Produced by Karl Hagen, Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks,
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team, from images
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Transcriber's Notes:
The footnotes in the main portion of the original text, which are lengthy
and numerous, have been converted to endnotes that appear at the end of
each chapter. Their numeration is the same as in the original.
The original spelling remains unaltered, with the following exceptions:
1. This text was originally printed with tall-s. They have been replaced
here with ordinary 's.'
2. Some quotations from the 17th-century French reproduce manuscript
abbreviation marks (macrons over vowels). These represent 'n' or 'm' and
have been expanded.
3. In the transcription of some words of the Algonquian languages, the
original text of this edition uses a character that resembles an
infinity sign. This is taken from the old system that the Jesuits used
to record these languages, and represents a long, nasalized, unrounded
'o.' It is here represented with an '8.'
CHAMPLAIN'S VOYAGES.
[Illustration: Champlain (Samuel De) d'après un portrait gravé par
Moncornet]
VOYAGES OF SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN.
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH
By CHARLES POMEROY OTIS, Ph.D.
WITH HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS, and a MEMOIR
By the REV. EDMUND F. SLAFTER, A.M.
VOL. I. 1567-1635
FIVE ILLUSTRATIONS.
Editor: The REV EDMUND F SLAFTER, A.M.
PREFACE
The labors and achievements of the navigators and explorers, who visited
our coasts between the last years of the fifteenth and the early years of
the seventeenth centuries, were naturally enough not fully appreciated by
their contemporaries, nor were their relations to the future growth of
European interests and races on this continent comprehended in the age in
which they lived. Numberless events in which they were actors, and personal
characteristics which might have illustrated and enriched their history,
were therefore never placed upon record. In intimate connection with the
career of Cabot, Cartier, Roberval, Ribaut, Laudonnière, Gosnold, Pring,
and Smith, there were vast domains of personal incident and interesting
fact over which the waves of oblivion have passed forever. Nor has
Champlain been more fortunate than the rest. In studying his life and
character, we are constantly finding ourselves longing to know much where
we are permitted to know but little. His early years, the processes of his
education, his home virtues, his filial affection and duty, his social and
domestic habits and mode of life, we know imperfectly; gathering only a few
rays of light here and there in numerous directions, as we follow him along
his lengthened career. The reader will therefore fail to find very much
that he might well desire to know, and that I should have been but too
happy to embody in this work. In the positive absence of knowledge, this
want could only be supplied from the field of pure imagination. To draw
from this source would have been alien both to my judgment and to my taste.
But the essential and important events of Champlain's public career are
happily embalmed in imperishable records. To gather these up and weave them
into an impartial and truthful narrative has been the simple purpose of my
present attempt. If I have succeeded in marshalling the authentic deeds and
purposes of his life into a complete whole, giving to each undertaking and
event its true value and importance, so that the historian may more easily
comprehend the fulness of that life which Champlain consecrated to the
progress of geographical knowledge, to the aggrandizement of France, and to
the dissemination of the Christian faith in the church of which he was a
member, I shall feel that my aim has been fully achieved.
The annotations which accompany Dr. Otis's faithful and scholarly
translation are intended to give to the reader such information as he may
need for a full understanding of the text, and which he could not otherwise
obtain without the inconvenience of troublesome, and, in many instances, of
difficult and perplexing investigations. The sources of my information are
so fully given in connection with the notes that no further reference to
them in this place is required.
In the progress of the work, I have found myself under great obligations to
numerous friends for the loan of rare books, and for valuable suggestions
and assistance. The readiness with which historical scholars and the
custodians of our great depositories of learning have responded to my
inquiries, and the cordiality and courtesy with which they have uniformly
proffered their assistance, have awakened my deepest gratitude. I take this
opportunity to tender my cordial thanks to those who have thus obliged and
aided me. And, while I cannot spread the names of all upon these pages, I
hasten to mention, first of all, my friend, Dr. Otis, with whom I have been
so closely associated, and whose courteous manner and kindly suggestions
have rendered my task always an agreeable one. I desire, likewise, to
mention Mr. George Lamb, of Boston, who has gratuitously executed and
contributed a map, illustrating the explorations of Champlain; Mr. Justin
Winsor, of the Library of Harvard College; Mr. Charles A. Cutter, of the
Boston Athenaeum; Mr. John Ward Dean, of the Library of the New England
Historic Genealogical Society; Mrs. John Carter Brown, of Providence,
R. I.; Miss S. E. Dorr, of Boston; Monsieur L. Delisle, Directeur Général
de la Bibliothèque Nationale, of Paris; M. Meschinet De Richemond,
Archiviste de la Charente Inférieure, La Rochelle, France; the Hon. Charles
H. Bell, of Exeter, N. H.; Francis Parkman, LL.D., of Boston; the Abbé H.
R. Casgrain, of Rivière Ouelle, Canada; John G. Shea, LL.D., of New York;
Mr. James M. LeMoine, of Quebec; and Mr. George Prince, of Bath, Maine.
I take this occasion to state for the information of the members of the
Prince Society, that some important facts contained in the Memoir had not
been received when the text and notes of the second volume were ready for
the press, and, to prevent any delay in the completion of the whole work,
Vol. II. was issued before Vol. I., as will appear by the dates on their
respective title-pages.
E. F. S.
BOSTON, 14 ARLINGTON STREET, November 10, 1880.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE
MEMOIR OF SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN
ANNOTATIONES POSTSCRIPTAE
PREFACE TO THE TRANSLATION
DEDICATION TO THE ADMIRAL, CHARLES DE MONTMORENCY
EXTRACT FROM THE LICENSE OF THE KING
THE SAVAGES, OR VOYAGE OF SIEUR DE CHAMPLAIN, 1603
CHAMPLAIN'S EXPLANATION OF THE CARTE DE LA NOVVELLE FRANCE, 1632
THE PRINCE SOCIETY, ITS CONSTITUTION AND MEMBERS
ILLUSTRATIONS.
ENGRAVED PORTRAIT OF CHAMPLAIN ON WOOD, AFTER THE ENGRAVING OF
MONCORNET BY E. RONJAT, _heliotype_.
MAP ILLUSTRATING THE EXPLORATIONS OF CHAMPLAIN, _heliotype_.
ENGRAVED PORTRAIT OF CHAMPLAIN, AFTER A PAINTING BY TH. HAMEL FROM AN
ENGRAVING OF MONCORNET, _steel_.
ILLUMINATED TITLE-PAGE OF THE VOYAGE OF 1615 ET 1618, _heliotype_.
CARTE DE LA NOVVELLE FRANCE, 1632, _heliotype_.
INDEX
MEMOIR OF SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN.
CHAPTER I.
PARENTAGE--BIRTH--HOME AT BROUAGE--ITS SITUATION--A MILITARY STATION--ITS
SALT WORKS--HIS EDUCATION--EARLY LOVE OF THE SEA--QUARTER-MASTER IN
BRITTANY--CATHOLICS AND HUGUENOTS--CATHERINE DE MEDICIS--THE LEAGUE--DUKE
DE MERCOEUR--MARSHAL D'AUMONT--DE SAINT LUC--MARSHAL DE BRISSAC--PEACE OF
VERVINS
Champlain was descended from an ancestry whose names are not recorded among
the renowned families of France. He was the son of Antoine de Champlain, a
captain in the marine, and his wife Marguerite LeRoy. They lived in the
little village of Brouage, in the ancient province of Saintonge. Of their
son Samuel, no contemporaneous record is known to exist indicating either
the day or year of his birth. The period at which we find him engaged in
active and responsible duties, such as are usually assigned to mature
manhood, leads to the conjecture that he was born about the year 1567. Of
his youth little is known. The forces that contributed to the formation of
his character are mostly to be inferred from the abode of his early years,
the occupations of those by whom he was surrounded, and the temper and
spirit of the times in which he lived.
Brouage is situated in a low, marshy region, on the southern bank of an
inlet or arm of the sea, on the southwestern shores of France, opposite to
that part of the Island of Oleron where it is separated from the mainland
only by a narrow channel. Although this little town can boast a great
antiquity, it never at any time had a large population. It is mentioned by
local historians as early as the middle of the eleventh century. It was a
seigniory of the family of Pons. The village was founded by Jacques de
Pons, after whose proper name it was for a time called Jacopolis, but soon
resumed its ancient appellation of Brouage.
An old chronicler of the sixteenth century informs us that in his time it
was a port of great importance, and the theatre of a large foreign
commerce. Its harbor, capable of receiving large ships, was excellent,
regarded, indeed, as the finest in the kingdom of France. [1] It was a
favorite idea of Charles VIII. to have at all times several war-ships in
this harbor, ready against any sudden invasion of this part of the coast.
At the period of Champlain's boyhood, the village of Brouage had two
absorbing interests. First, it had then recently become a military post of
importance; and second, it was the centre of a large manufacture of salt.
To these two interests, the whole population gave their thoughts, their
energy, and their enterprise.
In the reign of Charles IX., a short time before or perhaps a little after
the birth of Champlain, the town was fortified, and distinguished Italian
engineers were employed to design and execute the work. [2] To prevent a
sudden attack, it was surrounded by a capacious moat. At the four angles
formed by the moat were elevated structures of earth and wood planted upon
piles, with bastions and projecting angles, and the usual devices of
military architecture for the attainment of strength and facility of
defence. [3]
During the civil wars, stretching over nearly forty years of the last half
of the sixteenth century, with only brief and fitful periods of peace, this
little fortified town was a post ardently coveted by both of the contending
parties. Situated on the same coast, and only a few miles from Rochelle,
the stronghold of the Huguenots, it was obviously exceedingly important to
them that it should be in their possession, both as the key to the commerce
of the surrounding country and from the very great annoyance which an enemy
holding it could offer to them in numberless ways. Notwithstanding its
strong defences, it was nevertheless taken and retaken several times during
the struggles of that period. It was surrendered to the Huguenots in 1570,
but was immediately restored on the peace that presently followed. The king
of Navarre [4] took it by strategy in 1576, placed a strong garrison in it,
repaired and strengthened its fortifications; but the next year it was
forced to surrender to the royal army commanded by the duke of Mayenne. [5]
In 1585, the Huguenots made another attempt to gain possession of the town.
The Prince of Condé encamped with a strong force on the road leading to
Marennes, the only avenue to Brouage by land, while the inhabitants of
Rochelle co-operated by sending down a fleet which completely blocked up
the harbor. [6] While the siege was in successful progress, the prince
unwisely drew off a part of his command for the relief of the castle of
Angiers; [7] and a month later the siege was abandoned and the Huguenot
forces were badly cut to pieces by de Saint Luc, [8] the military governor
of Brouage, who pursued them in their retreat.
The next year, 1586, the town was again threatened by the Prince of Condé,
who, having collected another army, was met by De Saint Luc near the island
of Oleron, who sallied forth from Brouage with a strong force; and a
conflict ensued, lasting the whole day, with equal loss on both sides, but
with no decisive results.
Thus until 1589, when the King of Navarre, the leader of the Huguenots,
entered into a truce with Henry III., from Champlain's birth through the
whole period of his youth and until he entered upon his manhood, the little
town within whose walls he was reared was the fitful scene of war and
peace, of alarm and conflict.
But in the intervals, when the waves of civil strife settled into the calm
of a temporary peace, the citizens returned with alacrity to their usual
employment, the manufacture of salt, which was the absorbing article of
commerce in their port.
This manufacture was carried on more extensively in Saintonge than in any
other part of France. The salt was obtained by subjecting water drawn from
the ocean to solar evaporation. The low marsh-lands which were very
extensive about Brouage, on the south towards Marennes and on the north
towards Rochefort, were eminently adapted to this purpose. The whole of
this vast region was cut up into salt basins, generally in the form of
parallelograms, excavated at different depths, the earth and rubbish
scooped out and thrown on the sides, forming a platform or path leading
from basin to basin, the whole presenting to the eye the appearance of a
vast chess-board. The argillaceous earth at the bottom of the pans was made
hard to prevent the escape of the water by percolation. This was done in
the larger ones by leading horses over the surface, until, says an old
chronicler, the basins "would hold water as if they were brass." The water
was introduced from the sea, through sluices and sieves of pierced planks,
passing over broad surfaces in shallow currents, furnishing an opportunity
for evaporation from the moment it left the ocean until it found its way
into the numerous salt-basins covering the whole expanse of the marshy
plains. The water once in the basins, the process of evaporation was
carried on by the sun and the wind, assisted by the workmen, who agitated
the water to hasten the process. The first formation of salt was on the
surface, having a white, creamy appearance, exhaling an agreeable perfume,
resembling that of violets. This was the finest and most delicate salt,
while that precipitated, or falling to the bottom of the basin, was of a
darker hue.
When the crystallization was completed, the salt was gathered up, drained,
and piled in conical heaps on the platforms or paths along the sides of the
basins. At the height of the season, which began in May and ended in
September, when the whole marsh region was covered with countless white
cones of salt, it presented an interesting picture, not unlike the tented
camp of a vast army.
The salt was carried from the marshes on pack-horses, equipped each with a
white canvas bag, led by boys either to the quay, where large vessels were
lying, or to small barques which could be brought at high tide, by natural
or artificial inlets, into the very heart of the marsh-fields.
When the period for removing the salt came, no time was to be lost, as a
sudden fall of rain might destroy in an hour the products of a month. A
small quantity only could be transported at a time, and consequently great
numbers of animals were employed, which were made to hasten over the
sinuous and angulated paths at their highest speed. On reaching the ships,
the burden was taken by men stationed for the purpose, the boys mounted in
haste, and galloped back for another.
The scene presented in the labyrinth of an extensive salt-marsh was lively
and entertaining. The picturesque dress of the workmen, with their clean
white frocks and linen tights; the horses in great numbers mantled in their
showy salt-bags, winding their way on the narrow platforms, moving in all
directions, turning now to the right hand and now to the left, doubling
almost numberless angles, here advancing and again retreating, often going
two leagues to make the distance of one, maintaining order in apparent
confusion, altogether presented to the distant observer the aspect of a
grand equestrian masquerade.
The extent of the works and the labor and capital invested in them were
doubtless large for that period. A contemporary of Champlain informs us
that the wood employed in the construction of the works, in the form of
gigantic sluices, bridges, beam-partitions, and sieves, was so vast in
quantity that, if it were destroyed, the forests of Guienne would not
suffice to replace it. He also adds that no one who had seen the salt works
of Saintonge would estimate the expense of forming them less than that of
building the city of Paris itself.
The port of Brouage was the busy mart from which the salt of Saintonge was
distributed not only along the coast of France, but in London and Antwerp,
and we know not what other markets on the continent of Europe. [9]
The early years of Champlain were of necessity intimately associated with
the stirring scenes thus presented in this prosperous little seaport. As we
know that he was a careful observer, endowed by nature with an active
temperament and an unusual degree of practical sense we are sure that no
event escaped his attention, and that no mystery was permitted to go
unsolved. The military and commercial enterprise of the place brought him
into daily contact with men of the highest character in their departments.
The salt-factors of Brouage were persons of experience and activity, who
knew their business, its methods, and the markets at home and abroad. The
fortress was commanded by distinguished officers of the French army, and
was a rendezvous of the young nobility; like other similar places, a
training-school for military command. In this association, whether near or
remote, young Champlain, with his eagle eye and quick ear, was receiving
lessons and influences which were daily shaping his unfolding capacities,
and gradually compacting and crystallizing them into the firmness and
strength of character which he so largely displayed in after years. His
education, such as it was, was of course obtained during this period. He
has himself given us no intimation of its character or extent. A careful
examination of his numerous writings will, however, render it obvious that
it was limited and rudimentary, scarcely extending beyond the fundamental
branches which were then regarded as necessary in the ordinary transactions
of business. As the result of instruction or association with educated men,
he attained to a good general knowledge of the French language, but was
never nicely accurate or eminently skilful in its use. He evidently gave
some attention in his early years to the study and practice of drawing.
While the specimens of his work that have come down to us are marked by
grave defects, he appears nevertheless to have acquired facility and some
skill in the art, which he made exceedingly useful in the illustration of
his discoveries in the new world.
During Champlain's youth and the earlier years of his manhood, he appears
to have been engaged in practical navigation. In his address to the Queen
[10] he says, "this is the art which in my early years won my love, and has
induced me to expose myself almost all my life to the impetuous waves of
the ocean." That he began the practice of navigation at an early period may
likewise be inferred from the fact that in 1599 he was put in command of a
large French ship of 500 tons, which had been chartered by the Spanish
authorities for a voyage to the West Indies, of which we shall speak more
particularly in the sequel. It is obvious that he could not have been
intrusted with a command so difficult and of so great responsibility
without practical experience in navigation; and, as it will appear
hereafter that he was in the army several years during the civil war,
probably from 1592 to 1598, his experience in navigation must have been
obtained anterior to that, in the years of his youth and early manhood.
Brouage offered an excellent opportunity for such an employment. Its port
was open to the commerce of foreign nations, and a large number of vessels,
as we have already seen, was employed in the yearly distribution of the
salt of Saintonge, not only in the seaport towns of France, but in England
and on the Continent. In these coasting expeditions, Champlain was
acquiring skill in navigation which was to be of very great service to him
in his future career, and likewise gathering up rich stores of experience,
coming in contact with a great variety of men, observing their manners and
customs, and quickening and strengthening his natural taste for travel and
adventure. It is not unlikely that he was, at least during some of these
years, employed in the national marine, which was fully employed in
guarding the coast against foreign invasion, and in restraining the power
of the Huguenots, who were firmly seated at Rochelle with a sufficient
naval force to give annoyance to their enemies along the whole western
coast of France.
In 1592, or soon after that date, Champlain was appointed quarter-master in
the royal army in Brittany, discharging the office several years, until, by
the peace of Vervins, in 1598, the authority of Henry IV. was firmly
established throughout the kingdom. This war in Brittany constituted the
closing scene of that mighty struggle which had been agitating the nation,
wasting its resources and its best blood for more than half a century. It
began in its incipient stages as far back as a decade following 1530, when
the preaching of Calvin in the Kingdom of Navarre began to make known his
transcendent power. The new faith, which was making rapid strides in other
countries, easily awakened the warm heart and active temperament of the
French. The principle of private judgment which lies at the foundation of
Protestant teaching, its spontaneity as opposed to a faith imposed by
authority, commended it especially to the learned and thoughtful, while the
same principle awakened the quick and impulsive nature of the masses. The
effort to put down the movement by the extermination of those engaged in
it, proved not only unsuccessful, but recoiled, as usual in such cases,
upon the hand that struck the blow. Confiscations, imprisonments, and the
stake daily increased the number of those which these severe measures were
intended to diminish. It was impossible to mark its progress. When at
intervals all was calm and placid on the surface, at the same time, down
beneath, where the eye of the detective could not penetrate, in the closet
of the scholar and at the fireside of the artisan and the peasant, the new
gospel, silently and without observation, was spreading like an
all-pervading leaven. [11]
In 1562, the repressed forces of the Huguenots could no longer be
restrained, and, bursting forth, assumed the form of organized civil war.
With the exception of temporary lulls, originating in policy or exhaustion,
there was no cessation of arms until 1598. Although it is usually and
perhaps best described as a religious war, the struggle was not altogether
between the Catholic and the Huguenot or Protestant. There were many other
elements that came in to give their coloring to the contest, and especially
to determine the course and policy of individuals.
The ultra-Catholic desired to maintain the old faith with all its ancient
prestige and power, and to crush out and exclude every other. With this
party were found the court, certain ambitious and powerful families, and
nearly all the officials of the church. In close alliance with it were the
Roman Pontiff, the King of Spain, and the Catholic princes of Germany.
The Huguenots desired what is commonly known as liberty of conscience;
or, in other words, freedom to worship God according to their own views
of the truth, without interference or restriction. And in close alliance
with them were the Queen of England and the Protestant princes of
Germany.
Personal motives, irrespective of principle, united many persons and
families with either of these great parties which seemed most likely to
subserve their private ambitions. The feudal system was nearly extinct in
form, but its spirit was still alive. The nobles who had long held sway in
some of the provinces of France desired to hold them as distinct and
separate governments, and to transmit them as an inheritance to their
children. This motive often determined their political association.
During the most of the period of this long civil war, Catherine de Médicis
[12] was either regent or in the exercise of a controlling influence in the
government of France. She was a woman of commanding person and
extraordinary ability, skilful in intrigue, without conscience and without
personal religion. She hesitated at no crime, however black, if through it
she could attain the objects of her ambition. Neither of her three sons,
Francis, Charles, and Henry, who came successively to the throne, left any
legal heir to succeed him. The succession became, therefore, at an early
period, a question of great interest. If not the potent cause, it was
nevertheless intimately connected with most of the bloodshed of that bloody
period.
A solemn league was entered into by a large number of the ultra-Catholic
nobles to secure two avowed objects, the succession of a Catholic prince to
the throne, and the utter extermination of the Huguenots. Henry, King of
Navarre, afterwards Henry IV. of France, admitted to be the legal heir to
the throne, was a Protestant, and therefore by the decree of the League
disqualified to succeed. Around his standard, the Huguenots rallied in
great numbers. With him were associated the princes of Condé, of royal
blood, and many other distinguished nobles. They contended for the double
purpose of securing the throne to its rightful heir and of emancipating and
establishing the Protestant faith.
But there was another class, acting indeed with one or the other of these
two great parties, nevertheless influenced by very different motives. It
was composed of moderate Catholics, who cared little for the political
schemes and civil power of the Roman Pontiff, who dreaded the encroachments
of the King of Spain, who were firmly patriotic and desired the
aggrandizement and glory of France.
The ultra-Catholic party was, for a long period, by far the most numerous
and the more powerful; but the Huguenots were sufficiently strong to keep
up the struggle with varying success for nearly forty years.
After the alliance of Henry of Navarre with Henry III. against the League,
the moderate Catholics and the Huguenots were united and fought together
under the royal standard until the close of the war in 1598.
Champlain was personally engaged in the war in Brittany for several years.
This province on the western coast of France, constituting a tongue of land
jutting out as it were into the sea, isolated and remote from the great
centres of the war, was among the last to surrender to the arms of Henry
IV. The Huguenots had made but little progress within its borders. The Duke
de Mercoeur [13] had been its governor for sixteen years, and had bent all
his energies to separate it from France, organize it into a distinct
kingdom, and transmit its sceptre to his own family.
Champlain informs us that he was quarter-master in the army of the king
under Marshal d'Aumont, de Saint Luc, and Marshal de Brissac, distinguished
officers of the French army, who had been successively in command in that
province for the purpose of reducing it into obedience to Henry IV.
Marshal d'Aumont [14] took command of the army in Brittany in 1592. He was
then seventy years of age, an able and patriotic officer, a moderate
Catholic, and an uncompromising foe of the League. He had expressed his
sympathy for Henry IV. a long time before the death of Henry III., and when
that event occurred he immediately espoused the cause of the new monarch,
and was at once appointed to the command of one of the three great
divisions of the French army. He received a wound at the siege of the
Château de Camper, in Brittany, of which he died on the 19th of August,
1595.
De Saint Luc, already in the service in Brittany, as lieutenant-general
under D'Aumont, continued, after the death of that officer, in sole
command. [15] He raised the siege of the Château de Camper after the death
of his superior, and proceeded to capture several other posts, marching
through the lower part of the province, repressing the license of the
soldiery, and introducing order and discipline. On the 5th of September,
1596, he was appointed grand-master of the artillery of France, which
terminated his special service in Brittany.
The king immediately appointed in his place Marshal de Brissac, [16] an
officer of broad experience, who added other great qualities to those of an
able soldier. No distinguished battles signalized the remaining months of
the civil war in this province. The exhausted resources and faltering
courage of the people could no longer be sustained by the flatteries or
promises of the Duke de Mercoeur. Wherever the squadrons of the marshal
made their appearance the flag of truce was raised, and town, city, and
fortress vied with each other in their haste to bring their ensigns and lay
them at his feet.
On the seventh of June, 1598, the peace of Vervins was published in Paris,
and the kingdom of France was a unit, with the general satisfaction of all
parties, under the able, wise, and catholic sovereign, Henry the Fourth.
[17]
ENDNOTES:
1. The following from Marshal de Montluc refers to Brouage in 1568.
Speaking of the Huguenots he says:--"Or ils n'en pouvoient choisir un
plus à leur advantage, que celui de la Rochelle, duquel dépend celui de
Brouage, qui est le plus beau port de mer de la France." _Commentaires_,
Paris, 1760, Tom. III., p. 340.
2. "La Riviere Puitaillé qui en étoit Gouverneur, fut chargé de faire
travailler aux fortifications. Belarmat, Bephano, Castritio d'Urbin, &
le Cavalier Orlogio, tous Ingénieurs Italiens, présiderent aux
travaux."--_Histoire La Rochelle_, par Arcere, à la Rochelle, 1756, Tom.
I., p. 121.
3. _Histioire de la Saintonge et de l'Aunis_, 1152-1548, par M. D. Massion,
Paris. 1838, Vol. II., p. 406.
4. The King of Navarre "sent for Monsieur _de Mirabeau_ under colour of
treating with him concerning other businesses, and forced him to deliver
up Brouage into his hands, a Fort of great importance, as well for that
it lies upon the Coast of the Ocean-sea, as because it abounds with such
store of salt-pits, which yeeld a great and constant revenue; he made
the Sieur de Montaut Governour, and put into it a strong Garrison of his
dependents, furnishing it with ammunition, and fortifying it with
exceeding diligence."--_His. Civ. Warres of France_, by Henrico Caterino
Davila, London, 1647, p. 455.
5. "The Duke of Mayenne, having without difficulty taken Thone-Charente,
and Marans, had laid siege to Brouage, a place, for situation, strength,
and the profit of the salt-pits, of very great importance; when the
Prince of Condé, having tryed all possible means to relieve the
besieged, the Hugonots after some difficulty were brought into such a
condition, that about the end of August they delivered it up, saving
only the lives of the Souldiers and inhabitants, which agreement the
Duke punctually observed."--_His. Civ. Warres_, by Davila, London, 1647,
p. 472. See also _Memoirs of Sully_, Phila., 1817, Vol. I., p. 69.
"_Le Jeudi_ XXVIII _Mars_. Fut tenu Conseil au Cabinet de la Royne mère
du Roy [pour] aviser ce que M. du _Maine_ avoit à faire, & j'ai mis en
avant l'enterprise de _Brouage_."--_Journal de Henri III_., Paris, 1744,
Tom. III., p. 220.
6. "The Prince of Condé resolved to besiege Brouage, wherein was the Sieur
_de St. Luc_, one of the League, with no contemptible number of infantry
and some other gentlemen of the Country. The Rochellers consented to
this Enterprise, both for their profit, and reputation which redounded
by it; and having sent a great many Ships thither, besieged the Fortress
by Sea, whilst the Prince having possessed that passage which is the
only way to Brouage by land, and having shut up the Defendants within
the circuit of their walls, straightned the Siege very closely on that
side."--_Davila_, p. 582. See also, _Histoire de Thou_, à Londres, 1734,
Tom. IX., p. 383.
The blocking up the harbor at this time appears to have been more
effective than convenient. Twenty boats or rafts filled with earth and
stone were sunk with a purpose of destroying the harbor. De Saint Luc,
the governor, succeeded in removing only four or five. The entrance for
vessels afterward remained difficult except at high tide. Subsequently
Cardinal de Richelieu expended a hundred thousand francs to remove the
rest, but did not succeed in removing one of them.--_Vide Histoire de La
Rochelle_, par Arcere, Tom I. p. 121.
7. The Prince of Condé. "Leaving Monsieur de St. Mesmes with the Infantry
and Artillery at the Siege of Brouage, and giving order that the Fleet
should continue to block it up by sea, he departed upon the eight of
October to relieve the Castle of Angiers with 800 Gentlemen and 1400
Harquebuziers on horseback."--_Davila_, p. 583. See also _Memoirs of
Sully_, Phila., 1817, Vol. I., p 123; _Histoire de Thou_, à Londres,
1734, Tom. IX, p. 385.
8. "_St. Luc_ sallying out of Brouage, and following those that were
scattered severall wayes, made a great slaughter of them in many places;
whereupon the Commander, despairing to rally the Army any more, got away
as well as they could possibly, to secure their own strong holds."--
_His. Civ. Warres of France_, by Henrico Caterino Davila, London, 1647,
p 588.
9. An old writer gives us some idea of the vast quantities of salt exported
from France by the amount sent to a single country.
"Important denique sexies mille vel circiter centenarios salis, quorum
singuli constant centenis modiis, ducentenas ut minimum & vicenas
quinas, vel & tricenas, pro salis ipsius candore puritateque, libras
pondo pendentibus, sena igitur libras centenariorum millia, computatis
in singulos aureis nummis tricenis, centum & octoginta reserunt aureorum
millia."--_Belguae Descrtptio_, a Lud. Gvicciardino, Amstelodami, 1652,
p. 244.
TRANSLATION.--They import in fine 6000 centenarii of salt, each one of
which contains 100 bushels, weighing at least 225 or 230 pounds,
according to the purity and whiteness of the salt; therefore six
thousand centenarii, computing each at thirty golden nummi, amount to
180,000 aurei.
It may not be easy to determine the value of this importation in money,
since the value of gold is constantly changing, but the quantity
imported may be readily determined, which was according to the above
statement, 67,500 tons.
A treaty of April 30, 1527, between Francis I. of France and Henry VIII.
of England, provided as follows:--"And, besides, should furnish unto the
said _Henry_, as long as hee lived, yearly, of the Salt of _Brouage_,
the value of fifteene thousand Crownes."--_Life and Raigne of Henry
VIII._, by Lord Herbert of Cherbury, London, 1649, p. 206.
Saintonge continued for a long time to be the source of large exports of
salt. De Witt, writing about the year 1658, says they received in
Holland of "salt, yearly, the lading of 500 or 600 ships, exported from
Rochel, Maran, Brouage, the Island of Oleron, and Ree."--_Republick of
Holland_, by John De Witt, London, 1702, p. 271. But it no longer holds
the pre-eminence which it did three centuries ago. Saintonge long since
yielded the palm to Brittany.
10. Vide _Oeuvres de Champlain_, Quebec ed, Tom. III. p. v.
11. In 1558, it was estimated that there were already 400,000 persons in
France who were declared adherents of the Reformation.--_Ranke's Civil
Wars in France_, Vol. I., p. 234.
"Although our assemblies were most frequently held in the depth of
midnight, and our enemies very often heard us passing through the
street, yet so it was, that God bridled them in such manner that we
were preserved under His protection."--_Bernard Palissy_, 1580. Vide
_Morlay's Life of Palissy_, Vol. II., p. 274.
When Henry IV. besieged Paris, its population was more than 200,000.--
_Malte-Brun_.
12. "Catherine de Médicis was of a large and, at the same time, firm and
powerful figure, her countenance had an olive tint, and her prominent
eyes and curled lip reminded the spectator of her great uncle, Leo X"
--_Civil Wars in France_, by Leopold Ranke, London, 1852, p 28.
13. Philippe Emanuel de Lorraine, Duc de Mercoeur, born at Nomény,
September 9, 1558, was the son of Nicolas, Count de Vaudemont, by his
second wife, Jeanne de Savoy, and was half-brother of Queen Louise, the
wife of Henry III. He was made governor of Brittany in 1582. He
embraced the party of the League before the death of Henry III.,
entered into an alliance with Philip II., and gave the Spaniards
possession of the port of Blavet in 1591. He made his submission to
Henry IV. in 1598, on which occasion his only daughter Françoise,
probably the richest heiress in the kingdom, was contracted in marriage
to César, Duc de Vendôme, the illegitimate son of Henry IV. by
Gabrielle d'Estrées, the Duchess de Beaufort. The Duc de Mercoeur died
at Nuremburg, February 19, 1602.--_Vide Birch's Memoirs of Queen
Elizabeth_, Vol. I., p. 82; _Davila's His. Civil Warres of France_, p.
1476.
14. Jean d'Aumont, born in 1522, a Marshal of France who served under
six kings, Francis I., Henry II., Francis II., Charles IX., Henry
III., and Henry IV. He distinguished himself at the battles of
Dreux, Saint-Denis, Montcontour, and in the famous siege of
Rochelle in 1573. After the death of Henry III., he was the first
to recognize Henry IV., whom he served with the same zeal as he
had his five predecessors. He took part in the brilliant battle of
Arques in 1589. In the following year, he so distinguished himself
at Ivry that Henry IV., inviting him to sup with him after this
memorable battle, addressed to him these flattering words, "Il est
juste que vous soyez du festin, après m'avoir si bien servi à mes
noces." At the siege of the Château de Camper, in Upper Brittany,
he received a musket shot which fractured his arm, and died of the
wound on the 19th of August, 1595, at the age of seventy-three
years. "Ce grand capitaine qui avoit si bien mérité du Roi et de
la nation, emporta dans le tombeau les regrets des Officiers & des
soldats, qui pleurerent amérement la perte de leur Général. La
Bretagne qui le regardoit comme son père, le Roi, tout le Royaume
enfin, furent extrêmement touchez de sa mort. Malgré la haine
mutuelle des factions qui divisoient la France, il étoit si estimé
dans les deux partis, que s'il se fût agi de trouver un chevalier
François sans reproche, tel que nos peres en ont autrefois eu,
tout le monde auroit jette les yeux sur d'Aumont."--_Histoire
Universelle de Jacque-Auguste de Thou_, à Londres, 1734,
Tom. XII., p. 446--_Vide_ also, _Larousse; Camden's His. Queen
Elizabeth_, London, 1675 pp 486,487, _Memoirs of Sully_,
Philadelphia, 1817, pp. 122, 210; _Oeuvres de Brantôme_, Tom. IV.,
pp. 46-49; _Histoire de Bretagne_, par M. Daru, Paris, 1826,
Vol. III. p. 319; _Freer's His. Henry IV._, Vol. II, p. 70.
15. François d'Espinay de Saint-Luc, sometimes called _Le Brave Saint
Luc_, was born in 1554, and was killed at the battle of Amiens on
the 8th of September, 1597. He was early appointed governor of
Saintonge, and of the Fortress of Brouage, which he successfully
defended in 1585 against the attack of the King of Navarre and the
Prince de Condé. He assisted at the battle of Coutras in 1587. He
served as a lieutenant-general in Brittany from 1592 to 1596. In
1594, he planned with Brissac, his brother-in-law, then governor
of Paris for the League, for the surrender of Paris to Henry
IV. For this he was offered the baton of a Marshal of France by
the king, which he modestly declined, and begged that it might be
given to Brissac. In 1578, through the influence or authority of
Henry III., he married the heiress, Jeanne de Cosse-Brissac,
sister of Charles de Cosse-Brissac, _postea_, a lady of no
personal attractions, but of excellent understanding and
character. --_Vide Courcelle's Histoire Généalogique des Pairs de
France_, Vol. II.; _Birch's Memoirs of Queen Elizabeth_, Vol. I.,
pp. 163, 191; _Freer's Henry III._, p. 162; _De Mezeray's
His. France_, 1683, p. 861.
16. Charles de Cosse-Brissac, a Marshal of France and governor of Angiers.
He was a member of the League as early as 1585. He conceived the idea
of making France a republic after the model of ancient Rome. He laid
his views before the chief Leaguers but none of them approved his plan.
He delivered up Paris, of which he was governor, to Henry IV. in 1594,
for which he received the Marshal's baton. He died in 1621, at the
siege of Saint Jean d'Angely.--_Vide Davila_, pp. 538, 584, 585;
_Sully_, Philadelphia, 1817, V. 61. Vol. I., p. 420; _Brantôme_, Vol.
III., p. 84; _His. Collections_, London, 1598, p. 35; _De Thou_, à
Londres, 1724, Tome XII., p. 449.
17. "By the Articles of this Treaty the king was to restore the County of
_Charolois_ to the king of _Spain_, to be by him held of the Crown of
_France_; who in exchange restor'd the towns of _Calice, Ardres,
Montbulin, Dourlens, la Capelle_, and _le Catelet_ in _Picardy_, and
_Blavet_ in Britanny: which Articles were Ratifi'd and Sign'd by his
Majesty the eleventh of June [1598]; who in his gayety of humour, at so
happy a conclusion, told the Duke of _Espernon, That with one dash of
his Pen he had done greater things, than he could of a long time have
perform'd with the best Swords of his Kingdom."--Life of the Duke of
Espernon_, London, 1670, p. 203; _Histoire du Roy Henry le Grand_, par
Préfixe, Paris, 1681, p. 243.
CHAPTER II.
QUARTER-MASTER.--VISIT TO WEST INDIES, SOUTH AMERICA, MEXICO.--HIS
REPORT.--SUGGESTS A SHIP CANAL.--VOYAGE OF 1603.--EARLIER VOYAGES.--
CARTIER, DE LA ROQUE, MARQUIS DE LA ROCHE, SIEUR DE CHAUVIN, DE CHASTES.
--PRELIMINARY VOYAGE.--RETURN TO FRANCE.--DEATH OF DE CHASTES.--SIEUR DE
MONTS OBTAINS A CHARTER, AND PREPARES FOR AN EXPEDITION TO CANADA.
The service of Champlain as quarter-master in the war in Brittany commenced
probably with the appointment of Marshal d'Aumont to the command of the
army in 1592, and, if we are right in this conjecture, it covered a period
of not far from six years. The activity of the army, and the difficulty of
obtaining supplies in the general destitution of the province, imposed upon
him constant and perplexing duty. But in the midst of his embarrassments he
was gathering up valuable experience, not only relating to the conduct of
war, but to the transactions of business under a great variety of forms. He
was brought into close and intimate relations with men of character,
standing, and influence. The knowledge, discipline, and self-control of
which he was daily becoming master were unconsciously fitting him for a
career, humble though it might seem in its several stages, but nevertheless
noble and potent in its relations to other generations.
At the close of the war, the army which it had called into existence
was disbanded, the soldiers departed to their homes, the office of
quarter-master was of necessity vacated, and Champlain was left
without employment.
Casting about for some new occupation, following his instinctive love of
travel and adventure, he conceived the idea of attempting an exploration of
the Spanish West Indies, with the purpose of bringing back a report that
should be useful to France. But this was an enterprise not easy either to
inaugurate or carry out. The colonial establishments of Spain were at that
time hermetically sealed against all intercourse with foreign nations.
Armed ships, like watch-dogs, were ever on the alert, and foreign
merchantmen entered their ports only at the peril of confiscation. It was
necessary for Spain to send out annually a fleet, under a convoy of ships
of war, for the transportation of merchandise and supplies for the
colonies, returning laden with cargoes of almost priceless value.
Champlain, fertile in expedient, proposed to himself to visit Spain, and
there form such acquaintances and obtain such influence as would secure to
him in some way a passage to the Indies in this annual expedition.
The Spanish forces, allies of the League in the late war, had not yet
departed from the coast of France. He hastened to the port of Blavet, [18]
where they were about to embark, and learned to his surprise and
gratification that several French ships had been chartered, and that his
uncle, a distinguished French mariner, commonly known as the _Provençal
Cappitaine_, had received orders from Marshal de Brissac to conduct the
fleet, on which the garrison of Blavet was embarked, to Cadiz in Spain.
Champlain easily arranged to accompany his uncle, who was in command of the
"St. Julian," a strong, well-built ship of five hundred tons.
Having arrived at Cadiz, and the object of the voyage having been
accomplished, the French ships were dismissed, with the exception of the
"St. Julian," which was retained, with the Provincial Captain, who had
accepted the office of pilot-general for that year, in the service of the
King of Spain.
After lingering a month at Cadiz, they proceeded to St. Lucar de Barameda,
where Champlain remained three months, agreeably occupied in making
observations and drawings of both city and country, including a visit to
Seville, some fifty miles in the interior.
In the mean time, the fleet for the annual visit to the West Indies, to
which we have already alluded, was fitting out at Saint Lucar, and about to
sail under the command of Don Francisco Colombo, who, attracted by the size
and good sailing qualities of the "Saint Julian," chartered her for the
voyage. The services of the pilot-general were required in another
direction, and, with the approbation of Colombo, he gave the command of the
"Saint Julian" to Champlain. Nothing could have been more gratifying than
this appointment, which assured to Champlain a visit to the more important
Spanish colonies under the most favorable circumstances.
He accordingly set sail with the fleet, which left Saint Lucar at the
beginning of January, 1599.
Passing the Canaries, in two months and six days they sighted the little
island of Deseada, [19] the _vestibule_ of the great Caribbean
archipelago, touched at Guadaloupe, wound their way among the group called
the Virgins, turning to the south made for Margarita, [20] then famous for
its pearl fisheries, and from thence sailed to St. Juan de Porto-rico. Here
the fleet was divided into three squadrons. One was to go to Porto-bello,
on the Isthmus of Panama, another to the coast of South America, then
called Terra Firma, and the third to Mexico, then known as New Spain. This
latter squadron, to which Champlain was attached, coasted along the
northern shore of the island of Saint Domingo, otherwise Hispaniola,
touching at Porto Platte, Mancenilla, Mosquitoes, Monte Christo, and Saint
Nicholas. Skirting the southern coast of Cuba, reconnoitring the Caymans,
[21] they at length cast anchor in the harbor of San Juan d'Ulloa, the
island fortress near Vera Cruz. While here, Champlain made an inland
journey to the City of Mexico, where he remained a month. He also sailed in
a _patache_, or advice-boat, to Porto-bello, when, after a month, he
returned again to San Juan d'Ulloa. The squadron then sailed for Havana,
from which place Champlain was commissioned to visit, on public business,
Cartagena, within the present limits of New Grenada, on the coast of South
America. The whole _armada_ was finally collected together at Havana,
and from thence took its departure for Spain, passing through the channel
of Bahama, or Gulf of Florida, sighting Bermuda and the Azores, reaching
Saint Lucar early in March, 1601, after an absence from that port of two
years and two months. [22]
On Champlain's return to France, he prepared an elaborate report of his
observations and discoveries, luminous with sixty-two illustrations
sketched by his own hand. As it was his avowed purpose in making the voyage
to procure information that should be valuable to his government, he
undoubtedly communicated it in some form to Henry IV. The document remained
in manuscript two hundred and fifty-seven years, when it was first printed
at London in an English translation by the Hakluyt Society, in 1859. It is
an exceedingly interesting and valuable tract, containing a lucid
description of the peculiarities, manners, and customs of the people, the
soil, mountains, and rivers, the trees, fruits, and plants, the animals,
birds, and fishes, the rich mines found at different points, with frequent
allusions to the system of colonial management, together with the character
and sources of the vast wealth which these settlements were annually
yielding to the Spanish crown.
The reader of this little treatise will not fail to see the drift and
tendency of Champlain's mind and character unfolded on nearly every page.
His indomitable perseverance, his careful observation, his honest purpose
and amiable spirit are at all times apparent. Although a Frenchman, a
foreigner, and an entire stranger in the Spanish fleet, he had won the
confidence of the commander so completely, that he was allowed by special
permission to visit the City of Mexico, the Isthmus of Panama, and the
coast of South America, all of which were prominent and important centres
of interest, but nevertheless lying beyond the circuit made by the squadron
to which he was attached.
For the most part, Champlain's narrative of what he saw and of what he
learned from others is given in simple terms, without inference or comment.
His views are, however, clearly apparent in his description of the Spanish
method of converting the Indians by the Inquisition, reducing them to
slavery or the horrors of a cruel death, together with the retaliation
practised by their surviving comrades, resulting in a milder method. This
treatment of the poor savages by their more savage masters Champlain
illustrates by a graphic drawing, in which two stolid Spaniards are
guarding half a dozen poor wretches who are burning for their faith. In
another drawing he represents a miserable victim receiving, under the eye
and direction of the priest, the blows of an uplifted baton, as a penalty
for not attending church.
Champlain's forecast and fertility of mind may be clearly seen in his
suggestion that a ship-canal across the Isthmus of Panama would be a work
of great practical utility, saving, in the voyage to the Pacific side of
the Isthmus, a distance of more than fifteen hundred leagues. [23]
As it was the policy of Spain to withhold as much as possible all knowledge
of her colonial system and wealth in the West Indies, we may add, that
there is probably no work extant, on this subject, written at that period,
so full, impartial, and truthful as this tract by Champlain. It was
undoubtedly written out from notes and sketches made on the spot, and
probably occupied the early part of the two years that followed his return
from this expedition, during which period we are not aware that he entered
upon any other important enterprise. [24]
This tour among the Spanish colonies, and the description which Champlain
gave of them, information so much desired and yet so difficult to obtain,
appear to have made a strong and favorable impression upon the mind of
Henry IV., whose quick comprehension of the character of men was one of the
great qualities of this distinguished sovereign. He clearly saw that
Champlain's character was made up of those elements which are indispensable
in the servants of the executive will. He accordingly assigned him a
pension to enable him to reside near his person, and probably at the same
time honored him with a place within the charmed circle of the nobility.
[25]
While Champlain was residing at court, rejoicing doubtless in his new
honors and full of the marvels of his recent travels, he formed the
acquaintance, or perhaps renewed an old one, with Commander de Chastes,
[26] for many years governor of Dieppe, who had given a long life to the
service of his country, both by sea [27] and by land, and was a warm and
attached friend of Henry IV. The enthusiasm of the young voyager and the
long experience of the old commander made their interviews mutually
instructive and entertaining. De Chastes had observed and studied with
great interest the recent efforts at colonization on the coast of North
America. His zeal had been kindled and his ardor deepened doubtless by the
glowing recitals of his young friend. It was easy for him to believe that
France, as well as Spain, might gather in the golden fruits of
colonization. The territory claimed by France was farther to the north, in
climate and in sources of wealth widely different, and would require a
different management. He had determined, therefore, to send out an
expedition for the purpose of obtaining more definite information than he
already possessed, with the view to surrender subsequently his government
of Dieppe, take up his abode in the new world, and there dedicate his
remaining years to the service of God and his king. He accordingly obtained
a commission from the king, associating with himself some of the principal
merchants of Rouen and other cities, and made preparations for despatching
a pioneer fleet to reconnoitre and fix upon a proper place for settlement,
and to determine what equipment would be necessary for the convenience and
comfort of the colony. He secured the services of Pont Gravé, [28] a
distinguished merchant and Canadian fur-trader, to conduct the expedition.
Having laid his views open fully to Champlain, he invited him also to join
the exploring party, as he desired the opinion and advice of so careful an
observer as to a proper plan of future operations.
No proposition could have been more agreeable to Champlain than this, and
he expressed himself quite ready for the enterprise, provided De Chastes
would secure the consent of the king, to whom he was under very great
obligations. De Chastes readily obtained the desired permission, coupled,
however, with an order from the king to Champlain to bring back to him a
faithful report of the voyage. Leaving Paris, Champlain hastened to
Honfleur, armed with a letter of instructions from M. de Gesures, the
secretary of the king, to Pont Gravé, directing him to receive Champlain
and afford him every facility for seeing and exploring the country which
they were about to visit. They sailed for the shores of the New World on
the 15th of March, 1603.
The reader should here observe that anterior to this date no colonial
settlement had been made on the northern coasts of America. These regions
had, however, been frequented by European fishermen at a very early period,
certainly within the decade after its discovery by John Cabot in 1497. But
the Basques, Bretons, and Normans, [29] who visited these coasts, were
intent upon their employment, and consequently brought home only meagre
information of the country from whose shores they yearly bore away rich
cargoes of fish.
The first voyage made by the French for the purpose of discovery in our
northern waters of which we have any authentic record was by Jacques
Cartier in 1534, and another was made for the same purpose by this
distinguished navigator in 1535. In the former, he coasted along the shores
of Newfoundland, entered and gave its present name to the Bay of Chaleur,
and at Gaspé took formal possession of the country in the name of the king.
In the second, he ascended the St. Lawrence as far as Montreal, then an
Indian village known by the aborigines as Hochelaga, situated on an island
at the base of an eminence which they named _Mont-Royal_, from which the
present commercial metropolis of the Dominion derives its name. After a
winter of great suffering, which they passed on the St. Charles, near
Quebec, and the death of many of his company, Cartier returned to France
early in the summer of 1536. In 1541, he made a third voyage, under the
patronage of François de la Roque, Lord de Roberval, a nobleman of Picardy.
He sailed up the St. Lawrence, anchoring probably at the mouth of the river
Cap Rouge, about four leagues above Quebec, where he built a fort which he
named _Charlesbourg-Royal_. Here he passed another dreary and disheartening
winter, and returned to France in the spring of 1542. His patron, De
Roberval, who had failed to fulfil his intention to accompany him the
preceding year, met him at St. John, Newfoundland. In vain Roberval urged
and commanded him to retrace his course; but the resolute old navigator had
too recent an experience and saw too clearly the inevitable obstacles to
success in their undertaking to be diverted from his purpose. Roberval
proceeded up the Saint Lawrence, apparently to the fort just abandoned by
Cartier, which he repaired and occupied the next winter, naming it
_Roy-Francois_; [30] but the disasters which followed, the sickness and
death of many of his company, soon forced him, likewise, to abandon the
enterprise and return to France.
Of these voyages, Cartier, or rather his pilot-general, has left full and
elaborate reports, giving interesting and detailed accounts of the mode of
life among the aborigines, and of the character and products of the
country.
The entire want of success in all these attempts, and the absorbing and
wasting civil wars in France, paralyzed the zeal and put to rest all
aspirations for colonial adventure for more than half a century.
But in 1598, when peace again began to dawn upon the nation, the spirit of
colonization revived, and the Marquis de la Roche, a nobleman of Brittany,
obtained a royal commission with extraordinary and exclusive powers of
government and trade, identical with those granted to Roberval nearly sixty
years before. Having fitted out a vessel and placed on board forty convicts
gathered out of the prisons of France, he embarked for the northern coasts
of America. The first land he made was Sable Island, a most forlorn
sand-heap rising out of the Atlantic Ocean, some thirty leagues southeast
of Cape Breton. Here he left these wretched criminals to be the strength
and hope, the bone and sinew of the little kingdom which, in his fancy, he
pictured to himself rising under his fostering care in the New World. While
reconnoitring the mainland, probably some part of Nova Scotia, for the
purpose of selecting a suitable location for his intended settlement, a
furious gale swept him from the coast, and, either from necessity or
inclination, he returned to France, leaving his hopeful colonists to a fate
hardly surpassed by that of Selkirk himself, and at the same time
dismissing the bright visions that had so long haunted his mind, of
personal aggrandizement at the head of a colonial establishment.
The next year, 1599, Sieur de Saint Chauvin, of Normandy, a captain in the
royal marine, at the suggestion of Pont Gravé, of Saint Malo, an
experienced fur-trader, to whom we have already referred, and who had made
several voyages to the northwest anterior to this, obtained a commission
sufficiently comprehensive, amply providing for a colonial settlement and
the propagation of the Christian faith, with, indeed, all the privileges
accorded by that of the Marquis de la Roche. But the chief and present
object which Chauvin and Pont Gravé hoped to attain was the monopoly of the
fur trade, which they had good reason to believe they could at that time
conduct with success. Under this commission, an expedition was accordingly
fitted out and sailed for Tadoussac. Successful in its main object, with a
full cargo of valuable furs, they returned to France in the autumn,
leaving, however, sixteen men, some of whom perished during the winter,
while the rest were rescued from the same fate by the charity of the
Indians. In the year 1600, Chauvin made another voyage, which was equally
remunerative, and a third had been projected on a much broader scale, when
his death intervened and prevented its execution.
The death of Sieur de Chauvin appears to have vacated his commission, at
least practically, opening the way for another, which was obtained by the
Commander de Chastes, whose expedition, accompanied by Champlain, as we
have already seen, left Honfleur on the 15th of March, 1603. It consisted
of two barques of twelve or fifteen tons, one commanded by Pont Gravé, and
the other by Sieur Prevert, of Saint Malo, and was probably accompanied by
one or more advice-boats. They took with them two Indians who had been in
France some time, doubtless brought over by De Chauvin on his last voyage.
With favoring winds, they soon reached the banks of Newfoundland, sighted
Cape Ray, the northern point of the Island of Cape Breton, Anticosti and
Gaspé, coasting along the southern side of the river Saint Lawrence as far
as the Bic, where, crossing over to the northern shore, they anchored in
the harbor of Tadoussac. After reconnoitring the Saguenay twelve or fifteen
leagues, leaving their vessels at Tadoussac, where an active fur trade was
in progress with the Indians, they proceeded up the St. Lawrence in a light
boat, passed Quebec, the Three Rivers, Lake St. Peter, the Richelieu, which
they called the river of the Iroquois, making an excursion up this stream
five or six leagues, and then, continuing their course, passing Montreal,
they finally cast anchor on the northern side, at the foot of the Falls of
St. Louis, not being able to proceed further in their boat.
Having previously constructed a skiff for the purpose, Pont Gravé and
Champlain, with five sailors and two Indians with a canoe, attempted to
pass the falls. But after a long and persevering trial, exploring the
shores on foot for some miles, they found any further progress quite
impossible with their present equipment. They accordingly abandoned the
undertaking and set out on their return to Tadoussac. They made short stops
at various points, enabling Champlain to pursue his investigations with
thoroughness and deliberation. He interrogated the Indians as to the course
and extent of the St. Lawrence, as well as that of the other large rivers,
the location of the lakes and falls, and the outlines and general features
of the country, making rude drawings or maps to illustrate what the Indians
found difficult otherwise to explain. [31]
The savages also exhibited to them specimens of native copper, which they
represented as having been obtained from the distant north, doubtless from
the neighborhood of Lake Superior. On reaching Tadoussac, they made another
excursion in one of the barques as far as Gaspé, observing the rivers,
bays, and coves along the route. When they had completed their trade with
the Indians and had secured from them a valuable collection of furs, they
commenced their return voyage to France, touching at several important
points, and obtaining from the natives some general hints in regard to the
existence of certain mines about the head waters of the Bay of Fundy.
Before leaving, one of the Sagamores placed his son in charge of Pont
Gravé, that he might see the wonders of France, thus exhibiting a
commendable appreciation of the advantages of foreign travel. They also
obtained the gift of an Iroquois woman, who had been taken in war, and was
soon to be immolated as one of the victims at a cannibal feast. Besides
these, they took with them also four other natives, a man from the coast of
La Cadie, and a woman and two boys from Canada.
The two little barques left Gaspé on the 24th of August; on the 5th of
September they were at the fishing stations on the Grand Banks, and on the
20th of the same month arrived at Havre de Grâce, having been absent six
months and six days.
Champlain received on his arrival the painful intelligence that the
Commander de Chastes, his friend and patron, under whose auspices the late
expedition had been conducted, had died on the 13th of May preceding. This
event was a personal grief as well as a serious calamity to him, as it
deprived him of an intimate and valued friend, and cast a cloud over the
bright visions that floated before him of discoveries and colonies in the
New World. He lost no time in repairing to the court, where he laid before
his sovereign, Henry IV., a map constructed by his own hand of the regions
which he had just visited, together with a very particular narrative of the
voyage.
This "petit discours," as Champlain calls it, is a clear, compact,
well-drawn paper, containing an account of the character and products of
the country, its trees, plants, fruits, and vines, with a description of
the native inhabitants, their mode of living, their clothing, food and its
preparation, their banquets, religion, and method of burying their dead,
with many other interesting particulars relating to their habits and
customs.
Henry IV. manifested a deep interest in Champlain's narrative. He listened
to its recital with great apparent satisfaction, and by way of
encouragement promised not to abandon the undertaking, but to continue to
bestow upon it his royal favor and patronage.
There chanced at this time to be residing at court, a Huguenot gentleman
who had been a faithful adherent of Henry IV. in the late war, Pierre du
Guast, Sieur de Monts, gentleman ordinary to the king's chamber, and
governor of Pons in Saintonge. This nobleman had made a trip for pleasure
or recreation to Canada with De Chauvin, several years before, and had
learned something of the country, and especially of the advantages of the
fur trade with the Indians. He was quite ready, on the death of De Chastes,
to take up the enterprise which, by this event, had been brought to a
sudden and disastrous termination. He immediately devised a scheme for the
establishment of a colony under the patronage of a company to be composed
of merchants of Rouen, Rochelle, and of other places, their contributions
for covering the expense of the enterprise to be supplemented, if not
rendered entirely unnecessary, by a trade in furs and peltry to be
conducted by the company.
In less than two months after the return of the last expedition, De Monts
had obtained from Henry IV., though contrary to the advice of his most
influential minister, [32] a charter constituting him the king's lieutenant
in La Cadie, with all necessary and desirable powers for a colonial
settlement. The grant included the whole territory lying between the 40th
and 46th degrees of north latitude. Its southern boundary was on a parallel
of Philadelphia, while its northern was on a line extended due west from
the most easterly point of the Island of Cape Breton, cutting New Brunswick
on a parallel near Fredericton, and Canada near the junction of the river
Richelieu and the St. Lawrence. It will be observed that the parts of New
France at that time best known were not included in this grant, viz., Lake
St. Peter, Three Rivers, Quebec, Tadoussac, Gaspé, and the Bay Chaleur.
These were points of great importance, and had doubtless been left out of
the charter by an oversight arising from an almost total want of a definite
geographical knowledge of our northern coast. Justly apprehending that the
places above mentioned might not be included within the limits of his
grant, De Monts obtained, the next month, an extension of the bounds of his
exclusive right of trade, so that it should comprehend the whole region of
the gulf and river of St. Lawrence. [33]
The following winter, 1603-4, was devoted by De Monts to organizing his
company, the collection of a suitable band of colonists, and the necessary
preparations for the voyage. His commission authorized him to seize any
idlers in the city or country, or even convicts condemned to
transportation, to make up the bone and sinew of the colony. To what extent
he resorted to this method of filling his ranks, we know not. Early in
April he had gathered together about a hundred and twenty artisans of all
trades, laborers, and soldiers, who were embarked upon two ships, one of
120 tons, under the direction of Sieur de Pont Gravé, commanded, however,
by Captain Morel, of Honfleur; another of 150 tons, on which De Monts
himself embarked with several noblemen and gentlemen, having Captain
Timothée, of Havre de Grâce, as commander.
De Monts extended to Champlain an invitation to join the expedition, which
he readily accepted, but, nevertheless, on the condition, as in the
previous voyage, of the king's assent, which was freely granted,
nevertheless with the command that he should prepare a faithful report of
his observations and discoveries.
ENDNOTES:
18. Blavet was situated at the mouth of the River Blavet, on the southern
coast of Brittany. Its occupation had been granted to the Spanish by
the Duke de Mercoeur during the civil war, and, with other places held
by the Spanish, was surrendered by the treaty of Vervins, in June,
1598. It was rebuilt and fortified by Louis XIII, and is now known as
Port Louis.
19. _Deseada_, signifying in Spanish the desired land.
20. _Margarita_, a Spanish word from the Greek [Greek: margaritaes],
signifying a pearl. The following account by an eye-witness will not be
uninteresting: "Especially it yieldeth store of pearls, those gems
which the Latin writers call _Uniones_, because _nulli duo reperiuntur
discreti_, they always are found to grow in couples. In this Island
there are many rich Merchants who have thirty, forty, fifty _Blackmore_
slaves only to fish out of the sea about the rocks these pearls....
They are let down in baskets into the Sea, and so long continue under
the water, until by pulling the rope by which they are let down, they
make their sign to be taken up.... From _Margarita_ are all the Pearls
sent to be refined and bored to _Carthagena_, where is a fair and
goodly street of no other shops then of these Pearl dressers. Commonly
in the month of _July_ there is a ship or two at most ready in the
Island to carry the King's revenue, and the Merchant's pearls to
_Carthagena_. One of these ships is valued commonly at three score
thousand or four score thousand ducats and sometimes more, and
therefore are reasonable well manned; for that the _Spaniards_ much
fear our _English_ and the _Holland_ ships."--_Vide New Survey of the
West Indies_, by Thomas Gage, London, 1677, p. 174.
21. _Caymans_, Crocodiles.
22. For an interesting Account of the best route to and from the West
Indies in order to avoid the vigilant French and English corsairs, see
_Notes on Giovanni da Verrazano_, by J. C. Brevoort, New York, 1874, p.
101.
23. At the time that Champlain was at the isthmus, in 1599-1601, the gold
and silver of Peru were brought to Panama, then transported on mules a
distance of about four leagues to a river, known as the Rio Chagres,
whence they were conveyed by water first to Chagres, and thence along
the coast to Porto-bello, and there shipped to Spain.
Champlain refers to a ship-canal in the following words: "One might
judge, if the territory four leagues in extent lying between Panama and
this river were cut through, he could pass from the south sea to that
on the other side, and thus shorten the route by more than fifteen
hundred leagues. From Panama to the Straits of Magellan would
constitute an island, and from Panama to New Foundland another, so that
the whole of America would be in two islands."--_Vide Brief Discours
des Choses Plus Rémarquables_, par Sammuel Champlain de Brovage, 1599,
Quebec ed., Vol. I. p 141. This project of a ship canal across the
isthmus thus suggested by Champlain two hundred and eighty years ago is
now attracting the public attention both in this country and in Europe.
Several schemes are on foot for bringing it to pass, and it will
undoubtedly be accomplished, if it shall be found after the most
careful and thorough investigation to be within the scope of human
power, and to offer adequate commercial advantages.
Some of the difficulties to be overcome are suggested by Mr. Marsh in
the following excerpt--
"The most colossal project of canalization ever suggested, whether we
consider the physical difficulties of its execution, the magnitude and
importance of the waters proposed to be united, or the distance which
would be saved in navigation, is that of a channel between the Gulf of
Mexico and the Pacific, across the Isthmus of Darien. I do not now
speak of a lock-canal, by way of the Lake of Nicaragua, or any other
route,--for such a work would not differ essentially from other canals
and would scarcely possess a geographical character,--but of an open
cut between the two seas. The late survey by Captain Selfridge, showing
that the lowest point on the dividing ridge is 763 feet above the
sea-level, must be considered as determining in the negative the
question of the possibility of such a cut, by any means now at the
control of man; and both the sanguine expectations of benefits, and the
dreary suggestions of danger from the realization of this great dream,
may now be dismissed as equally chimerical."--_Vide The Earth as
Modified by Human Action_, by George P. Marsh, New York, 1874, p. 612.
24. A translation of Champlain's Voyage to the West Indies and Mexico was
made by Alice Wilmere, edited by Norton Shaw, and published by the
Hakluyt Society, London, 1859.
25. No positive evidence is known to exist as to the time when Champlain
was ennobled. It seems most likely to have been in acknowledgment of
his valuable report made to Henry IV. after his visit to the West
Indies.
26. Amyar de Chastes died on the 13th of May, 1603, greatly respected and
beloved by his fellow-citizens. He was charged by his government with
many important and responsible duties. In 1583, he was sent by Henry
III., or rather by Catherine de Médicis, to the Azores with a military
force to sustain the claims of Antonio, the Prior of Crato, to the
throne of Portugal. He was a warm friend and supporter of Henry IV.,
and took an active part in the battles of Ivry and Arques. He commanded
the French fleet on the coasts of Brittany; and, during the long
struggle of this monarch with internal enemies and external foes, he
was in frequent communication with the English to secure their
co-operation, particularly against the Spanish. He accompanied the Duke
de Boullon, the distinguished Huguenot nobleman, to England, to be
present and witness the oath of Queen Elizabeth to the treaty made with
France.
On this occasion he received a valuable jewel as a present from the
English queen. He afterwards directed the ceremonies and entertainment
of the Earl of Shrewsbury, who was deputed to receive the ratification
of the before-mentioned treaty by Henry IV. _Vide Busk's His. Spain and
Portugal_, London, 1833, p. 129 _et passim_; _Denis' His. Portugal_,
Paris, 1846, p. 296; _Freer's Life of Henry IV._, Vol. I. p. 121, _et
passim_; _Memoirs of Sully_, Philadelphia, 1817, Vol. I. p. 204;
_Birch's Memoirs Queen Elizabeth_, London, 1754, Vol. II. pp. 121, 145,
151, 154, 155; _Asselini MSS. Chron._, cited by Shaw in _Nar Voyage to
West Ind. and Mexico_, Hakluyt Soc., 1859, p. xv.
27. "Au même tems les nouvelles vinrent.... que le Commandeur de Chastes
dressoit une grande Armée de Mer en Bretagne."--_Journal de Henri III._
(1586), Paris, 1744, Tom. III. p. 279.
28. Du Pont Gravé was a merchant of St Malo. He had been associated with
Chauvin in the Canada trade, and continued to visit the St Lawrence for
this purpose almost yearly for thirty years.
He was greatly respected by Champlain, and was closely associated with
him till 1629. After the English captured Quebec, he appears to have
retired, forced to do so by the infirmities of age.
29. Jean Parmentier, of Dieppe, author of the _Discorso d'un gran capitano_
in Ramusio, Vol. III., p. 423, wrote in the year 1539, and he says the
Bretons and Normans were in our northern waters thirty-five years
before, which would be in 1504. _Vide_ Mr. Parkman's learned note and
citations in _Pioneers of France in the New World_, pp. 171, 172. The
above is doubtless the authority on which the early writers, such as
Pierre Biard, Champlain, and others, make the year 1504 the period when
the French voyages for fishing commenced.
30. _Vide Voyage of Iohn Alphonse of Xanctoigne_, Hakluyt, Vol. III., p.
293.
31. Compare the result of these inquiries as stated by Champlain, p.252 of
this vol and _New Voyages_, by Baron La Hontan, 1684, ed. 1735, Vol I.
p. 30.
32. The Duke of Sully's disapprobation is expressed in the following words:
"The colony that was sent to Canada this year, was among the number of
those things that had not my approbation; there was no kind of riches
to be expected from all those countries of the new world, which are
beyond the fortieth degree of latitude. His majesty gave the conduct of
this expedition to the Sieur du Mont."--_Memoirs of Sully_,
Philadelphia, 1817, Vol. III. p. 185.
33. "Frequenter, négocier, et communiquer durant ledit temps de dix ans,
depuis le Cap de Raze jusques au quarantième degré, comprenant toute la
côte de la Cadie, terre et Cap Breton, Bayes de Sainct-Cler, de
Chaleur, Ile Percée, Gachepé, Chinschedec, Mesamichi, Lesquemin,
Tadoussac, et la rivière de Canada, tant d'un côté que d'aurre, et
toutes les Bayes et rivières qui entrent au dedans désdites côtes."--
Extract of Commission, _Histoire de la Nouvelle-France_, par Lescarbot,
Paris, 1866, Vol. II. p. 416.
CHAPTER III.
DE MONTS LEAVES FOR LA CADIE--THE COASTS OF NOVA SCOTIA.--THE BAY OF FUNDY
--SEARCH FOR COPPER MINE--CHAMPLAIN EXPLORES THE PENOBSCOT--DE MONTS'S
ISLAND--SUFFERINGS OF THE COLONY--EXPLORATION OF THE COAST AS FAR AS
NAUSET, ON CAPE COD
De Monts, with Champlain and the other noblemen, left Havre de Grâce on the
7th April, 1604, while Pont Gravé, with the other vessel, followed three
days later, to rendezvous at Canseau.
Taking a more southerly course than he had originally intended, De Monts
came in sight of La Hève on the 8th of May, and on the 12th entered
Liverpool harbor, where he found Captain Rossignol, of Havre de Grâce,
carrying on a contraband trade in furs with the Indians, whom he arrested,
and confiscated his vessel.
The next day they anchored at Port Mouton, where they lingered three or
four weeks, awaiting news from Pont Gravé, who had in the mean time arrived
at Canseau, the rendezvous agreed upon before leaving France. Pont Gravé
had there discovered several Basque ships engaged in the fur-trade. Taking
possession of them, he sent their masters to De Monts. The ships were
subsequently confiscated and sent to Rochelle.
Captain Fouques was despatched to Canseau in the vessel which had been
taken from Rossignol, to bring forward the supplies which had been brought
over by Pont Gravé. Having transshipped the provisions intended for the
colony, Pont Gravé proceeded through the Straits of Canseau up the St.
Lawrence, to trade with the Indians, upon the profits of which the company
relied largely for replenishing their treasury.
In the mean time Champlain was sent in a barque of eight tons, with the
secretary Sieur Ralleau, Mr. Simon, the miner, and ten men, to reconnoitre
the coast towards the west. Sailing along the shore, touching at numerous
points, doubling Cape Sable, he entered the Bay of Fundy, and after
exploring St. Mary's Bay, and discovering several mines of both silver and
iron, returned to Port Mouton and made to De Monts a minute and careful
report.
De Monts immediately weighed anchor and sailed for the Bay of St. Mary,
where he left his vessel, and, with Champlain, the miner, and some others,
proceeded to explore the Bay of Fundy. They entered and examined Annapolis
harbor, coasted along the western shores of Nova Scotia, touching at the
Bay of Mines, passing over to New Brunswick, skirting its whole
southeastern coast, entering the harbor of St. John, and finally
penetrating Passamaquoddy Bay as far as the mouth of the river St. Croix,
and fixed upon De Monts's Island [34] as the seat of their colony. The
vessel at St. Mary's with the colonists was ordered to join them, and
immediately active measures were taken for laying out gardens, erecting
dwellings and storehouses, and all the necessary preparations for the
coming winter. Champlain was commissioned to design and lay out the town,
if so it could be called.
When the work was somewhat advanced, he was sent in a barque of five or six
tons, manned with nine sailors, to search for a mine of pure copper, which
an Indian named Messamoüet had assured them he could point out to them on
the coast towards the river St. John. Some twenty-five miles from the river
St. Croix, they found a mine yielding eighteen per cent, as estimated by
the miner; but they did not discover any pure copper, as they had hoped.
On the last day of August, 1604, the vessel which had brought out the
colony, together with that which had been taken from Rossignol, took their
departure for the shores of France. In it sailed Poutrincourt, Ralleau the
secretary of De Monts, and Captain Rossignol.
From the moment of his arrival on the coast of America, Champlain employed
his leisure hours in making sketches and drawings of the most important
rivers, harbors, and Indian settlements which they had visited.
While the little colony at De Monts's Island was active in getting its
appointments arranged and settled, De Monts wisely determined, though he
could not accompany it himself, nevertheless to send out an expedition
during the mild days of autumn, to explore the region still further to the
south, then called by the Indians Norumbegue. Greatly to the satisfaction
of Champlain, he was personally charged, with this important expedition. He
set out on the 2d of September, in a barque of seventeen or eighteen tons,
with twelve sailors and two Indian guides. The inevitable fogs of that
region detained them nearly a fortnight before they were able to leave the
banks of Passamaquoddy. Passing along the rugged shores of Maine, with its
endless chain of islands rising one after another into view, which they
called the Ranges, they at length came to the ancient Pemetiq, lying close
in to the shore, having the appearance at sea of seven or eight mountains
drawn together and springing from the same base. This Champlain named
_Monts Déserts_, which we have anglicized into Mount Desert, [35] an
appellation which has survived the vicissitudes of two hundred and
seventy-five years, and now that the island, with its salubrious air and
cool shades, its bold and picturesque scenery, is attracting thousands from
the great cities during the heats of summer, the name is likely to abide
far down into a distant and indefinite future.
Leaving Mount Desert, winding their way among numerous islands, taking a
northerly direction, they soon entered the Penobscot, [36] known by the
early navigators as the river Norumbegue. They proceeded up the river as
far as the mouth of an affluent now known as the Kenduskeag, [37] which was
then called, or rather the place where it made a junction with the
Penobscot was called by the natives, _Kadesquit_, situated at the head of
tide-water, near the present site of the city of Bangor. The falls above
the city intercepted their further progress. The river-banks about the
harbor were fringed with a luxurious growth of forest trees. On one side,
lofty pines reared their gray trunks, forming a natural palisade along the
shore. On the other, massive oaks alone were to be seen, lifting their
sturdy branches to the skies, gathered into clumps or stretching out into
long lines, as if a landscape gardener had planted them to please the eye
and gratify the taste. An exploration revealed the whole surrounding region
clothed in a similar wild and primitive beauty.
After a leisurely survey of the country, they returned to the mouth of the
river. Contrary to what might have been expected, Champlain found scarcely
any inhabitants dwelling on the borders of the Penobscot. Here and there
they saw a few deserted wigwams, which were the only marks of human
occupation. At the mouth of the river, on the borders of Penobscot Bay, the
native inhabitants were numerous. They were of a friendly disposition, and
gave their visitors a cordial welcome, readily entered into negotiations
for the sale of beaver-skins, and the two parties mutually agreed to
maintain a friendly intercourse in the future.
Having obtained from the Indians some valuable information as to the source
of the Penobscot, and observed their mode of life, which did not differ
from that which they had seen still further east, Champlain departed on the
20th of September, directing his course towards the Kennebec. But,
encountering bad weather, he found it necessary to take shelter under the
lee of the island of Monhegan.
After sailing three or four leagues farther, finding that his provisions
would not warrant the continuance of the voyage, he determined, on the 23d
of September, to return to the settlement at Saint Croix, or what is now
known as De Monts's Island, where they arrived on the 2d day of October,
1604.
De Monts's Island, having an area of not more than six or seven acres, is
situated in the river Saint Croix, midway between its opposite shores,
directly upon the dividing line between the townships of Calais and
Robinston in the State of Maine. At the northern end of the island, the
buildings of the settlement were clustered together in the form of a
quadrangle with an open court in the centre. First came the magazine and
lodgings of the soldiers, then the mansion of the governor, De Monts,
surmounted by the colors of France. Houses for Champlain and the other
gentlemen, [38] for the curé, the artisans and workmen, filled up and
completed the quadrangle. Below the houses, gardens were laid out for the
several gentlemen, and at the southern extremity of the island cannon were
mounted for protection against a sudden assault.
In the ample forests of Maine or New Brunswick, rich in oak and maple and
pine, abounding in deer, partridge, and other wild game, watered by crystal
fountains springing from every acre of the soil, we naturally picture for
our colonists a winter of robust health, physical comfort, and social
enjoyment. The little island which they had chosen was indeed a charming
spot in a summer's day, but we can hardly comprehend in what view it could
have been regarded as suitable for a colonial plantation. In space it was
wholly inadequate; it was destitute of wood and fresh water, and its soil
was sandy and unproductive. In fixing the location of their settlement and
in the construction of their houses, it is obvious that they had entirely
misapprehended the character of the climate. While the latitude was nearly
the same, the temperature was far more rigorous than that of the sunny
France which they had left. The snow began to fall on the 6th of October.
On the 3d of December the ice was seen floating on the surface of the
water. As the season advanced, and the tide came and went, huge floes of
ice, day after day, swept by the island, rendering it impracticable to
navigate the river or pass over to the mainland. They were therefore
imprisoned in their own home. Thus cut off from the game with which the
neighboring forests abounded, they were compelled to subsist almost
exclusively upon salted meats. Nearly all the forest trees on the island
had been used in the construction of their houses, and they had
consequently but a meagre supply of fuel to resist the chilling winds and
penetrating frosts. For fresh water, their only reliance was upon melted
snow and ice. Their store-house had not been furnished with a cellar, and
the frost left nothing untouched; even cider was dispensed in solid blocks.
To crown the gloom and wretchedness of their situation, the colony was
visited with disease of a virulent and fatal character. As the malady was
beyond the knowledge, so it baffled the skill of the surgeons. They called
it _mal de la terre_. Of the seventy-nine persons, composing the whole
number of the colony, thirty-five died, and twenty others were brought to
the verge of the grave. In May, having been liberated from the baleful
influence of their winter prison and revived by the genial warmth of the
vernal sun and by the fresh meats obtained from the savages, the disease
abated, and the survivors gradually regained their strength.
Disheartened by the bitter experiences of the winter, the governor, having
fully determined to abandon his present establishment, ordered two boats to
be constructed, one of fifteen and the other of seven tons, in which to
transport his colony to Gaspé, in case he received no supplies from France,
with the hope of obtaining a passage home in some of the fishing vessels on
that coast. But from this disagreeable alternative he was happily relieved.
On the 15th of June, 1605, Pont Gravé arrived, to the great joy of the
little colony, with all needed supplies. The purpose of returning to France
was at once abandoned, and, as no time was to be lost, on the 18th of the
same month, De Monts, Champlain, several gentlemen, twenty sailors, two
Indians, Panounias and his wife, set sail for the purpose of discovering a
more eligible site for his colony somewhere on the shores of the present
New England. Passing slowly along the coast, with which Champlain was
already familiar, and consequently without extensive explorations, they at
length reached the waters of the Kennebec, [39] where the survey of the
previous year had terminated and that of the present was about to begin.
On the 5th of July, they entered the Kennebec, and, bearing to the right,
passed through Back River, [40] grazing their barque on the rocks in the
narrow channel, and then sweeping down round the southern point of
Jerremisquam Island, or Westport, they ascended along its eastern shores
till they came near the present site of Wiscasset, from whence they
returned on the western side of the island, through Monseag Bay, and
threading the narrow passage between Arrowsick and Woolwich, called the
Upper Hell-gate, and again entering the Kennebec, they finally reached
Merrymeeting Bay. Lingering here but a short time, they returned through
the Sagadahock, or lower Kennebec, to the mouth of the river.
This exploration did not yield to the voyagers any very interesting or
important results. Several friendly interviews were held with the savages
at different points along the route. Near the head waters of the Sheepscot,
probably in Wiscasset Bay, they had an interview, an interesting and joyous
meeting, with the chief Manthomerme and twenty-five or thirty followers,
with whom they exchanged tokens of friendship. Along the shores of the
Sheepscot their attention was attracted by several pleasant streams and
fine expanses of meadow; but the soil observed on this expedition
generally, and especially on the Sagadahock, [41] or lower Kennebec, was
rough and barren, and offered, in the judgment of De Monts and Champlain,
no eligible site for a new settlement.
Proceeding, therefore, on their voyage, they struck directly across Casco
Bay, not attempting, in their ignorance, to enter the fine harbor of
Portland.
On the 9th of July, they made the bay that stretches from Cape Elizabeth to
Fletcher's Neck, and anchored under the lee of Stratton Island, directly in
sight of Old Orchard Beach, now a famous watering place during the summer
months.
The savages having seen the little French barque approaching in the
distance, had built fires to attract its attention, and came down upon the
shore at Prout's Neck, formerly known as Black Point, in large numbers,
indicating their friendliness by lively demonstrations of joy. From this
anchorage, while awaiting the influx of the tide to enable them to pass
over the bar and enter a river which they saw flowing into the bay, De
Monts paid a visit to Richmond's Island, about four miles distant, which he
was greatly delighted, as he found it richly studded with oak and hickory,
whose bending branches were wreathed with luxuriant grapevines loaded with
green clusters of unripe fruit. In honor of the god of wine, they gave to
the island the classic name of Bacchus. [42] At full tide they passed over
the bar and cast anchor within the channel of the Saco.
The Indians whom they found here were called Almouchiquois, and differed in
many respects from any which they had seen before, from the Sourequois of
Nova Scotia and the Etechemins of the northern part of Maine and New
Brunswick. They spoke a different language, and, unlike their neighbors on
the east, did not subsist mainly by the chase, but upon the products of the
soil, supplemented by fish, which were plentiful and of excellent quality,
and which they took with facility about the mouth of the river. De Monts
and Champlain made an excursion upon the shore, where their eyes were
refreshed by fields of waving corn, and gardens of squashes, beans, and
pumpkins, which were then bursting into flower. [43] Here they saw in
cultivation the rank narcotic _petun_, or tobacco, [44] just beginning to
spread out its broad velvet leaves to the sun, the sole luxury of savage
life. The forests were thinly wooded, but were nevertheless rich in
primitive oak, in lofty ash and elm, and in the more humble and sturdy
beech. As on Richmond's Island so here, along the bank of the river they
found grapes in luxurious growth, from which the sailors busied themselves
in making verjuice, a delicious beverage in the meridian heats of a July
sun. The natives were gentle and amiable, graceful in figure, agile in
movement, and exhibited unusual taste, dressing their hair in a variety of
twists and braids, intertwined with ornamental feathers.
Champlain observed their method of cultivating Indian corn, which the
experience of two hundred and seventy-five years has in no essential point
improved or even changed. They planted three or four seeds in hills three
feet apart, and heaped the earth about them, and kept the soil clear of
weeds. Such is the method of the successful New England farmer to-day. The
experience of the savage had taught him how many individuals of the rank
plant could occupy prolifically a given area, how the soil must be gathered
about the roots to sustain the heavy stock, and that there must be no rival
near it to draw away the nutriment on which the voracious plant feeds and
grows. Civilization has invented implements to facilitate the processes of
culture, but the observation of the savage had led him to a knowledge of
all that is absolutely necessary to ensure a prolific harvest.
After lingering two days at Saco, our explorers proceeded on their voyage.
When they had advanced not more than twenty miles, driven by a fierce wind,
they were forced to cast anchor near the salt marshes of Wells. Having been
driven by Cape Porpoise, on the subsidence of the wind, they returned to
it, reconnoitred its harbor and adjacent islands, together with Little
River, a few miles still further to the east. The shores were lined all
along with nut-trees and grape-vines. The islands about Cape Porpoise were
matted all over with wild currants, so that the eye could scarcely discern
any thing else. Attracted doubtless by this fruit, clouds of wild pigeons
had assembled there, and were having a midsummer's festival, fearless of
the treacherous snare or the hunter's deadly aim. Large numbers of them
were taken, which added a coveted luxury to the not over-stocked larder of
the little French barque.
On the 15th of July, De Monts and his party left Cape Porpoise,
keeping in and following closely the sinuosities of the shore. They
saw no savages during the day, nor any evidences of any, except a
rising smoke, which they approached, but found to be a lone beacon,
without any surroundings of human life. Those who had kindled the fire
had doubtless concealed themselves, or had fled in dismay. Possibly
they had never seen a ship under sail. The fishermen who frequented
our northern coast rarely came into these waters, and the little craft
of our voyagers, moving without oars or any apparent human aid, seemed
doubtless to them a monster gliding upon the wings of the wind. At the
setting of the sun, they were near the flat and sandy coast, now known
as Wallace's Sands. They fought in vain for a roadstead where they
might anchor safely for the night. When they were opposite to Little
Boar's Head, with the Isles of Shoals directly east of them, and the
reflected rays of the sun were still throwing their light upon the
waters, they saw in the distance the dim outline of Cape Anne, whither
they directed their course, and, before morning, came to anchor near
its eastern extremity, in sixteen fathoms of water. Near them were the
three well-known islands at the apex of the cape, covered with
forest-trees, and the woodless cluster of rocks, now called the
Savages, a little further from the shore.
The next morning five or six Indians timidly approached them in a canoe,
and then retired and set up a dance on the shore, as a token of friendly
greeting. Armed with crayon and drawing-paper, Champlain was despatched to
seek from the natives some important geographical information. Dispensing
knives and biscuit as a friendly invitation, the savages gathered about
him, assured by their gifts, when he proceeded to impart to them their
first lesson in topographical drawing. He pictured to them the bay on the
north side of Cape Anne, which he had just traversed, and signifying to
them that he desired to know the course of the shore on the south, they
immediately gave him an example of their apt scholarship by drawing with
the same crayon an accurate outline of Massachusetts Bay, and finished up
Champlain's own sketch by introducing the Merrimac River, which, not having
been seen, owing to the presence of Plum Island, which stretches like a
curtain before its mouth, he had omitted to portray. The intelligent
natives volunteered a bit of history. By placing six pebbles at equal
distances, they intimated that Massachusetts Bay was occupied by six
tribes, and governed by as many chiefs. [45] He learned from them,
likewise, that the inhabitants of this region subsisted by agriculture, as
did those at the mouth of the Saco, and that they were very numerous.
Leaving Cape Anne on Saturday the 16th of July, De Monts entered
Massachusetts Bay, sailed into Boston harbor, and anchored on the western
side of Noddle's Island, now better known as East Boston. In passing into
the bay, they observed large patches of cleared land, and many fields of
waving corn both upon the islands and the mainland. The water and the
islands, the open fields and lofty forest-trees, presented fine contrasts,
and rendered the scenery attractive and beautiful. Here for the first time
Champlain observed the log canoe. It was a clumsy though serviceable boat
in still waters, nevertheless unstable and dangerous in unskilful hands.
They saw, issuing into the bay, a large river, coming from the west, which
they named River du Guast, in honor of Pierre du Guast, Sieur de Monts, the
patentee of La Cadie, and the patron and director of this expedition. This
was Charles River, seen, evidently just at its confluence with the Mystic.
[46]
On Sunday, the 17th of July, 1605, they left Boston harbor, threading their
way among the islands, passing leisurely along the south shore, rounding
Point Allerton on the peninsula of Nantasket, gliding along near Cohasset
and Scituate, and finally cast anchor at Brant Point, upon the southern
borders of Marshfield. When they left the harbor of Boston, the islands and
mainland were swarming with the native population. The Indians were,
naturally enough, intensely interested in this visit of the little French
barque. It may have been the first that had ever made its appearance in the
bay. Its size was many times greater than any water-craft of their own.
Spreading its white wings and gliding silently away without oarsmen, it
filled them with surprise and admiration. The whole population was astir.
The cornfields and fishing stations were deserted. Every canoe was manned,
and a flotilla of their tiny craft came to attend, honor, and speed the
parting guests, experiencing, doubtless, a sense of relief that they were
going, and filled with a painful curiosity to know the meaning of this
mysterious visit.
Having passed the night at Brant Point, they had not advanced more than two
leagues along a sandy shore dotted with wigwams and gardens, when they were
forced to enter a small harbor, to await a more favoring wind. The Indians
flocked about them, greeted them with cordiality, and invited them to enter
the little river which flows into the harbor, but this they were unable to
do, as the tide was low and the depth insufficient. Champlain's attention
was attracted by several canoes in the bay, which had just completed their
morning's work in fishing for cod. The fish were taken with a primitive
hook and line, apparently in a manner not very different from that of the
present day. The line was made of a filament of bark stripped from the
trunk of a tree; the hook was of wood, having a sharp bone, forming a barb,
lashed to it with a cord of a grassy fibre, a kind of wild hemp, growing
spontaneously in that region. Champlain landed, distributed trinkets among
the natives, examined and sketched an outline of the place, which
identifies it as Plymouth harbor, which captain John Smith visited in 1614,
and where the May Flower, still six years later landed the first permanent
colony planted upon New England soil.
After a day at Plymouth, the little bark weighed anchor, swept down Cape
Cod, approaching near to the reefs of Billingsgate, describing a complete
semicircle, and finally, with some difficulty, doubled the cape whose white
sands they had seen in the distance glittering in the sunlight and which
appropriately they named _Cap Blanc_. This cape, however, had been visited
three years before by Bartholomew Gosnold, and named Cape Cod, which
appellation it has retained to the present time. Passing down on the
outside of the cape some distance, they came to anchor, sent explorers on
the shore, who ascending on of the lofty sand-banks [47] which may still be
seen there silently resisting the winds and waves, discovered further to
the south, what is now known as Nauset harbor, entirely surrounded by
Indian cabins. The next day, the 20th of July, 1605, they effected an
entrance without much difficulty. The bay was spacious, being nine or ten
miles in circumference. Along the borders, there were, here and there,
cultivated patches, interspersed with dwellings of the natives. The wigwam
was cone-shaped, heavily thatched with reeds, having an orifice at the apex
for the emission of smoke. In the fields were growing Indian corn,
Brazilian beans, pumpkins, radishes, and tobacco; and in the woods were oak
and hickory and red cedar. During their stay in the harbor they encountered
an easterly storm, which continued four days, so raw and chilling that they
were glad to hug their winter cloaks about them on the 22d of July. The
natives were friendly and cordial, and entered freely into conversation
with Champlain; but, as the language of each party was not understood by
the other, the information he obtained from them was mostly by signs, and
consequently too general to be historically interesting or important.
The first and only act of hostility by the natives which De Monts and his
party had thus far experienced in their explorations on the entire coast
occurred in this harbor. Several of the men had gone ashore to obtain fresh
water. Some of the Indians conceived an uncontrollable desire to capture
the copper vessels which they saw in their hands. While one of the men was
stooping to dip water from a spring, one of the savages darted upon him and
snatched the coveted vessel from his hand. An encounter followed, and, amid
showers of arrows and blows, the poor sailor was brutally murdered. The
victorious Indian, fleet as the reindeer, escaped with his companions,
bearing his prize with him into the depths of the forest. The natives on
the shore, who had hitherto shown the greatest friendliness, soon came to
De Monts, and by signs disowned any participation in the act, and assured
him that the guilty parties belonged far in the interior. Whether this was
the truth or a piece of adroit diplomacy, it was nevertheless accepted by
De Monts, since punishment could only be administered at the risk of
causing the innocent to suffer instead of the guilty.
The young sailor whose earthly career was thus suddenly terminated, whose
name even has not come down to us, was doubtless the first European, if we
except Thorvald, the Northman, whose mortal remains slumber in the soil of
Massachusetts.
As this voyage of discovery had been planned and provisioned for only six
weeks, and more than five had already elapsed, on the 25th of July De Monts
and his party left Nauset harbor, to join the colony still lingering at St.
Croix. In passing the bar, they came near being wrecked, and consequently
gave to the harbor the significant appellation of _Port de Mallebarre_, a
name which has not been lost, but nevertheless, like the shifting sands of
that region, has floated away from its original moorings, and now adheres
to the sandy cape of Monomoy.
On their return voyage, they made a brief stop at Saco, and likewise at the
mouth of the Kennebec. At the latter point they had an interview with the
sachem, Anassou, who informed them that a ship had been there, and that the
men on board her had seized, under color of friendship, and killed five
savages belonging to that river. From the description given by Anassou,
Champlain was convinced that the ship was English, and subsequent events
render it quite certain that it was the "Archangel," fitted out by the Earl
of Southampton and Lord Arundel of Wardour, and commanded by Captain George
Weymouth. The design of the expedition was to fix upon an eligible site for
a colonial plantation, and, in pursuance of this purpose, Weymouth anchored
off Monhegan on the 28th of May, 1605, _new style_, and, after spending a
month in explorations of the region contiguous, left for England on the
26th of June. [48] He had seized and carried away five of the natives,
having concealed them in the hold of his ship, and Anassou, under the
circumstances, naturally supposed they had been killed. The statement of
the sachem, that the natives captured belonged to the river where Champlain
then was, namely, the Kennebec, goes far to prove that Weymouth's
explorations were in the Kennebec, or at least in the network of waters
then comprehended under that appellation, and not in the Penobscot or in
any other river farther east, as some historical writers have supposed.
It would appear that while the French were carefully surveying the coasts
of New England, in order to fix upon an eligible site for a permanent
colonial settlement, the English were likewise upon the ground, engaged in
a similar investigation for the same purpose. From this period onward, for
more than a century and a half, there was a perpetual conflict and struggle
for territorial possession on the northern coast of America, between these
two great nations, sometimes active and violent, and at others subsiding
into a semi-slumber, but never ceasing until every acre of soil belonging
to the French had been transferred to the English by a solemn international
compact.
On this exploration, Champlain noticed along the coast from Kennebec to
Cape Cod, and described several objects in natural history unknown in
Europe, such as the horse-foot crab, [49] the black skimmer, and the wild
turkey, the latter two of which have long since ceased to visit this
region.
ENDNOTES:
34. _De Monts's Island_. Of this island Champlain says: "This place was
named by Sieur De Monts the Island of St. Croix."--_Vide_ Vol. II. p.
32, note 86. St. Croix has now for a long time been applied as the name
of the river in which this island is found. The French denominated this
stream the River of the Etechemins, after the name of the tribe of
savages inhabiting its shores. _Vide_ Vol. II. p. 31. It continued to
be so called for a long time. Denys speaks of it under this name in
1672. "Depuis la riviere de Pentagouet, jusques à celle de saint Jean,
il pent y avoir quarante à quarante cinq lieues; la première rivière
que l'on rencontre le long de la coste, est celle des Etechemins, qui
porte le nom du pays, depuis Baston jusques au Port royal, dont les
Sauvages qui habitent toute cette étendue, portent aussi le mesme
nom."--_Description Géographique et Historique des Costes de L'Amerique
Septentrionale_, par Nicholas Denys, Paris, 1672, p. 29, _et verso_.
35. Champlain had, by his own explorations and by consulting the Indians,
obtained a very full and accurate knowledge of this island at his first
visit, on the 5th of September, 1604, when he named it _Monts-déserts_,
which we preserve in the English form, MOUNT DESERT. He observed that
the distance across the channel to the mainland on the north side was
less than a hundred paces. The rocky and barren summits of this cluster
of little mountains obviously induced him to give to the island its
appropriate and descriptive name _Vide_ Vol. II. p. 39. Dr. Edward
Ballard derives the Indian name of this island, _Pemetiq_, from
_pemé'te_, sloping, and _ki_, land. He adds that it probably denoted a
single locality which was taken by Biard's company as the name of the
whole island. _Vide Report of U. S. Coast Survey_ for 1868, p. 253.
36. Penobscot is a corruption of the Abnaki _pa'na8a'bskek_. A nearly exact
translation is "at the fall of the rock," or "at the descending rock."
_Vide Trumball's Ind. Geog. Names_, Collections Conn. His. Society,
Vol. II. p. 19. This name was originally given probably to some part of
the river to which its meaning was particularly applicable. This may
have been at the mouth of the river a Fort Point, a rocky elevation not
less than eighty feet in height. Or it may have been the "fall of water
coming down a slope of seven or eight feet," as Champlain expresses it,
a short distance above the site of the present city of Bangor. That
this name was first obtained by those who only visited the mouth of the
river would seem to favor the former supposition.
37. Dr. Edward Ballard supposes the original name of this stream,
_Kadesquit_, to be derived from _kaht_, a Micmac word, for _eel_,
denoting _eel stream_, now corrupted into _Kenduskeag_. The present
site of the city of Bangor is where Biard intended to establish his
mission in 1613, but he was finally induced to fix it at Mount
Desert--_Vide Relations des Jésuites_, Quebec ed., Vol. I. p. 44.
38. The other gentlemen whose names we have learned were Messieurs
d'Orville, Champdoré, Beaumont, la Motte Bourioli, Fougeray or Foulgeré
de Vitré, Genestou, Sourin, and Boulay. The orthography of the names,
as they are mentioned from time to time, is various.
39. _Kennebec_. Biard, in the _Relation, de la Nouvelle France, Relations
des Jésuites_, Quebec ed., Vol. I. p. 35, writes it _Quinitequi_, and
Champlain writes it _Quinibequy_ and _Quinebequi_; hence Mr. Trumball
infers that it is probably equivalent in meaning to _quin-ni-pi-ohke_,
meaning "long water place," derived from the Abnaki, _K8
né-be-ki_.--_Vide Ind. Geog. Names_, Col. Conn. His. Soc. Vol. II. p.
15.
40. _Vide_ Vol. II. note 110.
41. _Sagadahock_. This name is particularly applied to the lower part of
the Kennebec. It is from the Abnaki, _sa'ghede'aki_, "land at the
mouth."--_Vide Indian Geographical Names_, by J. H. Trumball, Col.
Conn. His. Society, Vol. II. p. 30. Dr. Edward Ballard derives it from
_sanktai-i-wi_, to finish, and _onk_, a locative, "the finishing
place," which means the mouth of a river.--_Vide Report of U. S. Coast
Survey_, 1868, p. 258.
42. _Bacchus Island_. This was Richmond's Island, as we have stated in Vol.
II. note 123. It will be admitted that the Bacchus Island of Champlain
was either Richmond's Island or one of those in the bay of the Saco.
Champlain does not give a specific name to any of the islands in the
bay, as may be seen by referring to the explanations of his map of the
bay, Vol. II p. 65. If one of them had been Bacchus Island, he would
not have failed to refer to it, according to his uniform custom, under
that name. Hence it is certain that his Bacchus Island was not one of
those figured on his local map of the bay of the Saco. By reference to
the large map of 1632, it will be seen that Bacchus Island is
represented by the number 50, which is placed over against the largest
island in the neighborhood and that farthest to the east, which, of
course, must be Richmond's Island. It is, however, proper to state that
these reference figures are not in general so carefully placed as to
enable us to rely upon them in fixing a locality, particularly if
unsupported by other evidence. But in this case other evidence is not
wanting.
43. _Vide_ Vol. II. pp. 64-67.
44. _Nicotiana rustica. Vide_, Vol. II. by Charles Pickering, M.D. Boston,
note 130. _Chronological His. Plants_, 1879, p. 741, _et passim_.
45. Daniel Gookin, who wrote in 1674, speaks of the following subdivisions
among the Massachusetts Indians: "Their chief sachem held dominion over
many other petty governours; as those of Weechagafkas, Neponsitt,
Punkapaog, Nonantam, Nashaway, and some of the Nipmuck people."--_Vide
Gookin's His. Col._
46. _Vide_ Vol. II. note 159. _Mushauiwomuk_, which we have converted into
_Shawmut, means_, "where there is going-by-boat." The French, if they
heard the name and learned its meaning, could hardly have failed to see
the appropriateness of it as applied by the aborigines to Boston
harbor.--_Vide Trumball_ in Connecticut Historical Society's
Collections, Vol. II. p. 5.
47. It was probably on this very bluff from which was seen Nauset harbor on
the 19th of July, 1605, and after the lapse of two hundred and seventy
four years, on the 17th of November, 1879 the citizens of the United
States, with the flags of America, France, and England gracefully
waving over their heads, addressed their congratulations by telegraph
to the citizens of France at Brest on the communication between the two
countries that day completed through submarine wires under the auspices
of the "Compagnie Française du Télégraph de Paris à New York."
48. _Vide_ Vol. II. p 91, note 176.
49. The Horsefoot-crab, _Limulus polyphemus_. Champlain gives the Indian
name, _siguenoc_. Hariot saw, while at Roanoke Island, in 1585, and
described the same crustacean under the name of _seekanauk_. The Indian
word is obviously the same, the differing French and English
orthography representing the same sound. It thus appears that this
shell-fish was at that time known by the aborigines under the same name
for at least a thousand miles along the Atlantic coast, from the
Kennebec, in Maine, to Roanoke Island, in North Carolina. _Vide
Hariot's Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia_,
Hakluyt, Vol. III. p. 334. See also Vol. II. of this work, notes 171,
172, 173, for some account of the black skimmer and the wild turkey.
CHAPTER IV.
ARRIVAL OF SUPPLIES AND REMOVAL TO PORT ROYAL.--DE MONTS RETURNS TO
FRANCE.--SEARCH FOR MINES.--WINTER.--SCURVY.--LATE ARRIVAL OF SUPPLIES AND
EXPLORATIONS ON THE COAST OF MASSACHUSETTS.--GLOCESTER HARBOR, STAY AT
CHATHAM AND ATTACK OF THE SAVAGES.--WOOD'S HOLL.--RETURN TO ANNAPOLIS
BASIN.
On the 8th of August, the exploring party reached St. Croix. During their
absence, Pont Gravé had arrived from France with additional men and
provisions for the colony. As no satisfactory site had been found by De
Monts in his recent tour along the coast, it was determined to remove the
colony temporarily to Port Royal, situated within the bay now known as
Annapolis Basin. The buildings at St. Croix, with the exception of the
store-house, were taken down and transported to the bay. Champlain and Pont
Gravé were sent forward to select a place for the settlement, which was
fixed on the north side of the basin, directly opposite to Goat Island,
near or upon the present site of Lower Granville. the situation was
protected from the piercing and dreaded winds of the northwest by a lofty
range of hills, [50] while it was elevated and commanded a charming view of
the placid bay in front. The dwellings which they erected were arranged in
the form of a quadrangle with an open court in the centre, as at St. Croix,
while gardens and pleasure-grounds were laid out by Champlain in the
immediate vicinity.
When the work of the new settlement was well advanced, De Monts, having
appointed Pont Gravé as his lieutenant, departed for France, where he hoped
to obtain additional privileges from the government in his enterprise of
planting a colony in the New World. Champlain preferred to remain, with the
purpose of executing more fully his office as geographer to the king, by
making discoveries on the Atlantic coast still further to the south.
From the beginning, the patentee had cherished the desire of discovering
valuable mines somewhere on his domains, whose wealth, as well as that of
the fur-trade, might defray some part of the heavy expenses involved in his
colonial enterprise. While several investigations for this purpose had
proved abortive, it was hoped that greater success would be attained by
searches along the upper part of the Bay of Fundy. Before the approach of
winter, therefore, Champlain and the miner, Master Jaques, a Sclavonian,
made a tour to St. John, where they obtained the services of the Indian
chief, Secondon, to accompany them and point out the place where copper ore
had been discovered at the Bay of Mines. The search, thorough as was
practicable under the circumstances, was, in the main, unsuccessful; the
few specimens which they found were meagre and insignificant.
The winter at Port Royal was by no means so severe as the preceding one at
St. Croix. The Indians brought in wild game from the forests. The colony
had no want of fuel and pure water. But experience, bitter as it had been,
did not yield to them the fruit of practical wisdom. They referred their
sufferings to the climate, but took too little pains to protect themselves
against its rugged power. Their dwellings, hastily thrown together, were
cold and damp, arising from the green, unseasoned wood of which they were
doubtless in part constructed, and from the standing rainwater with which
their foundations were at all times inundated, which was neither diverted
by embankments nor drawn away by drainage. The dreaded _mal de la terre_,
or scurvy, as might have been anticipated, made its appearance in the early
part of the season, causing the death of twelve out of the forty-five
comprising their whole number, while others were prostrated by this
painful, repulsive, and depressing disease.
The purpose of making further discoveries on the southern coast, warmly
cherished by Champlain, and entering fully into the plans of De Monts, had
not been forgotten. Three times during the early part of the summer they
had equipped their barque, made up their party, and left Port Royal for
this undertaking, and as many times had been driven back by the violence of
the winds and the waves.
In the mean time, the supplies which had been promised and expected from
France had not arrived. This naturally gave to Pont Gravé, the lieutenant,
great anxiety, as without them it was clearly inexpedient to venture upon
another winter in the wilds of La Cadie. It had been stipulated by De
Monts, the patentee, that if succors did not arrive before the middle of
July, Pont Gravé should make arrangements for the return of the colony by
the fishing vessels to be found at the Grand Banks. Accordingly, on the
17th of that month, Pont Gravé set sail with the little colony in two
barques, and proceeded towards Cape Breton, to seek a passage home. But De
Monts had not been remiss in his duty. He had, after many difficulties and
delays, despatched a vessel of a hundred and fifty tons, called the
"Jonas," with fifty men and ample provisions for the approaching winter.
While Pont Gravé with his two barques and his retreating colony had run
into Yarmouth Bay for repairs, the "Jonas" passed him unobserved, and
anchored in the basin before the deserted settlement of Port Royal. An
advice-boat had, however, been wisely despatched by the "Jonas" to
reconnoitre the inlets along the shore, which fortunately intercepted the
departing colony near Cape Sable, and, elated with fresh news from home,
they joyfully returned to the quarters they had so recently abandoned.
In addition to a considerable number of artisans and laborers for the
colony, the "Jonas" had brought out Sieur De Poutrincourt, to remain as
lieutenant of La Cadie, and likewise Marc Lescarbot, a young attorney of
Paris, who had already made some scholarly attainments, and who
subsequently distinguished himself as an author, especially by the
publication of a history of New France.
De Poutrincourt immediately addressed himself to putting all things in
order at Port Royal, where it was obviously expedient for the colony to
remain, at least for the winter. As soon as the "Jonas" had been unladen,
Pont Gravé and most of those who had shared his recent hardships, departed
in her for the shores of France. When the tenements had been cleansed,
refitted, and refurnished, and their provisions had been safely stored, De
Poutrincourt, by way of experiment, to test the character of the climate
and the capability of the soil, despatched a squad of gardeners and farmers
five miles up the river, to the grounds now occupied by the village of
Annapolis, [51] where the soil was open, clear of forest trees, and easy of
cultivation. They planted a great variety of seeds, wheat, rye, hemp, flax,
and of garden esculents, which grew with extraordinary luxuriance, but, as
the season was too late for any of them to ripen, the experiment failed
either as a test of the soil or the climate.
On a former visit in 1604, De Poutrincourt had conceived a great admiration
for Annapolis basin, its protected situation, its fine scenery, and its
rich soil. He had a strong desire to bring his family there and make it his
permanent abode. With this design, he had requested and received from De
Monts a personal grant of this region, which had also been confirmed to him
[52] by Henry IV. But De Monts wished to plant his La Cadian colony in a
milder and more genial climate. He had therefore enjoined upon De
Poutrincourt, as his lieutenant, on leaving France, to continue the
explorations for the selection of a site still farther to the south.
Accordingly, on the 5th of September, 1606, De Poutrincourt left Annapolis
Basin, which the French called Port Royal, in a barque of eighteen tons, to
fulfil this injunction.
It was Champlain's opinion that they ought to sail directly for Nauset
harbor, on Cape Cod, and commence their explorations where their search had
terminated the preceding year, and thus advance into a new region, which
had not already been surveyed. But other counsels prevailed, and a large
part of the time which could be spared for this investigation was exhausted
before they reached the harbor of Nauset. They made a brief visit to the
island of St. Croix, in which De Monts had wintered in 1604-5, touched also
at Saco, where the Indians had already completed their harvest, and the
grapes at Bacchus Island were ripe and luscious. Thence sailing directly to
Cape Anne, where, finding no safe roadstead, they passed round to
Gloucester harbor, which they found spacious, well protected, with good
depth of water, and which, for its great excellence and attractive scenery,
they named _Beauport_, or the beautiful harbor. Here they remained several
days. It was a native settlement, comprising two hundred savages, who were
cultivators of the soil, which was prolific in corn, beans, melons,
pumpkins, tobacco, and grapes. The harbor was environed with fine forest
trees, as hickory, oak, ash, cypress, and sassafras. Within the town there
were several patches of cultivated land, which the Indians were gradually
augmenting by felling the trees, burning the wood, and after a few years,
aided by the natural process of decay, eradicating the stumps. The French
were kindly received and entertained with generous hospitality. Grapes just
gathered from the vines, and squashes of several varieties, the trailing
bean still well known in New England, and the Jerusalem artichoke crisp
from the unexhausted soil, were presented as offerings of welcome to their
guests. While these gifts were doubtless tokens of a genuine friendliness
so far as the savages were capable of that virtue, the lurking spirit of
deceit and treachery which had been inherited and fostered by their habits
and mode of life, could not be restrained.
The French barque was lying at anchor a short distance northeast of Ten
Pound Island. Its boat was undergoing repairs on a peninsula near by, now
known as Rocky Neck, and the sailors were washing their linen just at the
point where the peninsula is united to the mainland. While Champlain was
walking on this causeway, he observed about fifty savages, completely
armed, cautiously screening themselves behind a clump of bushes on the edge
of Smith's Cove. As soon as they were aware that they were seen, they came
forth, concealing their weapons as much as possible, and began to dance in
token of a friendly greeting. But when they discovered De Poutrincourt in
the wood near by, who had approached unobserved, with eight armed
musketeers to disperse them in case of an attack, they immediately took to
flight, and, scattering in all directions, made no further hostile
demonstrations. [53] This serio-comic incident did not interfere with the
interchange of friendly offices between the two parties, and when the
voyagers were about to leave, the savages urged them with great earnestness
to remain longer, assuring them that two thousand of their friends would
pay them a visit the very next day. This invitation was, however, not
heeded. In Champlain's opinion it was a _ruse_ contrived only to furnish a
fresh opportunity to attack and overpower them.
On the 30th of September, they left the harbor of Gloucester, and, during
the following night, sailing in a southerly direction, passing Brant Point,
they found themselves in the lower part of Cape Cod Bay. When the sun rose,
a low, sandy shore stretched before them. Sending their boat forward to a
place where the shore seemed more elevated, they found deeper water and a
harbor, into which they entered in five or six fathoms. They were welcomed
by three Indian canoes. They found oysters in such quantities in this bay,
and of such excellent quality, that they named it _Le Port aux Huistres_,
[54] or Oyster Harbor. After a few hours, they weighed anchor, and
directing their course north, a quarter northeast, with a favoring wind,
soon doubled Cape Cod. The next day, the 2d of October, they arrived off
Nauset. De Poutrincourt, Champlain, and others entered the harbor in a
small boat, where they were greeted by a hundred and fifty savages with
singing and dancing, according to their usual custom. After a brief visit,
they returned to the barque and continued their course along the sandy
shore. When near the heel of the cape, off Chatham, they found themselves
imperilled among breakers and sand-banks, so dangerous as to render it
inexpedient to attempt to land, even with a small boat. The savages were
observing them from the shore, and soon manned a canoe, and came to them
with singing and demonstrations of joy. From them, they learned that lower
down a harbor would be found, where their barque might ride in safety.
Proceeding, therefore, in the same direction, after many difficulties, they
succeeded in rounding the peninsula of Monomoy, and finally, in the gray of
the evening, cast anchor in the offing near Chatham, now known as Old Stage
Harbor. The next day they entered, passing between Harding's Beach Point
and Morris Island, in two fathoms of water, and anchored in Stage Harbor.
This harbor is about a mile long and half a mile wide, and at its western
extremity is connected by tide-water with Oyster Pond, and with Mill Cove
on the east by Mitchell's River. Mooring their barque between these two
arms of the harbor, towards the westerly end, the explorers remained there
about three weeks. It was the centre of an Indian settlement, containing
five or six hundred persons. Although it was now well into October, the
natives of both sexes were entirely naked, with the exception of a slight
band about the loins. They subsisted upon fish and the products of the
soil. Indian corn was their staple. It was secured in the autumn in bags
made of braided grass, and buried in the sand-banks, and withdrawn as it
was needed during the winter. The savages were of fine figure and of olive
complexion. They adorned themselves with an embroidery skilfully interwoven
with feathers and beads, and dressed their hair in a variety of braids,
like those at Saco. Their dwellings were conical in shape, covered with
thatch of rushes and corn-husks, and surrounded by cultivated fields. Each
cabin contained one or two beds, a kind of matting, two or three inches in
thickness, spread upon a platform on which was a layer of elastic staves,
and the whole raised a foot from the ground. On these they secured
refreshing repose. Their chiefs neither exercised nor claimed any superior
authority, except in time of war. At all other times and in all other
matters complete equality reigned throughout the tribe.
The stay at Chatham was necessarily prolonged in baking bread to serve the
remainder of the voyage, and in repairing their barque, whose rudder had
been badly shattered in the rough passage round the cape. For these
purposes, a bakery and a forge were set up on shore, and a tent pitched for
the convenience and protection of the workmen. While these works were in
progress, De Poutrincourt, Champlain, and others made frequent excursions
into the interior, always with a guard of armed men, sometimes making a
circuit of twelve or fifteen miles. The explorers were fascinated with all
they saw. The aroma of the autumnal forest and the balmy air of October
stimulated their senses. The nut-trees were loaded with ripe fruit, and the
rich clusters of grapes were hanging temptingly upon the vines. Wild game
was plentiful and delicious. The fish of the bay were sweet, delicate, and
of many varieties. Nature, unaided by art, had thus supplied so many human
wants that Champlain gravely put upon record his opinion that this would be
a most excellent place in which to lay the foundations of a commonwealth,
if the harbor were deeper and better protected at its mouth.
After the voyagers had been in Chatham eight or nine days, the Indians,
tempted by the implements which they saw about the forge and bakery,
conceived the idea of taking forcible possession of them, in order to
appropriate them to their own use. As a preparation for this, and
particularly to put themselves in a favorable condition in case of an
attack or reprisal, they were seen removing their women, children, and
effects into the forests, and even taking down their cabins. De
Poutrincourt, observing this, gave orders to the workmen to pass their
nights no longer on shore, but to go on board the barque to assure their
personal safety. This command, however, was not obeyed. The next morning,
at break of day, four hundred savages, creeping softly over a hill in the
rear, surrounded the tent, and poured such a volley of arrows upon the
defenceless workmen that escape was impossible. Three of them were killed
upon the spot; a fourth was mortally and a fifth badly wounded. The alarm
was given by the sentinel on the barque. De Poutrincourt, Champlain, and
the rest, aroused from their slumbers, rushed half-clad into the ship's
boat, and hastened to the rescue. As soon as they touched the shore, the
savages, fleet as the greyhound, escaped to the wood. Pursuit, under the
circumstances, was not to be made; and, if it had been, would have ended in
their utter destruction. Freed from immediate danger, they collected the
dead and gave them Christian burial near the foot of a cross, which had
been erected the day before. While the service of prayer and song was
offered, the savages in the distance mocked them with derisive attitudes
and hideous howls. Three hours after the French had retired to their
barque, the miscreants returned, tore down the cross, disinterred the dead,
and carried off the garments in which they had been laid to rest. They were
immediately driven off by the French, the cross was restored to its place,
and the dead reinterred.
Before leaving Chatham, some anxiety was felt in regard to their safety in
leaving the harbor, as the little barque had scarcely been able to weather
the rough seas of Monomoy on their inward voyage. A boat had been sent out
in search of a safer and a better roadway, which, creeping along by the
shore sixteen or eighteen miles, returned, announcing three fathoms of
water, and neither bars nor reefs. On the 16th of October they gave their
canvas to the breeze, and sailed out of Stage Harbor, which they had named
_Port Fortuné_, [55] an appellation probably suggested by their narrow
escape in entering and by the bloody tragedy to which we have just
referred. Having gone eighteen or twenty miles, they sighted the island of
Martha's Vineyard lying low in the distance before them, which they called
_La Soupçonneuse_, the suspicious one, as they had several times been in
doubt whether it were not a part of the mainland. A contrary wind forced
them to return to their anchorage in Stage Harbor. On the 20th they set out
again, and continued their course in a southwesterly direction until they
reached the entrance of Vineyard Sound. The rapid current of tide water
flowing from Buzzard's Bay into the sound through the rocky channel between
Nonamesset and Wood's Holl, they took to be a river coming from the
mainland, and named it _Rivière de Champlain_.
This point, in front of Wood's Holl, is the southern limit of the French
explorations on the coast of New England, reached by them on the 20th of
October, 1606.
Encountering a strong wind, approaching a gale, they were again forced to
return to Stage Harbor, where they lingered two or three days, awaiting
favoring winds for their return to the colony at the bay of Annapolis.
We regret to add that, while they were thus detained, under the very shadow
of the cross they had recently erected, the emblem of a faith that teaches
love and forgiveness, they decoyed, under the guise of friendship, several
of the poor savages into their power, and inhumanly butchered them in cold
blood. This deed was perpetrated on the base principle of _lex talionis_,
and yet they did not know, much less were they able to prove, that their
victims were guilty or took any part in the late affray. No form of trial
was observed, no witnesses testified, and no judge adjudicated. It was a
simple murder, for which we are sure any Christian's cheek would mantle
with shame who should offer for it any defence or apology.
When this piece of barbarity had been completed, the little French barque
made its final exit from Stage Harbor, passed successfully round the shoals
of Monomoy, and anchored near Nauset, where they remained a day or two,
leaving on the 28th of October, and sailing directly to Isle Haute in
Penobscot Bay. They made brief stops at some of the islands at the mouth of
the St. Croix, and at the Grand Manan, and arrived at Annapolis Basin on
the 14th of November, after an exceedingly rough passage and many
hair-breadth escapes.
ENDNOTES:
50. On Lescarbot's map of 1609, this elevation is denominated _Mont de la
Roque_. _Vide_ also Vol. II. note 180.
51. Lescarbot locates Poutrincourt's fort on the same spot which he called
_Manefort_, the site of the present village of Annapolis.
52. "Doncques l'an 1607, tous les François estans reuenus (ainsi qu'a esté
dict) le Sieur de Potrincourt présenta à feu d'immortelle memorie Henry
le Grand la donnation à luy faicte par le sieur de Monts, requérant
humblement Sa Majesté de la ratifier. Le Roy eut pour agréable la dicte
Requeste," &c. _Relations des Jésuites_, 1611, Quebec ed., Vol. I. p.
25. _Vide_ Vol. II. of this work, p 37.
53. This scene is well represented on Champlain's map of _Beauport_ or
Gloucester Harbor. _Vide_ Vol. II. p. 114.
54. _Le Port aux Huistres_, Barnstable Harbor. _Vide_ Vol. II. Note 208.
55. _Port Fortuné_ In giving this name there was doubtless an allusion to
the goddess FORTUNA of the ancients, whose office it was to dispense
riches and poverty, pleasures and pains, blessings and calamities. They
had experienced good and evil at her fickle hand. They had entered the
harbor in peril and fear, but nevertheless in safety. They had suffered
by the attack of the savages, but fortunately had escaped utter
annihilation, which they might well have feared. It had been to them
eminently the port of hazard or chance. _Vide_ Vol. II Note 231 _La
Soupçonneuse_. _Vide_ Vol. II, Note 227.
CHAPTER V.
RECEPTION OF THE EXPLORERS AT ANNAPOLIS BASIN.--A DREARY WINTER RELIEVED BY
THE ORDER OF BON TEMPS.--NEWS FROM FRANCE.--BIRTH OF A PRINCE.--RUIN OF DE
MONTS'S COMPANY--TWO EXCURSIONS AND DEPARTURE FOR FRANCE.--CHAMPLAIN'S
EXPLORATIONS COMPARED.--DE MONTS'S NEW CHARTER FOR ONE YEAR AND CHAMPLAIN'S
RETURN IN 1608 TO NEW FRANCE AND THE FOUNDING OF QUEBEC.--CONSPIRACY OF DU
VAL AND HIS EXECUTION.
With the voyage which we have described in the last chapter, Champlain
terminated his explorations on the coast of New England. He never afterward
stepped upon her soil. But he has left us, nevertheless, an invaluable
record of the character, manners, and customs of the aborigines as he saw
them all along from the eastern borders of Maine to the Vineyard Sound, and
carefully studied them during the period of three consecutive years. Of the
value of these explorations we need not here speak at length. We shall
refer to them again in the sequel.
The return of the explorers was hailed with joy by the colonists at
Annapolis Basin. To give _éclat_ to the occasion, Lescarbot composed a poem
in French, which he recited at the head of a procession which marched with
gay representations to the water's edge, to receive their returning
friends. Over the gateway of the quadrangle formed by their dwellings,
dignified by them as their fort, were the arms of France, wreathed in
laurel, together with the motto of the king.--
DVO PROTEGIT VNVS.
Under this, the arms of De Monts were displayed, overlaid with evergreen,
and bearing the following inscription:--
DABIT DEVS HIS QVOQVE FINEM.
Then came the arms of Poutrincourt, crowned also with garlands, and
inscribed:--
IN VIA VIRTVTI NVLLA EST VIA.
When the excitement of the return had passed, the little settlement
subsided into its usual routine. The leisure of the winter was devoted to
various objects bearing upon the future prosperity of the colony. Among
others, a corn mill was erected at a fall on Allen River, four or five
miles from the settlement, a little east of the present site of Annapolis.
A road was commenced through the forest leading from Lower Granville
towards the mouth of the bay. Two small barques were built, to be in
readiness in anticipation of a failure to receive succors the next summer,
and new buildings were erected for the accommodation of a larger number of
colonists. Still, there was much unoccupied time, and, shut out as they
were from the usual associations of civilized life, it was hardly possible
that the winter should not seem long and dreary, especially to the
gentlemen.
To break up the monotony and add variety to the dull routine of their life,
Champlain contrived what he called L'ORDRE DE BON TEMPS, or The Rule of
Mirth, which was introduced and carried out with spirit and success. The
fifteen gentlemen who sat at the table of De Poutrincourt, the governor,
comprising the whole number of the order, took turns in performing the
duties of steward and caterer, each holding the office for a single day.
With a laudable ambition, the Grand Master for the time being laid the
forest and the sea under contribution, and the table was constantly
furnished with the most delicate and well seasoned game, and the sweetest
as well as the choicest varieties of fish. The frequent change of office
and the ingenuity displayed, offered at every repast, either in the viands
or mode of cooking, something new and tempting to the appetite. At each
meal, a ceremony becoming the dignity of the order was strictly observed.
At a given signal, the whole company marched into the dining-hall, the
Grand Master at the head, with his napkin over his shoulder, his staff of
office in his hand, and the glittering collar of the order about his neck,
while the other members bore each in his hand a dish loaded and smoking
with some part of the delicious repast. A ceremony of a somewhat similar
character was observed at the bringing in of the fruit. At the close of the
day, when the last meal had been served, and grace had been said, the
master formally completed his official duty by placing the collar of the
order upon the neck of his successor, at the same time presenting to him a
cup of wine, in which the two drank to each other's health and happiness.
These ceremonies were generally witnessed by thirty or forty savages, men,
women, boys, and girls, who gazed in respectful admiration, not to say awe,
upon this exhibition of European civilization. When Membertou, [56] the
venerable chief of the tribe, or other sagamores were present, they were
invited to a seat at the table, while bread was gratuitously distributed to
the rest.
When the winter had passed, which proved to be an exceedingly mild one, all
was astir in the little colony. The preparation of the soil, both in the
gardens and in the larger fields, for the spring sowing, created an
agreeable excitement and healthy activity.
On the 24th May, in the midst of these agricultural enterprises, a boat
arrived in the bay, in charge of a young man from St. Malo, named
Chevalier, who had come out in command of the "Jonas," which he had left at
Canseau engaged in fishing for the purpose of making up a return cargo of
that commodity. Chevalier brought two items of intelligence of great
interest to the colonists, but differing widely in their character. The one
was the birth of a French prince, the Duke of Orleans; the other, that the
company of De Monts had been broken up, his monopoly of the fur-trade
withdrawn, and his colony ordered to return to France. The birth of a
prince demanded expressions of joy, and the event was loyally celebrated by
bonfires and a _Te Deum_. It was, however, giving a song when they would
gladly have hung their harps upon the willows.
While the scheme of De Monts's colonial enterprise was defective,
containing in itself a principle which must sooner or later work its ruin,
the disappointment occasioned by its sudden termination was none the less
painful and humiliating. The monopoly on which it was based could only be
maintained by a degree of severity and apparent injustice, which always
creates enemies and engenders strife. The seizure and confiscation of
several ships with their valuable cargoes on the shores of Nova Scotia, had
awakened a personal hostility in influential circles in France, and the
sufferers were able, in turn, to strike back a damaging blow upon the
author of their losses. They easily and perhaps justly represented that the
monopoly of the fur-trade secured to De Monts was sapping the national
commerce and diverting to personal emolument revenues that properly
belonged to the state. To an impoverished sovereign with an empty treasury
this appeal was irresistible. The sacredness of the king's commission and
the loss to the patentee of the property already embarked in the enterprise
had no weight in the royal scales. De Monts's privilege was revoked, with
the tantalizing salvo of six thousand livres in remuneration, to be
collected at his own expense from unproductive sources.
Under these circumstances, no money for the payment of the workmen or
provisions for the coming winter had been sent out, and De Poutrincourt,
with great reluctance, proceeded to break up the establishment. The goods
and utensils, as well as specimens of the grain which they had raised, were
to be carefully packed and sent round to the harbor of Canseau, to be
shipped by the "Jonas," together with the whole body of the colonists, as
soon as she should have received her cargo of fish.
While these preparations were in progress, two excursions were made; one
towards the west, and another northeasterly towards the head of the Bay of
Fundy. Lescarbot accompanied the former, passing several days at St. John
and the island of St. Croix, which was the westerly limit of his
explorations and personal knowledge of the American coast. The other
excursion was conducted by De Poutrincourt, accompanied by Champlain, the
object of which was to search for ores of the precious metals, a species of
wealth earnestly coveted and overvalued at the court of France. They sailed
along the northern shores of Nova Scotia, entered Mines Channel, and
anchored off Cape Fendu, now Anglicised into the uneuphonious name of Cape
Split. De Poutrincourt landed on this headland, and ascended a steep and
lofty summit which is not less than four hundred feet in height. Moss
several feet in thickness, the growth of centuries, had gathered upon it,
and, when he stood upon the pinnacle, it yielded and trembled like gelatine
under his feet. He found himself in a critical situation. From this giddy
and unstable height he had neither the skill or courage to return. After
much anxiety, he was at length rescued by some of his more nimble sailors,
who managed to put a hawser over the summit, by means of which he safely
descended. They named it _Cap de Poutrincourt_.
They proceeded as far as the head of the Basin of Mines, but their search
for mineral wealth was fruitless, beyond a few meagre specimens of copper.
Their labors were chiefly rewarded by the discovery of a moss-covered cross
in the last stages of decay, the relic of fishermen, or other Christian
mariners, who had, years before, been upon the coast.
The exploring parties having returned to Port Royal, to their settlement in
what is now known as Annapolis Basin, the bulk of the colonists departed in
three barques for Canseau, on the 30th of July, while De Poutrincourt and
Champlain, with a complement of sailors, remained some days longer, that
they might take with them specimens of wheat still in the field and not yet
entirely ripe.
On the 11th of August they likewise bade adieu to Port Royal amid the tears
of the assembled savages, with whom they had lived in friendship, and who
were disappointed and grieved at their departure. In passing round the
peninsula of Nova Scotia in their little shallop, it was necessary to keep
close in upon the shore, which enabled Champlain, who had not before been
upon the coast east of La Hève, to make a careful survey from that point to
Canseau, the results of which are fully stated in his notes, and delineated
on his map of 1613.
On the 3d of September, the "Jonas," bearing away the little French colony,
sailed out of the harbor of Canseau, and, directing its course towards the
shores of France, arrived at Saint Malo on the 1st of October, 1607.
Champlain's explorations on what may be strictly called the Atlantic coast
of North America were now completed. He had landed at La Hève in Nova
Scotia on the 8th of May, 1604, and had consequently been in the country
three years and nearly four months. During this period he had carefully
examined the whole shore from Canseau, the eastern limit of Nova Scotia, to
the Vineyard Sound on the southern boundaries of Massachusetts. This was
the most ample, accurate, and careful survey of this region which was made
during the whole period from the discovery of the continent in 1497 down to
the establishment of the English colony at Plymouth in 1620. A numerous
train of navigators had passed along the coast of New England: Sebastian
Cabot, Estévan Gomez, Jean Alfonse, André Thevet, John Hawkins, Bartholomew
Gosnold, Martin Pring, George Weymouth, Henry Hudson, John Smith, and the
rest, but the knowledge of the coast which we obtain from them is
exceedingly meagre and unsatisfactory, especially as compared with that
contained in the full, specific, and detailed descriptions, maps, and
drawings left us by this distinguished pioneer in the study and
illustration of the geography of the New England coast. [57]
The winter of 1607-8 Champlain passed in France, where he was pleasantly
occupied in social recreations which were especially agreeable to him after
an absence of more than three years, and in recounting to eager listeners
his experiences in the New World. He took an early opportunity to lay
before Monsieur de Monts the results of the explorations which he had made
in La Cadie since the departure of the latter from Annapolis Basin in the
autumn of 1605, illustrating his narrative by maps and drawings which he
had prepared of the bays and harbors on the coast of Nova Scotia, New
Brunswick, and New England.
While most men would have been disheartened by the opposition which he
encountered, the mind of De Monts was, nevertheless, rekindled by the
recitals of Champlain with fresh zeal in the enterprise which he had
undertaken. The vision of building up a vast territorial establishment,
contemplated by his charter of 1604, with his own personal aggrandizement
and that of his family, had undoubtedly vanished. But he clung,
nevertheless, with extraordinary tenacity to his original purpose of
planting a colony in the New World. This he resolved to do in the face of
many obstacles, and notwithstanding the withdrawment of the royal
protection and bounty. The generous heart of Henry IV. was by no means
insensible to the merits of his faithful subject, and, on his solicitation,
he granted to him letters-patent for the exclusive right of trade in
America, but for the space only of a single year. With this small boon from
the royal hand, De Monts hastened to fit out two vessels for the
expedition. One was to be commanded by Pont Gravé, who was to devote his
undivided attention to trade with the Indians for furs and peltry; the
other was to convey men and material for a colonial plantation.
Champlain, whose energy, zeal, and prudence had impressed themselves upon
the mind of De Monts, was appointed lieutenant of the expedition, and
intrusted with the civil administration, having a sufficient number of men
for all needed defence against savage intruders, Basque fisher men, or
interloping fur-traders.
On the 13th of April, 1608, Champlain left the port of Honfleur, and
arrived at the harbor of Tadoussac on the 3d of June. Here he found Pont
Gravé, who had preceded him by a few days in the voyage, in trouble with a
Basque fur-trader. The latter had persisted in carrying on his traffic,
notwithstanding the royal commission to the contrary, and had succeeded in
disabling Pont Gravé, who had but little power of resistance, killing one
of his men, seriously wounding Pont Gravé himself, as well as several
others, and had forcibly taken possession of his whole armament.
When Champlain had made full inquiries into all the circumstances, he saw
clearly that the difficulty must be compromised; that the exercise of force
in overcoming the intruding Basque would effectually break up his plans for
the year, and bring utter and final ruin upon his undertaking. He wisely
decided to pocket the insult, and let justice slumber for the present. He
consequently required the Basque, who began to see more clearly the
illegality of his course, to enter into a written agreement with Pont Gravé
that neither should interfere with the other while they remained in the
country, and that they should leave their differences to be settled in the
courts on their return to France.
Having thus poured oil upon the troubled waters, Champlain proceeded to
carry out his plans for the location and establishment of his colony. The
difficult navigation of the St. Lawrence above Tadoussac was well known to
him. The dangers of its numberless rocks, sand-bars, and fluctuating
channels had been made familiar to him by the voyage of 1603. He
determined, therefore, to leave his vessel in the harbor of Tadoussac, and
construct a small barque of twelve or fourteen tons, in which to ascend the
river and fix upon a place of settlement.
While the work was in progress, Champlain reconnoitred the neighborhood,
collecting much geographical information from the Indians relating to Lake
St. John and a traditionary salt sea far to the north, exploring the
Saguenay for some distance, of which he has given us a description so
accurate and so carefully drawn that it needs little revision after the
lapse of two hundred and seventy years.
On the last of June, the barque was completed, and Champlain, with a
complement of men and material, took his departure. As he glided along in
his little craft, he was exhilarated by the fragrance of the atmosphere,
the bright coloring of the foliage, the bold, picturesque scenery that
constantly revealed itself on both sides of the river. The lofty mountains,
the expanding valleys, the luxuriant forests, the bold headlands, the
enchanting little bays and inlets, and the numerous tributaries bursting
into the broad waters of the St. Lawrence, were all carefully examined and
noted in his journal. The expedition seemed more like a holiday excursion
than the grave prelude to the founding of a city to be renowned in the
history of the continent.
On the fourth day, they approached the site of the present city of Quebec.
The expanse of the river had hitherto been from eight to thirteen miles.
Here a lofty headland, approaching from the interior, advances upon the
river and forces it into a narrow channel of three-fourths of a mile in
width. The river St. Charles, a small stream flowing from the northwest,
uniting here with the St. Lawrence, forms a basin below the promontory,
spreading out two miles in one direction and four in another. The rocky
headland, jutting out upon the river, rises up nearly perpendicularly, and
to a height of three hundred and forty-five feet, commanding from its
summit a view of water, forest and mountain of surpassing grandeur and
beauty. A narrow belt of fertile land formed by the crumbling _débris_ of
ages, stretches along between the water's edge and the base of the
precipice, and was then covered with a luxurious growth of nut-trees. The
magnificent basin below, the protecting wall of the headland in the rear,
the deep water of the river in front, rendered this spot peculiarly
attractive. Here on this narrow plateau, Champlain resolved to place his
settlement, and forthwith began the work of felling trees, excavating
cellars, and constructing houses.
On the 3d day of July, 1608, Champlain laid the foundation of Quebec. The
name which he gave to it had been applied to it by the savages long before.
It is derived from the Algonquin word _quebio_, or _quebec_, signifying a
_narrowing_, and was descriptive of the form which the river takes at that
place, to which we have already referred.
A few days after their arrival, an event occurred of exciting interest to
Champlain and his little colony. One of their number, Jean du Val, an
abandoned wretch, who possessed a large share of that strange magnetic
power which some men have over the minds of others, had so skilfully
practised upon the credulity of his comrades that he had drawn them all
into a scheme which, aside from its atrocity, was weak and ill-contrived at
every point. It was nothing less than a plan to assassinate Champlain, seize
the property belonging to the expedition, and sell it to the Basque
fur-traders at Tadoussac, under the hallucination that they should be
enriched by the pillage. They had even entered into a solemn compact, and
whoever revealed the secret was to be visited by instant death. Their
purpose was to seize Champlain in an unguarded moment and strangle him, or
to shoot him in the confusion of a false alarm to be raised in the night by
themselves. But before the plan was fully ripe for execution, a barque
unexpectedly arrived from Tadoussac with an instalment of utensils and
provisions for the colony. One of the men, Antoine Natel, who had entered
into the conspiracy with reluctance, and had been restrained from a
disclosure by fear, summoned courage to reveal the plot to the pilot of the
boat, first securing from him the assurance that he should be shielded from
the vengeance of his fellow-conspirators. The secret was forthwith made
known to Champlain, who, by a stroke of finesse, placed himself beyond
danger before he slept. At his suggestion, the four leading spirits of the
plot were invited by one of the sailors to a social repast on the barque,
at which two bottles of wine which he pretended had been given him at
Tadoussac were to be uncorked. In the midst of the festivities, the "four
worthy heads of the conspiracy," as Champlain satirically calls them, were
suddenly clapped into irons. It was now late in the evening, but Champlain
nevertheless summoned all the rest of the men into his presence, and
offered them a full pardon, on condition that they would disclose the whole
scheme and the motives which had induced them to engage in it. This they
were eager to do, as they now began to comprehend the dangerous compact
into which they had entered, and the peril which threatened their own
lives. These preliminary investigations rendered it obvious to Champlain
that grave consequences must follow, and he therefore proceeded with great
caution.
The next day, he took the depositions of the pardoned men, carefully
reducing them to writing. He then departed for Tadoussac, taking the four
conspirators with him. On consultation, he decided to leave them there,
where they could be more safely guarded until Pont Gravé and the principal
men of the expedition could return with them to Quebec, where he proposed
to give them a more public and formal trial. This was accordingly done. The
prisoners were duly confronted with the witnesses. They denied nothing, but
freely admitted their guilt. With the advice and concurrence of Pont Gravé,
the pilot, surgeon, mate, boatswain, and others, Champlain condemned the
four conspirators to be hung; three of them, however, to be sent home for a
confirmation or revision of their sentence by the authorities in France,
while the sentence of Jean Du Val, the arch-plotter of the malicious
scheme, was duly executed in their presence, with all the solemn forms and
ceremonies usual on such occasions. Agreeably to a custom of that period,
the ghastly head of Du Val was elevated on the highest pinnacle of the fort
at Quebec, looking down and uttering its silent warning to the busy
colonists below; the grim signal to all beholders, that "the way of the
transgressor is hard."
The catastrophe, had not the plot been nipped in the bud, would have been
sure to take place. The final purpose of the conspirators might not have
been realized; it must have been defeated at a later stage; but the hand of
Du Val, prompted by a malignant nature, was nerved to strike a fatal blow,
and the life of Champlain would have been sacrificed at the opening of the
tragic scene.
The punishment of Du Val, in its character and degree, was not only
agreeable to the civil policy of the age, but was necessary for the
protection of life and the maintenance of order and discipline in the
colony. A conspiracy on land, under the present circumstances, was as
dangerous as a mutiny at sea; and the calm, careful, and dignified
procedure of Champlain in firmly visiting upon the criminal a severe though
merited punishment, reveals the wisdom, prudence, and humanity which were
prominent elements in his mental and moral constitution.
ENDNOTES:
56. _Membertou_. See Pierre Biard's account of his death in 1611.
_Relations des Jésuites_. Quebec ed, Vol. I. p. 32.
57. Had the distinguished navigators who early visited the coasts of North
America illustrated their narratives by drawings and maps, it would
have added greatly to their value. Capt. John Smith's map, though
necessarily indefinite and general, is indispensable to the
satisfactory study of his still more indefinite "Description of New
England." It is, perhaps, a sufficient apology for the vagueness of
Smith's statements, and therefore it ought to be borne in mind, that
his work was originally written, probably, from memory, at least for
the most part, while he was a prisoner on board a French man-of-war in
1615. This may be inferred from the following statement of Smith
himself. In speaking of the movement of the French fleet, he says:
"Still we spent our time about the Iles neere _Fyall_: where to keepe
my perplexed thoughts from too much meditation of my miserable estate,
I writ this discourse" _Vide Description of New England_ by Capt. John
Smith, London, 1616.
While the descriptions of our coast left by Champlain are invaluable to
the historian and cannot well be overestimated, the process of making
these surveys, with his profound love of such explorations and
adventures, must have given him great personal satisfaction and
enjoyment. It would be difficult to find any region of similar extent
that could offer, on a summer's excursion, so much beauty to his eager
and critical eye as this. The following description of the Gulf of
Maine, which comprehends the major part of the field surveyed by
Champlain, that lying between the headlands of Cape Sable and Cape Cod,
gives an excellent idea of the infinite variety and the unexpected and
marvellous beauties that are ever revealing themselves to the voyager
as he passes along our coast.--
"This shoreland is also remarkable, being so battered and frayed by sea
and storm, and worn perhaps by arctic currents and glacier beds, that
its natural front of some 250 miles is multiplied to an extent of not
less than 2,500 miles of salt-water line; while at an average distance
of about three miles from the mainland, stretches a chain of outposts
consisting of more than three hundred islands, fragments of the main,
striking in their diversity on the west; low, wooded and grassy to the
water's edge, and rising eastward through bolder types to the crowns
and cliffs of Mount Desert and Quoddy Head, an advancing series from
beauty to sublimity: and behind all these are deep basins and broad
river-mouths, affording convenient and spacious harbors, in many of
which the navies of nations might safely ride at anchor.... Especially
attractive was the region between the Piscataqua and Penobscot in its
marvellous beauty of shore and sea, of island and inlet, of bay and
river and harbor, surpassing any other equally extensive portion of the
Atlantic coast, and compared by travellers earliest and latest, with
the famed archipelago of the Aegean." _Vide Maine, Her Place in
History_, by Joshua L. Chamberlain, LL D, President of Bowdoin College,
Augusta, 1877, pp. 4-5.
CHAPTER VI.
ERECTION OF BUILDINGS AT QUEBEC.--THE SCURVY AND THE STARVING SAVAGES.--
DISCOVERY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN, AND THE BATTLE AT TICONDEROGA.--CRUELTIES
INFLICTED ON PRISONERS OF WAR, AND THE FESTIVAL AFTER VICTORY.--
CHAMPLAIN'S RETURN TO FRANCE AND HIS INTERVIEW WITH HENRY IV.--VOYAGE TO
NEW FRANCE AND PLANS OF DISCOVERY.--BATTLE WITH THE IROQUOIS NEAR THE MOUTH
OF THE RICHELIEU.--REPAIR OF BUILDINGS AT QUEBEC.--NEWS OF THE
ASSASSINATION OF HENRY IV.--CHAMPLAIN'S RETURN TO FRANCE AND HIS CONTRACT
OF MARRIAGE.--VOYAGE TO QUEBEC IN 1611.
On the 18th of September, 1608, Pont Gravé, having obtained his cargo of
furs and peltry, sailed for France.
The autumn was fully occupied by Champlain and his little band of colonists
in completing the buildings and in making such other provisions as were
needed against the rigors of the approaching winter. From the forest trees
beams were hewed into shape with the axe, boards and plank were cut from
the green wood with the saw, walls were reared from the rough stones
gathered at the base of the cliff, and plots of land were cleared near the
settlement, where wheat and rye were sown and grapevines planted, which
successfully tested the good qualities of the soil and climate.
Three lodging-houses were erected on the northwest angle formed by the
junction of the present streets St. Peter and Sous le Fort, near or on the
site of the Church of Notre Dame. Adjoining, was a store-house. The whole
was, surrounded by a moat fifteen feet wide and six feet deep, thus giving
the settlement the character of a fort; a wise precaution against a sudden
attack of the treacherous savages. [58]
At length the sunny days of autumn were gone, and the winter, with its
fierce winds and its penetrating frosts and deep banks of snow, was upon
them. Little occupation could be furnished for the twenty-eight men that
composed the colony. Their idleness soon brought a despondency that hung
like a pall upon their spirits. In February, disease made its approach. It
had not been expected. Every defence within their knowledge had been
provided against it. Their houses were closely sealed and warm; their
clothing was abundant; their food nutritious and plenty. But a diet too
exclusively of salt meat had, notwithstanding, in the opinion of Champlain,
and we may add the want, probably, of exercise and the presence of bad air,
induced the _mal de la terre_ or scurvy, and it made fearful havoc with his
men. Twenty, five out of each seven of their whole number, had been carried
to their graves before the middle of April, and half of the remaining eight
had been attacked by the loathsome scourge.
While the mind of Champlain was oppressed by the suffering and death that
were at all times present in their abode, his sympathies were still further
taxed by the condition of the savages, who gathered in great numbers about
the settlement, in the most abject misery and in the last stages of
starvation. As Champlain could only furnish them, from his limited stores,
temporary and partial relief, it was the more painful to see them slowly
dragging their feeble frames about in the snow, gathering up and devouring
with avidity discarded meat in which the process of decomposition was far
advanced, and which was already too potent with the stench of decay to be
approached by his men.
Beyond the ravages of disease [59] and the starving Indians, Champlain adds
nothing more to complete the gloomy picture of his first winter in Quebec.
The gales of wind that swept round the wall of precipice that protected
them in the rear, the drifts of snow that were piled up in fresh
instalments with every storm about their dwelling, the biting frost, more
piercing and benumbing than they had ever experienced before, the unceasing
groans of the sick within, the semi-weekly procession bearing one after
another of their diminishing numbers to the grave, the mystery that hung
over the disease, and the impotency of all remedies, we know were prominent
features in the picture. But the imagination seeks in vain for more than a
single circumstance that could throw upon it a beam of modifying and
softening light, and that was the presence of the brave Champlain, who bore
all without a murmur, and, we may be sure, without a throb of unmanly fear
or a sensation of cowardly discontent.
But the winter, as all winters do, at length melted reluctantly away, and
the spring came with its verdure, and its new life. The spirits of the
little remnant of a colony began to revive. Eight of the twenty-eight with
which the winter began were still surviving. Four had escaped attack, and
four were rejoicing convalescents.
On the 5th of June, news came that Pont Gravé had arrived from France, and
was then at Tadoussac, whither Champlain immediately repaired to confer
with him, and particularly to make arrangements at the earliest possible
moment for an exploring expedition into the interior, an undertaking which
De Monts had enjoined upon him, and which was not only agreeable to his own
wishes, but was a kind of enterprise which had been a passion with him from
his youth.
In anticipation of a tour of exploration during the approaching summer,
Champlain had already ascertained from the Indians that, lying far to the
southwest, was an extensive lake, famous among the savages, containing many
fair islands, and surrounded by a beautiful and productive country. Having
expressed a desire to visit this region, the Indians readily offered to act
as guides, provided, nevertheless, that he would aid them in a warlike raid
upon their enemies, the Iroquois, the tribe known to us as the Mohawks,
whose homes were beyond the lake in question. Champlain without hesitation
acceded to the condition exacted, but with little appreciation, as we
confidently believe, of the bitter consequences that were destined to
follow the alliance thus inaugurated; from which, in after years, it was
inexpedient, if not impossible, to recede.
Having fitted out a shallop, Champlain left Quebec on his tour of
exploration on the 18th of June, 1609, with eleven men, together with a
party of Montagnais, a tribe of Indians who, in their hunting and fishing
excursions, roamed over an indefinite region on the north side of the St.
Lawrence, but whose headquarters were at Tadoussac. After ascending the St
Lawrence about sixty miles, he came upon an encampment of two hundred or
three hundred savages, Hurons [60] and Algonquins, the former dwelling on
the borders of the lake of the same name, the latter on the upper waters of
the Ottawa. They had learned something of the French from a son of one of
their chiefs, who had been at Quebec the preceding autumn, and were now on
their way to enter into an alliance with the French against the Iroquois.
After formal negotiations and a return to Quebec to visit the French
settlement and witness the effect of their firearms, of which they had
heard and which greatly excited their curiosity, and after the usual
ceremonies of feasting and dancing, the whole party proceeded up the river
until they reached the mouth of the Richelieu. Here they remained two days,
as guests of the Indians, feasting upon fish, venison, and water-fowl.
While these festivities were in progress, a disagreement arose among the
savages, and the bulk of them, including the women, returned to their
homes. Sixty warriors, however, some from each of the three allied tribes,
proceeded up the Richelieu with Champlain. At the Falls of Chambly, finding
it impossible for the shallop to pass them, he directed the pilot to return
with it to Quebec, leaving only two men from the crew to accompany him on
the remainder of the expedition. From this point, Champlain and his two
brave companions entrusted themselves to the birch canoe of the savages.
For a short distance, the canoes, twenty-four in all, were transported by
land. The fall and rapids, extending as far as St. John, were at length
passed. They then proceeded up the river, and, entering the lake which now
bears the name of Champlain, crept along the western bank, advancing after
the first few days only in the night, hiding themselves during the day in
the thickets on the shore to avoid the observation of their enemies, whom
they were now liable at any moment to meet.
On the evening of the 29th of July, at about ten o'clock, when the allies
were gliding noiselessly along in restrained silence, as they approached
the little cape that juts out into the lake at Ticonderoga, near where Fort
Carillon was afterwards erected by the French, and where its ruins are
still to be seen, [61] they discovered a flotilla of heavy canoes, of oaken
bark, containing not far from two hundred Iroquois warriors, armed and
impatient for conflict. A furor and frenzy as of so many enraged tigers
instantly seized both parties. Champlain and his allies withdrew a short
distance, an arrow's range from the shore, fastening their canoes by poles
to keep them together, while the Iroquois hastened to the water's edge,
drew up their canoes side by side, and began to fell trees and construct a
barricade, which they were well able to accomplish with marvellous facility
and skill. Two boats were sent out to inquire if the Iroquois desired to
fight, to which they replied that they wanted nothing so much, and, as it
was now dark, at sunrise the next morning they would give them battle. The
whole night was spent by both parties in loud and tumultuous boasting,
berating each other in the roundest terms which their savage vocabulary
could furnish, insultingly charging each other with cowardice and weakness,
and declaring that they would prove the truth of their assertions to their
utter ruin the next morning.
When the sun began to gild the distant mountain-tops, the combatants were
ready for the fray. Champlain and his two companions, each lying low in
separate canoes of the Montagnais, put on, as best they could, the light
armor in use at that period, and, taking the short hand-gun, or arquebus,
went on shore, concealing themselves as much as possible from the enemy. As
soon as all had landed, the two parties hastily approached each other,
moving with a firm and determined tread. The allies, who had become fully
aware of the deadly character of the hand-gun and were anxious to see an
exhibition of its mysterious power, promptly opened their ranks, and
Champlain marched forward in front, until he was within thirty paces of the
Iroquois. When they saw him, attracted by his pale face and strange armor,
they halted and gazed at him in a calm bewilderment for some seconds. Three
Iroquois chiefs, tall and athletic, stood in front, and could be easily
distinguished by the lofty plumes that waved above their heads. They began
at once to make ready for a discharge of arrows. At the same instant,
Champlain, perceiving this movement, levelled his piece, which had been
loaded with four balls, and two chiefs fell dead, and another savage was
mortally wounded by the same shot. At this, the allies raised a shout
rivalling thunder in its stunning effect. From both sides the whizzing
arrows filled the air. The two French arquebusiers, from their ambuscade in
the thicket, immediately attacked in flank, pouring a deadly fire upon the
enemy's right. The explosion of the firearms, altogether new to the
Iroquois, the fatal effects that instantly followed, their chiefs lying
dead at their feet and others fast falling, threw them into a tumultuous
panic. They at once abandoned every thing, arms, provisions, boats, and
camp, and without any impediment, the naked savages fled through the forest
with the fleetness of the terrified deer. Champlain and his allies pursued
them a mile and a half, or to the first fall in the little stream that
connects Lake Champlain [62] and Lake George. [63] The victory was
complete. The allies gathered at the scene of conflict, danced and sang in
triumph, collected and appropriated the abandoned armor, feasted on the
provisions left by the Iroquois, and, within three hours, with ten or
twelve prisoners, were sailing down the lake on their homeward voyage.
After they had rowed about eight leagues, according to Champlain's
estimate, they encamped for the night. A prevailing characteristic of the
savages on the eastern coast, in the early history of America, was the
barbarous cruelties which they inflicted upon their prisoners of war. [64]
They did not depart from their usual custom in the present instance. Having
kindled a fire, they selected a victim, and proceeded to excoriate his back
with red-hot burning brands, and to apply live coals to the ends of his
fingers, where they would give the most exquisite pain. They tore out his
finger-nails, and, with sharp slivers of wood, pierced his wrists and
rudely forced out the quivering sinews. They flayed off the skin from the
top of his head, [65] and poured upon the bleeding wound a stream of
boiling melted gum. Champlain remonstrated in vain. The piteous cries of
the poor, tormented victim excited his unavailing compassion, and he turned
away in anger and disgust. At length, when these inhuman tortures had been
carried as far as they desired, Champlain was permitted, at his earnest
request, with a musket-shot to put an end to his sufferings. But this was
not the termination of the horrid performance. The dead victim was hacked
in pieces, his heart severed into parts, and the surviving prisoners were
ordered to eat it. This was too revolting to their nature, degraded as it
was; they were forced, however, to take it into their mouths, but they
would do no more, and their guard of more compassionate Algonquins allowed
them to cast it into the lake.
This exhibition of savage cruelty was not extraordinary, but according to
their usual custom. It was equalled, and, if possible, even surpassed, in
the treatment of captives generally, and especially of the Jesuit
missionaries in after years. [66]
When the party arrived at the Falls of Chambly, the Hurons and Algonquins
left the river, in order to reach their homes by a shorter way,
transporting their canoes and effects over land to the St. Lawrence near
Montreal, while the rest continued their journey down the Richelieu and the
St. Lawrence to Tadoussac, where their families were encamped, waiting to
join in the usual ceremonies and rejoicings after a great victory.
When the returning warriors approached Tadoussac, they hung aloft on the
prow of their canoes the scalped heads of those whom they had slain,
decorated with beads which they had begged from the French for this
purpose, and with a savage grace presented these ghastly trophies to their
wives and daughters, who, laying aside their garments, eagerly swam out to
obtain the precious mementoes, which they hung about their necks and bore
rejoicing to the shore, where they further testified their satisfaction by
dancing and singing.
After a few days, Champlain repaired to Quebec, and early in September
decided to return with Pont Gravé to France. All arrangements were speedily
made for that purpose. Fifteen men were left to pass the winter at Quebec,
in charge of Captain Pierre Chavin of Dieppe. On the 5th of September they
sailed from Tadoussac, and, lingering some days at Isle Percé, arrived at
Honfleur on the 13th of October, 1609.
Champlain hastened immediately to Fontainebleau, to make a detailed report
of his proceedings to Sieur de Monts, who was there in official attendance
upon the king. [67] On this occasion he sought an audience also with Henry
IV., who had been his friend and patron from the time of his first voyage
to Canada in 1603. In addition to the new discoveries and observations
which he detailed to him, he exhibited a belt curiously wrought and inlaid
with porcupine-quills, the work of the savages, which especially drew forth
the king's admiration. He also presented two specimens of the scarlet
tanager, _Pyranga rubra_, a bird of great brilliancy of plumage and
peculiar to this continent, and likewise the head of a gar-pike, a fish of
singular characteristics, then known only in the waters of Lake Champlain.
[68]
At this time De Monts was urgently seeking a renewal of his commission for
the monopoly of the fur-trade. In this Champlain was deeply interested. But
to this monopoly a powerful opposition arose, and all efforts at renewal
proved utterly fruitless. De Monts did not, however, abandon the enterprise
on which he had entered. Renewing his engagements with the merchants of
Rouen with whom he had already been associated, he resolved to send out in
the early spring, as a private enterprise and without any special
privileges or monopoly, two vessels with the necessary equipments for
strengthening his colony at Quebec and for carrying on trade as usual with
the Indians.
Champlain was again appointed lieutenant, charged with the government and
management of the colony, with the expectation of passing the next winter
at Quebec, while Pont Gravé, as he had been before, was specially entrusted
with the commercial department of the expedition.
They embarked at Honfleur, but were detained in the English Channel by bad
weather for some days. In the mean time Champlain was taken seriously ill,
the vessel needed additional ballast, and returned to port, and they did
not finally put to sea till the 8th of April. They arrived at Tadoussac on
the 26th of the same month, in the year 1610, and, two days later, sailed
for Quebec, where they found the commander, Captain Chavin, and the little
colony all in excellent health.
The establishment at Quebec, it is to be remembered, was now a private
enterprise. It existed by no chartered rights, it was protected by no
exclusive authority. There was consequently little encouragement for its
enlargement beyond what was necessary as a base of commercial operations.
The limited cares of the colony left, therefore, to Champlain, a larger
scope for the exercise of his indomitable desire for exploration and
adventure. Explorations could not, however, be carried forward without the
concurrence and guidance of the savages by whom he was immediately
surrounded. Friendly relations existed between the French and the united
tribes of Montagnais, Hurons, and Algonquins, who occupied the northern
shores of the St. Lawrence and the great lakes. A burning hatred existed
between these tribes and the Iroquois, occupying the southern shores of the
same river. A deadly warfare was their chief employment, and every summer
each party was engaged either in repelling an invasion or in making one in
the territory of the other. Those friendly to Champlain were quite ready to
act as pioneers in his explorations and discoveries, but they expected and
demanded in return that he should give them active personal assistance in
their wars. Influenced, doubtless, by policy, the spirit of the age, and
his early education in the civil conflicts of France, Champlain did not
hesitate to enter into an alliance and an exchange of services on these
terms.
In the preceding year, two journeys into distant regions had been planned
for exploration and discovery. One beginning at Three Rivers, was to
survey, under the guidance of the Montagnais, the river St. Maurice to its
source, and thence, by different channels and portages, reach Lake St.
John, returning by the Saguenay, making in the circuit a distance of not
less than eight hundred miles. The other plan was to explore, under the
direction of the Hurons and Algonquins, the vast country over which they
were accustomed to roam, passing up the Ottawa, and reaching in the end the
region of the copper mines on Lake Superior, a journey not less than twice
the extent of the former.
Neither of these explorations could be undertaken the present year. Their
importance, however, to the future progress of colonization in New France
is sufficiently obvious. The purpose of making these surveys shows the
breadth and wisdom of Champlain's views, and that hardships or dangers were
not permitted to interfere with his patriotic sense of duty.
Soon after his arrival at Quebec, the savages began to assemble to engage
in their usual summer's entertainment of making war upon the Iroquois.
Sixty Montagnais, equipped in their rude armor, were hastening to the
rendezvous which, by agreement made the year before, was to be at the mouth
of the Richelieu. [69] Hither were to come the three allied tribes, and
pass together up this river into Lake Champlain, the "gate" or war-path
through which these hostile clans were accustomed to make their yearly
pilgrimage to meet each other in deadly conflict. Sending forward four
barques for trading purposes, Champlain repaired to the mouth of the
Richelieu, and landed, in company with the Montagnais, on the Island St.
Ignace, on the 19th of June. While preparations were making to receive
their Algonquin allies from the region of the Ottawa, news came that they
had already arrived, and that they had discovered a hundred Iroquois
strongly barricaded in a log fort, which they had hastily thrown together
on the brink of the river not far distant, and to capture them the
assistance of all parties was needed without delay. Champlain, with four
Frenchmen and the sixty Montagnais, left the island in haste, passed over
to the mainland, where they left their canoes, and eagerly rushed through
the marshy forest a distance of two miles. Burdened with their heavy armor,
half consumed by mosquitoes which were so thick that they were scarcely
able to breathe, covered with mud and water, they at length stood before
the Iroquois fort. [70] It was a structure of logs laid one upon another,
braced and held together by posts coupled by withes, and of the usual
circular form. It offered a good protection in savage warfare. Even the
French arquebus discharged through the crevices did slow execution.
It was obvious to Champlain that, to ensure victory, the fort must be
demolished. Huge trees, severed at the base, falling upon it, did not break
it down. At length, directed by Champlain, the savages approached under
their shields, tore away the supporting posts, and thus made a breach, into
which rushed the infuriated besiegers, and in hot haste finished their
deadly work. Fifteen of the Iroquois were taken prisoners; a few plunged
into the river and were drowned; the rest perished by musket-shots,
arrow-wounds, the tomahawk, and the war-club. Of the allied savages three
were killed and fifty wounded. Champlain himself did not escape altogether
unharmed. An arrow, armed with a sharp point of stone, pierced his ear and
neck, which he drew out with his own hand. One of his companions received a
similar wound in the arm. The victors scalped the dead as usual,
ornamenting the prows of their canoes with the bleeding heads of their
enemies, while they severed one of the bodies into quarters, to eat, as
they alleged, in revenge.
The canoes of the savages and a French shallop having come to the scene of
this battle, all soon embarked and returned to the Island of St. Ignace.
Here the allies, joined by eighty Huron warriors who had arrived too late
to participate in the conflict, remained three days, celebrating their
victory by dancing, singing, and the administration of the usual punishment
upon their prisoners of war. This consisted in a variety of exquisite
tortures, similar to those inflicted the year before, after the victory on
Lake Champlain, horrible and sickening in all their features, and which
need not be spread upon these pages. From these tortures Champlain would
gladly have snatched the poor wretches, had it been in his power, but in
this matter the savages would brook no interference. There was a solitary
exception, however, in a fortunate young Iroquois who fell to him in the
division of prisoners. He was treated with great kindness, but it did not
overcome his excessive fear and distrust, and he soon sought an opportunity
and escaped to his home. [71]
When the celebration of the victory had been completed, the Indians
departed to their distant abodes. Champlain, however, before their
departure, very wisely entered into an agreement that they should receive
for the winter a young Frenchman who was anxious to learn their language,
and, in return, he was himself to take a young Huron, at their special
request, to pass the winter in France. This judicious arrangement, in which
Champlain was deeply interested and which he found some difficulty in
accomplishing, promised an important future advantage in extending the
knowledge of both parties, and in strengthening on the foundation of
personal experience their mutual confidence and friendship.
After the departure of the Indians, Champlain returned to Quebec, and
proceeded to put the buildings in repair and to see that all necessary
arrangements were made for the safety and comfort of the colony during the
next winter.
On the 4th of July, Des Marais, in charge of the vessel belonging to De
Monts and his company, which had been left behind and had been expected
soon to follow, arrived at Quebec, bringing the intelligence that a small
revolution had taken place in Brouage, the home of Champlain, that the
Protestants had been expelled, and an additional guard of soldiers had been
placed in the garrison. Des Marais also brought the startling news that
Henry IV. had been assassinated on the 14th of May. Champlain was
penetrated by this announcement with the deepest sorrow. He fully saw how
great a public calamity had fallen upon his country. France had lost, by an
ignominious blow, one of her ablest and wisest sovereigns, who had, by his
marvellous power, gradually united and compacted the great interests of the
nation, which had been shattered and torn by half a century of civil
conflicts and domestic feuds. It was also to him a personal loss. The king
had taken a special interest in his undertakings, had been his patron from
the time of his first voyage to New France in 1603, had sustained him by an
annual pension, and on many occasions had shown by word and deed that he
fully appreciated the great value of his explorations in his American
domains. It was difficult to see how a loss so great both to his country
and himself could be repaired. A cloud of doubt and uncertainty hung over
the future. The condition of the company, likewise, under whose auspices he
was acting, presented at this time no very encouraging features. The
returns from the fur-trade had been small, owing to the loss of the
monopoly which the company had formerly enjoyed, and the excessive
competition which free-trade had stimulated. Only a limited attention had
as yet been given to the cultivation of the soil. Garden vegetables had
been placed in cultivation, together with small fields of Indian corn,
wheat, rye, and barley. These attempts at agriculture were doubtless
experiments, while at the same time they were useful in supplementing the
stores needed for the colony's consumption.
Champlain's personal presence was not required at Quebec during the winter,
as no active enterprise could be carried forward in that inclement season,
and he decided, therefore, to return to France. The little colony now
consisted of sixteen men, which he placed in charge, during his absence, of
Sieur Du Parc. He accordingly left Tadoussac on the 13th of August, and
arrived at Honfleur in France on the 27th of September, 1610.
During the autumn of this year, while residing in Paris, Champlain became
attached to Hélène Boullé, the daughter of Nicholas Boullé, secretary of
the king's chamber. She was at that time a mere child, and of too tender
years to act for herself, particularly in matters of so great importance as
those which relate to marital relations. However, agreeably to a custom not
infrequent at that period, a marriage contract [72] was entered into on the
27th of December with her parents, in which, nevertheless, it was
stipulated that the nuptials should not take place within at least two
years from that date. The dowry of the future bride was fixed at six
thousand livres _tournois_, three fourths of which were paid and receipted
for by Champlain two days after the signing of the contract. The marriage
was afterward consummated, and Helen Boullé, as his wife, accompanied
Champlain to Quebec, in 1620, as we shall see in the sequel.
Notwithstanding the discouragements of the preceding year and the small
prospect of future success, De Monts and the merchants associated with him
still persevered in sending another expedition, and Champlain left Honfleur
for New France on the first day of March, 1611. Unfortunately, the voyage
had been undertaken too early in the season for these northern waters, and
long before they reached the Grand Banks, they encountered ice-floes of the
most dangerous character. Huge blocks of crystal, towering two hundred feet
above the surface of the water, floated at times near them, and at others
they were surrounded and hemmed in by vast fields of ice extending as far
as the eye could reach. Amid these ceaseless perils, momentarily expecting
to be crushed between the floating islands wheeling to and fro about them,
they struggled with the elements for nearly two months, when finally they
reached Tadoussac on the 13th of May.
ENDNOTES:
58. The situation of Quebec and an engraved representation of the buildings
may be seen by reference to Vol. II. pp. 175, 183.
59. Scurvy, or _mal de la terre_.--_Vide_ Vol. II. note 105.
60. _Hurons_ "The word Huron comes from the French, who seeing these
Indians with the hair cut very short, and standing up in a strange
fashion, giving them a fearful air, cried out, the first time they saw
them, _Quelle hures!_ what boars' heads! and so got to call them
Hurons."--Charlevoix's _His. New France_, Shea's Trans Vol. II. p. 71.
_Vide Relations des Jésuites_, Quebec ed. Vol. I. 1639, P 51; also note
321, Vol. II. of this work, for brief notice of the Algonquins and
other tribes.
61. For the identification of the site of this battle, see Vol. II p. 223,
note 348. It is eminently historical ground. Near it Fort Carrillon was
erected by the French in 1756. Here Abercrombie was defeated by
Montcalm in 1758. Lord Amherst captured the fort in 1759 Again it was
taken from the English by the patriot Ethan Alien in 1775. It was
evacuated by St. Clair when environed by Burgoyne in 1777, and now for
a complete century it has been visited by the tourist as a ruin
memorable for its many historical associations.
62. This lake, discovered and explored by Champlain, is ninety miles in
length. Through its centre runs the boundary line between the State of
New York and that of Vermont. From its discovery to the present time it
has appropriately borne the honored name of Champlain. For its Indian
name, _Caniaderiguarunte_, see Vol. II. note 349. According to Mr. Shea
the Mohawk name of Lake Champlain is _Caniatagaronte_.--_Vide Shea's
Charlevoix_. Vol. II. p. 18.
Lake Champlain and the Hudson River were both discovered the same year,
and were severally named after the distinguished navigators by whom
they were explored. Champlain completed his explorations at
Ticonderoga, on the 30th of July, 1609, and Hudson reached the highest
point made by him on the river, near Albany, on the 22d of September of
the same year.--_Vide_ Vol. II. p. 219. Also _The Third Voyage of
Master Henry Hudson_, written by Robert Ivet of Lime-house,
_Collections of New York His. Society_, Vol. I. p. 140.
63. _Lake George_. The Jesuit Father, Isaac Jogues, having been summoned in
1646 to visit the Mohawks, to attend to the formalities of ratifying a
treaty of peace which had been concluded with them, passing by canoe up
the Richelieu, through Lake Champlain, and arriving at the end of Lake
George on the 29th of May, the eve of Corpus Christi, a festival
celebrated by the Roman Church on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, in
honor of the Holy Eucharist or the Lord's Supper, named this lake LAC
DU SAINT SACREMENT. The following is from the Jesuit Relation of 1646
by Pere Hierosme Lalemant. Ils arriuèrent la veille du S. Sacrement au
bout du lac qui est ioint au grand lac de Champlain. Les Iroquois le
nomment Andiatarocté, comme qui diroit, là où le lac se ferme. Le Pere
le nomma le lac du S. Sacrement--_Relations des Jésuites_, Quebec ed.
Vol. II. 1646, p. 15.
Two important facts are here made perfectly plain; viz. that the
original Indian name of the lake was _Andtatarocté_, and that the
French named it Lac du Saint Sacrement because they arrived on its
shores on the eve of the festival celebrated in honor of the Eucharist
or the Lord's Supper. Notwithstanding this very plain statement, it has
been affirmed without any historical foundation whatever, that the
original Indian name of this lake was _Horican_, and that the Jesuit
missionaries, having selected it for the typical purification of
baptism on account of its limpid waters, named it _Lac du Saint
Sacrement_. This perversion of history originated in the extraordinary
declaration of Mr. James Fenimore Cooper, in his novel entitled "The
Last of the Mohicans," in which these two erroneous statements are
given as veritable history. This new discovery by Cooper was heralded
by the public journals, scholars were deceived, and the bold imposition
was so successful that it was even introduced into a meritorious poem
in which the Horican of the ancient tribes and the baptismal waters of
the limpid lake are handled with skill and effect. Twenty-five years
after the writing of his novel, Mr. Cooper's conscience began seriously
to trouble him, and he publicly confessed, in a preface to "The Last of
the Mohicans," that the name Horican had been first applied to the lake
by himself, and without any historical authority. He is silent as to
the reason he had assigned for the French name of the lake, which was
probably an assumption growing out of his ignorance of its
meaning--_Vide The Last of The Mohicans_, by J. Fenimore Cooper,
Gregory's ed., New York, 1864, pp ix-x and 12.
64. "There are certain general customs which mark the California Indians,
as, the non-use of torture on prisoners of war," &c.--_Vide The Tribes
of California_, by Stephen Powers, in _Contributions to North American
Ethnology_, Vol. III. p. 15. _Tribes of Washington and Oregon_, by
George Gibbs, _idem_, Vol. I. p. 192.
65. "It has been erroneously asserted that the practice of scalping did not
prevail among the Indians before the advent of Europeans. In 1535,
Cartier saw five scalps at Quebec, dried and stretched on hoops. In
1564, Laudonniere saw them among the Indians of Florida. The Algonquins
of New England and Nova Scotia were accustomed to cut off and carry
away the head, which they afterwards scalped. Those of Canada, it
seems, sometimes scalped the dead bodies on the field. The Algonquin
practice of carrying off heads as trophies is mentioned by Lalemant,
Roger Williams, Lescarbot, and Champlain."--_Vide Pioneers of France in
the New World_, by Francis Parkman, Boston, 1874, p. 322. The practice
of the tribes on the Pacific coast is different "In war they do not
take scalps, but decapitate the slain and bring in the heads as
trophies."--_Contributions to Am. Ethnology_, by Stephen Powers,
Washington, 1877, Vol. III. pp. 21, 221. _Vide_ Vol. I. p. 192. The
Yuki are an exception. Vol. III. p. 129.
66. For an account of the sufferings of Brébeuf, Lalemant, and Jogues, see
_History of Catholic Missions_, by John Gilmary Shea, pp. 188, 189,
217.
67. He was gentleman in ordinary to the king's chamber. "Gentil-homme
ordinaire de nôstre Chambre."--_Vide Commission du Roy au Sieur de
Monts, Histoire de la Nouvelle France_, par Marc Lescarbot, Paris,
1612, p. 432.
68. Called by the Indians _chaousarou_. For a full account of this
crustacean _vide_ Vol. II. note 343.
69. The mouth of the Richelieu was the usual place of meeting. In 1603, the
allied tribes were there when Champlain ascended the St Lawrence. They
had a fort, which he describes.--_Vide postea_, p 243.
70. Champlain's description does not enable us to identify the place of
this battle with exactness. It will be observed, if we refer to his
text, that, leaving the island of St Ignace, and going half a league,
crossing the river, they landed, when they were plainly on the mainland
near the mouth of the Richelieu. They then went half a league, and
finding themselves outrun by their Indian guides and lost, they called
to two savages, whom they saw going through the woods, to guide them.
Going a _short distance_, they were met by a messenger from the scene
of conflict, to urge them to hasten forwards. Then, after going less
than an eighth of a league, they were within the sound of the voices of
the combatants at the fort. These distances are estimated without
measurement, and, of course, are inexact: but, putting the distances
mentioned altogether, the journey through the woods to the fort was
apparently a little more than two miles. Had they followed the course
of the river, the distance would probably have been somewhat more:
perhaps nearly three miles. Champlain does not positively say that the
fort was on the Richelieu, but the whole narrative leaves no doubt that
such was the fact. This river was the avenue through which the Iroquois
were accustomed to come, and they would naturally encamp here where
they could choose their own ground, and where their enemies were sure
to approach them. If we refer to Champlain's illustration of _Fort des
Iroquois_, Vol. II. p. 241, we shall observe that the river is pictured
as comparatively narrow, which could hardly be a true representation if
it were intended for the St. Lawrence. The escaping Iroquois are
represented as swimming towards the right, which was probably in the
direction of their homes on the south, the natural course of their
retreat. The shallop of Des Prairies, who arrived late, is on the left
of the fort, at the exact point where he would naturally disembark if
he came up the Richelieu from the St. Lawrence. From a study of the
whole narrative, together with the map, we infer that the fort was on
the western bank of the Richelieu, between two and three miles from its
mouth. We are confident that its location cannot be more definitely
fixed.
71. For a full account of the Indian treatment of prisoners, _vide antea_,
pp. 94,95. Also Vol. II. pp. 224-227, 244-246.
72. _Vide Contrat de mariage de Samuel de Champlain, Oeuvres de Champlain_,
Quebec ed. Vol. VI., _Pièces Fustificatives_, p. 33.
Among the early marriages not uncommon at that period, the following
are examples. César, the son of Henry IV., was espoused by public
ceremonies to the daughter of the Duke de Mercoeur in 1598. The
bridegroom was four years old and the bride-elect had just entered her
sixth year. The great Condé, by the urgency of his avaricious father,
was unwillingly married at the age of twenty, to Claire Clemence de
Maillé Brézé, the niece of Cardinal Richelieu, when she was but
thirteen years of age.
CHAPTER VII.
THE FUR-TRADE AT MONTREAL.--COMPETITION AT THE RENDEZVOUS.--NO
EXPLORATIONS.--CHAMPLAIN RETURNS TO FRANCE.--REORGANIZATION OF THE
COMPANY.--COUNT DE SOISSONS, HIS DEATH.--PRINCE DE CONDÉ.--CHAMPLAIN'S
RETURN TO NEW FRANCE AND TRADE WITH THE INDIANS.--EXPLORATION AND DE
VIGNAN, THE FALSE GUIDE.--INDIAN CEREMONY AT CHAUDIÈRE FALLS.
Champlain lost no time in hastening to Quebec, where he found Du Parc, whom
he had left in charge, and the colony in excellent health. The paramount
and immediate object which now engaged his attention was to secure for the
present season the fur-trade of the Indians. This furnished the chief
pecuniary support of De Monts's company, and was absolutely necessary to
its existence. He soon, therefore, took his departure for the Falls of St.
Louis, situated a short distance above Montreal, and now better known as La
Chine Rapids. In the preceding year, this place had been agreed upon as a
rendezvous by the friendly tribes. But, as they had not arrived, Champlain
proceeded to make a thorough exploration on both sides of the St. Lawrence,
extending his journeys more than twenty miles through the forests and along
the shores of the river, for the purpose of selecting a proper site for a
trading-house, with doubtless an ultimate purpose of making it a permanent
settlement. After a full survey, he finally fixed upon a point of land
which he named _La Place Royale_, situated within the present city of
Montreal, on the eastern side of the little brook Pierre, where it flows
into the St. Lawrence, at Point à Callière. On the banks of this small
stream there were found evidences that the land to the extent of sixty
acres had at some former period been cleared up and cultivated by the
savages, but more recently had been entirely abandoned on account of the
wars, as he learned from his Indian guides, in which they were incessantly
engaged.
Near the spot which had thus been selected for a future settlement,
Champlain discovered a deposit of excellent clay, and, by way of
experiment, had a quantity of it manufactured into bricks, of which he made
a wall on the brink of the river, to test their power of resisting the
frosts and the floods. Gardens were also made and seeds sown, to prove the
quality of the soil. A weary month passed slowly away, with scarcely an
incident to break the monotony, except the drowning of two Indians, who had
unwisely attempted to pass the rapids in a bark canoe overloaded with
heron, which they had taken on an island above. In the mean time, Champlain
had been followed to his rendezvous by a herd of adventurers from the
maritime towns of France, who, stimulated by the freedom of trade, had
flocked after him in numbers out of all proportion to the amount of furs
which they could hope to obtain from the wandering bands of savages that
might chance to visit the St. Lawrence. The river was lined with these
voracious cormorants, anxiously watching the coming of the savages, all
impatient and eager to secure as large a share as possible of the uncertain
and meagre booty for which they had crossed the Atlantic. Fifteen or twenty
barques were moored along the shore, all seeking the best opportunity for
the display of the worthless trinkets for which they had avariciously hoped
to obtain a valuable cargo of furs.
A long line of canoes was at length seen far in the distance. It was a
fleet of two hundred Hurons, who had swept down the rapids, and were now
approaching slowly and in a dignified and impressive order. On coming near,
they set up a simultaneous shout, the token of savage greeting, which made
the welkin ring. This salute was answered by a hundred French arquebuses
from barque and boat and shore. The unexpected multitude of the French, the
newness of the firearms to most of them, filled the savages with dismay.
They concealed their fear as well and as long as possible. They
deliberately built their cabins on the shore, but soon threw up a
barricade, then called a council at midnight, and finally, under pretence
of a beaver-hunt, suddenly removed above the rapids, where they knew the
French barques could not come. When they were thus in a place of safety,
they confessed to Champlain that they had faith in him, which they
confirmed by valuable gifts of furs, but none whatever in the grasping herd
that had followed him to the rendezvous. The trade, meagre in the
aggregate, divided among so many, had proved a loss to all. It was soon
completed, and the savages departed to their homes. Subsequently,
thirty-eight canoes, with eighty or a hundred Algonquin warriors, came to
the rendezvous. They brought, however, but a small quantity of furs, which
added little to the lucrative character of the summer's trade.
The reader will bear in mind that Champlain was not here merely as the
superintendent and responsible agent of a trading expedition. This was a
subordinate purpose, and the result of circumstances which his principal
did not choose, but into which he had been unwillingly forced. It was
necessary not to overlook this interest in the present exigency,
nevertheless De Monts was sustained by an ulterior purpose of a far higher
and nobler character. He still entertained the hope that he should yet
secure a royal charter under which his aspirations for colonial enterprise
should have full scope, and that his ambition would be finally crowned with
the success which he had so long coveted, and for which he had so
assiduously labored. Champlain, who had been for many years the geographer
of the king, who had carefully reported, as he advanced into unexplored
regions, his surveys of the rivers, harbors, and lakes, and had given
faithful descriptions of the native inhabitants, knowledge absolutely
necessary as a preliminary step in laying the foundation of a French empire
in America, did not for a moment lose sight of this ulterior purpose. Amid
the commercial operations to which for the time being he was obliged to
devote his chief attention, he tried in vain to induce the Indians to
conduct an exploring party up the St. Maurice, and thus reach the
headwaters of the Saguenay, a journey which had been planned two years
before. They had excellent excuses to offer, and the undertaking was
necessarily deferred for the present. He, however, obtained much valuable
information from them in conversations, in regard to the source of the St.
Lawrence, the topography of the country which they inhabited, and even
drawings were executed by them to illustrate to him other regions which
they had personally visited.
On the 18th of July, Champlain left the rendezvous, and arrived at Quebec
on the evening of the next day. Having ordered all necessary repairs at the
settlement, and, not unmindful of its adornment, planted rose-bushes about
it, and taking specimens of oak timber to exhibit in France, he left for
Tadoussac, and finally for France on the 11th of August, and arrived at
Rochelle on the 16th of September, 1611.
Immediately on his arrival, Champlain repaired to the city of Pons, in
Saintonge, of which De Monts was governor, and laid before him the
Situation of his affairs at Quebec. De Monts still clung to the hope of
obtaining a royal commission for the exclusive right of trade, but his
associates were wholly disheartened by the competition and consequent
losses of the last year, and had the sagacity to see that there was no hope
of a remedy in the future. They accordingly declined to continue further
expenditures. De Monts purchased their interest in the establishment at
Quebec, and, notwithstanding the obstacles which had been and were still to
be encountered, was brave enough to believe that he could stem the tide
unaided and alone. He hastened to Paris to secure the much coveted
commission from the king. Important business, however, soon called him in
another direction, and the whole matter was placed in the hands of
Champlain, with the understanding that important modifications were to be
introduced into the constitution and management of the company.
The burden thus unexpectedly laid upon Champlain was not a light one. His
experience and personal knowledge led him to appreciate more fully than any
one else the difficulties that environed the enterprise of planting a
colony in New France. He saw very clearly that a royal commission merely,
with whatever exclusive rights it conferred; would in itself be ineffectual
and powerless in the present complications. It was obvious to him that the
administration must be adapted to the state of affairs that had gradually
grown up at Quebec, and that it must be sustained by powerful personal
influence.
Champlain proceeded, therefore, to draw up certain rules and regulations
which he deemed necessary for the management of the colony and the
protection of its interests. The leading characteristics of the plan were,
first, an association of which all who desired to carry on trade in New
France might become members, sharing equally in its advantages and its
burdens, its profits and its losses: and, secondly, that it should be
presided over by a viceroy of high position and commanding influence. De
Monts, who had thus far been at the head of the undertaking, was a
gentleman of great respectability, zeal, and honesty, but his name did not,
as society was constituted at that time in France, carry with it any
controlling weight with the merchants or others whose views were adverse to
his own. He was unable to carry out any plans which involved expense,
either for the exploration of the country or for the enlargement and growth
of the colony. It was necessary, in the opinion of Champlain, to place at
the head of the company a man of such exalted official and social position
that his opinions would be listened to with respect and his wishes obeyed
with alacrity.
He submitted his plan to De Monts and likewise to President Jeannin, [73] a
man venerable with age, distinguished for his wisdom and probity, and at
this time having under his control the finances of the kingdom. They both
pronounced it excellent and urged its execution.
Having thus obtained the cordial and intelligent assent of the highest
authority to his scheme, his next step was to secure a viceroy whose
exalted name and standing should conform to the requirements of his plan.
This was an object somewhat difficult to attain. It was not easy to find a
nobleman who possessed all the qualities desired. After careful
consideration, however, the Count de Soissons [74] was thought to unite
better than any other the characteristics which the office required.
Champlain, therefore, laid before the Count, through a member of the king's
council, a detailed exhibition of his plan and a map of New France executed
by himself. He soon after received an intimation from this nobleman of his
willingness to accept the office, if he should be appointed. A petition was
sent by Champlain to the king and his council, and the appointment was made
on the 8th of October, 1612, and on the 15th of the same month the Count
issued a commission appointing Champlain his lieutenant.
Before this commission had been published in the ports and the maritime
towns of France, as required by law, and before a month had elapsed,
unhappily the death of the Count de Soissons suddenly occurred at his
Château de Blandy. Henry de Bourbon, the Prince de Condé, [75] was hastily
appointed his successor, and a new commission was issued to Champlain on
the 22d of November of the same year.
The appointment of this prince carried with it the weight of high position
and influence, though hardly the character which would have been most
desirable under the circumstances. He was, however, a potent safeguard
against the final success, though not indeed of the attempt on the part of
enemies, to break up the company, or to interfere with its plans. No sooner
had the publication of the commission been undertaken, than the merchants,
who had schemes of trade in New France, put forth a powerful opposition.
The Parliamentary Court at Rouen even forbade its publication in that city,
and the merchants of St. Malo renewed their opposition, which had before
been set forth, on the flimsy ground that Jacques Cartier, the discoverer
of New France, was a native of their municipality, and therefore they had
rights prior and superior to all others.
After much delay and several journeys by Champlain to Rouen, these
difficulties were overcome. There was, indeed, no solid ground of
opposition, as none were debarred from engaging in the enterprise who were
willing to share in the burdens as well as the profits.
These delays prevented the complete organization of the company
contemplated by Champlain's new plan, but it was nevertheless necessary for
him to make the voyage to Quebec the present season, in order to keep up
the continuity of his operations there, and to renew his friendly relations
with the Indians, who had been greatly disappointed at not seeing him the
preceding year. Four vessels, therefore, were authorized to sail under the
commission of the viceroy, each of which was to furnish four men for the
service of Champlain in explorations and in aid of the Indians in their
wars, if it should be necessary.
He accordingly left Honfleur in a vessel belonging to his old friend Pont
Gravé, on the 6th of March, 1613, and arrived at Tadoussac on the 29th of
April. On the 7th of May he reached Quebec, where he found the little
colony in excellent condition, the winter having been exceedingly mild, and
agreeable, the river not having been frozen in the severest weather. He
repaired at once to the trading rendezvous at Montreal, then commonly known
as the Falls of St. Louis. He learned from a trading barque that had
preceded him, that a small band of Algonquins had already been there on
their return from a raid upon the Iroquois. They had, however, departed to
their homes to celebrate a feast, at which the torture of two captives whom
they had taken from the Iroquois was to form the chief element in the
entertainment. A few days later, three Algonquin canoes arrived from the
interior with furs, which were purchased by the French. From them they
learned that the ill treatment of the previous year, and their
disappointment at not having seen Champlain there as they had expected, had
led the Indians to abandon the idea of again coming to the rendezvous, and
that large numbers of them had gone on their usual summer's expedition
against the Iroquois.
Under these circumstances, Champlain resolved, in making his explorations,
to visit personally the Indians who had been accustomed to come to the
Falls of St. Louis, to assure them of kind treatment in the future, to
renew his alliance with them against their enemies, and, if possible, to
induce them to come to the rendezvous, where there was a large quantity of
French goods awaiting them.
It will be remembered that an ulterior purpose of the French, in making a
settlement in North America, was to enable them better to explore the
interior and discover an avenue by water to the Pacific Ocean. This shorter
passage to Cathay, or the land of spicery, had been the day-dream of all
the great navigators in this direction for more than a hundred years.
Whoever should discover it would confer a boon of untold commercial value
upon his country, and crown himself with imperishable honor. Champlain had
been inspired by this dream from the first day that he set his foot upon
the soil of New France. Every indication that pointed in this direction he
watched with care and seized upon with avidity. In 1611, a young man in the
colony, Nicholas de Vignan, had been allowed, after the trading season had
closed, to accompany the Algonquins to their distant homes, and pass the
winter with them. This was one of the methods which had before been
successfully resorted to for obtaining important information. De Vignan
returned to Quebec in the spring of 1612, and the same year to France.
Having heard apparently something of Hudson's discovery and its
accompanying disaster, he made it the basis of a story drawn wholly from
his own imagination, but which he well knew must make a strong impression
upon Champlain and all others interested in new discoveries. He stated
that, during his abode with the Indians, he had made an excursion into the
forests of the north, and that he had actually discovered a sea of salt
water; that the river Ottawa had its source in a lake from which another
river flowed into the sea in question; that he had seen on its shores the
wreck of an English ship, from which eighty men had been taken and slain by
the savages; and that they had among them an English boy, whom they were
keeping to present to him.
As was expected, this story made a strong impression upon the mind of
Champlain. The priceless object for which he had been in search so many
years seemed now within his grasp. The simplicity and directness of the
narrative, and the want of any apparent motive for deception, were a strong
guaranty of its truth. But, to make assurance doubly sure, Vignan was
cross-examined and tested in various ways, and finally, before leaving
France, was made to certify to the truth of his statement in the presence
of two notaries at Rochelle. Champlain laid the story before the Chancellor
de Sillery, the President Jeannin, the old Marshal de Brissac, and others,
who assured him that it was a question of so great importance, that he
ought at once to test the truth of the narrative by a personal exploration.
He resolved, therefore, to make this one of the objects of his summer's
excursion.
With two bark canoes, laden with provisions, arms, and a few trifles as
presents for the savages, an Indian guide, four Frenchmen, one of whom was
the mendacious Vignan, Champlain left the rendezvous at Montreal on the
27th of May. After getting over the Lachine Rapids, they crossed Lake St.
Louis and the Two Mountains, and, passing up the Ottawa, now expanding into
a broad lake and again contracting into narrows, whence its pent-up waters
swept over precipices and boulders in furious, foaming currents, they at
length, after incredible labor, reached the island Allumette, a distance of
not less than two hundred and twenty-five miles. In no expedition which
Champlain had thus far undertaken had he encountered obstacles so
formidable. The falls and rapids in the river were numerous and difficult
to pass. Sometimes a portage was impossible on account of the denseness of
the forests, in which case they were compelled to drag their canoes by
ropes, wading along the edge of the water, or clinging to the precipitous
banks of the river as best they could. When a portage could not be avoided,
it was necessary to carry their armor, provisions, clothing, and canoes
through the forests, over precipices, and sometimes over stretches of
territory where some tornado had prostrated the huge pines in tangled
confusion, through which a pathway was almost impossible. [76] To lighten
their burdens, nearly every thing was abandoned but their canoes. Fish and
wild-fowl were an uncertain reliance for food, and sometimes they toiled on
for twenty-four hours with scarcely any thing to appease their craving
appetites.
Overcome with fatigue and oppressed by hunger, they at length arrived at
Allumette Island, the abode of the chief Tessoüat, by whom they were
cordially entertained. Nothing but the hope of reaching the north sea could
have sustained them amid the perils and sufferings through which they had
passed in reaching this inhospitable region. The Indians had chosen this
retreat not from choice, but chiefly on account of its great
inaccessibility to their enemies. They were astonished to see Champlain and
his company, and facetiously suggested that it must be a dream, or that
these new-comers had fallen from the clouds. After the usual ceremonies of
feasting and smoking, Champlain was permitted to lay before Tessoüat and
his chiefs the object of his journey. When he informed them that he was in
search of a salt sea far to the north of them, which had been actually seen
two years before by one of his companions, he learned to his disappointment
and mortification that the whole story of Vignan was a sheer fabrication.
The miscreant had indeed passed a winter on the very spot where they then
were, but had never been a league further north. The Indians themselves had
no knowledge of the north sea, and were highly enraged at the baseness of
Vignan's falsehood, and craved the opportunity of despatching him at once.
They jeered at him, calling him a liar, and even the children took up the
refrain, vociferating vigorously and heaping maledictions upon his head.
Indignant as he was, Champlain had too much philosophy in his composition
to commit an indiscretion at such a moment as this. He accordingly
restrained the savages and his own anger, bore his insult and
disappointment with exemplary patience, giving up all hope of seeing the
salt sea in this direction, as he humorously added, "except in
imagination."
Before leaving Allumette Island on his return, Champlain invited Tessoüat
to send a trading expedition to the Falls of St. Louis, where he would find
an ample opportunity for an exchange of commodities. The invitation was
readily accepted, and information was at once sent out to the neighboring
chiefs, requesting them to join in the enterprise. The savages soon began
to assemble, and when Champlain left, he was accompanied by forty canoes
well laden with furs; others joined them at different points on the way,
and on reaching Montreal the number had swollen to eighty.
An incident occurred on their journey down the river worthy of record. When
the fleet of savage fur-traders had arrived at the foot of the Chaudière
Falls, not a hundred rods distant from the site of the present city of
Ottawa, having completed the portage, they all assembled on the shore,
before relaunching their canoes, to engage in a ceremony which they never
omitted when passing this spot. A wooden plate of suitable dimensions was
passed round, into which each of the savages cast a small piece of tobacco.
The plate was then placed on the ground, in the midst of the company, and
all danced around it, singing at the same time. An address was then made by
one of the chiefs, setting forth the great importance of this time-honored
custom, particularly as a safeguard and protection against their enemies.
Then, taking the plate, the speaker cast its contents into the boiling
cauldron at the base of the falls, the act being accompanied by a loud
shout from the assembled multitude. This fall, named the _Chaudière_, or
cauldron, by Champlain, formed in fact the limit above which the Iroquois
rarely if ever went in hostile pursuit of the Algonquins. The region above
was exceedingly difficult of approach, and from which it was still more
difficult, in case of an attack, to retreat. But the Iroquois often
lingered here in ambush, and fell upon the unsuspecting inhabitants of the
upper Ottawa as they came down the river. It was, therefore, a place of
great danger; and the Indians, enslaved by their fears and superstitions,
did not believe it possible to make a prosperous journey, without
observing, as they passed, the ceremonies above described.
On reaching Montreal, three additional ships had arrived from France with a
license to carry on trade from the Prince de Condé, the viceroy, making
seven in all in port. The trade with the Indians for the furs brought in
the eighty canoes, which had come with Champlain to Montreal, was soon
despatched. Vignan was pardoned on the solemn promise, a condition offered
by himself, that he would make a journey to the north sea and bring back a
true report, having made a most humble confession of his offence in the
presence of the whole colony and the Indians, who were purposely assembled
to receive it. This public and formal administration of reproof was well
adapted to produce a powerful effect upon the mind of the culprit, and
clearly indicates the moderation and wisdom, so uniformly characteristic of
Champlain's administration.
The business of the season having been completed, Champlain returned to
France, arriving at St. Malo on the 26th of August, 1613. Before leaving,
however, he arranged to send back with the Algonquins who had come from
Isle Allumette two of his young men to pass the winter, for the purpose, as
on former occasions, of learning the language and obtaining the information
which comes only from an intimate and prolonged association.
ENDNOTES:
73. Pierre Jeannin was born at Autun, in 1540, and died about 1622. He
began the practice of law at Dijon, in 1569. Though a Catholic, he
always counselled tolerant measures in the treatment of the
Protestants. By his influence he prevented the massacre of the
Protestants at Dijon in 1572. He was a Councillor, and afterward
President, of the Parliament of Dijon. He was the private adviser of
the Duke of Mayenne. He united himself with the party of the League in
1589. He negotiated the peace between Mayenne and Henry IV. The king
became greatly attached to him, and appointed him a Councillor of State
and Superintendent of Finances. He held many offices and did great
service to the State. After the death of the king, Marie de Médicis,
the regent, continued him as Superintendent of Finances.
74. Count de Soissons, Charles de Bourbon, was born at Nogent-le-Rotrou, in
1556, and died Nov. 1, 1612. He was educated in the Catholic religion.
He acted for a time with the party of the League, but, falling in love
with Catherine, the sister of Henry IV., better to secure his object he
abandoned the League and took a military command under Henry III., and
distinguished himself for bravery when the king was besieged in Tours.
After the death of the king, he espoused the cause of Henry IV., was
made Grand Master of France, and took part in the siege of Paris. He
attempted a secret marriage with Catherine, but was thwarted; and the
unhappy lovers were compelled, by the Duke of Sully, to renounce their
matrimonial intentions. He had been Governor of Dauphiny, and, at the
time of his death, was Governor of Normandy, with a pension of 50,000
crowns.
75. Prince de Condé, Henry de Bourbon II., the posthumous son of the first
Henry de Bourbon, was born at Saint Jean d'Angely, in 1588. He married,
in 1609, Charlotte Marguerite de Montmorency, the sister of Henry, the
Duke de Montmorency, who succeeded him as the Viceroy of New France. To
avoid the impertinent gallantries of Henry IV., who had fallen in love
with this beautiful Princess, Condé and his wife left France, and did
not return till the death of the king. He headed a conspiracy against
the Regent, Marie de Médicis, and was thrown into prison on the first
of September, 1616, where he remained three years. Influenced by
ambition, and more particularly by his avarice, he forced his son
Louis, Le Grand Condé, to marry the niece of Cardinal Richelieu, Claire
Clémence de Maillé-Brézé. He did much to confer power and influence
upon his family, largely through his avarice, which was his chief
characteristic. The wit of Voltaire attributes his crowning glory to
his having been the father of the great Condé. During the detention of
the Prince de Condé in prison, the Mareschal de Thémins was Acting
Viceroy of New France, having been appointed by Marie de Médicis, the
Queen Regent.--_Vide Voyages du Sieur de Champlain_, Paris, 1632, p.
211.
76. In making the portage from what is now known as Portage du Fort to
Muskrat Lake, a distance of about nine miles, Champlain, though less
heavily loaded than his companions, carried three French arquebusses,
three oars, his cloak, and some small articles, and was at the same
time bitterly oppressed by swarms of hungry and insatiable mosquitoes.
On the old portage road, traversed by Champlain and his party at this
time, in 1613, an astrolabe, inscribed 1603, was found in 1867. The
presumptive evidence that this instrument was lost by Champlain is
stated in a brochure by Mr. O. H. Marshall.--_Vide Magazine of American
History_ for March, 1879.
CHAPTER VIII.
CHAMPLAIN OBTAINS MISSIONARIES FOR NEW FRANCE.--MEETS THE INDIANS AT
MONTREAL AND ENGAGES IN A WAR AGAINST THE IROQUOIS.--HIS JOURNEY TO THE
HURONS, AND WINTER IN THEIR COUNTRY.
During the whole of the year 1614, Champlain remained in France, occupied
for the most part in adding new members to his company of associates, and
in forming and perfecting such plans as were clearly necessary for the
prosperity and success of the colony. His mind was particularly absorbed in
devising means for the establishment of the Christian faith in the wilds of
America. Hitherto nothing whatever had been done in this direction, if we
except the efforts of Poutrincourt on the Atlantic coast, which had already
terminated in disaster. [77] No missionary of any sort had hitherto set
his foot upon that part of the soil of New France lying within the Gulf of
St. Lawrence. [78] A fresh interest had been awakened in the mind of
Champlain. He saw its importance in a new light. He sought counsel and
advice from various persons whose wisdom commended them to his attention.
Among the rest was Louis Houêl, an intimate friend, who held some office
about the person of the king, and who was the chief manager of the salt
works at Brouage. This gentleman took a hearty interest in the project, and
assured Champlain that it would not be difficult to raise the means of
sending out three or four Fathers, and, moreover, that he knew some of the
order of the Recollects, belonging to a convent at Brouage, whose zeal he
was sure would be equal to the undertaking. On communicating with them, he
found them quite ready to engage in the work. Two of them were sent to
Paris to obtain authority and encouragement from the proper sources. It
happened that about this time the chief dignitaries of the church were in
Paris, attending a session of the Estates. The bishops and cardinals were
waited upon by Champlain, and their zeal awakened and their co-operation
secured in raising the necessary means for sustaining the mission. After
the usual negotiations and delays, the object was fully accomplished;
fifteen hundred _livres_ were placed in the hands of Champlain for outfit
and expenses, and four Recollect friars embarked with him at Honfleur, on
the ship "St. Étienne," on the 24th of April, 1615, viz., Denis Jamay, Jean
d'Olbeau, Joseph le Caron, and the lay-brother Pacifique du Plessis. [79]
On their arrival at Quebec, Champlain addressed himself immediately to the
preparation of lodgings for the missionaries and the erection of a chapel
for the celebration of divine service. The Fathers were impatient to enter
the fields of labor severally assigned to them. Joseph le Caron was
appointed to visit the Hurons in their distant forest home, concerning
which he had little or no information; but he nevertheless entered upon the
duty with manly courage and Christian zeal. Jean d'Olbeau assumed the
mission to the Montagnais, embracing the region about Tadoussac and the
river Saguenay, while Denis Jamay and Pacifique du Plessis took charge of
the chapel at Quebec.
At the earliest moment possible Champlain hastened to the rendezvous at
Montreal, to meet the Indians who had already reached there on their annual
visit for trade. The chiefs were in raptures of delight on seeing their old
friend again, and had a grand scheme to propose. They had not forgotten
that Champlain had often promised to aid them in their wars. They
approached the subject, however, with moderation and diplomatic wisdom.
They knew perfectly well that the trade in peltry was greatly desired, in
fact that it was indispensable to the French. The substance of what they
had to say was this. It had become now, if not impossible, exceedingly
hazardous, to bring their furs to market. Their enemies, the Iroquois, like
so many prowling wolves, were sure to be on their trail as they came down
the Ottawa, and, incumbered with their loaded canoes, the struggle must be
unequal, and it was nearly impossible for them ever to be winners. The only
solution of the difficulty known to them, or which they cared to consider,
as in all Indian warfare, was to annihilate their enemies utterly and wipe
out their name for ever. Let this be done, and the fruits of peace would
return, their commerce would be safe, prosperous, and greatly augmented.
Such were the reasons presented by the allies. But there were other
considerations, likewise, which influenced the mind of Champlain. It was
necessary to maintain a close and firm alliance with the Indians in order
to extend the French discoveries and domain into new and more distant
regions, and on this extension of French influence depended their hope of
converting the savages to the Christian faith. The force of these
considerations could not be resisted. Champlain decided that, under the
circumstances, it was necessary to give them the desired assistance.
A general assembly was called, and the nature and extent of the campaign
fully considered. It was to be of vastly greater proportions than any that
had hitherto been proposed. The Indians offered to furnish two thousand
five hundred and fifty men, but they were to be gathered together from
different and distant points. The journey must, therefore, be long and
perilous. The objective point, viz., a celebrated Iroquois fort, could not
be reached by the only feasible route in a less distance than eight hundred
or nine hundred miles, and it would require an absence of three or four
months. Preparations for the journey were entered upon at once. Champlain
visited Quebec to make arrangements for his long absence. On his return to
Montreal, the Indians, impatient of delay, had already departed, and Father
Joseph le Caron had gone with them to his distant field of missionary labor
among the Hurons.
On the 9th of July, 1615, Champlain embarked, taking with him an
interpreter, probably Etienne Brûlé, a French servant, and ten savages,
who, with their equipments, were to be accommodated in two canoes. They
entered the Rivière des Prairies, which flows into the St. Lawrence some
leagues east of Montreal, crossing the Lake of the Two Mountains, passed up
the Ottawa, taking the same route which he had traversed some years before,
revisiting its long succession of reaches, its placid lakes, impetuous
rapids, and magnificent falls, and at length arrived at the point where the
river, by an abrupt angle, begins to flow from the northwest. Here, leaving
the Ottawa, they entered the Mattawan, passing down this river into Lac du
Talon, thence into Lac la Tortue, and by a short portage, into Lake
Nipissing. After remaining here two days, entertained generously by the
Nipissingian chiefs, they crossed the lake, and, following the channel of
French River, entered Lake Huron, or rather the Georgian Bay. They coasted
along until they reached the northern limits of the county of Simcoe. Here
they disembarked and entered the territory of their old friends and allies,
the Hurons.
The domain of this tribe consisted of a peninsula formed by the Georgian
Bay, the river Severn, and Lake Simcoe, at the farthest, not more than
forty by twenty-five miles in extent, but more generally cultivated by the
native population, and of a richer soil than any region hitherto explored
north of the St. Lawrence and the lakes. They visited four of their
villages and were cordially received and feasted on Indian corn, squashes,
and fish, with some variety in the methods of cooking. They then proceeded
to Carhagouha, [80] a town fortified with a triple palisade of wood
thirty-five feet in height. Here they found the Recollect Father Joseph Le
Caron, who, having preceded them but a few days, and not anticipating the
visit, was filled with raptures of astonishment and joy. The good Father
was intent upon his pious work. On the 12th of August, surrounded by his
followers, he formally erected a cross as a symbol of the faith, and on the
same day they celebrated the mass and chanted TE DEUM LAUDAMUS for the
first time.
Lingering but two days, Champlain and ten of the French, eight of whom had
belonged to the suite of Le Caron, proceeded slowly towards Cahiagué, [81]
the rendezvous where the mustering hosts of the savage warriors were to set
forth together upon their hostile excursion into the country of the
Iroquois. Of the Huron villages visited by them, six are particularly
mentioned as fortified by triple palisades of wood. Cahiagué, the capital,
encircled two hundred large cabins within its wooden walls. It was situated
on the north of Lake Simcoe, ten or twelve miles from this body of water,
surrounded by a country rich in corn, squashes, and a great variety of
small fruits, with plenty of game and fish. When the warriors had mostly
assembled, the motley crowd, bearing their bark canoes, meal, and
equipments on their shoulders, moved down in a southwesterly direction till
they reached the narrow strait that unites Lake Chouchiching with Lake
Simcoe, where the Hurons had a famous fishing weir. Here they remained some
time for other more tardy bands to join them. At this point they despatched
twelve of the most stalwart savages, with the interpreter, Étienne Brûlé,
on a dangerous journey to a distant tribe dwelling on the west of the Five
Nations, to urge them to hasten to the fort of the Iroquois, as they had
already received word from them that they would join them in this campaign.
Champlain and his allies soon left the fishing weir and coasted along the
northeastern shore of Lake Simcoe until they reached its most eastern
border, when they made a portage to Sturgeon Lake, thence sweeping down
Pigeon and Stony Lakes, through the Otonabee into Rice Lake, the River
Trent, the Bay of Quinté, and finally rounding the eastern point of Amherst
Island, they were fairly on the waters of Lake Ontario, just as it merges
into the great River St. Lawrence, and where the Thousand Islands begin to
loom into sight. Here they crossed the extremity of the lake at its outflow
into the river, pausing at this important geographical point to take the
latitude, which, by his imperfect instruments, Champlain found to be 43
deg. north. [82]
Sailing down to the southern side of the lake, after a distance, by their
estimate, of about fourteen leagues, they landed and concealed their canoes
in a thicket near the shore. Taking their arms, they proceeded along the
lake some ten miles, through a country diversified with meadows, brooks,
ponds, and beautiful forests filled with plenty of wild game, when they
struck inland, apparently at the mouth of Little Salmon River. Advancing in
a southerly direction, along the course of this stream, they crossed Oneida
River, an outlet of the lake of the same name. When within about ten miles
of the fort which they intended to capture, they met a small party of
savages, men, women, and children, bound on a fishing excursion. Although
unarmed, nevertheless, according to their custom, they took them all
prisoners of war, and began to inflict the usual tortures, but this was
dropped on Champlain's indignant interference. The next day, on the 10th of
October, they reached the great fortress of the Iroquois, after a journey
of four days from their landing, a distance loosely estimated at from
twenty-five to thirty leagues. Here they found the Iroquois in their
fields, industriously gathering in their autumnal harvest of corn and
squashes. A skirmish ensued, in which several were wounded on both sides.
The fort, a drawing of which has been left us by Champlain, was situated a
few miles south of the eastern terminus of Oneida Lake, on a small stream
that winds its way in a northwesterly direction, and finally loses itself
in the same body of water. This rude military structure was hexagonal in
form, one of its sides bordering immediately upon a small pond, while four
of the other laterals, two on the right and two on the left were washed by
a channel of water flowing along their bases. [83] The side opposite the
pond alone had an unobstructed land approach. As an Indian military work,
it was of great strength. It was made of the trunks of trees, as large as
could be conveniently transported. These were set in the ground, forming
four concentric palisades, not more than six inches apart, thirty feet in
height, interlaced and bound together near the top, supporting a gallery of
double paling extending around the whole enclosure, proof not only against
the flint-headed arrows of the Indian, but against the leaden bullets of
the French arquebus. Port-holes were opened along the gallery, through
which effective service could be done upon assailants by hurling stones and
other missiles with which they were well provided. Gutters were laid along
between the palisades to conduct water to every part of the fortification
for extinguishing fire, in case of need.
It was obvious to Champlain that this fort was a complete protection to the
Iroquois, unless an opening could be made in its walls. This could not be
easily done by any force which he and his allies had at their command. His
only hope was in setting fire to the palisades on the land side. This
required the dislodgement of the enemy, who were posted in large numbers on
the gallery, and the protection of the men in kindling the fire, and
shielding it, when kindled, against the extinguishing torrents which could
be poured from the water-spouts and gutters of the fort. He consequently
ordered two instruments to be made with which he hoped to overcome these
obstacles. One was a wooden tower or frame-work, dignified by Champlain as
a _cavalier_, somewhat higher than the palisades, on the top of which was
an enclosed platform where three or four sharp-shooters could in security
clear the gallery, and thus destroy the effective force of the enemy. The
other was a large wooden shield, or _mantelet_, under the protection of
which they could in safety approach and kindle a fire at the base of the
fort, and protect the fire thus kindled from being extinguished by water
coming from above.
When all was in readiness, two hundred savages bore the framed tower and
planted it near the palisades. Three arquebusiers mounted it and poured a
deadly fire upon the defenders on the gallery. The battle now began and
raged fiercely for three hours, but Champlain strove in vain to carry out
any plan of attack. The savages rushed to and fro in a frenzy of
excitement, filling the air with their discordant yells, observing no
method and heeding no commands. The wooden shields were not even brought
forward, and the burning of the fort was undertaken with so little judgment
and skill that the fire was instantly extinguished by the fountains of
water let loose by the skilful defenders through the gutters and
water-spouts of the fort.
The sharp-shooters on the tower killed and wounded a large number, but
nevertheless no effective impression was made upon the fortress. Two chiefs
and fifteen men of the allies were wounded, while one was killed, or died
of wounds received in a skirmish before the formal attack upon the fort
began. After a frantic and desultory fight of three hours, the attacking
savages lost their courage and began to clamor for a retreat. No
persuasions could induce them to renew the attack.
After lingering four days in vain expectation of the arrival of the allies
to whom Brûlé had been sent, the retreat began. Champlain had been wounded
in the knee and leg, and was unable to walk. Litters in the form of baskets
were fabricated, into which the wounded were packed in a constrained and
uncomfortable attitude, and carried on the shoulders of the men. As the
task of the carriers was lightened by frequent relays, and, as there was
little baggage to impede their progress, the march was rapid. In three days
they had reached their canoes, which had remained in the place of their
concealment near the shore of the lake, an estimated distance of
twenty-five or thirty leagues from the fort.
Such was the character of a great battle among the contending savages, an
undisciplined host, without plan or well-defined purpose, rushing in upon
each other in the heat of a sudden frenzy of passion, striking an aimless
blow, and following it by a hasty and cowardly retreat. They had, for the
time being at least, no ulterior design. They fought and expected no
substantial reward of their conflict. The sweetness of personal revenge and
the blotting out a few human lives were all they hoped for or cared at this
time to attain. The invading party had apparently destroyed more than they
had themselves lost, and this was doubtless a suitable reward for the
hazards and hardships of the campaign.
The retreating warriors lingered ten days on the shore of Lake Ontario, at
the point where they had left their canoes, beguiling the time in preparing
for hunting and fishing excursions, and for their journey to their distant
homes. Champlain here took occasion to call the attention of the allies to
their promise to conduct him safely to his home. The head of the St.
Lawrence as it flows from the Ontario is less than two hundred miles from
Montreal, a journey by canoes not difficult to make. Champlain desired to
return this way, and demanded an escort. The chiefs were reluctant to grant
his request. Masters in the art of making excuses, they saw many
insuperable obstacles. In reality, they did not desire to part with him,
but wished to avail themselves of his knowledge, counsel, and personal aid
against their enemies. When one obstacle after another gave way, and when
volunteers were found ready to accompany him, no canoes could be spared for
the journey. This closed the debate. Champlain was not prepared for the
exposure and hardship of a winter among the savages, but there was left to
him no choice. He submitted as gracefully as he could, and with such
patience as necessity made it possible for him to command.
The bark flotilla was at length ready to leave the borders of the present
State of New York. According to their usual custom in canoe navigation,
they crept along the shore of the Ontario, revisiting an island at the
eastern extremity of the lake, not unlikely the same place where Champlain
had stopped to take the latitude a few weeks before. Crossing over from the
island to the mainland on the north, they appear to have continued up the
Cataraqui Creek east of Kingston, and, after a short portage, entered
Loughborough Lake, a sheet of water then renowned as a resort of waterfowl
in vast numbers and varieties. Having bagged all they desired, they
proceeded inland twenty or thirty miles, to the objective point of their
excursion, which was a famous hunting-ground for wild game. Here they
constructed a deer-trap, an enclosure into which the unsuspecting animals
were beguiled and from which it was impossible for them to escape.
Deer-hunting was of all pursuits, if we except war, the most exciting to
the Indians. It not only yielded the richest returns to their larder, and
supplied more fully other domestic wants, but it possessed the element of
fascination, which has always given zest and inspiration to the sportsman.
They lingered here thirty-eight days, during which time they captured one
hundred and twenty deer. They purposely prolonged their stay that the frost
might seal up the marshes, ponds, and rivers over which they were to pass.
Early in December they began to arrange into convenient packages their
peltry and venison, the fat of which was to serve as butter in their rude
huts during the icy months of winter. On the 4th of the month they broke
camp and began their weary march, each savage bearing a burden of not less
than a hundred pounds, while Champlain himself carried a package of about
twenty. Some of them constructed rude sledges, on which they easily dragged
their luggage over the ice and snow. During the progress of the journey, a
warm current came sweeping up from the south, melted the ice, flooded the
marshes, and for four days the overburdened and weary travellers struggled
on, knee-deep in mud and water and slush. Without experience, a lively
imagination alone can picture the toil, suffering, and exposure of a
journey through the tangled forests and half-submerged bogs and marshes of
Canada, in the most inclement season of the year.
At length, on the 23d of December, after nineteen days of excessive toil,
they arrived at Cahiagué, the chief town of the Hurons, the rendezvous of
the allied tribes, whence they had set forth on the first of September,
nearly four months before, on what may seem to us a bootless raid. To the
savage warriors, however, it doubtless seemed a different thing. They had
been enabled to bring home valuable provisions, which were likely to be
important to them when an unsuccessful hunt might, as it often did, leave
them nearly destitute of food. They had lost but a single man, and this was
less than they had anticipated, and, moreover, was the common fortune of
war. They had invaded the territory and made their presence felt in the
very home of their enemies, and could rejoice in having inflicted upon them
more injury than they had themselves received. Though they had not captured
or annihilated them, they had done enough to inspire and fully sustain
their own grovelling pride.
To Champlain even, although the expedition had been accompanied by hardship
and suffering and some disappointments, it was by no means a failure. He
had explored an interesting and important region; he had gone where
European feet had never trod, and had seen what European eyes had never
seen; he had, moreover, planted the lilies of France in the chief Indian
towns, and at all suitable and important points, and these were to be
witnesses of possession and ownership in what his exuberant imagination saw
as a vast French empire rising into power and opulence in the western
world.
It was now the last week in December, and the deep snows and piercing cold
rendered it impossible for Champlain or even the allied warriors to
continue their journey further. The Algonquins and Nipissings became guests
of the Hurons for the winter, encamping within their principal walled town,
or perhaps in some neighboring village not far removed.
After the rest of a few days at Cahiagué, where he had been hospitably
entertained, Champlain took his departure for Carhagouha, a smaller
village, where his friend the Recollect Father, Joseph le Caron, had taken
up his abode as the pioneer missionary to the Hurons. It was important for
Le Caron to obtain all the information possible, not only of the Hurons,
but of all the surrounding tribes, as he contemplated returning to France
the next summer to report to his patrons upon the character, extent, and
hopefulness of the missionary field which he had been sent out to explore.
Champlain was happy to avail himself of his company in executing the
explorations which he desired to make.
They accordingly set out together on the 15th of January, and penetrated
the trackless and snow-bound forests, and, proceeding in a western
direction, after a journey of two days reached a tribe called _Petuns_, an
agricultural people, similar in habits and mode of life to the Hurons. By
them they were hospitably received, and a great festival, in which all
their neighbors participated, was celebrated in honor of their new guests.
Having visited seven or eight of their villages, the explorers pushed
forward still further west, when they came to the settlement of an
interesting tribe, which they named _Cheveux-Relevés_, or the "lofty
haired," an appellation suggested by the mode of dressing their hair.
On their return from this expedition, they found, on reaching the
encampment of the Nipissings, who were wintering in the Huron territory,
that a disagreement had arisen between the Hurons and their Algonquin
guests, which had already assumed a dangerous character. An Iroquois
captive taken in the late war had been awarded to the Algonquins, according
to the custom of dividing the prisoners among the several bands of allies,
and, finding him a skilful hunter, they resolved to spare his life, and had
actually adopted him as one of their tribe. This had offended the Hurons,
who expected he would be put to the usual torture, and they had
commissioned one of their number, who had instantly killed the unfortunate
prisoner by plunging a knife into his heart. The assassin, in turn, had
been set upon by the Algonquins and put to death on the spot. The
perpetrators of this last act had regretted the occurrence, and had done
what they could to heal the breach by presents: but there was,
nevertheless, a smouldering feeling of hostility still lingering in both
parties, which might at any moment break out into open conflict.
It was obvious to Champlain that a permanent disagreement between these two
important allies would be a great calamity to themselves as well as
disastrous to his own plans. It was his purpose, therefore, to bring them,
if possible, to a cordial pacification. Proceeding cautiously and with
great deliberation, he made himself acquainted with all the facts of the
quarrel, and then called an assembly of both parties and clearly set before
them in all its lights the utter foolishness of allowing a circumstance of
really small importance to interfere with an alliance between two great
tribes; an alliance necessary to their prosperity, and particularly in the
war they were carrying on against their common enemy, the Iroquois. This
appeal of Champlain was so convincing that when the assembly broke up all
professed themselves entirely satisfied, although the Algonquins were heard
to mutter their determination never again to winter in the territory of the
Hurons, a wise and not unnatural conclusion.
Champlain's constant intercourse with these tribes for many months in their
own homes, his explorations, observations, and inquiries, enabled him to
obtain a comprehensive, definite, and minute knowledge of their character,
religion, government, and mode of life. As the fruit of these
investigations, he prepared in the leisure of the winter an elaborate
memoir, replete with discriminating details, which is and must always be an
unquestionable authority on the subject of which it treats.
ENDNOTES:
77. De Poutrincourt obtained a confirmation from Henry IV. of the gift to
him of Port Royal by De Monts, and proceeded to establish a colony
there in 1608. In 1611, a Jesuit mission was planted by the Fathers
Pierre Biard and Enemond Massé. It was chiefly patronized by a bevy of
ladies, under the leadership of the Marchioness de Guerchville, in
close association with Marie de Médicis, the queen-regent, Madame de
Verneuil, and Madame de Soudis. Although De Poutrincourt was a devout
member of the Roman Church, the missionaries were received with
reluctance, and between them and the patentee and his lieutenant there
was a constant and irrepressible discord. The lady patroness, the
Marchioness de Guerchville, determined to abandon Port Royal and plant
a new colony at Kadesquit, on the site of the present city of Bangor,
in the State of Maine. A colony was accordingly organized, which
included the fathers, Quentin and Lalemant with the lay brother,
Gilbert du Thet, and arrived at La Hève in La Cadie, on the 6th of May,
1613, under the conduct of Sieur de la Saussaye. From there they
proceeded to Port Royal, took the two missionaries, Biard and Massé, on
board, and coasted along the borders of Maine till they came to Mount
Desert, and finally determined to plant their colony on that island. A
short time after the arrival of the colony, before they were in any
condition for defence, Captain Samuel Argall, from the English colony
in Virginia, suddenly appeared, and captured and transported the whole
colony, and subsequently that at Port Royal, on the alleged ground that
they were intruders on English soil. Thus disastrously ended
Poutrincourt's colony at Port Royal, and the Marchioness de
Guerchville's mission at Mount Desert.--_Vide Voyages par le Sr. de
Champlain_, Paris ed. 1632, pp. 98-114. _Shea's Charlevoix_, Vol. I.
pp. 260-286.
78. Champlain had tried to induce Madame de Guerchville to send her
missionaries to Quebec, to avoid the obstacles which they had
encountered at Port Royal; but, for the simple reason that De Monts was
a Calvinist, she would not listen to it.--_Vide Shea's Charlevoix_,
Vol. I. p. 274; _Voyages du Sieur de Champlain_, Paris ed. 1632, pp.
112, 113.
79. _Vide Histoire du Canada, par Gabriel Sagard_, Paris, 1636, pp. 11-12.
80. _Carhagouha_, named by the French _Saint Gabriel_. Dr. J. C. Taché, of
Ottawa, Canada, who has given much attention to the subject, fixes this
village in the central part of the present township of Tiny, in the
county of Simcoe.--_MS. Letter_, Feb. 11, 1880.
81. _Cahiagué_. Dr. Taché places this village on the extreme eastern limit
of the township of Orillia, in the same county, in the bend of the
river Severn, a short distance after it leaves Lake Couchiching. The
Indian warriors do not appear to have launched their flotilla of bark
canoes until they reached the fishing station at the outlet of Lake
Simcoe. This village was subsequently known as _Saint-Jean Baptiste_.
82. The latitude of Champlain is here far from correct. It is not possible
to determine the exact place at which it was taken. It could not,
however have been at a point much below 44 deg. 7'.
83. There has naturally been some difficulty in fixing satisfactorily the
site of the Iroquois fort attacked by Champlain and his allies.
The sources of information on which we are to rely in identifying the
site of this fort are in general the same that we resort to in fixing
any locality mentioned in his explorations, and are to be found in
Champlain's journal of this expedition, the map contained in what is
commonly called his edition of 1632, and the engraved picture of the
fort executed by Champlain himself, which was published in connection
with his journal. The information thus obtained is to be considered in
connection with the natural features of the country through which the
expedition passed, with such allowance for inexactness as the history,
nature, and circumstances of the evidence render necessary.
The map of 1632 is only at best an outline, drafted on a very small
scale, and without any exact measurements or actual surveys. It
pictures general features, and in connection with the journal may be of
great service.
Champlain's distances, as given in his journal, are estimates made
under circumstances in which accuracy was scarcely possible. He was
journeying along the border of lakes and over the face of the country,
in company with some hundreds of wild savages, hunting and fishing by
the way, marching in an irregular and desultory manner, and his
statements of distances are wisely accompanied by very wide margins,
and are of little service, taken alone, in fixing the site of an Indian
town. But when natural features, not subject to change, are described,
we can easily comprehend the meaning of the text.
The engraving of the fort may or may not have been sketched by
Champlain on the spot: parts of it may have been and doubtless were
supplied by memory, and it is decisive authority, not in its minor, but
in its general features.
With these observations, we are prepared to examine the evidence that
points to the site of the Iroquois fort.
When the expedition, emerging from Quinté Bay, arrived at the eastern
end of Lake Ontario, at the point where the lake ends and the River St.
Lawrence begins, they crossed over the lake, passing large and
beautiful islands. Some of these islands will be found laid down on the
map of 1632. They then proceeded, a distance, according to their
estimation, of about fourteen leagues, to the southern side of Lake
Ontario, where they landed and concealed their canoes. The distance to
the southern side of the lake is too indefinitely stated, even if we
knew at what precise point the measurement began, to enable us to fix
the exact place of the landing.
They marched along the sandy shore about four leagues, and then struck
inland. If we turn to the map of 1632, on which a line is drawn to
rudely represent their course, we shall see that on striking inland
they proceeded along the banks of a small river to which several small
lakes or ponds are tributary. Little Salmon River being fed by numerous
small ponds or lakes may well be the stream figured by Champlain. The
text says they discovered an excellent country along the lake before
they struck inland, with fine forest-trees, especially the chestnut,
with abundance of vines. For several miles along Lake Ontario on the
north-east of Little Salmon River the country answers to this
description.--_Vide MS. Letters of the Rev. James Cross, D.D., LL.D._,
and of S. D. Smith, _Esq._, of Mexico, N.Y.
The text says they continued their course about twenty-five or thirty
leagues. This again is indefinite, allowing a margin of twelve or
fifteen miles; but the text also says they crossed a river flowing from
a lake in which were certain beautiful islands, and moreover that the
river so crossed discharged into Lake Ontario. The lake here referred
to must be the Oneida, since that is the only one in the region which
contains any islands whatever, and therefore the river they crossed
must be the Oneida River, flowing from the lake of the same name into
Lake Ontario.
Soon after they crossed Oneida River, they met a band of savages who
were going fishing, whom they made prisoners. This occurred, the text
informs us, when they were about four leagues from the fort. They were
now somewhere south of Oneida Lake. If we consult the map of 1632, we
shall find represented on it an expanse of water from which a stream is
represented as flowing into Lake Ontario, and which is clearly Oneida
Lake, and south of this lake a stream is represented as flowing from
the east in a northwesterly direction and entering this lake towards
its western extremity, which must be Chittenango Creek or one of its
branches. A fort or enclosed village is also figured on the map, of
such huge dimensions that it subtends the angle formed by the creek and
the lake, and appears to rest upon both. It is plain, however, from the
text that the fort does not rest upon Oneida Lake; we may infer
therefore that it rested upon the creek figured on the map, which from
its course, as we have already seen, is clearly intended to represent
Chittenango Creek or one of its branches. A note explanatory of the map
informs us that this is the village where Champlain went to war against
the "Antouhonorons," that is to say, the Iroquois. The text informs us
that the fort was on a pond, which furnished a perpetual supply of
water. We therefore look for the site of the ancient fort on some small
body of water connected with Chittenango Creek.
If we examine Champlain's engraved representation of the fort, we shall
see that it is situated on a peninsula, that one side rests on a pond,
and that two streams pass it, one on the right and one on the left, and
that one side only has an unobstructed land-approach. These channels of
water coursing along the sides are such marked characteristics of the
fort as represented by Champlain, that they must be regarded as
important features in the identification of its ancient site.
On Nichols's Pond, near the northeastern limit of the township of
Fenner in Madison County, N.Y., the site of an Indian fort was some
years since discovered, identified as such by broken bits of pottery
and stone implements, such as are usually found in localities of this
sort. It is situated on a peculiarly formed peninsula, its northern
side resting on Nichols's Pond, while a small stream flowing into the
pond forms its western boundary, and an outlet of the pond about
thirty-two rods east of the inlet, running in a south-easterly
direction, forms the eastern limit of the fort. The outlet of this
pond, deflecting to the east and then sweeping round to the north, at
length finds its way in a winding course into Cowashalon Creek, thence
into the Chittenango, through which it flows into Oneida Lake, at a
point north-west of Nichols's Pond.
If we compare the geographical situation of Champlain's fort as figured
on his map of 1632, particularly with reference to Oneida Lake, we
shall observe a remarkable correspondence between it and the site of
the Indian fort at Nichols's Pond. Both are on the south of Oneida
Lake, and both are on streams which flow into that lake by running in a
north-westerly direction. Moreover, the site of the old fort at
Nichols's Pond is situated on a peninsula like that of Champlain; and
not only so, but it is on a peninsula formed by a pond on one side, and
by two streams of water on two other opposite sides; thus fulfilling in
a remarkable degree the conditions contained in Champlain's drawing of
the fort.
If the reader has carefully examined and compared the evidences
referred to in this note, he will have seen that all the distinguishing
circumstances contained in the text of Champlain's journal, on the map
of 1632, and in his drawing of the fort, converge to and point out this
spot on Nichols's Pond as the probable site of the palisaded Iroquois
town attacked by Champlain in 1615.
We are indebted to General John S. Clark, of Auburn, N.Y., for pointing
out and identifying the peninsula at Nichols's Pond as the site of the
Iroquois fort.--_Vide Shea's Notes on Champlain's Expedition into
Western New York in 1615, and the Recent Identification of the Fort_,
by General John S Clark, _Pennsylvania Magazine of History_,
Philadelphia, Vol. II. pp. 103-108; also _A Lost Point in History_, by
L. W. Ledyard, _Cazenovia Republican_, Vol. XXV. No 47; _Champlain's
Invasion of Onondaga_, by the Rev. W. M. Beauchamp, _Baldwinsville
Gazette_, for June 27, 1879.
We are indebted to Orsamus H. Marshall, Esq., of Buffalo, N.Y., for
proving the site of the Iroquois fort to be in the neighborhood of
Oneida Lake, and not at a point farther west as claimed by several
authors.--_Vide Proceedings of the New York Historical Society_ for
1849, p. 96; _Magazine of American History_, New York, Vol. I. pp.
1-13, Vol. II. pp. 470-483.
CHAPTER IX.
CHAMPLAIN'S RETURN FROM THE HURON COUNTRY AND VOYAGE TO FRANCE.--THE
CONTRACTED VIEWS OF THE COMPANY OF MERCHANTS.--THE PRINCE DE CONDÉ SELLS
THE VICEROYALTY TO THE DUKE DE MONTMORENCY.--CHAMPLAIN WITH HIS WIFE
RETURNS TO QUEBEC, WHERE HE REMAINS FOUR YEARS.--HAVING REPAIRED THE
BUILDINGS AND ERECTED THE FORTRESS OF ST. LOUIS, CHAMPLAIN RETURNS TO
FRANCE.--THE VICEROYALTY TRANSFERRED TO HENRY DE LEVI, AND THE COMPANY OF
THE HUNDRED ASSOCIATES ORGANIZED.
About the 20th of May, Champlain, accompanied by the missionary, Le Caron,
escorted by a delegation of savages, set out from the Huron capital, in the
present county of Simcoe, on their return to Quebec. Pursuing the same
circuitous route by which they had come, they were forty days in reaching
the Falls of St. Louis, near Montreal, where they found Pont Gravé, just
arrived from France, who, with the rest, was much rejoiced at seeing
Champlain, since a rumor had gone abroad that he had perished among the
savages.
The party arrived at Quebec on the 11th of July. A public service of
thanksgiving was celebrated by the Recollect Fathers for their safe return.
The Huron chief, D'Arontal, with whom Champlain had passed the winter and
who had accompanied him to Quebec, was greatly entertained and delighted
with the establishment of the French, the buildings and other accessories
of European life, so different from his own, and earnestly requested
Champlain to make a settlement at Montreal, that his whole tribe might come
and reside near them, safe under their protection against their Iroquois
enemies.
Champlain did not remain at Quebec more than ten days, during which he
planned and put in execution the enlargement of their houses and fort,
increasing their capacity by at least one third. This he found necessary to
do for the greater convenience of the little colony, as well as for the
occasional entertainment of strangers. He left for France on the 20th day
of July, in company with the Recollect Fathers, Joseph le Caron and Denis
Jamay, the commissary of the mission, taking with them specimens of French
grain which had been produced near Quebec, to testify to the excellent
quality of the soil. They arrived at Honfleur in France on the 10th of
September, 1616.
The exploration in the distant Indian territories which we have just
described in the preceding pages was the last made by Champlain. He had
plans for the survey of other regions yet unexplored, but the favorable
opportunity did not occur. Henceforth he directed his attention more
exclusively than he had hitherto done to the enlargement and strengthening
of his colonial plantation, without such success, we regret to say, as his
zeal, devotion, and labors fitly deserved. The obstacles that lay in his
way were insurmountable. The establishment or factory, we can hardly call
it a plantation, at Quebec, was the creature of a company of merchants.
They had invested considerable sums in shipping, buildings, and in the
employment of men, in order to carry on a trade in furs and peltry with the
Indians, and they naturally desired remunerative returns. This was the
limit of their purpose in making the investment. The corporators saw
nothing in their organization but a commercial enterprise yielding
immediate results. They were inspired by no generosity, no loyalty, or
patriotism that could draw from them a farthing to increase the wealth,
power, or aggrandizement of France. Under these circumstances, Champlain
struggled on for years against a current which he could barely direct, but
by no means control.
Champlain made voyages to New France both in 1617 and in 1618. In the
latter year, among the Indians who came to Quebec for the purpose of trade,
appeared Étienne Brulé, the interpreter, who it will be remembered had been
despatched in 1615, when Champlain was among the Hurons, to the
Entouhonorons at Carantouan, to induce them to join in the attack of the
Iroquois in central New York. During the three years that had intervened,
nothing had been heard from him. Brulé related the story of his
extraordinary adventures, which Champlain has preserved, and which may be
found in the report of the voyage of 1618, in Volume III. of this work.
[84]
At Quebec, he met numerous bands of Indians from remote regions, whom he
had visited in former years, and who, in fulfilment of their promises, had
come to barter their peltry for such commodities as suited their need or
fancy, and to renew and strengthen their friendship with the French. By
these repeated interviews, and the cordial reception and generous
entertainment which he always gave them, the Indians dwelling on the upper
waters of the Ottawa, along the borders of Lake Huron, or on the Georgian
Bay, formed a strong personal attachment to Champlain, and yearly brought
down their fleets of canoes heavily freighted with the valuable furs which
they had diligently secured during the preceding winter. His personal
influence with them, a power which he exercised with great delicacy,
wisdom, and fidelity, contributed largely to the revenues annually obtained
by the associated merchants.
But Champlain desired more than this. He was not satisfied to be the agent
and chief manager of a company organized merely for the purpose of trade.
He was anxious to elevate the meagre factory at Quebec into the dignity and
national importance of a colonial plantation. For this purpose he had
tested the soil by numerous experiments, and had, from time to time,
forwarded to France specimens of ripened grain to bear testimony to its
productive quality. He even laid the subject before the Council of State,
and they gave it their cordial approbation. By these means giving emphasis
to his personal appeals, he succeeded at length in extorting from the
company a promise to enlarge the establishment to eighty persons, with
suitable equipments, farming implements, all kinds of feeds and domestic
animals, including cattle and sheep. But when the time came, this promise
was not fulfilled. Differences, bickerings, and feuds sprang up in the
company. Some wanted one thing, and some wanted another. Even religion cast
in an apple of discord. The Catholics wished to extend the faith of their
church into the wilds of Canada, while the Huguenots desired to prevent it,
or at least not to promote it by their own contributions. The company,
inspired by avarice and a desire to restrict the establishment to a mere
trading post, raised an issue to discredit Champlain. It was gravely
proposed that he should devote himself exclusively to exploration, and that
the government and trade should henceforth be under the direction and
control of Pont Gravé. But Champlain was not a man to be ejected from an
official position by those who had neither the authority to give it to him
or the power to take it away. Pont Gravé was his intimate, long-tried, and
trusted friend; and, while he regarded him with filial respect and
affection, he could not yield, even to him, the rights and honors which had
been accorded to him as a recognition, if not a reward, for many years of
faithful service, which he had rendered under circumstances of personal
hardship and danger. The king addressed a letter to the company, in which
he directed them to aid Champlain as much as possible in making
explorations, in settling the country, and cultivating the soil, while with
their agents in the traffic of peltry there should be no interference. But
the spirit of avarice could not be subdued by the mandate of the king. The
associated merchants were still, obstinate. Champlain had intended to take
his family to Canada that year, but he declined to make the voyage under
any implication of a divided authority. The vessel in which he was to sail
departed without him, and Pont Gravé spent the winter in charge of the
company's affairs at Quebec.
Champlain, in the mean time, took such active measures as seemed necessary
to establish his authority as lieutenant of the viceroy, or governor of New
France. He appeared before the Council of State at Tours, and after an
elaborate argument and thorough discussion of the whole subject, obtained a
decree ordering that he should have the command at Quebec and at all other
settlements in New France, and that the company should abstain from any
interference with him in the discharge of the duties of his office.
The Prince de Condé having recently been liberated from an imprisonment of
three years, governed by his natural avarice, was not unwilling to part
with his viceroyalty, and early in 1620 transferred it, for the
consideration of eleven thousand crowns, or about five hundred and fifty
pounds sterling, to his brother-in-law, the Duke de Montmorency, [85] at
that time high-admiral of France. The new viceroy appointed Champlain his
lieutenant, who immediately prepared to leave for Quebec. But when he
arrived at Honfleur, the company, displeased at the recent change, again
brought forward the old question of the authority which the lieutenant was
to exercise in New France. The time for discussion had, however, passed. No
further words were now to be wasted. The viceroy sent them a peremptory
order to desist from further interferences, or otherwise their ships,
already equipped for their yearly trade, would not be permitted to leave
port. This message from the high-admiral of France came with authority and
had the desired effect.
Early in May, 1620, Champlain sailed from Honfleur, accompanied by his wife
and several Recollect friars, and, after a voyage of two months, arrived at
Tadoussac, where he was cordially greeted by his brother-in-law, Eustache
Boullé, who was very much astonished at the arrival of his sister, and
particularly that she was brave enough to encounter the dangers of the
ocean and take up her abode in a wilderness at once barren of both the
comforts and refinements of European life.
On the 11th of July, Champlain left Tadoussac for Quebec, where he found
the whole establishment, after an absence of two years, in a condition of
painful neglect and disorder. He was cordially received, and becoming
ceremonies were observed to celebrate his arrival. A sermon composed for
the occasion was delivered by one of the Recollect Fathers, the commission
of the king and that of the viceroy appointing him to the sole command of
the colony were publicly read, cannon were discharged, and the little
populace, from loyal hearts, loudly vociferated _Vive le Roy!_
The attention of the lieutenant was at first directed to restoration and
repairs. The roof of the buildings no longer kept out the rain, nor the
walls the piercing fury of the winds. The gardens were in a state of
ruinous neglect, and the fields poorly and scantily cultivated. But the
zeal, energy, and industry of Champlain soon put every thing in repair, and
gave to the little settlement the aspect of neatness and thrift. When this
was accomplished, he laid the foundations of a fortress, which he called
the _Fort Saint Louis_, situated on the crest of the rocky elevation in the
rear of the settlement, about a hundred and seventy-two feet above the
surface of the river, a position which commanded the whole breadth of the
St. Lawrence at that narrow point.
This work, so necessary for the protection and safety of the colony,
involving as it did some expense, was by no means satisfactory to the
Company of Associates. [86] Their general fault-finding and chronic
discontent led the Duke de Montmorency to adopt heroic measures to silence
their complaints. In the spring of 1621, he summarily dissolved the
association of merchants, which he denominated the "Company of Rouen and
St. Malo," and established another in its place. He continued Champlain in
the office of lieutenant, but committed all matters relating to trade to
William de Caen, a merchant of high standing, and to Émeric de Caen the
nephew of the former, a good naval captain. This new and hasty
reorganization, arbitrary if not illegal, however important it might seem
to the prosperity and success of the colony, laid upon Champlain new
responsibilities and duties at once delicate and difficult to discharge.
Though in form suppressed, the company did not yield either its existence
or its rights. Both the old and the new company were, by their agents,
early in New France, clamoring for their respective interests. De Caen, in
behalf of the new, insisted that the lieutenant ought to prohibit all trade
with the Indians by the old company, and, moreover, that he ought to seize
their property and hold it as security for their unpaid obligations.
Champlain, having no written authority for such a proceeding, and De Caen,
declining to produce any, did not approve the measure and declined to act.
The threats of De Caen that he would take the matter into his own hands,
and seize the vessel of the old company commanded by Pont Gravé and then in
port, were so violent that Champlain thought it prudent to place a body of
armed men in his little fort still unfinished, until the fury of the
altercation should subside. [87] This decisive measure, and time, the
natural emollient of irritated tempers, soon restored peace to the
contending parties, and each was allowed to carry on its trade unmolested
by the other. The prudence of Champlain's conduct was fully justified, and
the two companies, by mutual consent, were, the next year, consolidated
into one.
Champlain remained at Quebec four years before again returning to France.
His time was divided between many local enterprises of great importance.
His special attention was given to advancing the work on the unfinished
fort, in order to provide against incursions of the hostile Iroquois, [88]
who at one time approached the very walls of Quebec, and attacked
unsuccessfully the guarded house of the Recollects on the St. Charles. [89]
He undertook the reconstruction of the buildings of the settlement from
their foundations. The main structure was enlarged to a hundred and eight
feet [90] in length, with two wings of sixty feet each, having small towers
at the four corners. In front and on the borders of the river a platform
was erected, on which were placed cannon, while the whole was surrounded by
a ditch spanned by drawbridges.
Having placed every thing at Quebec in as good order as his limited means
would permit, and given orders for the completion of the works which he had
commenced, leaving Émeric de Caen in command, Champlain determined to
return to France with his wife, who, though devoted to a religious life, we
may well suppose was not unwilling to exchange the rough, monotonous, and
dreary mode of living at Quebec for the more congenial refinements to which
she had always been accustomed in her father's family near the court of
Louis XIII. He accordingly sailed on the 15th of August, and arrived at
Dieppe on the 1st of October, 1624. He hastened to St. Germain, and
reported to the king and the viceroy what had occurred and what had been
done during the four years of his absence.
The interests of the two companies had not been adjusted and they were
still in conflict. The Duke de Montmorency about this time negotiated a
sale of his viceroyalty to his nephew, Henry de Levi, Duke de Ventadour.
This nobleman, of a deeply religious cast of mind, had taken holy orders,
and his chief purpose in obtaining the viceroyalty was to encourage the
planting of Catholic missions in New France. As his spiritual directors
were Jesuits, he naturally committed the work to them. Three fathers and
two lay brothers of this order were sent to Canada in 1625, and others
subsequently joined them. Whatever were the fruits of their labors, many of
them perished in their heroic undertaking, manfully suffering the exquisite
pains of mutilation and torture.
Champlain was reappointed lieutenant, but remained in France two years,
fully occupied with public and private duties, and in frequent
consultations with the viceroy as to the best method of advancing the
future interests of the colony. On the 15th of April, 1626, with Eustache
Boullé, his brother-in-law, who had been named his assistant or lieutenant,
he again sailed for Quebec, where he arrived on the 5th of July. He found
the colonists in excellent health, but nevertheless approaching the borders
of starvation, having nearly exhausted their provisions. The work that he
had laid out to be done on the buildings had been entirely neglected. One
important reason for this neglect, was the necessary employment of a large
number of the most efficient laborers, for the chief part of the summer in
obtaining forage for their cattle in winter, collecting it at a distance of
twenty-five or thirty miles from the settlement. To obviate this
inconvenience, Champlain took an early opportunity to erect a farm-house
near the natural meadows at Cape Tourmente, where the cattle could be kept
with little attendance, appointing at the same time an overseer for the
men, and making a weekly visit to this establishment for personal
inspection and oversight.
The fort, which had been erected on the crest of the rocky height in the
rear of the dwelling, was obviously too small for the protection of the
whole colony in case of an attack by hostile savages. He consequently took
it down and erected another on the same spot, with earthworks on the land
side, where alone, with difficulty, it could be approached. He also made
extensive repairs upon the storehouse and dwelling.
During the winter of 1626-27, the friendly Indians, the Montagnais,
Algonquins, and others gave Champlain much anxiety by unadvisedly entering
into an alliance, into which they were enticed by bribes, with a tribe
dwelling near the Dutch, in the present State of New York, to assist them
against their old enemies, the Iroquois, with whom, however, they had for
some time been at peace. Champlain justly looked upon this foolish
undertaking as hazardous not only to the prosperity of these friendly
tribes, but to their very existence. He accordingly sent his brother-in-law
to Three Rivers, the rendezvous of the savage warriors, to convince them of
their error and avert their purpose. Boullé succeeded in obtaining a delay
until all the tribes should be assembled and until the trading vessels
should arrive from France. When Émeric de Caen was ready to go to Three
Rivers, Champlain urged upon him the great importance of suppressing this
impending conflict with the Iroquois. The efforts of De Caen were, however,
ineffectual. He forthwith wrote to Champlain that his presence was
necessary to arrest these hostile proceedings. On his arrival, a grand
council was assembled, and Champlain succeeded, after a full statement of
all the evils that must evidently follow, in reversing their decision, and
messengers were sent to heal the breach. Some weeks afterward news came
that the embassadors were inhumanly massacred.
Crimes of a serious nature were not unfrequently committed against the
French by Indians belonging to tribes, with which they were at profound
peace. On one occasion two men, who were conducting cattle by land from
Cape Tourmente to Quebec, were assassinated in a cowardly manner. Champlain
demanded of the chiefs that they should deliver to him the perpetrators of
the crime. They expressed genuine sorrow for what had taken place, but were
unable to obtain the criminals. At length, after consulting with the
missionary, Le Caron, they offered to present to Champlain three young
girls as pledges of their good faith, that he might educate them in the
religion and manners of the French. The gift was accepted by Champlain, and
these savage maidens became exceedingly attached to their foster-father, as
we shall see in the sequel.
The end of the year 1627 found the colony, as usual, in a depressed state.
As a colony, it had never prospered. The average number composing it had
not exceeded about fifty persons. At this time it may have been somewhat
more, but did not reach a hundred. A single family only appears to have
subsisted by the cultivation of the soil. [91] The rest were sustained by
supplies sent from France. From the beginning disputes and contentions had
prevailed in the corporation. Endless bickerings sprung up between the
Huguenots and Catholics, each sensitive and jealous of their rights. [92]
All expenditures were the subject of censorious criticism. The necessary
repairs of the fort, the enlargement and improvement of the buildings from
time to time, were too often resisted as unnecessary and extravagant. The
company, as a mere trading association, was doubtless successful. Large
quantities of peltry were annually brought by the Indians for traffic to
the Falls of St. Louis, Three Rivers, Quebec, and Tadoussac. The average
number of beaver-skins annually purchased and transported to France was
probably not far from fifteen thousand to twenty thousand, and in a most
favorable year it mounted up to twenty-two thousand. [93] The large
dividends that they were able to make, intimated by Champlain to be not far
from forty per centum yearly, were, of course, highly satisfactory to the
company. They desired not to impair this characteristic of their
enterprise. They had, therefore, a prime motive for not wishing to lay out
a single unnecessary franc on the establishment. Their policy was to keep
the expenses at the minimum and the net income at the maximum. Under these
circumstances, nearly twenty years had elapsed since the founding of
Quebec, and it still possessed only the character of a trading post, and
not that of a colonial plantation. This progress was satisfactory neither
to Champlain, to the viceroy, nor the council of state. In the view of
these several interested parties, the time had come for a radical change in
the organization of the company. Cardinal de Richelieu had risen by his
extraordinary ability as a statesman, a short time anterior to this, into
supreme authority, and had assumed the office of grand master and chief of
the navigation and commerce of France. His sagacious and comprehensive mind
saw clearly the intimate and interdependent relations between these two
great national interests and the enlargement and prosperity of the French
colonies in America. He lost no time in organizing measures which should
bring them into the closest harmony. The company of merchants whose
finances had been so skilfully managed by the Caens was by him at once
dissolved. A new one was formed, denominated _La Compagnie de la
Nouvelle-France_, consisting of a hundred or more members, and commonly
known as the Company of the Hundred Associates. It was under the control
and management of Richelieu himself. Its members were largely gentlemen in
official positions about the court, in Paris, Rouen, and other cities of
France. Among them were the Marquis Deffiat, superintendent of finances,
Claude de Roquemont, the Commander de Razilly, Captain Charles Daniel,
Sébastien Cramoisy, the distinguished Paris printer, Louis Houêl, the
controller of the salt works in Brouage, Champlain, and others well known
in public circles.
The new company had many characteristics which seemed to assure the solid
growth and enlargement of the colony. Its authority extended over the whole
domain of New France and Florida. It provided in its organization for an
actual capital of three hundred thousand livres. It entered into an
obligation to send to Canada in 1628 from two to three hundred artisans of
all trades, and within the space of fifteen years to transport four
thousand colonists to New France. The colonists were to be wholly supported
by the company for three years, and at the expiration of that period were
to be assigned as much land as they needed for cultivation. The settlers
were to be native-born Frenchmen, exclusively of the Catholic faith, and no
foreigner or Huguenot was to be permitted to enter the country. [94] The
charter accorded to the company the exclusive control of trade and all
goods manufactured in New France were to be free of imposts on exportation.
Besides these, it secured to the corporators other and various exclusive
privileges of a semifeudal character, supposed, however, to contribute to
the prosperity and growth of the colony.
The organization of the company, having received the formal approbation of
Richelieu on the 29th of April, 1627, was ratified by the Council of State
on the 6th of May, 1628.
ENDNOTES:
84. The character of Étienne Brulé, either for honor or veracity, is not
improved by his subsequent conduct. He appears in 1629 to have turned
traitor, to have sold himself to the English, and to have piloted them
up the river in their expedition against Quebec. Whether this conduct,
base certainly it was, ought to affect the credibility of his story,
the reader must judge. Champlain undoubtedly believed it when he first
related it to him. He probably had no means then or afterwards of
testing its truth. In the edition of 1632, Brulé's story is omitted. It
does not necessarily follow that it was omitted because Champlain came
to discredit the story, since many passages contained in his preceding
publications are omitted in the edition of 1632, but they are not
generally passages of so much geographical importance as this, if it be
true. The map of 1632 indicates the country of the Carantouanais; but
this information might have been obtained by Champlain from the Hurons,
or the more western tribes which he visited during the winter of
1615-16.--_Vide_ ed. 1632, p. 220.
85. Henry de Montmorency II was born at Chantilly in 1595, and was beheaded
at Toulouse Oct 30, 1632. He was created admiral at the age of
seventeen. He commanded the Dutch fleet at the siege of Rochelle. He
made the campaigns of 1629 and 1630 in Piedmont, and was created a
marshal of France after the victory of Veillane. He adopted the party
of Gaston, the Duke of Orleans, and having excited the province of
Languedoc of which he was governor to rebellion, he was defeated, and
executed as guilty of high treason. He was the last scion of the elder
branch of Montmorency and his death was a fatal blow to the reign of
feudalism.
86. Among other annoyances which Champlain had to contend against was the
contraband trade carried on by the unlicensed Rochellers, who not only
carried off quantities of peltry, but even supplied the Indians with
fire-arms and ammunition. This was illegal, and endangered the safety of
the colony--_Vide Voyages par De Champlain_, Paris, 1632, Sec Partie, p
3.
87. _Vide_ ed 1632, Sec Partie, Chap III.
88. _Vide Hist. New France_, by Charlevoix, Shea's. Trans., Vol. II. p. 32.
89. The house of the Recollects on the St. Charles was erected in 1620, and
was called the _Conuent de Nostre Dame Dame des Anges_. The Father Jean
d'Olbeau laid the first stone on the 3d of June of that year.--_Vide
Histoire du Canada_ par Gabriel Sagard, Paris, 1636, Tross ed., 1866,
p. 67; _Découvertes et Êtablissements des Français, dans l'ouest et dans
le sud de L'Amerique Septentrionale_ 1637, par Pierre Margry, Paris,
1876, Vol. I. p. 7.
90. _Hundred and eight feet_, dix-huit toyses. The _toise_ here estimated
at six feet. Compare _Voyages de Champlain_, Laverdière's ed., Vol. I.
p. lii, and ed. 1632, Paris, Partie Seconde, p. 63.
91. There was but one private house at Quebec in 1623, and that belonged to
Madame Hébert, whose husband was the first to attempt to obtain a
living by the cultivation of the soil.--_Vide Sagard, Hist, du Canada_,
1636, Tross ed. Vol. I. p. 163. There were fifty-one inhabitants at
Quebec in 1624, including men, women, and children.--_Vide Champlain_,
ed. 1632, p. 76.
92. _Vide Champlain_, ed. 1632, pp. 107, 108, for an account of the attempt
on the part of the Huguenot, Émeric de Caen, to require his sailors to
chaunt psalms and say prayers on board his ship after entering the
River St. Lawrence, contrary to the direction of the Viceroy, the Duke
de Ventadour. As two thirds of them were Huguenots, it was finally
agreed that they should continue to say their prayers, but must omit
their psalm-singing.
93. Father Lalemant enumerates the kind of peltry obtained by the French
from the Indians, and the amount, as follows. "En eschange ils
emportent des peaux d'Orignac, de Loup Ceruier, de Renard, de Loutre,
et quelquefois il s'en rencontre de noires, de Martre, de Blaireau et
de Rat Musqué, mais principalement de Castor qui est le plus grand de
leur gain. On m'a dit que pour vne année ils en auoyent emporté iusques
à 22000. L'ordinaire de chaque année est de 15000, ou 20000, à une
pistole la pièce, ce n'est pas mal allé."--_Vide Rélation de la
Nouvelle France en l'Année_ 1626, Quebec ed. p. 5.
94. This exclusiveness was characteristic of the age. Cardinal Richelieu
and his associates were not qualified by education or by any tendency
of their natures to inaugurate a reformation in this direction. The
experiment of amalgamating Catholic and Huguenot in the enterprises of
the colony had been tried but with ill success. Contentions and
bickerings had been incessant, and subversive of peace and good
neighborhood. Neither party had the spirit of practical toleration as
we understand it, and which we regard at the present day as a priceless
boon. Nor was it understood anywhere for a long time afterward. Even
the Puritans of Massachusetts Bay did not comprehend it, and took
heroic measures to exclude from their commonwealth those who differed
from them in their religious faith. We certainly cannot censure them
for not being in advance of their times. It would doubtless have been
more manly in them had they excluded all differing from them by plain
legal enactment, as did the Society of the Hundred Associates, rather
than to imprison or banish any on charges which all subsequent
generations must pronounce unsustained.--_Vide Memoir of the Rev. John
Wheelwright_, by Charles H. Bell, Prince Society, ed. 1876, pp. 9-31
_et passim; Hutchinson Papers_, Prince Society ed., 1865, Vol. I. pp.
79-113. American _Criminal Trials_, by Peleg W. Chandler, Boston, 1841,
Vol. I. p. 29.
CHAPTER X.
THE FAVORABLE PROSPECTS OF THE COMPANY OF NEW FRANCE.--THE ENGLISH INVASION
OF CANADA AND THE SURRENDER OF QUEBEC--CAPTAIN DANIEL PLANTS A FRENCH
COLONY NEAR THE GRAND CIBOU--CHAMPLAIN IN FRANCE, AND THE TERRITORIAL
CLAIMS OF THE FRENCH AND ENGLISH STILL UNSETTLED
The Company of New France, or of the Hundred Associates, lost no time in
carrying out the purpose of its organization. Even before the ratification
of its charter by the council, four armed vessels had been fitted out and
had already sailed under the command of Claude de Roquemont, a member of
the company, to convoy a fleet of eighteen transports laden with emigrants
and stores, together with one hundred and thirty-five pieces of ordnance to
fortify their settlements in New France.
The company, thus composed of noblemen, wealthy merchants, and officials of
great personal influence, with a large capital, and Cardinal Richelieu, who
really controlled and shaped the policy of France at that period, at its
head possessed so many elements of strength that, in the reasonable
judgment of men, success was assured, failure impossible. [95]
To Champlain, the vision of a great colonial establishment in New France,
that had so long floated before him in the distance, might well seem to be
now almost within his grasp. But disappointment was near at hand. Events
were already transpiring which were destined to cast a cloud over these
brilliant hopes. A fleet of armed vessels was already crossing the
Atlantic, bearing the English flag, with hostile intentions to the
settlements in New France. Here we must pause in our narrative to explain
the origin, character, and purpose of this armament, as unexpected to
Champlain as it was unwelcome.
The reader must be reminded that no boundaries between the French and
English territorial possessions in North America at this time existed. Each
of these great nations was putting forth claims so broad and extensive as
to utterly exclude the other. By their respective charters, grants, and
concessions, they recognized no sovereignty or ownership but their own.
Henry IV. of France, made, in 1603, a grant to a favorite nobleman, De
Monts, of the territory lying between the fortieth and the forty-sixth
degrees of north latitude. James I. of England, three years later, in 1606,
granted to the Virginia Companies the territory lying between the
thirty-fourth and the forty-eighth degrees of north latitude, covering the
whole grant made by the French three years before. Creuxius, a French
historian of Canada, writing some years later than this, informs us that
New France, that is, the French possessions in North America, then embraced
the immense territory extending from Florida, or from the thirty-second
degree of latitude, to the polar circle, and in longitude from Newfoundland
to Lake Huron. It will, therefore, be seen that each nation, the English
and the French, claimed at that time sovereignty over the same territory,
and over nearly the whole of the continent of North America. Under these
circumstances, either of these nations was prepared to avail itself of any
favorable opportunity to dispossess the other.
The English, however, had, at this period, particular and special reasons
for desiring to accomplish this important object. Sir William Alexander,
[96] Secretary of State for Scotland at the court of England, had received,
in 1621, from James I., a grant, under the name of New Scotland, of a large
territory, covering the present province of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and
that part of the province of Quebec lying east of a line drawn from the
head-waters of the River St. Croix in a northerly direction to the River
St. Lawrence. He had associated with him a large number of Scottish
noblemen and merchants, and was taking active measures to establish
Scottish colonies on this territory. The French had made a settlement
within its limits, which had been broken up and the colony dispersed in
1613, by Captain Samuel Argall, under the authority of Sir Thomas Dale,
governor of the colony at Jamestown, Virginia. A desultory and straggling
French population was still in occupation, under the nominal governorship
of Claude La Tour. Sir William Alexander and his associates naturally
looked for more or less inconvenience and annoyance from the claims of the
French. It was, therefore, an object of great personal importance and
particularly desired by him, to extinguish all French claims, not only to
his own grant, but to the neighboring settlement at Quebec. If this were
done, he might be sure of being unmolested in carrying forward his colonial
enterprise.
A war had broken out between France and England the year before, for the
ostensible purpose, on the part of the English, of relieving the Huguenots
who were shut up in the city of Rochelle, which was beleaguered by the
armies of Louis XIII, under the direction of his prime minister, Richelieu,
who was resolved to reduce this last stronghold to obedience. The existence
of this war offered an opportunity and pretext for dispossessing the French
and extinguishing their claims under the rules of war. This object could
not be attained in any other way. The French were too deeply rooted to be
removed by any less violent or decisive means. No time was, therefore, lost
in taking advantage of this opportunity.
Sir William Alexander applied himself to the formation of a company of
London merchants who should bear the expense of fitting out an armament
that should not only overcome and take possession of the French settlements
and forts wherever they should be found, but plant colonies and erect
suitable defences to hold them in the future. The company was speedily
organized, consisting of Sir William Alexander, junior, Gervase Kirke,
Robert Charlton, William Berkeley, and perhaps others, distinguished
merchants of London. [97] Six ships were equipped with a suitable armament
and letters of marque, and despatched on their hostile errand. Capt. David
Kirke, afterwards Sir David, was appointed admiral of the fleet, who
likewise commanded one of the ships. [98] His brothers, Lewis Kirke and
Thomas Kirke, were in command of two others. They sailed under a royal
patent executed in favor of Sir William Alexander, junior, son of the
secretary, and others, granting exclusive authority to trade, seize, and
confiscate French or Spanish ships and destroy the French settlements on
the river and Gulf of St. Lawrence and parts adjacent.
Kirke sailed, with a part if not the whole of his fleet, to Annapolis Basin
in the Bay of Fundy, and took possession of the desultory French settlement
to which we have already referred. He left a Scotch colony there, under the
command of Sir William Alexander, junior, as governor. The fleet finally
rendezvoused at Tadoussac, capturing all the French fishing barques, boats,
and pinnaces which fell in its way on the coast of Nova Scotia, including
the Island of Cape Breton.
From Tadoussac, Kirke despatched a shallop to Quebec, in charge of six
Basque fishermen whom he had recently captured. They were bearers of an
official communication from the admiral of the English fleet to Champlain.
About the same time he sent up the river, likewise, an armed barque, well
manned, which anchored off Cape Tourmente, thirty miles below Quebec, near
an outpost which had been established by Champlain for the convenience of
forage and pasturage for cattle. Here a squad of men landed, took four men,
a woman, and little girl prisoners, killed such of the cattle as they
desired for use and burned the rest in the stables, as likewise two small
houses, pillaging and laying waste every thing they could find. Having done
this, the barque hastily returned to Tadoussac.
We must now ask the reader to return with us to the little settlement at
Quebec. The proceedings which we have just narrated were as yet unknown to
Champlain. The summer of 1628 was wearing on, and no supplies had arrived
from France. It was obvious that some accident had detained the transports,
and they might not arrive at all. His provisions were nearly exhausted. To
subsist without a resupply was impossible. Each weary day added a new
keenness to his anxiety. A winter of destitution, of starvation and death
for his little colony of well on towards a hundred persons was the painful
picture that now constantly haunted his mind. To avoid this catastrophe, if
possible, he ordered a boat to be constructed, to enable him to communicate
with the lower waters of the gulf, where he hoped he might obtain
provisions from the fishermen on the coast, or transportation for a part or
the whole of his colony to France.
On the 9th of July, two men came up from Cape Tourmente to announce that an
Indian had brought in the news that six large ships had entered and were
lying at anchor in the harbor of Tadoussac. The same day, not long after,
two canoes arrived, in one of which was Foucher, the chief herds-man at
Cape Tourmente, who had escaped from his captors, from whom Champlain first
learned what had taken place at that outpost.
Sufficiently assured of the character of the enemy, Champlain hastened to
put the unfinished fort in as good condition as possible, appointing to
every man in the little garrison his post, so that all might be ready for
duty at a moment's warning. On the afternoon of the next day a small sail
came into the bay, evidently a stranger, directing its course not through
the usual channel, but towards the little River St. Charles. It was too
insignificant to cause any alarm. Champlain, however, sent a detachment of
arquebusiers to receive it. It proved to be English, and contained the six
Basque fishermen already referred to, charged by Kirke with despatches for
Champlain. They had met the armed barque returning to Tadoussac, and had
taken off and brought up with them the woman and little girl who had been
captured the day before at Cape Tourmente.
The despatch, written two days before, and bearing date July 8th, 1628, was
a courteous invitation to surrender Quebec into the hands of the English,
assigning several natural and cogent reasons why it would be for the
interest of all parties for them to do so. Under different circumstances,
the reasoning might have had weight; but this English admiral had clearly
conceived a very inadequate idea of the character of Champlain, if he
supposed he would surrender his post, or even take it into consideration,
while the enemy demanding it and his means of enforcing it were at a
distance of at least a hundred miles. Champlain submitted the letter to
Pont Gravé and the other gentlemen of the colony, and we concluded, he
adds, that if the English had a desire to see us nearer, they must come to
us, and not threaten us from so great a distance.
Champlain returned an answer declining the demand, couched in language of
respectful and dignified politeness. It is easy, however, to detect a tinge
of sarcasm running through it, so delicate as not to be offensive, and yet
sufficiently obvious to convey a serene indifference on the part of the
French commander as to what the English might think it best to do in the
sequel. The tone of the reply, the air of confidence pervading it, led
Kirke to believe that the French were in a far better condition to resist
than they really were. The English admiral thought it prudent to withdraw.
He destroyed all the French fishing vessels and boats at Tadoussac, and
proceeded down the gulf, to do the same along the coast.
We have already alluded, in the preceding pages, to De Roquemont, the
French admiral, who had been charged by the Company of the Hundred
Associates to convoy a fleet of transports to Canada. Wholly ignorant of
the importance of an earlier arrival at Quebec, he appears to have moved
leisurely, and was now, with his whole fleet, lying at anchor in the Bay of
Gaspé. Hearing that Kirke was in the gulf, he very unwisely prepared to
give him battle, and moved out of the bay for that purpose. On the 18th of
July the two armaments met. Kirke had six armed vessels under his command,
while De Roquemont had but four. The conflict was unequal. The English
vessels were unencumbered and much heavier than those of the French. De
Roquemont [99] was soon overpowered and compelled to surrender his whole
fleet of twenty-two vessels, with a hundred and thirty-five pieces of
ordnance, together with supplies and colonists for Quebec, were all taken.
Kirke returned to England laden with the rich spoils of his conquest,
having practically accomplished, if not what he had intended, nevertheless
that which satisfied the avarice of the London merchants under whose
auspices the expedition had sailed. The capture of Quebec had from the
beginning been the objective purpose of Sir William Alexander. The taking
of this fleet and the cutting off their supplies was an important step in
this undertaking. The conquest was thereby assured, though not completed.
Champlain, having despatched his reply to Kirke, naturally supposed he
would soon appear before Quebec to carry out his threat. He awaited this
event with great anxiety. About ten days after the messengers had departed,
a young Frenchman, named Desdames, arrived in a small boat, having been sent
by De Roquemont, the admiral of the new company, to inform Champlain that
he was then at Gaspé with a large fleet, bringing colonists, arms, stores,
and provisions for the settlement. Desdames also stated that De Roquemont
intended to attack the English, and that on his way he had heard the report
of cannon, which led him to believe that a conflict had already taken
place. Champlain heard nothing more from the lower St. Lawrence until the
next May, when an Indian from Tadoussac brought the story of De Roquemont's
defeat.
In the mean time, Champlain resorted to every expedient to provide
subsistence for his famishing colony. Even at the time when the surrender
was demanded by the English, they were on daily rations of seven ounces
each. The means of obtaining food were exceedingly slender. Fishing could
not be prosecuted to any extent, for the want of nets, lines, and hooks. Of
gunpowder they had less than fifty pounds, and a possible attack by
treacherous savages rendered it inexpedient to expend it in hunting game.
Moreover, they had no salt for curing or preserving the flesh of such wild
animals as they chanced to take. The few acres cultivated by the
missionaries and the Hébert family, and the small gardens about the
settlement, could yield but little towards sustaining nearly a hundred
persons for the full term of ten months, the shortest period in which they
could reasonably expect supplies from France. A system of the utmost
economy was instituted. A few eels were purchased by exchange of
beaver-skins from the Indians. Pease were reduced to flour first by mortars
and later by hand-mills constructed for the purpose, and made into a soup
to add flavor to other less palatable food. Thus economising their
resources, the winter finally wore away, but when the spring came, their
scanty means were entirely exhausted. Henceforth their sole reliance was
upon the few fish that could be taken from the river, and the edible roots
gathered day by day from the fields and forests. An attempt was made to
quarter some of the men upon the friendly Indians, but with little success.
Near the last of June, thirty of the colony, men, women, and children,
unwilling to remain longer at Quebec, were despatched to Gaspé, twenty of
them to reside there with the Indians, the others to seek a passage to
France by some of the foreign fishing-vessels on the coast. This detachment
was conducted by Eustache Boullé, the brother-in-law of Champlain. The
remnant of the little colony, disheartened by the gloomy prospect before
them and exhausted by hunger, continued to drag out a miserable existence,
gathering sustenance for the wants of each day, without knowing what was to
supply the demands of the next.
On the 19th of July, 1629, three English vessels were seen from the fort at
Quebec, distant not more than three miles, approaching under full sail.
[100] Their purpose could not be mistaken. Champlain called a council, in
which it was decided at once to surrender, but only on good terms;
otherwise, to resist to their utmost with such slender means as they had.
The little garrison of sixteen men, all his available force, hastened to
their posts. A flag of truce soon brought a summons from the brothers,
Lewis and Thomas Kirke, couched in courteous language, asking the surrender
of the fort and settlement, and promising such honorable and reasonable
terms as Champlain himself might dictate.
To this letter Champlain [101] replied that he had not, in his present
circumstances, the power of resisting their demand, and that on the morrow
he would communicate the conditions on which he would deliver up the
settlement; but, in the mean time, he must request them to retire beyond
cannon-shot, and not attempt to land. On the evening of the same day the
articles of capitulation were delivered, which were finally, with very
little variation, agreed to by both parties.
The whole establishment at Quebec, with all the movable property belonging
to it, was to be surrendered into the hands of the English. The colonists
were to be transported to France, nevertheless, by the way of England. The
officers were permitted to leave with their arms, clothes, and the peltries
belonging to them as personal property. The soldiers were allowed their
clothes and a beaver-robe each; the missionaries, their robes and books.
This agreement was subsequently ratified at Tadoussac by David Kirke, the
admiral of the fleet, on the 19th of August, 1629.
On the 20th of July, Lewis Kirke, vice-admiral, at the head of two hundred
armed men, [102] took formal possession of Quebec, in the name of Charles
I., the king of England. The English flag was hoisted over the Fort of St.
Louis. Drums beat and cannon were discharged in token of the accomplished
victory.
The English demeaned themselves with exemplary courtesy and kindness
towards their prisoners of war. Champlain was requested to continue to
occupy his accustomed quarters until he should leave Quebec; the holy mass
was celebrated at his request; and an inventory of what was found in the
habitation and fort was prepared and placed in his hand, a document which
proved to be of service in the sequel. The colonists were naturally anxious
as to the disposition of their lands and effects; but their fears were
quieted when they were all cordially invited to remain in the settlement,
assured, moreover, that they should have the same privileges and security
of person and property which they had enjoyed from their own government.
This generous offer of the English, and their kind and considerate
treatment of them, induced the larger part of the colonists to remain.
On the 24th of July, Champlain, exhausted by a year of distressing anxiety
and care, and depressed by the adverse proceedings going on about him,
embarked on the vessel of Thomas Kirke for Tadoussac, to await the
departure of the fleet for England. Before reaching their destination, they
encountered a French ship laden with merchandise and supplies, commanded by
Émeric de Caen, who was endeavoring to reach Quebec for the purpose of
trade and obtaining certain peltry and other property stored at that place,
belonging to his uncle, William de Caen. A conflict was inevitable. The two
vessels met. The struggle was severe, and, for a time, of doubtful result.
At length the French cried for quarter. The combat ceased. De Caen asked
permission to speak with Champlain. This was accorded by Kirke, who
informed him, if another shot were fired, it would be at the peril of his
life. Champlain was too old a soldier and too brave a man to be influenced
by an appeal to his personal fears. He coolly replied, It will be an easy
matter for you to take my life, as I am in your power, but it would be a
disgraceful act, as you would violate your sacred promise. I cannot command
the men in the ship, or prevent their doing their duty as brave men should;
and you ought to commend and not blame them.
De Caen's ship was borne as a prize into the harbor of Tadoussac, and
passed for the present into the vortex of general confiscation.
Champlain remained at Tadoussac until the fleet was ready to return to
England. In the mean time, he was courteously entertained by Sir David
Kirke. He was, however, greatly pained and disappointed that the admiral
was unwilling that he should take with him to France two Indian girls who
had been presented to him a year or two before, and whom he had been
carefully instructing in religion and manners, and whom he loved as his own
daughters. Kirke, however, was inexorable. Neither reason, entreaty, nor
the tears of the unhappy maidens could move him. As he could not take them
with him, Champlain administered to them such consolation as he could,
counselling them to be brave and virtuous, and to continue to say the
prayers that he had taught them. It was a relief to his anxiety at last to
be able to obtain from Mr. Couillard, [103] one of the earliest settlers at
Quebec, the promise that they should remain in the care of his wife, while
the girls, on their part, assured him that they would be as daughters to
their new foster-parents until his return to New France.
Quebec having been provisioned and garrisoned, the fleet sailed for England
about the middle of September, and arrived at Plymouth on the 20th of
November. On the 27th, the missionaries and others who wished to return to
France, disembarked at Dover, while Champlain was taken to London, where he
arrived on the 29th.
At Plymouth, Kirke learned that a peace between France and England had been
concluded on the 24th of the preceding April, nearly three months before
Quebec had been taken; consequently, every thing that had been done by this
expedition must, sooner or later, be reversed. The articles of peace had
provided that all conquests subsequent to the date of that instrument
should be restored. It was evident that Quebec, the peltry, and other
property taken there, together with the fishing-vessels and others captured
in the gulf, must be restored to the French. To Kirke and the Company of
London Merchants this was a bitter disappointment. Their expenditures had
been large in the first instance; the prizes of the year before, the fleet
of the Hundred Associates which they had captured, had probably all been
absorbed in the outfit of the present expedition, comprising the six
vessels and two pinnaces with which Kirke had sailed for the conquest of
Quebec. Sir William Alexander had obtained, in the February preceding, from
Charles I., a royal charter of THE COUNTRY AND LORDSHIP OF CANADA IN
AMERICA, [104] embracing a belt of territory one hundred leagues in width,
covering both sides of the St. Lawrence from its mouth to the Pacific
Ocean. This charter with the most ample provisions had been obtained in
anticipation of the taking of Quebec, and in order to pave the way for an
immediate occupation and settlement of the country. Thus a plan for the
establishment of an English colonial empire on the banks of the St.
Lawrence had been deliberately formed, and down to the present moment
offered every prospect of a brilliant success. But a cloud had now swept
along the horizon and suddenly obscured the last ray of hope. The proceeds
of their two years of incessant labor, and the large sums which they had
risked in the enterprise, had vanished like a mist in the morning sun. But,
as the cause of the English became more desperate, the hopes of the French
revived. The losses of the latter were great and disheartening; but they
saw, nevertheless, in the distance, the long-cherished New France of the
past rising once more into renewed strength and beauty.
On his arrival at London, Champlain immediately put himself in
communication with Monsieur de Châteauneuf, the French ambassador, laid
before him the original of the capitulation, a map of the country, and such
other memoirs as were needed to show the superior claims of the French to
Quebec on the ground both of discovery and occupation. [105] Many questions
arose concerning the possession and ownership of the peltry and other
property taken by the English, and, during his stay, Champlain contributed
as far as possible to the settlement of these complications. It is somewhat
remarkable that during this time the English pretended to hold him as a
prisoner of war, and even attempted to extort a ransom from him, [106]
pressing the matter so far that Champlain felt compelled to remonstrate
against a demand so extraordinary and so obviously unjust, as he was in no
sense a prisoner of war, and likewise to state his inability to pay a
ransom, as his whole estate in France did not exceed seven hundred pounds
sterling.
After having remained a month in London, Champlain was permitted to depart
for France, arriving on the last day of December.
At Dieppe he met Captain Daniel, from whom he learned that Richelieu and
the Hundred Associates had not been unmindful of the pressing wants of
their colony at Quebec. Arrangements had been made early in the year 1629
to send to Champlain succor and supplies, and a fleet had been organized to
be conducted thither by the Commander Isaac de Razilly. While preparations
were in progress, peace was concluded between France and England on the
24th of April. It was, consequently, deemed unnecessary to accompany the
transports by an armed force, and thereupon Razilly's orders were
countermanded, while Captain Daniel of Dieppe, [107] whose services had
been engaged, was sent forward with four vessels and a barque belonging to
the company, to carry supplies to Quebec. A storm scattered his fleet, but
the vessel under his immediate command arrived on the coast of the Island
of Cape Breton, and anchored on the 18th of September, _novo stylo_, in the
little harbor of Baleine, situated about six miles easterly from the
present site of Louisburgh, now famous in the annals of that island. Here
he was surprised to find a British settlement. Lord Ochiltrie, better known
as Sir James Stuart, a Scottish nobleman, had obtained a grant, through Sir
William Alexander, of the Island of Cape Breton, and had, on the 10th of
the July preceding, _novo stylo_, planted there a colony of sixty persons,
men, women, and children, and had thrown up for their protection a
temporary fort. Daniel considered this an intrusion upon French soil. He
accordingly made a bloodless capture of the fortress at Baleine, demolished
it, and, sailing to the north and sweeping round to the west, entered an
estuary which he says the savages called Grand Cibou, [108] where he
erected a fort and left a garrison of forty men, with provisions and all
necessary means of defence. Having set up the arms of the King of France
and those of Cardinal Richelieu, erected a house, chapel, and magazine, and
leaving two Jesuit missionaries, the fathers Barthélémy Vimond and
Alexander de Vieuxpont, he departed, taking with him the British colonists,
forty-two of whom he landed near Falmouth in England, and eighteen,
including Lord Ochiltrie, he carried into France. This settlement at the
Bay of St. Anne, or Port Dauphin, accidentally established and inadequately
sustained, lingered a few years and finally disappeared.
Having received the above narrative from Captain Daniel, Champlain soon
after proceeded to Paris, and laid the whole subject of the unwarrantable
proceedings of the English in detail before the king, Cardinal Richelieu,
and the Company of New France, and urged the importance of regaining
possession as early as possible of the plantation from which they had been
unjustly ejected. The English king did not hesitate at an early day to
promise the restoration of Quebec, and, in fact, after some delay, all
places which were occupied by the French at the outbreak of the war. The
policy of the English ministers appears, however, to have been to postpone
the execution of this promise as long as possible, probably with the hope
that something might finally occur to render its fulfilment unnecessary.
Sir William Alexander, the Earl of Stirling, who had very great influence
with Charles I, was particularly opposed to the restoration of the
settlement on the shores of Annapolis Basin. This fell within the limits of
the grant made to him in 1621, under the name of New Scotland, and a Scotch
colony was now in occupation. He contended that no proper French plantation
existed there at the opening of the war, and this was probably true; a few
French people were, indeed, living there, but under no recognized,
certainly no actual, authority or control of the crown of France, and
consequently they were under no obligation to restore it. But Charles I had
given his word that all places taken by the English should be restored as
they were before the war, and no argument or persuasions could change his
resolution to fulfil his promise. It was not, however, till after the lapse
of more than two years, owing, chiefly, to the opposition of Sir William
Alexander, that the restoration of Quebec and the plantation on Annapolis
Basin was fully assured by the treaty of St Germain en Laye, bearing date
March 29, 1632. The reader must be reminded that the text of the treaty
just mentioned and numerous contemporary documents show that the
restorations demanded by the French and granted by the English only related
to the places occupied by the French before the outbreak of the war, and
not to Canada or New France or to any large extent of provincial territory
whatever. [109] When the restorations were completed, the boundary lines
distinguishing the English and French possessions in America were still
unsettled, the territorial rights of both nations were still undefined, and
each continued, as they had done before the war, to claim the same
territory as a part of their respective possessions. Historians, giving to
this treaty a superficial examination, and not considering it in connection
with contemporary documents, have, from that time to the present, fallen
into the loose and unauthorized statement that, by the treaty of St.
Germain en Laye, the whole domain of Canada or New France was restored to
the French. Had the treaty of St. Germain en Laye, by which Quebec was
restored to the French, fixed accurately the boundary lines between the two
countries, it would probably have saved the expenditure of money and blood,
which continued to be demanded from time to time until, after a century and
a quarter, the whole of the French possessions were transferred, under the
arbitration of war, to the English crown.
ENDNOTES:
95. The association was a joint-stock company. Each corporator was bound to
pay in three thousand livres, and as there were over a hundred, the
quick capital amounted to over 300,000 livres.--_Vide Mercure François_,
Paris, 1628, Tome XIV. p 250. For a full statement of the organization
and constitution of the Company of New France, _Vide Mercure Francois_,
Tome XIV pp 232-267 _Vide_ also _Charlevoix's Hist. New France_, Shea's
Trans Vol. II. pp. 39-44.
96. _Vide Sir William Alexander and American Colonization_, Prince Society,
Boston, 1873.
97. _Vide Colonial Papers_, Vol. V. 87, III. We do not find the mention of
any others as belonging to the Company of Merchant Adventurers to
Canada.
98. Sir David Kirke was one of five brothers, the sons of Gervase or
Gervais Kirke, a merchant of London, and his wife, Elizabeth Goudon of
Dieppe in France. The grandfather of Sir David was Thurston Kirke of
Norton, a small town in the northern part of the county of Derby, known
as the birthplace of the sculptor Chantrey. This little hamlet had been
the home of the Kirkes for several generations. Gervase Kirke had, in
1629, resided in Dieppe for the most of the forty years preceding, and
his children were probably born there. Sir David Kirke was married to
Sarah, daughter of Sir Joseph Andrews. In early life he was a wine-
merchant at Bordeaux and Cognac. He was knighted by Charles I in 1633,
in recognition of his services in taking Quebec. On the 13th of
November, 1637, he received a grant of "the whole continent, island, or
region called Newfoundland." In 1638, he took up his residence at
Ferryland, Newfoundland, in the house built by Lord Baltimore. He was a
friend and correspondent of Archbishop Laud, to whom he wrote, in 1639,
"That the ayre of Newfoundland agrees perfectly well with all God's
creatures, except Jesuits and schismatics." He remained in Newfoundland
nearly twenty years, where he died in 1655-56, having experienced many
disappointments occasioned by his loyalty to Charles I.--_Vide Colonial
Papers_, Vol. IX. No. 76; _The First English Conquest of Canada_, by
Henry Kirke, London, 1871, _passim; Les Voyages du Sieur de Champlain_,
Paris ed. 1632, p. 257.
99. Champlain criticises with merited severity the conduct of De Roquemont,
and closes in the following words "Le merite d'un bon Capitaine n'est
pas seulement au courage, mais il doit estre accompagné de prudence,
qui est ce qui les fait estimer, comme estant suiuy de ruses,
stratagesmes, & d'inventions plusieurs auec peu ont beaucoup fait, & se
sont rendus glorieux & redoutables"--_Vide Les Voyages du Sieur de
Champlain_, ed 1632, part II p. 166.
100. On the 13th of March, 1629, letters of marque were issued to Capt.
David Kirke, Thomas Kirke, and others, in favor of the "Abigail," 300
tons, the "William," 200 tons, the "George" of London, and the
"Jarvis."
101. This correspondence is preserved by Champlain.--_Vide Les Voyages par
le Sieur de Champlain_, Paris, 1632, pp. 215-219.
102. _Vide Abstract of the Deposition of Capt. David Kirke and others_.
Calendar of State Papers, Colonial, 1574-1660, p. 103.
103. _Couillard._ Champlain writes _Coulart._ This appears to have been
William Couillard, the son in-law of Madame Hébert and one of the five
families which remained at Quebec after it was taken by the
English.--_Vide Laverdière's note, Oeuvres de Champlain_, Quebec ed
Vol. VI p. 249.
104. An English translation of this charter from the Latin original was
published by the Prince Society in 1873 _Vide Sir William Alexander
and American Colonization_, Prince Society, Boston, pp. 239-249.
105. Champlain published, in 1632, a brief argument setting forth the
claims of the French, which he entitles. _Abregé des Descouuertures de
la Nouuelle France, tant de ce que nous auons descouuert comme aussi
les Anglais, depuis les Virgines iusqu'au Freton Dauis, & de cequ'eux
& nous pouuons pretendre suiuant le rapport des Historiens qui en ont
descrit, que ie rapporte cy dessous, qui feront iuger à un chacun du
tout sans passion.--Vide_ ed. 1632, p. 290. In this paper he narrates
succinctly the early discoveries made both by the French and English
navigators, and enforces the doctrine of the superior claims of the
French with clearness and strength. It contains, probably, the
substance of what Champlain placed at this time in the hands of the
French embassador in London.
106. It is difficult to conceive on what ground this ransom was demanded
since the whole proceedings of the English against Quebec were
illegal, and contrary to the articles of peace which had just been
concluded. That such a demand was made would be regarded as
incredible, did not the fact rest upon documentary evidence of
undoubted authority.--_Vide Laverdière's_ citation from State Papers
Office, Vol. V. No. 33. Oeuvres de Champlain, Quebec ed, Vol. VI. p
1413.
107. _Vide Relation du Voyage fait par le Capitaine Daniel de Dieppe, année
1629, Les Voyages du Sieur de Champlain_, Paris, 1632, p. 271. Captain
Daniel was enrolled by Creuxius in the Society of New France or the
Hundred Associates, as _Carolus Daniel, nauticus Capitaneus_. _Vide
Historia Canadensis_ for the names of the Society of the Hundred
Associates.
108. _Cibou_. Sometimes written Chibou. "Cibou means," says Mr. J. Hammond
Trumball, "simply river in all eastern Algonkin languages."--_MS.
letter_. Nicholas Denys, in his very full itinerary of the coast of
the island of Cape Breton speaks also of the _entree du petit Chibou
ou de Labrador_. This _petit Chibou_, according to his description, is
identical with what is now known as the Little Bras d'Or, or smaller
passage to Bras d'Or Lake. It seems probable that the great Cibou of
the Indians was applied originally by them to what we now call the
Great Bras d'Or, or larger passage to Bras d'Or Lake. It is plain,
however, that Captain Daniel and other early writers applied it to an
estuary or bay a little further west than the Great Bras d'Or,
separated from it by Cape Dauphin, and now known as St. Anne's Bay. It
took the name of St. Anne's immediately on the planting of Captain
Daniel's colony, as Champlain calls it, _l'habitation saincte Anne en
l'ile du Cap Breton_ in his relation of what took place in
1631.--_Voyages_, ed. 1632, p. 298. A very good description of it by
Père Perrault may be found in _Jesuit Relations_, 1635, Quebec ed p.
42.--_Vide_, also, _Description de l'Amerique Septentrionale par
Monsieur Denys_, Paris, 1672, p. 155, where is given an elaborate
description of St Anne's Harbor. _Gransibou_ may be seen on
Champlain's map of 1632, but the map is too indefinite to aid us in
fixing its exact location.
109. _Vide Sir William Alexander and American Colonization_, Prince
Society, 1873, pp. 66-72.--_Royal Letters, Charters, and Tracts
relating to the Colonisation of New Scotland_, Bannatyne Club,
Edinburgh, 1867, p. 77 _et passim_.
CHAPTER XI.
ÉMERIC DE CAEN TAKES POSSESSION OF QUEBEC.--CHAMPLAIN PUBLISHES HIS
VOYAGES.--RETURNS TO NEW FRANCE, REPAIRS THE HABITATION, AND ERECTS A
CHAPEL.--HIS LETTER TO CARDINAL DE RICHELIEU.--CHAMPLAIN'S DEATH.
In breaking up the settlement at Quebec, the losses of the De Caens were
considerable, and it was deemed an act of justice to allow them an
opportunity to retrieve them, at least in part; and, to enable them to do
this, the monopoly of the fur-trade in the Gulf of St. Lawrence was granted
to them for one year, and, on the retirement of the English, Émeric de
Caen, as provisional governor for that period, took formal possession of
Quebec on the 13th of July, 1632. In the mean time, Champlain remained in
France, devoting himself with characteristic energy to the interests of New
France. Beside the valuable counsel and aid which he gave regarding the
expedition then fitting out and to be sent to Quebec by the Company of New
France, he prepared and carried through the press an edition of his
Voyages, comprising extended extracts from what he had already published,
and a continuation of the narrative to 1631. He also published in the same
volume a Treatise on Navigation, and a Catechism translated from the French
by one of the Fathers into the language of the Montagnais. [110]
On the 23d of March, 1633, having again been commissioned as governor,
Champlain sailed from Dieppe with a fleet of three vessels, the "Saint
Pierre," the "Saint Jean," and the "Don de Dieu," belonging to the Company
of New France, conveying to Quebec a large number of colonists, together
with the Jesuit fathers, Enemond Massé and Jean de Brébeuf. The three
vessels entered the harbor of Quebec on the 23d of May. On the announcement
of Champlain's arrival, the little colony was all astir. The cannon at the
Fort St. Louis boomed forth their hoarse welcome of his coming. The hearts
of all, particularly of those who had remained at Quebec during the
occupation of the English, were overflowing with joy. The three years'
absence of their now venerable and venerated governor, and the trials,
hardships, and discouragements through which they had in the mean time
passed, had not effaced from their minds the virtues that endeared him to
their hearts. The memory of his tender solicitude in their behalf, his
brave example of endurance in the hour of want and peril, and the sweetness
of his parting counsels, came back afresh to awaken in them new pulsations
of gratitude. Champlain's heart was touched by his warm reception and the
visible proofs of their love and devotion. This was a bright and happy day
in the calendar of the little colony.
Champlain addressed himself with his old zeal and a renewed strength to
every interest that promised immediate or future good results. He at once
directed the renovation and improvement of the habitation and fort, which,
after an occupation of three years by aliens, could not be delayed. He then
instituted means, holding councils and creating a new trading-post, for
winning back the traffic of the allied tribes, which had been of late drawn
away by the English, who continued to steal into the waters of the St.
Lawrence for that purpose. At an early day after his re-establishment of
himself at Quebec, Champlain proceeded to build a memorial chapel in close
proximity to the fort which he had erected some years before on the crest
of the rocky eminence that overlooks the harbor. He gave it the appropriate
and significant name, NOTRE DAME DE RECOUVRANCE, in grateful memory of the
recent return of the French to New France. [111] It had long been an ardent
desire of Champlain to establish a French settlement among the Hurons, and
to plant a mission there for the conversion of this favorite tribe to the
Christian faith. Two missionaries, De Brébeuf and De Nouë, were now ready
for the undertaking. The governor spared no pains to secure for them a
favorable reception, and vigorously urged the importance of their mission
upon the Hurons assembled at Quebec. [112] But at the last, when on the eve
of securing his purpose, complications arose and so much hostility was
displayed by one of the chiefs, that he thought it prudent to advise its
postponement to a more auspicious moment. With these and kindred
occupations growing out of the responsibilities of his charge, two years
soon passed away.
During the summer of 1635, Champlain addressed an interesting and important
letter to Cardinal de Richelieu, whose authority at that time shaped both
the domestic and foreign policy of France. In it the condition and
imperative wants of New France are clearly set forth. This document was
probably the last that Champlain ever penned, and is, perhaps, the only
autograph letter of his now extant. His views of the richness and possible
resources of the country, the vast missionary field which it offered, and
the policy to be pursued, are so clearly stated that we need offer no
apology for giving the following free translation of the letter in these
pages. [113]
LETTER OF CHAMPLAIN TO CARDINAL DE RICHELIEU.
MONSEIGNEUR,--The honor of the commands that I have received from your
Eminence has inspired me with greater courage to render to you every
possible service with all the fidelity and affection that can be desired
from a faithful servant. I shall spare neither my blood nor my life
whenever the occasion shall demand them.
There are subjects enough in these regions, if your Eminence, after
considering the character of the country, shall desire to extend your
authority over them. This territory is more than fifteen hundred leagues in
length, lying between the same parallels of latitude as our own France. It
is watered by one of the finest rivers in the world, into which empty many
tributaries more than four hundred leagues in length, beautifying a country
inhabited by a vast number of tribes. Some of them are sedentary in their
mode of life, possessing, like the Muscovites, towns and villages built of
wood; others are nomadic, hunters and fishermen, all longing to welcome the
French and religious fathers, that they may be instructed in our faith.
The excellence of this country cannot be too highly estimated or praised,
both as to the richness of the soil, the diversity of the timber such as we
have in France, the abundance of wild animals, game, and fish, which are of
extraordinary magnitude. All this invites you, Monseigneur, and makes it
seem as if God had created you above all your predecessors to do a work
here more pleasing to Him than any that has yet been accomplished.
For thirty years I have frequented this country, and have acquired a
thorough knowledge of it, obtained from my own observation and the
information given me by the native inhabitants. Monseigneur, I pray you to
pardon my zeal, if I say that, after your renown has spread throughout the
East, you should end by compelling its recognition in the West.
Expelling the English from Quebec has been a very important beginning, but,
nevertheless, since the treaty of peace between the two crowns, they have
returned to carry on trade and annoy us in this river; declaring that it
was enjoined upon them to withdraw, but not to remain away, and that they
have their king's permission to come for the period of thirty years. But,
if your Eminence wills, you can make them feel the power of your authority.
This can, furthermore, be extended at your pleasure to him who has come
here to bring about a general peace among these peoples, who are at war
with a nation holding more than four hundred leagues in subjection, and who
prevent the free use of the rivers and highways. If this peace were made,
we should be in complete and easy enjoyment of our possessions. Once
established in the country, we could expel our enemies, both English and
Flemings, forcing them to withdraw to the coast, and, by depriving them of
trade with the Iroquois, oblige them to abandon the country entirely. It
requires but one hundred and twenty men, light-armed for avoiding arrows,
by whose aid, together with two or three thousand savage warriors, our
allies, we should be, within a year, absolute masters of all these peoples,
and, by establishing order among them, promote religious worship and secure
an incredible amount of traffic.
The country is rich in mines of copper, iron, steel, brass, silver, and
other minerals which may be found here.
The cost, Monseigneur, of one hundred and twenty men is a trifling one to
his Majesty, the enterprise the most noble that can be imagined.
All for the glory of God, whom I pray with my whole heart to grant you
ever-increasing prosperity, and to make me, all my life, Monseigneur,
Your most humble,
Most faithful,
and Most obedient servant,
CHAMPLAIN.
AT QUEBEC, IN NEW FRANCE, the 15th of August, 1635.
In this letter will be found the key to Champlain's war-policy with the
Iroquois, no where else so fully unfolded. We shall refer to this subject
in the sequel.
Early in October, when the harvest of the year had ripened and been
gathered in, and the leaves had faded and fallen, and the earth was mantled
in the symbols of general decay, in sympathy with all that surrounded him,
in his chamber in the little fort on the crest of the rocky promontory at
Quebec, lay the manly form of Champlain, smitten with disease, which was
daily breaking down the vigor and strength of his iron constitution. From
loving friends he received the ministrations of tender and assiduous care.
But his earthly career was near its end. The bowl had been broken at the
fountain. Life went on ebbing away from week to week. At the end of two
months and a half, on Christmas day, the 25th of December, 1635, his spirit
passed to its final rest.
This otherwise joyous festival was thus clouded with a deep sorrow. No
heart in the little colony was untouched by this event. All had been drawn
to Champlain, so many years their chief magistrate and wise counsellor, by
a spontaneous and irresistible respect, veneration, and love. It was meet,
as it was the universal desire, to crown him, in his burial, with every
honor which, in their circumstances, they could bestow. The whole
population joined in a mournful procession. His spiritual adviser and
friend, Father Charles Lalemant, performed in his behalf the last solemn
service of the church. Father Paul Le Jeune pronounced a funeral discourse,
reciting his virtues, his fidelity to the king and the Company of New
France, his extraordinary love and devotion to the families of the colony,
and his last counsels for their continued happiness and welfare. [114]
When these ceremonies were over his body was piously and tenderly laid to
rest, and soon after a tomb was constructed for its reception expressly in
his honor as the benefactor of New France. [115] The place of his burial
[116] was within the little chapel subsequently erected, and which was
reverently called _La Chapelle de M. de Champlain_, in grateful memory of
him whose body reposed beneath its sheltering walls.
ENDNOTES:
110. This catechism, bearing the following title, is contained on fifteen
pages in the ed. of 1632: _Doctrine Chrestienne, du R. P. Ledesme de
la Compagnie de Jesus. Traduîte en Langage Canadois, autre que celuy
des Montagnars, pour la Conversion des habitans dudit pays. Par le R.
P. Breboeuf de la mesme Compagnie_. It is in double columns, one side
Indian and the other French.
111. The following extracts will show that the chapel was erected in 1633,
that it was built by Champlain, and that it was called Notre Dame de
Recouvrance.
Nous les menasmes en nostre petite chapelle, qui a commencé ceste
année à l'embellir.--_Vide Relations des Jésuites_. Québec ed. 1633,
p. 30.
La sage conduitte et la prudence de Monsieur de Champlain Gouuerneur
de Kebec et du fleuve sainct Laurens, qui nous honore de sa bien-
veillance, retenant vn chacun dans son devoir, a fait que nos paroles
et nos prédications ayent esté bien receuens, et la Chapelle qu'il a
fait dresser proche du fort a l'honneur de nostre Dame, &c.--_Idem_,
1634, p. 2.
La troisiéme, que nous allons habiter cette Autome, la Residence de
Nostre-dame de Recouvrance, à Kebec proche du Fort.--_Idem_, 1635, p.
3.
112. According to Père Le Jeune, from five to seven hundred Hurons had
assembled at Quebec in July, 1633, bringing their canoes loaded with
merchandise.--_Vide Relations des Jésuites_, Quebec ed. 1633, p. 34.
113. This letter was printed in oeuvres de Champlain, Quebec ed. Vol. VI.
_Pièces Justificatives_, p 35. The original is at Paris, in the
Archives of Foreign Affairs.
114. _Vide Relations des Jésuites_, Quebec ed. 1636, p. 56. _Creuxius,
Historia Canadensis_, pp. 183-4.
115. Monsieur le Gouverneur, qui estimoit sa vertu, desira qu'il fust
enterré prés du corps de feu Monsieur de Champlain, qui est dans vn
sepulchre particulier, erigé exprés pour honorer la memoire de ce
signalé personnage qui a tant obligé la Nouuelle France.--_Vide
Relations des Jésuites_, Quebec ed. 1643, p. 3.
116. The exact spot where Champlain was buried is at this time unknown.
Historians and antiquaries have been much interested in its discovery.
In 1866, the Abbés Laverdière and Casgrain were encouraged to believe
that their searches had been crowned with success. They published a
statement of their discovery. Their views were controverted in several
critical pamphlets that followed. In the mean time, additional
researches have been made. The theory then broached that his burial
was in the Lower Town, and in the Recollect chapel built in 1615, has
been abandoned. The Abbé Casgrain, in an able discussion of this
subject, in which he cites documents hitherto unpublished, shows that
Champlain was buried in a tomb within the walls of a chapel erected by
his successor in the Upper Town, and that this chapel was situated
somewhere within the court-yard of the present post-office. Père Le
Jeune, who records the death of Champlain in his Relation of 1636,
does not mention the place of his burial; but the Père Vimont, in his
Relation of 1643, in speaking of the burial of Père Charles Raymbault,
says, the "Governor desired that he should be buried near the _body of
the late Monsieur de Champlain_, which is in a particular tomb erected
expressly to honor the memory of that distinguished personage, who had
placed New France under such great obligation." In the Parish Register
of Notre Dame de Quebec, is the following entry: "The 22d of October
(1642), was interred _in the Chapel of M. De Champlain_ the Père
Charles Rimbault." It is plain, therefore, that Champlain was buried
in what was then commonly known as _the Chapel of M. de Champlain_. By
reference to ancient documents or deeds (one bearing date Feb. 10,
1649, and another 22d April, 1652, and in one of which the Chapel of
Champlain is mentioned as contiguous to a piece of land therein
described), the Abbé Casgrain proves that the _Chapel of M. de
Champlain_ was within the square where is situated the present
post-office at Quebec, and, as the tomb of Champlain was within the
chapel, it follows that Champlain was buried somewhere within the
post-office square above mentioned.
Excavations in this square have been made, but no traces of the walls
or foundations of the chapel have been found. In the excavations for
cellars of the houses constructed along the square, the foundations of
the chapel may have been removed. It is possible that when the chapel
was destroyed, which was at a very early period, as no reference to
its existence is found subsequent to 1649, the body of Champlain and
the others buried there may have been removed, and no record made of
the removal. The Abbé Casgrain expresses the hope that other
discoveries may hereafter be made that shall place this interesting
question beyond all doubt.--_Vide Documents Inédits Relatifs au
Tombeau de Champlain_, par l'Abbé H. R. Casgrain, _L'Opinion
Publique_, Montreal, 4 Nov. 1875.
CHAPTER XII.
CHAMPLAIN'S RELIGION.--HIS WAR POLICY.--HIS DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL LIFE.--
CHAMPLAIN AS AN EXPLORER.--HIS LITERARY LABORS.--THE RESULTS OF HIS CAREER.
As Champlain had lived, so he died, a firm and consistent member of the
Roman church. In harmony with his general character, his religious views
were always moderate, never betraying him into excesses, or into any merely
partisan zeal. Born during the profligate, cruel, and perfidious reign of
Charles IX., he was, perhaps, too young to be greatly affected by the evils
characteristic of that period, the massacre of St. Bartholomew's and the
numberless vices that swept along in its train. His youth and early
manhood, covering the plastic and formative period, stretched through the
reign of Henry III., in which the standards of virtue and religion were
little if in any degree improved. Early in the reign of Henry IV., when he
had fairly entered upon his manhood, we find him closely associated with
the moderate party, which encouraged and sustained the broad, generous, and
catholic principles of that distinguished sovereign.
When Champlain became lieutenant-governor of New France, his attention was
naturally turned to the religious wants of his distant domain. Proceeding
cautiously, after patient and prolonged inquiry, he selected missionaries
who were earnest, zealous, and fully consecrated to their work. And all
whom he subsequently invited into the field were men of character and
learning, whose brave endurance of hardship, and manly courage amid
numberless perils, shed glory and lustre upon their holy calling.
Champlain's sympathies were always with his missionaries in their pious
labors. Whether the enterprise were the establishment of a mission among
the distant Hurons, among the Algonquins on the upper St. Lawrence, or for
the enlargement of their accommodations at Quebec, the printing of a
catechism in the language of the aborigines, or if the foundations of a
college were to be laid for the education of the savages, his heart and
hand were ready for the work.
On the establishment of the Company of New France, or the Hundred
Associates, Protestants were entirely excluded. By its constitution no
Huguenots were allowed to settle within the domain of the company. If this
rule was not suggested by Champlain, it undoubtedly existed by his decided
and hearty concurrence. The mingling of Catholics and Huguenots in the
early history of the colony had brought with it numberless annoyances. By
sifting the wheat before it was sown, it was hoped to get rid of an
otherwise inevitable cause of irritation and trouble. The correctness of
the principle of Christian toleration was not admitted by the Roman church
then any more than it is now. Nor did the Protestants of that period
believe in it, or practise it, whenever they possessed the power to do
otherwise. Even the Puritans of Massachusetts Bay held that their charter
conferred upon them the right and power of exclusion. It was not easy, it
is true, to carry out this view by square legal enactment without coming
into conflict with the laws of England; but they were adroit and skilful,
endowed with a marvellous talent for finding some indirect method of laying
a heavy hand upon Friend or Churchman, or the more independent thinkers
among their own numbers, who desired to make their abode within the
precincts of the bay. In the earlier years of the colony at Quebec, when
Protestant and Catholic were there on equal terms, Champlain's religious
associations led him to swerve neither to the right hand nor to the left.
His administration was characterized by justice, firmness, and gentleness,
and was deservedly satisfactory to all parties.
In his later years, the little colony upon whose welfare and Christian
culture he had bestowed so much cheerful labor and anxious thought, became
every day more and more dear to his heart. Within the ample folds of his
charity were likewise encircled the numerous tribes of savages, spread over
the vast domains of New France. He earnestly desired that all of them, far
and near, friend and foe, might be instructed in the doctrines of the
Christian faith, and brought into willing and loving obedience to the
cross.
In its personal application to his own heart, the religion of Champlain was
distinguished by a natural and gradual progress. His warmth, tenderness,
and zeal grew deeper and stronger with advancing years. In his religious
life there was a clearly marked seed-time, growth, and ripening for the
harvest. After his return to Quebec, during the last three years of his
life, his time was especially systematized and appropriated for
intellectual and spiritual improvement. Some portion was given every
morning by himself and those who constituted his family to a course of
historical reading, and in the evening to the memoirs of the saintly dead
whose lives he regarded as suitable for the imitation of the living, and
each night for himself he devoted more or less time to private meditation
and prayer.
Such were the devout habits of Champlain's life in his later years. We are
not, therefore, surprised that the historian of Canada, twenty-five years
after his death, should place upon record the following concise but
comprehensive eulogy:--
"His surpassing love of justice, piety, fidelity to God, his king, and the
Society of New France, had always been conspicuous. But in his death he
gave such illustrious proofs of his goodness as to fill every one with
admiration." [117]
The reader of these memoirs has doubtless observed with surprise and
perhaps with disappointment, the readiness with which Champlain took part
in the wars of the savages. On his first visit to the valley of the St
Lawrence, he found the Indians dwelling on the northern shores of the river
and the lakes engaged in a deadly warfare with those on the southern, the
Iroquois tribes occupying the northern limits of the present State of New
York, generally known as the Five Nations. The hostile relations between
these savages were not of recent date. They reached back to a very early
but indefinite period. They may have existed for several centuries. When
Champlain planted his colony at Quebec, in 1608, he at once entered into
friendly relations with all the tribes which were his immediate neighbors.
This was eminently a suitable thing to do, and was, moreover, necessary for
his safety and protection.
But a permanent and effective alliance with these tribes carried with it of
necessity a solemn assurance of aid against their enemies. This Champlain
promptly promised without hesitation, and the next year he fulfilled his
promise by leading them to battle on the shores of Lake Champlain. At all
subsequent periods he regarded himself as committed to aid his allies in
their hostile expeditions against the Iroquois. In his printed journal, he
offers no apology for his conduct in this respect, nor does he intimate
that his views could be questioned either in morals or sound policy. He
rarely assigns any reason whatever for engaging in these wars. In one or
two instances he states that it seemed to him necessary to do so in order
to facilitate the discoveries which he wished to make, and that he hoped it
might in the end be the means of leading the savages to embrace
Christianity. But he nowhere enters upon a full discussion of this point.
It is enough to say, in explanation of this silence, that a private journal
like that published by Champlain, was not the place in which to foreshadow
a policy, especially as it might in the future be subject to change, and
its success might depend upon its being known only to those who had the
power to shape and direct it. But nevertheless the silence of Champlain has
doubtless led some historians to infer that he had no good reasons to give,
and unfavorable criticisms have been bestowed upon his conduct by those,
who did not understand the circumstances which influenced him, or the
motives which controlled his action.
The war-policy of Champlain was undoubtedly very plainly set forth in his
correspondence and interviews with the viceroys and several companies under
whose authority he acted. But these discussions, whether oral or written,
do not appear in general to have been preserved. Fortunately a single
document of this character is still extant, in which his views are clearly
unfolded. In Champlain's remarkable letter to Cardinal de Richelieu, which
we have introduced a few pages back, his policy is fully stated. It is
undoubtedly the same that he had acted upon from the beginning, and
explains the frankness and readiness with which, first and last, as a
faithful ally, he had professed himself willing to aid the friendly tribes
in their wars against the Iroquois. The object which he wished to
accomplish by this tribal war was, as fully stated in the letter to which
we have referred, first, to conquer the Iroquois or Five Nations; to
introduce peaceful relations between them and the other surrounding tribes;
and, secondly, to establish a grand alliance of all the savage tribes, far
and near, with the French. This could only be done in the order here
stated. No peace could be secured from the Iroquois, except by their
conquest, the utter breaking down of their power. They were not susceptible
to the influence of reason. They were implacable, and had been brutalized
by long-inherited habits of cruelty. In the total annihilation of their
power was the only hope of peace. This being accomplished, the surviving
remnant would, according to the usual custom among the Indians, readily
amalgamate with the victorious tribes, and then a general alliance with the
French could be easily secured. This was what Champlain wished to
accomplish. The pacification of all the tribes occupying both sides of the
St. Lawrence and the chain of northern lakes would place the whole domain
of the American continent, or as much of it as it would be desirable to
hold, under the easy and absolute control of the French nation.
Such a pacification as this would secure two objects; objects eminently
important, appealing strongly to all who desired the aggrandizement of
France and the progress and supremacy of the Catholic faith. It would
secure for ever to the French the fur-trade of the Indians, a commerce then
important and capable of vast expansion. The chief strength and resources
of the savages allied with the French, the Montagnais, Algonquins, and
Hurons, were at that period expended in their wars. On the cessation of
hostilities, their whole force would naturally and inevitably be given to
the chase. A grand field lay open to them for this exciting occupation. The
fur-bearing country embraced not only the region of the St. Lawrence and
the lakes, but the vast and unlimited expanse of territory stretching out
indefinitely in every direction. The whole northern half of the continent
of North America, filled with the most valuable fur-producing mammalia,
would be open to the enterprise of the French, and could not fail to pour
into their treasury an incredible amount of wealth. This Champlain was
far-sighted enough to see, and his patriotic zeal lead him to desire that
France should avail herself of this opportunity. [118]
But the conquest of the Iroquois would not only open to France the prospect
of exhaustless wealth, but it would render accessible a broad, extensive,
and inviting field of missionary labor. It would remove all external and
physical obstacles to the speedy transmission and offer of the Christian
faith to the numberless tribes that would thus be brought within their
reach.
The desire to bring about these two great ulterior purposes, the
augmentation of the commerce of France in the full development of the
fur-trade, and the gathering into the Catholic church the savage tribes of
the wilderness, explains the readiness with which, from the beginning,
Champlain encouraged his Indian allies and took part with them in their
wars against the Five Nations. In the very last year of his life, he
demanded of Richelieu the requisite military force to carry on this war,
reminding him that the cost would be trifling to his Majesty, while the
enterprise would be the most noble that could be imagined.
In regard to the domestic and social life of Champlain, scarcely any
documents remain that can throw light upon the subject. Of his parents we
have little information beyond that of their respectable calling and
standing. He was probably an only child, as no others are on any occasion
mentioned or referred to. He married, as we have seen, the daughter of the
Secretary of the King's Chamber, and his wife, Hélène Boullé, accompanied
him to Canada in 1620, where she remained four years. They do not appear to
have had children, as the names of none are found in the records at Quebec,
and, at his death, the only claimant as an heir, was a cousin, Marie
Cameret, who, in 1639, resided at Rochelle, and whose husband was Jacques
Hersant, controller of duties and imposts. After Champlain's decease, his
wife, Hélène Boullé, became a novice in an Ursuline convent in the faubourg
of St. Jacques in Paris. Subsequently, in 1648, she founded a religious
house of the same order in the city of Meaux, contributing for the purpose
the sum of twenty thousand livres and some part of the furnishing. She
entered the house that she had founded, as a nun, under the name of Sister
_Hélène de St. Augustin_, where, as the foundress, certain privileges were
granted to her, such as a superior quality of food for herself, exemption
from attendance upon some of the longer services, the reception into the
convent, on her recommendation, of a young maiden to be a nun of the choir,
with such pecuniary assistance as she might need, and the letters of her
brother, the Father Eustache Boullé, were to be exempted from the usual
inspection. She died at Meaux, on the 20th day of December, 1654, in the
convent which she had founded. [119]
As an explorer, Champlain was unsurpassed by any who visited the northern
coasts of America anterior to its permanent settlement. He was by nature
endowed with a love of useful adventure, and for the discovery of new
countries he had an insatiable thirst. It began with him as a child, and
was fresh and irrepressible in his latest years. Among the arts, he
assigned to navigation the highest importance. His broad appreciation of it
and his strong attachment to it, are finely stated in his own compact and
comprehensive description.
"Of all the most useful and excellent arts, that of navigation has always
seemed to me to occupy the first place. For the more hazardous it is, and
the more numerous the perils and losses by which it is attended, so much
the more is it esteemed and exalted above all others, being wholly unsuited
to the timid and irresolute. By this art we obtain a knowledge of different
countries, regions, and realms. By it we attract and bring to our own land
all kinds of riches; by it the idolatry of paganism is overthrown and
Christianity proclaimed throughout all the regions of the earth. This is
the art which won my love in my early years, and induced me to expose
myself almost all my life to the impetuous waves of the ocean, and led me
to explore the coasts of a part of America, especially those of New France,
where I have always desired to see the Lily flourish, together with the
only religion, catholic, apostolic, and Roman."
In addition to his natural love for discovery, Champlain had a combination
of other qualities which rendered his explorations pre-eminently valuable.
His interest did not vanish with seeing what was new. It was by no means a
mere fancy for simple sight-seeing. Restlessness and volatility did not
belong to his temperament. His investigations were never made as an end,
but always as a means. His undertakings in this direction were for the most
part shaped and colored by his Christian principle and his patriotic love
of France. Sometimes one and sometimes the other was more prominent.
His voyage to the West Indies was undertaken under a twofold impulse. It
gratified his love of exploration and brought back rare and valuable
information to France. Spain at that time did not open her island-ports to
the commerce of the world. She was drawing from them vast revenues in
pearls and the precious metals. It was her policy to keep this whole
domain, this rich archipelago, hermetically sealed, and any foreign vessel
approached at the risk of capture and confiscation. Champlain could not,
therefore, explore this region under a commission from France. He
accordingly sought and obtained permission to visit these Spanish
possessions under the authority of Spain herself. He entered and personally
examined all the important ports that surround and encircle the Caribbean
Sea, from the pearl-bearing Margarita on the south, Deseada on the east, to
Cuba on the west, together with the city of Mexico, and the Isthmus of
Panama on the mainland. As the fruit of these journeyings, he brought back
a report minute in description, rich in details, and luminous with
illustrations. This little brochure, from the circumstances attendant upon
its origin, is unsurpassed in historical importance by any similar or
competing document of that period. It must always remain of the highest
value as a trustworthy, original authority, without which it is probable
that the history of those islands, for that period, could not be accurately
and truthfully written.
Champlain was a pioneer in the exploration of the Atlantic coast of New
England and the eastern provinces of Canada, From the Strait of Canseau, at
the northeastern extremity of Nova Scotia, to the Vineyard Sound, on the
southern limits of Massachusetts, he made a thorough survey of the coast in
1605 and 1606, personally examining its most important harbors, bays, and
rivers, mounting its headlands, penetrating its forests, carefully
observing and elaborately describing its soil, its products, and its native
inhabitants. Besides lucid and definite descriptions of the coast, he
executed topographical drawings of numerous points of interest along our
shores, as Plymouth harbor, Nauset Bay, Stage Harbor at Chatham, Gloucester
Bay, the Bay of Baco, with the long stretch of Old Orchard Beach and its
interspersed islands, the mouth of the Kennebec, and as many more on the
coast of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. To these he added descriptions,
more or less definite, of the harbors of Barnstable, Wellfleet, Boston, of
the headland of Cape Anne, Merrimac Bay, the Isles of Shoals, Cape
Porpoise, Richmond's Island, Mount Desert, Isle Haute, Seguin, and the
numberless other islands that adorn the exquisite sea-coast of Maine, as
jewels that add a new lustre to the beauty of a peerless goddess.
Other navigators had coasted along our shores. Some of them had touched at
single points, of which they made meagre and unsatisfactory surveys.
Gosnold had, in 1602, discovered Savage Rock, but it was so indefinitely
located and described that it cannot even at this day be identified.
Resolving to make a settlement on one of the barren islands forming the
group named in honor of Queen Elizabeth and still bearing her name; after
some weeks spent in erecting a storehouse, and in collecting a cargo of
"furrs, skyns, saxafras, and other commodities," the project of a
settlement was abandoned and he returned to England, leaving, however, two
permanent memorials of his voyage, in the names which he gave respectively
to Martha's Vineyard and to the headland of Cape Cod.
Captain Martin Pring came to our shores in 1603, in search of a cargo of
sassafras. There are indications that he entered the Penobscot. He
afterward paid his respects to Savage Rock, the undefined _bonanza_ of his
predecessor. He soon found his desired cargo on the Vineyard Islands, and
hastily returned to England.
Captain George Weymouth, in 1605, was on the coast of Maine concurrently,
or nearly so, with Champlain, where he passed a month, explored a river,
set up a cross, and took possession of the country in the name of the king.
But where these transactions took place is still in dispute, so
indefinitely does his journalist describe them.
Captain John Smith, eight years later than Champlain, surveyed the coast of
New England while his men were collecting a cargo of furs and fish. He
wrote a description of it from memory, part or all of it while a prisoner
on board a French ship of war off Fayall, and executed a map, both
valuable, but nevertheless exceedingly indefinite and general in their
character.
These flying visits to our shores were not unimportant, and must not be
undervalued. They were necessary steps in the progress of the grand
historical events that followed. But they were meagre and hasty and
superficial, when compared to the careful, deliberate, extensive, and
thorough, not to say exhaustive, explorations made by Champlain.
In the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Cartier had preceded Champlain by a period of
more than sixty years. During this long, dreary half-century the stillness
of the primeval forest had not been disturbed by the woodman's axe. When
Champlain's eyes fell upon it, it was still the same wild, unfrequented,
unredeemed region that it had been to its first discoverer. The rivers,
bays, and islands described by Cartier were identified by Champlain, and
the names they had already received were permanently fixed by his added
authority. The whole gulf and river were re-examined and described anew in
his journal. The exploration of the Richelieu and of Lake Champlain was
pushed into the interior three hundred miles from his base at Quebec. It
reached into a wilderness and along gentle waters never before seen by any
civilized race. It was at once fascinating and hazardous, environed as it
was by vigilant and ferocious savages, who guarded its gates with the
sleepless watchfulness of the fabled Cerberus.
The courage, endurance, and heroism of Champlain were tested in the still
greater-exploration of 1615. It extended from Montreal, the whole length of
the Ottawa, to Lake Nipissing, the Georgian Bay, Simcoe, the system of
small lakes on the south, across the Ontario, and finally ending in the
interior of the State of New York, a journey through tangled forests and
broken water-courses of more than a thousand miles, occupying nearly a
year, executed in the face of physical suffering and hardship before which
a nature less intrepid and determined, less loyal to his great purpose,
less generous and unselfish, would have yielded at the outset. These
journeys into the interior, along the courses of navigable rivers and
lakes, and through the primitive forests, laid open to the knowledge of the
French a domain vast and indefinite in extent, on which an empire broader
and far richer in resources than the old Gallic France might have been
successfully reared.
The personal explorations of Champlain in the West Indies, on the Atlantic
coast, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in the State of New York and of
Vermont, and among the lakes in Canada and those that divide the Dominion
from the United States, including the full, explicit, and detailed journals
which he wrote concerning them, place Champlain undeniably not merely in
the front rank, but at the head of the long list of explorers and
navigators, who early visited this part of the continent of North America.
Champlain's literary labors are interesting and important. They were not
professional, but incidental, and the natural outgrowth of the career to
which he devoted his life. He had the sagacity to see that the fields which
he entered as an explorer were new and important, that the aspect of every
thing which he then saw would, under the influence and progress of
civilization, soon be changed, and that it was historically important that
a portrait Sketched by an eyewitness should be handed down to other
generations. It was likewise necessary for the immediate and successful
planting of colonies, that those who engaged in the undertaking should have
before them full information of all the conditions on which they were to
build their hopes of final success.
Inspired by such motives as these, Champlain wrote out an accurate journal
of the events that transpired about him, of what he personally saw, and of
the observations of others, authenticated by the best tests which, under
the circumstances, he was able to apply. His natural endowments for this
work were of the highest order. As an observer he was sagacious,
discriminating, and careful. His judgment was cool, comprehensive, and
judicious. His style is in general clear, logical, and compact. His
acquired ability was not, however, extraordinary. He was a scholar neither
by education nor by profession. His life was too full of active duties, or
too remote from the centres of knowledge for acquisitions in the
departments of elegant and refined learning. The period in which he lived
was little distinguished for literary culture. A more brilliant day was
approaching, but it had not yet appeared. The French language was still
crude and unpolished. It had not been disciplined and moulded into the
excellence to which it soon after arose in the reign of Louis XIV. We
cannot in reason look for a grace, refinement, and flexibility which the
French language had not at that time generally attained. But it is easy to
see under the rude, antique, and now obsolete forms which characterize
Champlain's narratives, the elements of a style which, under, early
discipline, nicer culture, and a richer vocabulary, might have made it a
model for all times. There are, here and there, some involved, unfinished,
and obscure passages, which seem, indeed, to be the offspring of haste, or
perhaps of careless and inadequate proof-reading. But in general his style
is without ornament, simple, dignified, concise, and clear. While he was
not a diffusive writer, his works are by no means limited in extent, as
they occupy in the late erudite Laverdière's edition, six quarto volumes,
containing fourteen hundred pages. In them are three large maps,
delineating the whole northeastern part of the continent, executed with
great care and labor by his own hand, together with numerous local
drawings, picturing not only bays and harbors, Indian canoes, wigwams, and
fortresses, but several battle scenes, conveying a clear idea, not possible
by a mere verbal description, of the savage implements and mode of warfare.
[120] His works include, likewise, a treatise on navigation, full of
excellent suggestions to the practical seaman of that day, drawn from his
own experience, stretching over a period of more than forty years.
The Voyages of Champlain, as an authority, must always stand in the front
rank. In trustworthiness, in richness and fullness of detail, they have no
competitor in the field of which they treat. His observations upon the
character, manners, customs, habits, and utensils of the aborigines, were
made before they were modified or influenced in their mode of life by
European civilization. The intercourse of the strolling fur-trader and
fishermen with them was so infrequent and brief at that early period, that
it made upon them little or no impression. Champlain consequently pictures
the Indian in his original, primeval simplicity. This will always give to
his narratives, in the eye of the historian, the ethnologist, and the
antiquary, a peculiar and pre-eminent importance. The result of personal
observation, eminently truthful and accurate, their testimony must in all
future time be incomparably the best that can be obtained relating to the
aborigines on this part of the American continent.
In completing this memoir, the reader can hardly fail to be impressed, not
to say disappointed, by the fact that results apparently insignificant
should thus far have followed a life of able, honest, unselfish, heroic
labor. The colony was still small in numbers, the acres subdued and brought
into cultivation were few, and the aggregate yearly products were meagre.
But it is to be observed that the productiveness of capital and labor and
talent, two hundred and seventy years ago, cannot well be compared with the
standards of to-day. Moreover, the results of Champlain's career are
insignificant rather in appearance than in reality. The work which he did
was in laying foundations, while the superstructure was to be reared in
other years and by other hands. The palace or temple, by its lofty and
majestic proportions, attracts the eye and gratifies the taste; but its
unseen foundations, with their nicely adjusted arches, without which the
superstructure would crumble to atoms, are not less the result of the
profound knowledge and practical wisdom of the architect. The explorations
made by Champlain early and late, the organization and planting of his
colonies, the resistance of avaricious corporations, the holding of
numerous savage tribes in friendly alliance, the daily administration of
the affairs of the colony, of the savages, and of the corporation in
France, to the eminent satisfaction of all generous and noble-minded
patrons, and this for a period of more than thirty years, are proofs of an
extraordinary combination of mental and moral qualities. Without
impulsiveness, his warm and tender sympathies imparted to him an unusual
power and influence over other men. He was wise, modest, and judicious in
council, prompt, vigorous, and practical in administration, simple and
frugal in his mode of life, persistent and unyielding in the execution of
his plans, brave and valiant in danger, unselfish, honest, and
conscientious in the discharge of duty. These qualities, rare in
combination, were always conspicuous in Champlain, and justly entitle him
to the respect and admiration of mankind.
ENDNOTES:
117. _Vide Creuxius, Historia Canadensis_, pp 183, 184.
118. The justness of Champlain's conception of the value of the fur-trade
has been verified by its subsequent history. The Hudson's Bay Company
was organized for the purpose of carrying on this trade, under a
charter granted by Charles II., in 1670. A part of the trade has at
times been conducted by other associations. But this company is still
in active and rigorous operation. Its capital is $10,000,000. At its
reorganization in 1863, it was estimated that it would yield a net
annual income, to be divided among the corporators, of $400,000. It
employs twelve hundred servants beside its chief factors. It is easy
to see what a vast amount of wealth in the shape of furs and peltry
has been pouring into the European markets, for more than two hundred
years, from this fur bearing region, and the sources of this wealth
are probably little, if in any degree, diminished.
119. _Vide Documents inédits sur Samuel de Champlain_, par Étienne
Charavay, archiviste-paléographe, Paris, 1875.
120. The later sketches made by Champlain are greatly superior to those
which he executed to illustrate his voyage in the West Indies. They
are not only accurate, but some of them are skilfully done, and not
only do no discredit to an amateur, but discover marks of artistic
taste and skill.
ANNOTATIONES POSTSCRIPTAE
EUSTACHE BOULLÉ. A brother-in-law of Champlain, who made his first visit to
Canada in 1618. He was an active assistant of Champlain, and in 1625 was
named his lieutenant. He continued there until the taking of Quebec by the
English in 1629. He subsequently took holy orders.--_Vide Doc. inédits sur
Samuel de Champlain_, par Étienne Charavay. Paris, 1875, p. 8.
PONT GRAVÉ. The whole career of this distinguished merchant was closely
associated with Canadian trade. He was in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in the
interest of Chauvin, in 1599. He commanded the expedition sent out by De
Chaste in 1603, when Champlain made his first exploration of the River St.
Lawrence. He was intrusted with the chief management of the trade carried
on with the Indians by the various companies and viceroys under Champlain's
lieutenancy until the removal of the colony by the English, when his active
life was closed by the infirmities of age. He was always a warm and trusted
friend of Champlain, who sought his counsel on all occasions of importance.
THE BIRTH OF CHAMPLAIN. All efforts to fix the exact date of his birth have
been unsuccessful. M. De Richemond, author of a _Biographie de la Charente
Inférieure_, instituted most careful searches, particularly with the hope
of finding a record of his baptism. The records of the parish of Brouage
extend back only to August 11, 1615. The duplicates, deposited at the
office of the civil tribunal of Marennes anterior to this date, were
destroyed by fire.--_MS. letter of M. De Richemond, Archivist of the Dep.
of Charente Inférieure_, La Rochelle, July 17, 1875.
MARC LESCARBOT. We have cited the authority of this writer in this work on
many occasions. He was born at Vervins, perhaps about 1585. He became an
advocate, and a resident of Paris, and, according to Larousse, died in
1630. He came to America in 1606, and passed the winter of that year at the
French settlement near the present site of Lower Granville, on the western
bank of Annapolis Basin in Nova Scotia. In the spring of 1607 he crossed
the Bay of Fundy, entered the harbor of St. John, N. B., and extended his
voyage as far as De Monts's Island in the River St. Croix. He returned to
France that same year, on the breaking up of De Monts's colony. He was the
author of the following works: _Histoire de la Nouvelle France_, 1609; _Les
Muses de la Nouvelle France; Tableau de la Suisse, auquel sont décrites les
Singularites des Alpes_, Paris, 1618; _La Chasse aux Anglais dans l'isle de
Rhé et au Siége de la Rochelle, et la Réduction de cette Ville en 1628_,
Paris, 1629.
PLYMOUTH HARBOR. This note will modify our remarks on p. 78, Vol. II.
Champlain entered this harbor on the 18th of July, 1605, and, lingering but
a single day, sailed out of it on the 19th. He named it _Port St. Louis_,
or _Port du Cap St. Louis_.--_Vide antea_, pp. 53, 54; Vol. II., pp. 76-78.
As the fruit of his brief stay in the harbor of Plymouth, he made an
outline sketch of the bay which preserves most of its important features.
He delineates what is now called on our Coast Survey maps _Long Beach_ and
_Duxbury Beach_. At the southern extremity of the latter is the headland
known as the _Gurnet_. Within the bay he figures two islands, of which he
speaks also in the text. These two islands are mentioned in Mourt's
Relation, printed in 1622.--_Vide Dexter's ed._ p. 60. They are also
figured on an old map of the date of 1616, found by J. R. Brodhead in the
Royal Archives at the Hague; likewise on a map by Lucini, without date,
but, as it has Boston on it, it must have been executed after 1630. These
maps may be found in _Doc. His. of the State of New York_, Vol. I.;
_Documents relating to the Colonial His. of the State of New York_, Vol.
I., p. 13. The reader will find these islands likewise indicated on the map
of William Wood, entitled _The South part of New-England, as it is Planted
this yeare, 1634_.--_Vide New England Prospect_, Prince Society ed. They
appear also on Blaskowitz's "Plan of Plimouth," 1774.--_Vide Changes in the
Harbor of Plymouth_, by Prof. Henry Mitchell, Chief of Physical
Hydrography, U. S. Coast Survey, Report of 1876, Appendix No. 9. In the
collections of the Mass. Historical Society for 1793, Vol. II., in an
article entitled _A Topographical Description of Duxborough_, but without
the author's name, the writer speaks of two pleasant islands within the
harbor, and adds that Saquish was joined to the Gurnet by a narrow piece of
land, but for several years the water had made its way across and
_insulated_ it.
From the early maps to which we have referred, and the foregoing citations,
it appears that there were two islands in the harbor of Plymouth from the
time of Champlain till about the beginning of the present century. A
careful collation of Champlain's map of the harbor with the recent Coast
Survey Charts will render it evident that one of these islands thus figured
by Champlain, and by others later, is Saquish Head; that since his time a
sand-bank has been thrown up and now become permanent, connecting it with
the Gurnet by what is now called Saquish Neck. Prof. Mitchell, in the work
already cited, reports that there are now four fathoms less of water in the
deeper portion of the roadstead than when Champlain explored the harbor in
1605. There must, therefore, have been an enormous deposit of sand to
produce this result, and this accounts for the neck of sand which has been
thrown up and become fixed or permanent, now connecting Saquish Head with
the Gurnet.
MOUNT DESERT. This island was discovered on the fifth day of September,
1604. Champlain having been comissioned by Sieur De Monts, the Patentee of
La Cadie, to make discoveries on the coast southwest of the Saint Croix,
left the mouth of that river in a small barque of seventeen or eighteen
tons, with twelve sailors and two savages as guides, and anchored the same
evening, apparently near Bar Harbor. While here, they explored Frenchman's
Bay as far on the north as the Narrows, where Champlain says the distance
across to the mainland is not more than a hundred paces. The next day, on
the sixth of the month, they sailed two leagues, and came to Otter Creek
Cove, which extends up into the island a mile or more, nestling between the
spurs of Newport Mountain on the east and Green Mountain on the west.
Champlain says this cove is "at the foot of the mountains," which clearly
identifies it, as it is the only one in the neighborhood answering to this
description. In this cove they discovered several savages, who had come
there to hunt beavers and to fish. On a visit to Otter Cove Cliffs in June,
1880, we were told by an old fisherman ninety years of age, living on the
borders of this cove, and the statement was confirmed by several others,
that on the creek at the head of the cove, there was, within his memory, a
well-known beaver dam.
The Indians whose acquaintance Champlain made at this place conducted him
among the islands, to the mouth of the Penobscot, and finally up the river,
to the site of the present city of Bangor. It was on this visit, on the
fifth of September, 1604, that Champlain gave the island the name of
_Monts-déserts_. The French generally gave to places names that were
significant. In this instance they did not depart from their usual custom.
The summits of most of the mountains on this island, then as now, were only
rocks, being destitute of trees, and this led Champlain to give its
significant name, which, in plain English, means the island of the desert,
waste, or uncultivatable mountains. If we follow the analogy of the
language, either French or English, it should be pronounced with the accent
on the penult, Mount Désert, and not on the last syllable, as we sometimes
hear it. This principle cannot be violated without giving to the word a
meaning which, in this connection, would be obviously inappropriate and
absurd.
CARTE DE LA NOUVELLE FRANCE, 1632. As the map of 1632 has often been
referred to in this work, we have introduced into this volume a heliotype
copy. The original was published in the year of its date, but it had been
completed before Champlain left Quebec in 1629. The reader will bear in
mind that it was made from Champlain's personal explorations, and from such
other information as could be obtained from the meagre sources which
existed at that early period, and not from any accurate or scientific
surveys. The information which he obtained from others was derived from
more or less doubtful sources, coming as it did from fishermen,
fur-traders, and the native inhabitants. The two former undoubtedly
constructed, from time to time, rude maps of the coast for their own use.
From these Champlain probably obtained valuable hints, and he was thus able
to supplement his own knowledge of the regions with which he was least
familiar on the Atlantic coast and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Beyond the
limits of his personal explorations on the west, his information was wholly
derived from the savages. No European had penetrated into those regions, if
we except his servant, Étienne Brûlé, whose descriptions could have been of
very little service. The deficiencies of Champlain's map are here
accordingly most apparent. Rivers and lakes farther west than the Georgian
Bay, and south of it, are sometimes laid down where none exist, and, again,
where they do exist, none are portrayed. The outline of Lake Huron, for
illustration, was entirely misconceived. A river-like line only of water
represents Lake Erie, while Lake Michigan does not appear at all.
The delineation of Hudson's Bay was evidently taken from the TABULA NAUTICA
of Henry Hudson, as we have shown in Note 297, Vol. II., to which the
reader is referred.
It will be observed that there is no recognition on the map of any English
settlement within the limits of New England. In 1629, when the _Carte de la
Nouvelle France_ was completed, an English colony had been planted at
Plymouth, Mass., nine years, and another at Piscataqua, or Portsmouth, N.
H., six years. The Rev. William Blaxton had been for several years in
occupation of the peninsula of Shawmut, or Boston. Salem had also been
settled one or two years. These last two may not, it is true, have come to
Champlain's knowledge. But none of these settlements are laid down on the
map. The reason of these omissions is obvious. The whole territory from at
least the 40th degree of north latitude, stretching indefinitely to the
north, was claimed by the French. As possession was, at that day, the most
potent argument for the justice of a territorial claim, the recognition, on
a French map, of these English settlements, would have been an indiscretion
which the wise and prudent Champlain would not be likely to commit.
There is, however, a distinct recognition of an English settlement farther
south. Cape Charles and Cape Henry appear at the entrance of Chesapeake
Bay. Virginia is inscribed in its proper place, while Jamestown and Point
Comfort are referred to by numbers.
On the borders of the map numerous fish belonging to these waters are
figured, together with several vessels of different sizes and in different
attitudes, thus preserving their form and structure at that period. The
degrees of latitude and longitude are numerically indicated, which are
convenient for the references found in Champlain's journals, but are
necessarily too inaccurate to be otherwise useful. But notwithstanding its
defects, when we take into account the limited means at his command, the
difficulties which he had to encounter, the vast region which it covers,
this map must be regarded as an extraordinary achievement. It is by far the
most accurate in outline, and the most finished in detail, of any that had
been attempted of this region anterior to this date.
THE PORTRAITS OF CHAMPLAIN.--Three engraved portraits of Champlain have
come to our knowledge. All of them appear to have been after an original
engraved portrait by Balthazar Moncornet. This artist was born in Rouen
about 1615, and died not earlier than 1670. He practised his art in Paris,
where he kept a shop for the sale of prints. Though not eminently
distinguished as a skilful artist, he nevertheless left many works,
particularly a great number of portraits. As he had not arrived at the age
of manhood when Champlain died, his engraving of him was probably executed
about fifteen or twenty years after that event. At that time Madame
Champlain, his widow, was still living, as likewise many of Champlaln's
intimate friends. From some of them it is probable Moncornet obtained a
sketch or portrait, from which his engraving was made.
Of the portraits of Champlain which we have seen, we may mention first that
in Laverdière's edition of his works. This is a half-length, with long,
curling hair, moustache and imperial. The sleeves of the close-fitting coat
are slashed, and around the neck is the broad linen collar of the period,
fastened in front with cord and tassels. On the left, in the background, is
the promontory of Quebec, with the representation of several turreted
buildings both in the upper and lower town. On the border of the oval,
which incloses the subject, is the legend, _Moncornet Ex c. p._ The
engraving is coarsely executed, apparently on copper. It is alleged to have
been taken from an original Moncornet in France. Our inquiries as to where
the original then was, or in whose possession it then was or is now, have
been unsuccessful. No original, when inquiries were made by Dr. Otis, a
short time since, was found to exist in the department of prints in the
Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.
Another portrait of Champlain is found in Shea's translation of
Charlevoix's History of New France. This was taken from the portrait of
Champlain, which, with that of Cartier, Montcalm, Wolfe, and others, adorns
the walls of the reception room of the Speaker of the House of Commons, in
the Parliament House at Ottawa, in Canada, which was painted by Thomas
Hamel, from a copy of Moncornet's engraving obtained in France by the late
M. Faribault. From the costume and general features, it appears to be after
the same as that contained in Laverdière's edition of Champlain's works, to
which we have already referred. The artist has given it a youthful
appearance, which suggests that the original sketch was made many years
before Champlain's death. We are indebted to the politeness of Dr. Shea for
the copies which accompany this work.
A third portrait of Champlain may be found in L'Histoire de France, par M.
Guizot, Paris, 1876, Vol. v. p. 149. The inscription reads: "CHAMPLAIN
[SAMUEL DE], d'après un portrait gravé par Moncornet." It is engraved on
wood by E. Ronjat, and represents the subject in the advanced years of his
life. In position, costume, and accessories it is widely different from the
others, and Moncornet must have left more than one engraving of Champlain,
or we must conclude that the modern artists have taken extraordinary
liberties with their subject. The features are strong, spirited, and
characteristic. A heliotype copy accompanies this volume.
PREFACE TO THE TRANSLATION.
The journals of Champlain, commonly called his Voyages, were written and
published by him at intervals from 1603 to 1632. The first volume was
printed in 1603, and entitled,--
1. _Des Sauuages, ou, Voyage de Samuel Champlain, de Brouage, faict en la
France Nouuelle, l'an mil six cens trois. A Paris, chez Claude de
Monstr'oeil, tenant sa boutique en la Cour du Palais, au nom de Jesus.
1604. Auec privilege du Roy_. 12mo. 4 preliminary leaves. Text 36 leaves.
The title-page contains also a sub-title, enumerating in detail the
subjects treated of in the work. Another copy with slight verbal changes
has no date on the title-page, but in both the "privilège" is dated
November 15, 1603. The copies which we have used are in the Library of
Harvard College, and in that of Mrs. John Carter Brown, of Providence, R.
I.
An English translation of this issue is contained in _Purchas his
Pilgrimes_. London, 1625, vol. iv., pp. 1605-1619.
The next publication appeared in 1613, with the following title:--
2. _Les Voyages du Sieur de Champlain Xaintongeois, Capitaine ordinaire
pour le Roy, en la marine. Divisez en deux livres. ou, journal tres-fidele
des observations faites és descouuertures de la Nouuelle France: tant en la
description des terres, costes, riuieres, ports, haures, leurs hauteurs, &
plusieurs delinaisons de la guide-aymant; qu'en la creance des peuples,
leur superslition, façon de viure & de guerroyer: enrichi de quantité de
figures, A Paris, chez Jean Berjon, rue S. Jean de Beauuais, au Cheual
volant, & en sa boutique au Palais, à la gallerie des prisonniers.
M.DC.XIII. Avec privilege dv Roy_. 4to. 10 preliminary leaves. Text, 325
pages; table 5 pp. One large folding map. One small map. 22 plates. The
title-page contains, in addition, a sub-title in regard to the two maps.
The above-mentioned volume contains, also, the Fourth Voyage, bound in at
the end, with the following title:--
_Qvatriesme Voyage du Sr de Champlain Capitaine ordinaire povr le Roy en la
marine, & Lieutenant de Monseigneur le Prince de Condé en la Nouuelle
France, fait en l'année_ 1613. 52 pages. Whether this was also issued as a
separate work, we are not informed.
The copy of this publication of 1613 which we have used is in the Library
of Harvard College.
The next publication of Champlain was in 1619. There was a re-issue of the
same in 1620 and likewise in 1627. The title of the last-mentioned issue is
as follows:--
3. _Voyages et Descovvertures faites en la Novvelle France, depuis l'année
1615. iusques à la fin de l'année 1618. Par le Sieur de Champlain,
Cappitaine ordinaire pour le Roy en la Mer du Ponant. Seconde Edition. A
Paris, chez Clavde Collet, au Palais, en la gallerie des Prisonniers.
M.D.C.XXVII. Avec privilege dv Roy_. 12mo. 8 preliminary leaves. Text 158
leaves, 6 plates. The title-page contains, in addition, a sub-title, giving
an outline of the contents. The edition of 1627, belonging to the Library
of Harvard College, contains likewise an illuminated title-page, which we
here give in heliotype. As this illuminated title-page bears the date of
1619, it was probably that of the original edition of that date.
The next and last publication of Champlain was issued in 1632, with the
following title:--
4. _Les Voyages de la Novvelle France occidentale, dicte Canada, faits par
le Sr de Champlain Xainctongeois, Capitaine pour le Roy en la Marine du
Ponant, & toutes les Descouuertes qu'il a faites en ce païs depuis l'an
1603, iusques en l'an 1629. Où se voit comme ce pays a esté premierement
descouuert par les François, sous l'authorité de nos Roys tres-Chrestiens,
iusques au regne de sa Majesté à present regnante Louis XIII. Roy de France
& de Navarre. A Paris. Chez Clavde Collet au Palais, en la Gallerie des
Prisonniers, à l'Estoille d'Or. M.DC.XXXII. Avec Privilege du Roy_.
There is also a long sub-title, with a statement that the volume contains
what occurred in New France in 1631. The volume is dedicated to Cardinal
Richelieu. 4to. 16 preliminary pages. Text 308 pages. 6 plates, which are
the same as those in the edition of 1619. "Seconde Partie," 310 pages. One
large general map; table explanatory of map, 8 pages. "Traitté de la
Marine," 54 pages. 2 plates. "Doctrine Chrestienne" and "L'Oraison
Dominicale," 20 pages. Another copy gives the name of Sevestre as
publisher, and another that of Pierre Le Mvr.
The publication of 1632 is stated by Laverdière to have been reissued in
1640, with a new title and date, but without further changes. This,
however, is not found in the National Library at Paris, which contains all
the other editions and issues. The copies of the edition of 1632 which we
have consulted are in the Harvard College Library and in the Boston
Athenaeum.
It is of importance to refer, as we have done, to the particular copy used,
for it appears to have been the custom in the case of books printed as
early as the above, to keep the type standing, and print issues at
intervals, sometimes without any change in the title-page or date, and yet
with alterations to some extent in the text. For instance, the copy of the
publication of 1613 in the Harvard College Library differs from that in
Mrs. Brown's Library, at Providence, in minor points, and particularly in
reference to some changes in the small map. The same is true of the
publication of 1603. The variations are probably in part owing to the lack
of uniformity in spelling at that period.
None of Champlain's works had been reprinted until 1830, when there
appeared, in two volumes, a reprint of the publication of 1632, "at the
expense of the government, in order to give work to printers." Since then
there has been published the elaborate work, with extensive annotations, of
the Abbé Laverdière, as follows:--
OEUVRES DE CHAMPLAIN, PUBLIÉES SOUS LE PATRONAGE DE L'UNIVERSITÉ LAVAL. PAR
L'ABBÉ C. H. LAVERDIÈRE, M. A. SECONDE ÉDITION. 6 TOMES. 4TO. QUÉBEC:
IMPRIMÉ AU SÉMINAIRE PAR GEO. E. DESBARATS. 1870.
This contains all the works of Champlain above mentioned, and the text is a
faithful reprint from the early Paris editions. It includes, in addition to
this, Champlain's narrative of his voyage to the West Indies, in 1598, of
which the following is the title:--
_Brief Discovrs des choses plvs remarqvables qve Sammvel Champlain de
Brovage a reconneues aux Indes Occidentalles au voiage qu'il en a faict en
icelles en l'année mil v[c] iiij.[xx].xix. & en l'année mil vj[c] i. comme
ensuit_.
This had never before been published in French, although a translation of
it had been issued by the Hakluyt Society in 1859. The _MS_. is the only
one of Champlain's known to exist, excepting a letter to Richelieu,
published by Laverdière among the "Pièces Justificatives." When used by
Laverdière it was in the possession of M. Féret, of Dieppe, but has since
been advertised for sale by the Paris booksellers, Maisonneuve & Co., at
the price of 15,000 francs, and is now in the possession of M. Pinart.
The volume printed in 1632 has been frequently compared with that of 1613,
as if the former were merely a second edition of the latter. But this
conveys an erroneous idea of the relation between the two. In the first
place, the volume of 1632 contains what is not given in any of the previous
publications of Champlain. That is, it extends his narrative over the
period from 1620 to 1632. It likewise goes over the same ground that is
covered not only by the volume of 1613, but also by the other still later
publications of Champlain, up to 1620. It includes, moreover, a treatise on
navigation. In the second place, it is an abridgment, and not a second
edition in any proper sense. It omits for the most part personal details
and descriptions of the manners and customs of the Indians, so that very
much that is essential to the full comprehension of Champlain's work as an
observer and explorer is gone. Moreover, there seems a to be some internal
evidence indicating that this abridgment was not made by Champlain himself,
and Laverdière suggests that the work has been tampered with by another
hand. Thus, all favorable allusions to the Récollets, to whom Champlain was
friendly, are modified or expunged, while the Jesuits are made to appear in
a prominent and favorable light. This question has been specially
considered by Laverdière in his introduction to the issue of 1632, to which
the reader is referred.
The language used by Champlain is essentially the classic French of the
time of Henry IV. The dialect or patois of Saintonge, his native province,
was probably understood and spoken by him; but we have not discovered any
influence of it in his writings, either in respect to idiom or vocabulary.
An occasional appearance at court, and his constant official intercourse
with public men of prominence at Paris and elsewhere, rendered necessary
strict attention to the language he used.
But though using in general the language of court and literature, he
offends not unfrequently against the rules of grammar and logical
arrangement. Probably his busy career did not allow him to read, much less
study, at least in reference to their style, such masterpieces of
literature as the "Essais" of Montaigne, the translations of Amyot, or the
"Histoire Universelle" of D'Aubigné. The voyages of Cartier he undoubtedly
read; but, although superior in point of literary merit to Champlaih's
writings, they were, by no-means without their blemishes, nor were they
worthy of being compared with the classical authors to which we have
alluded. But Champlain's discourse is so straightforward, and the thought
so simple and clear, that the meaning is seldom obscure, and his occasional
violations of grammar and looseness of style are quite pardonable in one
whose occupations left him little time for correction and revision. Indeed,
one rather wonders that the unpretending explorer writes so well. It is the
thought, not the words, which occupies his attention. Sometimes, after
beginning a period which runs on longer than usual, his interest in what he
has to narrate seems so completely to occupy him that he forgets the way in
which he commenced, and concludes in a manner not in logical accordance
with the beginning. We subjoin a passage or two illustrative of his
inadvertencies in respect to language. They are from his narrative of the
voyage of 1603, and the text of the Paris edition is followed:
1. "Au dit bout du lac, il y a des peuples qui sont cabannez, puis on entre
dans trois autres riuieres, quelques trois ou quatre iournees dans chacune,
où au bout desdites riuieres, il y a deux ou trois manières de lacs, d'où
prend la source du Saguenay." Chap. iv.
2. "Cedit iour rengeant tousiours ladite coste du Nort, iusques à vn lieu
où nous relachasmes pour les vents qui nous estoient contraires, où il y
auoit force rochers & lieux fort dangereux, nous feusmes trois iours en
attendant le beau temps" Chap. v.
3. "Ce seroit vn grand bien qui pourrait trouuer à la coste de la Floride
quelque passage qui allast donner proche du & susdit grand lac." Chap. x.
4. "lesquelles [riuieres] vont dans les terres, où le pays y est tres-bon &
fertille, & de fort bons ports." Chap. x.
5. "Il y a aussi vne autre petite riuiere qui va tomber comme à moitié
chemin de celle par où reuint ledict sieur Preuert, où sont comme deux
manières de lacs en ceste-dicte riuiere." Chap. xii.
The following passages are taken at random from the voyages of 1604-10, as
illustrative of Champlain's style in general:
1. Explorations in the Bay of Fundy, Voyage of 1604-8. "De la riuiere
sainct Iean nous fusmes à quatre isles, en l'vne desquelles nous mismes
pied à terre, & y trouuasmes grande quantité d'oiseaux appeliez Margos,
don't nous prismes force petits, qui sont aussi bons que pigeonneaux. Le
sieur de Poitrincourt s'y pensa esgarer: Mais en fin il reuint à nostre
barque comme nous l'allions cerchant autour de isle, qui est esloignee de
la terre ferme trois lieues." Chap iii.
2. Explorations in the Vineyard Sound. Voyage of 1604-8. "Comme nous eusmes
fait quelques six ou sept lieues nous eusmes cognoissance d'vne isle que
nous nommasmes la soupçonneuse, pour auoir eu plusieurs fois croyance de
loing que ce fut autre chose qu'vne isle, puis le vent nous vint contraire,
qui nous fit relascher au lieu d'où nous estions partis, auquel nous fusmes
deux on trois jours sans que durant ce temps il vint aucun sauuage se
presenter à nous." Chap. xv.
3. Fight with the Indians on the Richelieu. Voyage of 1610.
"Les Yroquois s'estonnoient du bruit de nos arquebuses, & principalement de
ce que les balles persoient mieux que leurs flesches; & eurent tellement
l'espouuante de l'effet qu'elles faisoient, voyant plusieurs de leurs
compaignons tombez morts, & blessez, que de crainte qu'ils auoient, croyans
ces coups estre sans remede ils se iettoient par terre, quand ils
entendoient le bruit: aussi ne tirions gueres à faute, & deux ou trois
balles à chacun coup, & auios la pluspart du temps nos arquebuses appuyees
sur le bord de leur barricade." Chap. ii.
The following words, found in the writings of Champlain, are to be noted as
used by him in a sense different from the ordinary one, or as not found in
the dictionaries. They occur in the voyages of 1603 and 1604-11. The
numbers refer to the continuous pagination in the Quebec edition:
_appoil_, 159. A species of duck. (?)
_catalougue_, 266. A cloth used for wrapping up a dead body. Cf. Spanish
_catalogo_.
_déserter_, 211, _et passim_. In the sense of to clear up a new country by
removing the trees, &c.
_esplan_, 166. A small fish, like the _équille_ of Normandy.
_estaire_, 250. A kind of mat. Cf. Spanish _estera_.
_fleurir_, 247. To break or foam, spoken of the waves of the sea.
_legueux_, 190. Watery.(?) Or for _ligneux_, fibrous.(?)
_marmette_, 159. A kind of sea-bird.
_Matachias_, 75, _et passim_. Indian word for strings of beads, used to
ornament the person.
_papesi_, 381. Name of one of the sails of a vessel.
_petunoir_, 79. Pipe for smoking.
_Pilotua_, 82, _et passim_. Word used by the Indians for soothsayer or
medicine-man.
_souler_, 252. In sense of, to be wont, accustomed.
_truitière_, 264. Trout-brook.
The first and main aim of the translator has been to give the exact sense
of the original, and he has endeavored also to reproduce as far as possible
the spirit and tone of Champlain's narrative. The important requisite in a
translation, that it should be pure and idiomatic English, without any
transfer of the mode of expression peculiar to the foreign language, has
not, it is hoped, been violated, at least to any great extent. If,
perchance, a French term or usage has been transferred to the translation,
it is because it has seemed that the sense or spirit would be better
conveyed in this way. At best, a translation comes short of the original,
and it is perhaps pardonable at times to admit a foreign term, if by this
means the sense or style seems to be better preserved. It is hoped that the
present work has been done so as to satisfy the demands of the historian,
who may find it convenient to use it in his investigations.
C. P. O.
BOSTON, June 17, 1880
THE SAVAGES
OR VOYAGE OF
SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN
OF BROUAGE,
Made in New France in the year 1603.
DESCRIBING,
The customs, mode of life, marriages, wars, and dwellings of the Savages of
Canada. Discoveries for more than four hundred and fifty leagues in the
country. The tribes, animals, rivers, lakes, islands, lands, trees, and
fruits found there. Discoveries on the coast of La Cadie, and numerous
mines existing there according to the report of the Savages.
PARIS.
Claude de Monstr'oeil, having his store in the Court of the Palace, under
the name of Jesus.
WITH AUTHORITY OF THE KING.
DEDICATION.
To the very noble, high and powerful Lord Charles De Montmorency, Chevalier
of the Orders of the King, Lord of Ampuille and of Meru, Count of
Secondigny, Viscount of Melun, Baron of Chateauneuf and of Gonnort, Admiral
of France and of Brittany.
_My Lord,
Although many have written about the country of Canada, I have nevertheless
been unwilling to rest satisfied with their report, and have visited these
regions expressly in order to be able to render a faithful testimony to the
truth, which you will see, if it be your pleasure, in the brief narrative
which I address to you, and which I beg you may find agreeable, and I pray
God for your ever increasing greatness and prosperity, my Lord, and shall
remain all my life,
Your most humble
and obedient servant,
S. CHAMPLAIN_.
EXTRACT FROM THE LICENSE
By license of the King, given at Paris on the 15th of November, 1603,
signed Brigard.
Permission is given to Sieur de Champlain to have printed by such printer
as may seem good to him, a book which he has composed, entitled, "The
Savages, or Voyage of Sieur de Champlain, made in the Year 1603;" and all
book-sellers and printers of this kingdom are forbidden to print, sell, or
distribute said book, except with the consent of him whom he shall name and
choose, on penalty of a fine of fifty crowns, of confiscation, and all
expenses, as is more fully stated in the license.
Said Sieur de Champlain, in accordance with his license, has chosen and
given permission to Claude de Monstr'oeil, book-seller to the University of
Paris, to print said book, and he has ceded and transferred to him his
license, so that no other person can print or have printed, sell, or
distribute it, during the time of five years, except with the consent of
said Monstr'oeil, on the penalties contained in the said license.
THE SAVAGES,
VOYAGE OF SIEUR DE CHAMPLAIN
MADE IN THE YEAR 1603.
CHAPTER I.
BRIEF NARRATIVE OF THE VOYAGE FROM HONFLEUR IN NORMANDY TO THE PORT OF
TADOUSSAC IN CANADA
We set out from Honfleur on the 15th of March, 1603. On the same day we put
back to the roadstead of Havre de Grâce, the wind not being favorable. On
Sunday following, the 16th, we set sail on our route. On the 17th, we
sighted d'Orgny and Grenesey, [121] islands between the coast of Normandy
and England. On the 18th of the same month, we saw the coast of Brittany.
On the 19th, at 7 o'clock in the evening we reckoned that we were off
Ouessant. [122] On the 21st, at 7 o'clock in the morning, we met seven
Flemish vessels, coming, as we thought from the Indies. On Easter day, the
30th of the same month, we encountered a great tempest, which seemed to be
more lightning than wind, and which lasted for seventeen days, though not
continuing so severe as it was on the first two days. During this time, we
lost more than we gained. On the 16th of April, to the delight of all, the
weather began to be more favorable, and the sea calmer than it had been, so
that we continued our course until the 18th, when we fell in with a very
lofty iceberg. The next day we sighted a bank of ice more than eight
leagues long, accompanied by an infinite number of smaller banks, which
prevented us from going on. In the opinion of the pilot, these masses of
ice were about a hundred or a hundred and twenty leagues from Canada. We
were in latitude 45 deg. 40', and continued our course in 44 deg..
On the 2nd of May we reached the Bank at 11 o'clock in the forenoon, in 44
deg. 40'. On the 6th of the same month we had approached so near to land
that we heard the sea beating on the shore, which, however, we could not
see on account of the dense fog, to which these coasts are subject. [123]
For this reason we put out to sea again a few leagues, until the next
morning, when the weather being clear, we sighted land, which was Cape
St. Mary. [124]
On the 12th we were overtaken by a severe gale, lasting two days. On the
15th we sighted the islands of St. Peter. [125] On the 17th we fell in with
an ice-bank near Cape Ray, six leagues in length, which led us to lower
sail for the entire night that we might avoid the danger to which we were
exposed. On the next day we set sail and sighted Cape Ray, [126] the
islands of St. Paul, and Cape St. Lawrence. [127] The latter is on the
mainland lying to the south, and the distance from it to Cape Ray is
eighteen leagues, that being the breadth of the entrance to the great bay
of Canada. [128] On the same day, about ten o'clock in the morning, we fell
in with another bank of ice, more than eight leagues in length. On the
20th, we sighted an island some twenty-five or thirty leagues long, called
_Anticosty_, [129] which marks the entrance to the river of Canada. The
next day, we sighted Gaspé, [130] a very high land, and began to enter the
river of Canada, coasting along the south side as far as Montanne, [131]
distant sixty-five leagues from Gaspé. Proceeding on our course, we came in
sight of the Bic, [132] twenty leagues from Mantanne and on the southern
shore; continuing farther, we crossed the river to Tadoussac, fifteen
leagues from the Bic. All this region is very high, barren, and
unproductive.
On the 24th of the month, we came to anchor before Tadoussac, [133] and on
the 26th entered this port, which has the form of a cove. It is at the
mouth of the river Saguenay, where there is a current and tide of
remarkable swiftness and a great depth of water, and where there are
sometimes troublesome winds, [134] in consequence of the cold they bring.
It is stated that it is some forty-five or fifty leagues up to the first
fall in this river, and that it flows from the northwest. The harbor of
Tadoussac is small, in which only ten or twelve vessels could lie; but
there is water enough on the east, sheltered from the river Saguenay, and
along a little mountain, which is almost cut off by the river. On the shore
there are very high mountains, on which there is little earth, but only
rocks and sand, which are covered, with pine, cypress and fir, [135] and a
smallish species of trees. There is a small pond near the harbor, enclosed
by wood-covered mountains. At the entrance to the harbor, there are two
points: the one on the west side extending a league out into the river, and
called St. Matthew's Point; [136] the other on the southeast side extending
out a quarter of a league, and called All-Devils' Point. This harbor is
exposed to the winds from the south, southeast, and south-southwest. The
distance from St. Matthew's Point to All-Devils' Point is nearly a league;
both points are dry at low tide.
ENDNOTES:
121. Alderney and Guernsey. French maps at the present day for Alderney
have d'Aurigny.
122. The islands lying off Finistère, on the western extremity of Brittany
in France.
123. The shore which they approached was probably Cape Pine, east of
Placentia Bay, Newfoundland.
124. In Placentia bay, on the southern coast of Newfoundland.
125. West of Placentia Bay.
126. Cape Ray is northwest of the islands of St. Peter.
127. Cape St. Lawrence, now called Cape North, is the northern extremity of
the island of Cape Breton, and the island of St. Paul is a few miles
north of it.
128. The Gulf or Bay of St. Lawrence. It was so named by Jacques Cartier on
his second voyage, in 1535. Nous nommasmes la dicte baye la Sainct
Laurens, _Brief Recit_, 1545, D'Avezac ed. p. 8. The northeastern part
of it is called on De Laet's map, "Grand Baye."
129. "This island is about one hundred and forty miles long,
thirty-five miles broad at its widest part, with an average
breadth of twenty-seven and one-half miles."--_Le Moine's
Chronicles of the St. Lawrence_, p.100. It was named by Cartier
in 1535, the Island of the Assumption, having been discovered on
the 15th of August, the festival of the Assumption. Nous auons
nommes l'ysle de l'Assumption.--_Brief Recit_, 1545, D'Avenzac's
ed. p. 9. Alfonse, in his report of his voyage of 1542, calls it
the _Isle de l'Ascension_, probably by mistake. "The Isle of
Ascension is a goodly isle and a goodly champion land, without
any hills, standing all upon white rocks and Alabaster, all
covered with wild beasts, as bears, Luserns, Porkespicks."
_Hakluyt_, Vol. III. p. 292. Of this island De Laet says, "Elle
est nommee el langage des Sauvages _Natiscotec_"--_Hist. du
Nouveau Monde_, a Leyde, 1640, p.42. _Vide also Wyet's Voyage_ in
Hakluyt, Vol. III. p. 241. Laverdière says the Montagnais now
call it _Natascoueh_, which signifies, _where the bear is
caught_. He cites Thevet, who says it is called by the savages,
_Naticousti_, by others _Laisple_. The use of the name Anticosty
by Champlain, now spelled Anticosti, would imply that its
corruption from the original, _Natiscotec_, took place at a very
early date. Or it is possible that Champlain wrote it as he heard
it pronounced by the natives, and his orthography may best
represent the original.
130. _Gachepé_, so written in the text, subsequently written by the author
_Gaspey_, but now generally _Gaspé_. It is supposed to have been
derived from the Abnaquis word _Katsepi8i_, which means what is
separated from the rest, and to have reference to a remarkable rock,
three miles above Cape Gaspé, separated from the shore by the violence
of the waves, the incident from which it takes its name.--_Vide
Voyages de Champlain_, ed. 1632, p. 91; _Chronicles of the St.
Lawrence_, by J. M. Le Moine, p. 9.
131. A river flowing into the St. Lawrence from the south in latitude 48
deg. 52' and in longitude west from Greenwich 67 deg. 32', now known
as the Matane.
132. For Bic, Champlain has _Pic_, which is probably a typographical error.
It seems probable that Bic is derived from the French word _bicoque_,
which means a place of small consideration, a little paltry town. Near
the site of the ancient Bic, we now have, on modern maps, _Bicoque_
Rocks, _Bicquette_ Light, _Bic_ Island, _Bic_ Channel, and _Bic_
Anchorage. As suggested by Laverdière, this appears to be the
identical harbor entered by Jacques Cartier, in 1535, who named if the
Isles of Saint John, because he entered it on the day of the beheading
of St. John, which was the 29th of August. Nous les nommasmes les
Ysleaux sainct Jehan, parce que nous y entrasmes le jour de la
decollation dudict sainct. _Brief Récit_, 1545, D'Avezac's ed. p. 11.
Le Jeune speaks of the _Isle du Bic_ in 1635. _Vide Relation des
Jésuites_, p. 19.
133. _Tadoussac_, or _Tadouchac_, is derived from the word _totouchac_,
which in Montagnais means _breasts_, and Saguenay signifies _water
which springs forth_, from the Montagnais word _saki-nip_.--_Vide
Laverdière in loco_. Tadoussac, or the breasts from which water
springs forth, is naturally suggested by the rocky elevations at the
base of which the Saguenay flows.
134. _Impetueux_, plainly intended to mean _troublesome_, as may be seen
from the context.
135. Pine, _pins_. The white pine, _Pinus strobus_, or _Strobus
Americanus_, grows as far north as Newfoundland, and as far south as
Georgia. It was observed by Captain George Weymouth on the Kennebec,
and hence deals afterward imported into England were called _Weymouth
pine_--_Vide Chronological History of Plants_, by Charles Picketing,
M.D., Boston, 1879, p. 809. This is probably the species here referred
to by Champlain. Cypress, _Cyprez_. This was probably the American
arbor vitæ. _Thuja occidentalis_, a species which, according to the
Abbé Laverdière, is found in the neighborhood of the Saguenay.
Champlain employed the same word to designate the American savin, or
red cedar. _Juniperus Virginiana_, which he found on Cape Cod--_Vide_
Vol. II. p. 82. Note 168.
Fir, _sapins_. The fir may have been the white spruce, _Abies alba_,
or the black spruce, _Abies nigra_, or the balsam fir or Canada
balsam, _Abies balsamea_, or yet the hemlock spruce, _Abies
Canadaisis_.
136. _St. Matthew's Point_, now known as Point aux Allouettes, or Lack
Point.--_Vide_ Vol. II. p 165, note 292. _All-Devils' Point_, now
called _Pointe aux Vaches_. Both of these points had changed their
names before the publication of Champlain's ed., 1632.--_Vide_ p. 119
of that edition. The last mentioned was called by Champlain, in 1632,
_pointe aux roches_. Laverdière thinks _ro_ches was a typographical
error, as Sagard, about the same time, writes _vaches_.--_Vide Sagard.
Histoire du Canada_, 1636, Stross. ed., Vol I p. 150.
We naturally ask why it was called _pointe aux vaches_, or point of
cows. An old French apothegm reads _Le diable est aux vaches_, the
devil is in the cows, for which in English we say, "the devil is to
pay." May not this proverb have suggested _vaches_ as a synonyme of
_diables_?