[Illustration: LA SALLE’S SHIP, THE GRIFFIN
_From an old print._]
If we were only French, we could weep at the splendid story of French
discovery, as compared with the final collapse of the French empire on
the continent of North America. The French were the first to find the
St. Lawrence; first to see each one of the Great Lakes; first to spread
exaggerated ideas about Niagara Falls--where, according to Mark Twain,
the hack fares in his time were so much higher than the falls that the
visitor did not perceive the latter. They were first to be awestruck at
the site of the future city of Chicago; first to reach the Mississippi;
first to be stopped by the Falls of St. Anthony, which unfortunately
were not at that time subject to conservation; first to navigate the
Mississippi; first to see the Rocky Mountains; first to cross from Lake
Superior to Hudson Bay. What a fate, to be the star actors in so many
first performances, and then not to appear at all in the last act!
What a destiny for the earliest explorers of our country!
One reason why the French secured early control of the interior
was that they had an astonishing gift of living on the country.
When Stanley crosses the Dark Continent, or Amundsen penetrates the
White Continent, he carries great quantities of stores with him; but
Champlain, and Marquette, and La Salle went light. The Frenchmen
paddled their canoes along with their Indian friends, lived on game and
Indian corn, found much to engage and interest them, and were always
ready for a joyous fight. Frenchmen know how to draw the pleasures of
life out of unpromising surroundings.