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

1687.] ARRIVAL AT THE ARKANSAS. 453ing to be ill, he broke off the ceremony; but theycontinued to sing all night, with so much zeal thatseveral of them were reduced to a state of completeexhaustion.At length, after a journey of about two months,during which they lost one of their number, — DeMarie, accidentally drowned while bathing, — thetravellers approached the river Arkansas, at a pointnot far above its junction with the Mississippi. Ledby their Indian guides, they traversed a rich districtof plains and woods, and stood at length on theborders of the stream. Nestled beneath the forestsof the farther shore, they saw the lodges of a largeIndian town; and here, as they gazed across thebroad current, they presently descried an objectwhich nerved their spent limbs, and thrilled theiihomesick hearts with joy. It was a tall, woodencross ; and near it was a small house, built evidentlyby Christian hands. With one accord they fell ontheir knees, and raised their hands to Heaven inthanksgiving. Two men, in European dress, issuedfrom the door of the house and fired their guns tosalute the excited travellers, who on their partreplied with a volley. Canoes put out from thefarther shore and ferried them to the town, wherethey were welcomed by Couture and De Launay,two followers of Henri de Tonty. 1That brave, loyal, and generous man, always vigilantand always active, beloved and feared alike* Joutel ;Journal Historique, 298.by