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

1685.] LANDING OF LA SALLE. 379He persisted in his purpose, and sent Joutel andMoranget with a party of soldiers to explore thecoast. They made their way northeastward alongthe shore of Matagorda Island, till they were stoppedon the third day by what Joutel calls a river, butwhich was in fact the entrance of Matagorda Bay.Here they encamped, and tried to make a raft ofdriftwood. "The difficulty was," says Joutel, "ourgreat number of men, and the few of them who werefit for anything except eating. As I said before,they had all been caught by force or surprise, so thatour company was like Noah's ark, which containedanimals of all sorts." Before their raft was finished,they descried to their great joy the ships which hadfollowed them along the coast. 1La Salle landed, and announced that here was thewestern mouth of the Mississippi, and the place towhich the King had sent him. He said further thathe would land all his men, and bring the " Aimable "and the " Belle " to the safe harborage within.Beaujeu remonstrated, alleging the shallowness ofthe water and the force of the currents; but hisremonstrance was vain. 2The Bay of St. Louis, now Matagorda Bay, formsa broad and sheltered harbor, accessible from the seaby a narrow passage, obstructed by sand-bars and bythe small island now called Pelican Island. Boats1 Joutel, Journal Historique, 68 ; Relation (Margry, iii. 143-146)Compare Journal d'Esmanville (Margry, ii. 610).2 Relation de Minet (Margry. ii 691).