called the Mississippi the Ohio, while the Algonquins gave it its present
name.] In accordance with geographical views then prevalent, he conceived
that this great river must needs flow into the "Vermilion Sea;" that is,
the Gulf of California. If so, it would give him what he sought,--a
western passage to China; while, in any case, the populous Indian tribes
said to inhabit its banks, might be made a source of great commercial
profit.

La Salle's imagination took fire. His resolution was soon formed; and he
descended the St. Lawrence to Quebec, to gain the countenance of the
Governor to his intended exploration. Few men were more skilled than he in
the art of clear and plausible statement. Both the Governor, Courcelles,
and the Intendant, Talon, were readily won over to his plan; for which,
however, they seem to have given him no more substantial aid than that of
the Governor's letters patent authorizing the enterprise. [Footnote:
Talon, in his letter to the king, of 10 Oct. 1670, expresses himself as if
the enterprise had originated with him.] The cost was to be his own; and
he had no money, having spent it all on his seigniory. He therefore
proposed that the Seminary, which had given it to him, should buy it back
again, with such improvements as he had made. Queylus, the Superior, being
favorably disposed towards him, consented, and bought of him the greater
part; while La Salle sold the remainder, including the clearings, to one
Jean Milot, an ironmonger, for twenty-eight hundred livres. [Footnote:
Faillon, _Colonie Francaise en Canada_, iii. 288.] With this he bought
four canoes, with the necessary supplies, and hired fourteen men.

Meanwhile, the Seminary itself was preparing a similar enterprise. The
Jesuits at this time not only held, an ascendency over the other
ecclesiastics in Canada, but exercised an inordinate influence on the
civil government. The Seminary priests of Montreal were jealous of these