A New Discovery of a Vast Country in America

Hennepin, Louis. A New Discovery of a Vast Country in America, by Father Louis Hennepin. 
(17th Century / 1698)

www.americanjourneys.org/aj-124b/

I chose the Louis Hennepin account that I found on the American Journey's website.

Louis Hennepin starts his account, by stating his views and motives for taking the trip across the water; here he explains his reasons and the true passion that drove him to take the voyage, he also mentions this again in chapter four.
In chapter two he then moves on to comment on the means to which he had to grow accustomed to throughout his trip, such as fatigue from his "laborious mission."

Hennepin focussed mainly on describing the new world he'd stumbled across, which is entirely understandable when you think that no one has ever seen anything like this before. Louis does what most people would do, and writes about what he can see, and how he reacts to it, and compares it to the old-world.
He pays particular attention to;
 - Fort Catarokouy, which later became Fort Frontenac
 - The "greatest and pleasantest [lakes] in the universe"
- Fall of the river Niagra (Now known as Niagra Falls)
- Lake Ontario
- Lake Erie
- Lake Huron

It's also in Chapter XIX Louis comments on how the Spaniards were the first people to discover Canada, and how they set to work naming the locations.