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

890 LA SALLE IN TEXAS. [1685.intendant at Rochelle: "His Majesty has seen what you wroteabout the idea of the Sieur de Beaujeu, that the Sieur de la Salle isnot at the mouth of the Mississippi. He seems to found this beliefon such weak conjectures that no great attention need be given tchit account, especially as this man has been prejudiced from thefirst against La Salle's enterprise." (Lettre de Seignelay a Arnoul, 22Juillet, 1686. Margry, ii. 604.) The minister at the same timewarns Beaujeu to say nothing in disparagement of the enterprise,under pain of the King's displeasure.The narrative of the engineer, Minet, sufficiently explains acurious map, made by him, as he says, not on the spot, but on thevoyage homeward, and still preserved in the Archives Scientifiquesde la Marine. This map includes two distinct sketches of themouth of the Mississippi. The first, which corresponds to thatmade by Franquelin in 1684, is entitled " Embouchure de la Rivierecomme M. de la Salle la marque dans sa Carte." The second bearsthe words, " Costes et Lacs par la Hauteur de sa Riviere, commenous les avons trouves." These "Costes et Lacs" are a ruderepresentation of the lagoons of Matagorda Bay and its neighborhood,into which the Mississippi is made to discharge, in accordancewith the belief of La Salle. A portion of the coast-line is drawnfrom actual, though superficial observation. The rest is merelyconjectural.