OF THE MAL DE LA TERRE, A VERY DESPERATE MALADY.--HOW THE SAVAGES, MEN AND
WOMEN, SPEND THEIR TIME IN WINTER.--AND ALL THAT OCCURRED AT THE SETTLEMENT
WHILE WE WERE PASSING THE WINTER.
When we arrived at the Island of St. Croix, each one had finished his place
of abode. Winter came upon us sooner than we expected, and prevented us
from doing many things which we had proposed. Nevertheless, Sieur de Monts
did not fail to have some gardens made on the island. Many began to clear
up the ground, each his own. I also did so with mine, which was very large,
where I planted a quantity of foods, as also did the others who had any,
and they came up very well. But since the island was all sandy, every thing
dried up almost as soon as the Sun shone upon it, and we had no water for
irrigation except from the rain, which was infrequent.
Sieur de Monts caused also clearings to be made on the main land for making
gardens, and at the falls three leagues from our Settlement he had work
done and some wheat sown, which came up very well and ripened. Around our
habitation there is, at low tide, a large number of shell-fish, such as
cockles, muscles, sea-urchins, and Sea-snails, which were very acceptable
to all.
The snows began on the 6th of October. On the 3d of December, we saw ice
pass which came from some frozen river. The cold was sharp, more severe
than in France, and of much longer duration; and it scarcely rained at all
the entire winter. I suppose that is owing to the north and north-west
winds passing over high mountains always covered with snow. The latter was
from three to four feet deep up to the end of the month of April; lasting
much longer, I suppose, than it would if the country were cultivated.
During the winter, many of our company were attacked by a certain malady
called the _mal de la terre_; otherwise scurvy, as I have since heard from
learned men. There were produced, in the mouths of those who had it, great
pieces of superfluous and drivelling flesh (causing extensive
putrefaction), which got the upper hand to such an extent that scarcely
anything but liquid could be taken. Their teeth became very loose, and
could be pulled out with the fingers without its causing them pain. The
superfluous flesh was often cut out, which caused them to eject much blood
through the mouth. Afterwards, a violent pain seized their arms and legs,
which remained swollen and very hard, all spotted as if with flea-bites;
and they could not walk on account of the contraction of the muscles, so
that they were almost without strength, and suffered intolerable pains.
They experienced pain also in the loins, stomach, and bowels, had a very
bad cough, and short breath. In a word, they were in such a condition that
the majority of them could not rise nor move, and could not even be raised
up on their feet without falling down in a swoon. So that out of
seventy-nine, who composed our party, thirty-five died, and more than
twenty were on the point of death. The majority of those who remained well
also complained of slight pains and short breath. We were unable to find
any remedy for these maladies. A _post mortem_ examination of several was
made to investigate the cause of their disease.
In the case of many, the interior parts were found mortified such as the
lungs, which were so changed that no natural fluid could be perceived in
them. The spleen was serous and swollen. The liver was _legueux?_ and
spotted, without its natural color. The _vena cava_, superior and inferior,
was filled with thick coagulated and black blood. The gall was tainted.
Nevertheless, many arteries, in the middle as well as lower bowels, were
found in very good condition. In the case of some, incisions with a razor
were made on the thighs where they had purple spots, whence there issued a
very black clotted blood. This is what was observed on the bodies of those
infected with this malady.[105]
Our surgeons could not help suffering themselves in the same manner as the
rest. Those who continued sick were healed by spring, which commences in
this country in May.[106] That led us to believe that the change of season
restored their health rather than the remedies prescribed.
During this winter, all our liquors froze, except the Spanish wine. Cider
was dispensed by the pound. The cause of this loss was that there were no
cellars to our storehouse, and that the air which entered by the cracks was
sharper than that outside. We were obliged to use very bad water, and drink
melted snow, as there were no springs nor brooks; for it was not possible
to go to the main land in consequence of the great pieces of ice drifted by
the tide, which varies three fathoms between low and high water. Work on
the hand-mill was very fatiguing, since the most of us, having slept
poorly, and suffering from insufficiency of fuel, which we could not obtain
on account of the ice, had scarcely any strength, and also because we ate
only salt meat and vegetables during the winter, which produce bad blood.
The latter circumstance was, in my opinion, a partial cause of these
dreadful maladies. All this produced discontent in Sieur de Monts and
others of the settlement.
It would be very difficult to ascertain the character of this region
without spending a winter in it; for, on arriving here in summer, every
thing is very agreeable, in consequence of the woods, fine country, and the
many varieties of good fish which are found there. There are six months of
winter in this country.
The savages who dwell here are few in number. During the winter, in the
deepest snows, they hunt elks and other animals, on which they live most of
the time. And, unless the snow is deep, they scarcely get rewarded for
their pains, since they cannot capture any thing except by a very great
effort, which is the reason for their enduring and suffering much. When
they do not hunt, they live on a shell-fish, called the cockle. They clothe
themselves in winter with good furs of beaver and elk. The women make all
the garments, but not so exactly but that you can see the flesh under the
arm-pits, because they have not ingenuity enough to fit them better. When
they go a-hunting, they use a kind of show-shoe twice as large as those
hereabouts, which they attach to the soles of their feet, and walk thus
over the snow without sinking in, the women and children as well as the
men. They search for the track of animals, which, having found, they
follow until they get sight of the creature, when they shoot at it with
their bows, or kill it by means of daggers attached to the end of a short
pike, which is very easily done, as the animals cannot walk on the snow
without sinking in. Then the women and children come up, erect a hut, and
they give themselves to feasting. Afterwards, they return in search of
other animals, and thus they pass the winter. In the month of March
following, some savages came and gave us a portion of their game in
exchange for bread and other things which we gave them. This is the mode of
life in winter of these people, which seems to me a very miserable one.
We looked for our vessels at the end of April; but, as this passed without
their arriving, all began to have an ill-boding, fearing that some accident
had befallen them. For this reason, on the 15th of May, Sieur de Monts
decided to have a barque of fifteen tons and another of seven fitted up, so
that we might go at the end of the month of June to Gaspé in quest of
vessels in which to return to France, in case our own should not meanwhile
arrive. But God helped us better than we hoped; for, on the 15th of June
ensuing, while on guard about 11 o'clock at night, Pont Gravé, captain of
one of the vessels of Sieur de Monts, arriving in a shallop, informed us
that his ship was anchored six leagues from our settlement, and he was
welcomed amid the great joy of all.
The next day the vessel arrived, and anchored near our habitation. Pont
Gravé informed us that a vessel from St. Malo, called the St. Estienne,
was following him, bringing us provisions and supplies.
On the 17th of the month, Sieur de Monts decided to go in quest of a place
better adapted for an abode, and with a better temperature than our own.
With this view, he had the barque made ready, in which he had purposed to
go to Gaspé.
ENDNOTES:
105. _Mal de la terre_. Champlain had bitter experiences of this disease in
Quebec during the winter of 1608-9, when he was still ignorant of its
character; and it was not till several years later that he learned
that it was the old malady called _scurbut_, from the Sclavonic
_scorb_. Latinized into _scorbuticus_. Lescarbot speaks of this
disease as little understood in his time, but as known to Hippocrates.
He quotes Olaus Magnus, who describes it as it appeared among the
nations of the north, who called it _sorbet_, [Greek: kachexia], from
[Greek: kakos], bad, and [Greek: exis], a habit. This undoubtedly
expresses the true cause of this disease, now familiarly known as the
scurvy. It follows exposure to damp, cold, and impure atmosphere,
accompanied by the long-continued use of the same kind of food,
particularly of salt meats, with bad water. All of these conditions
existed at the Island of St. Croix. Champlain's description of the
disease is remarkably accurate.
106. This passage might be read, "which is in this country in May:" _lequel
commence en ces pays là est en May_. As Laverdière suggests, it looks
as if Champlain wrote it first _commence_, and then, thinking that the
winter he had experienced might have been exceptional, substituted
_est_, omitting to erase _commence_, so that the sentence, as it
stands, is faulty, containing two verbs instead of one, and being
susceptible of a double sense.