“On the 17th of June (1673)”, writes Father Marquette, “we safely entered the Mississippi with a joy that I cannot express.  Its current is slow and gentle, the width very unequal.  On its banks there are hardly any woods or mountains.  The islands are most beautiful, and they are covered with fine trees.  We saw deer and cattle (bison), geese, and swans.  From time to time we came upon monstrous fish, one of which struck our canoe with such violence that I thought it was a great tree.  On another occasion we saw on the water a monster with the head of a tiger, a sharp nose like that of a wild cat, with whiskers and straight erect ears.  The head was grey, and the neck quite black (possibly a lynx)....  We found that turkeys had taken the place of game, and the pisikiou, or wild cattle, that of the other animals.”

Father Marquette, of course, by his wild cattle means the bison, of which he proceeds to give an excellent description.  He adds:  “They are very fierce, and not a year passes without their killing some savages.  When attacked, they catch a man on their horns if they can, toss him in the air, throw him on the ground, then trample him under foot and kill him.  If a person fires at them from a distance with either a bow or a gun, he must immediately after the shot throw himself down and hide in the grass, for if they perceive him who has fired they run at him and attack him.”

Soon after entering the Mississippi, Marquette noticed some rocks which by their height and length inspired awe.  “We saw upon one of them two painted monsters which at first made us afraid, and upon which the boldest savages dare not long rest their eyes.  They are as large as a calf; they have horns on their heads like those of deer, a horrible look, red eyes, a beard like a tiger’s, a face somewhat like a man’s, a body covered with scales, and so long a tail that it winds all round the body and ends like that of a fish.  Green, red, and black are the three colours composing the picture.  Moreover, these two monsters are so well painted that we cannot believe that any savage is their author, for good painters in France would find it difficult to paint so well, and, besides, they are so high up on the rock that it is difficult to reach that place conveniently to paint them."[10]

[Footnote 10:  These remarkable rock pictures were situated immediately above the present city of Alton, Illinois.  In 1812 they still remained in a good state of preservation, but the thoughtless Americans had gradually destroyed them by 1867 in quarrying the rock for building stone.]

As the Jolliet expedition paddled down the Mississippi—­ever so easily and swiftly—­a marvellous panorama unfolded itself before the Frenchmen’s fascinated gaze.  Immense herds of bison occasionally appeared on the river banks, flocks of turkeys flew up from the glades and roosted in the trees and on the river bank.  Everywhere the natives seemed friendly, and Father Marquette was usually able to communicate with them through his knowledge of the Illinois Algonkin dialect, which the Siou understood.