present at Quebec, on the occasion of a deputation of Indians from Three Rivers waiting upon the governor, asking a favor at his hands promised by Champlain. He was consulted as to what the promise of the former governor was.

In June, he was sent, it seems, up from the fort at Three Rivers to ascertain whether the Iroquois were approaching. He went as far as the river Des Prairies--the name for the Ottawa on the north side of the island of Montreal. In August, the enemy threatened Three Rivers in force. The French and Indians in the fort could not be decoyed into danger. However, a boat was sent up the St. Lawrence, conducted by Nicolet. The bark approached the place where the Iroquois were, but could not get within gun-shot; yet a random discharge did some execution. The enemy were judged to be about five hundred strong. Although the fort at Three Rivers was thus seriously threatened, no attack was made.

On the seventh of October, 1637, Nicolet was married at Quebec to Marguerite Couillard, a god-child of Champlain. The fruit of this marriage was but one child--a daughter. Nicolet continued his residence at Three Rivers, largely employed in his official duties of commissary and interpreter, remaining there until the time of his death. In 1641, he, with one of the Jesuit fathers, was very busy in dealing with a large force of Iroquois that was threatening the place.

About the first of October, 1642, Nicolet was called down to Quebec from Three Rivers, to take the place of his brother-in-law, M. Olivier le Tardiff, who was General Commissary of the Hundred Partners, and who sailed on the seventh of that month for France. The change was a very agreeable one to Nicolet, but he did not long enjoy it; for, in less than a month after his arrival, in endeavoring to make a trip to his place of residence to release an Indian prisoner in the possession of a band of Algonquins, who were slowly torturing him, his zeal and humanity cost him his life. On the 27th of October, he embarked at Quebec, near seven o'clock in the evening, in the launch of M. de Savigny, which was headed for Three Rivers. He had not yet reached Sillery, when a northeast squall raised a terrible tempest on the St. Lawrence and filled the boat. Those who were in it did not immediately go down; they clung some time to the launch. Nicolet had time to say to M. de Savigny, "Save yourself, sir; you can swim; I can not. I am going to God. I recommend to you my wife and daughter."

The wild waves tore the men, one after another, from the boat, which had capsized and floated against a rock, and four, including Nicolet, sank to rise no more. M. de Savigny alone cast himself into the water, and swam among the waves, which were like small mountains. The launch was not very far from the shore, but it was pitch dark, and the bitter cold had covered the river banks with ice. Savigny, feeling his resolution and his strength failing him, made a vow to God, and a little after, reaching down with his feet, he felt the bottom, and stepping out of the water, he reached Sillery half dead. For quite a while he was unable to speak; then, at last, he recounted the fatal accident which, besides the death of Nicolet--disastrous to the whole country--had cost him three of his best men and a large part of his property. He and his wife suffered this great loss, in a barbarous country, with great patience and resignation to the will of God, and without losing any of their courage.

The savages of Sillery, at the report of Nicolet's shipwreck, ran to the place, and not seeing him any where, displayed indescribable sorrow. It was not the first time he had exposed himself to danger of death for the good of the Indians. He had done so frequently. Thus perished John Nicolet, in the waters of the great river of Canada--the red man and the Frenchman alike mourning his untimely fate.

Twelve days after the shipwreck, the prisoner to the Algonquins, for whose deliverance Nicolet started on his journey, arrived at Sillery--the commander at Three Rivers, following the order of the governor, having ransomed him. He was conducted to the hospital of the place to be healed of the injuries he had received from his captors. They had stripped the flesh from his arms, in some places to the bone. The nuns at the hospital cared for him with much sympathy, and cured him so quickly that in a month's time he was able to return to his country. All the neophytes showed him as much compassion and charity as the Algonquins had displayed of cruelty. They gave him two good, Christianized savages to escort him as far as the country of a neighboring tribe of his own, to the end that he might reach his home in safety.

After the return of the French to Quebec, the Jesuits, as previously mentioned, were commissioned with the administration of spiritual affairs in New France. Some of these turned their attention to the Europeans; the rest were employed in missions among the savages. In the autumn of 1635, the residences and missions of Canada contained fifteen Fathers and five Brothers of the Society of Jesus. At Quebec, there were also formed two seculars--ecclesiastics. One of these was a brother of Nicolet. He had come from Cherbourg to join him upon the St. Lawrence; and, during his residence in the colony, which was continued to 1647, he was employed in visiting French settlements at a distance from Quebec. Another brother--Pierre--who was a navigator, also resided in Canada, but left the country some time after Nicolet's death. The widow of Nicolet was married at Quebec, in 1646, to Nicholas Macard.

"History can not refrain from saluting Nicolet as a disinterested traveler, who, by his explorations in the interior of America, has given clear proofs of his energetic character, and whose merits have not been disputed, although subsequently they were temporarily forgotten." The first fruits of his daring were gathered by the Jesuit fathers even before his death; for, in the autumn of 1641, those of them who were among the Hurons received a deputation of Indians occupying "the country around a rapid, in the midst of the channel by which Lake Superior empties into Lake Huron," inviting them to visit their tribe. These "missionaries were not displeased with the opportunity thus presented of knowing the countries lying beyond Lake Huron, which no one of them had yet traversed;" so Isaac Jogues and Charles Raymbault were detached to accompany the Chippewa deputies, and view the field simply, not to establish a mission. They passed along the shore of Lake Huron, northward, and pushed as far up St. Mary's strait as the "Sault," which they reached after seventeen days' sail from their place of starting. There they--the first white men to visit the Northwest after Nicolet--harangued two thousand of that nation, and other Algonquins. Upon their return to the St. Lawrence, Jogues was captured by the Iroquois, and Raymbault died on the twenty-second of October, 1642--a few days before the death of Nicolet.

FOOTNOTES:

, vne fille ag?e d'enuiron seize ans fut baptis?e, et nomm?e Anne par vn de nos Fran?ois. Le Pere Buteux l'instruisant luy dit, que si estant Chrestienne elle venoit ? mourir, son ?me iroit au Ciel dans les ioyes eternelles. A ce mot de mourir, elle eut vne si grande frayeur, qu'elle ne voulut plus iamais prester l'oreille au Pere; on luy enuoya le Sieur Nicolet truchement, qui exerce volontiers semblables actions de charit?; elle l'escoute paisiblement; mais comme ses occupations le diuertissent ailleurs, il ne la pouuoit visiter si souuent: c'est pourquoy le Pere Quentin s'effor?a d'apprendre les premiers rudimens du Christianisme en Sauuage, afin de la pouuoir instruire. Cela luy re?ssit si bien, que cette pauure fille ayant pris goust ? cette doctrine salutaire, desira le Baptesme que le Pere luy accorda. La grace a plusieurs effects: on remarqua que cette fille, fort dedaigneuse et altiere de son naturel, deuint fort douce et traittable, estant Chrestienne.--Ibid.

"Le 30 du mois de Mai 1636, une jeune Sauvagesse Algonquine instruite par le P?re Jacques Buteux, fut baptis?e par le P?re Claude Quentin et nomm?e Fran?oise par M. Nicollet son parrain."

"Le 18 novembre 1637 fut baptis?e une femme Algonquine. Elle fut nomm?e Marie par Nicollet son parrain. Elle est d?c?d?e."

"Le 18 d?cembre 1637 fut baptis? par le P?re Jacques Buteux un petit Algonquin ?g? d'environ deux ans, et fut nomm? Jean par M. Nicollet. Il est d?c?d?."

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