HENRI JOUTEL, the writer of this narrative, was a native of Rouen, in France. His father had formerly been head-gardener to Henri Cavelier, the uncle of René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, the explorer, whose presence and projects for a new voyage to the Mississippi were the engrossing subjects of interest to his fellow townsmen of Rouen just at the time of Joutel’s return from a seventeen years’ service in the army.[24] Being then in the prime of his young manhood, of an adventurous spirit, unhampered by family responsibilities, and free for any new employment, he very naturally became a volunteer in the enterprise of his distinguished fellow-townsman. He evidently possessed a fair education for that day, and a character for reliability and experience, which, together with his personal and business qualifications, rendered him most acceptable to La Salle’s projected undertaking. His social position in his native town, if we may infer from the title of “Mr.” usually prefixed to his name, was that of a _bourgeois_—that class in the community which for centuries has been the mainstay and source of France’s stability and prosperity. In the mixed military and naval expedition which sailed under La Salle’s orders, his position seems not to have been that of a commissioned officer, though he styles himself in his Journal, “a Commander,” but rather that of a personal lieutenant and confidant[25] of the Commander-in-Chief—in other words, a superintendent of such matters as pertained to the provisioning, sheltering, and general care and regulation of the interests and comfort of the settlers, both male and female, who formed a part of the expedition. His services to the enterprise of which he, fortunately, became the historian, as they are simply and circumstantially narrated in this Journal, and corroborated by contemporary evidence, prove that La Salle’s choice of him, as “the man of affairs” of the expedition was well-founded and fortunate. Practical, methodical, resourceful in every emergency, tactful in his dealings with all the members of the heterogeneous company with whom he was associated, and inflexibly loyal to his Chief, Joutel fully proved his worth. Twice, at least, his life was in danger, from the machinations of mutineers. The first time, the plot was discovered in time, and, having received an order to join La Salle with all his force, he delivered the criminals to the latter. And again, being left in charge of the Fort St. Louis, with 34 men, Joutel was disturbed by a plot to kill him or deprive him of his office—from which once more his life, which ultimately proved so valuable to the party, was preserved.