A new history of Texas for schools : also for general reading and for teachers preparing themselves for examination Page: 19 of 412

1687.1 ERA OF DISCOVERIES AND MISSIONS.

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kansas River, so that in case of need the Frenchmen
from the south might come north for aid. This time
had now come, and La Salle resolved to find De Tonti,
and with his assistance to carry out the plans made by
the king. Before starting, January, 1687, he called the
few remaining colonists around him, and told them why
he must leave; charged them to remember why they had
come to America, and how disappointed their king would
be if they did not accomplish their purpose; encouraged
them, and bade them a solemn farewell. Few who heard
him thought that this would be the last time they should
listen to his voice, but so it was. To go five hundred miles
over a country of which he knew nothing, where there
were no roads, where there were many swift and swollen
rivers to cross, where the Indians might at any moment
rush upon him-this was the task that La Salle was
undertaking. He knew De Tonti was somewhere to the
north, and that was all he did know; but, thanks to the
compass and the kind North Star, which never refuses
its light to the traveler, he was not without guides.
Troubles.-La Salle, with his nephews, his brother,
and Father Anastase (a nas'tas), and the other men he
had chosen, traveled on for several weeks, suffering many
hardships. During this time some of the men had been
growing dissatisfied. They thought their leader too
haughty and their work too hard. Duhaut (du ho'), one
of the soldiers, hated Moranget (m6r an ja), La Salle's
nephew, and was eager for a quarrel, and Moranget him-
self was not averse. On one occasion Moranget was sent