LOUISIANA. 9 



endeavouring, as thofe o^ Cuba had, to get rid of 

 the Spaniards^ on account of the inquiry they 

 made after gold, perfuaded them, by way of 

 joke, that fince they were fo fond of this metal, 

 they fhould go to the fouthward, where it was 

 fo common that they fifhed it with nets -, Vafco 

 Nttnnez de Balboa inferted this account in a me- 

 moir which he fent to court ; this piece of news 

 pleafed the Spaniards-, about this time Nun- 

 nez difcovered the South Sea and Peru ^ but the 

 gold fifhery proved abortive. 



You know, that, in the time of the famous 

 fyftem of John Law, who was near overturning 

 the whole kingdom, there was a reprefentation 

 at Paris of an Indian upon the river Miffiftppi^ 

 giving a Frenchman an ingot of gold for a knife, 

 and every one had then the madnefs of bringing 

 his real money, in order to have a Ihare in the 

 bonds of a pretended Dorado \ it is certain that 

 if fome hidians of the neighbourhood of New 

 Orleans had been at Paris at that time, they 

 would have faid with good rcafon, that the 

 French had loft their wits, or rather they would 

 have taken them for jugglers--, it is faid thofe 

 pretended mines were the ruin of M. de la Salle 

 in 1684, w^^en he milTed the mouth of the Mif- 

 Jifippi. He did not take notice, that the inte- 

 rior parts of this vafl: continent had more pre- 

 cious 



