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

;1680.] A HARD JOURNEY. 257of the howlings and lamentations here uttered overhim by Aquipaguetin, and nineteen days after hiscapture landed near the site of St. Paul. Thefather's sorrows now began in earnest. The Indiansbruke his canoe to pieces, having first hidden theirown among the alder-bushes. As they belonged todifferent bands and different villages, their mutualjeblousy now overcame all their prudence ; and eachprcceeded to claim his share of the captives and thebooty.Happily, they made an amicable distribution,or it would have fared ill with the three Frenchmenand each taking his share, not forgetting the priestlyvestments of Hennepin, the splendor of which theycould not sufficiently admire, they setout across thecountry for their villages, which lay towards thenorth in the neighborhood of Lake Buade, now calledMille Lac.Being, says Hennepin, exceedingly tall and active,they walked at a prodigious speed, insomuch that noEuropean could long keep pace with them. Thoughthe month of May had begun, there were frosts atnight; and the marshes and ponds were glazed withice, which cut the missionary's legs as he wadedthrough. They swam the larger streams, and Hennepinnearly perished with cold ashe emerged fromthe icy current. His two companions, who weresmaller than he, and who could not swim, werecarried over on the backs of the Indians. Theyshowed, however, no little endurance ;and he declaresthat he should have dropped by the way, but for their17