| “All Water,” but seems to apply only to one feature of its | | greatness—viz., its size. The Indian name, however, compounded | | of _Missi_, whole, and _sipi_, river, more nearly describes its | | _collective_ character, as the great irrigating system of this | | vast region, receiving many tributaries, both great and small. | | | | [17] Fortunately, his fort and colony were not attacked at | | that time; but later it withstood a six-days’ siege, under the | | combined command of Tonti (as La Salle’s representative) and De | | Baugis, a French officer, representing the Governor-General. The | | attack, however, was unsuccessful. | | | | [18] The account of these evidences and of La Salle’s consequent | | anxiety as to Tonti’s fate, are well described by Parkman (_La | | Salle_, i, pp. 205–213, Champlain edit.). The record of Tonti’s | | tribulations in this invasion of the Iroquois into the Illinois | | town, and his heroic conduct, is given in chapter XVI of same | | volume. | | | | [19] For, it must be remembered, the fact of the existence of | | this great river was known to the European world long before | | La Salle’s time. Its three mouths are shown in the edition of | | Ptolomy, printed at Venice in 1513—wherein the delta of the | | Mississippi is traced with more accuracy than in the maps of the | | next century. Dr. J. G. Shea, in the Introduction (pp. x-lxxv) | | to the volume of this series (_The Discovery and Exploration of | | the Mississippi Valley, 1903_) has very carefully and clearly | | epitomized the results of the earliest explorations down to those | | of La Salle, viz., that of Garay (1578); of De Vaca (——); of | | Friar Mark (1539); and of De Soto (1539); of Muscoso (1539–43); | | of De Luna (1557); of other missionary efforts (1580); and of | | others of less account, which all kept alive the knowledge of the | | great river of the North American continent called by the Spanish | | _Río del Espíritu Santo_. | | | | Then early in the seventeenth century, came the French explorers; | | Champlain and the Jesuits (1608); Nicolet (1639); Jogues (1641); | | Allouez (1669); Dablon (1670); Marquette (1673), and Joliet—all | | of whom, by observation or report, confirmed the existence of the | | Mississippi. | | | | All of these were influenced in their labors by greed, by the |