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

400 ST. LOUIS OF TEXAS. [1686.bull, fired, and broke his shoulder. The bull hobbledoff on three legs. Douay ran in his cassock tohead him back, while Joutel reloaded his gun ; uponwhich the enraged beast butted at the missionary,and knocked him down. He very narrowly escapedwith his life. "There was another missionary,"pursues Joutel, "named Father Maxime Le Clerc,who was very well fitted for such an undertaking asours, because he was equal to anything, even tobutchering a buffalo ; and as I said before that everyone of us must lend a hand, because we were too fewfor anybody to be waited upon, I made the women,girls, and children do their part, as well as him; foras they all wanted to eat, it was fair that they allshould work." He had a scaffolding built near thefort, and set them to smoking buffalo meat, againsta day of scarcity. 1Thus the time passed till the middle of January;when late one evening, as all were gathered in theprincipal building, conversing perhaps, or smoking,or playing at cards, or dozing by the fire in homesickdreams ofFrance, a man on guard came in to reportthat he had heard a voice from the river. They allwent down to the bank, and descried a man in acanoe, who called out, " Dominic ! " This was thename of the younger of the two brothers Duhaut,who was one of Joutel's followers. As the canoe1For the above incidents of life at Fort St. Louis, see Joutel,Relation (Margry, iii. 185-218, passim). The printed condensationof the narrative omits most of these particulars.