ft them "alone in that unknown country, in the hand
of God;" and, trusting to the protection of that hand, they set out upon
their journey down the stream.[62] Seven days after, "with inexpressible
joy," they emerged upon the bosom of the great river. During all this
time they had seen no human being, though, probably, many a wandering
savage had watched them from the covert of the bank, as they floated
silently between the forests. It was an unbroken solitude, where the
ripple of their paddles sounded loudly on the ear, and their voices,
subdued by the stillness, were sent back in lonely echoes from the
shore.

They were the first white men who ever floated on the bosom of that
mighty river[63]--"the envoy from the king of France, and the
embassador of the King of kings." What were their thoughts we know not,
but from Marquette's simple "Journal;" for, in returning to Quebec,
Joliet's boat was wrecked in sight of the city, and all his papers
lost.[64] Of the Sieur himself, we know nothing, save as the companion
of Marquette on this voyage; but from this alone his fame is
imperishable.

They sailed slowly down the river, keeping a constant outlook upon the
banks for signs of those for whose spiritual welfare the good father had
undertaken his perilous journey. But for more than sixty leagues not a
human form or habitation could be seen. They had leisure, more than they
desired, to admire the grand and beautiful scenery of that picturesque
region. In some places the cliffs rose perpendicularly for hundreds of
feet from the water's edge; and nodding over their brows, and towering
against the sky, were stately pines and cedars of the growth of
centuries. Here, there lay between the river and the cliffs, a level
prairie, waving in all the luxuriance of "the leafy month of June;"
while beyond, the bluffs, enclosing the natural garden, softened by the
distance, and clothed in evergreen, seemed but an extension of the
primitive savanna. Here, a dense, primeval forest grew quite down to the
margin of the water; and, hanging from the topmost branches of the giant
oaks, festoons of gray and graceful moss lay floating on the rippled
surface, or dipped within the tide. Here, the large, smooth roots of
trees half undermined, presented seats and footholds, where the pleasant
shade invited them to rest, and shelter from the sultry summer sun.
Anon, an open prairie, with no cliff or bluff beyond, extended
undulating from the river, u