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

1680.] CAMP OF SAVAGES. 265at the mouth of the Wisconsin, bringing a supply ofgoods for the Indians ; and he declares that La Sallehad in fact promised to send traders to that place.Be this as it may, the Indians believed him; and,true or false, the assertion, as will be seen, answeredthe purpose for which it was made.The Indians set out in a body to the number oftwo hundred and fifty warriors, with their womenand children. The three Frenchmen, who though indifferent villages had occasionally met during the twomonths of their captivity, were all of the party.They descended Rum River, which forms the outletof Mille Lac, and which is called the St. Francis byHennepin. None of the Indians had offered to givehim passage ; and, fearing lest he should be abandoned,he stood on the bank, hailingbegging to be taken in.the passing canoes andAccau and Du Gay presentlyappeared, paddling a small canoe which theIndianshad given them; but they would not listen to themissionary's call, and Accau, who had no love forhim, criedout that he had paddled him long enoughalready. Two Indians, however, took pity on him,and brought him to the place of encampment, whereDu Gay tried to excuse himself for his conduct; butAccau was sullen, and kept aloof.After reaching the Mississippi, the whole partyencamped together opposite to the mouth of RumRiver, pitching their tents of skin, or building theirbark-huts, on the slope of a hill by the side of thewater. It was a wild scene, this camp of savages