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

1681.] THE CHIEFS REPLY. 291if the Iroquois destroy them, they will next destroyyou. Let us all obey the Great King, and livetogether in peace, under his protection. Be of mymind, and use these guns that I have given you, notto make war, but only to hunt and to defendyourselves." 1So saying, he gave two belts of wampum to confirmhis words ; and the assembly dissolved. On thefollowing day, the chiefs again convoked it, andmade their reply in form. It was all that La Sallecould have wished. "The Illinois is our brother,because he is the son of our Father, the Great King."" We make you the master of our beaver and ourlands, of our minds and our bodies." "We cannotwonder that our brothers from the East wish to livewith you. We should have wished so too, if we hadknown what a blessing it is to be the children of theGreat King." The rest of this auspicious day waspassed in feasts and dances, in which La Salle andhis Frenchmen all bore part. His new scheme washopefully begun. It remained to achieve the enterprise,twice defeated, of the discovery of the mouthof the Mississippi, — that vital condition of histriumph, without which allother success was meaninglessand vain.To this end he must return to Canada, appeasehis creditors, and collect his scattered resources.Towards the end of May he set out in canoes from1Translated from the Relation, where these councils are reportedat great length.