this region.] When they told them the object of their voyage, they were
filled with astonishment, and used their best ingenuity to dissuade them.
The banks of the Mississippi, they said, were inhabited by ferocious
tribes, who put every stranger to death, tomahawking all new-comers
without cause or provocation. They added that there was a demon in a
certain part of the river, whose roar could be heard at a great distance,
and who would engulf them in the abyss where he dwelt; that its waters
were full of frightful monsters, who would devour them and their canoe;
and, finally, that the heat was so great that they would perish
inevitably. Marquette set their counsel at naught, gave them a few words
of instruction in the mysteries of the Faith, taught them a prayer, and
bade them farewell.

The travellers soon reached the mission at the head of Green Bay; entered
the Fox River; with difficulty and labor dragged their canoes up the long
and tumultuous rapids; crossed Lake Winnebago; and followed the quiet
windings of the river beyond, where they glided through an endless growth
of wild rice, and scared the innumerable birds that fed upon it. On either
hand rolled the prairie, dotted with groves and trees, browsing elk and
deer. [Footnote: Dablon, on his journey with Allouez in 1670, was
delighted with the aspect of the country and the abundance of game along
this river. Carver, a century later, speaks to the same effect,--saying
the birds rose up in clouds from the wild-rice marshes.] On the seventh of
June, they reached the Mascoutins and Miamis, who, since the visit of
Dablon and Allouez, had been joined by the Kickapoos. Marquette, who had
an eye for natural beauty, was delighted with the situation of the town,
which he describes as standing on the crown of a hill; while, all around,
the prairie stretched beyond the sight, interspersed with groves and belts
of tall forest. But he was still more delighted when he saw a cross
planted in the midst of the place. The Indians had decorated it with a