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one would suppose possible at the time. Almost as soon as he arrived at Quebec, he ordered one Daumont de St. Lusson to search for copper mines on the shores of Lake Superior and to call together representatives of as many tribes as possible at Sault St. Mary, the falls of which we have spoken before. Monsieur Talon was of an economical turn, notwithstanding the great wealth of France and of its master Louis, and perhaps in this he shows the influence of Colbert, whose time was then pretty busily occupied in economizing the income of the government, which, under his predecessor, Fouquet, had been lavished upon numerous subordinate officers. He showed his skill in this direction, when he wrote to the King the next year that this expedition would cost nothing to the government, because St. Lusson had received enough furs from the Indians to pay all

expenses.

St. Lusson showed his fitness for the direction of the important affair by selecting as his executive officer Nicholas Perrot, one of the most conspicuous of all the early Canadian voyageurs, who could act as interpreter, for he spoke Algonquin

fluently and had enjoyed a long and intimate acquaintance with the different tribes of Indians. He was a young man of twenty-six years, and had gained a strong influence over the dusky denizens of the woods. He entered upon his work with zeal, and sent messages to the tribes at the north and to those at the west to meet the representative of the Intendant at the appointed place in the spring of 1671. Everywhere welcome, Perrot succeeded in prevailing upon some fourteen tribes to appear by their representatives. Among these were the Sacs and Foxes and Winnebagoes, the Menomonies and Miamis, the Crows, and Nipissings, and I know not what other outlandish tribes. As I write their names, I am reminded of Mr. Longfellow's list of those who came to smoke the peace pipe in a prairie of Dacotah. You will find it in Hiawatha:

Down the rivers, o'er the prairies,
Came the warriors of the nations,
Came the Delawares and Mohawks,
Came the Choctaws and Camanches,
Came the Shoshonies and Blackfeet,

Came the Pawnees and Omahas,
Came the Mandans and Dacotahs,
Came the Hurons and Ojibways,
All the warriors drawn together

By the signal of the Peace-Pipe,

To the Mountains of the Prairie.

Thus are we to imagine the tribes coming together at the Sault St. Mary from their winter hunting-grounds; some, probably, to fish in the rapids, and others to see the great man of whom Perrot had told them. From hundreds of miles distant they came; overland with their squaws and their pappooses, or down the streams in their light and graceful canoes of birch-bark. It was after the spring sun had loosed the icy bands of the waters and the green grass gave promise of the genial summer that was to come. They were met by St. Lusson and fifteen companions, among whom was a young man from Quebec, son of a wagon-maker, but educated in the learning of the Jesuits, of whom history will tell us more, Louis Joliet, and there were other Europeans, too, most of whom were Jesuits.

For several weeks the tribes continued to gather, and probably those who arrived engaged in the usual sports and in fishing. One fine day in June, however, all these gave way to a ceremony that impressed the Indians, and had historic importance.

In the morning, St Lusson led his followers, fully armed and equipped, to the top of a hill near the fort of the Jesuits and overlooking the village of the Sauteurs. They were accompanied by the priests dressed in their finest official vestments. As they looked about, they saw the wondering Indians standing, crouching or stretched upon the ground in the attitude of expectancy.

In silence, Dablon, the Superior of the Missions of the Lakes, stepped forward and pronounced a blessing upon a cross that had been prepared and at the moment lay prone in the midst of the scene. Then it was reared and planted in the ground, while the followers of St. Lusson uncovered their heads and burst out in song, saying in Latin,

Vexilla Regis prodeunt ;

Fulget crucis mysterium,

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