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

1680.] THE DESERTERS. 217It may be remembered that La Salle had »met twoof his men, La Chapelle and Leblanc, at his fort onthe St. Joseph, and ordered them to rejoin Tonty.Unfortunately, they obeyed. On arriving, they toldtheir comrades that the " Griffin " was lost,that FortFrontenac was seized by the creditors of La Salle,that he was rained past recovery, and that they, themen, would never receive their pay. Their wageswere in arrears for more than two years ;and, indeed,it would have been folly to pay them before theirreturn to the settlements, as to do so would havebeen a temptation to desert. Now, however, theeffect on their minds was still worse, believing, asmany of them did,that they would never be paid atall.La Chapelle and his companion had brought aletter from La Salle to Tonty, directing him toexamine and fortify the cliff so often mentioned,which overhung the river above the great Illinoisvillage. Tonty, accordingly, set out on his errandwith some of the men. In his absence, the malcontentsdestroyed the fort, stole powder, lead, furs,and provisions, and deserted, after writing on theside of the unfinished vessel the words seen by LaSalle, "Nous sommes tons sauvages." 1 The brave1For the particulars of this desertion, Membre* in Le Clerc, ii.171, Relation des Decouvertes ; Tonty, MSmoire, 1684, 1693 ;Declarationfaite par devant le &' Duchesneau, Intendant en Canada, parMoyse Hillaret, charpentier de barque cy-devant au service du 8* de laSalle, Aoust, 1680.Moyse Hillaret, the " Maitre Moyse " of Hennepin, was a ring