French Pathfinders in North America

NORTH O

and French Methods.-What caused

was heard in wigwams in far western forests; when French goods were exchanged for furs at the head of Lake Superior and around Hudson Bay; when French priests had a strong post as far to the West as Sault Ste. Marie, and carried their missionary journeyings still further, who could ha

as the material objects which they sought. The Spaniard wanted Gold, and he roamed over vast regions in quest of it, conquering, enslaving, and exploiting the nat

etched beings may be worked in gangs, under a slave-driver, in fields and mines. This was the Spanish way. But hunting animals for their skins and trapping them for their furs is solitary work, done by lone men in the wilderness, and, above all, by men who

n exchange, they would take a longer journey and deal with the Dutch at Albany or with the English at their outlying settlements. In short, the Spaniard had no rival and was in a position allowing him to be as brut

ghty and cruel toward inferior races, while the French generally showed themselves friendly and mingled freely with the natives in new regions. But the circumstance to which attention has here

always in the attitude of a superior being; they made alliances with him and scalped his enemies, white or red, with devilish glee; they hung about every French post, warmed themselves by the Frenchman's fire, ate his food, and patted thei

ers in the Western World. We have seen Balboa, Ponce, Cortes, Soto, Coronado, making their way by the bloody h

of France, as they make their joyous entry into Indian villages, eat boiled dog with pretended relish, sit a