"This, moreover, was not the first occasion on which Nicolet had encountered peril of his life for the safety of savages. He had frequently done the very same thing before, says the French writer; and to those with whom he associated he left proofs of his virtues by such deeds as could hardly be expected of a man entangled in the bonds of marriage; they were indeed eminent, and rose to the height of apostolic perfection; and, therefore, was the loss of so great a man the more grievous. Certain it is that the savages themselves, as soon as they heard what had befallen him, surrounded the bank of the great river in crowds, to see whether they could render any aid. When all hope of that was gone, they did what alone remained in their power, by incredible manifestations of grief and lamentation at the sad fate of the man who had deserved so well of them." FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 133: Translated from Du Creux' Hist. of Canada (printed in Latin, in Paris, 1664), p. 358. That his account should not sooner have awakened the curiosity of students of American history is due to the fact previously mentioned, that not until the investigations of John Gilmary Shea, in 1853, were the "Ouinipigou" identified as the "Winnebagoes," and their having been visited by Nicolet established. It was this locating of the objective point of Nicolet's exploration on American soil that finally stimulated American writers to further research; though, to the present time, Canadian historians have taken the lead in investigations concerning the indomitable Frenchman.] [Footnote 134: _Tirocinium_ is the _first campaign_ of the young soldier; and so, generally, the first period of trial in any life of danger and hardship.--_Translator._] [Footnote 135: It may be interesting to the reader to know how pistols are described in the author's Latin: "Sclopos minores, exiis qui tactâ vel leviter rotulâ exploduntier."--_Translator._] [Footnote 136: "Boreâ flaute pertinaciùs, foedamque tempestatem, quam excicre gam ceperat, glomerante." Literally, perhaps, "the north wind blowing more persistently, and gathering into a mass the dark storm which it had already begun to collect."--_Translator._] [Footnote 137: The word "littus" here is properly used, not of the dry land, but of the sloping land under the water, near the edge of the river.--_Translator._] INDEX. Algonquins, viii, 17, 36, 42, 60, 62, 69, 70, 77, 87. Algonquins of the Isles des Allumettes, 18, 28, 29, 46. Alizon, M., 95, 100. Allouez, Father Claudius, 64, 67, 69. Amikoüai, "Nation of the Beaver," 50, 51, 54. _An account of the French settlements in North America_ (1746), cited, 32. Assiniboins, not visited by Nicolet, 71. Atchiligoüan, an Algonquin nation, 50. A8eatsi8aenrrhonon (Aweatsiwaerrhonon), Huron name for the Winnebagoes, 45, 46, 60. Bay des Puants (Baie des Puants). See Green Bay. Beaver Nation, 45, 48, 50, 51, 54, 63.