took with them some of the wonderful stones; but scarcely had they left
the island, when a deep voice, like thunder, sounded in their ears, "Who
are these thieves who steal the toys of my children?" It was the God of
the Waters, or some other powerful manito. The four adventurers retreated
in great terror, but three of them soon died, and the fourth survived only
long enough to reach his village and tell the story. The island has no
foundation, but floats with the movement of the wind; and no Indian dares
land on its shores, dreading the wrath of the manito.--Dablon, _Relation_,
1670, 84.]

There were two principal missions on the Upper Lakes; which were, in a
certain sense, the parents of the rest. One of these was Ste. Marie du
Saut,--the same visited by Dollier and Galinee,--at the outlet of Lake
Superior. This was a noted fishing-place; for the rapids were full of
white-fish, and Indians came thither in crowds. The permanent residents
were an Ojibwa band, called by the French Sauteurs, whose bark lodges were
clustered at the foot of the rapids, near the fort of the Jesuits. Besides
these, a host of Algonquins, of various tribes, resorted thither in the
spring and summer; living in abundance on the fishery, and dispersing in
winter to wander and starve in scattered hunting-parties far and wide
through the forests.

The other chief mission was that of St. Esprit, at La Pointe, near the
western extremity of Lake Superior. Here were the Hurons,--fugitives
twenty years before from the slaughter of their countrymen; and the
Ottawas, who, like them, had sought an asylum from the rage of the
Iroquois. Many other tribes,--Illinois, Pottawattamies, Foxes, Menomonies,
Sioux, Assinneboins, Knisteneaux, and a multitude besides,--came hither
yearly to trade with the French. Here was a young Jesuit, Jacques
Marquette, lately arrived from the Saut Ste. Marie. His savage flock