1666-1678.] LA SALLE. 57 



bark on bold and comprehensive enterprise. Many 

 a gallant gentleman, many a nobleman of France, 

 trod the black mould and oozy mosses of the forest 

 with feet that had pressed the carpets of Versailles. 

 They whose youth had passed in camps and courts 

 grew gray among the wigwams of savages ; and the 

 lives of Castine, Joncaire, and Priber^ are invested 

 with all the interest of romance. 



Conspicuous in the annals of Canada stands the 

 memorable name of E-obert Cavelier de La Salle, 

 the man who, beyond all his compeers, contributed 

 to expand the boundary of French empire in the 

 west. La Salle commanded at Fort Frontenac, 

 erected near the outlet of Lake Ontario, on its 

 northern shore, and then forming the most ad- 

 vanced military outpost of the colony. Here he 

 dwelt among Indians, and half-breeds, traders, 

 voyageurs, bush-rangers, and Franciscan monks, 

 ruling his little empire with absolute sway, en- 

 forcing respect by his energy, but offending many 

 by his rigor. Here he brooded upon the grand de- 

 sign which had long engaged his thoughts. He 

 had resolved to complete the achievement of Father 

 Marquette, to trace the unknown Mississippi to its 

 mouth, to plant the standard of his king in the 

 newly-discovered regions, and found colonies which 

 should make good the sovereignty of France from 

 the Frozen Ocean to Mexico. Ten years of his 



1 For an account of Priber, see Adair, 240. I have seen mention of 

 this man in contemporary provincial newspapers, where he is sometimes 

 spoken of as a disguised Jesuit. He took up his residence among tlie 

 Cherokees about the year 1736, and labored to gain them over to tlie 

 French interest. 



