suffering  with  an  attack  of  dysentery.  Here  they  were  informed
by  the  Indians  that  the  Illinois  furnished  a  much  more  direct  route
to  the  lakes  than  the  Wisconsin.  Acting  upon  this  information,
they  entered  the  river,  and  found^  besides  being  more  direct,  that
its  gentle  current  offered  less  resistance  than  that  of  the  Mississ-
ippi. As  they  advanced  iuto  the  country,  a  scene  opened  to  their
view  which  gave  renewed  strength  to  their  wearied  bodies,  and
awoke  in  their  languid  minds  the  greatest  admiration  and  enthu-
siasm. Prairies  spread  out  before  them  beyond  the  reach  of
vision,  covered  with  tall  grass,  which  undulated  in  the  wind  like
waves  of  %  sea.  In  further  imitation  of  a  watery  expanse,  the
surface  was  studded  with  clumps  of  timber,  resembling  islands,
in  whose  graceful  outlines  could  be  traced  i>eninsulas,  shores  ana
headlands.  Flowers,  surpassing  in  the  delicacy  of  their  tints  the
pampered  products  of  cultivation,  were  profdsely  sprinkled  over
the  grassy  landscape,  and  gave  their  wealth  of  firagrance  to  the
passing  breeze.  Lumense  herds  of  bufialo  and  deer  grazed  on
these  rich  pastures,  so  prolific  that  the  continued  destruction  of
them  for  ages  by  tJie  Indians,  had  failed  to  diminish  their  num-
bers. For  the  further  support  of  human  life,  the  rivers  swarmed
with  fish,  great  quantities  of  wild  fruit  grew  in  the  forest  and
prairies,  and  so  numerous  were  water-fowl  and  other  birds,  that
the  heavens  were  frequently  obscured  by  their  flight*.  This  favo-
rite land,  with  its  profusion  of  vegetable  and  animal  life,  was  tiie
ideal  of  the  Indian's  Elysium,  ^e  explorers  spoke  of  it  as  a
terrestial  paradise,  in  which  earth,  air  and  wat^,  unbidden  by
labor,  contributed  the  most  copious  supplies  for  the  sustenance  of
life.  In  the  early  French  explorations,  desertions  were  of  frequent
occurrence,  and  is  it  strange  that  men,  wearied  by  the  toils  and
restraints  of  civilized  life,  should  abandon  their  leaders  for  l^e
abundance  and  wild  independence  of  these  prairies  and  wood-
lauds  ?

Passing  far  up  the  river,  they  stopped  at  a  town  of  the  Illinois,
called  Kaskaskia,  whose  name,  afterwards  transferred  to  a  differ-
ent locality,  has  become  famous  in  the  history  of  the  country.
