Fruit trees
and vines were abundant, and they were richly laden with their
delicious burdens. Extended fields were waving luxuriantly with the
golden corn. Fish of many kinds were taken from the river. It is indeed
a glowing account which the pen of the historian gives of this favored
land.

The tribe at that point was called the Arkansas. They occupied four
large villages. Two of these villages were on the Arkansas River, and
two upon the Mississippi. These savages did everything in their power
to testify the pleasure with which they received the strangers. Some of
their ceremonies were so tedious that the guests would gladly have
avoided them. A delegation of the chiefs, from the other villages, was
soon assembled. A very formal council was held. It was decided that the
four villages should furnish one large boat, and one man from each
village to aid in navigating it, and also the needful supply of food.

One of M. Cavalier's party, M. Barthelmy, who was a young man from
Paris, weary with the long journey he had already taken, and charmed
with the friendly character of the natives and the Eden-like region
they had found, decided to remain there. The horses also were left.
They had, as they judged, a voyage of twelve hundred miles from the
mouth of the Arkansas to the mouth of the Illinois. They had travelled,
according to their estimate, seven hundred and fifty miles from their
settlement on the Gulf.

The French party had now dwindled to five persons. The boat in which
they embarked was forty feet long. Fifteen Indians, men and women,
entered the boat with them, to accompany them a part of the way. The
windings of the river were such that it required a voyage of several
leagues to reach its mouth. It would seem, from the narrative, that
they reached a village at the mouth of the river on the 29th. Here they
exchanged their large and heavy periagua, for two light canoes, with
which to ascend against the swift current of the Mississippi.

The next day they made twenty-four miles, and reached Cappa, the last
village of the Arkansas on the Mississippi. Here the chief contrived to
detain them a day, that the Indians might enjoy a few hours of barbaric
festivity. On the 2d of August the party reembarked, nine in number,
five Frenchmen and four Indians. The rapidity of the current was such
that they were frequently compelled to cross the river to take
advantage of the eddies. Sometimes, at points in the river, the flow