La Salle and the discovery of the great West - North Central ...

142 LA SALLE AT NIAGARA. [1679.in a small vessel, with a pilot either unskilful ortreacherous. On Christmas eve, he was near wreckingthem off the Bay of Quinte*. On the next daythey crossed to the mouth of the Genesee; and LaSalle,after some delay, proceeded to the neighboringtown of the Senecas, where he appears to have arrivedjust after the departure of La Motte and Hennepin.He, too,called them to a council, and tried to soothethe extreme jealousy with which they regarded hisproceedings. "I told them my plan," he says, "andgave the best pretexts I could, and I succeeded inmy attempt." 1 More fortunate than La Motte, hepersuaded them to consent to his carrying arms andammunition by the Niagara portage, building a vesselabove the cataract, and establishing a fortified warehouseat the mouth of the river.This success was followed by a calamity.La Sallehad gone up the Niagara to find a suitable place for aship-yard, when he learned that the pilot in chargeof the vessel he had left had disobeyed his orders,and ended by wrecking it on the coast. Little wassaved except the anchors and cables destined for thenew vessel to be built above the cataract. This lossthrew him into extreme perplexity, and, as Hennepinsays, "would have made anybody but him give upthe enterprise." 2 The whole party were now gath-1 Lettre de La Salle a un de ses associes (Margry, ii. 32).4 Description de la Louisiane (1683), 41. It is characteristic ofHennepin that, in the editions of his book published after La Salle'sdeath, he substitutes, for " anybody but him," " anybody but thosewho had formed *o generous a design," — meaning to include him-