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

152 LA SALLE ON THE UPPER LAKES. [1679.and flocks of swans and wild turkeys. The bulwarksof the "Griffin'* were plentifully hung with gamewhich the men killed on shore, and among the restwith a number of bears, much commended byHennepin for their want of ferocity and the excellenceof their flesh. "Those," he says, "who willone day have the happiness to possess this fertile andpleasant strait, will be very much obliged to thosewho have shown them the way." They crossedLake St. Clair, 1 and still sailed northward againstthe current, till now, sparkling in the sun, LakeHuron spread before them like a sea.For a time they bore on prosperously. Then thewind died to a calm, then freshened to a gale, thenrose to a furious tempest; and the vessel tossedwildly among the short, steep, perilous waves of theraging lake. Even La Salle called on his followersto commend themselves to Heaven.All fell to theirprayers but the godless pilot, who was loud in complaintagainst his commander for having broughthim, after the honor he had won on the ocean, todrown at last ignominiously in fresh water. Therest clamored to the saints. St. Anthony of Paduawas promised a chapel to be built inhis honor, if hewould but save them from their jeopardy ; while inthe same breath La Salle and the friarsdeclared himpatron of their great enterprise. 2 The saint heard1They named it Sainte Claire, of which the present name is aperversion.* Hennepin (1683), 68.