Paternitati, quæ & quanta sit hæc messis animorum, quidvé à magno
Patrefamilias datum nobis hactenus, quid etiam porrò dandum speretur.
Sed vt commodissimè tota mihi narratio decurrat, neq; decurrentem,
vt fit, multa effugiant, in quatuor videtur velut capita rei totius
expositio esse diuidenda. Exponā ergo primùm, quæ sit hæc noua
Francia, quæ regio, qui populi morésque: tum deinde quomodo, quibusvé
tandē auxilijs, aut successu Societas missionem in has regiones [7]
obtinuerit. Tertiò quonam in statu rem Christianam in his terris
offenderimus. Postremò quid à nobis effectum hactenus, seu potiùs
quid attentatum sit ad diuinam gloriam. Hæc mihi videtur esse posse
commodissima & sufficiens narrandorum omnium expositio.
This also I must narrate and explain to your Reverence, of what
nature and how numerous is this harvest of souls, and what has
hitherto been given to us by our Heavenly Father, and what further
gifts we may hope for in the future. But to facilitate my whole
narration, and to obviate the possible omission of many details in
its course, I think it best to divide the whole matter under four
heads. I shall therefore first describe new France, the country,
the natives, and their customs; next, in what manner, and with what
help, and with what result, our Society secured a mission to this
country; [7] thirdly, in what condition we found the Christian
religion in this region; and, finally, what has been accomplished
by us thus far, or rather what has been attempted for the glory of
God. This appears to me a very convenient and sufficient summary of
all I am to tell.
Atque vt à capite ordiar explicémque primùm, quænam sit hæc Noua
Francia, quod solum, quivé ritus gentis, credo non solùm Paternitati
vestræ iucundum, sed nobis quoqʒ necessarium, regionem vniuersam
accuratiùs describere. Nam cùm hic nobis ad laborandum campus
assignatus, certum est, non posse nos à vestra paternitate dirigi
pro occursuum varietate, nisi ea fines, adfractus viarum, viciniorum
locorum distantiam, statum gentis & rerum, noverit.
And, in order that I may begin at the beginning and explain first
what sort of a land New France is, the nature of the country and
the customs of the natives, I think it will be not only a pleasure
for your Reverence, but also a necessity for ourselves that the
whole territory be rather accurately described. For, since this
is the field assigned to us for our labors, it is certain that
your reverence cannot direct us in accordance with our varied
needs without a knowledge of the extent of the country, of the
impediments to travel, of the distance of neighboring settlements,
and of the condition of people and things.
Præterea tot video à Geographis antiquis errores tenebrásque in hanc
cognitionem induci, vt nisi à nobis succurratur rerum non auditoribus
sed spectatoribus, non possit non in nostris itineribus & vestigijs
persequendis haud minùs à veritate, quàm à corpore cogitatio
peregrinari. [8] Norumbegam illi nobis nescio quam, vrbésque & castella
nominant, quorum hodie ne vmbra quidem aut ipsa vox extant.
Besides, I find this matter involved in so much error and darkness
by the older Geographers, that unless we, who know these things
not from hearsay only, but are eyewitnesses thereof, come to the
rescue, it is impossible that the mind, in tracing our footsteps
and our journeys, should not wander as far away from the truth as
it has to do from the body. [8] They speak of a certain Norumbega
and give the names of cities and strongholds of which to-day no
trace or even report remains.
Verùm quod polliciti sumus exequamur. Noua Francia, vti nunc Galli
vsurpant, regio illa est trans Oceanum Gallicum, quæ à quadragesimo
primo gradu vsque ad quinquagesimum secundum latitudinis, aut etiam
quinquagesimum tertium procurrit.
However, let me fulfill my promise. New France, as the French now
call it, is that territory across the French Ocean which extends
from the forty-first to the fifty-second, or even fifty-third
degree of latitude.
Scio ab alijs multò latiùs fines regionis porrigi, ab alijs coarctari
angustiùs, sed ego hîc non disputo: id solùm expono, quod nunc vti dixi
communiùs vsurpatur, vel quod hoc terrarum Gallorum nauigationibus ab
aliquot iam annis maximè frequentatum & vindicatum est, vel quod illud
idem ferè antiquæ Franciæ parallelū æqualiter eam ab occidente respicit.
I know that some extend the boundaries of this region much farther,
while others restrict them more narrowly, but I am not arguing this
point; I merely explain what is, as I have said, the prevailing
interpretation of them, either because this part of the country has
been for many years past particularly explored and claimed by the
French, or because the parallels bounding this western region are
almost the same as those of old France.
Hæc igitur Noua Francia oram habet sanè multifariam, sinubus marinis
fluminibùsque exesam, an fractuosam & recurrentem. Sinus duo sunt
maiores, [9] vastíque; alter is, qui S. Laurentij gurges; alter, qui
Francius appellatur.
New France has an exceedingly varied sea-coast, indented by bays
and rivers, broken and irregular. There are two principal bays [9]
of vast size, one called the gulf of St. Lawrence, the other French
bay.
Námque à quadragesimo septimo gradu, vsque ad quinquagesimum primum,
tellus velut gremium aperit; siue ad accipiendum introrsus Oceanum,
siue ad exonerandum magnum flumen Canadan. Atque hic gurges S.
Laurentij dicitur, cuius in introitu ingens illa adiacet insula,
quam terras nouas Galli, Barbari Praesentis appellant moluarum
piscatu celeberrima; oram sinûs fluminísque tenent Aquilonem versùs
Excomminqui, siue, vt vulgus indigetat, Excōmunicati. Fera gens est,
& vt dicitur Anthropophaga, quanquam & hi olim satis diu pacificè cum
Gallis agitârunt, nunc irreconciliabiles cum his inimicitias exercent.
Sequuntur interiùs, occidentem versùs Algonquini, pòst Montagnesij,
intimi sunt ad capita ipsius magni fluminis Canadæ, Irocosij, qui etiam
latè Austrum versus protenduntur.
Indeed, from the forty-seventh degree as far as to the fifty-first,
the land opens its bosom, as it were, to receive the Ocean into
it, or to facilitate the outflow of the great Canadian river. This
gulf is known as the gulf of St. Lawrence, in the mouth of which
lies that enormous island which the French call newfoundland, the
Savages Præsentis [Plaisance];[9] it is famous for its cod-fishery;
the shores of the gulf and the rivers are occupied toward the
North by the Excomminqui, or, as they are commonly called, the
Excommunicated.[10] This tribe is very savage, and, it is said, is
addicted to Cannibalism; although once in very peaceful relations
with the French for a considerable length of time, it is now on a
footing of irreconcilable enmity. There follow, in the interior,
toward the west, the Algonquins; then the Montagnais; those
dwelling at the head-waters of this same great Canadian river are
the Irocois, whose territory also extends far to the South.
Atque hi ferè Irocosij noti sunt Gallis duntaxat ob perpetua bella,
quæ cum Montagnesijs, & Algonquinis fœderatis [10] & amicis populis
geruntur. Iam verò Austrum versùs terra ab hoc S. Laurentij sinu
paulatim vsque ad quadragesimum tertium gradum excurrit, vbi rursus
altero sinu maximo inciditur, quem Francicum appellant. Hic gurges
terras vastè exedens, seséque Aquilonem versùs & S. Laurentij sinum
incuruans, velut Isthmum efficit; Isthmúmque adiuuat S. Ioannis
longissimum flumē, quod orsum ab ipsa propemodum ora magni Canadæ in
hūc sese Francicum gurgitem exonerat. Continet hic Isthmus leucas
admodū quingentas circuitu suo, eúmque occupant Soriqui populi. In hoc
Isthmo portus regalis est, vbi nunc degimus, ad gradum latitudinis
quadragesimum quartum cum besse. Sed habet portus ostium suum (ne
quis fallatur) non in Oceanum ad orientem obuersum, sed in sinum
eum, quem dixi Francicum: ad Occidentem & septentrionem à fluuio
Sancti Ioannis vsque ad fluuium Potugoët, atque adeò vsque ad flumen
Rimbegui habitant Etheminquenses. Habet Rimbegui ostia sua sub gradu
quadragesimo [11] tertio cum besse. Nec procul est Chouacoët, quod
alterum est latus siue brachium terræ, quod sinum Frācicum excipit.
Námque ad orientem est illud, quod promontorium sabulosum nominamus:
ad Occidentem Chouacoët; vtrumque ad quadragesimum tertium eleuationis
gradum, cùm tamen inter hoc atque illud centum leucarum intercapedo
sit: à fluuio Rimbegui[IV.] vsque ad quadragesimum gradum latè
possident, qui Armouchiqui appellantur. Atque hæc ferè partitio est
regionis: itáque si numeres, populi erunt septem, linguâ inter se ac
studijs discrepantes; Excommunicati, Algonquini, Montagnesij, Irocosij,
Soriqui, Etheminquenses, & Armouchiqui. Sed ex ijs nec Excommunicati,
nec Irocosij, nec Armouchiqui multum Gallis noti sunt. Reliqui quatuor
in firmam iam videntur cum ijs amicitiam & cōsuetudinem coaluisse.
Pernoctant ipsi nobiscum, nos cum ipsis vagamur, venamur, viuimus
sine armis, sine metu; & quod adhuc apparuerit, sine periculo. Caussa
frequentandi piscatio fuit Moluarum, [12] quibus hoc mare abundat,
& pellium permutatio. Nam cùm ære, ferro, cānabe, lanâ, frugibus,
atqʒ omni ferè artificio Barbari careant, hæc à Gallis accipiunt.
Ipsi contrà, qui vnicus thesaurus est, pelles retribuunt. Est autem
regio tota magnam partem perfrigida. Caussæ sunt plures; vna quòd
valde aquosa est; nam præterquam quòd vndique ferè mari alluitur,
fluminibus præterea & stagnis lacubúsque maximis abundat. Insulæ ita
frequentes sunt, vt ora tota ijs intercisa, & tanquam baccata sit.
Hinc sequitur nimirum, vt pruinosa sit, & tamē ventosa, sed flatu non
nisi ferè algido. Altera est caussa frigoris, quòd inculta sit; nam
cùm latè omnia silua vna contineat, nihil mirum est, si vix vnquam
possit humus calefieri. Adde his, si placet, caussam tertiam, montes
videlicet niuosos ac perpetuò rigentes, quibus dicimur ab Occidente ac
Septentrione procul obuallari.
These Irocois are known to the French chiefly for the perpetual
warfare which they maintain against the Montagnais and Algonquins,
allied [10] and friendly tribes. To the South, however, the coast
gradually advances up to the forty-third degree, where once more it
is interrupted by a very large bay called French bay. This gulf,
advancing far into the interior, and bending toward the North and
the gulf of St. Lawrence, forms a sort of Isthmus; and this Isthmus
is completed by the St. John, a very long river which, taking its
rise almost at the very banks of the great Canadian river, empties
into this French bay. This Isthmus has a circuit of fully five
hundred leagues and is occupied by the Soriquois tribe. In this
Isthmus is port royal, where we are now sojourning, lying on the
parallel of 44° 40'. But this port (to obviate misunderstanding)
is not on the Ocean lying eastward, but on that gulf which I have
called French bay. To the West and north, from the river of St.
John to the river Potugoët,[3] and even to the river Rimbegui,[2]
live the Etheminqui. The mouth of this river is in latitude 43°
40'. [11] Not far distant is Chouacoët,[11] which is the other
shore or arm embracing French Bay. For to the east lies what we
call cape sable, while Chouacoët lies toward the West; both are on
the forty-third parallel, though they are separated by an interval
of a hundred leagues. From the Rimbegui[III.] river to the fortieth
parallel the whole country is in the possession of the tribe called
the Armouchiquois. Such is the distribution of the territory.
The tribes amount to seven in number, differing from each other
in language and character: the Excommunicated, the Algonquins,
the Montagnais, the Irocois, the Soriquois, the Etheminqui and
the Armouchiquois. But of these neither the Excommunicated, nor
the Irocois, nor the Armouchiquois are well known to the French.
The remaining four tribes appear already to be united in firm
friendship and intimacy with them. They stay over night among us;
we rove about with them, and hunt with them and live among them
without arms and without fear; and, as has thus far appeared,
without danger. This intimacy arose partly from association while
fishing for Cod, [12] which abound in these waters, and partly
from trading in furs. For the Savages, who have neither copper,
iron, hemp, wool, vegetables nor manufactured articles of any kind,
resort to the French for them, giving in return the only thing of
value they have, namely, furs. This whole region is for the most
part very cold, owing to various causes. In the first place, the
country is a very wet one; for, besides being washed on almost
every side by the sea, it abounds in rivers and ponds and large
lakes. Islands are so numerous that the whole shore is cut up by a
confused procession of them, as it were. Moreover, though a land
of frost, it is very windy, the wind being nearly always a cold
one. Another cause of cold is the wildness of the country; for,
being covered on every side by one continuous forest, it naturally
follows that the soil hardly ever becomes really warmed through.
A third cause is the mountains, covered with snow and perpetual
frost, which are said to wall us in far away to the North and the
West.
Certè quidem ab ea parte non nisi gelu perflamur & niuibus. Alioqui
sanè facies regionis est peramœna, pluribus [13] locis hospitem
inuitans ac bene pollicens; & quod apparuit, si colatur, non infœcunda.
Indigenæ rari sunt. Etheminquenses mille capita numerare non possent,
nec multò plus Algonquini simul & Montanenses iuncti: Soriqui duo
millia non conficerent: Itaque summùm quatuor capitum millibus tam
vasti terrarum & littorum tractus non tenentur, sed percurruntur. Gens
enim est vaga, siluestris, & sparsa, vt quæ venatu solo & piscatu
viuat. Imberbes feré, & quidem statura cōmuni, vel paulò breuiore ac
graciliore quàm nostri, at non degener tamen aut indecora; color non
multùm fuscus, faciem vulgò pingunt, & in luctu atrant. Iuris amantes,
ac vim latrociniùmque perosi. Quod sanè mirum est in hominibus, qui
lege ac magistratu carent. Sui enim quisque dominus est ac vindex.
Sagamos quidem habēt, hoc est bellorum ductores, sed quorum omnino
precarium sit imperium, si tamen imperium appellandum est, vbi nulla
est necessitas parendi. Sequuntur vel exemplo, vel vsu, vel affinitatis
[14] aut generis conciliatione inducti, nonnunquam etiam certè cuiusdam
potentiæ auctoritate: bella populatim gerunt, ob illatas priuatis
iniurias. Genus totum vindictæ auidum; & vt barbarum, in victoriâ
insolens, captiuorum capita tanquam opima spolia & torques magno gaudio
circumferunt.
We certainly get nothing from that quarter but piercing winds and
snow-storms. Elsewhere, however, the appearance of the country is
very pleasing, and in many [13] places inviting to the settler and
quite promising; and, as experience has shown, it is not unfruitful
if cultivated. The natives are not numerous. The Etheminqui number
less than a thousand, the Algonquins and the Montagnais together
would not amount to much more, the Soriquois would not amount to
two thousand. Thus four thousand Indians at most roam through,
rather than occupy, these vast stretches of inland territory and
sea-shore. For they are a nomadic people, living in the forests
and scattered over wide spaces, as is natural for those who live
by hunting and fishing only. They are nearly all beardless and of
average stature, or even a little shorter and more slender than
we, but not degraded nor ill-favored in appearance; their color is
not very swarthy; they commonly paint their faces, and, when in
mourning, blacken them. They love justice and hate violence and
robbery, a thing really remarkable in men who have neither laws nor
magistrates; for, among them, each man is his own master and his
own protector. They have Sagamores, that is, leaders in war; but
their authority is most precarious, if, indeed, that may be called
authority to which obedience is in no wise obligatory. The Indians
follow them through the persuasion of example or of custom, [14] or
of ties of kindred and alliance; sometimes even through a certain
authority of power, no doubt. They wage war as a tribe on account
of wrongs done to a private individual. The whole race is very
revengeful and, after the fashion of savages, insolent in victory,
carrying about the heads of their captives as trophies and spoils
of victory.
Et quidem dicuntur humanis carnibus non abstinuisse, ídque etiamnum
perhibentur & Excommunicati & Armonchiqui facere: verum ab ijs, quorum
est cum Gallis consuetudo, tantum scelus procul abest.
They are even said to have been addicted to the eating of human
flesh, and the Excommunicated and Armouchiquois tribes are said to
have the same practice even now. Those, however, who are intimate
with the French are far from being guilty of so great a crime.
Religio tota certis incantationibus, choreis, & veneficijs constat;
nimirum vt aut necessaria vitæ conquirant, aut inimicos amoliantur;
suos habent Autmoinos, hoc est veneficos, qui malū Dæmonem consulant
de vita & morte, futurorúmque euentis; & quidem sese illis mala
bellua præsentem sæpe sistit, vt ipsi asserunt, vindictam annuit,
renuítque, mortem inimicorum suorumvé, venationem prosperam, & cetera
eiusmodi ludibria, quorum vt ne quid desit, [15] etiam somnijs fidem
habent: si fortè super placito & bene auspicante somnio euigilauerint,
consurgunt, vel de nocte concubia, & omen cantu ac choreis sequuntur.
Templa, ædesvé sacras, ritus, cæremonias, disciplinam nullam habent,
vti nec leges aut artificia politiamvé vllam, præter certos mores &
consuetudinem, quorū sunt retinentissimi. Si quem Veneficus respondit
ad certā diem moriturum, is deseritur ab omnibus; quin ipse adeò miser,
vtpote iam mortis certus, vltro sibi inediam atque omnium incuriam
indicit, credo ne videatur contra fatum pugnare.
Their whole religion consists of certain incantations, dances
and sorcery, which they have recourse to, it seems, either to
procure the necessaries of life or to get rid of their enemies;
they have Autmoinos, that is, medicine-men, who consult the evil
Spirit regarding life and death and future events; and the evil
spirit [great beast] often presents himself before them, as they
themselves assert, approves or disapproves their schemes of
vengeance, promises them the death of their enemies or friends, or
prosperity in the chase, and other mockeries of the same sort. To
make these complete they [15] even have faith in dreams; if they
happen to awake from a pleasing and auspicious dream, they rise
even in the middle of the night and hail the omen with songs and
dances. They have no temples, sacred edifices, rites, ceremonies or
religious teaching, just as they have no laws, arts or government,
save certain customs and traditions of which they are very
tenacious. If the Medicine-man predicts that a certain person will
die before a fixed date, this man is deserted by all; and, in his
misery, feeling certain of impending death, he voluntarily condemns
himself to suffer hunger and complete neglect, apparently that he
may not seem to contend against fate.
Quin etiam si fortè ad præstitutam diem, vt sæpe fit, moribundus non
videatur, pro se quisqʒ proximi vrceis frigidæ in ventrem miseri
inuergendis celerant mortem. Hæc pietas est Sathanæ mancipijs: ita
quoque nimirùm, quia semper fallax est, diuinus nunquam fallit; quāquam
natio ista deceptrix aruspicum multum iam de auctoritate suá ab aduētu
Gallorum amisit; passimque nunc quiritantur suos iam Diabolos viribus
exidisse, [16] præut quidam ferūt Patrum suorum fuisse temporibus.
Mortuorum ita cum corpore sepeliunt memoriam, vt ne nomen quidem
deinceps audire sustineant. DEI quidem vnius supremi tenuem quandam
habent cognitionem, verumtamen affectibus & vsu deprauati nihilo
seciùs, vt dixi, Cacodæmonem etiam colunt; ob vitæ commoda, algoris
& inediæ patientes sunt supra modum. Octo, decem dies, si fors ita
exigat, feram ieiuni persequūtur, summis niuibus frigoribúsqʒ tum
maximè ardet venatio. Et tamen hi ipsi Boreâ, vt sic dicam, & crystallo
nati, vbi semel sub suis tugurijs cum præda consederunt, inertes
illico, & cuiusuis laboris impatientes fiunt: feminis mandant omnia:
hæ præter onerosam liberorum educationē, gestationémque, insuper feram
ex eo loco vbi ceciderit, aduehunt: hæ lignatum & aquatum eunt hæ
supellectilem conficiunt, curántque: cibos apparant, feras excoriant,
pelles fullonis arte conficiunt, vestimenta consuunt, piscantur &
conchas maximè ad cibum legunt, sæpe [17] etiam venantur: hæ canoas,
hoc est cymbulas miræ celeritatis è cortice compingunt, tuguriola, vbi
& quando pernoctandum est, ædificant: denique præter laboriosiorem
venationem & bella nihil aliud quidquam viris est pensi. Hac de caussa
plures ferè vxores quisque habet, Sagami maximè, vt qui potentiam
suam & concursum pluriū tanquam clientium tueri nequeant, non solùm
sine pluribus liberis, qui valeant ad terrorem & gratiam, sed etiam
sine pluribus mancipijs, quæ necessaria vitæ officia & exequantur
& tolerent. Nam feminas mancipiorum loco habent, tractántqʒ. Inter
se mirificè liberales sūt, nihil quisquam aut fortunarum, aut sibi
habere sustineat, quin partem maximā astantibus eroget, quin etiam qui
Tabagiam agit, vt loquūtur, hoc est qui conuiuio alios excipit, non
accumbit ipse cum reliquis, sed ministrat, neqʒ partem aliquam dapis
residuam sibi facit, sed distribuit omnia, ita vt famem cogatur eo die
conuiuator pati, nisi quis inuitatorū, ex eo quod sibi superfuerit,
miseratus ei [18] retribuat. Et similis apparuit sæpe liberalitas in
Gallos aliquo casu oppressos. Nam erga reliquos, aut hîc aut in nauibus
agentes didicerunt à nobis non facilè quicquā gratis dare. Pedunculos
capitis quæsitant, & in delicijs habent. In mendicando & postulando
importunissimi sunt, & qui esse solent mendicorū & inopū mores, falsi,
obloquutores, assētatores, vani. Gallos quidē atqʒ omnes gentes cùm
semel saturi sunt, longè despiciunt, irridéntqʒ clanculum omnia;
etiam religionē, quam susceperint. Tuguriola sua vbiuis facilè ac
raptim sudibus ramificè ædificant, & aut cortice aut pellibus aut etiā
tegete cōtegunt. Ignis in medio extruitur. Sed hæc iam satis supérque
de regione & hominibus, maximè cùm accuratam regionis Chorographiam
mittam; ex quo vno intuitu, quidquid de terrarum & maris situ dixi,
liquidò apparebit.