il and
show signs of growth, though feebly as compared with its sturdy rivals
along the Atlantic seaboard, which had cost their King nothing, and had
been treated, for the most part, with the coolest neglect. Cavelier de
la Salle's dream of planting a firm settlement at the mouth of the
Mississippi, and utilizing, by means of it, the resources of the vast
interior, was, after half a century, in some measure realized. New
France (using that name in its broadest geographical sense) had now two
heads,--Canada and Louisiana; one looking upon the Gulf of St. Lawrence,
and the other upon the Gulf of Mexico. Canada was not without jealousy
of her younger and weaker sister, lest she might draw away, as she had
begun to do at the first, some of the most active and adventurous
elements of the Canadian population; lest she might prove a competitor
in the fur-trade; and lest she should encroach on the Illinois and other
western domains, which the elder and stronger sister claimed as her own.
These fears were not unfounded; yet the vital interests of the two
French colonies were the same, and each needed the help of the other in
the prime and all-essential task of keeping the British colonies in
check. The chiefs of Louisiana looked forward to a time when the great
southern tribes,--Creeks, Cherokees, Choctaws, and even the dreaded
Chickasaws,--won over by French missionaries to the Church, and
therefore to France, should be turned against the encroaching English to
stop their westward progress and force them back to the borders of the
Atlantic. Meanwhile the chiefs of Canada were maturing the plan--pursued
with varying assiduity, but always kept in view--of connecting the two
vital extremities of New France by a chain of forts to control the
passes of the West, keep communications open, and set English invasion
at defiance.

FOOTNOTES:

[287] _Henri de Tonty a Cabart de Villermont, 11 Septembre, 1694_
(Margry, iv. 3).

[288] _Memoire sur le Projet d'establir une nouvelle Colonie au
Mississippi, 1697_ (Margry, iv. 21).

[289] _Iberville au Ministre, 18 Juin, 1698_ (Margry, iv. 51).

[290] _Memoire pour servir d'Instruction au Sieur d'Iberville_ (Margry,
iv. 72).

[291] _Journal d'Iberville_ (Margry, iv. 131).

[292] This letter, which D'Iberville gives in his Journal, is dated "Du
Village des Quinipissas, le 20 Avril, 1685." Iberville identifies the
Quinipissas with the Bayagoulas. The date of the letter was evidently
mi