But at last with the melting of the snows light and joy came
to him. The blindness passed, Tonty was found.
Once again the friends met. Each had a tale to tell, a tale of
bitter disappointments and defeats. Yet in spite of all the blows
of fortune Le Salle would not give in. Once more he set about making
preparations for the expedition. But now he gave up the idea of
building a ship, and decided to trust to canoes alone.
It was mid-winter when all was ready. The rivers were frozen hard.
So, placing their canoes on sledges, the men dragged them over the
ice. As they went southward and spring came on, the ice melted and
would no longer bear them. The stream was soon filled with floating
masses of broken ice, so they were obliged to land and wait until
it had melted.
Then once more they set out. Every day now they drifted farther
and farther into the heat of summer. The sun shone softly through
the overhanging trees, the river banks were gay with flowers,
and bright plumaged birds flashed through the sunlight. After the
tortures of the past winters this green and fertile land seemed a
very paradise. So on the adventurers passed where never white man
had passed before; and at length they reached the mouth of the
mighty river and stood upon the shore of the Gulf of Mexico.
And here, in 1682, while wondering savages looked on, this
mere handful of white men claimed all the land through which they
had passed for their King.
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