Antiqueness--A Proposition and Corollary--"All is New"--Freshness of Natural Scenery--The immigrant Inhabitants--An Exception--A serious Duty--A laudable Resolution--A gay Bevy--A Hawser-ferry--A Scene on the Kaskaskia--"Old Kaskaskia"--Structure of Dwellings--Aspect of Antiquity--A Contrast--"City of the Pilgrims"--The Scenes of a Century--Lane-like Streets--Old Customs--"The Parallel ceases"--The same Fact with the Spaniards--The Cause--The French Villagers--The Inn-gallery--A civil Landlord--The _Table d'Hôte_--A Moonlight Ramble--The old Church--The Courthouse--The fresh Laugh--The Piano--The Brunettes 26
The Explorers of the West--The French Jesuits--Cause of the Undertaking--The Tale of the Hunters--Marquette and Joliet [viii]--Their Exploration--The Natives--The Illini--A Village--_Manito_ of the Missouri--The Illinois--Amazed Delight--Joliet's Narrative--Marquette--Name to the River--Joliet's Reward--Lapse of Years--M. Robert, Cavalier de la Salle--His Talent, Ambition, and Enterprise--Visit to Canada--Success at Paris--Tonti and Hennepin--Exploration--The Illinois--An Indian Village--The Hoard of Corn--Peoria Lake--Treatment by the Natives--Loss of the Supply-boat--Fort "_Creve Cœur_"--Its Site--"Spring Bay"--The Indian War--Danger of La Salle--The Mutiny--The Poison--Exploration of the Mississippi--The Falls--Captivity--Hennepin's Travels--Character of these early Writers--"Fort St. Louis"--Second Expedition of La Salle--The _Osage_--A Village of Natives--The _Oubachi_--Fort _Prudhomme_--Formal Possession--_Louisiana_--Ceremonies at the Gulf--River "St. Louis"--Villages founded--Fate of La Salle--Retributive Justice--Fate of Marquette--Decease and Burial--Canadian Colonies--Their Design--Mining Expeditions--M. de Seur--Disappointment--_Couriers du bois_--_Petits Paysans_--Merry Mortals--Origin of Kaskaskia--Name--Depôt of Fur-trade--De Soto and the Tradition--His Death and Burial--Original Extent of Kaskaskia--The "Common Field"--The Grant--Policy of French and Spanish Governments--"Common Fields" and "Commons"--Regulations--Congress-grants--Harmony with the Savages--The Cause--Exaggeration--Early Peace and Prosperity--Jesuit College--Law's Scheme--The Design--_Les Illinois_--The Failure--The "South Sea Bubble"--Prosperity of Kaskaskia--Luxuriance of Agriculture--A chimerical Design--Cession and Recession--An unwelcome Change--Removal and the Causes 34