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Show lG TilE L[L\• .AND THE TOTF.M. 'Vith impressions of the scene nud region such as realized to our Frenchmen the summer glories of an Arabian talc, it was easy to determine wlJCrc to plant their colony. ~lodcrn conjcc· turc, however 1 is still unsatisfied as to the site which was probably chosen by our voyagers. The bnguagc of Laudonnierc is sufficiently vague and general to make the matter doubtful; and, unhappily, there nrc no remains which might tend to lessen tho obscurity of the subject. The vessels had cast anchor nt the mouth of Port !loyal ll.ivcr. The pilots subsequently counselled that they should penetrate the stream, so as to secure a sheltered roadstead. They ascended the river accordingly, some three leagues from its mouth, when llibault proceeded to make a closer examination of the country. The Port ltoyal "is divided into two great :mncs, whereof the one runneth toward the west, the other toward the north." Our IIuguenot captain chose the 'Uitslern rwenuc, which be ascended in his pinnace. For more than twelve leagues he continued tl1is progress, until he "found another anne of the river which ranne t-owards the east, up which the captain determined to sail and leave the grcaW current." The red men whom they encounter on this progress arc at first shy of the strangers and take flight at their approach, but they arc soon encouraged by the gentleness and forbearance of the Frenchmen, who persuade them finally to confidence. An amia.· ble understanding soon reconciles the parties, and the Floridian at length brings forward his gifts of maiw, !Jis palm basket8 with fruits and flowers, his rudely·dresscd skins of bear and beaver, and these are pledges of his amity which he docs not violaW. IIc, in turn, persuades the voyagers to draw ncar to the shore and finally to land. They arc soon surrounded by the delighted nnd simple u.ativcs, whose gifts arc multiplied duly in degree with the plea· 17 sure which Utcy feel. Skins of the clwmois-dcer rather-and basket8 of pearls, are offered to the cl1icf among tlJC whites, whom tlJCy proceed to entcdain with shows of still greater courtesy. A bower of forest leaves and shrubs is soon buil~ to shelter them "from tl1e parching hcntc of the smmc111 and our Frenchmen lin. gored long enough among this artless nnd hospitable people to get tidings of a "grcate Indian Lordc wl1ich had pcarlcs in great abundance and silver also, all of which should be given them at the king's an·ivnl., 'l'hey invited the strangers to their dwellings -proffering to show them a thousand pleasures in shooting, and seeing the death of the stag. Our Hu~rucnots, excellent CIITistinns though they were, were by no t;ttcans insensible to the tidings of penrl and gold. These glimpses of treasures, already familiar to their imaginations, greatly increase, in their sight, the natural beauties of the country. ~l.'he narratives of the red men, imperfectly understood, and construed by the desires of the strangers, rather than their minds, were full of marvels of neighboring lands and nations,-grcat empires of wealth and strcngth,-citics in romantic solitudcs,-high places among almost inaccessible mountains, in which the trca. surcs arc equally precious and abundant. Listening to such legends, our Frenchmen linger with the red men, until the approach of night counsels them to seck the security of their ships. But, with the dawning of the following day the explorations. were resumed. Before leaving his \'Csscl, howc,•cr, Ribault pro, ·idcs himself with "a pillar of hard stone, fn.sbioned like !l column, whereon the annes of France were grnven," with the purpose of planting" the Mmo in the fairest place that he couldo findo." "This done, we embarked oursch·cs, nnd sayled throe lengucs towards the west; where we discovered a little rh•cr, up which |