OF THE POINT ST. CROIX AND THE RIVER BATISCAN.--OF THE RIVERS, ROCKS,
ISLANDS, LANDS, TREES, FRUITS, VINES, AND FINE COUNTRY BETWEEN QUEBEC AND
THE TROIS RIVIÈRES.
On Monday, the 23d of this month, we set out from Quebec, where the river
begins to widen, sometimes to the extent of a league, then a league and a
half or two leagues at most. The country grows finer and finer; it is
everywhere low, without rocks for the most part. The northern shore is
covered with rocks and sand-banks; it is necessary to go along the southern
one about half a league from the shore. There are some small rivers, not
navigable, except for the canoes of the savages, and in which there are a
great many falls. We came to anchor at St. Croix, fifteen leagues distant
from Quebec; a low point rising up on both sides. [155] The country is fine
and level, the soil being the best that I had seen, with extensive woods,
containing, however, but little fir and cypress. There are found there in
large numbers vines, pears, hazel-nuts, cherries, red and green currants,
and certain little radishes of the size of a small nut, resembling truffles
in taste, which are very good when roasted or boiled. All this soil is
black, without any rocks, excepting that there a large quantity of slate.
The soil is very soft, and, if well cultivated, would be very productive.
On the north shore there is a river called Batiscan, [156] extending a
great distance into the interior, along which the Algonquins sometimes
come. On the same shore there is another river, [157] three leagues below
St. Croix, which was as far as Jacques Cartier went up the river at the
time of his explorations. [158] The above-mentioned river is pleasant,
extending a considerable distance inland. All this northern shore is very
even and pleasing.
On Wednesday, [159] the 24th, we set out from St. Croix, where we had
stayed over a tide and a half in order to proceed the next day by daylight,
for this is a peculiar place on account of the great number of rocks in the
river, which is almost entirely dry at low tide; but at half-flood one can
begin to advance without difficulty, although it is necessary to keep a
good watch, lead in hand. The tide rises here nearly three fathoms and a
half.
The farther we advanced, the finer the country became. After going some
five leagues and a half, we came to anchor on the northern shore. On the
Wednesday following, we set out from this place, where the country is
flatter than the preceding and heavily wooded, as at St. Croix. We passed
near a small island covered with vines, and came to anchor on the southern
shore, near a little elevation, upon ascending which we found a level
country. There is another small island three leagues from St. Croix, near
the southern shore. [160] We set out on the following Thursday from this
elevation, and passed by a little island near the northern shore. Here I
landed at six or more small rivers, up two of which boats can go for a
considerable distance. Another is some three hundred feet broad, with some
islands at its mouth. It extends far into the interior, and is the deepest
of all. [161] These rivers are very pleasant, their shores being covered
with trees which resemble nut-trees, and have the same odor; but, as I saw
no fruit, I am inclined to doubt. The savages told me that they bear fruit
like our own.
Advancing still farther, we came to an island called St. Éloi; [162] also
another little island very near the northern shore. We passed between this
island and the northern shore, the distance from one to the other being
some hundred and fifty feet; that from the same island to the southern
shore, a league and a half. We passed also near a river large enough for
canoes. All the northern shore is very good, and one can sail along there
without obstruction; but he should keep the lead in hand in order to avoid
certain points. All this shore along which we coasted consists of shifting
sands, but a short distance in the interior the land is good.
The Friday following, we set out from this island, and continued to coast
along the northern shore very near the land, which is low and abundant in
trees of good quality as far as the Trois Rivières. Here the temperature
begins to be somewhat different from that of St. Croix, since the trees are
more forward here than in any other place that I had yet seen. From the
Trois Rivières to St. Croix the distance is fifteen leagues. In this river
[163] there are six islands, three of which are very small, the others
being from five to six hundred feet long, very pleasant, and fertile so far
as their small extent goes. There is one of these in the centre of the
above-mentioned river, confronting the River of Canada, and commanding a
view of the others, which are distant from the land from four to five
hundred feet on both sides. It is high on the southern side, but lower
somewhat on the northern. This would be, in my judgment, a favorable place
in which to make a settlement, and it could be easily fortified, for its
situation is strong of itself, and it is near a large lake which is only
some four leagues distant. This river extends close to the River Saguenay,
according to the report of the savages, who go nearly a hundred leagues
northward, pass numerous falls, go overland some five or six leagues, enter
a lake from which principally the Saguenay has its source, and thence go to
Tadoussac. [164] I think, likewise, that the settlement of the Trois
Rivières would be a boon for the freedom of some tribes, who dare not come
this way in consequence of their enemies, the Iroquois, who occupy the
entire borders of the River of Canada; but, if it were settled, these
Iroquois and other savages could be made friendly, or, at least, under the
protection of this settlement, these savages would come freely without fear
or danger, the Trois Rivières being a place of passage. All the land that I
saw on the northern shore is sandy. We ascended this river for about a
league, not being able to proceed farther on account of the strong current.
We continued on in a skiff, for the sake of observation, but had not gone
more than a league when we encountered a very narrow fall, about twelve
feet wide, on account of which we could not go farther. All the country
that I saw on the borders of this river becomes constantly more
mountainous, and contains a great many firs and cypresses, but few trees of
other kinds.
ENDNOTES:
155. The Point of St. Croix, where they anchored, must have been what is
now known as Point Platon. Champlain's distances are rough estimates,
made under very unfavorable circumstances, and far from accurate.
Point Platon is about thirty-five miles from Quebec.
156. Champlain does not mention the rivers precisely in their order. On his
map of 1612, he has _Contrée de Bassquan_ on the west of Trois
Rivières. The river Batiscan empties into the St. Lawrence about four
miles west of the St. Anne--_Vide Atlas Maritime_, by Bellin, 1764;
_Atlas of the Dominion of Canada_, 1875.
157. River Jacques Cartier, which is in fact about five miles east of Point
Platon.
158. Jacques Cartier did, in fact, ascend the St. Lawrence as far as
Hochelaga, or Montreal. The Abbé Laverdière suggests that Champlain
had not at this time seen the reports of Cartier. Had he seen them he
would hardly have made this statement. Pont Gravé had been here
several times, and may have been Champlain's incorrect informant.
_Vide Laverdière in loco_.
159. Read Tuesday.
160. Richelieu Island, so called by the French, as early as 1635, nearly
opposite Dechambeau Point.--_Vide Laurie's Chart_. It was called St
Croix up to 1633. _Laverdière in loco_ The Indians called it _Ka
ouapassiniskakhi_.--_Jésuit Relations_, 1635, p. 13.
161. This river is now known as the Sainte Anne. Champlain says they named
it _Rivière Saincte Marie_--_Vide_ Quebec ed. Tome III. p. 175; Vol.
II. p 201 of this work.
162. An inconsiderable island near Batiscan, not laid down on the charts.
163. The St. Maurice, anciently known as _Trois Rivièrs_, because two
islands in its mouth divide it into three channels. Its Indian name,
according to Père Le Jeune, was _Metaberoutin_. It appears to be the
same river mentioned by Cartier in his second voyage, which he
explored and reported as shallow and of no importance. He found in it
four small islands, which may afterward have been subdivided into six.
He named it _La Riuiere die Fouez.--Brief Récit_, par Jacques Cartier,
D'Avezac ed. p. 28. _Vide Relations des Jésuites_, 1635, p. 13.
164. An eastern branch of the St Maurice River rises in a small lake, from
which Lake St. John, which is an affluent of the Saguenay, may be
reached by a land portage of not more than five or six leagues.