[31] "Il [Nicolet] s'embarque au pays des Hurons avec sept Sauuages."—Vimont, Relation, 1643, p. 3.
[32] Saint Mary's strait separates the Dominion of Canada from the upper peninsula of Michigan, and connects Lake Superior with Lake Huron.
[33] The route taken by Nicolet, from the mouth of French river, in journeying toward the Winnebagoes, is sufficiently indicated by (1) noting that, in mentioning the various tribes visited by him, Nicolet probably gave their names, except the Ottawas, in the order in which he met them; and (2) by calculating his time as more limited on his return than on his outward trip, because of his desire to descend the Ottawa with the annual flotilla of Huron canoes, which would reach the St. Lawrence in July, 1635.
[34] The Ouasouarim, the Outchougai, and the Atchiligoüan.—Vimont, Relation, 1640, p. 34.
[35] Called Amikoüai (Rel., 1640, p. 34), from Amik or Amikou—a beaver.
[36] The Manitoulin islands stretch from east to west along the north shores of Lake Huron, and consist chiefly of the Great Manitoulin or Sacred Isle, Little Manitoulin or Cockburn, and Drummond. Great Manitoulin is eighty miles long by twenty broad. Little Manitoulin has a diameter of about seven miles. Drummond is twenty-four miles long, with a breadth varying from two to twelve miles. It is separated from the American shore, on the west, by a strait called the True Detour, which is scarcely one mile wide, and forms the principal passage for vessels proceeding to Lake Superior.
[37] The Oumisagai.—Vimont, Relation, 1640, p. 34.
[38] These falls are distinctly marked on Champlain's map of 1632; and on that of Du Creux of 1660.
[39] In giving Nicolet this credit, it is necessary to state, that the governor of Canada, in 1688, claimed that honor for Champlain (N. Y. Col. Doc, Vol. IX., p. 378). He says:
"In the years 1611 and 1612, he [Champlain] ascended the Grand river [Ottawa] as far as Lake Huron, called the Fresh sea [La Mer Douce]; he went thence to the Petun [Tobacco] Nation, next to the Neutral Nation and to the Macoutins [Mascoutins], who were then residing near the place called the Sakiman [that part of the present State of Michigan lying between the head of Lake Erie and Saginaw bay, on Lake Huron]; from that he went to the Algonquin and Huron tribes, at war against the Iroquois [Five Nations]. He passed by places he has, himself, described in his book [Les Voyages De La Novvelle France, etc., 1632], which are no other than Detroit [i.e., "the straight," now called Detroit river] and Lake Erie."—Mem. of M. de Denonville, May 8, 1688.