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

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236 TONTY AND THE IROQUOIS. [1680.<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> next day, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>n in despair <strong>of</strong>again seeinghim, resumed <strong>the</strong>ir journey. They ascended <strong>the</strong>river, leaving no token <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir passage at <strong>the</strong> junction<strong>of</strong> its nor<strong>the</strong>rn <strong>and</strong> sou<strong>the</strong>rn branches. Forfood, <strong>the</strong>y ga<strong>the</strong>red acorns <strong>and</strong> dug roots in <strong>the</strong>meadows. Their canoe proved utterly worthless;<strong>and</strong>, feeble as <strong>the</strong>y were, <strong>the</strong>y set out on foot for<strong>La</strong>ke Michigan. Boisrondet w<strong>and</strong>ered <strong>of</strong>f, <strong>and</strong> waslost. He had dropped <strong>the</strong> flint <strong>of</strong> his gun, <strong>and</strong> hehad no bullets;but he cut a pewter porringer intoslugs, with which he shot wild turkeys by discharginghis piece with a firebr<strong>and</strong>, <strong>and</strong> after several dayshe had <strong>the</strong> good fortune to rejoin <strong>the</strong> party. Theirobject was to reach <strong>the</strong> Pottawattamies <strong>of</strong> GreenBay. Had <strong>the</strong>y aimed at Michilimackinac, <strong>the</strong>ywould have found an asylum with <strong>La</strong> Forest at <strong>the</strong>fort on <strong>the</strong> St. Joseph; but unhappily <strong>the</strong>y passedwestward <strong>of</strong> that post, <strong>and</strong>, by way <strong>of</strong> Chicago, followed<strong>the</strong> borders <strong>of</strong> <strong>La</strong>ke Michigan northward. Thecold was intense ; <strong>and</strong> it was no easy task to grub upwild onions from <strong>the</strong> frozen ground to save <strong>the</strong>mselvesfrom starving. Tonty fell ill <strong>of</strong> a fever <strong>and</strong> aswelling <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> limbs, which disabled him from travelling,<strong>and</strong> hence ensued a long delay. At length <strong>the</strong>yneared Green Bay, where <strong>the</strong>y would have starved,had <strong>the</strong>y not gleaned a few ears <strong>of</strong>corn <strong>and</strong> frozensquashes in <strong>the</strong> fields <strong>of</strong> an empty Indian town.This enabled <strong>the</strong>m to reach <strong>the</strong> bay, <strong>and</strong> havingpatched an old canoe which <strong>the</strong>y had <strong>the</strong> good luckto find, <strong>the</strong>y embarked in it; whereupon, says Tonty,

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