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

156 LA SALLE ON THE UPPER LAKES. [1679.by the politic kindness of Frontenac that he declaredhimself ready to die for the children of Onontio. 1Here, too, he found several of his advance party,who had remained faithful and collected a largestore of furs. It would have been better had theyproved false, like the rest. La Salle, who askedcounsel of no man, resolved, in spite of his followers,to send back the " Griffin " laden with these furs, andothers collected on the way, to satisfy his creditors. 2It was a rash resolution, for it involved trusting herto the pilot, who had already proved either incompetentor treacherous. She 'fired a parting shot, andon the eighteenth of September set sail for Niagara,with orders to return to the head of Lake Michiganas soon as she had discharged her cargo. La Salle,with the fourteen men who remained, in four canoesdeeply laden with a forge, tools, merchandise, andarms, put out from the island and resumed hisvoyage.The parting was not auspicious.The lake, glassyand calm in the afternoon, was convulsed at nightwith a sudden storm, when the canoes were midwaybetween the island and the main shore. It was withdifficulty that they could keep together, the men1 " The Great Mountain," the Iroquois name for the governor ofCanada.It was borrowed by other tribes also.2 In the license of discovery granted to La Salle, he is expresslyprohibited from trading with the Ottawas and otherts who broughtfurs to Montreal. This traffic on the lakes was, therefore, illicit.His enemy, the Intendant Duchesneau, afterwards used this againsthim. Lettre de Duchesneau au Ministre, 10 Nov., 1680.