"It is only nine days' journey from this great lake [Green bay and Lake Michigan—'Lac de gens de mer'] to the sea;" where "the sea," referred to, is, beyond doubt, identical with "la mer" of Nicolet.
[80] "Or i'ay de fortes coniectures que c'est la mer [mentioned by Nicolet] qui respond au Nord de la Nouuelle Mexique, et que de cette mer, on auroit entrée vers le Iapon et vers la Chine, neantmoins comme on ne sçait pas où tire ce grand lac, ou cette mer douce, ce seroit vne entreprise genereuse d'aller descouurir ces contrées. Nos Peres qui sont aux Hurons, inuités par quelques Algonquins, sont sur le point de donner iusques à ces gens de l'autre mer, dont i'ay parlé cy-dessus; peut estre que ce voyage se reseruera pour l'vn de nous qui auons quelque petite cognoissance de la langue Algonquine."—Vimont, Relations, 1640, p. 36.
[81] "The twenty-fourth day of June [1640], there arrived an Englishman, with a servant, brought in boats by twenty Abnaquiois savages. He set out from the lake or river Quinibequi in Acadia, where the English have a settlement, in order to search for a passage through these countries to the North sea.... M. de Montmagny had him brought to Tadoussac, in order that he might return to England by way of France.
"He told us wonderful things of New Mexico. 'I learned,' said he, 'that one can sail to that country by means of the seas which lie to the north of it. Two years ago, I explored all the southern coast from Virginia to Quinebiqui to try whether I could not find some large river or some large lake which should bring me to tribes having knowledge of this sea, which is northward from Mexico. Not having found any such in these countries, I entered into the Saguené region, to penetrate, if I could, with the savages of the locality, as far as to the northern sea.'
"In passing, I will say that we have strong indications that one can descend through the second lake of the Hurons [Lake Michigan and Green bay] and through the country of the nations we have named [as having been visited by Nicolet] into this sea which he [the Englishman] was trying to find."—Vimont, Relation, 1640, p. 35.
[82] Synonyms: Ilinois, Ilinoues, Illini, Illiniweck, Tilliniwek, Ilimouek, Liniouek, Abimigek, Eriniouaj, etc.
[83] Vimont (Relation, 1640, p. 35) gives information derived from Nicolet, of the existence of the Illinois (Eriniouaj) as neighbors of the Winnebagoes. And the Relation, 1656 (p. 39), says: "The Liniouek [Illinois], their neighbors [that is, the neighbors of the Winnebagoes], number about sixty villages." Champlain locates a tribe, on his map of 1632, south of the Mascoutins, as a "nation where there is a quantity of buffaloes." This nation was probably the Illinois.
[84] As Nicolet proceeded no further to the westward than six days' sail up the Fox river of Green bay, of course, the "Nadvesiv" (Sioux) and "Assinipour" (Assiniboins) were not visited by him.
[85] Synonyms: Pottawottamies, Poutouatamis, Pouteouatamis, Pouutouatami, Poux, Poueatamis, Pouteouatamiouec, etc.
[86] Such, at least, was their location a few years after the visit of Nicolet. The islands occupied were those farthest south.