powerful rivals, and eager to emulate their zeal in the saving of souls,
and the conquering of new domains for the Faith. Under this impulse, they
had, three years before, established a mission at Quinte, on the north
shore of Lake Ontario, in charge of two of their number, one of whom was
the Abbe Fenelon, elder brother of the celebrated Archbishop of Cambray.
Another of them, Dollier de Casson, had spent the winter in a hunting-camp
of the Nipissings, where an Indian prisoner, captured in the North-west,
told him of populous tribes of that quarter, living in heathenish
darkness. On this, the Seminary priests resolved to essay their
conversion; and an expedition, to be directed by Dollier, was fitted out
to this end.

He was not ill suited to the purpose. He had been a soldier in his youth,
and had fought valiantly as an officer of cavalry under Turenne. He was a
man of great courage; of a tall, commanding person; and uncommon bodily
strength, of which he had given striking proofs in the campaign of
Courcelles against the Iroquois, three years before. [Footnote: He was the
author of the very curious and valuable _Histoire de Montreal_, preserved
in the Bibliotheque Mazarine, of which a copy is in my possession. The
Historical Society of Montreal has recently resolved to print it.] On
going to Quebec, to procure the necessary outfit, he was urged by
Courcelles to modify his plans so far as to act in concert with La Salle
in exploring the mystery of the great unknown river of the West. Dollier
and his brother priests consented. One of them, Galinee, was joined with
him as a colleague, because he was skilled in surveying, and could make a
map of their route. Three canoes were procured, and seven hired men
completed the party. It was determined that La Salle's expedition, and
that of the Seminary, should be combined in one; an arrangement ill suited
to the character of the young explorer, who was unfit for any enterprise
of which he was not the undisputed chief.