The French Period 



The original letter was written in Italian, but the account of the Falls 1653 

 which it contains is very similiar to Ragueneau's. In fact, so much alike Bressani 

 are the two accounts, that, were it not for the difference in language, 

 one would take them for the same account. 



1669 



Galinee, Rene BREHAN DE. Exploration of the Great Lakes, 1669 

 1669-1670, by Dollier de Casson and De Brehan de Galinee. Gal- Galinee 

 inee's narrative and map, with an English version, including all the map 

 legends. Translator and editor, James H. Coyne. Toronto: the Society. 

 1903. (Ontario Historical Society, Papers and Records, vol. IV, 

 pp. 38-41.) 



Contains both French and English versions. French editions occur in 

 Pierre Margry's Decouvertes ei etablissemenis des Francais dans 

 VAmerique Septentrionale, tome I, pp. 139, and in the Memoires of 

 the Societe Historique de Montreal, livre VI. An English translation 

 of the Niagara Falls portion of the narrative may be found in O. H. 

 Marshall's First visit of de La Salle to the Senecas made in 1669, a paper 

 read before the Buffalo Historical Society in March, 1874. 



Galinee was a Sulpitian missionary who came to the Niagara in 1 669 in 

 the company of Dolliver de Casson and La Salle. The extract quoted 

 is the narrative of that visit. Though only a hearsay account it is very 

 good, much better, in fact, than some later first-hand accounts. The 

 distances on the river are incorrect, but the report of the height of the 

 Falls at least approximates the truth. It is interesting to notice that in 

 Galinee occurs the first reference to the great distance at which the roar 

 of the Falls was audible. 



We discovered a river one eighth of a league wide and 

 extremely rapid, which is the outlet or communication from Lake 

 Erie to Lake Ontario. The depth of this stream [for it is prop- 

 erly the River St. Lawrence] is prodigious at this spot; for at the 

 very shore there are fifteen or sixteen fathoms of water, which 

 fact we proved by dropping our line. This outlet [may be 

 forty leagues in length, and] contains, at a distance of ten or 

 twelve leagues from its mouth in Lake Ontario, one of the finest 

 cataracts or water-falls in the world ; for all the Indians to whom 

 I have spoken about it said the river fell in that place from a 

 rock higher than the tallest pine trees ; that is, about two hundred 



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