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RADISSON, Pierre Esprit, explorer, b. in St. Malo, Urittauy. The exaut dates of liis birth and death are not known, llis place in history dates since the publication of his journal in 1885. He clearly claims for himself and his brother-in-law, Medard Chouart des Groseilliers, the discovery of the upper Mississippi river, apparently in 1G6.5. But the claim is both sustained and opposed by scholars. Radisson, when a youth, settled with his parents at Three Rivers, on the St. Lawrence. This was on 24 May, 1651. In telling of his west- ern voyages he seldom gives the dates of the month, and never correctly records the year. This has led to endless confusion. Ill-treatment from the F'rench caused Radisson to cast his lot with the English ; and in 1665 he wrote narrative? of his early discoveries between 1652-'64. These accounts, written in singular English, were part of the collection of Samuel Pepys, the diarist, whose manuscripts were dispersed in 1703. Whole par- sels were bought for use in London shops as waate paper. Among them were the earlier accounts of itadisson, which collectors, happily, saved from utter destruction. The manuscripts of his four voyages, inclusive of two journeys to the west, are in the Bodleian library, and his English accounts of subsequent experiences at Hudson bay for 1683 and 1683, and in French for 1684, are in the Brit- ish museum. Their first publication was :n 1885, by the Prince society, as "Voyages of Peter Esprit Radisson, from 1652-1684," edited by Gideon I). Scull. Apart from the suspicions cast about the first voyage, Raiiisson and Groseilliers are credited with being the first Fvuropeans to reach Lake Su- perior ; of having been the first explorers of north- ern Wisconsin and of northeastern Minnesota; and perhaps the pioneer explorers of Hudson bay by an inland route. Radisson was a captive among the Mohawks in 1652. He made his second voyage as a memlier of a French colony among the Onon- dagas. His third voyage, he says, was made with Groseilliers in the west and far down the Missis- sippi river; and his fourth voyage, also with his companion, was the one in which they discovered Lake Superior and claimed to have reached St. James bay overland. For more than two centu- ries the names of the two Frenchmen, mentioned in the Jesuit "Relations" as the discoverers of Lake Superior, remained unknown. See also " Col- lections" of the Wisconsin state historical society (vol. xi., Madison, 1888); "Notes historiques sur la vie de P. E. Radisson." by L. A. Prud'homme (1892); "Chouart et Radisson." by Narcisse E. Dionne, in " Transactions " of the Royal society of Canada for 1893 and 1894; three contributions by Henry C. Campbell — in " Proceedings " of Wiscon- sin state historical society for 1895 ; in Parkman club papers. No. 2 (1896); and in "American His- torical Review" for January, 1896.
RAIMONDI, Antonio, explorer, b. in Milan, Italy, in 1825; d. in Lima, Peru, in December, 1890. He was of good family, and very early ex- hibited enthusiasm for geographical exploration. He went to Peru in 1850, and was the first person to thoroughly and systematically explore that country, having devoted his life to the work. He explored Tarapaca and the provinces of Iluanuco and Huainalies, and in 1858 paid his first visit to Cuzco, the capital of the Incas. In his next re- searches he covered the territory which Humboldt had traversed, and navigated the Peruvian tribu- taries of the Amazon, lie was in the wild forests of Caravaya, aiul discovered the true sources of the rivers Ayapata and San Gavan. He spent many years in studying the geology and natural history of the republic. In June, 1873, by a decree, tlie nation undertook the expense of publishing the results of his untiring labor. The first volume of his great work. " Parte Preliminar," was published in Lima in 1874; vol. ii., "El Peru," in 1876; vol. iii., a review of his previous work, in 1880; and the whole edition of vol. iv. was destroyed by the Chilian invader.s, who ruined the national library. His extensive plan contemplated other volumes on the various branches of natural history; and, after the evacuation of Lima in 1883, he resumed his laljors, but made little progress before his death.
RAINES, John, lawyer, b. in Canandaigua, N. v.. 6 May, 1840. He received a common-school education, and then entered the law-school of the university at Albany, from which he was gradu- ated in 1861. He began the practice of his pro- fession at Geneva, N. Y., but in the autumn of 1861 he entered the army as captain in the 85th regiment of New York volunteer infantry. He served with his regiment in the campaigns of the Army of the Potomac until July. 1863. when he returned to Geneva and took up the practice of law again, engaging also in the insurance busi- ness. In 1867 he removed to Canandaigua, where he took an active interest in local politics, serving for twelve years as president of the Canandaigua board of education. He was elected, as a Repub- lican, a member of the New York assembly in 1881, and was re-elected until 1886, when he was chosen state senator. He remained in the senate until 1889, when he was sent to congress as a repre- sentative, which office he held for two terras until 1892. In 1895 he was chosen for the state senate again, and was re-elected at each succeeding elec- tion until 1900. He is the author of the election law of the state of New York, and of the liquor tax law, which latter is known generally as the " Raines law," and which will ad<l to the English language, or at least to the history of American politics, the new phrase of " Raines hotels," as ap- plied to certain classes of hotels in the larger cities of the state of New York.
RALPH. Julian, author, b. in New York city, 27 May, 18.53. He was educated in public and private schools, and early became a newspaper cor- respondent, being first employed on the New York "Daily Graphic." Later he was in the service of several other journals, and is now (1899) the Lon- don correspondent of the "Brooklyn Eagle." Mr. Ralph has become a frequent contributor to American magazines, and is the authorof" Dutch- man or the German" (New York, 1889); "On Canada's Frontier" (1892); "Harper's Chicago and World's Fair" (1893) "Our Great West" (1893); "Dixie, or Southern Scenes and Sketches" (1896); "Alone in China" (1898); and "A Prince in (ieorsria. and other Tales" (1899).
RAMBAUT, Mary Lncinda Bonney, educator, b. in Hamilton, N. Y.. 8 June. 1816. She founded, with lliirriette A. Dillaye. the Chestnut street semi- nary for young ladies in Philadelphia in 1860. and ciindncteil it until 1883, when it was removed to Ogontj!, near Philadelphia, where she continued it for five years. In 1888 she married the Rev. Thomas Hambaut, and resides in Hamilton. N. Y. She originated the Woman's national Indian associa-
