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Show 390 TH£ LILY AND THE TOTEM. thus driven us on the road to fortune. At least, we should have reason to rejoice that we arc here, when our comrades lie stark and bleeding on tltcllhorcsofCaunnvcrcl. 'Vc arc few, butwcnre true; we have IICnlth :md ,·igor; 've Lave nrms in our lmnds, and nrc quite equal to any of the small bands of Indians that infest the country. 'Vc shall seck to avoid encounters with them, but shr~ll not fear them if we meet; and all that I ]m,•c seen of the red-man inclines me to the faith, that they wlto deal with him justly will mostly find justice, nay, even rc,·crcncc in return. 'Vhat remains, but that we steadily pursue our progress, }1cedful where. we set our feet, keeping our minds in patience, never hurrymg forward blindly, and never being too eager in the attainment of our obj ect. Our best strength will lie in our patience. This will save us when our strength shall fail." This counsel found no opposition. There was much discussion of details, n~d t~IC leading suggestion of his mind being adopted, Erlach rcad1ly y~elded much of the minutiro to others. We shall not follow tlw daily progrcS.!! of our adventurers. .Enough that for twenty-seven days they travelled without suff()ring disasWr. There were small ailmenta of the party-some grew faint and feeble, others became slightly lamed; and occasionally nil hearts drooped; but on such occnsions tl1e troop went into camp, chose out some secure thicket, built tllcmsclves n. goodly fire, and whilo the invalids lay around it, the more vigorous hunted and brought in game. _Wild turkeys were in abundance. Sometimes they roosted at mght upon the very trees under which our Frenchmen slept. On such occasions the hunters rose at dawn nnd with well-:aimcd arquebuses shot down two or more; the ;cry fatness of the birds being such, as made them split open as they struck the earth. Anon, n wandering deer crossed their path, and fell a ALPHONSE D1ERLACH. 391 >ictim to their shot. In this way they gradually advanced into the hilly country. Very seldom had they met with any of the red-men, and never in nny numbers. 1.'hcse treated them with great forbearance, were civil, shared with them their slender stock of provisions, nnd received a return in trinkets, knives, or rings of copper, and little bells, a. small store of which l1ad been proddentally brought by persons of the party. Sometimes, these Indians traYcllcd with them, camped with them at night, and behaved themselves like good Christians. From these, too, they gathered vague intelligence of the great city which lay among the mountains. This was described to them, in language often beard before, as containing a wealth of gold, and other treasures in the shape cf precious gems, which, assuming the truth of the description given by the red-men, our Frenchmen assumed to be nothing less than diamonds, rubies and crystals. Jlut they were told that this country was in possession of a very powerful people, fierce nnd warlike, who were very jealous of the nppcar:mcc of strnngcrY. The city of Grand Copal was described ns very populous and rich, a walled town, which it would be difficult to penetrate. These desedptions contributed greatly to warm the imaginations of our Frenchmen, but ns the several informants differed in regard to the direction in which this great city lay, it so happened that pal"tics bcgnn to be formed in respect to the route which should be pursued. Opinion was nc:trly equally divided nmong them. Alphonse D'Erlach was for pursuing a more easterly course than was des.ired by some ten or moro of the party. ITc was inftucnccd by information previously derived from the Indians, when he went into the territories of Olata Utina., and beyond. But tho moro recent testimony was in favor of the west, and this he was dis· posed to disregard. For a time, the discussion led to nothing |
