Another of Talon's resolute explorers was Simon Francois Daumont de Saint-Lusson. Accompanied by Nicolas Perrot, the well-known interpreter, he left Quebec in September 1670, and wintered with an Outaouais tribe near Lake Superior. Perrot sent word to the neighbouring nations that they should meet next spring at Sault Sainte-Marie a delegate of the great French Ononthio. [Footnote: This was the name given by the Indians to the king of France; the governor was called by them Ononthio, which means 'great mountain,' because that was the translation of Montmagny--mons magnus in Latin--the name of Champlain's first successor. From M. de Montmagny the name had passed to the other governors, and the king had become the 'great Ononthio.'] On June 14 representatives of fourteen nations were gathered at the Sault. The Jesuit fathers Dablon, Dreuillettes, Allouez, and Andre were present. A great council was held on a height. Saint-Lusson had a cross erected with a post bearing the king's arms. The Vexilla Regis and the Exaudiat were sung. The intendant's delegates took possession of the country in the name of their monarch. There was firing of guns and shouts of 'Vive le roi!' Then Father Allouez and Saint-Lusson made speeches suitable to the occasion and the audience. At night the blaze of an immense bonfire illuminated with its fitful light the dark trees and foaming rapids. The singing of the Te Deum crowned that memorable day. The intendant was pleased with the result of Saint-Lusson's expedition. He wrote to the king: 'There is every reason to believe that from the point reached by this explorer to the Vermilion Sea is a distance of not more than three hundred leagues. The Western Sea [the Pacific ocean] does not seem more distant. According to calculation based on the Indians' reports and on the charts, there should not be more than fifteen hundred leagues of navigation to reach Tartary, China, and Japan.'