pour se rendre a la Mer de l'Ouest,_ in _Journal historique_,
387.] A naval officer, Fabry de la Bruyere, was sent on this errand, with
the brothers Mallet and a few soldiers and Canadians. He ascended the
Canadian Fork of the Arkansas, named by him the St. Andre, became entangled
in the shallows and quicksands of that difficult river, fell into disputes
with his men, and after protracted efforts, returned unsuccessful.
[Footnote: _Extrait des Lettres du Sieur Fabry._]

While French enterprise was unveiling the remote Southwest, two indomitable
Canadians were pushing still more noteworthy explorations into more
northern regions of the continent.




CHAPTER XVI.

1716-1761.

SEARCH FOR THE PACIFIC.

THE WESTERN SEA.--SCHEMES FOR REACHING IT.--JOURNEY OF CHARLEVOIX.--THE
SIOUX MISSION.--VARENNES DE LA VERENDRYE.--HIS ENTERPRISE.--HIS
DISASTERS.--VISITS THE MANDANS.--HIS SONS.--THEIR SEARCH FOR THE WESTERN
SEA.--THEIR ADVENTURES.--THE SNAKE INDIANS.--A GREAT WAR-PARTY.--THE ROCKY
MOUNTAINS.--A PANIC.--RETURN OF THE BROTHERS.--THEIR WRONGS AND THEIR FATE.


In the disastrous last years of Louis XIV, the court gave little thought to
the New World; but under the regency of the Duke of Orleans interest in