Note 8 — Historical Introduction.

Capt. Tonti (or Tonty, as he signed his name in its Gallicized form) was an Italian (the son of the financier who instituted that form of life-insurance known as the Tontine), an ex-officer in the Sicilian wars, where, by the explosion of a grenade, he lost one of his hands. This loss was supplied, in some measure, by an artificial hand of iron, or some other metal, over which he always wore a glove, and the weight of which was, in one or two instances at least, felt by the savages who tried to intimidate him. Tonti’s name will survive in history as that of La Salle’s most faithful and courageous friend and lieutenant, and one who, by reason of his noble qualities is entitled to our admiration and respect. See also Parkman’s La Salle (Champlain edit., i, 129).