ST. LOUIS OF THE ILLINOIS.
Louisiana.—Illness of La Salle: his Colony on the Illinois.—Fort St. Louis.—Recall of Frontenac.—Le Febvre de la Barre.—Critical Position of la Salle.—Hostility Of the New Governor.—Triumph of the Adverse1 Faction2.—La Salle sails for France.
Louisiana was the name bestowed3 by La Salle on the new domain4 of the French crown. The rule of the Bourbons in the West is a memory of the past, but the name of the Great King still survives in a narrow corner of their lost empire. The Louisiana of to-day is but a single State of the American republic. The Louisiana of La Salle stretched from the Alleghanies to the Rocky Mountains; from the Rio Grande and the Gulf5 to the farthest springs of the Missouri.[245]
[Pg 310]
La Salle had written his name in history; but his hard-earned success was but the prelude6 of a harder task. Herculean labors7 lay before him, if he would realize the schemes with which his brain was pregnant. Bent8 on accomplishing them, he retraced9 his course, and urged his canoes upward against the muddy current. The party were famished10. They had little to subsist11 on but the flesh of alligators12. When they reached the Quinipissas, who had proved hostile on their way down, they resolved to risk an interview with them, in the hope of obtaining food. The treacherous13 savages14 dissembled, brought them corn, and on the following night made an attack upon them, but met with a bloody16 repulse17. The party next revisited the Coroas, and found an unfavorable change in their disposition18 towards them. They feasted them, indeed, but during the repast surrounded them with an overwhelming force of warriors19. The French, however, kept so well on their guard, that their entertainers dared not make an attack, and suffered them to depart unmolested.[246]
ILLNESS OF LA SALLE.
And now, in a career of unwonted success and anticipated triumph, La Salle was arrested by a foe20 against which the boldest heart avails nothing. As he ascended21 the Mississippi, he was seized by a dangerous illness. Unable to proceed, he sent forward [Pg 311] Tonty to Michilimackinac, whence, after despatching news of their discovery to Canada, he was to return to the Illinois. La Salle himself lay helpless at Fort Prudhomme, the palisade work which his men had built at the Chickasaw Bluffs22 on their way down. Father Zenobe Membré attended him; and at the end of July he was once more in a condition to advance by slow movements towards Fort Miami, which he reached in about a month.
In September he rejoined Tonty at Michilimackinac, and in the following month wrote to a friend in France: "Though my discovery is made, and I have descended24 the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico, I cannot send you this year either an account of my journey or a map. On the way back I was attacked by a deadly disease, which kept me in danger of my life for forty days, and left me so weak that I could think of nothing for four months after. I have hardly strength enough now to write my letters, and the season is so far advanced that I cannot detain a single day this canoe which I send expressly to carry them. If I had not feared being forced to winter on the way, I should have tried to get to Quebec to meet the new governor, if it is true that we are to have one; but in my present condition this would be an act of suicide, on account of the bad nourishment25 I should have all winter in case the snow and ice stopped me on the way. Besides, my presence is absolutely necessary in the place to which I am [Pg 312] going. I pray you, my dear sir, to give me once more all the help you can. I have great enemies, who have succeeded in all they have undertaken. I do not pretend to resist them, but only to justify26 myself, so that I can pursue by sea the plans I have begun here by land."
This was what he had proposed to himself from the first; that is, to abandon the difficult access through Canada, beset27 with enemies, and open a way to his western domain through the Gulf and the Mississippi. This was the aim of all his toilsome explorations. Could he have accomplished28 his first intention of building a vessel29 on the Illinois and descending30 in her to the Gulf, he would have been able to defray in good measure the costs of the enterprise by means of the furs and buffalo31-hides collected on the way and carried in her to France. With a fleet of canoes, this was impossible; and there was nothing to offset32 the enormous outlay33 which he and his associates had made. He meant, as we have seen, to found on the banks of the Illinois a colony of French and Indians to answer the double purpose of a bulwark34 against the Iroquois and a place of storage for the furs of all the western tribes; and he hoped in the following year to secure an outlet35 for this colony and for all the trade of the valley of the Mississippi, by occupying the mouth of that river with a fort and another colony. This, too, was an essential part of his original design.
But for his illness, he would have gone to France [Pg 313] to provide for its execution. Meanwhile, he ordered Tonty to collect as many men as possible, and begin the projected colony on the banks of the Illinois. A report soon after reached him that those pests of the wilderness36 the Iroquois were about to renew their attacks on the western tribes. This would be fatal to his plans; and, following Tonty to the Illinois, he rejoined him near the site of the great town.
"STARVED ROCK."
The cliff called "Starved Rock," now pointed37 out to travellers as the chief natural curiosity of the region, rises, steep on three sides as a castle wall, to the height of a hundred and twenty-five feet above the river. In front, it overhangs the water that washes its base; its western brow looks down on the tops of the forest trees below; and on the east lies a wide gorge38 or ravine, choked with the mingled40 foliage41 of oaks, walnuts42, and elms; while in its rocky depths a little brook43 creeps down to mingle39 with the river. From the trunk of the stunted44 cedar45 that leans forward from the brink46, you may drop a plummet47 into the river below, where the cat-fish and the turtles may plainly be seen gliding48 over the wrinkled sands of the clear and shallow current. The cliff is accessible only from behind, where a man may climb up, not without difficulty, by a steep and narrow passage. The top is about an acre in extent. Here, in the month of December, La Salle and Tonty began to intrench themselves. They cut away the forest that crowned the rock, built store-houses and dwellings49 of its remains50, [Pg 314]dragged timber up the rugged51 pathway, and encircled the summit with a palisade.[247]
La Salle's Colony
LA SALLE'S COLONY.
Thus the winter passed, and meanwhile the work [Pg 315] of negotiation52 went prosperously on. The minds of the Indians had been already prepared. In La Salle they saw their champion against the Iroquois, the standing53 terror of all this region. They gathered round his stronghold like the timorous54 peasantry of the middle ages around the rock-built castle of their feudal55 lord. From the wooden ramparts of St. Louis,—for so he named his fort,—high and inaccessible56 as an eagle's nest, a strange scene lay before his eye. The broad, flat valley of the Illinois was spread beneath him like a map, bounded in the distance by its low wall of woody hills. The river wound at his feet in devious57 channels among islands bordered with lofty trees; then, far on the left, flowed calmly westward58 through the vast meadows, till its glimmering59 blue ribbon was lost in hazy60 distance.
There had been a time, and that not remote, when these fair meadows were a waste of death and desolation, scathed61 with fire, and strewn with the ghastly relics63 of an Iroquois victory. Now all was changed. La Salle looked down from his rock on a concourse of wild human life. Lodges64 of bark and rushes, or cabins of logs, were clustered on the open plain or along the edges of the bordering forests. Squaws labored65, warriors lounged in the sun, naked children whooped66 and gambolled67 on the grass. Beyond the river, a mile and a half on the left, the banks were studded once more with the lodges of the Illinois, who, to the number of six thousand, had returned, since their defeat, to this their favorite dwelling-place. [Pg 316] Scattered68 along the valley, among the adjacent hills, or over the neighboring prairie, were the cantonments of a half-score of other tribes and fragments of tribes, gathered under the protecting ?gis of the French,—Shawanoes from the Ohio, Abenakis from Maine, Miamis from the sources of the Kankakee, with others whose barbarous names are hardly worth the record.[248] Nor were these La Salle's only dependants69. [Pg 317] By the terms of his patent, he held seigniorial rights over this wild domain; and he now began to grant it out in parcels to his followers70. These, however, were as yet but a score,—a lawless band, trained in forest license71, and marrying, as their detractors affirm, a new squaw every day in the week. This was after their lord's departure, for his presence imposed a check on these eccentricities72.
La Salle, in a memoir73 addressed to the Minister of the Marine74, reports the total number of the Indians around Fort St. Louis at about four thousand warriors, or twenty thousand souls. His diplomacy75 had [Pg 318] been crowned with a marvellous success,—for which his thanks were due, first to the Iroquois, and the universal terror they inspired; next, to his own address and unwearied energy. His colony had sprung up, as it were, in a night; but might not a night suffice to disperse76 it?
The conditions of maintaining it were twofold: first, he must give efficient aid to his savage15 colonists77 against the Iroquois; secondly78, he must supply them with French goods in exchange for their furs. The men, arms, and ammunition79 for their defence, and the goods for trading with them, must be brought from Canada, until a better and surer avenue of supply could be provided through the entrep?t which he meant to establish at the mouth of the Mississippi. Canada was full of his enemies; but as long as Count Frontenac was in power, he was sure of support. Count Frontenac was in power no longer. He had been recalled to France through the intrigues80 of the party adverse to La Salle; and Le Febvre de la Barre reigned82 in his stead.
LA SALLE AND LA BARRE.
La Barre was an old naval83 officer of rank, advanced to a post for which he proved himself notably84 unfit. If he was without the arbitrary passions which had been the chief occasion of the recall of his predecessor85, he was no less without his energies and his talents. He showed a weakness and an avarice86 for which his age may have been in some measure answerable. He was no whit87 less unscrupulous than his predecessor in his secret violation88 of the royal ordinances89 [Pg 319] regulating the fur-trade, which it was his duty to enforce. Like Frontenac, he took advantage of his position to carry on an illicit90 traffic with the Indians; but it was with different associates. The late governor's friends were the new governor's enemies; and La Salle, armed with his monopolies, was the object of his especial jealousy91.[249]
Meanwhile, La Salle, buried in the western wilderness, remained for the time ignorant of La Barre's disposition towards him, and made an effort to secure his good-will and countenance92. He wrote to him from his rock of St. Louis, early in the spring of 1683, expressing the hope that he should have from him the same support as from Count Frontenac; "although," he says, "my enemies will try to influence you against me." His attachment93 to Frontenac, he pursues, has been the cause of all the late governor's enemies turning against him. He then recounts his voyage down the Mississippi; says that, with twenty-two Frenchmen, he caused all the tribes along the river to ask for peace; and speaks of his right under the royal patent to build forts anywhere along his route, and grant out lands around them, as at Fort Frontenac.
[Pg 320]
"My losses in my enterprises," he continues, "have exceeded forty thousand crowns. I am now going four hundred leagues south-southwest of this place, to induce the Chickasaws to follow the Shawanoes and other tribes, and settle, like them, at St. Louis. It remained only to settle French colonists here, and this I have already done. I hope you will not detain them as coureurs de bois, when they come down to Montreal to make necessary purchases. I am aware that I have no right to trade with the tribes who descend23 to Montreal, and I shall not permit such trade to my men; nor have I ever issued licenses94 to that effect, as my enemies say that I have done."[250]
Again, on the fourth of June following, he writes to La Barre, from the Chicago portage, complaining that some of his colonists, going to Montreal for necessary supplies, have been detained by his enemies, and begging that they may be allowed to return, that his enterprise may not be ruined. "The Iroquois," he pursues, "are again invading the country. Last year, the Miamis were so alarmed by them that they abandoned their town and fled; but at my return they came back, and have been induced to settle with the Illinois at my fort of St. Louis. The Iroquois have lately murdered some families of their nation, and they are all in terror again. I am afraid they will take flight, and so prevent the Missouris and [Pg 321] neighboring tribes from coming to settle at St. Louis, as they are about to do.
"Some of the Hurons and French tell the Miamis that I am keeping them here for the Iroquois to destroy. I pray that you will let me hear from you, that I may give these people some assurances of protection before they are destroyed in my sight. Do not suffer my men who have come down to the settlements to be longer prevented from returning. There is great need here of reinforcements. The Iroquois, as I have said, have lately entered the country; and a great terror prevails. I have postponed95 going to Michilimackinac, because, if the Iroquois strike any blow in my absence, the Miamis will think that I am in league with them; whereas, if I and the French stay among them, they will regard us as protectors. But, Monsieur, it is in vain that we risk our lives here, and that I exhaust my means in order to fulfil the intentions of his Majesty96, if all my measures are crossed in the settlements below, and if those who go down to bring munitions97, without which we cannot defend ourselves, are detained under pretexts98 trumped100 up for the occasion. If I am prevented from bringing up men and supplies, as I am allowed to do by the permit of Count Frontenac, then my patent from the King is useless. It would be very hard for us, after having done what was required, even before the time prescribed, and after suffering severe losses, to have our efforts frustrated101 by obstacles got up designedly.
[Pg 322]
"I trust that, as it lies with you alone to prevent or to permit the return of the men whom I have sent down, you will not so act as to thwart102 my plans. A part of the goods which I have sent by them belong not to me, but to the Sieur de Tonty, and are a part of his pay. Others are to buy munitions indispensable for our defence. Do not let my creditors103 seize them. It is for their advantage that my fort, full as it is of goods, should be held against the enemy. I have only twenty men, with scarcely a hundred pounds of powder; and I cannot long hold the country without more. The Illinois are very capricious and uncertain.... If I had men enough to send out to reconnoitre the enemy, I would have done so before this; but I have not enough. I trust you will put it in my power to obtain more, that this important colony may be saved."[251]
While La Salle was thus writing to La Barre, La Barre was writing to Seignelay, the Marine and Colonial Minister, decrying104 his correspondent's discoveries, and pretending to doubt their reality. "The Iroquois," he adds, "have sworn his [La Salle's] death. The imprudence of this man is about to involve the colony in war."[252] And again he [Pg 323] writes, in the following spring, to say that La Salle was with a score of vagabonds at Green Bay, where he set himself up as a king, pillaged105 his countrymen, and put them to ransom106, exposed the tribes of the West to the incursions of the Iroquois, and all under pretence107 of a patent from his Majesty, the provisions of which he grossly abused; but, as his privileges would expire on the twelfth of May ensuing, he would then be forced to come to Quebec, where his creditors, to whom he owed more than thirty thousand crowns, were anxiously awaiting him.[253]
Finally, when La Barre received the two letters from La Salle, of which the substance is given above, he sent copies of them to the Minister Seignelay, with the following comment: "By the copies of the Sieur de la Salle's letters, you will perceive that his head is turned, and that he has been bold enough to give you intelligence of a false discovery, and that, instead of returning to the colony to learn what the King wishes him to do, he does not come near me, but keeps in the backwoods, five hundred leagues off, with the idea of attracting the inhabitants to him, and building up an imaginary kingdom for himself, by debauching all the bankrupts and idlers of this country. If you will look at the two letters I had from him, you can judge the character of this personage better than I can. Affairs with the [Pg 324] Iroquois are in such a state that I cannot allow him to muster109 all their enemies together and put himself at their head. All the men who brought me news from him have abandoned him, and say not a word about returning, but sell the furs they have brought as if they were their own; so that he cannot hold his ground much longer."[254] Such calumnies110 had their effect. The enemies of La Salle had already gained the ear of the King; and he had written in August, from Fontainebleau, to his new governor of Canada: "I am convinced, like you, that the discovery of the Sieur de la Salle is very useless, and that such enterprises ought to be prevented in future, as they tend only to debauch108 the inhabitants by the hope of gain, and to diminish the revenue from beaver-skins."[255]
In order to understand the posture111 of affairs at this time, it must be remembered that Dutch and English traders of New York were urging on the Iroquois to attack the western tribes, with the object of gaining, through their conquest, the control of the fur-trade of the interior, and diverting it from Montreal to Albany. The scheme was full of danger to Canada, which the loss of the trade would have ruined. La Barre and his associates were greatly alarmed at it. Its complete success would have been fatal to their hopes of profit; but they nevertheless wished it such a measure of success as would ruin their rival, La Salle. Hence, no little satisfaction mingled with [Pg 325] their anxiety when they heard that the Iroquois were again threatening to invade the Miamis and the Illinois; and thus La Barre, whose duty it was strenuously112 to oppose the intrigue81 of the English, and use every effort to quiet the ferocious113 bands whom they were hounding against the Indian allies of the French, was, in fact, but half-hearted in the work. He cut off La Salle from all supplies; detained the men whom he sent for succor114; and, at a conference with the Iroquois, told them that they were welcome to plunder115 and kill him.[256]
A NEW ALARM.
The old governor, and the unscrupulous ring with which he was associated, now took a step to which he was doubtless emboldened116 by the tone of the King's letter, in condemnation117 of La Salle's enterprise. He resolved to seize Fort Frontenac, the property of La Salle, under the pretext99 that the latter had not fulfilled the conditions of the grant, and had not maintained a sufficient garrison118.[257] Two of [Pg 326] his associates, La Chesnaye and Le Ber, armed with an order from him, went up and took possession, despite the remonstrances119 of La Salle's creditors and mortgagees; lived on La Salle's stores, sold for their own profit, and (it is said) that of La Barre, the provisions sent by the King, and turned in the cattle to pasture on the growing crops. La Forest, La Salle's lieutenant120, was told that he might retain the command of the fort if he would join the associates; but he refused, and sailed in the autumn for France.[258]
Meanwhile La Salle remained at the Illinois in extreme embarrassment121, cut off from supplies, robbed of his men who had gone to seek them, and disabled from fulfilling the pledges he had given to the surrounding Indians. Such was his position, when reports came to Fort St. Louis that the Iroquois were at hand. The Indian hamlets were wild with terror, beseeching122 him for succor which he had no power to give. Happily, the report proved false. No Iroquois appeared; the threatened attack was postponed, and the summer passed away in peace. But La Salle's position, with the governor his declared enemy, was intolerable and untenable; and there was no resource but in the protection of the court. Early in the autumn, he left Tonty in command of the rock, bade farewell to his savage retainers, and descended to Quebec, intending to sail for France.
On his way, he met the Chevalier de Baugis, an [Pg 327] officer of the King's dragoons, commissioned by La Barre to take possession of Fort St. Louis, and bearing letters from the governor ordering La Salle to come to Quebec,—a superfluous123 command, as he was then on his way thither124. He smothered125 his wrath126, and wrote to Tonty to receive De Baugis well. The chevalier and his party proceeded to the Illinois, and took possession of the fort,—De Baugis commanding for the governor, while Tonty remained as representative of La Salle. The two officers could not live in harmony; but, with the return of spring, each found himself in sore need of aid from the other. Towards the end of March the Iroquois attacked their citadel127, and besieged128 it for six days, but at length withdrew discomfited129, carrying with them a number of Indian prisoners, most of whom escaped from their clutches.[259]
Meanwhile, La Salle had sailed for France.
FOOTNOTES:
[245] The boundaries are laid down on the great map of Franquelin, made in 1684, and preserved in the Dép?t des Cartes of the Marine. The line runs along the south shore of Lake Erie, and thence follows the heads of the streams flowing into Lake Michigan. It then turns northwest, and is lost in the vast unknown of the now British Territories. On the south, it is drawn130 by the heads of the streams flowing into the Gulf, as far west as Mobile, after which it follows the shore of the Gulf to a little south of the Rio Grande; then runs west, northwest, and finally north, along the range of the Rocky Mountains.
[246] Tonty, 1684, 1693.
[247]"Starved Rock" perfectly131 answers, in every respect, to the indications of the contemporary maps and documents concerning "Le Rocher," the site of La Salle's fort of St. Louis. It is laid down on several contemporary maps, besides the great map of La Salle's discoveries, made in 1684. They all place it on the south side of the river; whereas Buffalo Rock, three miles above, which has been supposed to be the site of the fort, is on the north. The latter is crowned by a plateau of great extent, is but sixty feet high, is accessible at many points, and would require a large force to defend it; whereas La Salle chose "Le Rocher," because a few men could hold it against a multitude. Charlevoix, in 1721, describes both rocks, and says that the top of Buffalo Rock had been occupied by the Miami village, so that it was known as Le Fort des Miamis. This is confirmed by Joutel, who found the Miamis here in 1687. Charlevoix then speaks of "Le Rocher," calling it by that name; says that it is about a league below, on the left or south side, forming a sheer cliff, very high, and looking like a fortress132 on the border of the river. He saw remains of palisades at the top, which, he thinks, were made by the Illinois (Journal Historique, Let. xxvii.), though his countrymen had occupied it only three years before. "The French reside on the rock (Le Rocher), which is very lofty and impregnable." (Memoir on Western Indians, 1718, in N. Y. Col. Docs., ix. 890.) St. Cosme, passing this way in 1699, mentions it as "Le Vieux Fort," and says that it is "a rock about a hundred feet high at the edge of the river, where M. de la Salle built a fort, since abandoned." (Journal de St. Cosme.) Joutel, who was here in 1687, says, "Fort St. Louis is on a steep rock, about two hundred feet high, with the river running at its base." He adds that its only defences were palisades. The true height, as stated above, is about a hundred and twenty-five feet.
A traditional interest also attaches to this rock. It is said that, in the Indian wars that followed the assassination133 of Pontiac, a few years after the cession134 of Canada, a party of Illinois, assailed135 by the Pottawattamies, here took refuge, defying attack. At length they were all destroyed by starvation, and hence the name of "Starved Rock."
For other proofs concerning this locality, see ante, 239.
[248] This singular extemporized136 colony of La Salle, on the banks of the Illinois, is laid down in detail on the great map of La Salle's discoveries, by Jean Baptiste Franquelin, finished in 1684. There can be no doubt that this part of the work is composed from authentic137 data. La Salle himself, besides others of his party, came down from the Illinois in the autumn of 1683, and undoubtedly138 supplied the young engineer with materials. The various Indian villages, or cantonments, are all indicated, with the number of warriors belonging to each, the aggregate139 corresponding very nearly with that of La Salle's report to the minister. The Illinois, properly so called, are set down at 1,200 warriors; the Miamis, at 1,300; the Shawanoes, at 200; the Ouiatnoens (Weas), at 500; the Peanqhichia (Piankishaw) band, at 150; the Pepikokia, at 160; the Kilatica, at 300; and the Ouabona, at 70,—in all, 3,880 warriors. A few others, probably Abenakis, lived in the fort.
The Fort St. Louis is placed, on the map, at the exact site of Starved Rock, and the Illinois village at the place where, as already mentioned (see 239), Indian remains in great quantities are yearly ploughed up. The Shawanoe camp, or village, is placed on the south side of the river, behind the fort. The country is here hilly, broken, and now, as in La Salle's time, covered with wood, which, however, soon ends in the open prairie. A short time since, the remains of a low, irregular earthwork of considerable extent were discovered at the intersection140 of two ravines, about twenty-four hundred feet behind, or south of, Starved Rock. The earthwork follows the line of the ravines on two sides. On the east, there is an opening, or gateway141, leading to the adjacent prairie. The work is very irregular in form, and shows no trace of the civilized142 engineer. In the stump143 of an oak-tree upon it, Dr. Paul counted a hundred and sixty rings of annual growth. The village of the Shawanoes (Chaouenons), on Franquelin's map, corresponds with the position of this earthwork. I am indebted to the kindness of Dr. John Paul and Col. D. F. Hitt, the proprietor144 of Starved Rock, for a plan of these curious remains and a survey of the neighboring district. I must also express my obligations to Mr. W. E. Bowman, photographer at Ottawa, for views of Starved Rock and other features of the neighboring scenery.
An interesting relic62 of the early explorers of this region was found a few years ago at Ottawa, six miles above Starved Rock, in the shape of a small iron gun, buried several feet deep in the drift of the river. It consists of a welded tube of iron, about an inch and a half in calibre, strengthened by a series of thick iron rings, cooled on, after the most ancient as well as the most recent method of making cannon145. It is about fourteen inches long, the part near the muzzle146 having been burst off. The construction is very rude. Small field-pieces, on a similar principle, were used in the fourteenth century. Several of them may be seen at the Musée d'Artillerie at Paris. In the time of Louis XIV., the art of casting cannon was carried to a high degree of perfection. The gun in question may have been made by a French blacksmith on the spot. A far less probable supposition is, that it is a relic of some unrecorded visit of the Spaniards; but the pattern of the piece would have been antiquated147, even in the time of De Soto.
[249] The royal instructions to La Barre, on his assuming the government, dated at Versailles, 10 May, 1682, require him to give no further permission to make journeys of discovery towards the Sioux and the Mississippi, as his Majesty thinks his subjects better employed in cultivating the land. The letter adds, however, that La Salle is to be allowed to continue his discoveries, if they appear to be useful. The same instructions are repeated in a letter of the Minister of the Marine to the new intendant of Canada, De Meules.
[250] Lettre de La Salle à La Barre, Fort St. Louis, 2 Avril, 1683. The above is condensed from passages in the original.
[251] Lettre de La Salle à La Barre, Portage de Chicagou, 4 Juin, 1683. The substance of the letter is given above, in a condensed form. A passage is omitted, in which La Salle expresses his belief that his vessel, the "Griffin," had been destroyed, not by Indians, but by the pilot, who, as he thinks, had been induced to sink her, and then, with some of the crew, attempted to join Du Lhut with their plunder, but were captured by Indians on the Mississippi.
[252] Lettre de La Barre au Ministre, 14 Nov., 1682.
[253] Lettre de La Barre au Ministre, 30 Avril, 1683. La Salle had spent the winter, not at Green Bay, as this slanderous148 letter declares, but in the Illinois country.
[254] Lettre de La Barre au Ministre, 4 Nov., 1683.
[255] Lettre du Roy à La Barre, 5 Ao?t, 1683.
[256] Mémoire pour rendre compte à Monseigneur le Marquis de Seignelay de l'état où le Sieur de Lasalle a laissé le Fort Frontenac pendant le temps de sa découverte. On La Barre's conduct, see "Count Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV.," chap. v.
[257] La Salle, when at Mackinaw, on his way to Quebec, in 1682, had been recalled to the Illinois, as we have seen, by a threatened Iroquois invasion. There is before me a copy of a letter which he then wrote to Count Frontenac, begging him to send up more soldiers to the fort, at his (La Salle's) expense. Frontenac, being about to sail for France, gave this letter to his newly arrived successor, La Barre, who, far from complying with the request, withdrew La Salle's soldiers already at the fort, and then made its defenceless state a pretext for seizing it. This statement is made in the memoir addressed to Seignelay, before cited.
[258] These are the statements of the memorial addressed in La Salle's behalf to the minister, Seignelay.
[259] Tonty, 1684, 1693; Lettre de La Barre au Ministre, 5 Juin, 1684; Ibid., 9 Juillet, 1684.
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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9
retraced
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| v.折回( retrace的过去式和过去分词 )；回忆；回顾；追溯 | |
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10
famished
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| adj.饥饿的 | |
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11
subsist
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| vi.生存，存在，供养 | |
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12
alligators
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| n.短吻鳄( alligator的名词复数 ) | |
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13
treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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14
savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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15
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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16
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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17
repulse
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| n.击退，拒绝；vt.逐退，击退，拒绝 | |
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18
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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19
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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20
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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21
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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22
bluffs
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| 恐吓( bluff的名词复数 )； 悬崖； 峭壁 | |
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23
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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24
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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25
nourishment
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| n.食物，营养品；营养情况 | |
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26
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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27
beset
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| v.镶嵌；困扰，包围 | |
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28
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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29
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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30
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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31
buffalo
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| n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛 | |
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32
offset
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| n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿 | |
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33
outlay
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| n.费用，经费，支出；v.花费 | |
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34
bulwark
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| n.堡垒，保障，防御 | |
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35
outlet
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| n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄 | |
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36
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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37
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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38
gorge
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| n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃 | |
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39
mingle
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| vt.使混合，使相混；vi.混合起来；相交往 | |
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40
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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41
foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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42
walnuts
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| 胡桃（树）( walnut的名词复数 )； 胡桃木 | |
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43
brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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44
stunted
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| adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的 | |
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45
cedar
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| n.雪松，香柏(木) | |
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46
brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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47
plummet
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| vi.(价格、水平等)骤然下跌；n.铅坠；重压物 | |
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48
gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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49
dwellings
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| n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
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50
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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51
rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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52
negotiation
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| n.谈判，协商 | |
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53
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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54
timorous
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| adj.胆怯的，胆小的 | |
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55
feudal
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| adj.封建的，封地的，领地的 | |
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56
inaccessible
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| adj.达不到的，难接近的 | |
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57
devious
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| adj.不坦率的，狡猾的；迂回的，曲折的 | |
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58
westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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59
glimmering
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| n.微光，隐约的一瞥adj.薄弱地发光的v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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60
hazy
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| adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的 | |
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61
scathed
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| v.伤害，损害（尤指使之枯萎）( scathe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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62
relic
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| n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物 | |
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63
relics
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| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
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64
lodges
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| v.存放( lodge的第三人称单数 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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65
labored
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| adj.吃力的，谨慎的v.努力争取(for)( labor的过去式和过去分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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66
whooped
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| 叫喊( whoop的过去式和过去分词 )； 高声说； 唤起 | |
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67
gambolled
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| v.蹦跳，跳跃，嬉戏( gambol的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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68
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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69
dependants
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| 受赡养者，受扶养的家属( dependant的名词复数 ) | |
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70
followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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71
license
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| n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许 | |
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72
eccentricities
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| n.古怪行为( eccentricity的名词复数 )；反常；怪癖 | |
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73
memoir
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| n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录 | |
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74
marine
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| adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵 | |
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75
diplomacy
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| n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕 | |
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76
disperse
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| vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散 | |
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77
colonists
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| n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 ) | |
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78
secondly
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| adv.第二，其次 | |
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79
ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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80
intrigues
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| n.密谋策划( intrigue的名词复数 )；神秘气氛；引人入胜的复杂情节v.搞阴谋诡计( intrigue的第三人称单数 )；激起…的好奇心 | |
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81
intrigue
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| vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋 | |
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82
reigned
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| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
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83
naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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84
notably
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| adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地 | |
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85
predecessor
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| n.前辈，前任 | |
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86
avarice
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| n.贪婪；贪心 | |
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87
whit
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| n.一点，丝毫 | |
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88
violation
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| n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯 | |
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89
ordinances
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| n.条例，法令( ordinance的名词复数 ) | |
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90
illicit
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| adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的 | |
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91
jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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92
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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93
attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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94
licenses
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| n.执照( license的名词复数 )v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的第三人称单数 ) | |
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95
postponed
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| vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发） | |
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96
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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97
munitions
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| n.军火，弹药；v.供应…军需品 | |
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98
pretexts
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| n.借口，托辞( pretext的名词复数 ) | |
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99
pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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100
trumped
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| v.（牌戏）出王牌赢（一牌或一墩）( trump的过去分词 )；吹号公告，吹号庆祝；吹喇叭；捏造 | |
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101
frustrated
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| adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧 | |
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102
thwart
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| v.阻挠，妨碍，反对；adj.横(断的) | |
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103
creditors
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| n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 ) | |
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104
decrying
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| v.公开反对，谴责( decry的现在分词 ) | |
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105
pillaged
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| v.抢劫，掠夺( pillage的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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106
ransom
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| n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救 | |
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107
pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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108
debauch
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| v.使堕落，放纵 | |
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109
muster
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| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
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110
calumnies
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| n.诬蔑，诽谤，中伤（的话）( calumny的名词复数 ) | |
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111
posture
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| n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势 | |
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112
strenuously
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| adv.奋发地，费力地 | |
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113
ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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114
succor
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| n.援助，帮助；v.给予帮助 | |
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115
plunder
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| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
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116
emboldened
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| v.鼓励，使有胆量( embolden的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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117
condemnation
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| n.谴责; 定罪 | |
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118
garrison
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| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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119
remonstrances
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| n.抱怨，抗议( remonstrance的名词复数 ) | |
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120
lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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121
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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122
beseeching
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| adj.恳求似的v.恳求，乞求（某事物）( beseech的现在分词 ) | |
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123
superfluous
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| adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的 | |
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124
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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125
smothered
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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126
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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127
citadel
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| n.城堡；堡垒；避难所 | |
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128
besieged
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| 包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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129
discomfited
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| v.使为难( discomfit的过去式和过去分词)；使狼狈；使挫折；挫败 | |
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130
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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131
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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132
fortress
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| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
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133
assassination
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| n.暗杀；暗杀事件 | |
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134
cession
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| n.割让，转让 | |
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135
assailed
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| v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对 | |
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136
extemporized
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| v.即兴创作，即席演奏( extemporize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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137
authentic
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| a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的 | |
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138
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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139
aggregate
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| adj.总计的，集合的；n.总数；v.合计；集合 | |
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140
intersection
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| n.交集，十字路口，交叉点；[计算机] 交集 | |
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141
gateway
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| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
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142
civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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143
stump
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| n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走 | |
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144
proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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145
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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146
muzzle
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| n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默 | |
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147
antiquated
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| adj.陈旧的，过时的 | |
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148
slanderous
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| adj.诽谤的，中伤的 | |
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