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

;268 HENNEPIN AMONG THE SIOUX. [1680.which, as he avers, was six feet long, 1 writhingupward towards the holes of the swallows in the faceof the precipice, in order to devour their young. Hepointed him out to Du Gay, and they pelted himwith stones till he fell into the river, but not beforehis contortions and the darting of his forked tonguehad so affected the Picard's imagination that hewas haunted that night with a terrific incubus.They paddled sixty leagues down the river in theheats of July, and killed no large game but a singledeer, the meat of which soon spoiled. Their mainresource was the turtles, whose shyness and watchfulnesscaused them frequent disappointments andmany involuntary fasts. They once captured one ofmore than common size; and, as they were endeavoringto cut offhis head, he was near avenging himselfby snapping off Hennepin's finger. There wasa herd of buffalo in sight on the neighboring prairieand Du Gay went with his gun in pursuit of them,leaving the turtle in Hennepin's custody. Scarcelywas he gone when the friar, raising his eyes, sawthat their canoe, which they had left at the edge ofthe water, had floated out into the current.turning theHastilyturtle on his back, he covered him withhis habit of St. Francis, on which, for greatersecurity, he laid a number of stones, and then, beinga good swimmer, struck out in pursuit of the canoe,1 In the edition of 1683. In that of 1697 he had grown to sevenor eight feet. The bank-swallows still make their nests in thesecliffs, boring easily into the soft sandstone.