he said, had the temerity to venture on it.

Shortly after I proceeded to notify the savages, to my great regret, of the
malignity of this liar, stating that he had confessed the truth; at which
they were delighted, reproaching me with the little confidence I put in
them, who were chiefs and my friends, and who always spoke the truth; and
who said that this liar ought to be put to death, being extremely
malicious; and they added, Do you not see that he meant to cause your
death. Give him to us, and we promise you that he shall not lie any more.
And as they all went after him shouting, their children also shouting still
more, I forbade them to do him any harm, directing them to keep their
children also from doing so, inasmuch as I wished to take him to the Falls
to show him to the gentlemen there, to whom he was to bring some salt
water; and I said that, when I arrived there, I would consult as to what
should be done with him.

My journey having been in this manner terminated, and without any hope of
seeing the sea in this direction, except in imagination, I felt a regret
that I should not have employed my time better, and that I should have had
to endure the difficulties and hardships, which however I was obliged
patiently to submit to. If I had gone in another direction, according to
the report of the savages, I should have made a beginning in a thing which
must be postponed to another time. At present my only wish being to return,
I desired the savages to go to the Falls of St. Louis, where there were
four vessels loaded with all kinds of merchandise, and where they would be
well treated. This they communicated to all their neighbors. Before setting
out, I made a cross of white cedar, which I planted in a prominent place on
the border of the lake, with the arms of France, and I begged the savages
to have the kindness to preserve it, as also those which they would find
along the ways we had passed; telling them that, if they broke them,