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: 4s OF A
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: pardetakee by ORDER of the
F eo NCH KING.
CONTAINING
, The GroGRAPHICAL Defcription and. Natural
; Hiftory of that Country, particularly
TOGETHER WITH : )
An Account of the Customs, CHARACTERS, _ re
Reticion, Manners and TRADITIONS ie
of the original Inhabitants. i
. Ina Series, of Letters to the Duchefs of Leyoicuinnes. 2
,
Tranflated from the French of P. DE Cuarnevorx.
in Pwo VOLUMES.

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Or THE

Se PRS TeV O.L,0.M E.

i PRelininary difcourfe on the origin of the Araeri-
Vans? | a SASS “Page, £

2 rR eS. 7
Hiftorical Journal of rs voyage to America — 60
ON TCR. ROR.

“Voyage from Rochelle 0 Quebec 5 fome remarks on
that pafjage, on the great Bank of Newfoundland,
and on the River St. Lawrence 67

My i

fe. Aer Ry TM.

Defeription of Quebec ; charaéter of its inhabitants,
and the manner of living in the French colony 99
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v1 CONTENTS
LET OER

Of the Huron village of Loretto. The ca mate a

have prevented the progre/s of the French colony of
Canada. Of the pags me 115

s

LETTER tee

Of the beavers of Canada; in what they ake, cr from.
thofe of Europe 5 of their manner of buil

the advantage which may accrue to the colony a |

them, of the bunting Le the beaver and mufk-
rat ; 151
LETTER VI.

Voyage from Quebec to the Three Rivers. ‘of bide
ing poft on the fnow. Of the lordfbips of New.,,
France. Defcription of Beckancourt. Ti radition

with refpeet to the origin of the name of the Stine :

ing River. Defcription of the Three, Rivers.

Sequel of the buntings of tbe Indians Byt

LETTE Re vil. eas

Defcription of the Country and Wands of Richelieu ‘

and of St. Francis. Of the Abenaquis village.
Of the ancient fort of Richelieu, and of fuch as
were formerly in each parifb. Shimng actions of

two Canadian Ladies. Of the other buntings of

the Indians | | . Ve —
LE TT ER Vil

Defeription of the Country between: Lake St. ‘Peter
and Montreal ; in what it differs from that. near

Quebec. - Dae of the [land and City of
Mont-

f

Pit ag

*

eo N T EN 7 3%

~ Montreal, and the-country adjacent: Of the fea
COW, een Hak and whale. Sifery 211

<8) OP ANA AOL 009

hh pe AT per E R IX.

eh No % a ee sey chs
Fort Soasalide? Kaus the filbes, birds, and a
b animals peculiar to Canada. Of trees com-

‘8

omen t0 it with France, and of fuch,. as are pecu-
wsulatifes this AK taka | | 231,
We GETTER &

Of ihe caufes of. the. exceffive. an in Canada. Of
~ the refources it affords for the fupport of life. The
3 Aker aeier eb i er: French Canadians 253
- “aia ‘ aA TUAW Y

iv i Al EGE BR Ol

the er village. Of the Fall of St. Lewis.
Moy the or nations inbabiting Canada =. 269

LETTER ».615

Ve eto Catarocoui. Defcription of the country,
ta the Rapides or Falls in the River St. Law-
"rence. Defcription and fituation of the Fort. Cba-
"acter and genius of the languages and nations of
Kea -) Canada. Origia of the war between the Iroquois
‘and Algonkins 2g

oe TE RTT,

— Defcription wi the country to the river of the On-
nontagués. Of the flux and reflux in the great

_ Lakes > of Canada. Manner in which the Indians
fing the war-fong. Of their God of War. Man-
ner of dectaring war. Of. the collars of Wampum

or Porcelain, and the Calumet, with their cuftoms
Sosa to peace and war | Neat

id Oe Rag Be

x

ee y Y ~ *
\ e pay @

vii = ON we N

00 0 fy igen eae imal
i : “Deferiprion of the beanies from rm : Anie ¢
uboie mine ¢o the Riviere des Sables. Moti
Indians for going to war. Departu
* riors for the campaign, with wha
~~ fetting out. T. beir manner of tak
' relations and countrymen. T heir arm ms offen ie
defenfive. Their care in taking along < ith them —
their tutelary gods. Particularities of %, country
Ah as far as hiss ee ae Vs ie 325
Pe tO LETTER xv. i
; BX pees ES: wa tA
we tvanfablions between the T fonisbrihiotans (a tribe of
the \roquois) and tbe Enelith, on occafion of build-
‘ae ing a French: fort at Niagara. | raps on ot
_ . country. Fire-dance , ftory on this occaf
get of the Fall of Niagara 343
LETTER XVI. s a
e Firf serigsiog of the prifoners. Tri ri wii :

riers. Difiribution of the captives 5 in ies t ma
ner their fate is decided, with what hapf 5
'terwards. The inbumanity with which th fe
treated who are condemned to death. The cou rage

s they few. Napebiations el the Indians if ae? |

S zie on THE
GOA lawl 7 HE

AMERICANS

FE T E R readin ici every thing that has
“\ been writ on the manner in which America
might have been peopled, we feem to be juft where
we were’ before this great and interefting queftion
began to be agitated 5 notwithftanding, it would
require a moderate volume to relate only the vari- —
‘ous opinions: of the learned on this fubject. For
moft part of them have given fo much into the ~
matvellous, almoft all of them have built their con-
jectures on foundations fo ruinous, or have had re-
coutfe to certain refemblances of names, manners,
cuftoms, religion and languages, fo very frivolous,
‘which it would, in my opinion, be as ufelefs to re-
fute, as it is impoffible to reconcile with each other.

It is not, perhaps, to be wondered at, that thofe
who have firft treated this matter, fhould wander in
git | &B a

he We
' a way which had not as yet been marked out, and
in which they muft travel without a guide. But
what I am furprized at is, that thofe who have-
gone deepeft into this affair, and who have had the
advantage of helps beyond all thofe who have gone
before them, fhould have been guilty of ftill greater
miftakes, which at the fame time they. might eafily.
have avoided, had they kept to a fmall number of
certain principles, which fome have eftablifhed with
-fufficient judgment. The fimple and natural con-
fequences they ought to have drawn from them,
would have been, in my opinion, fufficient t6 fatisfy ~
and determine the curiofity of the publick, which
this unfeafonable and erroneous difplay of erudition
throws back into its;original uncertainty. This is
what I flatter myfelf I fhall be able to make ap-—
pear, by that fmall portion of thefe conjectures
which ham now going to relate, ODS

_ Thofe of our hemifphere were, no doubt, much
furprized, when: they were told: of. the difcovery of
a new world inthe other, where:they imagined no-.
thing was to be feen, but an immenfe and danger-
ous ocean. Notwithftanding, fearce had Chrifto-
pher Columbus found out fome iflands, and amongft '
others that of Hifpaniola, in which he difcovered:
gold mines, but he was prefently of opinion, fome-
times that this was:the Ophir of Solomon,’ and at:
others the Zipangri, or the Cipango of Mark Pol

‘the: Venetian. Vatablus and Robert Stephens were’
likewife perfuaded, that it'was to America that'So+
jomon. fent. fleets: ir queft of gold; and Columbus»
thought he: faw the remains of his furnaces in the?
mines of. Cibasy by much: the fineft and richeft of
the ifland of Hifpaniola, and perhaps of all the
new world. id .

Arius

oO,
Crane

ie Cie
band east

|

| ae ee,

~ Arius Montanus not only places Ophir and Par-
vaim in the new world, but likewife makes Joétan,
the fon of Heber, the founder of Juctan, a chime-
rical city in Peru; and alfo pretends, that the em-
‘pire of Peru and that of Mexico, which he will
have.to be the fame with Ophir, were founded by
a fon of Joctan of that name. He adds, that an-
other fon of the fame patriarch, called in the fcrip-
- ture Jobab, was the father of the nations on the
coaft of Paria, and that the eaftern mountain Se-

phar, to which Mofes fays the children of Joctan

quite thorough Peru and Chili. The authority of
this learned interpreter of the {criptures has drawn
Poftel, Becan, Poflevin, Genebrard, and many.
others, into the fame opinion. Laftly, the Spa-
niards have afferted, that in the time when the
Moors invaded their country, part of the inhabi-
tants took refuge in America. They even pre-
_ tended in the fifteenth century, that they difcovered —
certain provinces of their empire, which the mif-
fortunes of thofe times had robbed them of, and to
which, if you believe them, they had an incon-
teftable right. Oviedo, one of their moft cele-
_ brated authors, was not afraid to affirm, that the

Antilles’ are the famous Hefperides, fo much vaunt-
ed of by the poets; and that God, by caufing them
to fall under the dominion of the kings of Spain,
has only reftoted what belonged to therm three
thoufand one hundred and fifty years ago in the
time of kitig Hefperus, from whom they had this
name; and that St. James and St. Paul preached
the gofpel there, which he fupports by the autho-
rity of St. Gregory in his morals. If we add to
this what Plato has advanced, that beyond his own
ifland’ of Atalantis, there were a great number of
ie Be >. iflands,

Nyaa ds
iflands, and behind them a vaft continent, and f
hind this continent the true ocean, we fhall. fit d,
that the new world was very far from being new to
the aticients. What then muft become of the opi-

nion of Paracelfus, who maintains, that each he-
imifphere had its own Adam

ae

coor

; avait :

Poftel, «whom t have already cited, and who has
made hin el lf famous by’ his adventurous conjec=
tures, believed that all North America was peopled
by the Atlantides, inhabitants of Mauritania ; and.
he is the firft who has made fuch a difference be-
tween the two America’s, by means of the Ifthmus ;
of Panama; that according to him, and thofe who.
have adopted his opinions, “the inhabitants of thofe
two continents have nothing common in their ori-
ginal. But in this cafe, I fhould rather be for placing.
with Budbecks the Atalantis in the North, as weil
as the. pillars of Hercules, and maintaining, that
North America has been peopled from Scandinavia,.
than by fending thither the Moors from the coaft of.
Aftica, On the other hand, Gomara and John de
Lery make the Americans come from the Canaan-_
ites, driven out of the promifed land by Jofhua:
Some, on the contrary, make thofe Iraelites, whom

Salmanazus led captive into Media, pals into Ame-
Tica by the North of Afia. But Thevet, who be-

lieved, like them, that the Ifraelites peopled the ©
new world, concludes, that they muft have fpread_
themielves over the whole world, from the circum-
ftance of the finding a tomb with Hebrew charac-_
ters on it in one of the Azores or weftern iflands..
This author was mifinformed as to the fact. Te

was not a tomb that was difcovered in Corvo, the

moft northernly of thofe iflands, but an equeftrian

ftatue, erected upon a pedeftal, on which were cer-
tain characters, which could not be deciphered.

4 : m ¢ Au-

arg

ward te ia ftreights of ci eheie by. the way of
Japan, and the Continent, to the Northward of
the. Archipel, or clufter of .iflands... A. Sicilian,
whofe name is Marinocus, makes no doubt of the

Pow

Romans having fent a Colony into. this country,
for which he has no. other reafon, than.a. report
current in_ his time, that. a medal of Auguftus was
found in one of the mines of Peru ; as Pas it had not
been. more natural to fuppofe, that fome, Spaniard
had. accidentally. dropt this medal, . when. vifiting
thefe mines. Paulus Jovius has Urentae taacehe Mexi-
cans. have been among the Gauls, which ridiculous

opinion he founds upon the human facrifices which
thofe two nations offered to their falfe divinities,
But if this pretended refemblance proves any. thing,
It would much rather prove that the Gauls had been

toh ae PY

ae many provinces Soe the plans they fent out.

_ The. Frifelanders, have likewife had their parti-
fans, with refpeét to the origin of the Americans.
Juffridus Petri and Hamconius affert, that the inha-
bitants. of Peru and Chili came from Frifeland,
James, Charron and William Poftel do the fame
honour. to the Gauls, Abraham Milius to the an-
tient Celta, Father Kirker to the Egyptians, and
Robert Le Compte to the Phenicians; every one.of
them at the fame time excluding all the reft. JI
pafs by a great many other opinions, ftill lefs tena-
ble, than the foregoing, equally founded on fimple |
conjecture, and void of all probability, to come to
thofe who have made the deepeft refearches into this
affair.

B 3 ™ The

| GA) |

The firft is Father Gregorio Garcia, a Spar
Dominican, who having been a long time employ-
ed in the miffions of reru and Mexico, publithed
at Valencia in the year 1607, a treatife bei aay
on the Origin of the Indians of the New World,

‘A

where he both collects and examines a great number~

of different opinions on this fubject. “He propofes

every opinion, as if it were fome thefis or queftion

in philofophy: names its authors and advocates, —

fets down the arguments, ‘and laftly, anfwers the
objections, but gives no decifion. ‘To thefe he has
added the traditions of the Peruvians, Mexicans, and
iflanders of Haiti, or Hifpaniola, all which he was
informed of, when on the fpot; ’In the fequel, he
gives his own opinion, whichis, that feveral different
_hations have contributed to the peopling of America :
and here T think he might have ftopt. “This opi-
nion is fomewhat more than probable, and it ap-
pears to me, that he ought to have been contented
with fupporting it, as he does, with fome arguments
drawn ‘from that variety of characters, cuftoms,
languages and religions, obfervable in the different
countries of the new world. But he admits fuch a
number of thefe, which the authors of other, opi-
nions had before made ufe of, that inftead of
ftrengthening, he really weakens his own. In the

year 1729, Don André Gonzales de Garcia reprint-

ed the work of this Father at Madrid, with confi-
derable augmentations ; but though he has made
many learned additions to it, he has contributed
nothing to the farther fatisfa€tion of his readers,

_ The fecond is Father Jofeph de Acofta, a Spanifh
Jefuit, who had likewife fpent a great part of his
hife-time in America, and has left behind him two
very valuable works; one in the car ae

—intituled, The natural. and moral Hiftory of ibe In-
mae les phot te © Bees wetter ee a 3 Bats Bev iig f ( i dies A

thed

i iy a
dies; the other in Latin, the title of which is, De
promulgando Evangelio apud Barbaros, five de procu-
vanda Indoum falute. ‘This author, in the firft
book of his hiftory, after taking notice of the opi-
nion of Parmenides, Ariftotle, and Pliny, who be-
lieved there were no inhabitants between the Tro-
picks, and that there never had been any naviga-
tion farther to the weftward of Africa than the
Canary Iflands, gives it as his opinion, that the
pretended prophecy of Medea in Seneca, could be
no more than a bare conjecture of that poet, who,
feeing that the art of navigation was beginning to
receive confiderable improvements, and not being

able to perfuade himfelf that there was no land ‘be- —

yond the Weftern Ocean, imagined that in a fhort
time fome difcoveries would be made on that fide
of the globe. At the fame time, this Spanith hifto-
tian looks ‘upon the pafflage I have already cited
from the Timeus ‘of Plato, as a mere fiction, in
which, in order to’ fave his reputation, the difci-
ples of that philofopher, zealous for his glory,

{trained their imagination to find out fome inge-—

nious allegory.

In his fixteenth chapter, Father Acofta begins to
examine by what means the firft inhabitants of
America might have found a paffage to that im-
menfe Continent, and at the firft view he rejects
the direct and premeditated way of the fea, becaufe
“no ancient author has made mention of the com-
pafs. However, he fees no improbability in faying,
that fome veffels might have been thrown upon the
coaft of America by ftrefs of weather, and on this
occafion he mentions *, as a certain fact, the ftory
of a pilot, driven by a tempeft on the Brazils, who,

PoChap. Sie
B 4 at

“ip

| i, ae |
at his death, left his memoirs to Chriftopher Co-
lumbus. Afterwards, he takes notice of what Pliny
relates concerning rere Indians, who being driven
by bad weather on the coaft of Germany, were
given in a prefent to Quintus Metellus Celes, by
the king of the. Suevi. In the fame manner, he
finds nothing improbable in the report which goes
under Ariftotle’s name, vz. that a- Carthaginian
_ weffel having been driven very far to the weftward »
by a ftrong eafterly wind, the people on board dif-_
covered lands, which had, till that time, been un-
known ; and from thofe facts he concludes, that,
according to all appearance, America has, by fuch
like means, received one part of its inhabitants;
but adds, that we mutt of neceffity have recourfe to
fome other way to people that quarter of the world,
were it only to account for the tranfportation of cer-
‘tain animals found in thofe parts, which we cannot
-yeafonably fuppofe to have been embarked.on board
of fhips, or to have made fo long a paflage by
{wimming.

oy ;
Sita tt

‘The way by which this ah ta poe: eintioohs
father Acofta, could only be by the north of Afia
or Europe, or by the regions lying'to the fouthward
of the ftraits of Magellan ; and, were only one
of thefe three paflages practicable, we may fuffici-

ently comprehend how America has been peopled by
degrees, without having recourfe to navigation, of
Sigh there are no craces in the traditions of the Ame-
ricans. In order to ftrengthen this argument, he ob-
ferves, that thofe iflands, fuch as Bermudas, which were
too remote from the Continent to fuppofe that fuch
{mall veffels as were ufed in that. part of the world
could find their way thither, were upon their firft
difcevery uninhabited; that the Peruvians teftified
an extreme furprize at the firft fight of thips on their
! ' coafts 5

ot

: ceo

‘eoafts; and that thofe animals, fuch as tygers and

lions,;which might probably have got thither by land,
or at moft' by traverfing {mall arms of the fea, were
_altogether unknown even in the beft peopled iflands
of that hemifphere. : Aa ASE .
MEH CMS fe Be rerer ne

~- In chapter’ twenty-fecond, he returns to the Ata-
lantis of Plato, and refutes, with a. great deai of
gravity, the notion of fome who believed the rea-
lity of this chimera, and who fancied, that there
- was but avery fhort pafiage from this imaginary
ifland to America. In the following chapter, he
rejects the opinion of thofe who have advanced on
the authority of the fourth book of Efdras, that
this vaft country was peopled by the Hebrews. To
thefe he objects, Firft, that the Hebrews were ac-
guainted with the ufe of characters, which no na-
tion of America ever was. Secondly, that thefe
latter held filver in no manner of eftimation, where-
as the former have always fought after it with ex-
treme avidity.. Thirdly, that the defcendants of
Abraham have conftantly obferved the law of cir-
cumcifion, which is practifed-in no part of Ame-
rica. Fourthly, that they have always preferved
with the greateft care their language, tradition, laws
and iceremonies ; that they have always, without
- eeafing, looked for the coming of the Meffiah ; that
ever fince their difperfion over al] the earth, they
have never in the leaft relaxed from all thofe parti-
culars ; and that there is no reafon to believe they

fhould have renounced them in America, where not.

the fmalleft veftige of them remains,

» In the twenty-fourth chapter, he obferves, that
in a difcuffion of this nature, it is much eafier to
refute the fyftem of others than to eftablifh any
new one, and that the want of writing and cer-

»! tain

Beem Nad Eg Te hte ae oa

Co

(2 a0 ))}-
tain traditions, have rendered the difcovery of the
origin of the Americans extremely difficult, fo that
nothing could be determined in it without bein
guilty of great temerity ; and that all that can te
allowed to the uncertainty of conje@ture is, that this
great continent has been peopled by degrees in the
way we have juft now mentioned; that he cannot
believe thefe tranfmigrations to be very antient, and
that according to all human appearance the firft
who attempted this paflage were hunters, or wan-
dering nations, rather than a civilized people ; but
even granting the firft inhabitants of the new world

-to have been fuch, there would be but. little caufe |

to wonder, that their defcendants fhould degenerate
and vary from the religion and manners of their
anceftors: that the want of feveral things was enough
to make them forget the ufe of them, and that for
want of certain helps for tranfmitting their traditi-
ons from age to age, they fhould come by degtees
altogether to forget them, or at leaft to disfigure
them in fuch manner as to render it. impoffible’ to
diftinguith them : That the example of feveralna-
tions of Spain and Italy, who feem to have had
nothing belonging to the human {pecies befides. the
figure, gives all thefe reafons a great air of proba<
bility ; That the deluge, of which the Americans
have preferved the remembrance, does not appear
to him to be that fpoken of in fcripture, but fome
particular inundation, whereof fome perfons of great
ability pretend there {till remain certain marks in
America: Laftly, that it cannot be proved, that
the moft ancient monuments in America are older
than the thirteenth or fourteenth century, and that
all beyond this is nothing but a confufed heap of
fables and tales, and thofe ‘fo very childifh as to ren-

der it impofible to form one reafonable conjecture
from them.

The

Cosh)
. The third author. John de Lact, whofe opinion I
‘ought to relate, acknowledges that there is a great
deal of good fenfe and fold reafoning in that of fa-
ther de Acofta. What he does not approve of is
what follows. Firft, he pretends that the Jefuit is
in the wrong to fuppofe that long paflages by fea
cannot be made, without the help of the needle,
fince we may. navigate by the help of the ftars only ;
and, that he even feems to contradict himfelf, by
afferting t that the compafs ‘is a late invention, after
telling: us, that the ufe of it was very antient on the
coaft of Mozambique i in the fifteenth Century ; that
he advances without proof that the Orientals were
Bhacausinied with it, till it had been found out by
oe people of of the ‘welt 3 laftly, that it was very evi-
dént either that we ‘could do without it, or that it
muft haye been known in the earlieft times, fince
feveral iflands, even of our hemifphere, | and thofe
at aconfiderable diftance from the continent, were
pene very 1 foon after the deluge.

© Secondly, that he relates as a thing certain, the
ftory of the Pilot, from whofe memoirs it is pre-
tended Chriftopher Columbus learned the route of
the New World, as alfo that of the Indians fent to
Metellus Celer by the king of the Suevi; that we
know that the Spaniards fpread abroad the firft, re-
port merely out of jealoufy of that great man to
whom they owed the obligation of having g put them
in poffeffion of fo many rich countries, and whofe
only misfortune it was not to have been born in
Spain; and that the occafion of their publifhing the
fecond was only to rob the Portuguefe of the glory
of haying firft opened a way to the Indies by failing
round Africa ; that he is deceived if he thinks it
poffible to make the paflage from Terra Auftralis
to the Streights of Magellan, without croffing the
feds

Of. Father de Acofta, if it is one, was, however,

i ae
fea, ‘the difcovery of the Streights of Le Mai :
‘having fhewn its utter impracticability. ih tro

oy

excufable, ‘as at the time when he. wrote Le Mai aire
had not as yet difcovered the iueuge which Bee
his name,

idee ebs i Si bie, > ¢

| Thirdly, That he makes the peopling of ‘ene.
tica too late; and that it is contrary to all probabi-
lity, that this_vaft et Oa and 1A of the

ote

century, had tikes only pra to eh inhabited 1 pai
hundred years fince, John de Laét pretends, ‘that
there is no reafon to ‘think, that. ‘the. Deluge, the
tradition of which is full preferved amongtt the A-
mericans, is not the univerfal deluge which Mokes
ynentions in the book of Genefis.

gs gs
ss we

Befides the Spanifh pea? three other writers, a
Frenchman, an Englifhman, and a Dutchman, who
have handled the fame topick, have paffed unde

the’ examination of this learned. Fleming. The

are Lefcarbet, Brerewood, and the famous Grotius, ©
He probably knew, nothing of the’ work of Father
Garcia, whereof I have already fpoken, no more.
than of that of John de Solorzano Pereyra, a Spa
nifh lawyer, entituled,. De Fure Indiarum ; hee
the firft volume, in which the author relates all’ the
opinions of the learned on the origin of the Ame-
ricans, was printed in. 1629. | gh q2
“Be this as it will, Mark feesne ‘advocate in
the parliament of Paris, was a. man of fenfe an
learning, but a little addiéted to the marvellous. I
have {poken of him in feveral places of my hiftory.
In relating the different opinions on the prefent quef-
tion,

/

K 3 9

tion, which were) in vogue in his time; he rejects,

as. frivolous, the applications made of certain pro-
phecies on this fubjet, and -efpecially that of Ab-,
dias, which had been applied to’ the converfion of

the Weft-Indies by the miniftry,of the French and

Spaniards, the only nations who ‘have. truly under='
taken this. great work ; for the Portuguefe, to whom.
the Brazils owe their converfion, may be compre- —
hended under the name of Spaniards, and the. mif-
fionaries of the other nations of Europe who have.

had a’ {hare in the publication of the gofpel in. the

new World, went thither under the banner of the.
crowns of Erance, Spain, and Portugal. In fact,

Abdias could ooffibly have had the Idumeanrts only.
in view, and there is. not a fingle word in. his. pro-.
phecy that can be applied to America with any de-,
sree of probability.

v eieashio: Jeans aitheuhar more towards sire fen-.

a timent of thofe who have tranfported into the new

world the Canaanites, who were driven out of the.
promifed land , by Jothua. . He thinks there is at
leaft fome probability in this notion, becaufe thefe.
nations, as well as the Americans, were accuftomed .
to make their children pafs through the fire; and to

_ feed upon human. flefh, whilft they invoked their

idols. He approves “what Father Acofta fays of the
accidents which might have caufed certain fhips to.
land in America, ‘and alfo with refpect to the paflage
by the north of Afia and Europe. He believes that
all the parts of the Continent are contiguous, or at

eaft, that if there be any Streight to pafs, like that

of Magellan, which he fuppofes feparates two Con-
tinents from eachother, the animals which are to
be found in the New World might have made their.
paflage good notwithftanding, “fuce Jacques Car-
tier faw a bear, as large as a cow, fwim over an

arm

a ae
arm of thé fea fourteen Teagues in breadth. - Laftly;
he propofes his own opinion, which he feems ie give
only by way of fimple conjecture.

Is it, fays he, to. be believed, that Noah, iid |
lived three hundred and fifty years after the Deluge; ;
fhould be ignorant that a great part of the world
lay beyond the weftern ocean ; and if he did know
it, could be deftitute of means to people it? Was
it more difficult to pafs from the Canaries to the
Azores, and from thence to Canada, or from the
Cape Verd iflands to Brazil, than from the Conti-
nent of Afiato Japan, or to other iflands ftill more
remote ? On this occafion he relates, all’ that the

antients, and efpecially Alian and Plato, have faid
of thofe veftiges, which according to him ftill re=
mained in their time, with refpect to the knowledge
of America. He fees nothing to hinder us from
faying, that the Hefperides of the ancients were the
fame with the iflands of the Antilles; and he ex-
plains the fable of the Dragon, which according to
the poets guarded the golden apples, to be the dif-
ferent -ftreights winding in a ferpent-like manner
round thofe iflands, and which the frequency of the
fhipwrecks might have caufed to be looked upon as
unnavigable. To this he adds many geographical
obfervations, which are far from being altogether
exact, and which John de Laét very well refutes.

The famé critick juftly remarks, that if the Ca:

haanites facrificed their children to their idols, we; .

however, read in no place of the feripture of their
being Anthropophagi. He acknowledges the pof-
fibility and probability of the paffage of men and
animals into America by the North; and confefles;
that it is eafy to conceive that men thus tranfplant-
ed into adefart and remote country fhould there’

become

: Ra)
become favage and barbarous ; but he looks upon it.
as a real and moft ridiculous paradox to fuppofe that
Noah ever entertained any thoughts of peopling that
immenfe Continent. - The ill-humour he is in, and
which is no doubt excited by fome of Lefcarbot’s
arguments, which to tell truth, are far from being
without alloy, hinders him from feeing what is folid
and fenfible in this conjecture. But this proceeding
is common enough to the learned; as if truth and
probability ceafed to be fuch from the mixture of

_ real proofs amongft thofe others by which they may
happen to be fupported.

Edward Brerewood, a learned Enclifhman, after
having refuted the ill-grounded opinion, which makes
all the Tartars defcend from the Ifraelites, and after

fhowing that the ignorance of the true etymology of

the name of Tartar, which comes neither from the
Hebrew nor the Syriack, but from the river Tartar,
will have the New World to have been entirely
peopled from this numerous nation ; his proofs are
thefe following. Firft, America has always been
better peopled on’ the fide towards Afia, than on
_ that towards Europe. Secondly, the genius of the
Americans has a very great conformity with that of
the Tartars, who never applied themfelves to any
art ; which is, however, not univerfally true. Third-
ly, the colour of both is pretty much alike ; it is
certain, the difference is not confiderable, and is,
perhaps, the effect of the climate, and of thofe
_ mixtures with which the Americans rub themfelves,
Fourthly, the wild beafts that are feen in America,
atid which cannot reafonably be fuppofed to have
been tranfported thither by fea, could only have
come by the way of Tartary. Laftly, he anfwers
an objection made to him with refpect to the cir-
cumceifion of the Tartars, and maintains, that this

rite.

i er

Se ae x pk ne ag
ae Loe. et eee a ere he

ee

( uk y |
rite was never in ufé be that nations till after they
- had ipolnaced the Mahometan religion bok saa

De Laét is routentel with barely narrating Pe
opinion of this learned Englifhman, which: confifts .
in rejecting the notion of thofe who make the Tar- -
tars defcendants of the Ifraelites, who were tranf: .
ported by Salmanafar; and in making the Tartars
anceftors to all the Americans. We fhall fee what
he himfelf thinks, when we come to relate his own ©
opinions on this article, But it is neceflary in the
firft place, to examine what pafied between him.
and the famous Grotius upon this fubject. The
difpute was very hot on both fides, and as is ufual
in fuch cafes, only embroiled the queftion.

In the year 1642, Grotius publifhed a {mall trea-
tife in Quarto, intituled, De Origine Gentium Ameri- -
canarum, which he begins, with fuppofing that the
- Ifthmus of Panama had been looked. upon, before .
the difcovery of the new world by the Spaniards, -
as an impenetrable barrier between the two conti- .
nents of America: whence he concludes, that. the:
inhabitants of both could have nothing common. .
in their original. Milius, whom he does not cite;
had advanced this paradox before him. Now, if.
we may credit the learned Dutchman, excepting.
Yucatan, and fome other neighbouring provinces, |
whereof he makes a clafs apart, the whole of North
America has been peopled by the Norwegians, who
paffed thither by way of Iceland, Greenland, Efto=
tiland and Narembega. . He, notwithftanding, con-—
fefles, that they were followed fome ages after by
the Danes, Swedes, and other German nations.

’

Mn ce yp OU a a eae ene ane ee ate ena

He draws the greateft part of his proofs from the |

conformity of their manners, and the refemblance_
of

. mt ae a

of names. But we muft acknowledge, that nothing
can be farther fetched than thefe pretended refem-
blances, of which he feems, PQ aAcing: fully
erfuaded, though very few will be convinced
befides himfelf. What obliges him to place Yu-
catan apart by itfelf, is the cuftom of circum-
cifion, of which he has taken it into his head
to believe, he has found fome traces in this. pro-
vince, and a pretended ancient tradition amoneft
the inhabitants, which faid, that their anceftors had
efcaped being {wallowed up by the waves of the
fea; and this according to him is what gave rife to
the opinion of fome that they were defcended from
the Fiecbrews. Notwithflanding he refutes this opi-
nion, with much the fame arguments which Brere-
wood made ufe of, and believes with Don Peter
.Martyr d’Anglerie, that the firft who peopled Yu-
catan were fome Ethiopians caft away on this coatt
by atempelt, or by fome other accident. He is
even of opinion, that thefe Ethiopians were Chrifti
ans, a conjeCture which he infers from a kind of
baptifm in ufe in the country. He could not help
allowing that the language of the northern Ameri-
cans is quite diferent from either the Ethiopian or
Norwegian, but this difficulty does not ftop his ca-
reer; he fearches in the beft manner he can fora
folution to it, in the mixture of different nations,
who, in procefs of time, eftablifhed themfelves in this
part of the New World, and in their wandering
way of life, and which according to him reduced
them to the neceflity of inventing new jargons.

Hence he paffes to the nations in the neighbour-
hood of the Streights. of Magellan, and imagining
he has found a ftrong, pclialale i cieldehaaiin thot
fettled on this fide of it in the Continent of South-
America, and thofe who have their abode beyond

. it;

6 58 |

it, he gives it as his decifion that the former derive
their original from the latter, and that thefe as well
as the inhabitants of New Guinea have come from
the Moluccoes and the ifland of Java. Yet for all
- that the peculiar genius of the Peruvians, their laws,
their cuftoms, their police, the fuperb edifices they
had built, and the wrecks of Chinefe veffels, which,
he fays, the Spaniards found at the entry of the
_ Pacifick Ocean, after coming through the Straits of
Magellan, permit him not to doubt that this na-
‘tion is, originally, a Chinefe colony, which is con-
firmed, adds he, by the worfhip of the Sun, which
prevails equally in both empires, by the refemblance
of their characters and manner of writing, and by
the reputation of the ancient Chinefe of excelling in
the art of navigation. Laftly, he rejeéts the Tar-
tar or Scythian ‘original of the Americans from the
little conformity that is found according to him be-
tween the manners and cuftoms of both nations :
He infifts chiefly on the circumftance of the Ame-
ricans having no horfes, which we know, fays he,
the Scythians cannot be without. - To deftroy this ©
fyftem, it will be fufficient to prove, that it leads
conftantly to falfe conclufions, a point, which the
Flemifh critick has rendered extremely evident. He,
proves with equal clearnefs, that Grotius is every
-whit as unhappy in attacking the opinions of others,
as he is in eftablifhing his own. In effect, he proves
that all the Scythians have not the ufe of horfes,
feveral of them inhabiting countries utterly incapa-
ble of maintaining them; to which he adds, that
according to the opinion of thofe, who pretend that
Scythia is not the country whence America has been
peopled, it is not neceflary to fay, that all thofe who
have penetrated that way into the New World were
Scythians or Tartars; that the countries they m uft
of neceffity traverfe, were no way proper for aaa 4
that

ot a te aaa
Dey, + Ay J ‘

me Os

that the cuftom of the Scythians, when they find
themfelves under the neceffity of croffing an arm of
the fea, is to kill their horfes, to flea them, and to
cover the boats in which they embark with their
hidés. Laitly, he maintains, that according to all
appearance, thefe tranfmigrations happened very
foon after the difperfion of Noah’s grandfons, and

that at that time, the Scythians and Lartars might

as yet be unacquainted with the ufe of horfes.

He proves the antiquity of thefe colonies by the
multitude of people inhabiting North-America

when it was firft difcovered ; and as to the pretend-

ed impoffibility of getting paft the Ifthmus of Pa-
nama, he fhows the abfurdity of it by the few ob-
ftacles the Europeans met with in that paflage. He
afterwards undertakes to fhew, that the moft north-
ern Americans have much greater refemblance, not
only in the features of their countenances, but alfo in
their complexion, and in their manner of living,
with the Scythians, Tartars, and Samoeides, than

with the Norwegians and German nations: And

with refpect to what Grotius fays; in making thefe
pafs from Iceland, he very well remarks, that this
ifland began to be peopled only towards the end of
the ninth century ; that even then there paffed only
a few families thither, and that thus this ifland
could not prefently be in a condition to fend over

to America fuch numerous colonies as to have pro-

duced fo many thoufands of inhabitants as_ reple-
ie thofe vaft regions in the fifteenth century.

The route which Grotius makes his Norwegians
take, likewife furnifhes his adverfary with danger-
ous weapons again{t him. He makes him ebferve,
that Greenland is cut thorough with vaft and deep
arms of the fea, almoft always frozen up, that the

te eae whole

( 26 } ees
whole country is covered with fnows of a prduifet-
ous depth, and which are never entirely melted ;
that Friezeland, if fuch a country isin being, can
be no more than a part of Greenland, or of Iceland,
and that there is no reliance to be had on all’ that
the two Zani’s have publifhed about it: that Efto-
tiland, according to the account of thefe two noble
Venetians, is at a great -diftance from Friezeland,
fince in their time there was very little correfpond-
ence between thefe two countries, and that it was a
matter of pure chance that fome fifhermen happened
on this latter: that this enchanted kingdom, the
monarch of which had fuch a magnificent library,

has entirely difappeared fince the difcovery of the.

northern parts of America, that Norembega, whi-
ther Grotius conducted his Norwegians, is no lefs
fabulous; that this name in which this learned man
finds with a fecret complacency fo ftrong a confor-
mity with that of Norvegia, or Norway, is not the
name of any country, but a fictitious one whereof
nobody knows the original; that the natives of the
country call it Agguncia ; that this country lies very
far to the fouth of the place where Eftotiland was
fuppofed to be, fince it makes part of the fouth-

coait of New France, between Accadia and New-
England.

Grotius had relied very much on the termination
gn are, {o common in old and new Mexico. Laet
draws him from this intrenchment, by fhewing that
almoft all of thefe names are modern, and of Spa-
nifh extraction. He overthrows, with the fame eafe,
the argument which Grotius drew from the traditi-
ons of the Mexicans, by obferving, that when thefe
nations placed themfelves in the neighbourhood of

the lake of Mexico, they found great numbers of
barbarians, who {poke all forts of languages, be-

. tween

.

eres:
ee

Ce)

tween which there was no manner of affinity or
analogy ; fo that after having conquered them, they
were obliged to make ufe of interpreters to-be able
to govern them. This frivolous refemblance of
names likewife made Grotius imagine in California
a nation called Alavard, which he makes defcend
from the Lombards; Laét, in anfwer, fays, that
the name of Alavard, might poffibly have no other
original than that of /varado, a Spanifh Captain,
that had followed Ferdinand Cortez into Mexico,
and perhaps too into California, of which we know
this conqueror made the firft difcovery.

Laét, as he goes on, makes it appear, that Gro-
tius is equally unfuccefsful in his attempts to fhew a
conformity of manners, cuftoms, traditions, and
form of government, between the northern Ame-
ricans and the Norwegians ; every thing he advances
on that head being founded on falfe memoirs. He
then proceeds to confider the argument which his
antagonift draws from the pretended circumcifion
“and baptifim of the people of Yucatan. He main-
tains, that it is contrary to all probability to look out
for a country furrounded by Norwegian colonies
for a fettlement to his Africans, who muft have
been much more naturally fuppofed to have landed
in Brafil, or at leaft to have ftopped at the Antilles,
which iflands they muft have met with in their
paflage, fuppofing them to have croffed the line.
fe confeffes that Don Peter Martyr d’ Anglerie,
when fpeaking of the people of Yucatan, affirms,
that many of them were circumcifed; but he al-
ledges, that this Italian author has been mifinform-
ed, fince neither Antonio de Herrera, father de
Acofta, nor Oviedo, writers of much better credit
than him, have ever mentioned the circumcifion,
baptifm, or croffes upon the tombs of this people

C 3 but

fC a)

but as meer fables. ‘Laftly, before the Abyffinians
could have pafled to America, they muft have ta-
ken their departure from the weftern coaft of Africk;
and Laet is confident, that the dominions of the
king of Ethiopia do not extend. fo far that way.
In the.mean time, it is certain, from the accounts
of the Portuguefe, that the king of Benin had his
crown of the emperor of Abyffinia.

Laét fays but little of the manner in which Gro-
tius imagines South-America has been peopled by
the inhabitants of thofe countries, which lie to the
fou*hward of the Streights of Magellan; he is fa-
tishied with obferving that they are only iflands, be-
yond which, as far as Terra Auftralis, there is no-
thing but an immenfe extent of ocean : that we are
not as yet well acquainted with what lies between
that country and New Guinea, and that all the
fouthern American nations, not excepting thofe un-
der the dominion of the incas of. Peru, fpoke an
infinite varjety of different languages. “he reafons
on which Grotius eftablifhes the Chinefe original of
the Peruvians, appear no lefs frivolous to. this
erjtick.

In the firft place, fays he, the character of the
two nations and their taite for the arts are extremely
different. In the fecond place no one has ever faid
that the Chinefe pay any religious adoration to the
fun; and were this even granted, that worfhip is
common. to fo many nations, that no arguments
could be drawn from hence of any weight in the
- prefent queftion. It is true, that the incas of Peru,
as well as the Chinefe emperors, called themielves
the defcendants of the Sun; but how many other
princes have either ufurped themfelves, or received
that tile from their fubjects : Did not the Mexicans

} give

-

Be,

, G. 23 )

give the fame name to Cortez, either to do him ho-
nour, or becaufe he came from the eaft. In the
third place, Grotius is ftill more grofsly miftaken in
affirming that the Peruvians made ufe of characters
like the Chinefe, and which were written like theirs
in perpendicular lines, feeing that Father Acoita,
who refided a long time in Peru, and Garcilaffo de
la Vega, defcended by the mother’s fide from the
blood of the incas, inform us that they were nei-
ther acquainted with characters, nor had the ufe of
any fort of writing. What is added by the learned.
Dutchman, that Mango Capa, the firft of the incas,
was himfelf a Chinefe, is no more than a bare con-
jecture, or a fable invented by fome traveller, there
not being the leaft notice taken of it in the traditi-
ohs of Peru.

In the laft place, Laét declares that he has never,
in any author, read of any wrecks of Chinefe vef-
fels in the Pacifick Ocean. The fact itfelf appears
to him very improbable, becaufe in the paflage from
China to Peru, the winds are contrary during the
whole year fo that by making the great round
of the ocean by the weft, would be a fhorter paf-
fage, in point of time, than the direct courfe. He
adds, that fuppofing the Peruvians had defcended
from the Chinefe, they muft have preferved at leaft
fome veftiges of the art of navigation, or of the
ufe of iron, whereas they were acquainted with nei-
ther; fo that it is much more natural to fuppofe the
Peruvians and their neighbours, the inhabitants of
Chili, came from fome of the Indian nations, fome
of which have always been fuficiently civilized to
be capable of giving birth to an empire fuch as was
that of Peru. |

~

G 4 . To

(oa

To this Grotius makes anfwer, but with the air of
the embaffacor, and of a perfon of profound learning,
and feems perfeétly aftonifhed, that any one fhould
dare to contradi&t him. lLaét, fomewhat piqued at
this behaviour, treats him in his reply with lefs
ceremony than before; and maintains, that in @
difpute purely literary, the character of an ambaf-
fador neither gives one writer any manner of advan-
tage over another, nor any additional weight to-his
reafoning. |

Grotius triumphed upon his adverfary’s agreeing
that Greenland had been peopled by the Norwegi-
ans: See here, faid he, one part of America, the —
inhabitants of which derive their origin fromy Nor-
way. Now what could have hindered thefe Nor-
wegian Greenlanders from advancing farther?
The queftion is not, anfwered Laét, to determine,
Whether or not any of the Northern people pafiéd
to America by the way of Greenland ; but if all the
Americans came from Norway, which I maintain
to be impoffible. Angrimus Jonas, an Icelander,
affirms, that Greenland was not difcovered till the
year 964. Gomara and Herrera inform us, that
the Chichimeques were fettled on the lake of Mexi-
co,in 721. Thefe favages came from New Mexi-
co, and the neighbourhood of California, fuch is
the uniform tradition of the Mexicans : confequent-
ly North-America was inhabited many ages before
it could receive any from Norway by the way of
Greenland. -

It is no lefs certain, that the real Mexicans found-
ed their empire in go2, after having fubdued the
Chichimeques, Otomias, and other barbarous natt-
ens, who had taken poffeffion of the country round -
the lake of Mexico; and Father Acofta tells

each

| C85.)
each of them fpoke a language peculiar to them-
felves. From other authorities we learn, that the
Mexicans themfelves came from California, or from
New Mexico, and that they performed their journey
at leaft for the moft part by land ; confequently, they
could not have come from Norway.

Grotius having thus fet out with an evident ana-
chronifm, every thing he has built on that foun-
dation is a coniequence of that original error; and
his antagonift, who, with all the liberty of a Fle-
ming, imagined he had a right to confider him
only as a man of letters, whofe fyftem appeared |
to him erroneous ; and offended at the fame time,
becaufe having attacked him with fufficient mode-
ration, he had not met with the polite return he
expected, fails not to purfue him through all his
blunders, and to place them continually before his
eyes.

The learned embafiador imagined he had read in
Herrera, that the iflanders of Baccalaos bore a per-
fect refemblance to the Laplanders. Laét, after
declaring he could meet with no fuch fact in the
Spanifh hittorian, repeats what he had already faid,
that he does not deny but fome of the Americans
might have had their original from Europe ; then
bringing his adverfary back to Mexico, he afks
him what connection there was between the Mexi-
cans and the inhabitants of the ifland Baccalaos ?
He acknowledges afterwards, that Herrera mentions
a fort of baptiim and confeffion, that were practifed
in Yucatan and the neighbouring iflands; but he
maintains, that the worfhip of thofe barbarians was
mixed with fo many impieties, and thofe fo plainly
idolatrous, that it could not reafonably be fuppofed
to be derived from the Abyffinian Chriftians. He

adds,

Oe ay

- adds, that it is much more natural to attribute all
thofe equivocal marks of Chriftianity and Judaifm,
which have been believed to fubfilt in divers pro-
vinces of the New World, to the Devil, who has
always affected to counterfeit the worfhip of the
true God. This remark is made by all good au-

thors, who have fpoken of the religion of nations
newly difcovered, and is befides founded on the au-
thority of the fathers of the church. |

Grotius having advanced, without any hefitation,
that the Ethiopians might in time have changed
their colour in a climate not fo fultry as that which
they had quitted, Laét makes anfwer, that though
Whites might poflibly lofe fome of their colour, -
by removing to a warmer climate than that where
they were born, yet that there is no example of the
defcendants of the Blacks becoming white in a cold
country ; and that the colour of the Negroes pro-

ceeds not folely from the heat of the fun, fince the
Brazilians, and many others inhabiting the fame
latitudes, have it not. Laftly, he takes notice of
another error of Grotius, who fuffered his preju-
dices to carry him fo far, as to be perfuaded that
the Chinefe were not acquainted with the art of
printing before the arrival of the Portugefe in their |
country, that he might thereby obviate an objection -
which might have been ftarted againit his fyftem of
ae making the Peruvians defcend from the Chinefe,

There can nothing, in my opinion, be added to
the criticifm, which John de Laet has publifhed on
the hypothefis of the celebrated Grotius. We are
now going to fee whether he has been equally happy
in eftablifhing his own. He fets out with relating,
on the authority of fome authors quoted by Pliny,
but who do not appzar to have been very able geo-

eraphers,

\ 2 a WPL GIA ieee oa ee Tame CS

ee (27) )

eraphers, that in fome iflands near the coaft of
‘Africa, among{ft which are the Canaries, fome an-
cient edifices ‘have been feen, and which are a cer-
tain proof that thefe iflands were inhabited before
they were difcovered by the Europeans : now it is
certain, fays he, that fince they were afterwards en-
tirely deferted, the inhabitants muft have retired
elfewhere ; and there is great reafon to believe that
they pafied over to America, the paflage being nei-
ther long nor difficult.

_ This migration, according to the calculation of
thefe authors, muft have happened about two thou-
fand years ago: at that time, the Spaniards were
much infefted by the Carthaginians, and a fhort
while afterwards, no lefs fo by the Romans. Now
is it not natural to think, that feveral amoneft thofe
‘fhould bethink themfelves of taking refuge in a
country, where they might have nothing to fear
from the ambition of their enemies; and what
could have hindered them from retiring to the An-
tilles by way of the weftern iflands, which are fitu-
ated exactly half way in that voyage? the vefiels of
the Carthaginians were very proper for this naviga-
tion, and might very well ferve the Spaniards for
models, by which to build others of the fame con-
ftruction. They had the ftill recent example of
Hanno, the famous Carthaginian, before their eyes,
who had failed very far to the weftward. It is no
Jefs probable, that people might have croffed from
the Cape Verd Iflands to Brazil. The Autololes,
whom Pliny has placed in their neighbourhood,
were Getulians, and not Ethiopians ; their colour
and manners fufficiently correfpond with thofe of
the Brafilians. ae :
Bh yi, BUREAU OF 7.

AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY G
AME RI 1 THNOL reat

a Ri Sl.
y"
1}
Ae

{<2e)') |

Great Britain, Ireland, and the Oreades, appear
alfo to the learned Fleming, extremely proper for
founding a like conjecture in favour of North Ame-
rica 5 he relates on this head, what is recorded in
the hiftory of Wales, written by Dr. David Powel,
under the year 1170. Madoc, fays. this hiftorian,
one of the fons of prince Owen Gwynnith, being
tired and difgufted with the civil wars which broke
out between his brothers. after the death of their
father, fitted out feveral veffels, and after providing
them with every thing neceffary for a long voyage,
went in queft of new lands to the weftward of Ire-
land; there he difcovered very fertile countries,
and deftitute of inhabitants ; ; wherefore, landing a
part of his people, he returned to Britain, where he.
made new levies, and afterwards tranfported them
to his colony. lLaét feems to rely much on ‘this
ftory, and concludes from it, that the like enter-
prizes might poffibly have been carried into execu-
tion from all the Britannic iflands. It were to be
wifhed, adds he, that fome perfons had applied
themfelves to compare the languages of fome parts
of America with thofe of Ireland and Wales.

From thence he comes to the Scythians, and
draws a parallel of their manners with thofe of the
Scythians; firft, he proves, by the teftimony of Pliny,
that this name was formerly common to all the na-
tions Jiving in the north of Afia and Europe ; that
it was even fometimes given to the Sarmatians and
Germans, although it was afterwards reftrained to
the nations inhabiting the northern extremities of
the two continents, where feveral.of them have
been for a long time unknown to the reft of the
world. He pretends, that amongft. thofe, many
were Anthropophagi, that all of them might have
fent colonies into America; and that if it be objeét-

: ed,

! i eee)

ed, that there never were any Anthropophagi, ex-
cept in South America, it 1s becaufe all thofe na-
tions, amongft whom this deteftable cuftom pre-
vailed, paffed thither. He might, no doubt, have
faved himfelf the labour of making fo weak an an-
fwer to an objection, which no perfon would proba-
bly ever have made, fince feveral of the North
Americans have ever been, and ftill are, Anthro-
pophagi: but let us, proceed to follow him in the
explication of his hypothefis. 1 call it hypothefis,
becaufe where memoirs are wanting for efiablifhing
the truth, he is reduced, like all thofe who have >
handled this queftion, to the neceffity of having re-
courfe to probability, and it muft be efteemed fuf-
ficient to keep within fight of it, ©

Pliny indeed, fays, that the Scythians valued
themfelves for having many horfes; but he does
not fay, that all the Scythians did fo. Strabo men-
tions feveral nations of them living north of the
Cafpian Sea, and part of whom led a wandering
life: what he fays of their manners and way of
living, agrees, in a great many circumftances, with
what has been remarked in the Indians of America:

_ flow it is no great miracle, adds Laét, that thefe
refemblances are not abfolutely perfect ; and thofe
people, even before they left their own country,
already differed from each other, and went not b
the fame name: their change of abode effected
what remained. We find the fame likenefs between
feveral American nations and’the Samoeides, fettled
on the great river Oby, fuch as the Ruffians have
reprefented them to us; and it is much more na-
tural to fuppofe, that colonies of thefe nations
‘pafled over to America, by croffing the icy fea on
their fledges, than to caufe the Norwegians to tra-

’ vel all the way that Grotius has marked out for

them.

t oa)
them. Befides that the Americans have much

lefs refemblance to thefe, than to the Samoeides.
and the Scythian Nomades. 4 i

From North, Laét paffes to Sica Aiea ane 3
examines whether that continent could have receiv--
ed part of its inhabitants by way of the Pacifick
Ocean. The Iflands of Solomon are fituated eight
hundred leagues from the coafts of Peru, and we -
now know them to be feparated from Terra Auftra-
lis by a fea, the extent of which is not as yet fully ~
afcertained. Father de Acofta believes it to be not
very diftant from New Guinea, which he imagines
is acontinent. But Sir Richard Hawkins, an Eng-
lifhman, pretends to have certainly difcovered it to
be an ifland. We muft therefore, continues the -
learned Fleming, fay that South America has been
peopled by way of this great continent of Terra
Auttralis, and the coaft of which, Don Pedro Her-
nando Giros, a Portuguefe, ana Don Hernando de
Quiros, a Spaniard, ranged along for the fpace of
eight hundred leagues in ‘the years 1609 and 1610.
The latter, who has given his name to part of this
continent, obferves in his letter to his Catholick
Majefty, that this country, in feveral places where

che landed, was extremely well peopled, and that too

with men of all complexions. But isit not ftrange,
that Laét fhould rather chufe to people South Ame-

rica from a country, feparated from it by a much

creater extent of ocean than the reift of the world,
than from North America, which, on the fuppofi-.
tion that it was firft peopled, ought naturally to
have mpplied all the New World with inhabitants ?

In order to fapport his affertion, that Avaiaae
could not have
i€ obferves, that eafterly winds, which

conftantly

Been peopled by means of the Paci-

&

fick Ocean,’ |

ae

/

i: cae

-conftantly prevail there, prevent all navigation from

the Weft to the Eaft ; then he examines feveral
American languages, in order to compare them with
one another, which is not the beft part of his work,
at leaft, if we may forma judgment from the extract
he has given us of a vocabulary of the Haron lan-
guage, in order to compare it with that of Mexico;
for he has taken it from brother Gabriel Saghart, a
Recollet, who underftood very little of that tongue.

He does not appear to be better acquainted with
the religion of the Indians of Canada, in which he
endeavours to difcover traces which might have led
him to their firft original; and indeed, all this dif-
play of learning does not much conduce to the end
he has in view: befides, although no one of his
age has made a better connected work, or treated
of the Weft Indies with fo much accuracy, yet we
now meet with feveral things in his performance,
which ftand in need of correction.

Fe concludes, with a fhort explication of the opi-
nion of Emanuel de Moraez, a Portuguefe, extract-
ed from the twentieth book of his Hiftory of
Brazil; a work, which has not as yet been pub-
lifhed. According to this author, America has
been wholly peopled by the Carthaginians and Ifra-
elites. With regard to the farft, his proof is, that

they had made difcoveries at a great diftance from

Africa, the progrefs of which being put a ftop to
by the fenate of Carthage, hence it came to pafs,
that thofe who happened to be then in the newly
difcovered countries, being cut off from all com-
merce with their countrymen, and deftitute of many
necefiaries of life, fell foon into a ftate of barbarity.
As to the Ifraelites, Moraez pretends,"ghat nothing
but circumcifion is wanting, in order to*conftitute a

perfect

Cog
perfect refemblance between them and the Brazili-
ans. Even this would be of great importance, were
we to confider the invincible attachment of the
| 4
former to that ceremony. But there are many

other points equally effential, wherein the two na- ~

tions differ. I can fafely affirm, that this pretend-
ed refemblance, which appears fo .ftriking to the
Portuguefe hiftorian, is at beft a falfe fhow, which
feizes one at the firft glance, but difappears, when
looked into more narrowly and without prejudice.

John de Laét having, in a fatisfaCtory manner,
refuted what opinions had been advanced before his
time, but not having been equally fuccefsful in
eftablifhing his own, George de Hornn, a learned
Dutchman, entered the lifts, which he did with the
greater confidence, as he believed’ he fhould draw
great advantages from the new difcoveries his coun-
trymen and the Englifh had lately made in the
northern parts of Afia, Europe, and America.

After relating every thing that has been imagined
on the fubject he undertakes to handle, that is to
fay, all that is found in father Garcia and Solor-
zano, he fets in the ftrongeft light the difficulty of
determining this queftion 3 si difficulty occafioned
by the imperfect knowledge we have of the extre-
mities of the globe towards the North and South,
and the havock which the Spaniards, the farft ie
-coverers of the New World, made amongit its
moft ancient monuments; as witnefs the great
double road between Quito and Cuzeo; fuch an
undertaking, as the Romans have executed nothing
_that can be compared to it. Iowever, he is not
afraid to promife himfelf a happy conclufion to his

enquiries, and condemns father Acofta for too haf-

_tily determining, that no one can engage to fucceed
6

7

Peptene heh
He tee

ie ee

$n fuch an enterprize, without great rafhnefs. Let

us now fee whether he himfelf is not an example of
what he finds fault with in the Spanith hiftorian.

He fets out with declaring, that he does not
believe it poffible America could have been peopled
before the flood, confidering the fhort fpace of timé
which elapfed between the creation of the world
and that memorable event. Very able men have,
notwithftanding, believed that there were more men
on the face of the earth at that early period, than
there are at this prefent; the thing is at leaft poffi-
‘ble, and this is fufficient to prevent the deftroying
the abfolute certainty of the opinion. Neverthelefs,
it muft be owned, that de Hornn is not fingle in
this opinion ; but what he adds, gives us no great
notion either of his accuracy or of his probity.
According to him, Lefcarbot places Noah’s birth
in the New World ; whereas, this French hiftorian
has faid nothing that bears the fmalleft refemblance
to fuch a paradox.

In the next place, he lays it down for a principle, '
that after the deluge, men and other terreftrial ani-
mals have penetrated into America both by land and
by water, and both too out of a formed defign,

and by accident ; and that birds have got thither by
‘flight, which does not appear to be improbable,

feeing that they have been obferved to follow veffels
without ftopping, for the fpace of three hundred
leagues together, and fince there are rocks and
iflands, where they might reft themfelves, fcattered
about every where in the ocean. Thus, according
to him, John de Laét had reafon to fay, that the

article of birds occafioned no manner of difficulty.
“All the world, however, will not be of their
Opinion; for do not we know many of the fea-—

thered

( 34 )

thered fpecies, which are neither able to fly nor to
fwim fo far? Father Acofta has likewife very well
obferved, in the opinion of this learned Dutchman,
that wild ‘beafts might have found a free paffage
by land, and that if we do not meet in the New
World with horfes or cattle, to which he might have
added, elephants, camels, rhinoceros’s, and many
others ; it is becaufe thofe nations who pafled thi-
her, either were not acquainted with their ufe, or
had no convenience to tranfport them: yet there
are cattle in America, but of a fpecies very different
from any of thoile known in our hemifphere.

As to what relates to the human fpecies, “de
Hornn excludes from America, 1, The Ethiopians,
and all the Blacks, both of Africa and Afia; the
- few Negroes found in the province of Careta, ‘hav-
ing, without doubt, pias brought there by accident,
a fhort time before. The Norwegians, Danes,
Swedes, Celtes, and ina 2 Wore: all the northern and
middle countries of Europe and Afta. Mean while
it may be obferved, the Celtes and ancient Britons
were much addigted to navigation, and as likely as
any other people to tranfport themfelves to America.
3, The Samoeides and Laplanders. His reafon for
excluding all thefe nations is this, that there are no
Americans. who have white curled hair and beards,
excepting the Miges, in the province of Lapoteca,
the Scheries, on the river of Plate, and the Malo-
poques in Brazil. The Efquimaux have likewife
white hair ; which exceptions embarrafs the queftion
not a little. iy

All the Indians of Afia, continues de Hornn,
believe the Metempfychofis: therefore that peopie
could not have pafled into America,. where this
doctrine is not fo much as known. Yet good au-
* a: ¥ thors,

eA » >

( oe 2

thors, and particularly the learned Koempfer, alledge,
thatthe doctrine of the Metempfychofis was firft carried
into India by Kaca, who was probably an F.gyptian
_ prieft, driven from his native country by Cambyfes,
when he conquered it. Before him, the religion of
fire, and the worfhip of the fun, were {pread all over
Perfia and the Eaft Indies, both of which are of
great antiquity in a good part of North America.
Here follows another argument, which, though fup-
ported by the authority of Diodorus Siculus, does
not appear to. me a whit more convincing. The
Indians, fay they, have never fent colonies abroad ;
confequently ‘they could.not,have contributed to the
peopling of the New World. But fuch general
propofitions are not fufceptible of demontftration,
efpecially with ,refpect to fuch a country as the In-
dies, poflefied -by fo many nations, differing from
one another in manners, cuftoms, and genius.

The Greeks and .the Latins are likewife excluded’
from the New World. They could not, according
to our author, fail beyond Cadiz, becaufe the Car-
thaginians, who had;the command of the Atlantick
Qcean, would,not have fuffered them. This areu-
ment appears to me very weak, efpecially with re-
gard to the Greeks, who having founded Cadiz,
might very -well:be able to keep thofe feas in fpite
of the Carthaginians. I fhould rather imagine, that
-Hercules being perfuaded that there was nothing

beyond that ocean, his countrymen had never
thought of embarking upon it, which, however, is
a conjecture, that might eafily be deftroyed.

In the laft place, neither Chriftians, Hebrews,
nor Mahometans, if we believe de Hornn, have
ever fettled-in the New World; and if this learned
man does not abfolutely reject thofe accounts of

D' 2 crofies,

C48)
crofies, baptifm, circumcifion, confeffion, fafts, and
other religious ceremonies, fome veftiges of which

have been pretended to have been found in Yucatan
and elfewhere, we fhall foon fee what regard he pays .

to them in the arrangement of his own fyftem, of
which here follows the plan.

In the firft place, he fuppofes that America be-
gan to be peopled by the North; and regarding
the barrier of the Ifthmus of Panama, which Gro-
tius imagines was not open before the time of the
Spaniards, as a fuppofition void of all foundation,
he maintains, that the primitive colonies fpread
themfelves far beyond it, fince through the whole
extent of that continent, and both in the northern
and fouthern parts of it, we meet with undoubted
marks of a mixture of the northern nations with
thofe who have come from other places. He be-
lieves that the firft founders of thofe colonies were
the Scythians ; that the Phenicians and Carthagini-
ans afterwards got footing in America by way of
the Atlantick Ocean, and the Chinefe by way of
the Pacifick ; and that other nations might, from
time to time, have landed there by one or other of
thefe ways, or might poffibly have been thrown on
the coaft by tempefts ; and laftly, that fome Jews
and Chriftians might have been carried there by
fome fiich like event, but at a time when all the
New World was already peopled.

He, in my opinion, very well obferves, that thofe
giants, who may have been feen in fome parts of
America, prove nothing ; that though in the firft
ages, they might poffibly have been more frequent-
ly met with, yet it cannot be faid, they ever com-
pofed the body of a nation ; that as their pofterity
did net all inherit their gigantic ftature, fo men of

a

t

- Ce 38e,)
a common fize might have probably at firft. produ-

ced thofe Coloffius’s, as may be feen in the modern

accounts of Virginia and Senegal. Hitherto he
has advanced nothing new, moft of thefe obferva-
tions having been made before: afterwards he has
fomething, which is not only new, but which is alfo
peculiar to himfelf; he pafles from probability to
certainty, and from conjectures to pofitive aflertions ;
and this method once tried, he carries it to a great
length ; fo that if we follow him, we fhall find him
fufficiently entertaining, and at times faying very
sood things. |

Omitting the confideration of the Scythians,

whom he fuppofes to have entered America by the

North, and there to have made the firft fettlements,
he eftablifhes a firft migration of the Phenicians, by
laying it down for a principle, that from the earlieft
times they have been great navigators, and have
teplenifhed all our hemifphere with their colonies :
but it is to be obferved, that under the name of

the Phenicians, he likewife comprehends the Cana-

anites. From Strabo he learns, that the Phenicians
failed into the Atlantick Ocean, and built cities
beyond the pillars of Hercules. Appian, continues
he, and Paufanias inform us, that the Carthaginians,
who were originally Phenicians, covered all the

~ocean with their fleets; that Hanno made the tour

of Africk ; and that the Canaries were known to
the ancients. We know, from other authorities,
that the Phenicians, fettled in Africa, waged long
and bloody wars with the natives of the country,

who deftroyed above three hundred of their cities in

Mauritania. Eratofthenes is his warrant for this,

and he prefers the authority of that ancient writer

to that of Strabo and Artemidorus, who contradict

him. Whither could the Phenicians, adds he, have

D 3 ; retired,

Ls (Cg) ae
retired, after fo many and great lofles, but to Ame-
wee | | :

This migration being poffible, he looks upon it
of courfe as certain, and to have been very ancient ;
but he laughs at Opmeer, who had advanced, that : -
the Africans living in the neighbourhood of Mount
Atlas, failed to America before the deluge. He
imagines Plato may poffibly be miftaken ‘in fome
things he has faid of Atalantis, but that his defcrip-
tion is notwithftanding founded on truth. He ob-
ferves, that all thofe iflands to the weftward of Afri-
ca, have been called Atlantides, and he reckons it
probable, that the Atalantis of Plato lay in, Ame-
rica, and that it was drowned in a deluge, of which
there ftill remain fome flender traditions among the
Americans. Further, he fays, that according to
Peter Martyr d’Anglerie, the inhabitants. of the
Antilles report, that all their iflands were formerly
joined to the continent, and had been feparated from
it by earthquakes and great inundations : that the
veftiges of a deluge are found in Peru to this day,
and that all South America is full of water. He.
might ‘have added, that the north part of America,
or New France, alone contains a greater quantity

of water than all the reft of that vaft continent be-
fides. |

Diodorus Siculus relates, that the Phenicians {fail-
ed far into the Atlantick ‘Ocean, and. that being
conftrained by tempeftuous weather, they landed
upon a large ifland, where they found a fruitful
foil, navigable rivers, and magnificent edifices. De
Hiornn takes this to be the fecond migration of that
people to America. Diodorus adds, that in the
fequel the Phenicians being harraffed by the Cartha-
ginians and the inhabitants of Mauritania, who

would

Cor eee

would neither erant them peace nor a truce, fent
colonies to that ifland, but kept the affair fecret, in
order that they might always have a fecure retreat
in cafe of neceffity. Other authors, whom de
Hornn does not mention, have alledged, that thefe
voyages were carried on without the knowledge of
the government, who, perceiving that the country
began to diminifh in the number of its inhabitants,
and having found out the caufe of this diforder,

prohibited ‘that navigation under very fevere penal-
ties.

The third and laft migration of the Phenicians
to the New World was occafioned, according to
this author, by a three year’s voyage, made by a
“Tyrian fleet in the fervice of Solomon. He afferts,
‘on the authority of Jofephus, that. Efion Geber,
‘where the embarkation was made, is a port in the
“Mediterranean. This flect, he adds, went in queft
‘of elephants teeth and peacocks to the weftern coaft
‘of Africa, which is Tar/ib: this is likewife the
opinion of Huet: then to Ophir for gold; which is
Haiti, or the ifland Hifpaniola : Chriftopher Colum-
bus was of the fame Opinion, according to fome, as
Vetablus certainly was. De Hornn returning af-
‘terwards to the Atlantick iflands, would fain per-
-fuade us, that the Phenicians have, at divers times,
fent colonies thither, and that the Cervé of the an-
cients is Grand Canaria, for which name it is in-
debted to the Canaanites, who took refuge there.

One of the Canary Iflands is called Gomera: de
~Hornn makes no doubt that it derives its name
from the Amorites, who went to fettle there after
they had been driven out of Paleftine by the He-
~ brews. Ought we to be furprized, if after this he
finds the Cham of the Phenicians in the Chemez of

D 4 ‘the

~

(ON) ,
the ifland Haiti, in the Camis of Japan, and in the
Chile Cambal of Yucatan ? The detail which he af-
terwards enters into, in order to difcover traces of
of the Phenician religion and manners in the New
World, is pretty nearly in the fame tafte, and car-
ries the fame conviction along with it. But what
ought not to be (he obferves in this place) paffed
over in filence, is that the firft Phenicians, who fet-
tled in Africa and the Balearick Iflands, had neither
any letters or characters, nor knew the ufe of
them; and that Cadmus, a Phenician, carried into
Greece, not the characters which his countrymen
afterwards made ule of, but thofe which in his time
were known among the Egyptians.

~

All thofe migrations preceded the Chriftian era
many ages: here follow fuch as are of a later date.
Our author diftinguifhes three forts of Scythians,
who pafied into the New World, namely, Huns,
Tartars of Cathay, and the Cl.inefe. Undoubtedly
the partizans for the antiquity of the Chinefe na-
tion, will not excufe his making Scythians the foun-
ders of this great empire, neither will thofe, wha
reject what is doubtful in the pretenfions of certain
Chinefe, be of his opinion; for it is now paft
doubt, that the Chinefe empire cannot, be much
later than Noah’s grand-children. But we fhould-
never have done, were we to repeat all the falfe and
arbitrary conjectures of this Dutch writer. ;

Under the name of Huns, he comprehends num-
berlefs nations, who pofleffed an immenfe country ;
the occafion of the paffage of many of them to

America, was, according to him, their overgrown
numbers, and the inteftine wars raging amongft -
them, He pretends, that the route they made
choice of, was by the extremity of the North,
where they met with frozen feas, Then ioresrn
what

C41)

what he had juft been faying of the infinite num- ~

bers of thofe barbarians, whofe vaft countries could
no longer contain them; as he had «already for-
gotten what he faid at firft, that the firft fettlements
in America were compofed of Scythians, he in-
forms us, that the reafon why the northern regions
of America are fo thinly inhabited, is, becaufe it
was very late before the country of the Huns was
peopled at all, and that even at this day, they are
far from being populous.

But did they all take the fame road? No; for
while the greateft number turned off to the right
towards the Eaft, thofe whom he calls Fines, and
the Samoeides and Carolians, whom Tacitus places
in Finland, went off to the Eaft by the weftward,
traverfed Nova Zembla, Lapland and Greenland ;
whence ‘he reckons that the Norwegians, who had
before this time landed in Greenland, and whereof
not one was to be found in the year 1348, pene-
trated into the northern parts of America in queft
of more habitable countries. Nothing can reafon-
ably hinder us from believing, that the Efhimaux,
and fome other nations in the neighbourhood of
Hudfon’s Bay, draw their original from the Nor-
wegians of Greenland, fuppofing fuch ever to have
exifted. What is certain, is, that the Efhimaux
have nothing in common either in their language,

“manners, or way of living, complexion, or in the —

colour of their hair with the people of Canada pro-
per, who are their neareft neighbours.

As to certain animals, fuch as lions and tigers,
which, according to all appearance, have paffed from
Tartary and Hircania into the New World, their
paffage might very well ferve for a proof, that the
two hemifpheres join to the northward of Afia ; and

this —

-

: 2 ae ae

this argument is not the only one we have of this
circumftance, if what I have often heard related by
father Grollon, a French jefuit, as undoubted matter
of fact may be depended on. This father, fay
they, after having laboured fome time in the mif-
fions of New France, pafféd over to thofe of China.
One day as he was travelling in’ Tartary, he met
a Huron woman, whom he had formerly known in
Canada: he afked het, by what adventure fhe had
been carried into a country fo diftant from her own?
She made anfwer, that having been taken in war,
fhe had been conducted from nation to nation, till
‘fhe arrived at the place where fhe then was, I
have been affured, that another jefuit pafling by
way of Nantz, in his return from China, had there
related much fuch another affair of a Spanifh woman
of Florida: fhe had been taken by certain Indians,
and given to thofe of a moft diftant country, and by
thefe again to another nation, till fhe had thus
been fucceffively paffed from country to country,
. had travelled regions extremely cold, and at Taft
found herfelf in Tartary, and had there.married a
Tartar, who had paffed with the conquerors into
China, and there fettled. It is indeed true, that
thofe who have failed fartheft to the eaftward of
Afia, by purfuing the coafts of Jeffo or Kamefchat-
ka, have pretended to Have perceived the extremity
of this continent, thence concluding, that between
Afia and America, there could poffibly be no com-
munication by land ; but befides that, Francis
Guella, 2 Spaniard, if we may believe Jolin Hugh
de Linfchooten, hath confirmed, that this fepara-
tion is no more than a ftreight, a hundred miles
over ; the laft voyages of the Japonefe give grounds
to think that this ftreight is only a bay, above
which there is a paflage over land,

Let

Hee eae

‘Let us ‘return to George de Hornn. This writer
does not expres himfelf with accuracy, when he
tells us, that North America is full of lions and
tigers. It is true, we find in the country of the
Troquoife, a kind of tigers, the hair of which is of

a light grey, which are not fpotted, but which
have very long tails, and whofe flefh is good eat-

ing: but except this, it is not till towards the Tro-
pick that you begin to fee true tigers and lions,
which is; however, no proof that they could not
have come from Tartary and Hircania ; but as by

advancing always fouthwards, they met with cli-

mates. more agreeable to their natures, we may be-

Tieve they have therefore entirely abandoned the

northern countries.

What Solinus and Pliny relate, that the Scythian
Anthropophagi depopulated a great extent of coun~
try as far as the promontory Zadin; and what
Mark Pol, the Venetian, tells us, that to the north-
eaft of China and Tartary, there are vaft uninha-
bited countries, might be fufficient to confirm our
author’s conjecture concerning the retreat of a great
number of Scythians into America. We Fncl 4 in
the ancients the names , of fome of thefe nations :

Pliny fpeaks of the Tabians: Solinus mentions the

Apuleans ; who, he fays, had for neighbours the
Maffacetes, and whom Pliny affures us to have
entirely difappeared. Ammianus Marcellinus ex-
prefly fays, that the fear of the Anthropophagi
obliged feveral of the inhabitants of thofe countries
to take refuge elfewhere. All thefe authorities form,
in my opinion, at leaft a ftrong conjecture, that
more than one nation of America “have a Scythian
or Tartar original,
2

Hitherto

(44) |

‘Hitherto de Hornn keeps pretty clofe to his point,
and is fure to return to it from time to time, and we
difcover the man of learning even in his greateft
flights, but on the whole, one would fay, that by dint
of forming conjectures upon the agreement of names,
he fails prodigioufly in point of judgment. Who,
for example, would not laugh to hear him ferioufly
advance, that the Apalaches, a nation of Florida,
are the Apaleans of Solinus, and that the Tabians of
Ptolomy are the anceftors of the Tombas of Peru ?
What follows 1s {till more ridiculous. There is,
fays he, a people, who are neighbours to the Mo-
guls called Huyrons; thefe are the Hurons of Ca-
nada. Herodotus calls the Turks Yrcas; thefe
are the Iroquoife and Souriquois of Arcadia. Un-
happily for fuch rare difcoveries, this conjecture leads
to a falfe conclufion ; all, or moft of the names of
the Indians of New France being of French ex-
traction, ;

Nay more, the Hurons and Iroquoife, to whom
our author gives fo very different originals, fpeak
almoft the fame language, the one being a dialect
of the other; whereas the Souriquois, to whom
Hornn gives the fame anceftors as to the Iroquoife,

have abfolutely nothing in ‘common with them ei- |

ther in their language or genius. The language
they fpeak is a dialeét of the Algonquin; and the
Huron is as different from the Algonquin as the
Latin is from the Hebrew. Mutt not one then have
his imagination very ftrongly impreffed to be able
to perfuade himfelf that the Meyro Humona of the
Brafilians, and the Pazcuma of the inhabitants of
Santa Cruz come from St. Thomas, and are derived
from the language of the Turks, who before they
paffed over to America, had fome knowledge of
this Apoftle? |
cae Our

(45 )

Our author? 's ufual confidence deferts him, when
he feems to have moft occafion for it, and hedirey
not decide whether South-America has peopled the
Terra Auftralis, or whether that country may have
thence received its own inhabitants ; but he very
foon recovers it, and by means of it undertakes to
unravel the origin of the empires of Peru and
Mexico.’ He agrees with feveral hiftorians, that
thefe Hubiiichics: were not very ancient when the
Spaniards deitroyed them, and that their founders
had to fight againft barbarous nations, that had been
long fettled in : the country they had made choice of,
and chiefly Mexico, where the manners were much
more rugged in the time of Cortez, than they were
amongft the Peruvians. This difference probably
was owing to this, that the conquerors of Mexico
were not fo much civilized as thofe of Peru.

Both the one and the other, if we may believe
Hornn, are, notwithftanding, originally from the
fame parts; thefe are, fays he, the nations of Ca-
they ; the Japonefe, who are originally defcended
from thence, the Chinefe, whom he always fuppofes
to be defcended from the Scythians; fome Egypti-
ans, and fome Phenicians, from the time that thefe
two empires attained to perfection, in policy, reli-
gion, and arts. Here is certainly a very mifcella-
neous and capricious original. But in fine, the
‘learned Dutchman will have it, that all thefe nati-
ons have fent colonies into America, and to prove
this, it is fcarce conceivable, where he goes in queft
of Cathayan, Corean, Chinefe, and efpecially Japo-
nefe names, in all parts of the New World. Be-
tween thefe, there is often much the fame relation
as the Alfana, and Equus of Menage; but he like-
wile caufes them to take fo very long a journey,

that

—_— 9

{ 46 %)
that we ought not to be furprized if they undergo
very confiderable changes by the way.

ws

He even goes fo far as to derive the name of the
Chiquites of Paraguay, which is purely of Spanifh

extraction from that of Cathay. The name of Inca,

which was that of the imperial family of Peru, has,
according to him too great a refemblance with the
fame name of Cathay, to fuffer any doubt that thefe
fovereigns derive their original from this great coun-

‘try. In a-word, to feek for the Cathayans i in Ame-

Tica, ‘is, according to him, the fame with fearching
for the Greeks in Italy, and the Phenicians in Africk.
The Coreans called their country Caoli ; therefore,
California has been peopled by a -Corean Colony.

Chiapa, a province of Mexico, whence can it come

but from Giapan, a name which fome give to the
ifland of Japan? Montezuma, emperor of Mexico,
had a beard after the Chinefe fafhion; he wants no
more to make him come originally from China. It
is not, however, without fome {cruple, that our
author quits his etymologies for the figure of the
beard ; but this beard is very fingular in a Mexi-
can. He, moreover, finds that the name of mo-
narch has a great affinity with that of Motuzaiuma,
which he pretends on I know not what authority, to
be a title of honour in Japan: thus :this prince

might very well derive his original from thefe

iflands.

However, it is neither the Cathayans, nor the
Japonefe who have:founded the Mexican monarchy :
De Hornn afcribes that honour to Facfur, king of

_ China, who being dethron’d by Cublay, .great cham

of Tartary, fled with a hundred thoufand Chinefe,
in a thoufand veffels into America, and there be-
came tHE founder of a new empire, Manco, ano-

ther

| ( 47 )
ther Chinefe prince, originally of Cathay, had twe
ages before founded that of Peru. Here are many
names, of which the Fathers Couplet, Le Compte,
and Du Halde were entirely ignorant. Manco had
carried the arts to very great perfection, and it was
he who reared thofe magnificent edifices which fo
much aftonifhed the Spaniards. He brought no
horfes into America, becauile, in his time, fays
- Mark Pol the Venetian, there were none in China,
But it may be afked, why the Chinefe of Peru have
not preferved their characiers ? It is, anfwers Hornn,
becaufe they were too dificult to write; they found
that it was a fhorter and eafier way to fupply the
ufe of them by fymbolical figures.

_ This is a part of what has been written on the
prefent queftion; and I] am much miftaken if the
bare fetting down of fo many different opinions is
not fufficient to furnifh the attentive reader with all
the lights neceffary to. lead him to the choice of the
proper fide in. this great controverfy, which, by en-
deavouring to explain they have hitherto rendered
only more obfcure. it may be reduced as appears
to me to the two following articles. 1. How the
New World might have been peopled ? 2. By whom
and by what means it has been peopled.

‘Nothing it would feem may be more eafily an-
fwered than the firft. America might have been
peopled, as the three other quarters of the world
have been. Many difficulties have been formed
upon this fubjeét which have been deemed infolva-
‘ble, but are far from being fo. The inhabitants of
both hemifpheres are certainly the defcendants of the
fame father. This common father of mankind re-
ceived an exprefs order from heaven to people the
whole.world, and accordingly it has been peopled.

To

ea | ty
To bring this about, it was neceflary to overcome
all difficulties in the way, and they have alfo been
got over. Were thofe difficulties greater with re-

fpect to peopling the extremities of Afia, Africa,
and Europe, and the tranfporting men into the

- iflands, which lie ata confiderable diftance from

‘ : i ae Aa a oe ya GA
OP GSAT RRA i aio! 1 8 iC Ae fai earn ley ARON ay iibibaidi is sca akan Salis IIe maa

thofe Continents, than to pafs over into America ?
Certainly not. Navigation which has arrived at fo
great perfection within thefe three or four centuries,
might poffibly have been ftill more perfect in thofe
firft times than at this day. At leaft, we cannot
doubt, but it was then arrived at fuch a degree of
perfection as was neceflary for the defign which
God had formed of peopling the whole earth,

Whilft thofe authors whom I have cited, have
kept to this poffibility which cannot be denied, they
have reafoned very juftly ; for if it has not been de-
monftrated, that there is a paflage into America
over land, either by the north of Afia and Europe,
or by the fouth, the contrary has not been made ap-
pear; befides, from the coaft of Africa to Brazil ;
from the Canaries to the weftern Iflands, from the
weftern Iflands to the Antilles; from the Britannic '
ifles, and the coaft of France to Newfoundland, the .
paffage is neither long nor difficult: I might fay as
much of that from China to Japan, and from Ja-
pan and the Philippines to the Iles Mariannes, and
from thence to Mexico. There are iflands at a
confiderable diftance from the Continent of Afia,
where we have not been furprized to find inhabi-
tants. Why then fhould we wonder to find people
in America? And it cannot be imagined, that the
grandfons of Noah, when they were obliged to fe-
parate and to fpread themfelves in conformity to the
defigns of God over the whole earth, fhould be in

' ibe an.

Aor Pa ee

Be ra y od a 4 Le ld
a TS A 1 %

rs ~*~ g rs

‘i

yn

Pal

(49°)

an abfolute: impoffibility of peopling whi one half

on the i eats P

They ought therefore to have kept to this ; ‘tr
the queftion was too fimple and too eafy to be “an-
fwered. The learned muft make difquifitions, and
they imagined they were able to decide how and by
whom America has been peopled; and as hiftory
furnifhed no materials for this purpofe, rather than
ftop fhort they have realized the moft frivolous con-
jectures.. The fimple refemblance of names, and
fomie flight appearances, feemed, in their eyes, fo
many proofs, and on fuch ruinous foundations they
have erected fyftems of which they have become
enamoured, the weaknefs of which the moft ieno-
rant are able to perceive, and which are often over-
turned by one fingle fact which is inconteftable.
Hence it happens, that the manner in which the
New World has, received its firft inhabitants remain-
ing in very great uncertainty, they have imagined
difficulties where none really were, and they have
carried this extravagance to fuch a height, as to be-
lieve, that the Americans were not the defcendants
of our firft parents; as if the ignorance of the man-
ner in which a thing hath happened, ought to make
us look upon it as impoffible, or at leaft as extreme-

ly dificult.

“But what is moft fingular in this, is, that they

fhould have neglected the only means that remain-
ed to come at the truth of what they were in fearch
of ; | mean, the comparing the languages. In ef-
Sats: in the refearch in queftion, it appears to me,
that the knowledge of the principal languages of
America, and the comparing them with thofe of
our Hemifphere, that are looked upon as primitive,
si a potkisty fet us se fome happy difcovery 5

an

C 60 ) Fe

and that way of afcending to. the original of nati-
ons, which is the leaft equivocal, is far from being ©
fo difficult as might be imagined. We have had, and.

fill have travellers and miffionaries, who have work-
ed on the languages that are fpoken in all the pro-
vinces of the “New World. It would only be ne-
. ¢effary to make a collection of their grammars and
vocabularies, and to collate them with the dead and
living lancuages of the Old World that pafs for ori-
ginals. Ewen the different dialeéts, in {pite of the
alterations they have undergone, ftill retain enough
of the mother-tongue to furnith confiderable lights.

_ Inftead of this method, which has been negleét-
ed, they have made enquiries into the manners,
cuftoms, religion, and traditions of the Americans,
in order to difcover their. original. Notwithftand-
ing, I am perfuaded, that this difquifition is only
capable of .producing a falfe light, more likely to
dazzle, and to make us wander from the right path,
than to lead us with certainty to the point propofed.
Ancient traditions are effaced from the minds of
fuch as have not, or, who, during feveral ages,
have been, without any helps to preferve them ;
and half the world is exaétly in this fituation. New
events, and a new arrangement of things give rife
to new traditions, which efface the former, and are
themfelves effaced in their turn. After one cr two
centuries have paffed, there no longer remain any
marks capable of leading us to hel the traces of
the firft traditions.

The manners very foon degenerate, by means of
‘commerce with foreigners, and by the mixture of
feveral nations uniting in one body, and by a change
of empire always accompanied with a new form of.
government. How much more reafon is sine 0

r ¢-

aeet sD

hatiens fach a fenfible alteration of genius and man-
ners. amongft wandering nations become favage,
living, without principles, laws, education, or civil

overnment; which might ferve to bring them back
to the antient manners, Cuftoms are till more ea-
fily deftroyed. A new way of living introduces
new cuftoms, and thofe which have been forfaken
are very foon forgotten. What fhall I fay of the
abfolute want of fuch things asare moft neceflary
to life? And of which, the neceffity of doing with:
out, caufes their names and ufe to perifh together,

-Laftly, nothing has undergone more fudden, fre-
quent, or more furprizing revolutions than religion.
When.once men have abandoned the only true one,
they foon lofe it out of their fight, and find them-
felves entangled and bewildered in fuch a labyrinth
of incoherent errors, inconfiftency and contradic-
tion being the natural inheritance of falfhood, that
there remains not the fmalleft thread to lead us back
to the truth. We have feen a very fenfible exam-
_ ple of this in the laftage. The Buccaneers of St.
_ Domingo, who were chriftians, but who had no
- commerce except amongft themfelves, in lefs than
thirty years, and through the fole want of religious
worfhip, in!truction, and an authority capable of
retaining them in their duty, had come to fuch a

pais, as to have loft all marks of chri(tianity, ex-

cept baptifm alone. Had thefe fubfifted only to
the third generation, their grandchildren would have
been as void of chriftianity as the inhabitants of
Terra Auftralis, or New-Guinea. They might
pofibly have preferved fome ceremonies, the reafon
of which they could not have accounted for, and
is it not precifely in the fame manner, that fo many

nfidel nations are found to have in their idolatrous
KE 2 wor=

-

uf $2?)
worfhip ceremonies which appear to have been co-
pied after ours.

The cafe is not the fame with refpect to sees
I allow that a living language is fubject to continual
chang’s, and as all languages have been fo, we may
fay.with truth, that none of them have preferved
their original purity. But it is no lefs true, that in
fpite of the changes, introduced by cuftom, they
have not loft every thing by which they are diftin-
guifhed from others, which i is fuficient for our pre-
ient purpofe; and that from the rivulets, arifing
from the principal fprings, 1 mean the dialects, we
may afcend tothe mother.tongues themfelves; and
that by attending to the objervation of a learned
academician *, that mother-tongues are diftinguifhed
by being more nervous than thofe derived from
them, becaufe they are formed from nature; that
they contain a greater number of words imitating
‘the things whereof they are the figns; that they are
lefs indebted to. chance or hazard, and that that
mixture which forms the dialects, always deprives
them of fome of that energy, which the natural
connection of their found with the things they re-
| hie always sive peo a |

Hence, I conclude, thie if thofe chaepepisiaea
marks are found in the Americans languages, we
cannot reafonably doubt of their sane truly origi-
nal; and, confequently, that the peopie who fpeak
them have paffed over into that hemifphere, a fhort
time after the firft difperfion of mankind ; efpeci-
ally; if they are entirely unknown in our Continent.
I have already obferved, that it is an arbitrary fup-

pone that the great’ grandchildren ‘of Noah were ~

5 *-M, P Abbe du Bos, Hiffory of Painting and Poetry.

4 pees not

Ta | \

TORR oC get nr ri a

i ( 53}
not able to penetrate into the New World, or that
they never thought of it. In effect, I fee no rea-
fon that ‘can juftify fuch a notion, Who can fri-
oufly believe that Noah and his immediate defcend-
ants knew lefs than we do; that the builder and
pilot of the greateft thip that ever was, a fhip which
was formed to’ traverfe an unbounded ocean, and
had fo many fhoals and quickfands to guard apaintt,
_fhould be ignorant of, or fhould not have commu-
nicated to thofe of his. defcendants who furvived ©
him, and by whofe means he was to execute the
order of the great Creator, to people the univerfe,
I fay, who can believe he fhould not have commu-
nicated to them the art of failing upon an ocean,
which was not only more calm and pacifick, but at
the fame time confined within its ancient himits i

‘Is it even determined on fufficient. Aas that
America had not inhabitants before the deluge? Is
it probable, that Noah and his fons fhould have
been acquainted with only one half of the world,
and does not Mofes inform us, that all, even the
remoteft Continents and iflands were once peopled ?
How fhall we reconcile this with the fuppofition of
thofe who maintain, that the firft men were igno-
rant of the art of navigation; and can it ferioufly
be faid, contrary to the authority of fo refpectable
a teftimony, as John de Laet has done, that navi-
gation is an effect of the temerity of mankind ;
that it does not enter into the immediate views of
the Creator, and that God has left the land. to the
human fpecies, and the ocean to fifhes? Befides, are
not the iflands a part of the earth, and are there

not many places on the Continent, to which it is
_ much more natural to go by fea, than by long cir-

cuits frequently impracticable, or at leaft ny very
M13 difi-

) a ae i |
difficult, as to induce men to undertake almoft any
a in order to avoid them.

It i$ certain, that the art of navigation has fhared
the fame fate with many others, of which we have
noproof that our early anceftors were entirely 1 ignorant,
fome of which are now loft, and others again pre-
ferved only among a few nations; but what does
this prove? We muft always return to this princi-
ple, that the arts neceflary to the defigns of God
have never been unknown to thofe whofe bufinefs it
was to put them in execution. Induftry, has, per-
haps, invented fome ‘which were ufefull only, and
luxury difcovered others which ferved only to gratify
the paffions. We may alfo believe, that what has
caufed many to fall into oblivion, is their having be-
come no longer neceffary, and that fuch has “been
the making long vayages as foon as all the parts of
the world were fupplied with inhabitants. It was
fufficient for the purpofes of commerce to range
along the coafts, and to pafs over to the nearett
iflands. Need we then be furprized, if men, for
_ want of practice, loft the fecret of making long

voyages on an element fo inconftant, and 2s fre-
quently tempeftuous.

‘Who can ever affirm that it was loft fo foon?
Strabo fays in feveral places, that the inhabitants of
Cadiz, and all the Spaniards, had large veffels, and

excelled in the art of navigation. Pliny complains,
chat 3 in his time, navigation was not fo perfect as it
had been for feveral ages before ; the Carthaginians
and Phenicians were long poflefied of the reputation
of being hardy and expert mariners. Father Acofta
allows, “that Vafco de Gama found, that the ufe of
the compafs was known among the inhabitants of
Mozambique. The iflanders of Madagafcar have

I

| | ( 55 ) |
a tradition, importing, that the Chinefe had fent a
colony into their country. And is it not a meer —
begging of the queftion, to reject that tradition on

-account of the impoffibility to fail fo far without
the help of the compafs. For if the compafs is

~

neceflary for failing from China to Madagatcar, I

have as much right to fay, on the faith of a tradi-

tion, univerfal in that great ifland, that the Chinete
have failed to Madagafcar, therefore they had the

-ufe of the compafs ; as any other perfon has to rea-

fon in this marner, the Chinefe were unacquainted
with the compafs, therefore they never were at Mla-
dagafcar. However, I do not undertake to fupport
this as matter of fact, which I might fafely do with
very good authors ;, I only fay 1 am as well ground-
ed in advancing, as they are in rejecting it.

The Chinefe, whofe original ‘reaches up as high
as the grandfons of Noah, have anciently had fleets;

this is a fact fufficiently eftablifhed in hiftory : What
could have hindered them from paffing to Mexico

by way of the Philippines ? The Spaniards perform
this voyage every year; from thence by coafting
along fhore, they might have peopled all America
on the fide of the South-fea. The J/les Mariannes,
and many others, of which difcoveries are every

day made in that extent of ocean, which feparates
China and Japan from America, might have receiv-

ed their inhabitants in the fame manner, fome fooner
and fome later. The inhabitants of the iflands of
Solomon, thofe of New-Guinea, new Holland, and

Terra Auftralis, bear too little refemblance to the

Americans, to leave room to imagine they could
have {prung from the fame origina], unlefs we trace
it up to the remoteft ages. Such is their ignorance
that we can never know from whence they really

_ draw their defcent; but in fine, all thefe countries

E 4 are .

aN

C6)") a
-are peopled ; and it is probable, fome have'been fo

by accident, Now if-it could have happened in

that manner, why might t i¢ not have been done at
“the fame time, and by the fame means with the

‘ other parts of the globe?

It cannot be denied, that the original of the an-
cient Celtes and Gauls, fo renowned for their ex-
pertnefs in navigation, and who have fent fo many
colonies to the extremities of Afia and Europe, alf-
cends as high as the children of Japhet; and might
not they. have penetrated into America by way 7 of
the Azores ? Should it be objected that thefe iflands
were uninhabited in the fifteenth century, I anfwer,
that their firft difcoverers, had, undoubtedly, neg-
lected them, in order to fettle themfelves in larger
and more fertile countries, in an immenfe Continent,
from which they were at no great diftance. ‘The
Efkimaux, and fome other nations of North-Ame-
“rica, bear fo ftrong a refemblance to thofe of the
north of Europe and Afia, and fo little to the reft
of the inhabitants of the New World, that it is
eafy to perceive they muft have defcended from the
former, and that their modern original has nothing
in common with the latter ; I fay, modern original,
for there is not the leaft appearance of its being an-
cient ; and it is reafonable to fuppofe, that coun-
tries fo very far from being tempting, have been
inhabited much later than -others. .

The fame does not hold good with refpect to dive
reft of America, and I can never think that fo con-
fiderable a portion of the globe was unknown to,

~-or neglected by the firft founders’ of nations ; and

the argument drawn from the’ characters of the A-

mericans, and the frightful picture which was at —

firft given of them, provés nothing againft their an:
sey

— =

| Chat) |
quity. It is three thoufand. years at moft fince
Europe was full of people as favage and as little ci-
vilized, as the greateft part of the Americans ; and
- of thefe there are ftill fome remains. Does not Afia,
the firft feat of religion, policy, arts, and {ciences,
_ _and the centre of the pureft and moft ancient tradi-
tions, ftill behold her moft flourifhing empires en-
vironed by the groffeft barbarity ? Egypt which has
boafted of having been the fource of the fineft im-
provements, and which has relapfed into the pro-
foundeft ignorance ; the empire of the Abyffinians fo
ancient, and heretofore fo flourifhing ; Lybia, which
has produced fo many great men ; Mauritania which
has fent forth fo many men learned in all fciences: ~
have not thefe always had in their neighbourhood
people who feemed to pofiefs nothing human but
the figure? Why then fhould we be furprized that
the Americans, fo long unknown to the reft of the
world, fhould have become barbarians and favages,
and that their moft flourifhing empires fhould be
found deftitute of fo many articles which we reckon
indifpenfably neceffary in our hemifphere.

Let us enquire what has rendered the moun-
taineers of the Pyrenees fo fierce as many of them
are at this day ; what is the original of the Lap-
landers and Samoeides, the Cafres, and Hottentots ;
why under the fame parallels of latitude there are
blacks in Africa, and not elfewhere; and we fhall
then find an anfwer to the fame queftions, refpecting
the Efkimaux and Algonquins, the Hurons and.
Sioux, the Guayranis and fatagonians. If it be
afked, why the Americans have no beards, nor hair
on their bodies, and why the greateft part of them
are of a reddifh colour, I fhall afk in my turn,
why the Africans are moftly black ? This queftion

iS

6
1

ae |
is of no confequence in the difpute on the original
of the Americans. e

Primitive nations have been mixed and divided —
_ by various caufes, foreign and domeftick wars as
ancient as the luft of dominion, or the paffion for
domineering, the neceffity of feparating and remov-
ing to greater diftances, either becaufe the country
was no longer able to contain its inhabitants multi-
plied to an infinite degree, or becaufe the weaker
were obliged to fly before the ftronger ; that reft-
lefsnefs and curiofity, fo natural to mankind, a thou-
fand other reafons eafily to be imagined, and which
all enter into the defigns of Providence ; the man-
ner in which thofe migrations have been made; the
difficulty of preferving arts and traditions amongft
fugitives tranfplanted into uncultivated countries,
and out of the way of carrying on any correfpond-
ence with civilized nations: All this I fay is eafy
to conceive. Unforefeen accidents, tempefts, and
fhipwrecks, have certainly contributed to people all
the habitable part of the world; and ought we to
wonder after this, at perceiving certain refemblances
between the remoteft nations, and at finding fuch a
difference between nations bordering upon one ano-
ther. |

We may likewife further underftand, that fome
part of thefe wanderers, either forced by neceffity to
unite for mutual defence, or to withdraw from the
domination of fome powerful people, or induced by
the eloquence and abilities of.a legiflator, muft have
formed monarchical governments, fubmitted to
Jaws, and joined together in regular and national
focicties. Such have been the beginnings of the
moft ancient empires in the Old World ; and fuch
might have been the rife of thofe of Peru and

7 _ Mex-

| Storey 8)
Mexico in the New; but we are deftitute of hifte-
rical monuments to carry us any farther, and there
is nothing, I repeat it, but the knowledge of the
primitive languages which is capable of throwing
any light upon thefe clouds of impenetrable dark-
nefs. Jt is not a little furprifing, that a method fo
natural and practicable has been hitherto neglected
of making difcoveries as interefting at leaft, as the
greateft part of thofe which for thefe two ages paft
have employed the attention of the. learned. We
fhould, at leaft, be fatisfied amongft that prodigious
number of various nations inhabiting America, and
_ differing fo much in language from one another ;
which are thofe who fpeak languages totally and
entirely different from thofe of the Old World, and
who, confequently, mutt be reckoned to have pafs-
ed over to America in the earlieft ages ; and thofe,
who from the analogy of their language, with thefe
ufed in the three other parts of the globe, leave.
room to judge that their migration has been more
recent, and ought to be attributed to fhipwrecks, or
to fome accident fimilar to thofe of which I have
fpoken in the courfe of this differtation.

_

HISTORICAL ~

_ HISTORICAL JOURNAL
| ppt, HOF A :
VOYAGE to AMERICA;

Addreffed to the

‘

“ DUCHESS or LESGUIERES.

Doe 2 Roe LR SL.

MapdaAm, | Rochefort, June 30th, 1720. |

OU were pleafed to exprefs a defire I fhould

write you regularly by every opportunity I

could find, and I have accordingly given you my
promife, becaufe I am not capable of refufing you
any thing; but I am greatly afraid you will foon
grow weary of receiving my letters : for I can hardly

_ perfuade myfelf you will find them near fo intereft-
ing as you may imagine they ought to be. Ina
word, you have laid your account with a continued
journal; but inthe firft place, I forefee that the
meflengers, by whofe hands I muft tranfmit my
letters to you, will never be over and above exact in

~ conveying them, and may poffibly fometimes fail
in delivering them altogether ; in-which cafe, you
can only have a mutilated and imperfect journal :

7 befides,

(pee) Bi. Sony
befides, I am as yet at a lofs where I am to find
materials to fill it. For you muft certainly know,
that I am fent-into-a country, where I fhall often
be obliged to travel a hundred leagues and upwards,
without fo much as meeting with one human crea-
ture, or indeed any thine elfe but one continued
profpect of rivers, lakes, woods, and mountains.
And befides, what fort of men fhall I meet with ?
With favages, whole language I do not underftand,
and who are equally unacquainted with mine. Be-
fides, -what can men, who live in the moft barba-
rous ignorance, fay to me, that can affect me; or
what can I find to fay to them, who are full as in-
different and unconcerned:as to what pafies in Eu-
rope, and as little affected with it, as you and I
Madam are, with what relates to their private con-

"cerns.

In the fecond place, fhould I make ufe of the .
priviledge of a traveller, I know you too well to
venture upon taking that liberty with you, or to
flatter myfelf I fhould find any credit with you,
fhould J attempt it. You may therefore lay afide
all fuch apprehenfions in myfelf, for ] feel no man-
ner of inclination to forge adventures: | have al-
ready had an experimental proof of the truth' of
what is faid by an ancient author, that men carry
their own peculiar genius and manners about with
them crofs‘all feas, and through all changes of cli-
mate, let them go where they will ; and I, for my
part, hope to preferve that fincerity, for which you
know me, crofs the vaft regions of America, and
through thofe feas, which feparate that New World
_from ours. You are pleafed to exprefs fome con-
cern for my health, which you do not think fuffici-
ently confirmed to undertake fo long and fatiguing
a voyage ; but thank God, I gather ftrength sate

( 63>)

and I with I could promife myfelf with the fame

certainty, or at leaft probability, every other quali-
fication neceflary to acquit myfelf, as 1 ought, of
the commiffion, with which I have been entrufted.
But would’ you believe it, Madam, I thought f
fhould have loft my life about half way between
Paris and Rochefort. Perhaps you ftill remember

what you have often heard me fay, that our rivers in

France wereyno more than rivulets, compared with
thofe of America: I can affure you, the Loire was
very near taking a fevere revenge on me for this
outrage and affront done to the dignity of that
river.

1 had taken boat at Orleans with four or five
officers belonging to Conti’s regiment of infantry.

' On the fixteenth, being over-again{t Langets, and

being unable to advance any farther, on account of

a ftrong wind blowing directly in our teeth, we

wanted to gain that village, to make fure of
good lodgings, in cafe of being obliged to pafs
the night there. For this purpofe, it was neceflary
to crofs the river, which we accordingly propofed
to our boatmen, who fhowed great reluctance to
undertake it; but being young people, and we in-
fifting on it, they durft not contradict us. We had
hardly got to the middle of the channel, when we
could have wifhed to have been back again; but it
was now too late, and what troubled me moft of
all, it was I who propofed the advice we fo heartily
repented of. We were really in great danger, which
was evident from the countenances of our conduc-
tors ; however, they were not difcoviraged, and

managed fo well, that they extricated us out of this

difficulty. |

The

ap ; '

mi y rie 64 ) :

The danger tay over, one of the company die
had frequently been on the point of ftripping, in
order to betake himfelf to {wimming, took. upon
him to cry out with all his force, but with a tone
which fhowed there was ftill a palpitation: at his
heart, that I had been in a great fri¢ht. Perhaps
he fooke truer than he thought of 5 all this was,

however, nothing but guefs-work ; and “efpe-

cially to ward off the reproaches they . were begin-
ning to make me, and in order to perfuade others
there was no danger, I had always. preferved a tole-
rable good countenance. We frequently meet with
thofe talfe bravos, who, to conceal their own: ap-
prehenfions, endeavour to make a diverfion by ral-
lying thofe who have much better courage than
themfelves.. In the mean time, Madam, were I to
believe in omens, here was (iiicicae to is a bad
augury of a voyage I was going to undertake for

above three thoufand leagues by fea, and to fail in ~

acanoe of bark on two ‘of the greateft rivers in the
world, and on. lakes almoft as large, and at leaft
full as tempeftuous as the Pontus Euxinus, or the

Cafpian fea. Seis)

c

‘The Loire continued to be full as untractable all
the reft of the day, fo we flept at Largets ; our of-
ficers, who had their Lieutenant de Roy at their
head, were civil men enough, and extremely agree-
able company. They were, moreover, very religi-
ous, and they gave one proof of it, which was far
- from being doubtful. ‘There was a kind.of adven-
turer that had joined them at Paris, who was half
wit, half petit Maitre: as tar as Orleans he had
kept tolerably within bounds, but the moment we
were embarked, he began to break out a little, and
by degrees, came to talk on religious matters ina.
very libertine manner. ‘T had the fatisfaCtion to ae

" { at

f

§

i

¢
-

; es 71)
that all our officers were fo much offended at it, that —
at Langets none of them would lodge in the fame
houfe with him. A’ young lieutenant took it upon
him to tell him of it, and obliged him to feek a
lodging elfewhere.

T arrived here the 19th; I was expected as I was
charged with packets from the court; but they
~ looked for-fomewhat befides, that is to fay, fome

money, which arrived not till to-day. To-morrow
J embark on board the Camel, a large and fine
frigate belonging to the king, now in the road_be-
low the Ifle of Aix, where | fhall find myfelf in the

_midft of my acquaintances, | have already been at
fea with M. de Voutron, who is captain of her, and
with Chaviteau the firft pilot; and I have lived with
feveral of the officers and paflengers in Canada.
We are told, that we are extremely well-manned, ~
and there is not a fea-officer who is better acquaint-
ed with the voyage we are going to make than our
captain. Thus | have nothing to defire, whether
with regard to the fafety or agreeablenefs of the
pafiage, thay

I am, &c.

F LETTER

~

y neg ,
its PRA EER
* i

( 6 )

er tk. E.R, dL

Voyage from Rochelle zo Quebec ; fome Remarks
on that paffage, on the great Bank of New-
foundland, and on the River St. Lawrence.

Duchee, sept, 244, 1.72.0,
Madain,

{7 Efterday I arrived in this city, after a tedious
i and troublefome paffage of eleven weeks and
fix days; we had, however, only a thoufand leagues
to fail; thus you fee that at fea we do not always
travel as M. l’Abbé de Choify ufed to fay per la via
delle pofte. \ have kept no journal of this voyage,
as I fuffered greatly from the fea-ficknefs which
lafted with me for more than a month. I had
flattered myfelf with being quit this time, having

already paid tribute twice before ; but there are con- |

ftitutions which are abfolutely incapable of enduring
that element, of which fort mine is one. Now in
the condition, to which we are reduced by this in-
difpofition, it is abfolutely impoffible to give any
attention to what pafies in the fhip. And befides,
nothing can be more barren than fuch a navigation
as this; for we are generally taken up with en-
quiring how the wind blows, at what rate we ad-
vance, and whether it be in the right courfe; and
during two thirds of the way you fee nothing but

| F 3 the

‘ :
anita Wa WAT Met ee OS:
a ok

Cc 4
the feas and fkies. 1 am going, however, to give
you what my memory can furnifh moft likely to
contribute to your amufement for a quarter of an
hour, in order to acquit myfelf as much as is pof-
fible of the promife I made you.

-

We continued in the road the firft of July the

whole day, and the fecond we fet fail by the favour
of a gentle breeze at north-eaft. The three firft
days the wind contjnued favourable, though in very
light breezes, which, from the calmnefs of the fea,
were fufficiently acceptable. It feemed as if it wanted
to lull us afleep before it fhowed itfelf in all its fury.

The fourth or fifth, the wind changed, fo that we
were obliged to ‘te clofe-haul’d *. The fea grew
high, and for near fix weeks we were much toffed.

The winds fhifted continually, but were much of-
tener againft us than favourable, fo that we were

obliged almoft continually to ply to windward.

On the ninth of Augutft our pilots believed them-
felves on the great bank of Newfoundland, and
they were not much miftaken; they were even in

the right in reckoning fo, it being the bufinefs of a

good navigator to be always fomewhat a-head of his
fhip ; that is to fay, to fuppofe himfelf farther ad-
vanced than he really is; but from the 9th to the
i6th, we fcarce made any way at all. What is
called the great bank of Newfoundland, is properly
a mountain, hid under water, about fix hundred
French Teagues from the weftern fide of that king-
dom. The Sieur Denys, who has given the world
an excellent work on North-America, and a very
inftructive treatife, gives this mountain an hundred
and fifty leagues in extent, from north tq fouth;

* To lie clofé- haul ad, that is, to fail almoft- -diredtly againit
the wind, or as nearly as poilible,

but

\%

\

\

oe ( & J

‘but, accordirig to the moft exact (ea-chaits, the bé-

ginning of it on the fouth-fide is in 41 dep. north
lat. and its northern aie is in 49 deg. 25 min.

It is a iced true, chat both its extremities: are fo

_ narrow, that it is very difficult to fix its boundaries

with any exactnefs. Its greateft breadth from eaft
to weft is about go fea leagues of England and
France, between 40 and 49 deg. of long. ‘wett from
the meridian of Paris. I have heard failors fay,
that they have anchored upon it in five fathom, wa-
ter; which is likewife contrary to what the Sieur
Denys advances, who pretends he never found lefs
than five and twenty. But it is certain, that in fe-
veral places there is upwards of fixty. Towards
the middle, on the fide next Europe, it forms a bay
called La Foffe, or the ditch ; and this is the reafon,
why of two fhips under the fame meridian, and
within fight of one another, ‘the one fhall find

ground, and the other no foundings at all.

Before you arrive at the great bank, you find a
leffer one called the Banc Facquet, firuated oppofite
to the middle of the great one. Some mention a
third bank before this, to which they give a coni-
cal figure ; but I have feen pilots who make no

-more than one of all the three, and anfwer fuch ob-

_ jections as are made to them, by afferting, that

there are cavities in the great bank, and off Voeh a
depth as to deceive thofe who are led into the falfe

-fuppofition of three different banks, by not happen-

ing to run out a fufficient length of cable when they
eaft anchor. However, let the fize and fhape of

this mountain be as they will, fince it is impoffible

to afcertain them to. any degree of exactnefs; you
find on it a prodigious quantity of fheil-fith, with
feveral forts of other fithes of all fizes, moft part

rg of

( 70 ) :
of which ferve for the common nourifhment of. the
cod, the number of which feems to equal that of
the grains of fand which cover this bank. For
more than two centuries fince, there have been load-
_ ed with them from two to three hundred fhips an-

nually, notwithftanding the diminution is not per-
ceivable. It might not, however, be amifs, to dif-
continue this fifhery from time to time, and the
more fo, as the gulph of St. Lawrence, and even
the river, for more than fixty leagues, the coafts of
Acadia, thofe of the Jjle Royale, or Cape Breton,
and of Newfoundland, are no lefs replenifhed with
this fifh, than the great bank. Thefe, Madam,
are true mines, which are more valuable, and re-

quire much lefs expence than thofe of Peru and
Mexico.

We fuffered a great deal during’ the whole time
that the contrary winds detained us on the frontiers —
of the empire of the cod-fifh; this being by much
the moft difagreeable and inconvenient place in all
the ocean to fail in. The fun fcarce ever fhows
himfelf here, and for moft part of the time the air
is impregnated with a cold thick fog, which indi-
cates your approach to the bank, fo as to render it
unpoffible to be miftaken. Now what can poffibly
be the caufe of fo conftant and remarkable a phe-
nomenon! Can it be the neighbourhood of the land
and of thofe forefts with which it is covered? But:
befides, that Cape Race, which is the neareft land
to the great bank is thirty: five leagues diftant, the fame
thing happens not on any other coaft of the ifland ;
and further the ifland of Newfoundland is not fub-
ject to fogs, except on ‘the fide towards the great
bank; every where elfe its coafts enjoy a pure air
and a ferene fky. It is, therefore probable, that’
the caufe of the mifts, in which Cape Race is ge-

hat nerally

Fe)
| hetally hid, is the proximity of the gieat baile and
mutt be fought for on the bank itfelf. Now this
is my conjecture on this head, which I fubmit to
the judgment of the learned. I begin with obferv-
ing, that we have another fig by which we difco-
ver our near approach to the great bank ; and it is
this, that on all its extremities commonly called its
_ Ecorres, there is always a fhort tumbling fea
with violent winds. May we not look upon this
as the caufe of the mifts which prevail here, and
fay, that the agitation of the water on a bottom,
which is a mixture of fand and mud, renders the
air thick and heavy, and that the fun can only at-
tract thofe grofs vapours which he is never able fuf-
ficiently to rarify ? You will afk me, whence this
agitation of the fea on the moft elevated parts of
the great bank proceeds, whilft every where elfe and
even on the bank itfelf there is a profound calm ?
If I am not deceived it is this. We daily find in
thefe places currents, which fet fometimes one way
and fometimes another, the fea being imprefled
with an irregular motion by thofe currents, and beat-
ing with impetuofity again{t the fides of the bank,
which are almoft every where very fteep, 1s repelled
from it with the fame violence, and is the true caufe
of the agitation remarked on it.

If the fame thing happens not in approaching all
iteep coafts, it is owing to their not being of equal
extent with this; that there are no currents near
them, that they are lefs ftrong, or that they do not
run counter to each other, that they do not meet
with fo fteep a coaft; and are not repelled from it
with equal violence. It is befides certain, as I have
“already obferved, after thofe who follow the fea-
faring life, that the agitation of the fea, and the
mud which it ftirs up, “contribute much to thicken
. | F 4 the

7

the aif, and encreafe the winds: But that thofe

winds when they proceed from no other caufe do not —

extend very far, and that upon the great bank, at
any confiderable diftance from the fide of it, you
fail with as much tranquillity as in a road, except-

ing in the cafe of a violent wind proceeding from
fome other quarter.

It was on a Friday the 16th of Auguft, we
found ourfelves on the great bank in 75 fathom
water. To arrive at the great bank is called Banc-
guer or Banking, to depart from it is called Deban-
guer or Debanking, two expreffions with which the
cod-fithery has enriched our language. It is the
cuftom on finding foundings to cry out, Vive le Roy,
which is generally done with great chearfulnefs.
Our crew were longing for frefh cod; but the fun
was fet, and the wind favourable, fo we thought
proper to take the advantage of it. ‘Towards ele-
ven o’clock at night arofe a ftrong wind at fouth-

7

eaft, which, with our mizen only, would have car-

ried us three leacues an hour. Had we had this

inconvenience alone by furling as we did that in--

ftant all our other jails, we fhould have had no reafon

‘tocomplain, but there came on at the fame time fuch

a plump of rain, that you would have thought all
the cataracts of the heavens had been opened. What

was ftill worfe, the thunder began at the time.

when it commonly ends, it fell fo near us, that
the rudder was wounded, and all the failors
that worked the fhip felt the fhock. of it.

“Then it grew louder, and a hundred pieces of can-
‘non could not have made a greater noife. We could

not hear one another, and fo thick were the peals,
as to feem one continued roar. Nor could we fee

any thing in the midft of the lightning, fo much

were we dazzled with it. Ina word, for an hour
+ add

4

oe
od 3 te :

eh)

“and an half, our deftruction feemed inevitable; the

hearts of the braveit amongft us mifpave them ;

for the thunder continued always directly over our

heads, and had it ftruck us a fecond time we might

have become food for the cod, at whofe expence

we had reckoned very foon to make good cheer.
Caftor or Pollux, for I know not which of the two
was then upon duty, had forwarned us under the
name of Feu de St. Elme*, of all this Fracas, other-
wife we might poffibly have been furprized and
overiet.

’ An hour and a half afterwards the rain ceafed,
the thunder feemed at a diftance, and the flafhes of
lightning were only feen faintly on the horizon.
The wind continued ftill favourable and without
bluftering, and the fea became fmooth as glafs.
Every one was then for going to bed, but the beds
were all wet, the rain having penetrated through the
moft imperceptible chinks, a circumftance which is
inevitable when a fhip is much toffed. They, how-
ever did the beft they could, and thought themfelves
extremely happy to be fo eatily quit. Every thing
violent is of fhort duration, and above alla fouth-
eaft wind at leaft in thefe ee It never continues
but when it grows ftronger by degrees, and often
ends in a ftorm. The calm returned with day-

light, we made no progrefs, but diverted ourfelves
with fifhing.

Every thing is good in the cod, whilft it is freth ;
and it lofes nothing of its good relifh, and becomes
even firmer after it has been kept two days in falt ;

Dut it is the fifhers only who tafte the moft delici-

* Thefe fires never mif: to be obferted on the yards at the °
approach of a ftorm.

OuUS

C45)

ous parts of this fith, that is to fay, the head, the
, tongue, and the liver, which, after having ‘beeit: oe
{teeped in oil and vinegar, with a little pepper, make
a moft exquifite fauce. Now, in order to preferve
all thefe parts would require too much falt; fo that
whatever they cannot confume whilft the fifhing {ea-
fon lafts, is thrown into the fea. The largeft cod I
have.ever feen was not quite three feet in length 5
notwithftanding thofe of the great bank are the
largeft : but, there is, perhaps, no animal which
has fo wide a throat in proportion to its fize, or that
is more voracious. All forts of things are found
in. the belly of this fifh, even pieces of broken
~ earthen ware, iron, and clals. ft was at firft be-
lieved capable of digefting all this, but the world
=. has. become ifenfible of . this miftake, which was
- founded on this circumftance, that fome pieces of +
~ iron half worn away, had been found in the belly
of it. Itis the received opinion at this day that
the Gaz, which is the name that the fifhers have
given to the ftomach of the cod-fith, turns infide |
‘out, likexg,pocket, and that by means of this ac-
tion, this fifh difburdens itfelf of whatever i incom-
modes it.

What is called in Holland the Cadelao, is a fort
of cod which is caught in the channel and fome other
places, and which differs from the cod of America
only in that it is of a much {maller fize. That of
the great Bank is falted only, and this is what is called
White, or more commonly Green Cod. M. Denys

tells. us on this head, that he has feen falt made in

Canada equal to what is carried thither from Brouage
in Old France, but, that after they had made the
experiment, the falt-pits, which had been dug on
purpofe, were filled rs Thofe who have the moft
exclaimed againft this country, as being utterly
good

| Oe rae

good for nothing, have been the. very perfons who
have been more than once the caufe why no advan-
tage has been reaped from it. Dried cod, or what
is called /z2 Merluche, can only be taken on the
coafts ; which requires great attendance and much
experience. IM. Denys, who agrees that all thofe
he had ever known to follow this commerce in Aca-
dia ruined themfelves by it, fully proves, and makes
it extremely plain, that they are in the wrong who
conclude from thence that the cod is not in great a-
bundance in thofe parts. But he afferts, that in order
to carry on this fifhery there to advantage, the fifhers
muft be perfons refiding in the country; and he
reafons in this manner. Every feafon is not equally
proper for this fifhery ; it can only be carried oa
from the beginning of the month of May, till the-
end of Auguft, Now if you bring failors from
France, either you. muft pay them for the whole
year, in which cafe your expences will fwallow up —
the profits, or you muft pay them for the fifhing
feafon only, in which they can never find their ac-
count. For to fay that they may be employed for
the reft of the year in fawing of boards and felling
of timber, is certainly a miftake, as they could not
poffibly make the expence of their living out of it ;
fo that thus either they muft needs ruin the under-
taker or die of hunger.

But if they are inhabitants of the place, the un-
dertakers will not only be better ferved, but alfo it
will be their own faults if they do not prefently get
a fortune. By this means they will be able to make
choice of the beft hands ;-they will take their own
time to begin the fifhery, they will make choice of
proper places, they will make great profits for the
{pace of four months; and the reft of the year they
may employ in working for themfelves at home.

| | Had

\

of oe)
Had things been fettled upon this bottom in thofe

parts for a hundred and fifty years laft paft, Acadia ©
muft have become one of the moft powerful colo-—
nies in all America. For whilft it was given out .
in France, and that with a kind of affectation that

it was impoffible ever to do any thing in that coun-
try, it enriched the people of New-England by the
fifhing trade only, though the Englifh were without

feveral advantages for carrying it on, which our fi-

tuation offered us.

After leaving the great bank, you meet with fe-

veral leffer ones, all of them equally abounding in
fifth, nor is the cod the only {pecies found in thofe
feas. And though you do not in fact meet with
many Requiems, {carce any Giltheads and Bonettas,
or thofe other fifhes which require warmer feas, yet
to make amends they abound with whales, blowers,
fword-fith, porpuffes, threfhers, with many others

of lefs palin: We had here more than once the |

pleafure of viewing the combat of the whale and
{word-fifh, than which nothing can be more enter-
taining. The fword-fifh is of the thicknefs of a
cow, from feven to eight feet long, the body taper-
ing towards the tail. “It derives its name from its
_ weapon, which is a kind of {word three feet in
- length and four fingers in breadth. It proceeds
from his fnout, and from each fide he has a range
of teeth an inch long, and placed at equal diftances
from each other. ‘This fifh is drefied with any fort
of fauce,-and is excellent eating. His head is
more delicious than a calf’s, and thicker, and of a
fquarer form. His eyes are extremely large. The
whale and fword-fifh never meet without a battle,
and the latter has the fame of being the conftant

agereflor. Sometimes two {word-fifhes join again{t

one whale, in which cafe the parties are by no
means

2

C797 4)

means equal. The whale, in lieu of arms offenfive
and defenfive, has only his tail; in order to ufe it
againit his enemy he dives with his head, and if the
blow takes place finifhes him at a ftroke; but the
other, who is very adroit in fhunning it, immedi-
ately falls upon the whale, and buries his weapon in
his fides. And as he feldom pierces quite to the
bottom of the fat, does him no great damage ;
when the whale Ealdowerls the other darting upon
him he dives, but the fword-fifh purfues him under
water, and obliges him to rife again to the furface ;
then the battle begins anew, and atts till the {word-
fith lofes fight of the whale, who makes a flying
fight of it, and is a better fwimmer? than he on the
furface of ‘the water.

The Flettau, or threfher, refembles a large plaice,
and what is called by the French fifhermen. fet, ap-
pears to be the diminutive of this fifh. He is grey

‘on the back and white under the belly. His length |

is generally from four to five feet, his breadth at
Jeaft two, and his thicknefs one. His head is very
thick, all of it exquifite and extremely tender ; from
_ the bones is extracted a juice which is preferable to
the fineft marrow. His eyes which are almoft as
large as thofe of the fwordfith, and the gills are
mott delicious morfels. ‘The body is thrown into
the fea, to fatten the cod, to whom the threfher

is the moft dangerous enemy, and who makes but —

one meal of three of thofe fifhes. I fhall not trou-
ble your Grace with a defcription of all the fpecies
of birds which live on thofe feas, and that only by
fifhing, all of them being naturally fifhers, as feve-
ral travellers have already mentioned them, though
their accounts contain nothing worth notice.

On

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On the 18th, the wind favourable; we Bellen
the winds have carried us a little too far to the fouth-
ward, and we are failing weft-north-weft, in order
to recover our latitude. For ten or twelve days
paft we have never feen the fun, and on‘ that
account have not been able to take an ‘obfervation. |
This happens pretty often, and is what occafions
the greateft danger of this navigation. Towards
eight o’clock in the morning, we perceive a fmall
veffel, which feems to sake: ‘towns us, we ftand
towards her, and when we are come near enough,
afked her, in what latitude we are? This was an
Englifhman, the captain of which anfwered in his
own language ; we imagined, he faid, we were in 45
deg. We had, however, no reafon to rely too much
upon his account, as he might poffibly be in the
fame miftake with ourfelves. We take heart not-
withftanding, and as the wind continues favourable,
we flatter ourfelves if it ftands, with the hopes of
paffing the gulph in two days.

Towards four o’clock in the evening the wind
fell, which amazed us all; this was, notwithftand-
ing, what preferved us. At 11 walock at night,
the horizon appeared very black a-head of us, tho’
every where elfe the heavens were extremely ferene.
The failors of the watch did not hefitate to fay, that it
was the land we faw, the officer of the watch laugh-
ed at them, but on feeing that they perfifted in
their opinion, he began to think they might poffi-.
bly be in the right. Luckily for us, there was fo
little wind, that it was with difficulty the fhip would —
fieer ; fo that he hoped day-light would appear be-
fore we approached too near the land. At midnight
the watch was changed; the failors, who fucceed-
ed thofe on the former watch, were immediately of
their opinion ; but their officer undertook to prove

ae

G79) )

to them that what they faw could not poffibly be
the land, but was a fog which would vanifh as
daylight came on. He was not able to perfuade
them of it, and they perfifted in maintaining) that
the heavens were too ferene for any mift to be on
the oppofite fide, except the land lay that way like-
wile. |

At day-break, they all fell a crying out that
they fawthe land. ‘The officer, without even deign-
ing to look that way, fhrugged up his fhoulders,
cand at four o'clock went to fleep, affuring them,
that when he fhould awake he fhould find this pre-
tended land vanifhed. His fucceflor who was the
~ Count de Vaudreuil, being more cautious, imme- |
‘diately ordered fome of the fails to be furled, and
was not long before he faw the neceffity of this pre-
‘caution, As foon as day appeared, we difcovered
the horizon all fet round with land, and at the
fame time a fmall Englifh veffel at anchor within
two cannon fhot of us. M.de Voutron being in-
formed of it caufed the incredulous officer to be cal-
led up that inftant, whom they had much to do to
get out of his cabbin, where he maintained that it
was impoffible we could have land fo near us. He
came, however, after two or three fummonf{es, and
at fight of the danger to which his obftinacy had

_ expofed us, he was feized with aftonifhment.. He

is, notwithftanding the moft expert man in France

for navigating on thefe feas, but too great a fhare

of abilities is fometimes of prejudice when we place
too much confidence in them.

Notwithftanding, Madam, if the wind had not
fallen at four o’clock in the evening before, we had
certainly gone to the bottom in the night; for we
_ were running full fail upon breakers, from whence

it

) ( 80 ) A

it was impoffible we could ever be got off. The
difficulty was to know where we were. We were,
however, certain that we were not in 45 deg. the
evening before. The queftion was, were we more
to the north or fouth? And on this there were dif-
ferent opinions. One of our officers affured us,
that the land which appeared before us was Aca~
dia; that he had formerly made a voyage thither,
-and that he knew it again; another maintained that
it was the iflands of St. Peter. But what reafon is
there to think, faid others to him, we are fo far ad-
vanced ? It is not yet twenty-four hours fince we
were upon the great bank, and it is more than an
hundred leagues from the great bank, to the iflands
of St. Peter. The pilot Chaviteau pretended, that
it was Cape Race. That there is fome error in our
reckoning, faid he, there is not the leaft doubt, and
we ought not to wonder at it, it being impoffible
to keep an exact account in the way of currents
which we are not acquainted with, and which are
continually changing, and efpecially as we had not
the benefit of taking the latitude to fet us to rights.
But it is paft the bounds of all probability that
we fhould either be on the coaft of Acadia, or at
the iflands of St, Peter *.

His reafoning appeared juft to us, we could,
however, have wifhed’ he had been miftaken, for
we knew how difagreeable a thing it was to be en-

* In 1725, the fame Chaviteau committed a blunder much
more fatal. He was then likewife king’s pilot on board the
Camel, and having been feveral days without taking the lati-
tude in the night of the zcth of. Auguit, this fhip ftruck upon
a rock near Louifburgh in the ifland ef Cape-Breton, and every
foul on board perifhed. It appeared by the journals that had
been kept on board, and which were found afterwards, that
they believed themielves ftill feventy leagues from that ifland.

, tangled

ofl ad

he B..')
tangled with the land under Cape Race. In this
uncertainty we refolved to confule the captain of the
Englifhman that lay a-head of us, and’ Chaviteau
was charged with this commiffion. He reflected at
his return, that the Englifh had been as much fur-
prized at finding themfelves in this bay as we were;
but with this difference, that this was the place whi-
ther their bufinefs led them; that ‘Cape Race was
before us, and Cape du Brole ten leagues below ;
that from the mid{t of thofe breakers, on which we
hadilike'to have been caft away, there iffued a ri-
ver, at the entry of which there was an Englifh
fettlement, whither this fmall veffel was bound with
provifions, | ae

About fifteen years ago, there happened to us a
very fingular adventure in this very paffage, and
which expofed us to, perhaps, as great danger as
that which I have ‘been relating. This was a few
days after the 15th of Auguft, and till then we had
been much incommoded with exceffive heats. One
morning, as we were getting up we were feized
with fo intenfe a cold as to be obliged to have re-
courfe to our winter garments. We could, by no
means imagine the caufe of this, as the weather
was extremely fine, and as the wind did not blow
from the north. At laft, on the third day there-
after, at four o’clock in the morning, one of the
failors cried out with all his might, Luff, luff, that
is, place the helm fo as to bring the fhip nearer to
the wind. He was obeyed, and the moment there-
after, we perceived an enormous piece of ice which
glanced along the fide of the veffel, and againft
which fhe muft infallibly have been ftove to pieces,
if the failor had not been endued with mariner’s
eyes, for we could fcarce fee it, and if the mam at
the helm had been lefs alert in fhifting the tiller.
efih 0h aS : I

¥

( ‘oa yy | Reng?
I did not, however, fee this: piece obi ice, as I
was not en got up but all who were then upon
deck, affured us, that it feemed as high as the towers
of Notre Dame at Paris, and that it was a great
deal higher than the maits of the fhip. Ihave of-
ten heard it maintained that this was impoffible,
becaufe, befides its extraordinary height above. the
fea, it mult aifo reach toa confiderable depth under
water, and that it was not poffible’in the nature of
things, that fuch a piece of ice could be formed.
To this I anfwer, in the firtt place, that in order to
deny the fact, we mutt give the lie to a number of
perfons, fomdeueiane che Rot: time that fuch float-
ing iflands have been feen at fea. The Mother of
the Incarnation being upon the fame paflage, run
the fame hazard in broad day-light. The piece of
ice which for want of wind to carry her out of its
way, had like to have fent her to the bottom, was
feen by the whole crew, and was reckoned much
larger than that which we met with. She adds, that
the general abfolution was given as is ufual in ‘cafes
of extreme danger. >

It is moreover certain, that in Hudfon’s bay there
are pieces of ice formed by the fall of torrents,
which tumble from the top of mountains, and
which breaking off in the fummer with a hideous —
noife, are afterwards carried. different ways by the
current. The Sieur Jeremie, who pafied feveral
years in this bay, tells us, that he had the curiofity

to caufe found clofe to one of thefe pieces of ice

which had been ftranded, and that after running out
a hundred fathom of line, they found no bottom.
I return to our adventures Cape Race, Madam,
is te fouth-eaft point of the ifland of Newfound-
land; it is fituated in 46 deg. and about 30 min.
north latitude, The coaft runs from hence weft-
é ward,

*

Lt 83 hi

ward, a little inclining to the north for the fpace

of a hundred leagties, and terminates at Cape Ray

in 47 deg. Almoft half-way, is the great bay of

Placentia, one of the fineft ports in all America.
Wett- fouth-weft from this is a Hummock, which
is feen from far, and ferves to make it a ee me Cert:
is called the Red Hat, from its appearing in this
form at a diftance, and from its being of a reddith
colour. On the 23d at noon, we were abreaft of
it, and in the evening we failed along the iflands of
St. Peter, which lay" on the ftarboard fide, that is
to fay on our right-hand.

Thefe are three iflands, the two firft of which |
are exceeding high, and from the fide on which we

were, could be feen nothing but mountains covered

with mofs, Iti is pretended that this mofs in fome
places covers very fine porphyry. On the fide to- -
wards Newfoundland, there is fome arable land,
with an indifferent good port, where we formerly
had fome fettlements. The largeft and moft wef-
tern of the three, which is more commonly called
Maguelon ifland, is not fo high as the two others,
and the land of it appears to be very level. it is
about three quarters of a league inlength. Onthe

‘24th, at day-break, we had left it only five or fix

leagues behind us, but after midnight we had had
no wind. Towards five o’clock in the morning,
there arofe a light breeze at fouth-eaft. Whiff we
were waiting till it fhould grow ftrong enough to
fill our fails, we diverted ourfelves with Bhi ing, and
caught a confiderable quantity of cod. We {pent
two hours more than we ought to have done in this
diverfion, and we had very Joan fufficient reafon to
repent it. '

G2 Oe Te

( Ba i.
It was eight o’clock when we made fail, and we

‘run the whole night in hopes of difcovering Cape

Ray which lay upon our right, or the little ifland

of St. Paul, which we ought to Jeave on our left,
‘and which is almoft oppofite to Cape Ray, but night
came on without our having had fight of either.
“We would then have been very glad that we had

made ufe of the time we had loft. What was mott
difagreeable in this, was, that towards midnight we
were overtaken by a ftorm, much fuch another as
that which we had met with on the great bank, and
as we had no room to doubt of our being near one

or other of the two lands between which our courfe

lay, we durft not take the benefit of the wind which
would have advanced us a good deal in our courfe.
Thus, in fpite of Chaviteau’s advice, who under-
took to carry us thorough in fafety, we lay too.
At day-break we perceived Cape Ray, on which
the currents were driving us, and to compleat our

misfortune, we had not ‘wind enough to get clear of

the coaft. We were almoft afhore, whe about
half an hour paft five in the morning, a light breath
of wind at north-weft came in the nick of ‘time to
our affiftance ; we loft nothing by it, and we were ©

- extricated from the danger in which we were. The

north-weft, after doing us this good office, would

have obliged us extremely had it made way for

fome other wind ; ; it did not, however, comply with
our witfhes, and for two whole days detained us in the
mouth of the gulph of St. Laurence. On the third
day we pafied between the ifland of St. Paul and

Cape St. Laurence, which is the moft ‘northerly
point of the fe Reyale, or iland of Cape Breton.

This paffage is very narrow, and is never ventured
upon in foggy weather, becaufe the ifland of St.
Paul is fo {mall as to be eafily hid by the mitt.
That which lies between th’s ifland and Cape Ray

5 7 3 is

eee iG (Ao. )
is much broader ; but our fails were fet to take the

_ other when the wind fhifted ; accordingly we took

advantage of it. The gulph of St. Laurence is
fourfcore leagues in.length, which a good wind at
fouth-eaft, with the affiftance of the currents, car-

fied us through in twenty-four hours. About half-

~

way you meet the I/les aux Oifeaux, or Bird Ifands,
which we failed along at the diftance of a {mall
cannon fhot, and which muft not be confounded
with thofe which were difcovered by ames Cartier,
near the Ifland of Newfoundland. ‘Thefe of which
we are now {peaking, are two rocks which appeared
to me to rife up tapering to a fharp point about fixty
feet above thefurface of the water, the largeft of which
was between two and three hundred feet in circum-
ference. They are very near one another, and I do
not believe there is water enough between them for
a large fhallop. It is hard to fay what colour they
are of, the mute, or dung of fea-fowl, covering
entirely both the furface and banks. There are to
be feen, however, in fome places veins of a reddifh
colour,

They have been vifited feveral times ; and whole
fhalops have been loaded with eggs of all forts, and
the ftench is affirmed to be utterly infupportable,
And fome add, that befides the fea-gulls and the
cormorants, which come thither from all the
neighbouring lands, there are found a number of
other fowl] that cannot fly. What is wonderful, is,
that in fo prodigious a multitude of nefts every one
finds his own. We fired one c:nnon-fhot, which
fpread the alarm over all this feathered common-
wealth, when there arofe over the two iflands a
thick cloud of thofe fowl of at leaft two or three
leagues in circuit. On the morrow, about day-
break the wind fell all at once : Two hours after that
we doubled Cape Rofe, and entered the river St.
a2 Lau-

.

(. 86 )

\

Laurence, which ruris north-eaft and. fouth-wett ;

and the northweft wind, which immediately rofe, —

would have ferved us well enough, but as we had
Joit two hours on the twenty-fourth in fifhing, and
in confequence thereof, two whole days at the entry
of the gulph, we were obliged to wait here till the
north-weit fhould fall, that is to fay, five days, in

which we did not make five leagues. This delay -

was not even the greateft mifchief which it occa-
fioned us; it) was befides very cold, and there was
a creat fwell which tofied us exceedingly, and when
the gale was about to fall it was very near being the
caufe of our deftruction in the manner you are pre-
fently going to fee. But I muft firft give you a
map of the country where we were. Cape Rofe is
properly the mouth of the river St. Laurence, and
it is here we muft meafure its breadth at its opening,
which is about thirty leagues. Somewhat below
this, and more to the fouthward, are the bay and
point of Gafpey or Gachepé. Thofe who pretend
that the river St. Laurence is forty leagues over at

its mouth, probably meafure it from the. eaftern
point of Gaipey. Below the bay you perceive a
fort of ifland, which is in faét, no more than a fteep
rock, of about thirty fathoms in length, ten high,
and four broad. One would take it for a fragment
of an old wall, and it has been afferted that it for-
merly joined Mont Fol, which ftands over-againft
iton the Continent. This rock has in the middle
an opening in the form of an arch, through which
a Bilcayan fhalop might pafs under fail, and hence
it has got the name of fle Perceé, or the bored
If_and. Navigators know that they are near it when
they difcover a fat mountain, rifing above feveral
others, called Rolavd’s Table. The ifland Bona-
venture is a league from. Bored Ifland, and almoft
at the fame: diftance lies the iflland Méi/con, eight
leagues

? ¢
)

ep ee z )

leagues in circuit, which has an excellent harbour,
In the offing, at a fmall diftance from this iland, is.
a fpring of frefh water, which boils up and jets to a

confiderable height.

_ All thefe parts are excellent-for the fifhery, and
there is every where exceeding good anchoring
eround. It would even be eafy to erect magazines
or warehoufes, which would ferve by way of flore-
houfes, or repofitories for Quebec. But an infinite
deal of time which ought to have been employed
in making fure of the cod, and feveral other fithe-
ries, with which this fea abounds, and in fortifying
ourfelves in thofe pofts, the importance of which
we have been too long in difcovering, has been loft

in Carrying on the fur trade. It was natural for us,

having near us fo fure and commodious fheltering
to have gone thither to wait the return of a favour-
able wind, but we expected it to return every mo-
ment, and we thought to make the moft of it the
moment it fprung up.

_ At laft, on Tuefday the roth of September, to-
wards noon, the northweit fell ; then finding our-
felves without being able to advance, nor even al-
moft to work the fhip, we amuied ourfelves in fifh-
ing, and this too colt us very dear, For the man
at the helm being more attentive to the fifhing than
to his rudder, Jet the fhip go up into the wind,
which occafioned the fails to lie aback. During the
calm, we had already driven confiderably on the
ifland of Anticofti, and the accident I have been
{peaking of caufed us come fo near it. As the cur-
rent carried us that way, that we already could di-
ftinctly difcern the breakers, with which the ifland

is lined on this fide; to compleat our misfortune,

G 4. , the

< C9889)

the fmall bréath of wind which had Bhar rifen failed

us in our greatelt need. "t()5 { Q

Had the calm continued a ever fo fhiciet a sihile,
there had been an end of us. A moment after our
fails filled a little, and we hada mind to bring the
fhip about ; but fhe, contrary to cuftom, refufed to
ftay, and that twice running ; a certain proof that
the current which acted upon her was very ftrong.
We now thought ourfelves paft all hope, becaufe
we were too near the rocks to rifk wearing her; but
after all we had no other method left, We therefore
fet hand to the work, more that we might have no-
thing to reproach ourfelves with, than from any
hope of faving our lives; and in that very inftant
we experienced the truth of this maxim, that God
helps thofe who help themfelves. The wind fhifted
to the north, and frefhned by little and little, fo

that towards feven o’clock in the evening we had

quite cleared the point of Anticofti, which had filled
us with fo much apprehenfion.

This ifland extends for about forty leagues from
north-eaft to fouth-weft, almoft in the middle of
the river St. Latulente, being at the fame time ex-
tremely narrow.” It had been sranted to the Sieur
Joliet, on his retutn from the difcovery of the
Mififiippi, a prefent of no great value; this ifland
is abfolutely good for nothing. It isill ‘wooded, its
foil barren, and without a fingle harbour where any
veffel can lie in fafety. There was a rumour fome
years fince, that a filver mine had been difcovered
on it, and for want of miners a gold{mith was fent
from Quebec, where I then was, to make an eflay
of it; but he made no great progrefs. He foon
perceived by the difcourfe of him who had given

information of-it, that the mine exifted only in the,

rate.

ee)

brain of this perfon, who was inceflantly récom-
" mending to him to put his truft in the Lord. He
was of opinion, that if truft in God was fufficient
to make him difcover a mine there was no neceffity
of going to Anticofti to find it, fo that he returned
as he came. The coafts of this ifland are abun-
dantly well ftocked with fifth; I am notwithftand-
ing of opinion, that the heirs of the Sieur Joliet,
would willingly exchange their immenfe lordfhip for
the {malleft fief in France.

After having paffed this ifland you have the
pleafure of always being between two fhores, and
to make fure of the progrefs you have made; but
there is a neceffity of ufing much precaution in fail-
ing on this great river. On Thuriday the third, we
left on the larboard fide the Mounts Notre Dame and
Mount Louys ; this is a chain of very high moun-
tains ; between which there are feveral vallies, which
were formerly inhabited by Indians. In the neigh-
bourhood of Mount Lewis, there are even very
good lands, and on them feveral French plantations.
A very advantageous fettlement might be made
here for the fifhery, efpecially the whale-fifhery,
and it would alfo be of ufe to the fhips which come
from France ; they might there find refrefhments of
which they are fometimes in extreme want. In
the night following, the wind encreafed, and
had very near done us an ill turn. We were no
great way from Trinity-point, which we were to
leave on our left, but our pilots did not believe
themfelves fo near it; and they even imagined they
had given it a fufficient birth fo as to have nothing
to fear from it. Monfieur de Voutron ftarting up
from his fleep called out to bear away. Had this
order been poftponed but for one quarter of an
hour, ‘the fhip muft have been dafhed to pieces up-
on

{( 980.) |
on the point, which appeared fome moments after
wards. On the fourth in the evening we came to

anchor, for the firft time, a little above’ what is cal- ©

led the Paps of Matane. Thefe are two fummits
of the fame mountain, fituated at the diftance of
two leagues from the river. I do not believe that
a wilder country can any where be feen. Nothing

appears on all hands but impenetrable thickets,
rocks, and fands, without one inch of good land.

There are, it is true, fine fprings, excellent game,
and that in great plenty, but hunting ts here almoft
utterly impracticable to any except Indians and
Canadians.

We Feiied here four days, as on the ane
fide of the river we had to avoid the fhoal of
Manicouagau, famous for fhipwrecks, and which
advances two leagues into the river. It takes its.
name froma river proceeding from the mountains
of Labrador, which forms a pretty large lake of
the fame name, but more commonly known by that
of St. Barnabas, and which empties itfelf acrofs
this fhoal. Some of our maps call it 4 riviere

Neire, or Black River.

On the eighth we made fail; though, for any
way we made it was hardly worth while; but va-
riety ferves to divert one, and exercife is of ufe to
the failors. In the night, between the roth and. ith,
we made fifteen leag
further we fhould have got over the moft critical part
of the whole river. We fhould, befides, have got
up as high as the ftrong tides, fot hitherto they
are fearce perceptible, except near the fhore; but
the wind fhifted of a fudden to the fouth-weft, fo
that we were obligéd’to look out for a place of

thelter which we found under LIfe Verte, or Green-
ian,

ues; had we got half a league -

ges

Ip ee

| eee Ue 8 a a \
Tfland, where we remained five days. Here we--
wanted for nothing, but at the expiration of this
time we had a mind to try whether we fhould be
able to find, as we had been made to hope, land-
winds on the north fhore, which might carry us into

_ the high tides.

We therefore came to an anchor at Moulin Baudes
this traverfe is five leagues. On my arrival | afked
to fee this mill, and was fhewn fome rocks from
which iffues a {mall rill of chryftal water, fufficient
at leaft to make a mill go; there is, however, no
likelihood of a mill ever being built here. There
is not, perhaps, in the whole world a more uninha-
bitable country than this. The Saguenay lies fome-
what higher; this is a river capable of carrying the
largeft fhips twenty-five leagues above its mouth.
Entering this river you leave on the right hand the
port of Tadouffac, where moft part of our geogra-
phers have placed a city ; but there never was more
than one French houfe in it, with fome huts of
Indians that came here in trading time, and who
afterwards carried their huts away with them as
they do with the booths of a fair. This is what
conftituted the whole of the city.

It is true that this port was for a long time the
refort of all the Indian nations of the north and
eaft ; that the French repaired thither as foon as
the navigation was open, whether from France or
from Canada ; and laftly, that the miffionaries pro-
fiting of this opportunity, came thither to negoci-
ate in quality of factors for the kingdom of hea-
ven. ‘he fair being ended, the merchants return-

_ed to their own homes, the Indians took the road
of their forefts or villages, and the labourers in the
harvelt of the gofpel followed thefe latter to culti-

vate

Cee} :

vate the divine feed fown in their minds. ‘Not-. _
withftanding both the relations which have beets
publifhed, and. thofe who have travelled thither
have faid a great deal on the fubject of T adouffac,
and our geographers have fuppofed it to be a city 5
and fome authors have even advanced that it had
a jurifdiction belonging to it.

In other refpects Tadouffae is an excellent har-
bour, and I have been affured, that five and twenty
fhips of war might be fheltered in it from all winds,
that the anchorage is fure in it, and that its entry
is extreamly eafy. Its form is almoft round, and
it is furrounded on all fides by fteep rocks of a
prodigious height, from whence iffues a fmall ri-
vulet capable of fupplying all the fhips with wa-
ter. This whole country is full of marble, but its
greateft riches would be that of the whale: fithery.
In 1705, being at anchor with the fhip Hero in the
fame place, I faw at the fame time four of thefe
. fifhes, which from head to tail were almoft as long.

as our fhip. The Bafques formerly carried.on this
fifhery with fuccefs; and there are, on a fmall
ifland which bears their name, and which lies a lit-
tle below Green-IMand, the remains of furnaces and
the ribs of whales. What a mighty difference muft
there be between a fedentary and domeftic fifhery,
which might be carried on at one’s eafe in a river,
and that which is followed on the coafts of Green-
land with fo much rifk and at fo vaft an ex-
pence. ,

The two following days no lana-wind, and we
regret extremely our former anchoring-place, at
which there were French plantations, whereas here
there are neither men nor beafts to be. feen. At
length, on thé third day at noon, we anchor, and |

we

Andy oS a
hey \
MP et ee Me

(793 "))
‘we clear the paflage of J/le Rouge, or Red-Ifland,
which is no ealy matter. You mutt firft fteer right
upon this ifland, as if you had a mind to land on
it’; this is done to fhun the point aux Allouettes,
which lies at the entrance into the Saguenay on the
left, and advances a good way into the river ; this
done, you ftand the direct contrary way. The paf-
- fage to the fouthward of Red-Ifland is much fafer ;
but in order to make this we muft have returned di-
_ ‘rectly back, and the wind might have come to have
failed us. The Red Jfand is no more than a rock
almoft level with the furface of the water which ap-
pears of a true red colour, and on which many a
thip has been caft away.

Next day with little’ wind and the help of the
tide we come to an anchor above the Ifle aux Cou-
dres, which lies at fifteen leagues diftance both from
Quebec and Tadouffac. You leave this on the left,
and this paflage is dangerous when you have not
the wind to your liking; it is rapid, narrow, anda
-good quarter of a league in length. In Champlain’s
‘time. it was much .eafier; but in 1663, an earth-
quake plucked up a mountain by the roots, and ~
whirled it upon the J/le.aux Coudres, which it en-
creafed in dimenfions more than one half, and in the
place where this, mountain {tood appeared a whirl-
‘pool, which it is dangerous to approach. One
might pafs to the fouthward of the Jle aux Coudres,
and.this paflage' would be both eafy and without
danger. It bears the name of Monf. D’ Iberville
who attempted it-with fuccefs; but the general way
-is to pals on the north fide of it, and cuftom you

know is a fovereign law for the common run of
mankind. — +

Above

s

| 94)

“ibe this whirlpool, which I have jut. now
been mentioning, is the bay of St. Paul, where be-
gins the plantations on the north fhore, and where
there are woods of pine-trees which are much va-

~ Jued ; here are found red pines of an extreme beauty,

and sithtls are never known to break. The fupe-
riors of the feminary of Quebec are lords of this

bay. A fine lead mine has been lately difcovered in —

this place. Six leagues farther up the river is an
exceeding high promontory, at which terminates‘a
chain of mountains, ftretching more than four hun-
dred leagues to the weftward; this is called Cape
tT surmente, probably becaufe he who thus chriften-
ed it had met with fome hard gales of wind under

it. There is good anchoring here, where you are

furrounded with iflands of all fizes which afford ex-

cellent fhelter. The moft confiderable of thefe is.

the Ifle of Orleans, whofe fertile fields appear in
form of an amphitheatre, and agreeably terminate
the profpect. This ifland is about fourteen leagues
in circuit, and was erected into an earldom in 1676,
under the name of St. Lawrence, in favour of Fran-
cis Berthelot, fecretary-general of the artillery, who
had purchated it of Francis de Laval, firft bifhop
of Quebec. It had then four villages in it, and
now has pretty populous parifhes. )

Of the two channels which this ifland forms, that
to the fouth only is navigable for fhips. Even

fhallops cannot pafs through that to the north, ex-

cept at high-water, . Thus from Cape Tourmente,
you mutt “traverfe the river to get to Quebec, and
even this is not without its difficulties; it is incom-

moded with fhifting fands, om which there is not at
all times water fufficient for the dargeft fhips, which —

obliges thofe who pafs this way not to attempt it,

except in the time of flood. This difficulty nee
e

4

Wee C98 2

be fhunned by taking the channel of M. d? Iber-
~ ville. Cape Tourmente from whence this traverfe
is beft made, is a hundred and ten leagues from the
fea, the water near it ftill continuing brackifh. It
does not become drinkable till the entrance into the
two channels, which are formed by the Ifle of Or-
leans. This is a phenomenon pretty dificult to ex-
plain, and efpecially, if we confider the great ra-
pidity of the river notwithftanding its breadth.

The tides flow regularly in this place five hours,
and ebb feven. At Tadouffac they flow and ebb
fix hours, and the higher you afcend the river the
more the flux diminithes, and the reflux encreafes.
Atthe diftance of twenty leagues above Quebec, the
flux is three hours, and the reflux nine. Beyond
this there is no fenfible tide ; when it is half flood
in the port of Tadouffac and at the mouth of the
Saguenay, it only begins to flow at Checoutimi twenty
five leagues up this laft river, notwithftanding it is
high water at all thefe three places at the fame time.
This is no doubt owing to this circumftance, that
the rapidity of the Sagueray, which is ftil] greater
than that of the St. Lawrence, driving back. the
tide, occafions for fome time a kind of equilibrium
of the tides at Checoutimi, and at the entrance of
this river into the St. Lawrence. ‘This rapidity has
befides come to the pitch, in which we now fee it,
only fince the earthquake in 1663. This earthquake
overturned a mountain, and threw it into the river,
which confined its channel, forming a peninfula
called Checoutimi, beyond which is a rapid ftream
impaffable even to canoes. The depth-of the Sa-
guenay from its mouth as high as Checoutimi, is
equal co its rapidity. Thus ic would be impoffible
to come to an anchor in it, were it not for the con-

venience

6

( 96 » malas
venience of making faft to the trees, with which its’
banks are covered. ee

It has been moreover obferved, that in the gulph
of St. Lawrence, at the diftance of eight or ten.
leagues from the fhore, the tides vary according to:
the different pofitions of the land, or the difference
of feafons; that in fome places they follow the
courfes of the winds, and that in others they go
quite contrary to the wind; that at the mouth of
the river in certain months of the year the currents
bear con‘tantly out to fea, and in other places fet:
right in fhore; laftly, that in the great river itfelf,
as high up as the Seven Iflands, that is to fay, for
the {pace of fixty leagues it never flows on the fouth
fide, nor ebbs on the north. It is not eafy to give
folid reafons for all this, but what is moft likely, is,
that there are certain motions under water which
produce thofe irregularities, or that there are cur-
rents which fet from the furface to the bottom, and
from. the bottom to the furface in the manner of
a pump. .

Another obfervation we may make in this place,
is, that the variation of the compafs, which in fome
ports. of France is only two or three degrees north-
welt, conftantly diminifhes as you approach the me-
- yidian of the Azores, or weftern Iflands, where it
is no longer fenfible; but that beyond this it en-
creafes after fuch a rate that on the great Bank of
Newfoundland, it is twenty-two degrees and up-
wards ; that afterwards it begins to diminifh but
flowly, fince it is ftill fixteen degrees at Quebec,
and twelve in the country of the Hurons, where the
' fun fets thirty three minutes later than at that ca-
pital. |

On

0 a)

On Sunday the 22d; we came to an anchor in
the traverfe of the Ifle of Orleans, where we went
afhoré whilft we waited the return of the tide. [I
found the country ‘here pleafant, the lands good,
and the planters in tolerable good circumftances.

_ They have the character of being fomething addiét-

ed to witchcraft, and they are applied to, in order
to know what is to happen, or what paffes in dif-
tant places. As for inftance, when the fhips ex-
pected from France are later than ordinary, they
are confulted for intelligence concerning them, and
it has been afierted that their anfwers have been

-fometimes pretty juft; that is to fay, that having

guefied once or twice right enough, and having for
their own diverfion made it be believed that they
fpoke from certain knowledge, it has been imagin-
ed that they confulted with the devil.

When James Cartier difcovered this ifland he
found it entirely covered with vines, from whence
he calléd it the Ifle of Bacchus. This navigator
was of Brittany ; after him came certain Normans,
who grubbed up the vines, and in the place of Bac-
chus fubftituted Pomona and Ceres. In effeét, it
produces good wheat and excellent fruits. They
begin alfo to cultivate tobacco on it, which is far
from being bad. At length on Monday the 23d,
the Camel anchored before Quebec, whither I had
gone two hours before in a canoe of bark. I have
a voyage of a thoufand leagues to make in thefe
frail vehicles, I muft therefore accuftom myfelf to
them by degrees. And now, Madam, thefe are the
circumftances of my voyage, which I have been
able to recollect; they are, as you fee, trifles, which |
at moft might be good enough to amufe perfons,
who-have nothing to do on board fhip. I fhall,

_ pethaps, afterwards have fomething more intereft-

H ing

oe a lala fies ea oe oe”
alfo have the honour to write to ye

\e

X- 99.)

eae tT BeoR. WM

Defeription of Quebec ; character of its inha-
bitants, and the manner of living in the
French colony.

Quebec, Ok. 28, 1720,
Madam, - 3

“¥ AM now going to write you fome particulars
I concerning Quebec ; all ithe defcriptions I have
hitherto feen of it are.fo faulty, that I imagined I
fhould do you a pleafure in drawing you atrue por-
trait of this capital of New France. It is truly
worthy of being known, were it only for the fingu-
larity of its firuation ; there being no other city be-
‘fides this in the known world that can boaft of a
frefh water harbour a hundred and twenty leagues
from the fea, and that capable of containing a hundred.
fhips of the line. It certainly ftands on the moft
navigable river in the univerfe.

This great river as high as the ifland of Orleans,
that is to fay, at the diftance of a hundred and ten
or twelve leagues from the fea, is never lefs than
four or five leagues in breadth; but above this
ifland it fuddenly narrows, and that at fuch a rate
as to be no more than a mile broad at Quebec;
from which circumftance this place has been called

H 2 a Que-

a, Dom). Y

Quebeio or Quebec, which in the Algonquin lan- ,
guage fignifies a ftrait or narrowing. The Abena-
quis, whofe language is a dialect of the Algonquin,
cal] it Quelibec, that is to fay, fhut up, becaufe
from the entry of the little river de la Chaudiere, by
which thefe Indians ufually came to Quebec, from
the neighbourhood of Acadia; the point of Levi,
which projects towards the Ife of Orleans, entirely
hides the fouth channel, as the Ife of Orleans does
that of the north, fothat the port of Quebec ap-
pears from thence like a great bay.

The firft object. you perceive on your’ arrival in
the road is a fine fheet of water, about thirty feet
in breadth, and forty high. ‘his is fituated clofe
by the entry of the leffer channel of the Ifle of Or-
leans, and is feen from along point on the fouth-
fide of the river, which as I “have already obferved
feems to join to the Ifle of Orleans. This cafcade
is called the Falls of Montmorency, and the other
Point Levi. The reafon of which is, that the ad-
miral de Montmorency, and the Duc de Ventadour
his nephew, were’ fucceffively viceroys of New
France. There is no perfon, who would not ima-
gine, that fo plentiful a fall of water, and which
never dries up muft proceed from fome fine river ;
it is, however, no more than a puny ftream, in
which in fome places there is hardly water up to the
ankle; it flows, however conftantly, and derives
its fource from a pleafant lake twelve leagues diftant
from the falls.

The city ftands a league higher, on the fame fide
and at the place where the river is nartoweft. But
between it and the Ifle of Orleans, is a bafon a large
league, Over every way into which difcharges it-
felt the little river St. Charles, flowing from a

nortn-

i
’
:
i
;

ay

old YS ron)

“north-weft. Quebec ftands between the mouth of

this river and Cape Diamond, which projects a lit-

tle into the river. The anchoring place is oppofite

. to it, in five and twenty fathoms water good ground.

Notwithftanding when it blows hard at north-eaft,
fhips drag their anchors fometimes but with {fcarce
any danger. | ’
When Samuel Champlain founded this city in
1608, the tide ufually rofe to the foot of the rock.
Since. that time the river has retired by little
and little, and has at laft left dry a large piecé of
ground, on which the lower town has fince been
built, and which is now fufficiently elevated above
the water’s edge, to fecure its inhabitants againft the
inundations of the river. The firft thing you meet.
with on landing is a pretty large fquare, and of an .
irregular form, having in front a row of well built
houfes, the back part of which leans againft the

_ rock, fo that they have no great depth. Thefe
form a ftreet of a confiderable length, occupying

the whole breadth of the fquare, and extending on
the right and left as far as the two ways which lead
to the upper town. The fquare is bounded towards

‘the left by a fmall church, and towards the right

by two rows of houfes placed in a parallel direction,
There is alfo another {treet on the other fide between

“the church and the harbour, and at the turning of

the river under Cape Diamond, there is likewife

another pretty long flight of houfes on the banks
of acreek called the Bay of Mothers. This quar-
ter may be reckoned properly enough a fort of fub-
urbs to the lower town.

Between this fuburb and the great ftreet, you go
up to the higher town by fo fteep an afcent, that it

has been found neceffary to cut it into fteps. Thus

H 3 if

ae soa

it is impoffible to afcend it except on foot: But
in going from the fquare towards the right a wa
has been made, the declivity of which is muc
-more gentle, which is lined with houfes. At the
place where thefe two ways meet begins that part of
the upper town which faces the river, there being
another lower town on the fide towards the little ri-
ver St. Charles. The firft building worthy of no-
tice you meet with on your right hand in the for-
mer of thofe fides, is the bifhop’s palace ; the left
being entirely occupied with private houfes. When
you are got about twenty paces farther, you find
yourfelf between two tolerably large fquares ; that
towards the left is the place of arms, fronting which,
is the fort or citadel, where the governor-general
refides ; on the oppofite fide ftands the convent of
the Recollects, the other fides of the fquare being
lined with handfome houfes.

In the fquare towards your right you come firft .

of all to the cathedral, which ferves alfo for a parifh
church to the whole city. Near this, and on the
angle formed by the river St. Lawrence, and that
of St. Charies ftands the feminary. Oppofite to the
cathedral is the college of the jefuits, and on the
fides between them are fome very handfome houfes.
From the place of arms run two ftreets which are
croffed by a third, and which form a large ifle en-
‘tirely occupied by the church and convent of the
Recolleéts. From the fecond fquare to the river

St. Charles, are two defcents, one on the fouth to-

wards the feminary, which is very fteep and with
very few houfes on it; the other near the enclofure
of the jefuits, which is very winding, has the Hotel
Dieu, or Hofpital, and half-way down is lined with
fmall houfes, and terminates at the palace where the
intendant refides. On the other fide of the ae

col-

\ '

C7193") )

college, where their church ftands, is a pretty long
ftreet, in which is the convent of the Urfuline nuns.
The whole of the upper town is built on a bottom
partly of marble and partly of flate.

Such, Madam, is the topographical defcription
of Quebec, which as you fee is of a confiderable
large extent, and in which almoft all the houfes are
built of ftone, though for all that they do not rec-
kon above feven thoufand fouls in it*. But in or-
_ der-to give you a compleat idea of this city, I muft
give you a particular account of its principal edi-
fices, and fhall afterwards fpeak of its fortifications.
_ The church of the lower town was built in confe-
quence of a vow made during the fiege of Quebec,
in 1690. Itis dedicated to our Lady of. Victory,
and ferves as a chapel of eafe for the conveniency
of the inhabitants of the lower town. Its ture
is extremely fimple, a modeft neatnefs forming all
its ornament. Some fifters of the congregation,
whom I fhall have occafion to mention in the fequel,
are eftablifhed to the number of four or five, be-
tween this church and the port, where they teach a
fchool.

In the epifcopal palace there is nothing finifhed
but the chapel, and one half of the building pro-
jected by the plan, according to which it is to be an
oblong fquare. If it is ever compleated, it will be
a magnificent edifice. The garden extends to the
brow of the rock, and commands the profpect of
all the road. When the capital of New France,
fhall have become as flourifhing as that of Old
France (and we fhould not defpair of any thing,

* One may eafily fee by the plan of this city that it has
sonfiderably encreafed within thefe twenty years laft paft.

ese Paris

( 1043)

Paris having been for a long time much inferiof to
what Quebec is at this day) as far as the fight can.

reach, nothing will be feen but towns, villas, plea-
fure houfes, and all this is already chalked out;
when the great river St. Lawrence, who rowls ma-
jeftically his waters which ‘he brings from the ex-
tremities of the north or weft fhall be covered with
fhips ; when the ifle of Orleans and both fhores of
each of the rivers which form this port, fhall. dif-
cover fine meadows, fruitful hills, and fertile fields,
and in order to accomplifh this, there wants only
more inhabitants ; when part of the river St. Charles,
which agreeably meanders through a charming val-
dey, fhall be joined to the city, the moft beautiful
quarter of which it will undoubtedly form; when
the whole road. fhall have been faced with magnifi-
cent quays, and ‘the port furrounded with fuperb
edifices; and when we fhall fee three or four hun-
dred fhips lying in it loaden with riches, of which
~ we have hitherto been unable to avail ourfelves,
and bringing in exchange thofe of both worlds, you
will then acknowledge, Madam, that this terras

mutt afford a profpect which nothing can equal, and

that even now it ought to be fomething fingularly

ftriking. ,

The cathedral would make but an indifferent pa-
rith church in one of the fmalleft towns in France;
judge then whether it deferves to be the feat of the
-fole bifhoprick in all the French empire in Ame-

rica, which is much more extenfive than that of
the Romans ever was. No architecture, the choir, —

the great altar, and chapels, have all the air of a
country church. What is moft paffable in it, is a
very high tower, folidly built, and which, at a dif-
tance, has no bad effect. The feminary which ad-
joins to this church is a large fquare, the iat?
: O

=

‘of which are not yet finithed, what is already com-

pleated is well executed, and has all the convenien-

‘cies neceflary in this country. This houfe is now

rebuilding for the third time, it was burnt down to
the ground in 1703, and in the month of Oétober,

in the year 1705, when it was near compleatly

rebuilt, it was again almoft entirely confumed by

the flames. From the garden you difcover the

whole of the road and the river St. Charles, as far
as the eye can reach. !

. The fort or oitaide! is a fine building, with two

pavilions by way of wings; you enter it through
a fpacious and regular court, but it has no garden

belonging to it, the fort being built on the brink of

the rock. This defect is fupplied in fome meafure
with a beautiful gallery, with a balcony, which
reaches the whole length of the building ; it com-
mands the road, to the middle of which one may
‘be eafily heard by means of a fpeaking trumpet ;
and hence too you fee the whole lower town under
your feet. On leaving the fort, and turning to the

_ left, you enter a pretty large efplanade, and bya

gentle declivity you reach the fummit of Cape Dia-_
mond, which makes a very fine platform. Befides
the beauty of the profpect, you breathe in this place
the pureft air; you fee from it a number of por-

- poifes as white as fnow playing on the furface of

the water, and you fometimes find a fort of dia-

~ monds on it finer than thofe of Alencon. I have

feen fome of them full as well cut as if they had
come from the hand of the moft expert workman.
They were formerly found here in great plenty,
and hence this cape has the name it bears. At pre-
fent they are very fcarce. The defcent towards the
country is {till more gentle than that towards the
efplanade. wie

The

(: AGe)
_ The Fathers Recollects have a large and beautiful
church, which might do them honour even at Ver-
failles. It is very neatly wainfcotted, and is adorn-
_ ed with a large Tribune or gallery fomewhat heavy,
but the wainfcotting of which is extremely well
carved, which goes quite round, and in. which are

included the confeffion feats. This is the work of | —

one of their brother converts. In a word, nothing
is wanting to render it compleat, except the taking
away fome pictures very coarfely daubed ; brother
Luke has put up fome of his hand which have no
need of thofe foils. Their houfe is anfwerable to
the church; it is large, folid, and commodious,
and adorned with a fpacious and well-cultivated
garden. The Urfiline nuns have fuffered by two
fires as well as the feminary ; and befides, their funds
are fo fmall, and the dowries they receive with the
girls in this country are fo moderate, that after their
houfe was burnt down for the firft time, it was re-

folved to fend them back to France. They have, |

however, had the good fortune to' recover themfelves
both times, and their church is now actually finifhed.
They are neatly and commodioufly lodged, which
is the fruit of the good example they fet the reft of
the colony by their oeconomy, their fobriety and
induftry ; they gild, embroider, and are all ufefully
employed, and what comes out of their hands is
generally of a good tafte.

You have no doubt read in fome relations, that -

the college of the jefuits was a very fine building.
It is certain, that when this city was no more than

an unfeemly heap of French barracks, and huts of

Indians, this houfe, which with the fort, were the
only edifices built with ftone, made fome appear-
ance ; the firft travellers, who judged of it by com-
parifon, reprefented it as a very fine ftructure, thofe

4 who

=

a

SEAS

\

Guto7) )

who followed them, and who, according to cuftom
copied from them, expreffed themfelves in the fame |
manner. Notwithftanding the huts having fince
difappeared, and the barracks having been changed
into houfes moft of them well-built, the college in
fome fort disfigures the city, and threatens falling
to ruin every. day. |

Its fituation is far from being advantageous, it
being deprived of the greateft beauty it could poffi-
bly have had, which is that of the profpect. It
had at firft a diftant view of the road, and its found-
ers were fimple enough to imagine they would al-
ways be allowed to enjoy it; but they were deceived.
The cathedral and feminary now hide it, leaving
them only the profpect of the fquare, which is far
from being a fufficient compenfation for what they
loft. The court of this college is little and ill-kept,
and refembles more than any thing elfe a farmer’s —
yard. ‘The garden is large and well-kept, being
terminated by a fmall wood, the remains of the
ancient foreft which formerly covered this whole
mountain *. :

The church has nothing worth notice on the out-
fide except a handfome fteeple ; it is entirely roofed
with flate, and is the only one in all Canada which
has this advantage; all the buildings here being ge-
nerally covered with fhingles. It is very much or-
namented in the infide; the gallery is bold, light,
and well-wrought, and is furrounded with an iron
baluftrade, painted and gilt, and of excellent work-
manfhip; the pulpit is all gilt, and the work both |
in iron and wood excellent ; there are three altars

* The college has fince been rebuilt from the foundation,
and, is at prefent a noble building.

hand-

Caeat 3

haidharsely defiened, fome good pictures, aul is
without any. dome or cupola, but a flat cieling hand- —
fomely ornamented ; it has no ftone pavement, in
place of which it is floored with ftrong planks, which
males this church fupportable i in winter, whilft you

are pierced with cold in the others. I makeno ~~

mention of four large maffy cylindrical columns, each
of a fingle block of a certain fort of porphyry, black
as jet, and without either {pots or veins, with which
the baron de la Hontan has thought fit to enrich the
ereat altar; they would certainly do better than
thofe actually there, which are hollow and coarfely
daubed in imitation of marble. One might, how-
‘ever, have forgiven this author, if he had never dif-
figured the truth, except to add luftre to churches, |

The Hotel Diev, or hofpital has two large wards,
one for men and the other for women.. The beds
here are kept exceeding clean, the fick are well at-
tended, and every thing is commodious and extreme-
ly neat. The church ftands behind the women’s
ward, and has nothing worth notice except the great —
altar, The houfe is ferved by the nuns Hofpitallers of
St. Augutftine, of the congregation of the Mercy of
Jefus; the firft of whom come originally from
Dieppe. They have begun to build themfelves a
commodious apartment, but will not, in all likeli-
hood, foon finifh it for want of funds. As their.
houfe is fituated on the defcent, half-way down the
hill, on a flat place, which extends a little towards
the river St. — they enjoy a very pleafant
profpect.

The intendant’s houfe is called the palace, becaufe
the fuperior council affembles in it. This is a large
pavilion the two extremities of which project 2

eet,

| WAGs LOg%. ')
~ feet, and to which you afcend by a double flicht of
ftairs. The garden front which faces the little river,
which ftands very near upon a level with it, is much
~ more agreeable than that by which you enter. The
king’s magazines face the tourt on the right fide,
and behind that is the prifon. The gate by which
you enter is hid by the mountain, on which the
upper town ftands, and which on this fide affords
no profpect, except that of a fteep rock, extremely
difagreeable to the fight. It was ftill worfe before
the fire, which reduced fome years ago this whole
palace to afhes; it having at that time no outer
court, and the buildings then facing the ftreet which
was very narrow. As you go along this ftreet, or to
fpeak more properly, this road, you come firft of
all into the country, and at the diftance of half a
quarter of a league you find the Hofpital-General.
This is the fineft houfe in all Canada, and would
be no difparagement to our largeft cities in France ;
the Fathers-Recollects formerly owned the ground
on which it ftands. M. de St. Vallier, bifhop of
Quebec, removed them into the city, bought their
fettlement, and expended a hundred thoufand crowns
in buildings, furniture, and in foundations. The only
fault of this hofpital is its being built in a marth;
- they hope to be able to remedy it by draining this.
marfh; but the river St. Charles makes a winding
in this place, into which the waters ‘do not eafily
flow, fo that this inconvenience can never be effec-
tually removed.

The prelate, who is the founder, has his apart-
_ ment in the houfe, which he makes his ordinary re-

fidence ; having let his palace, which is alfo his own
building, for the benefit of the poor. He even is
not above ferving as chaplain to the hofpital, as
_ well as to the nuns, the functions of which office,

he

(% 748 )

‘he fills with a zeal and application which would be

admired in a fimple prieft who got his bread by it.

The artizans, or others, who on account of their —

great age, are without the means of getting their
fubfiftence, are received into this hofpital till all the

beds in it are full, and thirty nuns are employed in

ferving them. Thefe are a Scion or Colony from
the hofpital of Quebec; but in order to diftinguifh
them, the bifhop has given them certain peculiar
regulations, and obliges them to wear a filver crofs

on their breaft. [oft part of them are young wo- ©

men of condition, and as they are not thofe of the
eafieft circumftances in the country the bifhop has
portioned feveral of them.

Quebec is not regularly fortified, but they have

been long employed in rendering it a place of

_ftrength. This city would not be eafily taken even

in the condition in which it nowis. The harbour
is flanked by two baftions, which in high tides are
almoft level with the furface of the water, that is to
fay, they are elevated five and twenty feet from the
ground, for fo high do the tides flow in the time of

the equinox. A little above the baftion on the.
right, has been built a half baftion, which is cut

out of the rock, and a little higher, on the fide to-
wards the gallery of the fort is a battery of twenty-
five pieces Of cannon. Higher {till is a fmall fquare
fort, called the citadel, and the ways which com-
municate from one fortification to another are ex-
tremely fteep. To the left of the harbour quite
along the road, as far as the river St. Charles, are
good batteries of cannon with feveral mortars.

From the angle of the citadel, which fronts the
_ eity has been built an oreillon of a baftion, from
whence has been drawn a curtain at right —

walcl

~ Hee
7 ek ; > Bes

( At 3

bith communicates with a very elevated cavalier,
on which ftands a windmill fortified. As you de-
{cend from this cavalier, and at the diftance of a
mufket fhot from it, you meet firft a tower fortified
with a baftion, and at the fame diftance from this
a fecond. The defign was to line all this with
ftone; which was to have had the fame angles with
the baftions, and to have terminated at the extre- |
mity of the rock, oppofite to the palace, where
there is already a {mall redoubt, as well as on Cape
Diamond. Why this has not been put in execution
I have not learned. Such, Madam, was the condi-
tion of the place nearly in 1711, when the Eng-
lifh: fitted out a great armament for the conqueft of
Canada, which was caft away through the temerity
of the admiral, who, contrary to the advice of his
pilot, went too near to the Seven Iflands, where he
Joft all his largeft fhips, and three thoufand of his.
beft troops.

Quebec is ftill at this dav in ‘the fame fituation, |
which you may affure yourfelf of by the plan in re-
lievo, which M. de Chauffegros de Leri, chief engi-
neer, fends into France this year, to be placed with —
the other plans of fortified places in the Louvre.
After having informed you of what relates to the
exterior of our capital, 1 muft now fay a word or -
two with refpext to its principal inhabitants ; this is
its beft fide, and if by confidering only its houfes,
fquares, ftreets, churches, and publick buildings,
we might reduce it to the rank of our fmalleft ci-
ties in France, yet the quality of thofe who inhabit
it, will fufficiently vindicate us in beftowing upon
it the title of a capital.

T have already faid, that they reckon no more
than feven thoufand fouls at Quebec 5 yet you find

i in

See Ee see 2

( 412 <a

init a {mall number of the bett company, where

nothing is wanting that can poffibly contribute to
form an agreeable fociety. A governor-general,
with an etat-major, anoblefie, officers, and troops,

an intendant, with a fuperior council, and fubaltern..

jurifdictions, a commiffary of the marine, a grand

provoft, and furveyor of the highways, with a grand - :

mafter of the waters and forefts, whofe jurifdiction,
is certainly the -moft extenfive in the world; rich
merchants, or fuch as live as if they were fo; a
bifhop and numerous feminary ; the recollecéts and

jefuits, three communities of women well educated,

affemblies, full-as brilliant as any where, at the lady
Governefs’s, and lady Intendants. Enough, in my
opinion, to enable all forts of perfons whatever to
pafs their time very agreeably.

They accordingly do fo, every one contributing
all in his power to make life agreeable and chear-
ful. They play at cards, or go abroad on parties
of pleafure in the fummer-time in calafhes or canoes,
in winter, in,fledges upon the fnow, or on fkaits up-

onthe ice. Hunting is a great exercife amongft ©

them, and there are a number of gentlemen who
have no other way of providing handfomely for
their fubfiftence. The current news confift of a
a very few articles, and thofe of Europe arrive all
at once, though they fupply matter of difcourfe for
great part of the year. They reafon like politi-
cians on what is paft, and form conjectures on what
is likely to happen; the fciences and fine arts have
alfo their part, fo that the converfation never flags
for want of matter. The Canadians, that is to

fay, the Creoles of Canada draw in with their native

breath an air of freedom, which renders them very
apreeable in the commerce of life, and no where
in the world is our language fpoken in greater pu-

sph yp ro eee

ra

ahs il a)

Be. “Wphere i is not even the fmalleft foreion acdeit
_ remarked 1 in their pronunciation.

You meet with no rich rien in this country, and
it is really great pity, every one endéavouring to
put as good a face on it as poffible, and nobody
_ fearce thinking of laying up wealth. They make
good cheer, provided they are alfo able to be at the
expence of fine cloaths ; if not, they retrench in the
article of the table to be able to appear well dreffed.
And indeed, we muft allow, that drefs becomes
our Creolians extremely well. ‘Théy are all here of
very advantageous ftature, and both fexes have the
fineft complexion in the world ; a gay and {prightly
behaviour, with great fweethefs and politenefs of
manners are common to all of them ; and the leaft
rufticity, either in language or behaviour, is utters
Jy unknown even in the remoteft and moft diftant
parts.

The cafe is very different as I am informed with,

tefpect to our Enelith neighbours, and to judge of
the two colonies by the way of life, behaviour, and
{fpeech of the inhabitants, nobody would hefitate
to fay that ours were the mioft flourifhing. In New-
England and the other provinces of the continent
of America, fubjeét to the Britifh empire, there
prevails an opulence which they are utterly at a lofs
how to ufe; and in New France, a poverty hid by
.an air of being in eafy circumftances, which feems,
not at all fludied. Trade, and thé cultivation of
their plantations ftrengthen the firft, whereas the
fecond is fupported by the induftry of its inhabitants;
and the tafte of the nation diffufes oyer it fome-
thing infinitely pleafing. - The Englith planter a-
-mafles wealtli, and never makes any fupérfluous ex-
_ pence; the French inhabitant again enjoys what he

eae | ha

4

ie

( ay Wy sce Goa
has acquired, and often makes a nanied of is ‘
he is not poffefied of. That labours for his pofte- Be
‘rity ; this again leaves his offspring involved in the —
fame neceffities he was in himfelf at his firft fetting

out, and to extricate themfelves as they can. The

Englifh Americans are averfe to war, becaufe they
have a great deal to lofe; they take no care to ma-
nage the Indians from a belief that they ftand in no

need of them, The French youth, for very diffe-

rent reafons, abominate the thoughts of peace, and.
live well with the natives, whofe efteem they eafily
gain in time of war, and their friendfhip at all —
times. J might carry the parallel a great way

farther, but 1 am obliged to conclude ; the King’s
fhip is juft going to fet fail, and the merchantmen
are making ready to follow her, fo that, perhaps, in
three days-time, there will not be fo much as a fin-

| ele veficl of any fort in the road.

q qm, &e. |

\a

| Of the wes village of Loretto. The CAUSES
which have prevented the progrefs of the French
colony -. Canada. Of the current meen

Madam, Quebec, Feb. 16, 17216

ie M juft returned from a little j journey or pilgri- |

mage of devotion, of which I thall give you an
account; but {| muft in the firft place inform you,
‘that I was miftaken when in the conclufion of my
Jaft letter I had told you, that before three days
were over, the road of Quebec would be empty. A
fhip belonging to Marfeilles is ftill there, and has

even found the means of being fo under the pros.

tection of the ice with which the river is covered,

The captain of this vefiel had eens up his an

chors on the fecond of September towards evening,
and after falling down the river about a league, he
came to anchor again, in order to wait for fome of
his paffengers, who came on board after it was quite
dark. He gaye orders to have every thing’ ready
vas foon as it fhould be ebb water, and went early to
bed. About midnight, he was wakened with the
suid that the velle was filling With: water : he caus

“7 68 . a | $ fe “,
, v he 7 aa es ' ; es

Pa ) a a ¥

wetaw o's .

ee es

This is a fecret which may have its ufe, It is good tq
_ have refources againft all accidents that can happen, «

Pity Sa ag x
x a ~

ice eee

fed all the pumps to be fet a going but to no pur-
pofe. The water continued to encreafe inftead of di-
minifhing ; at laft, every one thought upon faving
his life, and it was time, for the laft of them had
hardly got a-fhore when the vefiel funk and entirely
difappeared. A bark loaded with merchant goods

KY é- 180 49°

for Montreal, had the fame fate at the entrance into |

Jake St. Peter, but they are in hopes of getting
them both up, as foon as the good weather comes
in. Some even flatter themfelves with being able
to recover the greateft part of the effects with which

thefe two vefiels are loaded ; others believe they will |

not, and [ am of the fame opinion; however, |
fhall not be here to give you an account of it. In
the mean time, this affair of the Provencall veffel

' may be attended with fome confequences, for the

captain. fufpects that fomebody or other has played
him atrick. But to return to our pilgrimage. —

- About three leagues from this place, towards the
North-eaft, is a {mall village of the Indians, called
‘Hurons, who are chriftians, and who have a cha-
pe! built on the fame model, and with the fame di-
menfions as the Santa Cafa of Italy, from whence

an Image of the ae a copy of that which is in >

this famous fanctuary, has been fent to our Neo-
phytes. A-wilder place than this could not have.
been chofen for the fituation of this miffion. In
the mean time, the concourfe of the faithful to this

- place is very great ; and whether it be the effect of ©

imagination, devotion, prejudice, or of any other

-caufe, many perfons have affured me, that upon —
their arrival they have been feized with an inward —

and facred horror, of which they can give no ac-
count. But the folid piety of the inhabitants of

this defert, makes an impreffion upon all, which
7. Sl ae

pe: te eae
fo rauch the greater, as it is affifted by thought

pits reflection.

~The inhabitants are favages, or Indians, but who
derive nothing from their birth and original but
what is really eftimable, that is to fay, the fim-
plicity and opennefs of the firft ages of the world,

, together with thofe improveinents which (srace Has

made upon them; a ‘patriarchal faith, a fincere

piety, that rectitude and docility of heart which

conititute a true faint; an incredible innocence of
manners ; and laftly, pure Chriftianity, on which
the world has not yet breathed that contagious air
which corrupts it; and that frequently ‘attended
with acts of the nse heroick virtue. Nothing can
be more affecting than to hear them fing in two
choirs, the men on one fide, and the women on

the other, the prayers and hymns of the church in

their own language. Noris there any thing which
can be compared to that fervour and modet fty which
they difplay in all their religious exercifes; and I
have never feen any one, who was not touched with
it to the bottom of his heart. ;

This village has been formerly much better peo-
pled than at prefent, but diftempers, and I know
not what caufe, which infenfibly reduces to nothing
all the nations of this continent, have greatly di-

minifhed the number of its inhabitants. The old

age and infirmities of fome of their ancient pa‘tors
had likewife occafioned the falling off of fome from
their primitive zeal, but it has been no difficult
matter to bring them back to it again ; ; and he who
direéts them at prefent has nothing to do but to keep
things on the fame footing i in hice he found them,
It is true, that it is impoffible to carry to a farther
sa than has been done the precautions they ufe

I 3. to
‘
SS
ae

a ae ‘ R n \
rn . a

are od ft sy * eee aie

he y i 'G i Ne ey " .

Ny ae uf Cd if Nes NM i tae

1

ne 118 a
to | prevéne the introducing any new relanation

manners. Intoxicating liquors, the moft common >
and almoft the fole fumbling block, which is ablé

to caufe the favages to fall off, are prohibited by'a
folemn vow, the breach of which is fubthitted to a

publick penance, as well as every other fault which

occafioris fcandal ; and a rélapfe is generally fuffi-
cient to banifh the criminal without any hopes of
return from a place, which ought to be the i impreg-
nable fortrefs and the facred afylum of piety and
innocence, Peace and fubordination reign here in
a perfect manner ; and this village | feems to contti-
tute but one family, which is regulated by the pur-
eft maxims of the gofpel. This mut always oc-

cafion matter of furprize to every one, who confiders —

to what a height thefe people, particularly the Hu-
rons, ufually carry their natural fiercencis and the
love of independance.

The ereateft, and perhaps the only trouble which
the miffionary has, is to find wherewithal to fubfift
his flock ; the territory which he poffeffés, not be-
ing fufficient for that purpofe, and there are very

good reafons againft abandoning it; however, Pro-.

vidence fupplies this cefect. Monfieur and Ma-
dame Begon were of our pilgrimage, and were re-
ceived by our good Neophytes as “perfons of their
rank otght to “Be, who, at the fame time, never
fuffered them to want the neceffaries of life. After

a reception, entirely military on the part of the war-
riors, and thé acclamations of the multitude, they

begaa with éxercifes of piety, which contributed to
the mutual edification of all prefent. This was fol-
‘lowed with a general feftival at the éxpence of Ma-
datn Begon, who received all the honours of it. The
then, according to cuftom, eat in one houfe, and
the women with the little children in another. f

‘ eall

ht ve TET
all it a houfe and not a cabin, for thefe Indians”
have for fome time lived after the French man-
er. f

1
/

The women on fuch ots teftify their orati-
tude only by their filence and modefty ; but becatife
this was the firft lady in the colony, who had ever
regaled the whole village, an orator was granted to
the Huron women, by whofe mouth they difplayed
all the grateful fontiitionts of their hearts towards
their illuftrious benefactrefs. As for the men, after
their chief had harangued the Intendant, they danced
and fung as much as they thought fir. Nothing,
Madam, can be lefs entertaining than thofe fongs
and dances. At firit, they feat themfelves on the
ground, like fo many apes without any order; from
time to time one man rifes, and advances flow! ly to
the middle of the place, always as they fay in ca-
‘dence, turning his head from one fide to the other,
and finging an air, containing not the fmalleft melody
to any ear but that of a favage or Indian, and pro-
nouncing a few words which are of no fignification.
Sometimes it is a war-fong, fometimes a death-fong,
fometimes an attack, or a furprize; for as thefe
people drink nothing but water, they have no drink-
ing fongs, and they have not as yet thought of
making any on their amours. Whilft this perfon
is finging, the pit or audience never ceafe beating
time, by drawing from the bottom of their breait
a Hé, being a note which never varies. The con-
noiffeurs, to whom I refer the matter, pretend that
they are never once out in keeping time.

As feon as one Serfoe has given over, another
takes his place, and this continues till the fpectators
thank them for their entertainment, which they
would not be long of doing were it not convenient

l4 to

: : (120 y
to thew ‘a little complaifance to thofe peoples T hei
mufick i 1S indeed very far from being agreeable, : :

eat, if I may form a judgment of it from what J
have heard of it.

It is however quite another thing at church; the
women particularly having a furprizing foftnefs of
voice, and at the fame time a confiderable fhare of
tafte as well as genius for mufick.

On fuch occafions their harangue or oration is ex-
tremely worthy of ancien : they explain, in a few
‘words, and almoft always in a very ingenious man-
ner, the occafion. of the feftival, which they never
fail to aicribe to very generous motives. ‘The
praifes of him who is at the expence are not for-
gotten, and they fometimes take.the opportunity,
when certain perfonages, particularly when the Go-
vernor-general or Intendant are prefent, to afk a fa-
vour, or to reprefent their grievances. The orator
of the Huron women faid that day in his harangue
fome things fo very extraordinary, that we could
not help fafpeGting that the interpreter, then Peter
Daniel Ricker, the miffionary, had lent him fome of
his wit-and politenefs ; but he protefted he had add-
ed nothing of his own; which we believed, becaufe
we knew him to be one of the openett. and fin-
cereft men in the world.

Before this little j journey, I had made fome fmall
excurfions in the neighbourhood of this city, but as
the ground was every where covered with fnow to-
the eepth of five or fix feet, [have not thereby been
enabled to {peak much of the nature of the cqun-
try. Notwithftanding 2, having before travelled over.
it at ail feafons of the year, T can affure you that .
you very rarely me et any where elfe with a more ei

tile

x

Ty Cy at) |
" gle country, or a better foil. I have applied my-
felf particularly this.winter to learn what advantages
may be drawn from this colony, and I fhall now
communicate ky the fruit of my enquiries. It
is a complaint as old as the colony itfelf, and not
without foundation, that Canada does not enrich
France. It is likewife true that none of the inha-
bitants are rich; but is this the fault of the country
itfelf, or rather of its firft fettlers? | fhall endea-
vour to put you in the way of forming a judgment
on this afticle. 3 3

The original fource of the misfortune of thefe
provinces, which they have honoured with the fine —
name of New France, is the report which was at
firft fpread in the kingdom, that there were no mines
in them, and their not paying fuffiicient attention to
a much greater advantage which may be drawn from
this colony, which is the augmentation of trade;
that in order to bring this about fettlements muft
be made; that this is done by little and little, and
without being fenfibly felt in fuch a kingdom as
France; that the two only objects which prefent
themfelves at firft view in Canada and Acadia, | mean.
_the fifhery and fur trade, abfolutcly require that
thefe two countries fhould be well peopled ; and that
if they had been fo, perhaps, they would have fent
greater returns to France, than Spain has drawn
from the richeft provinces of the New World, efpe-
cially, if they had added to thefe articles the build-
ing of fhips ; but the {plendor of the gold and fil-
ver which came from Peru and Mexico, dazzled
the eyes of all Europe in fuch a manner, that any
country which did not produce thefe precious metals
was looked upon as abfolutely good for nothine.
Let us fee what a fenfible author who has been on
the fpot fays upon this head. may

The

(' 1éa6 7 .

The common quettions they afk us, we Mate iu
Lefearbot, are, “* Are there any ‘treafures to bé
found in that country ? Any gold and filver? But —
nobody enquires whether the people are difpofed to
hear and relifh the doctrines of Chriftianity. It is,
however, certain, that there are mines here, but
thefe muft be wrought with induftry, labour, and
patience. The beft mine I know is corn and wine,
together with the raifing of cattle ; he who poffefies
thefe things has money; bue we do not live by
mines. The mariners who come in queft of fifh
from all parts of Europe, above eight or nine hun-

dred leagues from their own country, find the beft 4
of mines, without blowing up rocks, digging into ;
the entrails of the earth, or living in the obicurity
of the infernal regions.—They find, J fay, the beft

of mines in the bottom of the waters, and in the ‘
trade of furs and fkins, by which they make good
f
money.”
/ i
ca
t

Not only a bad character has been given to New
France without knowing it; but even thofe who
imagined they fhould draw advantages from it, have :
not purfued the meafures proper for that purpofe. 4
In the firft place, they were a very long time in 4
Fixing themielves; they cleared lands without hav-
ing well tasiacd them, they fowed them, and
built houfes on thern, and afterwards frequently de- |
ferted them, without knowing why, and went to = ¢
fertle elfewhere. This inconftancy has contributed
more than any thing to make us lofe Acadia, and

\,
prevent us from drawing any advantage from it, }
during the time we were in poffeffion of that fine '

eninfula. The author, already cited, who wasa —
witnefs of this our wavering and irrefolute conduct, ;
fcruples not to upbraid thofe with it who were’ the

moft culpable. ** It's thus,” fays he, ‘* that we
died

ea 3 phe
Se

4, ; j

| ue eae) | :

have made levies of armed men, that we have hur-
ried with ardour into new undertakings, that we
have laid down and begun the fineft projects, and
in the end have deferted them all. .... Indeed to
be fuccefsful in fuch enterprizes we ought to be
well fupported; but we ought likewife to have men
of refolution, who will not retract, but carry this
_ point: of honour always in their eyes, fo conquer or
die, it being a great and a glorious thing to die in
the execution of a noble defign, fuch as laying the
foundations of a new kingdom, or eftabl ifhing the
Chriftian faith among a people unacquainted with
the true God.” I could pufh thefe reflections a
ereat deal. farther, but am cautious of engaging in
a a difpute, into which I neither can nor ought to en-
ter with the knowledge I have of it at prefent,

- JT come now to the commerce of Canada. This
has turned for a long time folely upon the fifhery
and fur-trade. ° The cod-fifhery had been carried
‘on upon the great bank, and the coafts of New-
foundland, long before the difcovery of the rivet
St. Laurence, but we were too late in making a fet-
tlement on that ifland, and fuffered the Enelith to
get the ftart of us. At laft we got poffeffion of
the harbour and bay of Placentia, ‘where our royal
fquadrons have been at anchor oftener than once ;
we have with{tood fieges there, and the Canadian
militia have performed warlike exploits in that place
which are not inferior to thofe of the braveft bu-
caneers of St. Domingo. They have frequently
laid wafte the ienttenibuts, and ruined the trade of
the Englifh in that ifand; but that people, from
whom we eafily took their ftrongeft places, were
too well acquainted with their enemies to be difcon-
certed in their meafures. Accuftomed to behold
the Canadian fire kindle in the frozen regions of the

3 | north,

oe (Wk)
north, and go out of its own accord, when it ought.
to have difplayed itfelf with the greateft aétivity,
they have behaved at the approach of our people,
as an experienced pilot does at the fight of an un- —
avoidable tempelt. They wifely gave way to the

ftorm; and afterwards, without interruption, repair-

ed the damages their fettlements had received from
it; and by this conduct, though continually worfted
in Newfoundland, whether they a¢ted’on the offen-
five or defenfive, they have always carried on an in-
comparably greater trade than their conquerors, and
have at laft remained-the fole mafters and peaceable
pofieffors of that ifland. . \

We have behaved ftill worfe in Canada; this great
and rich province has been for a long time divided
amonett feveral private perfons, none of whom have
enriched themfelves, whilft the Enelifh have made
immenfe profits by the fifhery on its coafts. The

- fewjJements which thefe proprietors have madé, want-

ing folidity, and they themfelves being deftitute of .

a regular plan, and the one deftroying the other, -
they have left the country nearly in the fame con-
dition in which they found it, and in a ftate of
contempt and neglect from which it has not reco-
vered till the moment we loft it. Our enemies were
the firft who made us fenfible of its value.

The only trade to which this colony has been Jong’
reduced, is that of furs; and the faults committed
in it are paft-number. Perhaps, our national cha-
racter never fhowed itfelf in a ftronger light than in
this affair. When we difcovered this vaft Conti-
nent, it was full of wild beafts. A handful or
Frenchmen has made them almoft entirely difap--
pear in lefs than an age, and there are fome the fpe-
cies of: which is entirely deftroyed. They killed

| vp “. the

“\

‘ae Dae Eee in

the elks and moufe-deer merely for the pleafure of kil-
ling them, and to fhew their dexterity. They had
not even the precaution to incerpofe the authority of
the prince to ftop fuch a flagrant diforder. But the
greateft mifchiets arofe from the infatiable avidity of
private perfons, who applied themfelves folely to
this commerce.

_ They arrived for the moft part from France, with
nothing but what they had on their backs, and they
were impatient to appear in a better fituation. Ar
firft this was an eafy matter; the Indians knew not
what riches were contained in their woods, till the
rapacioufnefs with which their furs were bought up —
_made them acquainted with it; prodigious quanti-
ties were got from them for trifles, which many
would not have been at the trouble to gather. toge-
ther. Even fince they have had their eyes opened
~ with refpect to the value of this commodity, and
have acquired a tafte for fomething more folid, it
was for a long time very eafy to fatisfy them at a
- fimall expence ; and with a little prudence this trade
might have been continued on a tolerable good foot-
ing.

Neverthelefs, we fhould be puzzled to name but
one family at this day which has grown rich by this
trafick. We have feen fortunes equally immenfe
and fudden, rife up, and difappear almoft at the fame
» time, not unlike to thofe moving mountains mention-
ed by travellers, which the wind raifes or throws down
in the fandy defarts of Africa. Nothing has been
more common in -this country than to fee people
dragging out a languifhing old age in mifery and
_ difgrace, after having been in a condition to fettle
themfelves on an honourable footing. - After all,
Madam, thofe fortunes which private perfons, whe

| never

it use ) —

never deferved them, have failed of acquiring, are
not worthy of the publick’s regret, if the bad con-

fequences had not fallen upon the colony, which, in

a fhort time, was reduced to the condition of fee-

ing a fpring, from whence fo much riches might
have flowed into its bofom, entirely dried up or di-
verted into’ another channel, ie

Its great plenty was the beginning of its ruin.
By means of accumulating beaver fkins, which has
always been the principal object of this commerce,
fo great a quantity were heaped up in the warehoufes
that no vent could be found for them, whence it
happened, that the merchants declining to buy any
more, our adventurers, called here Coureurs de Rois,
or hunters, took the refolution of carrying them to

the Englifh, and many of them fettled in the pro-

vince of New-York. Several attempts were made

to put a ftop to the progrefs of thefe defertions, but |

to little effect ; on the contrary, thofe who had been
led by motives of intereft, to take refuge amon

their neighbours, were kept there by the fear of pus
nifhment; and the vagabonds, who had acquired a
tafte for a wandering and independant life, remain-
ed amongt the favages or Indians, from whom they
were no longer diftinguifhable but by their vices.
They frequently had recourfe to amnefties to recal
thofe fugitives, which were at firft of little confe-
quence; but inthe end being managed with pru-

from them.

dence, they produced part of the effect promifed

Another method was made.ufe of which was ftill
hs tains) Neal et ae es
more efficacious ; but thofe people.who-were-zealoug.

for good order and the advancement of ‘religion,
found the remedy worfe than the difeafe. This wag

to grant permiffion to thofe in whom they thought —

mney

x

a7)
they could repofe confidence to trade in the Indian
countries, and to prohibit all others from going our

of the colony. : The number of thefe licences was’

widows and orphans, who might {fell them to the
Traders for more or lefs, according as the trade was
good or bad, or according to the nature of the places

limited, and they were diftributed amongit poor

to which the licences granted the liberty of trading 5

for they ufed the precaution to fpecify thofe places,
to prevent too great a number from going the fame
way. |

Befides thofe licences, the number of which was
regulated by the court, and the diftribution of which
belonged to the governor-general, there were others
for the commandants of forts, and for extraordi-
nary occafions, which the governor ftill grants un-
der the name of fimple Permiffions. Thus one pare
of our youth is continually rambling and roving
about ; and though thofe diforders, which formerly

fo much difgraced this profeffion, are no longer »

committed, at leaft not fo openly, yet it infects
them with a habit of libertinifm, of which they ne-
ver entirely get rid; at leaft, it gives them a dif-
tafte for labour, it exhanfts their ftrength, they be-
come incapable of the leaft conftraint, and when
they are no longer able to undergo the fatigues of
travelling, which foon happens, for thefe fatigues
are exceflive, they remain without the leaft re-
fource, and are no longer good for any thine.
Hence it comes to pafs, that arts have been a long
time neglected, a great quantity of good land re-
mains ftill uncultivated, and the country is but very
indifferently peopled. :

It has been often propofed to abolifh thofe perni-
cious licences, not with a view of hurting the trade,

bue

eau ! ‘( ‘a8! 4 ih, ee
| : but even of rendering it more flourifhing, aia fot

that, purpofe to make fome French fettlements in
proper places, where it would be eafy to affemble the
Indians, at leaft for certain feafons of the year. By
this means, this vaft country would be infenfibly
| filled with inhabitants, and perhaps, this is the only
' method by which that project which the court has
. fo long had at heart of Frenchifying the Indians,

me that is the term they make ule of, couldbe brought

-/.. about. I believe, I may. at leatt affirm, that if

;

:

this method had been followed, Canada would have

been at prefent much better peopled than it is ; that

the Indians ‘drawn and kept together by the com-
- forts and conveniencies of life; which peg would
| have found in our fettlements, would not havebeen ~- —
fo miferable, nor fo much addicted to a wanderirie *
life, and confequently their numbers would “have

encreafed, whereas they have diminifhed at a fur-

prifing rate, and would have attached themfelves to j

us in fuch a manner that we might now have dif-

: pofed of them as of the fubjects Of the crown; be- ©
fides, that the miffionaries would have had fiver

obftacles to encounter with in their converfion,

3 What we now fee at Loretto, and amongft a fmall
' proportion of the Iroquoife, Algonquins, and Abe-
+ -naguis, fettled in the colony, leaves no room to -
doubt the truth of what I have advanced, and there
/ are none of thofe who have had’ the oreateft i inter-
ay courfe with the Indians, who do not agree, that |
ee thefe people are not to be depended on, when they |
Re) are not Chriftians. J want no other example, but
that of the Abenaquis, who, though far from be- |
ing numerous, have been during the two laft wars’ }
the chief bulwark of New France againit New J
}

|

England. / od

Befides
\

: ut ade?)

- Bel des this project, Madam, which I have nie
ju ‘now explaining to you, is as old as the colony;
it was formed by M. de Champlain its founder, and
has been. approved of by almoft all the miffionaries
I have known, whofe painful labours in the fitua-
tion things have long been in, produce no great
good ‘effects, at leaft in the diftant miffions. Ir
would be now, indeed, too late to refume this de-
fign with refpect to the Indians, who difappear in a
manner as fenfible as it is inconceivable. But what
hinders its being followed with refpect to the French,
and enlarging the colony by degrees, till it fhould
join to that of Louifiana, ‘and thus ftrengthen the
one by the other? It has been in this manner, that
the Englifh, in lefs than a century and a half have
peopled above five hundred leagues of the country,
and formed a power upon this Continent, which
when we view it nearly we cannot but behold with

Med POEs, “

Canada is capable of furnifhing many articles -

for a trade with the Weft-India ‘Sands, and fome-

times actually fends thither no mean quantity of
flour, planks, and other timber proper for build-
ing. As there is, perhaps, no country in the whole
world, which produces more forts of wood nor of
better kinds, you may judge what immenfe riches
may be one day drawn from it. It appears that
_-very few perfons-are well informed with refpe& to
this point. Noram I, as yet, fufficiently infotmed
amyfelf, to be able to enter into a more minute detail ;
I am fomewhat better acquainted with what relates
_ to the oil-trade, and fhall have occafion to foeak
of it very foon: As I am ina hurry to finifh this
letter, | have only time to conclude what relates
to the Commerce of this country in general.

mye. I. is No-

Ra eas fo Es % Ma

( 146 )

Nothing has in all appearance contributed more
to its decay, than the frequent changes which have
been made in the coin. 1 will give you the hiftory
of it in a few words. In 1670, the company of
the Weft-Indies, to whom the king had ceded the
tight to the property of the French iflands on the
Continent of America, had leave given to export
to the Weft-India lands, to the amount of one
hundred thoufand: livres, in fmall pieces, marked
with a particular ftamp and infcription. The king’s
edict is dated in the month of February, and bore
that thofe pieces fhould only pafs current in the ifles.
‘But in fome difficulties which fell out, the council
Wlued on the 18th of November of the year 1672,
an Arret, by which it was ordained, that the above-
mentioned, as well as all other coin which fhould
pafs current in France, fhould alfo pafs current not
only in the French iflands, but alfo in thofe parts
of the continent of America, which are fubject to
the crown, at the rate of thirty-three and one third
per cent. advance ; that is to fay, the pieces of fifteen
fols for twenty, and the others in proportion. —

The fame Avrez ordained, that all contracts, bills,
accounts, bargains, and payments, between all forts
of perfons whatfoever, fhould be made at a certain
price in current money, without making ufe of any
exchange or reckoning in fugar, or a\y other com-
modity, on pain of nullity of the a&. And with
re{pect to tranfactions by-paft, it was ordered, that
all {tipulations of contracts, bills, debts, quit-rents,
leafes, or farms of fugar, or other commodities,
fhould be made payable in money, according to the
current value of the above coin. In confequence
of this arret, the coin encreafed one fourth in value
in New France, which very foon occafioned many
difficulties. In effect, M. de Champigny hi ete
‘ | who

| (\ nam.)
who was appointed intendant of Quebec, in 1684;
and who is now in the fame employ at Havre de
Grace, found himfelf foon embarraffed as well wich
réfpect to the payment ofthe troops, as to the other
expences the king muft be at in this colony.

And. befides the funds which were fent from
France, arrived almoft always too late, the firft of
January being the day on which it was abfolutely
fheceflary to pay the officers and foldiers, as well as
to defray other charges equally indifpenfable. To
obviate the moft preffing demands, M. de Cham-
pigny thought proper to iffue certain bills, which
fhould ftand in place of coin, taking care, however,
conftantly to obferve the augmentation of the valué
of the money. A verbal procefs was drawn up of
this proceeding, and, by virtue of an ordinance of
the governor-general and intendant, every piece of
this money, which was made of cards, had its va-
lue; with the mark of the treafury, and the arms
of France, ftamped upon it, as were thofe of the .
‘ governor and intendant in Spanifh wax. After-
wards paper money was {truck in France, and ftamp-
ed with the fame impreffion as the current-money
of the realm, and it was ordained, that the bills
_ fhould be returned into the treafury of Canada every
year, before the arrival of the fhips from France,
in order to receive an additional mark to prevent
the introducing of counterfeits.

This paper-money was of no long continuance, fo
that they returned to the ufe of card-money, on which
new impreflions were ftamped. The intendant
figned fuch bills as were of four livres and upwards
value, only marking the others. In latter times,
the governor-general figned alfo fuch as were of fix
livres and above, In the beginning of the Autumn,

Ko 2 : all

be
; ai er te Oa ‘ aati is , ey
NM NSEIR DD onih yea nveasoetns ACS aii get Kote Wat AMID aah icaiia te ts). a Ls

-
is

( 148, ys

all the bills were carried back- to the treafurer, who
gave bills of exchange for the value on the treafurer-
general of the marine at Rochefort, or his clerk,
to be charged to the account of the expences of the

following year. Such as were fpoiled were no lon-
ger fuffered to pafs current, and were burned after
having firft drawn up a verbal procefs of it.

Whilft thefe bills of exchange were faithfully
- paid, thofe money-bills were preferred to real fpe-
ci¢; as foon.as they ceafed to be honoured, they
‘gave over carrying the money-bills to the treafurer,
fo that in 1702, M. de Champigny was at a great
deal of pains to no purpofe in endeavouring to re-
tire all thofe he had made. His fucceffors were un-
der the neceflity of making new ones every year,
for paying of falaries, which multiplied them to
fuch-a degree, that at laft they became of no value
at all, and nobody would receive them in payment.
The confequence of this was an entire flagnation
of trade, and the diforder went fo far, that in 17135
the inhabitants propofed to lofe one half, on con-
dition that the king fhould take them up and pay
the other half.

‘This propofal was agreed to the year following,
‘but the orders given, in confequence thereof, were

not fully executed Hr 707, ae declaration. was |

then publifhed, abolifhing ibe money-bills, when
they begun paying the falaries of the officers of the
colony in filver. The augmentation of one fourth
advance, was abrogated at the fame time: Experi-
-ence having made it appear, that the augmentation
“of the fpecies in a colony does not keep the money
from going out of it as had been pretended, and
that money could never have a free and proper cir-

culation, but by paying in commodities whatever

was.

\

s *
Oe on A

Sete
ye eS

se

ay (149 )

‘was imported from France. In effect, in this cale,

the colony keeps her money at home, whereas in
the fuppofition that fhe has not merchandize fufi-
cient to pay for all that fhe receives, the is obliged
to pay the balance i in filver, and how fhould \it. be
otherwife ?

In a word, Madam, you will a furpr ized ie
I tell you, that in 1706, the trade of the moft an-
cient of all our colonies was carried on in a bottom,
or capital of no more than 650,c00 livres, and
things have fince been pretty much in the fame fi-
tuation. Now this fum divided amongft thirty
thoufand inhabitants is neither capable of ‘enriching
them, nor of enabling them to purchafe the com-
modities of France. For this reafon, moft part of
them go ftark naked, efpecially thofe that live in
remote habitations. They have not even fo much
as the advantage of felling the furplus of their com-
modities’ to the inhabitants of cities, thefe being
obliged, in order to fubfift, to have lands -in the

country, and to cultivate them themfclves for their

own account.

After the king had taken Canada back again out
of the hands of the companies, his majefty expend-
ed confiderably more on it for feveral years than he
has done fince ; and the colony in thofe times fent
into France to the value of near one million livres
in beaver yearly, notwith{tanding it was not fo po-.
pulous as at prefent: But fhe has always drawn
more from France than fhe has been able to pay,
doing juft as a private perfon would, who with a
revenue of thirty thoufand livres, fhould fpend at
the rate of upwards of forty thoufand. By this
means, her credit has funk, and fo has brought on
the ruin of her trade, which, fince the year 1706,

Ko con-

4

. : i ence
1 t : ,
\ ~ AG te: : \
7 ‘ y Dahon i WS i
1 J ul 4 ¥ ‘ i ag
ae Pa! 150 )
vy

confited of bith kd Biro cso

von fi more a chine: to aie incianarah
were able to fell them for : in \F PANE ELEN f

eee tet ee

Of the beavers of Canada; in what they differ

. from thofe of Europe; of their manner of
building ; of the advantage which may accrue
to the colony from them ; of the hunting of the
beaver and mufk-rat.

~— Quebec, March 1, 1721.
Madam,

Ought to have fet out within a day or two after
L writing my laft letter; but 1 am ftill detained
for want of a carriage. In the mean-time, I cannot
do better than entertain you with an account of the
curiofities o# this country. I fhall begin with the
moftt fingular article of all, that is to fay, the bea-
ver. The fpoil of this animal has hitherto been
the principal article in the commerce of New France. |
It is itfelf one of the greateft wonders in nature,
and may very well afford many a ftriking leffon of
induftry, forefight, dexterity, and perfeyerance jn
labour. . ) .

The beaver was not, unknown in France before
the difcovery of America; we find in the ancient
books of the Hatters of Paris, regulations for the

K 4. manu-

Mee

Coors ) Da Ay ei
ranisnueiate of beaver-hats; now the beaver rai

_ America and Europe are abfolutely the fame animal;

but whether it is, that the European beavers are be-
come extremely rare ; or that their fur is not equall

' good in quality with ‘that of the beavers of Ame- |
‘rica, there is no longer mention made of any, be-
fides this latter, except it is with refpect to the Caf--

toreum, of which I fhall fay a word or two in the
end of this letter. I do not even know that any

author has mentioned this animal, as an object of ~

curiofity, perhaps, for want of having obferved it
clofely enough; perhaps too, becaufe the Euro-
pean beavers are of the nature of land beavers,

the difference of which from the others | fhall pre-'

fently fhew you.

Picvis this be, the beaver. of Canada.is an
amphibious quadruped, which cannot live for any
Jong time in. the water, and which is able to live
entirely without it, provided it have the conveniency
‘of bathing itfelf fometimes. ‘The largeft beavers
are foriewt hat lefs than four feet in leneth and fifteen
inches in breadth over the haunches, weighing about
fixty pounds. Its colour is di fferent according to

the different climates, in which it is found. In’ iets

mott diftant northern parts they are oflerally quite
black, thoug h there are fometimes found beavers
entirely white. In the moft temperate countries they

are brown, their colour becoming lighter and lighter —

in proportion as they approach “toward the fouth.
In the country of the Illinois, they are almoft yel-
low, and fome are even feen of a {traw-colour, It

has alfo been obferved, that in proportion as their

colour is lighter they yield a lefs quantity of fur,
and confequently are lefs valuable. This is plainly
the work of Providence, which fecures them from

_ the cold in proportion as they are expofed to it,

The

4 i / ° ~

a M9 EG9 9) |
The fur is of two forts all the body over, excepting
at the feet, where it is very {fhort. The longett of
it is from eight to ten lines in length, and it even
goes fometimes on the back as far as two inches, di-
minifhing gradually towards the head and tail. This
part of the fur is harfh, courfe, and fhining, and
is properly that which gives the animal its colour,
In viewing ic through a microfcope, you obferve

the middle lefs opake, which proves it to be hollow,

for which caufe no ufe is ever made of it. The:

other part of the fur is a very thick and fine down,

of an inch in length at moft, and is what is com-
monly manufactured. In Europe, it was formerly
known by the name of Mufcovia wool. This is
properly the coat of the beaver, the firft ferving
only for ornament, and perhaps to affift him in
{wimming.

Tt is pretended that the beaver lives fifteen or
twenty years; that the female carries her young four
months, and that her ordinary litter is four, though
fome travellers have raifed it to eight, which as I
believe happens but rarely. She has four teats, two
on the great pectoral mufcle between the fecond and
third of the true ribs, and two about four fingers
higher. The mufcles of this animal are exceeding
ftrone, and thicker in appearance than its fize re-
quires. Its inteftines on the contrary are extremely
flender, its bones very hard, and its two jaws which
are almoft equal, furprizingly ftrong ; each of thefe
is furnifhed with ten teeth, two incifive and eight
molar. The aged incifives are two inches and
a half long, the inferior upwar ds of three, follow-

“ing the bending of the jaw, which gives them a

prodigious and furprifing force for fo {mail an ani-
mal. It has been further obferved, that the two
ual dp not exactly correfpond, but that the fupe-

ror

salad ta 5 an

| ( 154 )
rior advances confiderably over the inferior, fo that
they crofs like the two blades of a pair of f{ciffars?
Laftly, that the length of both the one and the |
other is precifely the third part of their root.

The head of the beaver is very near like that of
a mountain rat. Its {nout is pretty long, the eyes
little, the ears fhort, round, hairy on the outfide,
and {mooth within. Its legs are fhort, particularly
the forelegs, which are only four or five inches long,
and pretty much like thofe of the badger. The
nails are made obliquely and hollow like quills, the
hind feet are quite different, being flat and furnifh-
ed with membranes between the toes; thus the bea-
ver can walk though flowly, and fwims with the
fame eafe as any other aquatick animal. Befides, in
refpect of its tail, it is altogether a fifth, having been
juridically declared fuch by the faculty of medicine
of Paris, in confequence of which declaration, the
faculty of theology have decided that it might be
lawfully eaten on meagre days. M. Lemery was
miftaken in faying, that this decifion regarded only
the hinder part of the beaver. It has been placed
all of it in the fame clafs with mackrel.

It is true, that hitherto we have not been able
to profit much by this toleration ; the beavers are
at prefent fo far from our habitations, that it is rare
to meet with any that are eatable. Our Indians who
live among us keep it after having dried it in the
{moke, and I give you my word, Madam, it is the
wort eating I ever tafted. It is alfo neceffary when

i you have got frefh beaver, to give it a boiling in order
to take away a very difagreeable relifh. With this

. precaution, it is exceeding good eating, there be-
ing no fort of meat either lighter, more wholefome,

or more delicious, it is even affirmed to be as nou-.

| } rifhing

WL 8S Be). ) 7
on as veal; when boiled it flands in need of
fome feafoning to give it a relifh, but roafted has no
need of any thing. What is moft remarkable in
this amphibious animal is its tail. ‘Chis is almoft
oval, four inches broad at the root, five in the mid-
dle, and three at the extremity, I mean, however,
in large beavers only. It is an inch thick, and a
foot in length. Its fubftance is a firm fat, or ten-
der cartilage, much like the flefh of the porpoife,
but which grows harder when it is kept for any
confiderable time. It is covered with a fcaly fkin,
the feales of which are hexagonal, half a line in
thicknefs, from-three to four lines long, and refting
upon each other like thofe of fifhes. An extream _
flender pellicle ferves to fupport them, and they are
indented fo as to be eafily ‘agely ated after the death
of the animal.

This is in brief the defcription of this curious
creature. If you would have a ftill greater detail
of it, you may fatisfy yourfelf by looking into the
memoirs of the royal academy of fciences for the
year 1704. ‘The anatomical deicription of the bea-
ver has been inferted in it, done by M. Sarrafin cor-
refpondent of the academy, king’s phyfician in this
country, and expert in medicine, anatomy, furgery,
and botany ; and a man of very fine accomplifh-
ments, who diftinguifhes himfelf no lefs in the fu-
perior council of which he is member, than by his
abilities in every point relating to his profeffion. It
is really matter of furprize to find a man of fuch
univerfal merit in a colony. But to return to the
beaver.

The true tefticles of this amphibious animal
were not known to the antients, probably, becaufe
they were very htle, and lay concealed in the loins,

They

C868.), |
They had given this name to the bags in which the

caftoreum is contained, which: are very different,

and in number four in the lower belly of the beaver.
The two firft, which are called fuperior, from their
being more elevated than the reft, are of the form
of a pear, and communicate with each other like the
two pockets of a knapfack. The other two which are

called inferior are roundifh towards the bottom. —

The former contain a foft, refinous, adhefive mat-

ter, mixed with {mall fibres, ereyifh without, and

yellow within, of a ftrong dilagreeable and pene-
trating {cent, and very inflammable, which is the
true caftoreum, It hardens in the air in a month’s
time, and becomes brown, brittle, and friable.
When they have a mind to caufe it harden fooner
than ordinary, *tis only placing it in a’chimney,

It is pretended that the caftoreum which comes
from Dantzick is better than that of Canada; I re-
fer it to the Druggifts. It is certain that the bags
which contain this latter are fmaller, and that even
here the largeft are the moft efteemed. Befides
their thicknefs, they muft alfo be heavy, brown, of
a {trong penetrating fcent, full of a hard, bitter,
and friable matter, of the fame colour, or yellowith
interwoven with a delicate membrane, and of an

acrid tafte. The properties of caftoreum are to at-—

tenuate vifcous matter, fortify the brain, cure the

vapours, provoke the menfes in women, prevent

corruption, and caufe ill humours to evaporate by

perfpiration.. It is alfo ufed with fuccefs againit the

epilepfy, or falling-ficknefs, the palfy, apopienys
and deafnefs.

The inferior bags contain an unctuous and fattifh

liquor like honey. Its colour is of a pale yellow,

its odour fetid, little different from that of the caftos

reum,

o.

Yt 15%) 3

reurn, but fomewhat weaker and more difagreeable.

It thickens as it erows older, and takes the confif-

tence of tallow. This liquor is a refolvent, and a
fortifier of the nerves, for which purpofe it» muft
be applied upon the part. It is befides a folly to
fay with fome authors on the faith of the antient
naturalifts, that when the beaver finds himfelf pur-
fued, to fave his life he bites-off thefe pretended tef-
ticles which he abandons to the hunters. It is his
fur he ought then to ftrip himfelf of, in compari-
fon of which all the reft is of little value. It is,

_ however, owing to this fable that this animal got

the name of Caftor. Its fkin, after being ftript of
the fur, is not to be neglected ; of it are made gloves
and ftockings, as might feveral other things, but it
being difficult to take off all the fur without cutting
it they make ufe of the fkin of the land beaver.

' You have, perhaps, heard of green and dry
beaver, and you may alfo be defirous to know the
difference ; which is this. The dry beaver is its
{kin before it has been employed in any ufe: the

- green beaver are fuch as have been worn by the In-

dians, who, after having well tawed them on the
infide, and rubbed them with the marrow of certain
animals, with which I am not acquainted, in order
to render them more pliant, few feveral of them to-
gether, making a fort of garment, which they call

a robe, and in which they wrap themfelves with the

fur inwards, ‘They never put it off in winter, day

_nor night ; the long hair foon falls off, the dain

remaining and becoming more oily, in which con-

dition it is much fitter to be worked up by the hat-

ters ; who cannot make any ufe of the dry, with-

out a mixture of this fat fur along with it. They
_-pretend it ought to have been worn from fifteen to
-eighteen months to be in its perfection, I leave you

“te

(Cte) eke
to judge whether our firft traders were fimple enough

to let the Indians know what a valtiable commodity

their old cloaths were. It was, however, impoffi-
ble to keep a fecret of this nature for any confider-

able time, being entrufted to a paffion which imme-

diately betrays itfelf. About thirty years ago one
Guigues, who had had the farm of the beaver, find-
ing a prodigious quantity of this fur upon his hands,
bethought himfelf, in order to create a vent for it,
of having it fpun and carded with wool, and of this
compofition he caufed make cloths, flannels, ftock-
ing, and other fuch like manufactures, but with fmalt
fuccefs. This trial fhewed that the fur of the bea-
ver was only fit for making hats. It is too fhort to
be capable of being fpun alone, and a great deal
more than one half muft confift of wool, fo that
there is very little profit to be made by this manu-
fa€ture. There is, however, one of this fort ftill
kept up in Holland, where you meet with cloaths
and druggets of it ; but thefe ftuffs come dear, and
befides do not wear well. The beaver wool very
foon leaves it, forming on the furface a fort of nap
which deftroys all its luftre. The ftockings which

‘have been made of it in France had the fame de-

fect.

Thefe, Madam, are all the advantages the bea-
vers are capable of affording the commerce of this
colony: their forefight, their unanimity, and that
wonderful fubordination we fo much admire in them,
their attention to provide conveniencies, of which
we could not before imagine brutes capable of per-

ceiving the advantages, afford mankind ftill more

important leffons, than the ant to whom the hely
feripture fends the fluggard. They are at leaft a-
mongft the quadrupeds, what the bees are amongft
winged infects, I have not heard perfons well in-

formed

/

( 159 )

formed fay, that they have a king or queen, andit >

~

js not true, that when they are at work in a body,
there is a chief or a leader who gives orders and

punifhes the flothful ; but by virtue of that inftinct

which this animal has from him, whofe Providence

governs them, every one knows his own proper
office, and every thing is done without confufion,
and inthe moft admirable order. Perhaps, after
all, the realon why we are fo ftruck with it is for
want of having recourfe to that fovereign intelli-
gence, who makes ufe of creatures void of reafon,
the better to difplay his wifdom and power, and to
make us fenfible that our reafon itfelf is almoft al-
ways, through our prefumption, the caule of our
miftakes. '

The firft thing. which our ingenious brutes do,
when they are about to chufe a habitation, is to call
an affembly if you pleafe, of the ftates of the pro-

‘ vinee. However this be, there are fometimes three

or four hundred of them together in one place,
forming a town which might properly enough be
called a little Venice. Firft of all they pitch upon
a fpot where there are plenty of provifions, with
all the materials necefiary for building. Above all
things water is abfolutely neceflary, and in cafe they
ean find neither lake nor pool, they fupply that
defect by {topping the courfe of fome rivulet, or of ~
fome {mall river, by means of a dyke, or to fpeak
in the language of this country, of a caufeway.
For this purpofe, they fet about felling of trees,
but higher than the place where they have refolved

‘to build; three or four beavers place themfelves

round fome great tree, and find ways and means to
lay it along the ground with their teeth. This is
not all; they take their meafures fo well, that it
always falls towards the water, to the end they may

: have

{ be )-
have lefs way to drag it, after cutting it into pro-
per lengths. They have afterwards only to roll
thofe pieces fo cut towards the water, where, after,
they have been launched, they navigate them to-
wards the place where they are to be employed. i

Thefe pieces are more or lefs thick or long, ac- ~
cording as the nature and fituation of the place re-
quire, for thefe architects forefee every thing. Some-
times they make ufe of the trunks of great trees,
which they place in a flat direction ; fometimes the —
caufeway confifts of piles nearly as thick as one’s
thigh, fupported by ftrong ftakes, and interwoven _
with fmall branches ; and every where the vacant
fpaces are filled with a fat earth fo well applied, that
‘not a drop of water paffes through. ‘The beavers
prepare this earth with their feet; and their tail not
only ferves inftead of a trowel for building; but -
alfo ferves them inftead of a wheelbarrow for tranf-
porting this mortar, which is performed by trailing
themfelves along on their hinder feet. When they
have arrived at the water-fide, they take it up with

their teeth, and apply it firft with their feet, and then
plaifter it with their tail. The foundations of thefe ~~
. dykes are commonly ten or twelve feet thick, di-
minifhing always upward, till at laft they come to _
two or three; the ftrictet proportion is always ex-
actly obferved ; the rule and the compa(s are in the
eye of the great matter of arts and fciences. Laftly,
it has been obferved, that the fide towards the cur-
rent of the water is always made floping, andthe
other fide quite upright. In a word, it would be .—
. difficult for our beft workmen to build any thing
- either more folid or more regular. 4

>»

- ‘The contruction of the cabins is-no lefs won-

derful. Thefe are generally built on piles in the
mid- >

a ‘ if

Wee's
sit .

( <861 y

‘middle of thofe {mall lakes formed by the dykes ;
fometimes on the bank of a river, ‘or at the extre-
mity of fome point advancing into the water. Their
figure is round or oval, and their roofs are arched
like the bottom of a bafket. Their partitions are
two feet thick, the materials of them being the
fame, though lefs fubftantial, than thofe in the caufe-
ways ; and all is fo well plaiftered with clay in the
infide, that not the {malleft breath of air can enter.
Two thirds of the edifice ftands above water, and
in this part each beaver has his place affligned him,
which he takes care to floor with leaves or {mall
branches of pine-trees. There is never any ordure
to be feen here, and to this end, befides the come-
mon gate of the cabin and. anotheriffue by which
thefe animals go out to bathe, there are feveral
openings by which they difcharge their excrements
into the water. _The common cabins lodge eight
or ten beavers, and fome have been known to con-
tain thirty, but this is rarely feen. All of them
are near enough to have an eafy communication
with each other.

‘The winter never furprizes the beavers. All the
works I have been mentioning are finifhed by the
end of September, when every one lays in his win-
ter-ftock of provifions. Whilft their bufinels leads
them abroad into the country or woods, they live
upon the fruit, bark, and leaves of trees ; they fifth
alfo.for crawfith and fome other kinds; every thing
is then at the beft. But when the bulinefs is to lay
in a ftore, fufficient to laft them, whilft the earth
is hid under the fnow, they put up with wood of a
foft texture, fuch as poplars, afpens, and other fuch
like trees. Thefe they lay up in piles, and difpofe
in fuch wife, as to be always able to come at the
‘pieces which haye been foftened in the water. It has

L ~ been

)

\ f

( "62 )) ;

been conftantly remarked, that thefe piles are more
or lefs large, according as the winter is to be lon
ger or fhorter, which ferves as an Almanack to the

Indians, who are never miftaken with refpeét to the _

duration of the cold. The beavers before they eat
the wood, cut it into {mall flender pieces, and carry
it into their apartment ; each cabin having enly one
ftore-room for the whole family.

When the melting of the fnow is at its greateft

height as it never fails to occafion great inundations,
the beavers quit their cabins which are no longer
habitable, every one fhifting for himfelf as well as

he can. The females return thither as foon as the

waters are fallen, and it is then they bring forth
their young. The males keep abroad till towards
the month of July, when they re-affemble, in or-
der to repair the breaches which the {welling of the
waters may have made in their cabbins or dykes. In
cafe thefe have been deftroyed by the hunters, or pro-
. vided they are not worth the trouble of repairing
them, they fet about building of others ; but they
are often obliged to change the place of their abode,
and that for many reafons. ‘The moft common is
for want of provifions ; they are alfo driven out by
the hunters, or by carnivorous animals, againft
whom they have no other defence than flight alone.
One might reafonably wonder, that the author of
nature fhould have given a lefs fhare of ftrength to
the moft part of ufeful animals than to fuch as-are
not fo; if this very thing did not make a brighter
difplay of his power and wifdom, in caufing the
former, notwithftanding their weaknefs to multiply
much fafter than the latter.

There are places to which the beavers feem to
have fo ftrong a liking that they can never leave
! | . them

\

Beas Pe Loe yO

them though they are conftantly difturbed in them.
On the way from Montreal to Lake Huron, by
way of the great river, is conftantly found every
year a neft which thofe animals build or repair every
fummer ; for the firft thing which thofe travellers,
who arrive firft do, is to break down the cabin and
~ dyke which fupplies it with water. Had not this
caufeway dammed up the water, there would not

have been fufficient to continue their voyages, fo
' that of neceffity there muft have been a carrying-
place; fo that it feems thofe officious beavers poft
themfelves there entirely for the conveniency of
pafflengers.

The Indians were formerly of opinion, if we
may believe fome accounts, that the beavers were a
fpecies of animals endued with reafon, which had
a government, laws, and language of their own;
that this amphibious commonwealth chofe chiefs or
officers, who in the publick works affigned to each
his tafk, placed {entries to give the alarm at the
approach of an enemy, and who punifhed the lazy
corporally, or with exile. Thofe pretended exiles
are fuch as are probably called land beavers, who
actually live feparate from the others, never work,
and live under-ground, where their fole bufinefs is
to make themfelves a covered way to the water.
They are known by the fmall quantity of fur on
their backs, proceeding, without doubt from their
rubbing themfelves continually againft the ground.
And befides, they are lean, which is the confequence
of their Jazinefs ; they are found in much greater
plenty in warm than in cold countries. I have al-
ready taken‘notice that our European beavers are much
liker thefe laft than the others ; and Leméry actually
fays, that they retire into holes and caverns on the
banks of rivers, and efpecially in Poland. There are
Lie alfo

{

sees

nS api SPE

a

L , eae |
alfo fome of them in Germany, along the fhores af
fg Ebro in Spain, and on the Rhope, the Ifer, and
the Oife in France. What is certain is, that we
fee not fo much of the marvellous in the European
beavers, for which thofe of Canada are fo highly
diftinguifhed. Your ladyfhip will certainly agree
with me, that it is great pity, none of thefe won-
derful creatures were ever found either on the Tiber
or on Parnaffus ; how many fine things would they
have given pecation to the Greek and Roman poets
to fay on that fubject.

It appears, that the Indians of Canada did not
give them much difturbance before our arrival in
their country. The fkins of the beaver were not
ufed by thofe people by way of garments, and the
flefh of bears, elks, and fome “orhet wild beafts,
feemed, in all probability, preferable to that of the
beaver. They were, however, in ufe to hunt them,
and this hunting had both its feafon and ceremonial
fixed; but when people hunt only out of neceffity,
and when this is confined to pure neceffaries, there
is no great havock made; thus when we arrived in
Canada we found a prodigious number of thefe
creatures in it.

The hunting of the pana! is not dificult ; this .

animal fhewine not near fo much ftrength 1 in defend:

ing himfelf, or dexterity in fhunning the fnares of

fie enemies, as he difcovers induftry in providing
himfelf good lodgings, and forefight in getting all

the Robetarie of ee It is during the winter that ~

war is carried on againft him in form ; that is to
fay, from the beginning of November to the month
of April. At that time, like moft other animals,
he has the greateft quantity of fur, and his fkin is
thinneft. ‘this hunting is performed four ways,

with

4

Dee in
with nets, by lying upon the watch, by opening
the ice, and with gins. ‘The firft and third are ge-
nerally joined together ; the fecond way is feldom

-made ufe of; the little eyes of this animal being fo

fharp, and its hearing fo acute, that it is difficult
to get within fhot of it, before it gains the water-
fide, from which it never goes far at this time of
the year, and in which it dives immediately. It
would even be loft after being wounded, in cafe
it is able to reach the water, “for when mortally
wounded it never comes up again. The two laft

' manners are therefore molt generally practifed.

‘Though the beavers lay up their winter provifion,
they notwithftanding from time to time make fome
excurfions into the woods in queit of frefher and
more tender food, which delicacy of theirs fome-
times cofts them their lives. The Indians lay traps
im their way made nearly in the form of the figure.
4, and for a bait place fmall bits of tender wood
newly cut, The beaver no fooner touches it, than
a large log falls upon his body, which breaks his
back, when the hunter, coming up, eafily difpatches
him. The method by opening the ice requires
more precaution, and is done in this manner. When
the ice is yet but half a foot in thicknefs, an epen-
ing is made with a hatchet; thither the beavers
come for a fupply of frefh air; the hunters watch
for them at the hole, and perceive them coming at
a great diftance, their aide occafioning a confi-
derable motion in the water ; thus it is ealy for them
to take their meafures for knocking them in the
head the moment they raife it above water. In or-
der to make fure of their game, and to prevent
their being perceived by the beavers, they cover the
hole with the leaves of reeds, and of the plant 7y-

pha, and after they Hider Band) that the animal: ig -

E33 within

ae 166 ) i
within reach, they feize him by one of bie legs,

throw him upon the ice, and difpatch him before
hy he recovers from his confternation.

When their cabin happens to be near fome rivu-

let, the hunting of the beaver is ftill more eafy.
They cut the ice crofs-wife, in order to fpread a
net under it ; they afterwards break down the Ca-
bin. The beavers that are within it, never fail to
make towards the rivulet, where they are taken in
the net. But they muft not be fuffered to remain
in it for any time, as they would very foon extricate
themfelves, by cutting it with their teeth. Thofe
whole cabins are in toe. have, at the diftance of
three or four hundred paces from the water- fide, a

kind of country houfe for the benefit of the air; in
bunting of thefe the huntfmen divide into two bo-
dies, one breaks the houfe in the country, whilft
the other falls upon that in the lake; the beavers
which are in this laft, and they pitch upon the

time when they are all at home, run for fanétuary |

to the other, where they find themielves bewildered
in a cloud of duft, which has been raifed on pur-
pofe, and which blinds them fo, that they are fub-
dued with eafe. l.aftly, in fome places, they con-
tent themfelves with making an opening in their
caufeways; by this means, the beavers find them-
felves foon on dry ground; fo that they remain
without defence ; or elfe they run to put fome re-
medy to the diforder, the caufe of which is as yet
unknown to them ; and as the hunters are ready to
receive them, it is rare that they fail, or at leaft
that they return empty-handed.

There are feveral other particularities with refpect
to the beavers, which I find in fome memoirs, the
truth of which I will not take upoa me to main-

} tain.

( 164%, .}

tain. It is pretended, that when thefe animals have

difcovered hunters, or any of thofe beafts of prey
which make war on them, they dive to, the bottom,

beating the water with their tails with fo prodigious

a noife, as to be heard at the diftance of half a
league. This is probably to warn the reft to be
upon their guard. It is faid alfo, that they are of
fo quick a fcent, that when they are in the water

_ they will perceive a canoe at a great diftance. But

they add, that they fee only fide-ways like the
hares, which defect often delivers them into the
hands of the hunters, whom they would endeavour
to avoid. Laaftly, it is afferted, that when the
beaver has loft his mate, he never couples with ano-
ther, as is related of the turtle.

The Indians take great care to hinder their dogs
from touching the bones of the beaver, they being
fo very hard as to fpoil their teeth. The fame
thing is faid of the bones of the porcupine. The
common run of thefe barbarians give another rea-
fon for this precaution, which is, fay they, for fear

of irritating the fpirits of thofe animals, which

might render their hunting unprofperous another
time. But I am inclined to be of opinion, that
this reafon was found out after the practice was

eftablifhed; for thus has fuperftition ufurped the

place of natural caufes to the fhame of human un-
derftanding. I moreover wonder, Madam, that
no attempt has hitherto been made to tranfport to
France fome of thefe wonderful creatures ; we have
many places where they might find every thing
proper for building and fubfiftence, and I am of
opinion they would multiply greatly in a fhort
time.

ays 3 We

e SP t ‘
osha aia ici. sn 7
1-01 Lb ip RR I A i ABR iy 2 eal

(4.168%)
We have alfo in this country a little animal of
much the fame nature with the beaver, and which —
on many accounts appears to be a diminutive’of it, »
called the Mujk-rat, ‘This has almoft all the pro-
perties of the beaver; the ftructure of the body,
and efpecially of the head, is fo very like, that we
fhould be apt to take the mufk-rat for a fmall bea-
ver, were his tail only cut off, in which he differs
little from the common European rat 5. and were it
not for his tefticles, which contain a moft exquifite
‘mufk. This animal, which weighs about four.
pounds, is pretty like thatwwhich Ray fpeaks of
under the name of the Mus Alpinus. He takes
the field in March, at which time his food confifts
of bits of wood, which ke peels before he eatsthem.
After the diffolving of the fnows he lives upon the
roots of nettles, and afterwards on the ftalks and
leaves of that plant. In fummer he lives on ftraw-
berries and rafberries, which fucceed the other fruits
of the Autumn. During all this time you vaely.
fee the male and female afunder,

Ac the approach of winter they feparate, when
each takes up his lodgings apart by himfelf infome ~~
hole, or in the hollow of a tree, without any pro- :
vifion, and the Indians affure us, that they eat not. _™
the leaft morfel of any thing whilft the cold conti-
nues. They likewife build cabins nearly in the
form of thofe of the beavers, but far from being
fo well executed. As to their place of abode, it is
always by the water-fide, fo that they have no need
to build caufeways. It is faid, that the fur of the

mufk-rat is ufed in the manufacture of hats, along
with that of the beaver, without any difadvantage.
Its flefh is tolerable good eating, except in time of
rut, at which feafon it is impoflible to cure it of a

Feith

C6 10)

| relifh of mufk, which is far from being as agree-

able to the tafte, as it is to the fcent. I was very
much difpofed to give your Grace an account of —
the other kinds of hunting practifed amongft our
Indians, and of the animals which are peculiar to
this country; but I am obliged to refer this part to
fome other opportunity, as 1 am this moment told
that my carriage is ready.

I am, &e.

DEP ER

ary 3a OD
ae A

OURS ne ain ote aes, 21

Voyage from Quebec to the Three Rivers, Of

riding poft on the fnow. Of the lord/hips of
New France. Defcription of Beckancourt.

Tradition with refpett to ihe origin of the
name of the Stinking River. Defcription of
the Three Rivers. Sequel of the bhuntings of
the Indians.

Three Rivers, March 6, 172%.
Madam,

I Arrived yefterday in this town, after a journey
of two days, and though it is twenty-five leagues
diftant from Quebec, I could very eafily have tra-
velled the whole of it in twelve hours, as I took
the way of a Combiature, which the fnow and ice
render exceeding eafy in this country in the winter
feafon, and as it is full as cheap as the common
way of travelling. They make uie of a fledge for
this purpofe, or of what the French here call a Ca-
viole, which glides fo fmoothly, that one horfe is
enough to draw it at full gallop, which is their or-
dinary pace. ‘They frequently change horfes and
have them very cheap. In caie of neceffity, .one
might travel this way fixty leagues in twenty-four

hours

%

( 172 )
hours, and much more commodioufly than in the
beft pott- -chaife in the world. :

- [lay the firft night at Pointe aux Trembles, feven
leagues from the capital, from whence I fet out at
eleven at night. This is one of the better fort of
parifhes in this country. ‘The church is large and
well-built, and the inhabitants are in very good cir-
cumftances. In feveral the ancient planters are
richer than the lords of the manors, the reafon of
which is this: Canada was only a vaft foreft when
the French firft fettled in it. Thofe to whom lord-
fhips.were given, were not proper perfons to culti-
vate them themfelves. They were officers, gentle-
men, or communities, who had not funds fufficient
to procure and maintain the neceffary number. of
workmen upon them. It was therefore neceffary to
fettle and plant them with inhabitants, who, before
they could raife what was fufficient to maintain them,
were obliged to labour hard, and even to lay out
all the advances of money. ‘Thus they held of the
lords at a very flender quit-rent, fo that with fines of
alienation, which were here very {mall, and what
is called the Droit du moulin & Metairie, a \ord-
fhip of two leagues jn front, and of an unlimited
depth, yields no great revenue in a country fo thin-
ly peopled, and with fo Jittle inland trade.

This was no doubt one reafon, which induced |
the late King Lewis XIV. to permit. all noblemen
and centlemen, fettled in Canada, to exercife com-

- merce as well by fea as land, without queftion, in- -

terruption, or derogating from their quality and
rights. Thefe are the terms of the ar ret, pafied by
the council on the roth of March, 1685. More-
over, there are in this country, no lordfhips, even
amongtt thofe which give titles, who have right ot

Cs eae 4)

patronage; for on the pretenfion of fome lords,
fuisded on their having built the parifh church,
his majefty in council, pronounced the fame year
1685, that this right belonged to the bifhop alone,
as well becaufe he ought to be better able to judge
of the capacity of the candidates, than any other
perfon, as becaufe the falaries of the curates are
paid out of the tithes, which belong to the bifhop.
The king in the fame arrét further declares, that
the right of patronage is not deemed honorary.

I fet out from Pointe aux Trembles on the fourth,
before day-break, with a horfe blind of an eye,
which ] afterwards exchanged for a lame one, and
this again for one that was broken-winded. With
thefe three relays, I travelled feventeen leagues in
feven or eight hours, and arrived early at the houfe
of the baron de Beckancourt, grand-mafter, or in-
fpector of the highways of Canada, who would not
fuffer me to go any farther. This gentleman too has
a village of Abenaquife Indians on his lands, which
is governed in fpiritual matters by a Jefuit, to whom.
I gladly paid my refpects as I pafled.. The baron
lives at the mouth of a little river which comes from
the fouth, and whofe whole courfe is within his eftate,
which is alfo known by his own name. It is not
however this large tract which has been erected into a
barony, but that on the other fide of the river.

The life M. de Beckancourt leads in this defart,
there being as yet no inhabitant in it befides the
lord, recalls naturally enough the way of living of
the ancient patriarchs to our memory, who were
not above putting their hands to work with their
fervants in country-work, and lived almoft in the
fame fobriety and temperance with them. The pro-
fit to be made by trading with the Indians in his
| : | neigh-

C iy. 9

neighbourhood, by buying furs at the firft-hand, is
well worth ail the quit-rents he could receive from
any planters to whom he could have parcelled out
his lands. In time it will be in his own option to
have vaffals, when he may have much better terms,
after having firft cleared all his eftate.™ The river
of Beckancourt was formerly called the Stinking-
River: I acquainted myfelf with the occafion of
this name, as the water of it appeared to be'clear
and excellent in other refpects, which was alfo con-
firmed by others, and that there was no fuch thing ©
as a difagreeable fcentin the whole country, I was
however, told by others, that this name was owing
to the bad quality of the waters; others again at-
tributed it to the great quantity of mufk-rats found
on it, the fmell of which is intolerable to an Indi-
an; a third account, and which is related by fuch
as have made deeper refearches into the ancient hif-
tory of the country, and which is therefore pretend-
ed to be the true one, is as follows.

Some Algonquins, being at war with the On-
nontcharonnons, better known by the name of the
nation of the Iroquet, and whofe ancient abode was,
fay they, in the ifland of Montreal. The name
they bear proves them to be of the Huron language ;
notwithftanding, it is pretended that the Hurons
were they who drove them from their ancient refi-

‘dence, and who have even in part deftroyed them.
Be this as it will, they were, at the time I have been
mentioning, at war with the Algonquins, who, to
put an end to the war, they began to be weary of,
at one blow, bethought themfeives of a ftratagem
which fucceeded according to their wifhes. ‘They
took the field, by occupying both fides of the little
river, now called the river of Beckancourt. They
afterwards detached fome canoes, the crews of which

: feigned .
5

. . ( Aye) |
feigned as if they were fifhing inthe river. They
knew their enemies were at no great diftance, and

made no doubt they would immediately fall upon.
the pretended fifhers ; in fact, they foon fell upon

them with a large fleet of canoes, when they again
counterfeiting fear, took to flight and gained the
banks of the river. They were followed clofe by
-the enemy, who made fure of deftroying an hand-
fal of men, who to draw them the deeper into the
{nare, affected an extraordinary panick. This feint
fucceeded ; the purfuers continued to advance, and
as the cuftom is of thofe barbarians raifing a moft
horrible fhouting, they imagined they had now no-

thing to do, but to launch forth and feize their .

prey.

At the fame inftant, a fhower of arrows difcharg-
ed from behind the bufhes, which lined the river,
threw them into a confufion, from which they were
not fuffered to recover. A fecond difcharge, which
followed clofe upon the firft, compleated the rout.
They wanted to fly in their turn, but-could no lon-
ger make ufe of their canoes, which were bored on

all fides. They plunged into the water, in hopes

of efcaping that way, but befides, that moft of

them were wounded, they found, on reaching the

fhore, the fate they fought to fhun, fo that not a
foul efcaped the Algonquins, who gave no quarter,
nor made any prifoners. The nation of the Iro-
quet have never recovered this check, and though
fome of thefe Indians have been feen fince the ar-
rival ofthe French in Canada, there is now no doubt
of their having been entirely deftroyed long fince.

However, the number of dead bodies, which re- |

mained in the water, and on the banks of the river,
infected it to fuch a degree, that it has kept the
name of the Stinking-River ever fince. ve

The

le he eo

The Abenaquife town of Beckancoutt is not now
fo populous as formerly. They would, certainly,
for all that, be of great fervice to us in ‘cafe a war.
fhould happen to break out. Thefe Indians are the
beft partifans in the whole country, and are always
very ready to. make inroads into New-England,
where the name of them has thrown terror even into
Bofton itfelf. They would be equally ferviceable to
us againft the Iroquois, to whom they are nothing
inferior in bravery, and whom they much furpafsain
point of difcipline. They are all Chriftians, and
an handfome chapel has been built for them, where
they practife with much edification, all the duties
of Chriftian devotion. It muft, however, be ac-
knowledged, that their fervour is not fo confpicuous
as formerly when they firft fettled among us. Since
that time, they have been made acquainted with the
ufe of fpirituous liquors, which they have taken a
tafte to, and of which no Indian ever drinks but
on purpofe to intoxicate himfelf ; notwithftanding,
fatal experience has taught us, that in proportion
as men deviate from their duty to God, the lefs re-
gard do they entertain for their perfons, and the
nearer do they draw to the Englifh. It is much to
be feared the Lord fhould permit them to become
enemies to us, to punifh us for having contributed
thereto, om motives of fordid intereft, and for
having helped to make them vicious as has already
happened to fome nations.

__ After embracing the miffionary at Beckancourt,

vifiting his canton, and making with him melancholy
reflections on the inevitable confequences of this
diforder I have been mentioning, and for which he
is often under the neceffity of making his moan be-
fore the Lord ; I croffed the river St. Lawrence, in
order to get to this town. Nothing, Madam, can

8

\

ee

- postibly exceed the delightfulnefs of its fituation,
“It is built on a fandy declivity, on which there is
jut barren ground fufficient to contain the town, if
_ever it come to be a large place; for at prefent it is
far from being confiderable. It is, moreover, fur-
rounded with every thing that can coritribute to
render a place at once rich and pleafant. The river,
whichis near half a league over, wafhes its foundations,
Beyond this you fee nothing but cultivated lands,

o
and thofe extremely fertile, and crowned with the

_nobleft forefts in the univerfe. A little below, and

on the fame fide with the town, the St. Lawrence

_ receives a fine river, which juft before it pays the

tribute of its own waters, receives thofe of two
others, one on the right, and the other on the left,
from whence this place has the name of the Three

Rivers. -

.

Above, and almoft at an equal diftance, lake Se.
Peter begins, which is about three leagues broad
and feven long. Thus there is nothing to cons
fine the profpect on that fide, and the fun feems to
fet in the water. This lake, which is no more than .

a widening of the river, receives feveral rivers. It

is probable enough that thefe rivers have, in a courfe

of years, worn away the low moving earth on which
they flowed; this is very fenfible with refpect to
lake St. Francis, in the mouth of which are feveral
iflands, which might have formerly been joined to
the Continent. Befides, over all the lake, except
in the middle of the channel, which is kept at its
full depth by the force of the current, there is no
failing except in canoes, and there are even fome
places, where large canoes, ever fo little loaded,
cannot eafily pafs; to make amends, it is every
where well ftored with fith, and that too of the
mott excellent forts.

Vou. I. M / They

t

(tt 5

They reckon but about feven or eight hundred
fouls on the Three Rivers; but it has in its neigh-
bourhood fufficient wherewithal to enrich a great
city. There is exceeding plentiful iron mines, which
_may be made to turn to account whenever it is judg-

ed proper *. However, notwithftanding the fmall
number of inhabitants in this place, its fituation
renders it of vaft importance, and it is alfo one of the
moft ancient eftablifhments in the colony. This
poft has always, even from the moft early times,
had a governor. He has a thoufand crowns falary,
with an Etat Major. Here is a convent of Re-
collets; a very fine parifh church, where the fame
fathers officiate, and a noble hofpital adjoining to a
convent of Urfuline nuns, to the number of forty,

who ferve the hofpital. This is alfo a foundation —

of M. de St. Vallier. As early as the year 1650,
the fenefchal or high fteward of New France, whofe
jurifdiction was abforbed in that of the fupreme
council of Quebec, and of the intendant, had a
lieutenant at the Three Rivers; at this day this
city has an ordinary tribunal for criminal matters,
the chief of which is a lieutenant-general.

This city owes its origin to the great concourfe
of Indians, of different nations, atthis place in the
beginning of the colony. There reforted to it chiefly
feveral from the moft diftant quarters of the north
by way of the Three Rivers, which have given this
city its name, and which are navigable a great way

upwards. The fituation of the place joined to the
great trade carried on at it, induced fome French ©

to fettle here, and the nearnefs of the river Sorel,
then called the Iroquois river, and of which I fhall
foon take notice, obliged the governors-general to

* They are now actually working them, and they produce
fome of the beft iron in the world. :
, build

( 179 )
build a Fort here, where they kept a good garrifon,
and which at firft had a governor of its own. Thus.
this poft was hegceforwards looked upon as’ one of

the moft important places in New France. After

fome years the Indians, weary of the continual ra-
vages of the Iroquois, and from whom the French
themfelves had enough to do to defend themfelves,,
and the pafles being no longer tree in which thofe
Indians lay in ambuth, and finding themfelves hardly
fecure, even under the cannon of our fort, they
left off bringing their furs, The jefuits, with all

- the new converts they could gather, retired toa place

three leagues below, which had been given them by
the Abbé de la Madeleine, one of the members of
the company of the tiundred A flociates, erected by
cardinal Richelieu, from whence this fpot had the
name of Cap de la Madeleine, which it ftill bears *.

- The miffion tranfported thither did not however
fubfift long. This is partly the effe& of the levity
natural to the Indians, but chiefly to a feries of wars
and difeafes, which have almoft. wholly deftroyed
this infant church. You find, however, in the.

neighbourhood a company of Algonquins, moft

ef whom have been baptifed in their infancy, but

have no outward exercife of religion, The mem-

bers of the Weft-India Company, who have at pre-
fent the farm of the beaver-trade, have in vain at-
tempted to draw them to.Checontini, where they
have already re-affembled feveral families of the
fame nation, and of the Montagnez, under the di-
rection of a jefuit miffionary. Some others were

for uniting them with the Abenaquis of St. Francis.

All the anfwer they made to thefe invitations was,

* Befides the iron mimes which are pretty rich at Cap de la
Madeleine, they have alfo fome years fince difcovered feveral
{prings of mineral water, of the fame quality with thofe of Forges.

M 2 that

(, 180° ).

that they could not think of abandoning a place

where the bones of their forefathers were depofited ;
but fome believe, and not without grounds, that
this oppofition is lefs owing to them, than to fome
perfons who reap advantages from their nearnefs to
them, and who, certainly do not reflect to what a.
contemptible confideration they poftpone the falva-
tion of thofe Indians. 4

I have been juft told, that fome days hence: there

will be an opportunity of fending this letter to Que-.

bec, from whence it may foon reach France by way
of the Royal [fland. ®1 will fill up the remaining
fpace with what relates to the huntings of the In-
dians ; that of the beaver, as I have already te-
marked, was not confidered as a principal object,
till they faw the value we fet upon the fpoils of this
animal. Before this, the bear held the firft rank
with them, and here too fuperftition had the great-
eft fhare. ‘The following is what is practifed at this
day, among thofe who are not Chriftians, in ce
hunting of ‘this animal.

- It is always fome war-chief who fixes the time of
it, and who takes care to invite the hunters. This
invitation, which is made: with great ceremony, is
followed by a faft of ten days continuance, during
which it is unlawful to tafte fo much as a drop of
water ; and I muft tell your Grace, by the way,
that what the Indians call fafting, is wholly abftain-
ing from every fort of food or drink ; nay more,
in fpite of the extreme weaknefs to which they are
of neceffity reduced by fo fevere a faft, they are
always finging the live long day. The reafon of this
faft, is to induce -the fpirits to difcover the place
where a great number of bears may be found, Se-
veral | even go a great way farther to obtain this

a grace,

%

(un)

grace. Some have been feen to cut their flefh in fe-
veral parts of the body, in order to render their
-genii propitious. But it is proper to know, that
they never implore their fuccour to enable them to
conquer thofe furious animals, but are contented
with knowing where they lie. Thus Ajax did not
pray to Jupiter to enable him to overcome his ene-
mies, but only day-light enough to compleat the
victory.

_The Indians addrefs their vows for the fame rea-
fon to the manes of the beafts they have killed in
their former huntings, and as their minds are wholly ©
intent on fuch thoughts whilft they are awake, it is
but natural they fhould often dream of bears in
their fleep, which can’ never be very found with
fuch empty ftomachs ; but neither is this enough to
determine them: it is likewife neceflary, that all,
or at leaft the greateft part of thofe who are to be
of the party, fhould alfo fee bears, and in the fame
canton ; now how is it poffible fo many dreamers
fhould agree in this point? However, provided
fome expert hunter dream twice or thrice an end of
feeing bears in a certain fixed place, whether it be
the effect of complaifance, for nothing can be more
fo than the Indians, or whether it is by dint of hear-
ing the affair fpoke of, their empty brains at laft
take the impreffion, every one foon falls a dream-
ing, or at leaft pretends fo to do, when they de

termine to fet out for that place. The faft ended,

and the place of hunting fixed, the chief who is

appointed to conduct it, gives a grand repaft to all
- who are to be of the party, and no one dares pre-
fume to come to it, till he has firft bathed,
that is to fay, wafhed himfelf in the river, be the
weather ever fo fevere, provided it is not frozen.

This feaft, is not like many others, where they are

M 3 ob.

a

cy

( 182 7m

obliged to eat up every thing ; though they have
_had a long fait, and perhaps, on this very account, —

they obferve great fobriety in eating. He who does
the honours, touches nothing, and his whole em-
ployment, whilft the reft are at table, is to rehearfe
his ancient feats of hunting. The feaft concludes

-_ with new invocations of the fpirits of the departed

bears. They afterwards fet out on their march be-
dawbed with black, and equipped as if for war,
amidft the acclamations of the whole village. Thus
hunting is no lefs noble amoneft thefe nations than
war; and the alliance of a good hunter is even
more courted than that of a famous warriour,° as
hunting furnifhes the whole family with food and
raiment, beyond which the Indians never extend
their care. But no one is deemed a great hunter,
except he has killed twelve large beafts in one
day. :

Theie people have two great advantages over us
in refpect to this exercife ; for in the firft place, no-
thing {tops them, neither thickets, nor ditches, nor
torrents, nor pools, nor rivers. They go always
ftrait forwards in the direéteft line poffible. In the

_fecond place, there are few or perhaps no animals

which they will not overtake by {peed of foot.
Some have been feen, fay they, arriving in the vil-

lage driving a parcel of bears with a fwitch, like a

flock of fheep; and the nimbleft deer is not more’
fo than they. Befides the hunter himfelf reaps very
little benefit by his fuccefs; he is obliged to make
large prefents, and even if tcey prevent him by tak-
ing it at their own hand from him, he muft fee him-
felf robbed without complaining, and remain fatif-
fied with the glory of having laboured for the pub-
lick. It is, however, allowed him in the diftribu- |
tion of what he has caught, to begin with his gis

8 a-

eee

(i ae

family. But it muft be acknowledged, that thofe

with whom we have the moft commerce, have al-
ready loft fomewhat of this ancient generofity, and
of this admirable difinteréftednefs. Nothing is more
contagious than a felfifh and interefted fpirit, and
nothing is more capable of corrupting the morals.

The feafon of hunting the bear is in winter.
Thefe animals are then concealed in the hollow
trunks of trees, in which if they happen to fall they

make themfelves a den with their roots, the entry-

of which they ftop with pine branches, by which
means they are perfectly well fheltered from all the

inclemencies of the weather. If ali this is ftill in-—

fuficient, they make a hole in the ground, taking
great care to {top the mouth well when once they /are

-entered. Some have been feen couched in the bottom

of their dens, fo as to be hardly perceivable, even
when examined very nearly. But in whatever man-
ner the bear is lodged, he never once quits his a-
partments all the winter; this is a circumftance
paft all manner of doubt. It is no lefs certain,
that he lays up no manner of provifion, and con-
fequently that he muft of neceffity live all that
while without tafting food or drink, and that as
fome have advanced his fole nourifhment is the
licking his paws ; but with refpect to this particu-
lar, every one is at liberty to believe as he pleafes,

. What is certain, is, that fome of them have been

™

kept chained for a whole winter, without having
the leaft morfel of food, or any drink given them,
and at the end of fix months, they have been found
as fat asin the beginning. It is no doubt furprif-
ing enough, that an animal, provided of fo warm
a fur, and which is far from having a delicate ap-

‘pearance, fhould take more precautions aeainft the

cold than any other. This may ferve to convince
4 US,

-

C bg U8

us, that we ought never to form our judgment of |
things by appearance, and that every one is rn ies

judge of his own wants.

There is therefore but little courfing neceffary to
catch the bear; the point is only to find his burrow,
and the places which they haunt. When the huntf.
men imagine they have come near fuch a place,
they form themfelves into a large circle, a quarter
of a league in’ circumference, more or lefs, accord-
ing to the number of fportfmen ; they then move
onwards, drawing nearer and nearer, every one
trying as he advances to difcover the retreat of fome
bear, - By this means, if there are any at all in this
f{pace, they are certain of difcovering them, for our
Indians are excellent ferrets. Next day they go to
work in the fame manner, and continue fo to do all
the time the hunting lafts.

As foon as a bear is killed, the huntfman places
his lighted pipe in his mouth, and blows the beafts
throat and windpipe full of the fmoke, at the fame

time conjuring his jpiric to hold no refentment for

the infult done his body, and to be propitious to
him in his future huntings.. But as the {pirit makes
no anfwer, the huntfmen to know whether his pray-
ers have been heard, cuts off the membrane under
his tongue, which he keeps till his return to the vil-
lage, when every one throws his own; membranes
into the fire, after many invocations, and abundance
of ceremony. If thefe happen to crackle.and fhri-
vel up, and it can hardly be otherwile, it is looked
upon as a certain fign, that the manes of the bears
are appeated ; on) otherwif ife, they imagine the de-
parted bears are wroth :with them, and that next

year’s hunting wi.l be unprofperous, at leaft till fome
means

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means are found of reconciling them, for they have
a remedy for every thing.

“

f

The hunters make good cheer whilft the hunting
lafts, and, if it is ever fo little fuccefsful, bring home
fufficient to regale their friends, and to maintain
their families a long time. To fee the reception gi-
ven them, the praifes with which they are loaded,
and their own air of felf-fatisfaction and applaufe,
you would imagine them returning from fome im-
portant expedition, loaden with the fpoils of a con-
quered enemy. One muft be a man indeed, fa
they to them, and they even fpeak fo of themfelves,
thus to combat and overcame bears. Another par-
ticular, which occafions them no lefs eulogiums,
and. which adds equally to their vanity, is the cir-
cumitance of devouring all, without leaving a mor-
fel uneaten, at a grand repaft given them at their
return by the perfon who commanded the hunting-
party. The firft difh ferved up is the largeft bear
that has been killed, and that too whole, and with
all his entrails, He is not even fo much as flead,
they being fatisfied with having finged off the hair
asis donetoahog. This feaft is facred to I know
not what genius, whofe indignation they apprehend,
fhould they leave a morfel uneaten. They muft not
fo much as Jeave any of the broth in which the
meat has been boiled, which is nothing but a quan-
tity of oil, or of liquid fat. Nothing can be more

| execrable food, and there never happens a feaft of

this fort, but fome one eats himfelf to death, and
feveral fuffer feverely.

The bear is never dangerous in this country, but
when he is hungry, or after being wounded. They, -
however, ufe abundance of precautions in approach-
ing him. They feldom attack the men, on the
; ae con-

=

{ , 986 ))

contrary, they take to flight at the firft fight of one,
anda dog will drive them a great way before him ;
if therefore they are every where fuch as they are in
Canada, one might eafily anfwer the queftion of
M. Defpreaux, that the bear dreads the traveller,
and not the traveller the bear. The bear is in rut
in the month of July; he then grows fo lean, and
his flefh of fo fickly and difagreeable a relifh, that
even the Indians, who have not the moft delicate fto-
machs, and who often eat fuch things as would
make an European fhudder, will hardly touch it.
Who could imagine that an animal of this nature,
and of fo unlovely an appearance, fhould grow
leaner in one month by the elle paffion, than after
an abftinence of fix! It is not fo furprifing he
fhould be at this feafon fo fierce, and in fo i}! an
humour, that it fhould be dangerous to meet him.
This is the effect of jealoufy.

This feafon once over, he recovers his former
embompoint, and to which nothing more contributes,
than the fruits he finds every where in the woods,
and of which he is extreme greedy. He is parti-
cularly fond of grapes, and as all the forefts are full
of vines which rife to the tops of the higheft trees,
he makes no difficulty of climbing up in queft of
them. But fhould an hunter difcover him, his
toothfomnefs would coft him dear. After having
thus fed a good while on fruits, his flefh becomes
exceedingly delicious, and continues fo till the
{pring. It is, however, conftantly attended with
One very great fault, that of being too oily, fo thac
except great moderation is ufed in eating it, it cer-
tainly occafions a dyfentery. It is, moreover, very
nourifhing, and a bear’s cub is at leaft nothing in-
ferior to lamb.

I for-

Gr hes i)
I forgot to inform your Grace, that the Indians
always carry a great number of. dogs with them in
their huntings ; thefe are the only domeftick ani-
mals they breed, and that too only for hunting:
they appear to be all of one fpecies, with upright
ears, and a lone fnout like that of a wolf; they
are remarkable for their fidelity to their matters,
who feed them however but very ill, and never
mae much of them. They are very early bred to
that kind of hunting for which they are intended,
and excellent hunters they make. I have no more

time to write you, being this moment called on to
go on board, :

i ai, &c.

LETTER *

Lae ,)
A gevihe wis as

v.

(. 189* ) -

fee) TT. E. ROVE

Defcription of' the Country and Ilands of Riche-
lieu and of St. Francis. Of the Abena-.
quis village. Of the ancient fort of Riche-
lieu, and of fuch as were formerly in each
parifh. Shining actions of two Canadian
Ladies. Of the other buntings of the Indians.

; St. Francis, March 11, 1721.
Madam,

Set out on the 9th from the Three Rivers. I

did no more than crofs lake St. Peter, inclining
_towards the fouth. I performed this journey in a-
“fledge, or as it is called here a cariole, the ice be-
ing ftill ftrong enough for all forts of carriages,
and I arrived towards noon at St. Francis. I em-
ployed the afternoon, and yefterday the whole day,
in vifiting this canton, and am now going to give
you an account of what I faw.

At the extremity of Lake St. Peter is a prodigi-
ous number of iflands of all fizes, called Jes Iles

de Richelieu, or Richelieu Iflands, and turning to-

wards the left coming from Quebec, you find fix
ati which lie towards the fhore of a creek of a
toler-

CC 1p@t )) ©
tolerable depth, into which a pretty large river dif-
charges itfelf, which takes its rife in the neighbour-
hood of New-York. ‘The iflands, river, and whole
country bear the name of St. Francis. Each of the
iflands is above a quarter of a league'long ; their
breadth is unequal; moft of thofe of Richelieu are’
{maller. All were formerly full of deer, does, roe-
bucks, and elks; game fwarmed in a furprifing
manner, as it is ftill far from fearce; but the large
beafts have difappeared. There are alfo caught
excellent fith in the river St. Francis, and at. its
mouth. In winter they make holes in the ice,
through which they let down nets five or fix fa-
thoms long, which are never drawn up empty.
The fithes moft commonly taken here are bars, achi-
gans, and efpecially mafquinongez, a fort of pikes,
which have the head larger than ours, and the mouth
placed under a fort of crooked fnout, which gives
them a fingular figure. The lands of St. Francis,
to judge of them by the trees they produce, and
by the little which has yet been cultivated of them
are very good. The planters are, however, poor
enough, and feveral of them would be reduced to
a ftate of indigence, did not the trade they carry on ©
with the Indians, their neighbours, help to fupport
them. But may not this trade, likewife, be a means
of hindering them from growing rich, by render-
ing them lazy ? |

The Indians I am now fpeaking of, are, Abe-
naquies, among{t whom are fome Algonquins, So-
kokies, and Mahingans, better known by the name
of Wolfs. This nation was formerly fettled on
the banks of the river Mantat, in New-York, of
which country they feem to be natives. The Abe-
naquies came to St. Francis, from the fouthern
fhores of New France, in the neighbourhood of
| New- |

= as

is eafy to guefs, that after fuch a difcharge of what

Ce)

_ New-England. Their firft fettlement, after Jeav-

ing their own country to live amongft us, was ona

little river which difcharges itfelf into the St. Law-
rence, almoft oppofite to Sillery, that is to fay,

about a league and a half above Quebec, on the
fouth fhore. They fettled here near a fall of water,
called Je Sault de la Claudiere, or the fall of the ket-
tle. They now live on the banks of the St. Fran-

cis, two leagues from its difcharge into lake St._

Peter. This fpot is very delightful, which is pity,
thefe people having no relifh for the beauties of a
fine fituation, and the huts of Indians contributing
but little to the embellifhment of a prefpect. This

- village is extremely populous, all the inhabitants of

which are Chriftians. The nation is docile, and
always much attached to the French. But the mif-
fionary has the fame inquietudes on their account

with him at Beckancourt, and for the fame rea-
fons.

_ IT was regaled here with the juice of the maple ;
this is the feafon,.of its flowing. It is extremely

_ delicious, has a moft pleafing coolnefs, and is ex-

ceeding wholfome ; the manner of extracting it is
very fimple. When the fap begins to afcend, they
pierce the trunk of the tree, and by means of a bit
of wood, which is inferted in it, and along which
it flows, as through a pipe, the liquor is conveyed
into a veffel placed under it. In order to produce
an abundant flow, there muft be much inow on

_ the ground, with frofty nights, a ferene fky, and

the wind not too cool. Our maples might poffibly
haye the fame virtue, had we as much {now in
France as there is in Canada, and were they to laft
as long. In proportion as the fap thickens the ow
abates, and in a little time after, wholly ceafes. Ie

may

Sigkon! oy.

ray ae ( “TGS. BaP ”

may be called its blood, the tree fhould be far from
being bettered: we are told, however, they will.
endure it for feveral years running. They would,
perhaps, do better to let them reft for two or three
years, to give them time to recover their ftrength.
But at length, after it has been entirely drained, it
is fentenced to be cut down, and is extremely pro-
per for many ufes, as well the wood as the roots and
boughs. This tree muft needs be very common, as
creat numbers of them are burnt.

‘The liquor of the maple is tolerably clear, tho’
fomewhat whitifh. It is exceeding cooling and re-
frefhing, and leaves on the palate a certain flavour
of fugar, which is very agreeable. It is a great
friend to the breaft, and let the quantity drank be
ever fo great, or the party ever fo much heated, it
is perfectly harmlefs. The reafon is, that it is en-
tirely free from that crudity which occafions pleuri- —
fies, but has on the contrary a balfamick quality —
which {fweetens the blood, and a certain falt which
preferves its warmth. They add, that it never
chryftallizes, but that if it is kept for a certain fpace
of time, it becomes an excellent vinegar. I donot
pretend to vouch this for fact, and I know a travel-
ler ought not flightly to adopt every thing that is
told him. :

It is very probable the Indians, who are perfe@lly
well-acquainted with all the virtues of their plants,
have at all times, as well as at this day, made con-
ftant ufe of this liquor. But itis certain, they
were ignorant of the art of making a fugar from
it, which we have fince learnt them. They ‘were

fatisfied with giving it two or three boilings, in or-

der to thicken it a little, and to make a kind of

fyrup from it, which is pleafant enough. Theyfur-
ther’ @

ie ce Cage.)

ther method they ufe to make fugar of is to let it
beil, till it takés a fufficient confiftence, when it
purifies of its own accord, without the mixture of
ahy foreign ingredient. Only: they. muft be very
careful that the fugar be not ovet-boiled, and to
fkim it well. The sreateft faule in this procefs is
to let the fyrup harden too much, which renders it
too fat, fo that it never lofes a relifh of honey,
which renders it not fo agreeable to the tafte, at
leaft till fuch time as it is clarified.

This fugar when made with care, which it cer-
tainly requires, is a natural pectoral, and does not
burn the ftomach. Befides the manufaCturing, it
is done at a trifling expence. It has been com-
monly believeda, that it is impoffible to refine it in
the fame manner with the fugar extracted from
- canes. own, I fee no reafon to think fo, and it
is very certain that when it comes out of the hands
of the Ihdians, it is purer and much better than
that of the iflands, which has had no more done
toit. In fine, I gave fome of it to a refiner of
Orleans, who found no other fault to it, than that
I have mentioned, and who attributed this defec&
wholly to its not having@ been left to drip long
-enough. He even judged it of a quality prefer-
able to the other fort, and of this it was, he made
thofe tablets, with which | had the honour to pre-
fent your Grace, and which you were pleafed to
efteem fo much. It may be objected, that were
this of of a good quality, it wou! id have been made
a branch of trade; but there is not a fufficient quan-
tity made for this, and perhaps, they are therefore
in the wrong: but there are many-things befides
this which are neglected in this country.

Vou. ts N “Lhe

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Cae

The plane-tree, the cherry-tree, the ae id
wala trees,of feveral kinds, par yield di liquor
from which fugar is made ; but there is a lefsquan-
tity of it, and the fugar ‘made from it, is not fo.
good. Some, however, ' prefer that made from the

afh, but there is very little of it made. Would
your Grace have thought that there fhould be found
in Canada what Virgil mentions, whilft he is pre-

dicting the golden age, Et dura quercus fudabunt
rofcida Mella, That honey fhould diftil tout the

oak ! P

This whole country has long been the fcene of
many a bloody battle,.as, during
Troquois, it was moft expofed to the incurfions of
thofe barbarians. They ufually came down by way
of a river, which falls into the St. Lawrence, a lit-
tle above lake St. Peter, and on the fame fide with
St. Francis, and which for this reafon bore their

name ; it has fince gone by the name of /a Riviere

de Sorel. The iflands of Richelieu which they fart
met with, ferved both for a retreat and place of
ambuth ; but after this pals was fhut up to them
by a fort, built at the mouth of the river, they
came down by land both above and below, and
efpecially made their inroads on the fide of St.
Francis, where they found the fame conveniencies
for pillaging, and where they committed cruelties
horrible to relate.

Thence they {pread themfelves over all the colo-
ny, fo that in order to defend the inhabitants from
their fury, there was a neceffity of building in every
parifh a kind of fort, where the planters and other

perfons might take fanctuary on the firftalarm.: In

thefe there were two centinels kept night and day,
and in every one of Sl fome field-y -pieces, or at

8 — Teatt

o the war with the ©

' mae ( 195 ) “ unt
_ leaft pateretoes, as well to keep the enemy ata dif-
tance, as to advertife the inhabitants to be on their
guard, or to give the fignal for fuccour. Thefé

forts were no more than fo many large eénclofures
fenced with palifadoes with fome redoubts, The
church and manor-houfe of the lord were alfo with-
in thefe places, in which there was alfo a fpace for
women, children, and cattle, in cafe of neceffity.
Thefe were fufficient to protect the people from any
infult, none of them having ever, as 1 know, been
taken by the Iroquois.

They have even feldom taken the trouble to >
block them up, and {till more rarely to attack them
with open force. The one is too dangerous an
enterprize for Indians, who have no defenfive arms,
and who are not fond of victories bought with bloods
fhed. The other is altogether remote from. their
way of making war. There are,, however, two
attacks of the fort de Vercheres, which are famous
in the Canadian annals, and it feems the Iroquois
fet their hearts here upon reducing them contrary to
their cuftom, only to fhew the valour and intrepi-
dity of two Amazons.

In 1690, thefe barbarians having learnt that Ma-
dam de Vercheres was almoft left alone in the fort, ap-
proached it without being difcovered, and put them-
felves in a pofture for fealine the palifado. Some
mufket-fhot which were fired at them very feafon-
' ably, drove them to a diftance ; but they inftantly
_ returned: they were again repulfed, and what oc-
eafioned their utter altonifhment, they could only
difcover a woman, whom they met wherever they
went. ‘This was Madam de Vercheres, who ap-

peared, as undifinayed as if fhe had had a numer-

~ obs gatrifon. The hopes of the befiegers in the
[ : N 2 : begin-

ae ee 196 )
beginning of reducing with eale a place aborswill
with men to defend.it, made them return feveral
times to the charge ; but the lady always repulfed
them. She continued to defend herfelf for two days,
with a valour and prefenee of mind which would
have done honour to an old warriour ; and the at .
laft compelled the enemy to retire, for fear of hav-
ing their retreat cut. off, full of fhame of having,

been repulfed by a woman. ”

! ‘

Two years afterwards, another party of the fame
nation, but much more numerous than the firft, ap-
peared in fight of the fort, whilft all the inhabitants
were abroad, and generally at work in the field:
The Iroquois finding them fcattered in this manner,
and void of all diftruft, feized them all one after.
apother, and then marched towards the fort. The
daughter of the lerd of the land, fourteen years old,
was at the diftance of two hundred paces from it.
At'the firft cry the heard, fhe run to get into it;
the Indians purfued her,- and one of them came up
with her juit as fhe had her foot upon the threfhold ;.
but having laid hold of her by the handkerchief fhe
wore about her neck, fhe: loofed it, and fhut the
gate on herieif. :

There was not a foul in the fort, befides a young
foldier and a number of women, pee at the fight
“of their hufbands, who were fat bound, and led

prifoners, raifed moft lamentable cries; the young

lady loft neither her courage nor prefence of mind.
She begun with taking of he head-drefs, bound up

her hair, pur ona hat and coat, locked up all ‘the.

women, whofe groans and weeping could nos fail of
giving new courage to the enemy, Afterwards fhe
fixed a piece of cannon, and feveral mufket-fhot,
and fhewing herfelf with her foldier, fometime in

. | one

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a a ie Se Ie, —— os

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‘one redoubt, fometimes in another, and changing

her drefs from time to time, and always firing: very

feafonably, on feeing the Iraquoife approach the.

breaft- work, thefe Indians thought there were many
men in the oarrifon, and when The chevalier de Cri-
fafy, informed by the firing of the cannon, appear-
ed to fuccour the place, the men were already de-

camped. A

Jag '
V Let us now return to our hunting; that of the

elk would be no lefs advantacious to. tig at this day

than that of the beaver, had our predeceffors in the

- colony paid due attention tothe profits which might

have been made by it, and had they not almoft en-
tirely deftroyed the whole fpecies, at leaft in fuch

places as are within our reach, '

What they call here the orignal, is the fame
with the animal, which in Germany, Poland, and
Ruffia, is called the elk, or the great beaft. This
animal in this country is of the fize of a horfe, or
mule of the country of Auvergne ; this has a broad
crupper, the tail but a finger’s length, the POUE
extremely hich, with the feet and legs of a ftag
the neck, withers, and upper part of the hough
are covered with long hair; the head is above two

‘feet long, which Hee {tretches, forward, and which

gives the animal a very aukward appearance ; his
muzzle “is thick, and bending on the upper- part,
like that of a camel ; and his’ ote are fo wide,
that one may with eafe thruft half his arm into
them ; laftly, his antlers are pili as long as thofe of
a ftac, and are much more fpreading; they are branch-
ing and flat like thofe of a doe, and are renewed
every year, but I do not know whether they re-

ceive an increafe which denotes the ace of the ani-
i

-

Ny 3%: , It

ARS he ge te

kk has been pretended that the orignal, or deg”
is fubject to the epilepfy, and when he i iS feized with
any-fit, he cures himfelf by rubbing his ear with
his left hind foot till the blood comes; a circum-
ftance which has madechis hoof be taken for a fpe-
cific againft the falling ficknefs. This is applied _
over the heart of the patient, which is alfo’done for

a palpitation of the heart; they place in the left
Bad. and rub the ear aii it. But why. do not

‘they make the blaod come as the elk does? This.

horny fubftance is alfo believed to be good in the
pleurify, in cholic pains, in fluxes, vertigoes, and
purples, when pulverifed and taken in water. J]
have heard fay, that the Aleonquins, who formerly
fed on the fiefh of this animal, were very fubjeét to
che epilepfy, and yet made no ufe of this remedy.
They were, perhaps, acquainted with a better.

The colour of the elk’s hair is a mixture of light
orey, andofadark red. It grows hollow as the beaft
crows older, never lies flat, nor quits its elaftic
regia thus it is in vain: to beat it, it. conftantly.
rifes again. ‘They make matrafies and hair bottoms

of it. Its flefh is of an agreeable relith, light and.
nourifhing, and it would be great pity if it gave
the falling- ficknefs ; but. our hunters, who have
lived on it for feveral winters running, never per-
ceived the leaft ill qualitity 3 init. ‘The fkin is firong,
foft, and oily, is made into Chamois leather, and
‘makes excellent -buff-coats, which are alfo very
light, : ed

The Indians look upon the elk as an sine of
good omen, and believe that thofe who. dream of
‘them often, may expect a long life; it is quite the
contrary with the bear, except on the approach of
the feafon for: hunting thofe creatures. There is

alfo

4

a A

oe Ay a , | ( 199 ) zh . 2
alfo avery diverting tradition among the IndianS
of a great elk, of fuch a monftrous fize, that the

__ reft are like pifmires in comparifon of him ; his »
‘s legs, fay they, are fo long, that eight feet of {now
are not the leaft incumbrance to him; his hide is
proof againft all manner of weapons, and he has
a fort of arm proceeding from his fhoulders, which

he ufes as we.do ours. He is always attended by a
__-vafty number of elks which form. his court, and
_. which render him all the fervices he requires.
_ Thus the antients had their Phenix and Pegafus, and
the Chinefe and Japonefe their Kirim, their Foké,
q their Water-dragon, and their bird of Paradife.
Tutto *l mondo é Paefe.

The elk is a lover of cold countries; he feeds on
grafs in fummer, and in winter gnaws the bark of.
trees. When the {now is very deep, thefe animals
afiemble in fome pine-wood, to fhelter themfelves
from the feverity of the weather, where they remain
whilft there is any thing to live upon. This is the
beft feafon for hunting them, except when the fun
has ftrength enough to melt the fnow. For the
froft forming a kind of cruft on the furface in the
night, the elk, who is a heavy animal, breaks it

with his forked hoof, and with great difficulty ex-'
tricates himfelf except at this time, and above all,
when the fnow is not deep, it is very difficult to
get near him, at leaft, without danger, for when he
is wounded he is furious, and will return boldly
on the huntfman and tread him under his feet. The
-way to fhun him is to throw him your coat, on which
he will difcharge all his vengeance, whilft the
— huntfman concealed behind fome tree, is at liberty
‘ to‘take proper meafures for difpatching him. The
velk goes always at a hard trot, but. {uch as equals
the iwifteft {peed of the buffalo, and will hold out
ae ' N 4 } A

SS eS See = > : ga eee” S 3 eR aoe ee ee cs
Seg a, ee Sy a a ah eR ge $e eS ee = => io
a eae 3 ~ 'e a has - ~_— S = ' 7 ao
> = > - ~ - . 4 ee? *

ee a
a a a great while, But the Indians are ftill beter cola ty
| | fers than he. Jt is affirmed that he falls down upon |
his knees to drink, eat and fleep,. and that he has
a bone in, his heart, which being reduced to pow-

der, and taken in broth, facilieates delivery, and
( foftens the 1 pains of child bearing.

. The moft northern nations of Canada have a.

_.- way of hunting this animal, very fimple and free_
oe from danger. The hunters divide into two bands,

Lies _one embarks on board canoes, which canoés keep |
- at a {mall diftance from each other, forming a pretty

- large femicircle, the two ends of which reach the
fhore. The other body, which “remains afhore, '
perform pretty much the fame thing. and at firft
{urround a large track of ground. Then the huntf-
men let loofe their dogs, ‘and raife all the elks with-
in the bounds of this femicircle, and drive them
into the river or lake, which they no fooner enter
than they are fired upon from all the canoes, and
not 4 fhot miffes, fo that rarely any one a

Champlain mentions another way of hunting,

os not say the elk, but alfo the deer and caribou, :
te which has fome refemblance to this. They fur-
hae round a fpace of ground with pofts, interwoven
fo¢-.s.\'. » jwith cbranches of trees, ‘leaving a pretty aaqrraw
Vs. gopening, where they place nets made of thongs of
Se ‘raw hides. ‘his fpaceis of d\triangular form, and
Beats from the angle in which the entry is, “they form ano-
Daun “ther, but much larger triangle. “Thus-the two en-
~ . .. ¢lofures communicate with each other at the two an- i |
gles. The two fides of the fecond triangle are alfo 7

: inclofed with pofts, interwoven in the fame man- —

é ner, and the hunters drawn up in one line form

the bafis of it.. ‘i hey then advance, keeping the

~ Tine entire, raifing prodigious cries, and ftriking

aga

oe

Rigs ro

Ties (as TGC: uh eae iN oe
againft fomething which refounds greatly. The

ame thus roufed, and being able to efcape by none
of the fides, can only fly into the other enclofure,
where feveral are taken at theif firft entering by the
neck or horns. They make great efforts to difen-
tangle themfelves, and fometimes carry away or ~ ‘i
break the thongs. They alfo fometimes: ftrangle |
themfelves, or at leaft give the huntfmen time to
difpatch them at leifure. Even thofe that éfcape ;
are nota whit advanced, but find themfelves en-.
clofed. in a fpace too narrow to be able to fhun the |
arrows which are fhot at them from all hands. °

\ 2
The elk has other enemies befides the Indians,

* and who carry on full as cruel a war againft him.
_ The moft terrible of all thefe is the Carcajou or | -
Quincajov, a kind of eat, with a tail fo lone that
he twitts it feveral times round his body, and with
- afkin of a brownifh red. As foon as this hunter
comes up with the elk, he leaps upon him, and faf- ’
_ tens upon his neck, about which he twifts his long
: - tail, and thea cuts his jugular. The elk has no
4 means of fhunning this difafter, but by flying to |
_ the water the moment he is feized by this danger-
ousenemy. ‘The carcajou, wio cannot endure the
water, quits his hold immediately ; but, if the wa-
ter happen to be at too great a diftance, he will
deftroy the elk before he reaches it. This hunter _

too as he does not poflefs the faculty of {melling Cty:
with the greateft acutenefs, carries three foxes a |
hunting with him, which he fends on the difcovery.

The moment they have got {cent of an elk, two

of them place themielves by his fide, and the third

takes poft behind him ; and all three manage mat-

ters fo well, by haraffing the prey, that they com-
_ pelehim to go to the place where they have left the,

| farcajou, with whom they afeerwards fettle about
a | 7 the Re a

Fe ee Tuam ee
Fine be OS

x

1 UA RR Mags EL Beis
NS bi Ai plist eS a GE Te Pee
A AOS AE cu te Ck a
. 7 ’
ee 4

( 202°)
the dividing the prey. Another wile of the carea-
jou, in order to feize his prey is to climb upon a
tree, where couched along fome projecting bratch,
he waits till an elk pafles, and ieaps upon him, the

‘moment he fees him within his reach. There are,

many perfons, Madam, who have taken it into
their heads to imagine, that the accounts of Cana-
da, make the Indians more terrible people than they
really are. ‘They are, however, men. But under
what climate can we find brute animals, indued
with fo ftrong an inftinét, and fo forcibly inclined
to induftry, as the fox, the beaver, and the car-.
cajou. :

The ftag in Can fic a is abfolutely the fame with
ours in France, though, perhaps, generally fome-
what bigger. It does not appear that the Indians

‘give them much difturbance; at leait, I do not

find they make war upon him in form and with

much preparation. It is quite different with refpeét -

to the caribou, an animal differing in nothing from.
the raindeer, except in the colour of its hair,
which is brown a little inclining to red. This crea-
ture is not quite fo tall as the elk, and has’ more
of the afs or mule in its fhape, and is at leaft
equal in fpeed with the deer. Some years fince,
one of them was feen on Cape Diamond, above
Quebec ; he probably was fying before fome hun-
ters, but immediately perceived he was in no place
of fafety, and made {carce any more than one leap

from thence into the river. -A wild goat on the .

alps could hardly have done more. fe afterwards
fwam crofs the river with the fame celerity, but
was very little the better for having fodone. Some
Canadians who were going out againtt an enemy,
and lay encamped at point Levi, “having perceived

him, watched his disitins and fhot him. The

tongue

a

(ee)

tongue of this animal is highly efteemed, and his
true country feems to be near Hudfon’s-Bay. The
Sieur Jeremie, who paffed feveral years in thefe
northern parts, tells us, that between Danifh river
and Port Nelfon, prodigious numbers of them were
to be feen, which being driven by the gnats, and a
fort of vermine called Tozs, come to cool and re-
frefh themfelves by the fea-fhore, and that for, the
fpace of forty or fifty leagues you are continually

meeting herds of ten thoufand in number at the

It appears that the Caribou has not multiplied
oreatly in the moft frequented parts of Canada;
but the elk was every where found in great num-
bers, on our firft difcovery of this country. And
thefe animals were not only capable of becoming a
confiderable article in commerce, but alfo a great
conveniency of life, had there been more care taken
to preferve them. This is what has not been done,
and whether it ts that the numbers of them have
been thinned, and the fpecies in fome fort diminifh-
ed, or that by frighting them, they have grown
wilder, and fo have been obliged to retire to other
parts, nothing can be more rare than to meet with
any of them at prefent.

In the fouthern and weftern parts of New France,
on both fides of the MiMiMippi, the kind of hunt-
ing moft in vogue, is, that of the buffalo, which
is performed in this manner. The huntfmen draw
up in four lines, forming a very large fquare, and

begin with fetting the grafs on fire, that being dry
and very rank at this feafon; they afterwards ad-
vance in proportion as the fire gets ground, clofing
their ranks as they go. The buffaloes, which are
extremely timorous of fire, always fly, till at laft

: . Naess they

ty:

3

%

X\y

- they find themfelves fo hemmed in, and fo dlofe to
‘one another, that generally not a fingle beaft efcapes.

‘nog. Y

It is affirmed, tHat no party ever retutns from hunt-

' ingwithout having killed fifteen hundred or.two thou-

fand beafts. But left two different companies fhould
hurt one another, they take care before they fet
out, to fettle the time and place they intend to hunt.
There are even penalties for fuch as’ tranfgrefs this

regulation, as well as for thofe who quit their pofts,,

and fo give the buffaloes an opportunity of efcap-
ing. Thefe pains and penalties are, that the perfons
tranfgreffing may be ftripped by any private perfon
at will of every thing, and which is the greateft —

pofiible affront to an Indian, their arms not except~

ed, they may alfo throw down their cabbins. The
chief i is fubject to this law as well as the reft, and
any. one who fhould go to rebel againft it, would
endanger the kindling a war, which fay they would
not be fo eafily extinguithed,

ane buffalo of Canada is larger than ours ; his
horns. are fhort, black, and lows ; there is a great
rough beard under the muzzle, and another tuft on
the crown of the head, which falling over the eyes,
give him a hideous afpect. - He has on the back,
a hunch or fwelling, which begins over his haunches,

~ encreafing always as it approaches his fhoulders.

The firft rib forwards is a whole cubit hi igher than~
thofe towards the back, and is three fingers broad,
and the whole rifing is covered with a long reddifh
hair. The reft of the body is covered with a black
wool, in great efteem. It is affirmed, that the

eece of a “buffalo weighs eight pounds. This ani-

mmal has a very broad chelt, the crupper pretty thin, 7

the tail extremely fhort, and fcarce any neck at all;
but the head is larger-than that of ours. He com-
monly flies as foon as he perceives any one, and

af se

es N
.

| “ehe dog will oake a whole herd of them take to
the gallop. He has a very delicate and quick fcent,

and in order to approach him without. being per-

— cerved, near enough to fhoot him, you mutt take

care not to have the wind of him. — But when he is
wounded he grows furious and will turn upon the
hunters. He is equally dangerous when the cow buf-

falo has young newly brought forth. His fleth is

good, but that of the female only is eaten, that of
the male being too hard and tough. As to the
hide, there is none better in the known world; it
is ealily dreffed, and though exceeding ftrong, be-
comes as fupple and foft as the beft fhamois leather.

~~ The Indians make bucklers of it, which are very

light, and which a mufket-ball will hardly pierce. ©

‘There is another fort of buffalo found in the
neighbourhood of Hudfon’s-Bay, the hide and wool
of which are equally valuable with thofe ‘of the
fort now mentioned. The following is what the

é f 4 Be = @
Sieur Jeremie fays of it. ‘* Fifteen leagues from —

Dants-River, you find the Sea-wolf-River, there

_ being in fact great numbers of thofe animals in ir.

Between thofe two rivers, are a kind. of buffaloes,
called by us Boeufs mufqués, or mufk-buffaloes, from
their having fo ftrong a fcent of mufk, that, at a
certain feafon, it is impoffible to eat them. Thefe

‘animals have a very fine wool, it is longer than that

of the Barbary fheep. I had fome of it broughe

over to France in 1708, of which I caufed ftock-
ings to be made for me, which were finer than filk
ftockings.” © Thefe buffaloes, though fmaller than

ours, have, however; much longer and _ thicker

horns ; their roots join on the crown of their heads,
and reach down by their eyes almoft as low as the

throat; the end afterwards bends upwards, form-

ing a fort of crefcent, Some of thefe are fo thick,
re that

: ( 266.) ey,
- that I have feen fome; which after being. feparated
from the fkull weighed fixty pounds a pair. Their
_legs.are very fhort, fo that this wool continually
trails along the ground as they walk; which ren- !
ders them fo deformed, that at a fmall diftance you
can hardly diftinguifh on which fide the head ftands.
There is no great number of thefe animals, fo that
had the Indians been fent out to hunt them, the
fpecies had before now been entirely deftroyed. Add
to this, that as their legs are very fhort, they are
killed when the fhow lies deep, with lances, and

are utterly incapable of efcaping.

The moft common animal in Canada at this day
is the roe-buck, which differs in nothing from
ours. He is faid to fhed tears when he'finds him-
felf hard preffed by the huntfmen. When young |
his fkin is ftriped with different colours ; afterwards =~

2 * this hair falls off, and other hair of the fame colour = ~
; with that of the reft of thefe animals grows up in
“e its ftead. This creature is far from being fierce, —
and is eafily tamed ; he appears to be naturally a

ae

Ay lover of mankind. The tame female retires to the
woods when fhe is in rut, and after fhe has had the ‘
i male, returns to her mafter’s houfe. When the y

time of bringing forth is come, fhe retires once
more to the woods, where fhe remains fome days
with her young, and after that fhe returns to fhew
herfelf to her mafter; fhe conftantly vifits her yourig;
they follow her when they think it is time, and —
take the fawns, which fhe continues to nourifh in
the houfe. It is furprifing enough any of our ha-
bitations fhould be without whole herds of them;

Os, the Indians hunt them only occafionally.

i | There are alfo many wolves in Canada, or rather ~ |
| a kind of cats, for they have nothing of the wolf
i | ‘but

» apie,

e.

~

| (gags)

but a kind of howling; in every other circurnftanee
they are, fays M. Sarrafin, ex genere felino, of the —
cat kind. Thefe are natural hunters, living only
on the animals they catch, and which they purfue
to the top of the talleft trees. ‘Their flefh is white
and very good eating ; their fur and fkin are both well
known in France; this is one of the fineft furs in
the whole country, and one of the moft confider-
able articles in its commerce. That of a certain fpe-
cies of black foxes, which live in the northern
mountains, is {till more efteemed. I have, however
heard, that the black fox of Mufcovy, and of the
northern parts of Europe is fill more highly va-
lued. They are, moreover, exceeding rare here, |
probably on account of the difficulty of catching

them. :

_ There is a more common fort, the hair of which
is black or grey, mixed with white ; others of them
are quite grey, and others again of a tawny red.
They are found in the Upper Miffiffippi, of infi-
nite beauty, and with a fur of an argentine or fil-
ver grey. We find here likewife tygers and wolves
of a fmaller fort than ours. The foxes hunt the

-water-fowl after a very ingenious manner : they ad-

vance a little into the water, and afterwards retire,
playing a thoufand antick tricks on the banks.
The ducks, buftards, and other fuch birds, tickled
with the fport, approach the fox; when he fees
them within reach, he keeps very quiet for a while
at firft, that he may not frighten them, moving

_ ‘only his tail, as if on purpole to draw them ftill

nearer, and the foolifh creatures are fuch dupes to
his craftinefs, as to come and peck at his tail;
the fox immediately fprings upon them, and fel-
dom mifles his aim. Dogs have been bred to the —

| | fame

~/

eat 4 208 ) ae
fame {port with tolerable fuccefs, and the fare

dogs carry on a flerce war a a the foxes.

There is a kind. of polecat, rachis: GOES. fe ‘
the 1 name of Enfant du Diable, or the Child of the
Devil; or Béte puante, a title derived from his ill
fcent, Weel his urtne, which he lets go, when he:

finds himfelf purfued) infects the air for half a quar- _
ter of a league round; this is in other refpeéts a

Aisi beautiful creature. He is of the fize of a fmall

, but thicker, the fkin or fur fhining, and of a.
areyift colour, with white lines, forming a fort of
oval on the back from the neck quite to the tail.
This tail is bufhy like that of a fox, and turned
up like a fquirrel. Its fur, like that of the animal
called Pekan, another fort of wild-cat, much of
the fame fize with ours, and of the otter, the ordi-
nary polecat, ‘the pitois, wood-rat, ermine, and mat-
tin, are what is called /a menuc pelleterie, or \efler
peltry. The ermine is of the fize of our fquir-.
rel, but not quite fo long ; his fur is of a moft
beautiful white, and his tailis long, and the tip of
it black as jet; our martins are not fo red as thofe
of prance: and have a much finer fur. They com-
monly keep in the middle of woods, whence they
never ftir but once in two or three years, but always
in large flocks. The Indians havea notion, that.
the year in which they leave the woods, will be
sood for hunting, that is, that there will be a great
fall of fnow. » Martins fkins fell a€tually here at a
crown apiece, I mean the ordinary: fort, for fuch
as are brown go as high as four livres and up-—
wards.

The pitoi difters from the polecat only i in that its
fur is longer, blacker, and thicker. Thefe two
animals make war on the birds, even of the largeft —
forts,

ae Ala

%

¥ i‘ (C289: ) )
forts, and make great ravages amongft dove-coats
and henroofts. “Phe wood-rat is twice the fize of

ours; he has a bufhy tail, and is of a beautiful fil-—

ver grey: there are even fome entirely of a moft
beautiful white; the fernale has a bag under her
belly, which fhe opens and fhuts at plealure ; in this

fhe places her young when fhe is purfued, and fo
faves them with herfelf from their eommon enemy,
_ With regard to the f{quirrel, this animal enjoys 2

~ tolerable degree of tranquilli ity, fo that there are a_
prodigious number of them in this count try. They
are diftinguifhed into three different forts ; the red,
which are exactly the fame with ours ; thot called
Swiffis of a fmaller fize, and fo called, becaufe they
have long ftripes of red, white and black, much’
like the liveries of the pope’s Swifs guards; and
the flying fquirrel, of much the fame fize with thé
-Swiffes, and with a dark grey fur; they are called
flying fquirrels, not that they really can fly, but
from their leaping from tree to tree, to the diftance
of forty paces and more. From a higher place, -
they will fly or leap double the diftance. What
gives them this facility of leaping, is two mem-
beaks. one on each fide,’reaching between their
fore and hind legs, and which when ftretched are
two inches broad; they are very thin, and covered
over with a fort of cats hair or down. This little
animal is eafily tamed, and is very lively except
_ when afleep, which is amen the café, and he puts
* up wherever he can find a place, in one’s fleeves,
pockets, and muffs. He firft pitches. upon his
mafter, whom he will diftinguifh amongtft twenty
perfons. | )

The Canadian porcupine is of the fize of a middling
3 dog, but fhorter and not fo tall ; his hair is about
“Vou, I. | O 3 four

“Cr thea FY
four inches long, of the thicknels of a {mall : fall

of corn, is white, hollow, and very ftrong, efpe-

cially upon the back ; thefe are his weapons, offen-
five and defenfive. He darts them at once againft

any enemy who attempts his life, and if it pierce
the flefh ever fo little, it muft be inftantly drawn

out, otherwife it finks quite into it; for this reafon
people are very cautious of letting their dogs come
near him. His flefh is extreme good eating, A
porcupine roafted is full as good as a fucking pig.

Hares and rabbits are like thofe of Europe, ex-

cept that their hind legs are longer. ‘Their fkins
are in no great requeft, as the hair is continually
falling off; it is pity, for their hair is exceeding fine
and might be ufed without detriment in the hat-
manufacture. They grow grey in winter, and ne-
ver ftir from their warrens or holes, where they live

on the tendereft branches of the birch-trees, In

fummer they are of a carrotty red; the fox makes
a continual and a moft cruel war upon them fum-
mer and winter, and the Indians take them in win-

ter on the fnow, with gins, when they go out in

fearch of provifions.

I have the honour to be, &c.

L B25) oR

‘

f

) a f

ae

\

¥

fe ET TE R- ° VI,

Defcription of the country between lake St. Peter

and Montreal ; 7x what it differs from that
near Quebec. Defcription of the ifland and
city of Montreal, and the country adjacent.
Of the fea-cow, fea-wblf, porpoife, and whale-

Sifery.

Madam,

Set out on the 13th from St. Francis, and next
day arrived in-this city. In this pafflage, which

Montreal, March 20, 1721.

is about twenty leagues, I had not the fame plea-

{ure as formerly of performing the fame journey by
Water in a canoe, in the fineft weather imaginable,
and in viewing, as I advanced, channels and pieces
of water without end, formed by a multitude of
iflands, which feemed at a diftance part of the Con-

tinent, and to ftop the river in his courfe, thofe de-

lightful fcenes which were perpetually varying like
the fcenes of a.theatre, and which one would think
had been contrived on purpofe for the pleafure of
travellers; I had, however, fome amends made me
by the finoular fight of an Archipelago, become,

in fome fort, a Continent, and by the conveniency

of taking the air in my cariole, on channels lying

© 2 _be-

Se ae

Cie ea pee |
between two iil iouk. which feemed to have been
planted by the hand like fo many ——

With refpect to the prokondh it cannot ie railed
beautiful at this feafon. Nothing can be more Gil-
mal than that univerfal whitene{s, which takes place
in the room of that vait variety of colours, the
greateft charm of the country, than the trees which -
prefent nothing to the view, but naked tops, and
whole branches are covered with icicles. Further,
Madam, the lake of St. Francis is in this country,
what the Loire is in France. Towards Quebec the
lands are good, though generally without any thing
capable of affording. pleature to the fight; in other
refpeéts, this, climate is very rude; as the further -
you go down the river, the nearer you approach to
the north, and confequently the colder it becomes.
Quebec lies in 47 deg. 56 min. The Three Rivers
in 46 deg. and a few minutes ; and Montreal be-
tween 44 and 45; the river above lake St. Peter
making and winding towards the fouth. One
would think therefore, after paffing Richelieu iflands,
that one were tranfported into another climate. The
air becomes fofter and more temperate, the coun-
try more level, the river more pleafant, and
the banks infinitely more agreeable and delightful.
You meet with iflands from time to time, fome of
which are inhabited; and others in their natural
fiate, which afford the fight the fineft landfkips in
the world; in a word, this is the Touraine and the

Limagne of Auvergne, compared with the countries
of Maine sg Normandy. ‘i

~The ifland of Meadtwoal: which is, as it were the
centre of this fine country, is ten leagues in length
from eaft to weft, and near four leagues in its great-

elt breadth ;-the mountain whence it derives it name,
aod

~—

“
y
fs
f

“

Sy)

eh C; are. )

‘and which has two fummits ‘of unequal height, .
is fituated almoft in the middle between its two ex-
tremities, and only at the diftance of near half a
league from the fouth-fhore of it, on which Mont-
real is built. This city was firft called Ville Marve
by its founders, but this name has never obtained
the fanction of cuftom in converfation, and holds place
only in the public acts, and amongft the lords ;ro-
prietaries, who are exceeding jealous of it. Thele
lords, who are not only lords of the city, but alfo
of the whole ifland, are the governors of the femi-
nary of St. Sulpicius; and as almoft all the lands
On it are excellent, and well cultivated, and the city —
as populous as Quebec, we may venture to fay, this
Jordfhip is well worth half a icore the beft in all
Canada. This is the fruit of the induftry and wif-
dom of the lords proprietors of this ifland, and it
is certain, that had it been parcelled out amoneft
a {core of proprietors, it would neither have been
in the flourifhing ftate in which we now fee it, nor
would the inhabitants have been near fo happy.

The city of Montreal has a very pleafing afpect,
and is befides conveniently fituated, the ftreets weil
laid out, and the houfes well built. The beauty of
the country round it, and of its profpects, infpire
a certain chearfulnefs ef which every body is per-
fectly fenfible. It is not fortified, only a fimple
palifado with baftions, and in a very indifferent con-
dition, with a forry redoubt on a {mall fpot, which
ferves as a fort of outwork, and terminates in a
_ gentle declivity, at the end of which is a {mall fquare,
which is all the defence it has. Thisis the place you
firft find on your entering the city on the fide of Que-
bec. Itisnot yet quite forty years fince it was entirely
without any fortifications, and confequently was
- every day expofed to the incurfions of the Englith

ot O 3 3 and

C fed,
and Indians, who could eafily have burnt it. The
Chevalier de Callieres, brother to him who was ple-
‘nipotentiary at Ryfwick, was he who firft inclofed

it, whilft he was governor of it. There has been

fome years fince a project for walling it round *;
- but it will be no eafy matter to bring the inhabitants
to contribute to it. They are brave, but far from
rich ; they have been already found very hard to be
- perfwaded to the neceffity of this expence, and are
fully perfuaded that their own courage is more than
fuficient to defend their city againft. ali invaders.
Our Canadians in general have a good opinion of
themfelves in this particular, and we muft acknow-
lege, not without good grounds. But by a natural
confequence of this felf-fufficiency it is much eafier
to furprife than to defeat them.

Montreal is of a quadrangular form, fituated on
the bank of the river, which rifing gently, divides
the city lengthwife into the upper and lower towns,
though you can fcarce perceive the afcent from the

one to the other; the hofpital, royal-magazines,

and place of arms, are in the lower-town, which is
alfo the quarter in which the merchants for the moft
part have their houfes. The feminary and parifh-
church, the convent of the’ Recollets, the jefuits,
the daughters of the congregation, the governor,
and moft of the officers dwell in the high- town.
Beyond a {mall ftream coming from the north-weft,
and which terminates the city on this fide, you come
to a few houfes and the hofpital general ; and turn-
ing towards the right beyond the Recollets, whofe
convent is at the extremity of the city, on the fame
fide, there is a kind of fuburb beginning to be
built, which will in time be a very fine —

* ‘This eich has been fince put in execution.

The

4

=

(215 )
The jefuits have only a fmall houfe here, but
their church, the roof of which is juft upon the
point of being finifhed is large and well built. The

convent of the Recollets is more fpacious, and

their community more numerous. ‘The feminary

is in the centre of the town; they feem to have

thought more of rendering it folid and commodi-
ous than magnificent; you may, however, ftill dif-

cover it to be the manor-houfe; it communicates

with the parifh-church, which has much more the

air of a cathedral than that of Quebec. Divine

worfhip is celebrated here with a modefty and dig-

nity which infpire the {pectators with an awful notion

of that God who i is worfhipped in it.

The houfe of the daughters of the Congregation,
though one of the largeft in the city, is {till too
{mall to lodge fo numerous acommunity. This is
the head of an order and the noviciate of an infti-

‘tute, which ought to be fo much the dearer to

New France, and to this city in particular, on ac-

- count of its taking i its rife in it; and as the whole co-

lony has felt the advantage of fo noble an endow-
ment. ‘Ihe Hotel-Dieu, or Hofpital is ferved by

thefe nuns, the firft of whom came from la Fléche

in Anjou. They are poor, which, however, nei-
ther appears in their hall, or yards, which are fpaci-
ous, well-furnifhed, and extremely well provided
with beds ; nor in their church, which is handfome,
and exceeding richly ornamented ; nor in their houfe,
which is well built, neat and commodious ; but
they are at the fame time ill-fed, though all of them
are indefatigable either in the pitiinen of the
youth or in ‘taking care of the fick.

The hofpital-general owes its foundation toa pri-
vate perfon called Charron, who affociated with fe-
QO 4 veral

C16 y es

veral pious perfons, not only for this ‘pboid work,
_ but alfo to provide fchool-mafters for the country-

parifhes; who fhould perform the’ fame funétions

with refpect to the boys, which the fifters of the

congregation did with. regard to the fair fex; but

this fociety foon diffolved ; fome being called off by

their private concerns, ‘and others by their natural

icconiiancy, fo that the Sieur Charron was foon left:

alone. He was not however difcouraged, he open-

ed his purfe, and found the fecret to caufe feveral .
perfons in power open theirs; he built a houfe, af-

fembled matters and hofpitallers, and men took a

pleafure in aiding and impowering one who {pared

neither his money nor his labour, and whom: no
difficulties were capable of deterring. Laftly, be-
fore his death, which happened in the year 1719;
he had the confolation to fee his project beyond all
fear of mifcarrying, at leaft with refpect to the
hofpital-general. The houfe is a fine edifice and
the church a very handfome one. The fchool-

mafters are ftill on no folid foundations in the pa-

rifhes, and the prohibition made them by the court -

of wearing an uniform drefs, and of taking fimple
vows, may poffibly occafion this projet to be or
continued, ‘
Between the ifand of Montreal and the Conti-
-nenton the north fide, is another ifland of. about
eight leagues in length, and full two in breadth

where broadeft. This was at firft called /’J/le de

_ Monimafny, after a governor-general of Canada of
this name; it was afterwards granted to the jeluits,
who gave it the name of / The ¥e/us, which it ~ftill
retains, piven it has paffed from them to the fu-
periors of the feminary of Quebec, who have be-
eye to plant it-with inhabitants, and as the foil is

' | eX -

ear

Se a eee

(i 2t7*
excellent, there is ground to Bite it will very foon
be’ cleared.

The ehdiinel which feparates the two iflands, bears
the name of the river of Meadows, as it runs be-
tween very fine ones. its courfe is interrupted in
the middle by a rapid current, called the Fall of the
Recollet, in memory of a ‘monk. of that order
drowned in it. The religious of the feminary of
Montreal had, for a great t while, an Indian miffion
in this place, which they have lately tranfported
fomewhere elfe.

The third arm of the fiver is interfperfed with fo
prodigious a multitude of iflands, that there is al-
moft as much land as water. This channel bears

thé name of Milles Sfles, or the Thoufand Iflands,

or St. John’s River. At the extremity of the //le
Fefus, is the {mall ifland PJ/fle Bizard, from the
name of a Swifs officer, whofe property it was, and

_who died a major of Montreal. A little higher to-

wards the fouth, you find the ifland Perrot, thus
termed from M. Perrot, who was the firft governor
of Montreal, and the father of the countefs de la

Roche Allard, and of thelady of the prefident Lubert.

This ifland is almoft two leagues every way, and

the foil is excellent; they are “beginning to clear it.

The ifand Bizard terminates the lake of the two

mountains, as the ifland Perrot feparates it from that
of St. Louis.

‘The lake of the two mountains is properly the

‘opening of the great river, otherwife called Ja Ri-

viere des Outaoiw is, into the St. Lawrence. It is

two leagues long, and almoft as many broad. That

of St. Lou's is fomething larger, but is only a
widening of the river St. Laurence. Hitherto the
French

~

‘or )

F Seilil colony reached no further to the weltward ;
but they begin to make new plantations higher up
the river, and the foil is every where excellent.

What has been the prefervation, or at leaft the

- fafety of Montreal, and all the country round it dur-

ing the laft wars, is two villages of Iroquois Chrift-
ians, and the fort of Chambly. The firtt of thefe

‘villages is that of Sault St. Lewis, fituated on the
Continent, on the fouth-fide of the river, and three

leagues above Montreal. It is very populous, and
has ever been looked upon as one of our ftrongeft
barriers againft the idolatrous Iroquois, and the Eng-
lith of New-York. It has already changed its fitua-
tion twice within the fpace of two leagues. Its fe-
cond ftation, when I faw it in 1708, was near
a rapid ftream, called Sault St. Lewis, which name
it {till retains though at a confiderable diftance from
it. It appears to ‘have entirely fixed at laft; for
the church which they ave juft about to finifh, and
the miffionaries houfe are each in their own kind
two of the fineft edifices in all Canada; the fitua-
tion of them is charming. The river which is

very broad in this place is embellifhed with feveral —

iflands, which have a very pleafant afpect. The
ifland of Montreal is well ftocked with inhabitants,
forms the view on one hand, and the fight has no

bounds on the other fide, except lake St. Louis,

which begins a little above this.

The fecond village bears the name of /a Montaigne,
having been for a iong time fituated on the double-

headed mountain, which has given its name to the’ —

ifland. It has fince been tranflated to the fall of the

on the Terra Firma oppofite to the weftern extre-
mity of the iland. ‘The ecclefiafticks of- the femi-

nary

~

Recollet, as I have already told -you; it nowftands —

( 219.)

nary of Montreal govern in it. There have many
brave warriors come from thefe two towns, and
the terror which prevailed here was admirable till
the avarice of our dealers introduced drunkennefs
amonegft them, which has made ftill greater favages
here than in the miffions of St. Francis and Becan-
kourt.

The miffionaries have in vain employed. all their

-induftry and vigilance to put a ftop to the torrent
of this diforder ; ; in vain have they made ufe of the

aid of the fecular arm, threatned them with the
wrath of heaven, made ufe of the moft perfuafive
arguments, all has been to no purpofe, and even
where it was impoffible not to difcover the hand of
God ftretched out againft the authors of this evil,
all have been found infufficient to bring thofe Chrift-
ians back to a fenfe of their dyty, who had been

once blindfolded by the fordid and moft contempti-

children, brothers and fifters, feizing one another
by the throats, tearing of one another by the ears, |

ble paffion of lucre. Even in the very {treets of
Montreal, are feen the moft fhocking fpedctacles,
the never-failing effects of the drunkennefs of thefe
barbarians ; hufbands, wives, fathers, mothers, .

and worrying one another with their teeth like fo ©

many inraged wolves, The air refounded during |
the night with their cries and howlings much more |

horrible than thofe with which wild beafts affright
the woods, :

Thofe, who perhaps have greateft reafon to re-
proach themfelves with thefe horrors, are the firft
to afk whether they are Chriftians. One might an-
{wer them, yes, they are Chriftians, and New Con-
verts who know not what they do; but thofe who
in cold blood, and with a perfedt knowledge of

‘what

(pie })
what they are about, reduce, from fordid motives
of avarice, thofe fimple people to this condition,
can they be imagined to have any religion ‘at all?
We certainly know that an Indian will give all he is’
worth for one glafs of brandy, this is {trong temp-
tation to our dealers, againft which, neither the ex-
clamations of their pattors, nor the zeal and autho-
rity of the magiftrate, nor refpect for the laws, nor

the feverity of ‘the divine juftice, nor the dread of.

the judgments of the Almighty, nor the thoughts

of a Hell hereafter, of which thefe barbarians. ex-

hibit a very ftriking picture, have been able to avail.
But it is time to turn away our eyes from fo dif-
agreeable a {peculation. 7 |

The chief part of the peltry or fur-trade, after
the northern and weftern nations left off frequent-
ing the city of the,Téree Rivers, was for fome time

carried on at Montreal, whither the Indians reforted

at certain feafons from all parts of Canada. This was

a kind of fair, which drew great numbers of French
to this city. The governor-general and intendant
came hither likewife, and made ufe of thofe occa-
fions to fettle any differences which might have hap-
pened amongft our allies. But fhould your Grace
happen by chance to light on la Hontan’s book, where
he treats of this fair, I muft caution you to be on
your guard left you take every thing he fays of it
for matter of fact. He has even forgot to give it
fo much as an air of probability. The. women of
Montreal never gave any ground for what this au-
thor lays to their charge, and there is no reafon to
fear for their honour with refpect to the Indians. It
is without example that any of them have ever ta-

ken-the leaft liberty with any French woman, even

when they have been their prifoners. They have
never been fubject to the teat temptation by them,
and

es

fk : ; Ci teu 9

Ai 8 and it were to be wifhed, that Frenchmen had ,
the fame diftafte of the Indian women. La Hon-

tan could not be i ignorant of what is notorious to

the whole country 3 but he had a mind to render

his account entertaining ; on which account every

thing true or falfe was the fame to him. One is al-

- ‘ways s fure of pleafing fome people of a certain caft,

by obferving no mealure in the liberty one affumes

of inventing, calumniating, and in our way of ex-
o- prefing ourfelves on certain topicks. |

Rhee are ftill now and then companies or rather
flotillas of Indians arriving at Montreal, but no-
_ thing in comparifon of what ufed to refort hither
in time paft. The war of the Iroquois is what has
interrupted the great concourfe of Indians in the
colony. In order to provide againft this evil, ftore-
houfes have been erected in the countries of moft:
Indian nations, together with forts, in which there
is always a governor and a garrifon, trong enough
to fecure the merchandize in them. The Indians
are above all things defirous there fhould be a gun- |
{mith amongft them, and in feveral there are mif-
fionaries, who. would generally do more good there,
were there no other Frenchmen with them befides
themfelves. It would one would think have been pro-
per to have reftored things upon the old footing, ef-
pecially as there is an univerfal peace and tranquillity
all over the colony. ‘This would have been a good
means of reftraining the Couriers de Bois; whoie avi-
dity, without mentioning all the diforders introduc-
ed»by libertinifm, which occafions a thoufand mean-
nefles, which render us contemptible to the barba-
rians, has lowered the price of our commodities, and _
raifed that of their peltry. Befides that, the Indi-
ans, who are by nature haughty, have grown info-.

lent

st € 405) ree ae
lent fince they have feen bg i courted by
us.
? The fithery is much more likely and proper to
enrich Canada than the fur-trade ; which is alfo en-
_ tirely independent of the Indians. There are two
reafons for applying to this, which, however, have
| not been able to induce our planters to make it the
| | principal! ae of their commerce. I have nothing
, to add, to what I have already had the honour to
. tell you with refpect to the cod-fifhery, which is
alone worth more than a Peru, had the founders of
New'Francettaken proper meafures to fecure the
pofleffion of it to us. I begin with that of the
fea-wolf, fea-cow, and porpoife, w which may be
carried on over all the gulf of St. Lawrence, and
even a great way up that river.

The fea-wolf owes its name to its cry, which is

a fort of howling, for as to its figure ic has nothing

of the wolf, nor of any known land animal. Lef-

‘carbot affirms, that he has heard fome of them,
: whofe cry refembled that of a fcreech-owl ; but this
might pofibly have been the cry of young ones,

whofe voice was not as yet arrived at its full tone.
Moreover, Madam, they never hefitate in this coun-

try to place the fea-wolf in the rank of fifhes, tho’
it is far from being dumb, is brought forth on -

fhore, on which it lives at leaft as much as in the

water, is covered with hair, in a word, though no-

thing is wanting to it, which conftitutes an animal

truly amphibious. But we are now in a new world,

at and it muft not be expected we fhould always fpeak
: the language of the old, and as cuftom, the{authority
of which is never difputed, has put it in poffeffion —
of all its own rights. Thus the war which is car-

ried on againit the fea-wolf, though often on Ko
: , | an

™% ”

a Re ie ( 223 )
and with mufkets, is called a fifhery ; and that

carried on againft the, beaver, though in the water,
and with nets, is called hunting.

The head of the fea- wolf refembles pretty much
that of a dog; he has four very fhort legs, efpe-
cially the hind legs; in every other circumftance

_ he is entirely a fith: he rather crawls than walks on
his legs ; thofe before are armed with nails, the
_ hind being fhaped like fins; his fkin is hard, and is
covered with a fhort hair of various colours. There
are fome entirely white, as they are all when firft
brought forth; fome grow black, and others red,

as they grow older, and others again of both co-
lours together.

The fifhermen diftinguith feveral forts of f{ea-
wolves ; the largeft weigh two thoufand weight,
and it is pretended have fharper fnouts than “the
reft. There are fome of them which flounce only
in water ; our failors call them draffeurs, as they
call another fort zau, of which I neither know. the
Origin nor meaning. Another fort are called Groffes
tétes, Tbhick-beads. Some of their young are very
alert, and dextrous in breaking the nets {pread for
them ; thefe are of a greyifh colour, are very game-
fome, full of mettle, and as handfome as an ani-
mal of this figure can be; the Indians accuftom

them to follow them like little dogs, and eat them
~ neverthelefs.

~~

M. Denis mentions two forts of fea-wolves, which
he found on the coafts of Acadia; one of them,
fays he, are fo very large, that their young ones
are bigger than our largeft hogs. He adds, that a
little while after they are brought forth, the parents
lead them to the water, and from time to time

conduct

(eG

condud: dicts back on fhore to fuckle them; that ‘

this fifhery is carried on in the month of F ebruary, |
when the young ones, which they are not defirous
of catching, fcarce ever go to the water; thus on
the firft alarm the old.ones take to fight, making —
a prodigious noife to advertife their young, that they
ought to follow them, which fummons they never
fail to obey, provided the fithermen do not quickly
ftop them by a knock on the fnout with a ftick,
which is fafficient' to’ kill theta!) he numberof
thefe animals upon that coaft muft needs be pro-
digious ; if it is true, what the fame author affures
us, that eight hundred of thefe young ones have
been taxen in one day. NPey,,
|
The fecond fort mentioned by M. Denys are
very fmall, one of them yielding only a quantity
of oil fufficient to fill its own bladder. Thefe Jatt
yever go to any diltance from the fea-fhore, and
have always one of their number upon. duty by
way of fentry. At the firft fignal he gives, they
all plunge into the fea ; fome time. after they ap-
proach the land, and raife themfelves on their hind
legs, to fee whethet there is any danger; but in
fpite of all-their precautions great numbers of them
are furprized on fhore, it being fcarce poffible to
catch them any other way.

It is by all agreed, that the flefh of the fea-wolf

-is good eating, “but it turns much better to account
to make oil of it, which is no very difficult opera-
tion. They melt the blubber fat of it over the
fire A tie diffolves into-an oil. Oftentimes they
‘content themfelves with erecting what they cail char-
‘mers, a name given to large iquares of boards or
plank, on which is fpread the fiefh of a number of
{ea- wolves ; ; here it melts of itfelf, and the oil runs
through

(

uN rr ‘a25 )

Fret a hole contrived for the purpolé, This

oil when frefh is good for the ufe of the kitchen,
but that of the young ones foon grows rank ; and
that of the others if kept for any confiderable time,
becorhes too dry. In this cafe it is made ufe of to
burn,-or in currying of leather. It keeps long
clear, has no imell, fediment, or impurity what-
foever at the bottom of the cafk.

“In, the infancy Sia colony great numbers of
the hides of fea-wolves were made ufe of for muffs.
This fafhion has long been laid afide, fo that the
general ufe they are now put to, is the covering of
trunks and chefts. . When tanned, they have almoft
the fame grain with Morocco leather; they are not
quite fo fine, but are lefs liable to crack, and keep
longer quite frefh, and look as if new. Very good
fhoes and_ boots hae made of them, which
let in no water. They alfo cover feats with them,
and the wood wears out before the leather; they
tan thefe hides here with the bark of the oak,
and in the dye ftuff with which they ufe black, is
mixed a powder made from a certain ftone found
on the banks of rivers. This is called thunder-
ftone, or marcafite of the mines.

The fea-wolves couple and bring forth their
young on rocks, and fometimes on the ice; their
common litter is two, which they often fuckle in
‘the water, but oftener on fhore; when they would
teach them to fwim they carry them, fay they, on
their backs, then throw them off in the water, af-
‘terwards taking them up again, and continue this
fort of inftruction till the young ones are able to
fwim alone. If this is true, it is an odd fort of
fifh, and which nature Pemns not to -have inftructed
in what moft fort of land animals do the moment

VOL, |. r ; they

ek 206 A te
: we are brought. forth, The fea- wolf has nity
acute fenfes, which are his fole means of defence ;
hei is, however, often furprized in fpite of all his.
vigilance, as Ihave already taken: notice; ‘but the

moft common way of catching them © is’ the fol-
lowing.

It is ue cuftom of this animal to- enter the creeks
with the tide; when the fifhermen have’ found out
fuch creeks to which great numbers of fea-wolves
refort, they enclofe them with ftakes and nets, leav-
ing only a fmall opening for the ‘fea-wolves to en-
Be as foon as it is high-water they fhut this open-

» fothat when the tide goes out the fifhes remain
a fi and are eafily difparched. They alfo follow
them in canoes to the places to which many of
them refort, and fire upon them when they raife’
their heads above water to breathe. If-they hap-
pen to be no more than wounded they are eafily ta-
ken; but if killed outright, they immediately fink’
to the bottom, like the beavers ; ; but they have
large dogs bred to this exereife, which fetch them:
_ from. the bottom in feven or eight fathom water.
Laftly, I have been told, that a failor having one’
day furprifed a vaft herd of them afhore, drove

them before him to his lodgings with a fwitch, as

he would: have done a flock of “fheep, and that he’

with his comrades killed to the number of nine’

hundred of them. Sit fides penes autorem.

ae aos | ! vi
Our fifhermen now take very few fea-cows, on’ -

the coafts of the gulf of St. Lawrence ; and I do®
not certainly know ‘whether any of them ‘have ever
been catched any where elfe. The Englith formerly
fet. up a fifhery of this fort on the ifland de Sable,.

but without any degree of fuccefs. The figure of
this animal is not very different from that of the’

fea-

Met {Cah 4 |
_ba-wolf, but } it is s larger, What is peculiar to i¢ id.

4wo teeth of the thicknefs and length of a man’s

arm, bending fomewhat upwards, which one might

eafily miftake for horns, and from which thefe ani-
mals probably had the name of fea- -cows. The
fuilors have a fimpler name for them, which is, the
beaft with the great tooth. This tooth is a very
fine ivory, as well as ail the reft in the jaws of this
‘Ath, and which are four fingers long.

There are two forts of potpoifes in the river St.
Lawrence ; ; thofe found tn falt-water, that is, from

alittle below the [Ne of Orleans, are exactly the
fecal with thofe found in the ocean. Thofe in

frefhy water are perfectly white, and of the fize of a
tow; the firft forte commonly go in herds; I have

hot bisfelwicd this circumftance in the other fort,
though I have feen many of them playing in’ the
port of Quebec. They never go higher than this
city; but there are many of them on the coafts of
Acadia, as well as of the firft fort, fo that the dif-
ference of colour cannot proceed from the different
qualities of frefh' and falt-water.

Fhe. hice porpoife. yields 2 hoothead of oil;
which is of much the fame quality with that drawn

from the fea-wolf. I have never found any perfor’

that had tafted the fléfh of this animal, but as for
thofe called dorcelles, a name given the grey por-
poile, their flefh is faid to be no bad eating ; they |

. make puddings and faufages of their guts; the

pluck is excellent -fricafied, “and the head preferable
to thar of a fheep, though inferior to a calf’s.

The ficins of both are tanned and dréffed liké
Morocco. leather 3 at firft it is as tender as lard or
fat, and’ is an inch thick ; they thave it down thin’
oe : | P 2 ner

i) ay ude

ner for a confiderable while, till it becomes a tranf-
- parent fkin ; and let it be made ever fo thin, even
fo as to be fit for making into waiftecoats and
breeches, it is always exceflive {trong and mufket-
proof. . There are of them eighteen feet long and
nine broad ; it.is affirmed that there is nothing ex-
ceeds it for covering coaches. !

There have been two porpoife fifheries lately fet
up below Quebec,, one in the bay of St. Paul, and
the other feven or eight leagues lower down, oppo-
fite to a habitation called Camourafca, from certain
rocks, rifing to a confiderable height above water.
The expence is no great affair, and the profits would
be confiderable, were the porpoifes animals haunt-
ing particular parts; but whether from inftinét or
caprice, they always find means to break all the
meafures of the fifhermen, and to take a different
rout from that where they are expected. Befides
thefe fifheries, which only enrich particular perfons,
occafion a general outcry among the people, which
is owing to their having caufed a confiderable di-
minution in the fifhery for eels, an article of great
benefit to the poor. For the porpoifes finding them-
felves difturbed below Quebec, have retired elfe-
where, and the eels no longer finding thofe large
fifhes in their way, fwim down the river without
‘any hindrance; from whence it is, that between
Quebec and the Three Rivers, where prodigious
quantities of them were caught formerly, there are —
now none caught at all.

‘The way of fifhing for the porpoife is little dif-
ferent from that I laft mentioned with refpect to the
fea-wolf: when the tide is out, they plant pretty
near each other in the mud or fand ftakes to which
‘they tie nets‘in the form of a pouch the _—.
een x j 5 a! Q[ -

is & ( 229 J :
of which is tolerably large ; but that in fuch man-
ner, that when the fifh has once pafled through it,
he cannot find his way out again; there are green
branches placed at top of the ftakes. When the
flood comes, thefe fifhes which give chace to the
herrings, which always make towards the fhore,
and are allured by the verdure which they are ex-
tremely fond of, and intangled in the nets, where
they are kept prifoners. In proportion as the tide
ebbs, you have the pleafure of feeing their confu-
fion and fruitlefs ftrugeles to efcape. In a word,
they remain adry, and fometimes heaped upon one
another in fuch numbers, that with one ftroke of a
{tick you may knock down two or three of them.
Tt is affirmed, that amonoeft the white fort fome |

o
have been found to weigh three thoufand weight.

No body is ignorant of the manner of carrying
on the whale- fifhery, for which reafon I fhall take
no notice of it; it is here faid, that the Bafques or
people of Bayonne i in France, have left it over, only
that they might give themfelves up entirely to the
fur-trade, which requires neither fo large an ex-
pence, nor fo much fatigue, and whereof the pro-
_ fits were then more confiderable as well as fooner

returned. But they wanted many conveniencies for ©
Carrying it on, which are to be had now, there be-
ing fo many fettlements a great way towards the
gulf. There has fome years fince been an attempt
to re-eftablith it, but without fuccefs; the underta-
kers either wanted the neceffary funds for making
the advances, or clfe wanted to reimburfe the fums_
they had laid out too foon, or wanted conftancy. It
‘appears, however, that this commerce might be-
come highly ufeful to the colony, and that it might
be carried on with much inferior expence and dan-

ger than on the coaft of Greenland. What fhould —
| Le a hin-

es

vill
ont 2 Cree
a notice of “their manner

the , a ; i

ie

county. a f a ERR ine oy i Te ee :

tbe honour to

OF eas |

oo (nage oD

Tok TTR Ro TE

Of fort Chambly, with the fifhes, birds, and
Jeveral animals peculiar to Canada. Of trees
common to 1¢ with France, and of fuch as are
peculiar to this country.

Chambly, April 11, 1721.
Madam, ,

. NE of the principal fecurities and bulwarks
() of Montreal againft the Iroquois and New-
York, is the fort of Chambly, from ‘which I now

_ have the honour to write you. I came here to pay

a vifit to the commandant, who is M. de Sabrevots,

one of the beft families of Beauce, and my friend,
fellow-paflenger, and a good officer. Iam going in

two words to give you the fituation and defcription

- of this important place.

In the firft years of our fettling in this country,
the [roquois, that they might make incurfions even
as far as the center of our plantations, came down °
a river which empties itfelf into the St. Lawrence,
a little above St. Peter, and which had for this rea-
fon given it the name of the River of the Iroquois.

~ It has been fince called Richeliew River, on account

' ee of

C aged
of a fort of this name, that had been built at its —
mouth. ‘This fort having been demolifhed, M. de
Sorel, captain in the regiment of Carignan Salieres, —
caufed build another, to which his name was given ;
this name has been fince: extended to the river,~
which {till retains it, though the fort has long
ceafed to exift. After failing up this river about
feventeen leagues, always itretching towards the
fouth, and a little towards to the fouth-weft, you
come to a rapide, and oppofite to it, a little lake
formed by the fame river. On the banks of this
vapide, and oppofite to the lake, the fort is placed.’
This was ac firft built of wood by M.de Chambly,
captain in the above-mentioned regiment, and at the
time when M. de Sorel built the other. But it
has fince been built of ftone, and flanked with four
baftions, and has always a ftrong garrifon. The
_lands round it are excellent, they begin to make
plantations, and many are of opinion that in time >
a city will be built here.

From Chambly to lake Champlain there are only
eight leagues; the river Sorel croffes this lake, and
there is not. perhaps a canton in all New France, |
which it would be more proper to people. The
climate here is milder than in any part of the co-
lony, and the inhabitants will have for neighbours,
the Iroquois, who are, at bottom, a good fort of
people enough, who will, probably, never think of
coming to a rupture with us, after they fhall fee
us in fch a ‘condition as not to fear them, and who,
in my opinion would like us much better for neigh-
bours than the people of New York. ‘There are
many other reafons to induce us to make this fet-
tlement ; but were I to mention all, I fhould leave.
myfelf nothing to tell you when I have the honour
to fee you.. Lam going to make ufe of the leifure

j

Jey Taek a

{ have here to continue my account of fuch things
as are peculiar to this country. 1 left off at the ar-
ticle of the benefit which the gulph and river of St.
Lawrence are capable of furnifhing with refpect to
the commerce of New France. it remains to treat
ef the refources the inhabitants may find for ana
fupport of life in thefe parts.

In all parts where the water of the river is filt,
that is from cape Tourmente to the gulf, may be.
eaught fuch fithes as are found in the ocean; fuch
as the falmon, tunny, fhad-fifh, fmelt, fea-eels,
mackerel, trout, lamprey, fole, herring, anchovy,
pilchard, turbot, and many others, unknown in
Europe. They are all caught with nets of different
forms. In the gulph are caught thrafhers, three
forts of Rayes; the common, that called Boucle,
and which is by fome preferred to ours in France ;
‘and the fort termed /e Poffeau, not efteemed ; in
cornets, a kind -of cuttle-fith ; Godvergues, or St.
Peter-fifh ; plaife, requiems, fea-dogs, another fort
of requiem not fo mifchievous when alive, and bet-
ter beyond comparifon when dead. Ojifters are ex-
tremely plenty in winter, on all the coafts of Aca-
dia, and their way of fifhine them is very fingular.
They make a hole in the ice, through which they
_ put two poles tied together, fo as to play like pin-
cers, and rarely draw them up without an oifter.

I faid the lencornet was a find of cuttle-fith, its
- figure is, however, very different from the com-
mon fort of them. It is quite round, or rather
oval; it has above the tail, a fort of border, which
ferves it inftead of a target, and its head is fur-
rounded with prickles half a foot long, which he
ufes to catch other fifhes ; there are “two forts of
them which differ only in fize; fome are as laroe as

3 a

a

(234)

a hogfhead, and pchors but a foot long; they. catch
oat thefe lait, and that with a torch; they. are
very fond of light, they hold it out to them from,
the fhore at high-water, and they come to it, and ~
fo are left a-cround. The lencornet roafted, boiled,
or fricafied, is excellent eating; but it makes the
{auce quite black.

‘The gobergue refembles a finall ol, It has the
fame tafte; and is dried like it. It has two black.
{pots on each fide the head,. and. the failors tell you
that this is the fifh in which St. Peter fourd money
to pay the Roman emperor’s ‘tribute. for our Lord
and himfelf, and thac thefe two thew are the two
places by which he held i it; this is the reafon it has
got the name of St, Peter’s fifth, ‘The fea-plaife
has firmer flefh and is of a,better relifh than the
frefh water fort; this is taken as well as the lobfter
or fea-crab, with long poles armed with a pointed
iron, ending j ina fork er. hook «which hinders the
fifh from getting loofe., Laftly, in feveral places,
efpecially in Acadia,, the pools. are full of falmon
trouts a foot long, and of turtles two foot diameter,
the fleth of which i is excellent, and the upper thell,
fnped with white, red, and blue.

Amongtt the fifhes which lake Chamalene and
the rivers falling into it, abound, M, Champlain
remarks one fingular enough, called Chaoyrafou s
probably from the name given it by the Indians.
Lhi$ is a fpecies of the armed fith, which is found
in feveral other places ; this is in figure pretty much
like a. pike, only it 1s covered with {cales. which
are prooi againit a dagger ; ; its colour is a filver
grey, and from: under its throat proceeds a bone
which i iS, Hat, indented, hollow, and pierced or open.
at the end, from which it. 1s probable the. animal
breathes

oh ke ee
“breathes through this. The thin which covers this

bone is tender, and its length is in proportion to

that of the fith, of which i it is one third part. Its
breadth is two fingers in thofe, of. 'the {malleft
fize, The Indians affured M..C hamplain they
had found fome of thofe fifhes from eight to ten
feet broad ; but the largeft of thofe he faw were
not above five, and were as thick as a man’s

thigh.

We may well imagine this to be a real pirate
amongtt the iababirarits of the waters; but no body

could — ever dream that he is fv ll as dangerous an.

enemy to the citizens of the airs this is, “however,
one of his trades, in which he aéis like an able huntf-
man; the way he does it is as follows. He con-
ceals himfelf amoneft the canes or reeds, in fuch
manner, that nothing is to’ be feen, befides his
weapon, which he holds raifed perpendicularly above
the furface of the water. ‘The fow!] which come to
take reft imagining this weapon to be only a wither-
ed reed, ‘make no fcruple of perching upon it.
They are no fooner alighted than the fith opens his
throat, and fo faddenly makes at his prey, that it
rarely efcapes him. ‘ihe teeth which are placed on

the fides of the bone, which he ufes fo dexteroufly,

ate pretty Jong and very fharp. The Indians pre-
tend they are a fovercign remedy again{t the tooth-
ach, and that by pricking the part mott affected
with one of thele teeth the pain vanifhes that in-
ftant. ia ae

Thele people have a wonderful addrefs in dart-
ing fifhes under water, efpecially in rapid currents,

They alfo fith with the bofom net, and prepare

themfelves for it by a ceremony fingular enough.
Before they ufe this net they marry it to two oirls

whe

1 PTE SR

=

( 2567}

who are virgins, and during the marriage- -feaft,

place it between the two brides; they abrabwirde:
exhort it to catch plenty of fith, and believe they
do a great’ deal to obtain this favour, by making }

large prefents to the fham fathers-in-law.

The fturgeon of this country is both a frefh and
falt-water fifth ; for it is caught on the coafts of Ca-
nada, and in the great lakes crofs which the river
St. Lawrence runs. “Many believe this to be the
true dolphin of the antients ; if this is true, it was

but fit the king of fifhes fhould reign both in the

rivers and ocean. Be this as it wit we fee here
fturgeons of from eight to ten, and twelve feet long,
and of a proportionable thicknefs. “This animal has
on its head a fort of crown about an inch high, and
is covered with fcales half a foot diameter, almott
oval, and with fmall figures on them, pretty much
like the lily in the arms sof France, The following
is the way the Indians fifh for them in the lakes.
Two men place themfelves in the two extremities
of a canoe; the next the ftern fteers, the other
ftanding up holding a dart to which is tied a long

cord, the other extremity whereof is faftened to

one of the crofs timbers of the canoe. The mo-
ment he fees the fturgeon within reach of him, he
lances his dart at him, and endeavours, as much as
poffible, to hit in the place that is without fcales.
If the fifh happens to be wounded, he flies and
draws the canoe after him with extreme velocity ;
but after he has fwam the diftance of an hundred

and fifty paces or thereabouts, he dies, and then, —

they draw up the line and take him. There is a

{mall fort of fturgeon, the fiefh of which is exceed-

ing tender,, and prodigious delicate.

The

ae,

AK re m 4 : . J ~,
‘ | CO

me

chee Ceagay)
~The river St. Lawrence breeds feveral fifhes, al-
together unknown i in: France. Thofe moft pi eden:

} he ed | are the Achigax™ ‘and the Gilthead. The other

rivers of Canada, and efpecially thofe of Acadia,
are equally well provided with this river, perhaps,
the moft plentifully ftocked with fifh in the whole
world, and in which there is the greateft variety of
different and thofe the beft forts.’

There are fome feafons in which the fifhes in this
river are alone capable of fuftaining the whole co-
lony. But I am utterly at a lofs, what degree of

credit ought to be given to what I have read ina

manuf{cript relation of an ancient miffionary, who
afferts, his having feen a Homme marin, or mer-
maid in the river Sorel, three leagues Belon Cham-
bly ; this relation is wrote with abundance of judg-

ment; but in order to ftate the matter of fact, and
to prove that he has not been deceived by a falfe
and hafty appearance, the author ought to have
added to his account a defcription of this monfter.
People have often at firft look apprehended they
faw the appearance of fomething, which vanifhes
on the careful fcrutiny of a fage eye. Befides, had
this fifh fo refembling a human creature come from
the fea, he muft have made a long voyage before
he got up as high as near Chambly, and it muft
have been extraordinary enough he was never feen
till he arrived at this fortrefs. :

The forefts of Canada are far from being as well
peopled with birds, as our lakes and rivers are with
fifhes. There are fome, however, which are not
without their merit, and which are even peculiar to
the Americans. We find here eagles of two forts;
the largeft have the head and neck almoft quite

white 5 they give chace to the hares and rabbits, take

them

( 238
thein in their talons, and carry die to their nefts
and airies.. The reft are entirely grey, and only
make war on. birds. They are all excellent fifhers:
The falcon, the gofs-hawk, and taffel, are abfo-
lutely the fame with thofe of Europe; but we have
here a fecond fort of them, which live folely by
fifhins.

Our partridges are of three forts ; the otey, redy
and black partridge. The laft are the leaft efteem-
ed; they favour too much of the grape, juniper;

and fir-tree.'. They have the head and eyes of a |
pheafant, and their fefh is brown; they have all
long tails, which they fpread like a fan, or like the ©

tail of a_turkey-coek. Thefe tails are exceeding
beautiful; fome of them are a mixture of grey;
ted, and browa ; others are that of a light and dark
brown. I faid the black partridge was not efteemn-
ed; fome there are, however, who prefer them
even to the red fort; they are all bigger than ours
in France, but fo ftupidly foolifh as to fuffer them-
felves to be fhot, and even to let you come near
them, almoft without ftirring.

Befides fnipes which are excellent in this countrys
and {mall water-game, which is every where in great
plenty, you.meet with fome woodeocks’ about
fpring, but. thofe in’ no great numbers. In the

country of the IHinois, and all over the fouthern —

parts of New France, they are more common. M.
Denys afferts, that the raven of Canada is as good
eating as a pullet. ‘This may be true on the coafts
of Acadia; ; but I don’t find people of this opinion
in thefe parts ; they are larger than in France, fome-
thing blacker, and have a different. cry from ours.
The ofpray, on the contrary is fmaller, and their

ery not fodifagreeable. The owl of Canada he ae
) ) iffe-

ek
‘m
we
:

4a
Me

fi

difference from that of FE rance, but a fmall ring of

- white round the neck, and a particular kind of ¢ cry.

Its flefh is good eating, and many prefer it to that
of a pullet. In winter, its provifions are field mice,
the legs of which he breaks, feeds, carefully, and
fattens till he wants them. The bat here is larger
than that of France. The blackbird and fwallow
are in this country birds of paflage, as in Europe 3
the former are«not a deep black,’ but inclining, to
red. We have three forts of larks the fmalleft of
which are like fparrows, ‘This lait is little different
from ours; he has quite 'the ‘fame’ inclinations, but
his mien is jon indifferent.

There are in this country vaft multitudes of wild-
ducks, of which I have heard reckoned to the*
number of two and twenty different fpecies. Ae.
moft beautiful and the moft delicate eating are tho

called Cavaris Branchus, or bough wild dicks: fron’

their perching on the boughs of trees. ‘Their plu-

mage is extreamly variegated, and very brilliant.-
Swans, turkey-cocks, water-hens, eranes, teale,
geefe, buftards, and other large water-fowl, fwarny
every where, except near our habitations, which
they never approach. We have cranes of two co-
lours; fome quite white, and others of a light grey.

They all make excellent foop. Our woodpecker
is an animal of extreme beauty; there are fome-of

all-manner of colours, and others quite black, or

Of a dark brown all over the body, except the head’

and neck, which are of a beautiful red.
eh

The thrufh of Catiada is much the fame’ with
that of France as to fhape, but has only one half
his mufick ; the wren has robbed him of the other
half. The goldfinch has the head lefs beautiful than:
that. of France, and its plumage is a mixture oF
blacis

etn U ; }

“~

\ ( 240 ) : 4
black. and yellow. As I have never feeti any of —
them in a cage, I can fay nothing of his fong.
\ All our woods are full of a bird of the fize of a
linnet, which is quite yellow, and has a delightful
pipe; his fong, however, is but fhort, and without
variety. This has no ‘name to diftinguith it, but
that of its colour. A fort of ortolan, the plumage
of which is of an afh-colour on the back, and white
under the belly, and which is called the white-dird,
is, of all the guelts in our forefts the beft fongfter.
This yields not to the nightingale of France, but
the male only is overheard to fing ; the female
which is of a deeper~colour, utters not a fingle
note even in a cage; this fmall animal is of a very:
beautiful mien, and well deferves the name of orto-
lan for its flavour. I know not whither he bends
his courfe in the winter; but he is always the firft
to return, and. to proclaim the approach of the
fpring. The fnow is fcarce melted in fome parts,
when they flock thither in great numbers, and then-
you may take as many of them as you pleale,

You muft travel a hundred leagues to the fouth-
ward of this place before you meet with any of the
| birds called cardinals. There are fome in Paris —
es which have been brought thither from Louifiana, ~
and I think they might thrive -in France, could
they breed like the canary bird; the fweetnefs of
their fong, the brilliancy of their plumage, which
is of a fhining fcarlet incarnate ; the little tuft on
their heads, and which is no bad refemblance of
.- the crowns the painters give to Indian and Ameri-

can kings, feem to promife them the empire of the
airy tribe; they have, however, a rival in this _
country, who would even have the unanimous voice
of every one, were his pipe as grateful to the ear as

his outward appearance is to the fight ; sl
) what

b

(saat *)

what is called in this country steean Mowe, of

te Fly-bird. WG

This name i two foto aiicite + sthe firft is that
of the fmallnefs of the animal; for with all its
plumage, its volume is no larger than that of an
ordinary May-bug. The fecond is a_loud fort of

humming noife, which he makes with his wings,
_ and which is not unlike that of a large fly; its legs

which are about an inch long are like two necdles ;

his bill is of the fame thicknefs, and from it ha
fends forth a fmall fting, with which he pierces the
flowers, in order to extract the fap, which is his
nourifhment. The female has nothing ftriking in
her appearance, is of a tolerable acrecable white

under the belly, and of a bright grey all over the

reft of the body; but the male is a perfect jewel,
he has on the crown of his head a {mall tuft of the

- moft beautiful black, the breaft red, the belly white,
_ the back, wings, and tail or a green, like that of

the leaves of the rofe-bufh; fpecks of gold, {cat-
tered all over the plumage, add a prodigious eclat
- to it, and an imperceptible down produces on it
the moft delightful fhadings that can pene be
feen.

Some travellers have confounded this bird with

the Colby ; and in fact, this bird feems to be a fpe-
cies of it. But the coliby of the iflands is fome-

thing bigger, has not fo much livelinefs of colour
in his plumage, and his bill is a little bent down-
wards. I might, however, be miftaken’ with re-
eard to the brightnefs and luftre of his plumage, as
TP never faw any of them alive: fome affirm he has
a melodious pipe; if this is true, he has a great
_ advantage over the oifeau mouche, which no one

Vou, J. Q has

C age
has as yet ever heard to fing; but I myfelf vale
heard a female one whiftle notes exceeding fhrill and
difagreeabie. This bird has an extremely ftrong

and an amazingly rapid flight ; you behold him on
fome flower, and in a moment he will dart upwards

into the air almoft perpendicularly; it is an enemy

to the raven, and a sania one too. I have
heard a man worthy of credit affirm, that he has
feen one boldly quit a flower he was fucking, lance
himfelf upwards into the air like lightning, get un-
der the wing of a raven that lay motionlefs on his
extended wings at a vaft height, pierce it with his
his fting, and make him tumble down dead, either
of his fall or the wound he ‘had received,

The oifeau uadke feleéts fuch flowers as are of

the ftrongeft fcent, and fucks them, always hop-

ping about at the fame time ; he, however, alights
now and then to reft himfelf when we have an op-
portunity of beholding him at our leifure. Some
of them have been kept for fome time, by feeding
them with fugar-water and flowers; 1 formerly
kept one of them for twenty-four hours 5 ; he fuffer-
ed himfelf. to be taken and handled, and counter-
feited himfelf dead ; the moment I let him go, he
flew away, and continued fluttering about my win-
dow. I made a prefent of him to a friend, who
found him dead the next morning, and that
very night there was a little froft. Thus thefe di-
minutive animals are extremely watchful to prevent
the firft advent of cold weather.

, There is great reafon to think, that they retire
to Carolina, where we are affured they are never
feen but in winter; they make their nefts in Cana-
da, where they fufpend them on the branch of fome

-

7 mh ICPES x4

\

( Mts

ee bs Qs Babi’.

tree, and turn them. towards fuch an expofure,
that they are fheltered from all the injuries of the
air and weather. : Nothing can be neater than thefé
nefts. The foundation confifts of tiny bits of wood:
interwoven bafket-wife, and the infide is lined with
TI don’t know what fort of down, which feems to
be filk; their egos are of the fize of a pea, with
yellow fpots on a black ground. Their common

~ jitter is faid to be three and fometimes five. | z

Amongtt the reptiles of this country; I know of
‘none as yet but the rattle fhake, that merits the
Jeaft attention.’ There are fome of them as thick
as a man’s leg, and fometimes thicker, and long in
proportion ; but there are others, and thofe I be-
lieve the greater number, which are neither longer
nor thicker than our largeft {nakes of France , theit ‘
fioure is abundantly odd ,; on a neck, which is flat
_and very broad, they have but a {mall head. Their
colour is lively without being dazzling, and a pale ~

‘ ‘Yellow, with very beautiful fhades, is the colour
which predominates. }
" 4

: But the mioft remarkable part of this animal is its
4 tail; this is fcaly like a coat of mail, fomewhat

flattifh, and it grows, fay they, every year a row
of fcalés; thus its age may be known by its tail,
as that of a horfe is by his teeth ; when he ftirs he
makes the fame noife with his tail as the grafhopper
does when he leaps or flies, for your Grace, no
doubt knows, that the pretended mufick of the
grafhopper is no more than the noife of his wings.
_ Moreover, the refernblance I tpeak of is fo perfect,
‘that I bave been deceived with it myfelf. It is
from this noife, this fort of ferpent has obtained
the name it bears. aes e..

C ae a

ts bite is mortal, if the remedy be. not spoilt
immediately, but Providence has provided againft
this misfortune. In all places where this dangerous Ae

reptile is found, there grows an herb, called the.

: rattle-{nake plant, Herbe a ferpent a fonettes, the —
~ root of which is a never- -failing antidote againft the
venom of this animal. You have only to bray or
chew it, and to apply it in the nature of a plaifter
upon the wound. This plant is beautiful and eafily
known. Its ftem is round, and fomewhat thicker
‘than a goofe quill, rifes to the height of three or
four feet, and terminates in a yellow flower of the
figure and fize of a fingle daify ; this flower has a

_ very {weet fcent, the leaves of the plant are oval,
J _ narrow, fuftained, five and five, in form of a turkey
: cock’s foot, by a pedicle, or foot-ftalk an inch

- Jong.

The rattle-fnake rarely attacks any paflenger who
eives him no provocation. I had one juft at my
foot, which was certainly more afraid than I was,
for I did not perceive him till he was flying. But

: fhould you tread on him you are fure to be bitten,
«and if you purfue him, if he has ever fo little time
- to recover himfelf, he folds himfelf up in a circle .
with his head in the middle, and darts himfelf with
great force againft his enemy. The Indians, how- -
ever, give chace to him, and efteem his flefh ex- —
cellent. 1 have even heard Frenchmen, who had
eaten of it, fay, that it was no bad eating ; but 5
they were travellers, a fort of cattle who hold every |
thing excellent, being often expofed to be extreme
hungry. It is, however, for certain, capi.)
innocent food.

I don’t :

Py : (i 248 iy

i = don’t know, Madam, whither I ought to .en-

tertain you with an account of the forefts of Ca-

- nada. We are here furrounded with the vattett

woods in the whole world; in all appearance, they

are as ancient as the world itfelf,. and were never

, planted by the hand of man. Nothing can prefent

a nobler or more magnificent profpect to the eyes,

the trees hide their tops in the clouds, and the va-

_ riety of different fpecies of them is fo prodigious,

_ that even amoneft all thofe who have moft applied

- themfelves to the knowledge of them, there is not

perhaps one who is not ignorant of at leaft one

half of them. As to their quality, and the ufes

to which they may be applied, their fentiments are

fo different, both in the country in which we now

are, as well as in that where your grace is, that I

_defpair of being ever able to give you the infor-

‘mation I could defire on this head. At prefent, at

leaft I ought to confine myfelf to fomie obfervations

on what I have myfelf feen, and on what I have

_ heard people who have more experience fay, and
__ who are greater adepts in this {cience.

What moft ftruck my eyes on my firft arrival
in this country, was, the pines, fir-trees, and cedars,
which are of a height and thicknefs perfectly aftonifh-

~ ing. There are two forts of pines in this country, all
of them yielding a refinous fubftance very fit for
making pitch and tar. The white pines, at leaft
fome of them, fhoot out at the upper extremity a
kind of rathrodin: which the inhabitants call
Guarigtie, and which the Indians ufe with fuc-
- cefs againft diforders in the breaft and in the
‘dyfentery. The red pines are more gummy and
heavier, but do not grow to fucha thicknefs. The
lands which produce both are not the moft proper

Q 3: Me

eee

for bearing of corn; they are generally a inienige
of gravel, ” fand, and clay.

There are four forts of fir-trees " Gabi 9 the
fir refembles ours; the three others are the E/pinette
Blanche, and Epinette Rouge, or the White and Red
Prickly firs, and that called da Peruffe. The fe-
cond and fourth forts rife to a vaft height, and are
excellent for matts, efpecially the white prickly fort,

which are alfo extremely fit for carpenter's -work.
‘This grows generally in moift, and black lands, but
which after being drained, are fit for bearing all
forts of grain. ‘Its bark is fmooth and fhining,
and there grows on it a kind of fmall blifters of
the fize of kidney-beans, which contain a kind of
turpentine, which is fovereign ‘in wounds, which
it cures {peedily, and even: in fractures. We are
affured that it cures fevers, and pains in the breaft
and ftomach ; the way to ufe it is to put two drops

of it in fome broth. This is what is called in Paris
White Balam.

The epinette rouge has fcarce any refemblance
‘to the epinette blanche. Its wood is heavy, and
may be of good ufe in fhip- building, and in car-
penter’s work. ‘The lands where it grows are a
mixture of gravel and clay. The perufle is gummy,
but yields not a quantity fufficient to be made ufe
of ; its wood remains long in the groynd without
rotting, which renders it ‘extremely fit for paling or
inclofures. The bark is excellent for tanners, and |
the Indians make a dye of it, refembling that of a
‘urky-blue. Moft of the Tands where this tree
“grows are clayey; I have, however, feen fome very
thick ones in fandy-grounds, though perhaps there
was clay under the fand.

e 5 he

| ( 247 )

7 he cedar is of two forts, the white and the red ;
the former are the thickeft of the two; of thefe are.
made palings, and this too is the wood chart commonly
made ufe of for fhingles, on account of its light-
nefs. There diftills a fort of incenfe from it, but
it is without any fruit like thofe of Mount Liba-
nus. The red cedar is fhorter and thinner in pro-
portion. The moft fenfible difference between
them, is, that all the odour of the former is in the .
leaves, and that of the fecond in its wood; but
the latter is the more agreeable flavour. The
cedar, at leaft the white fort grows only in good
ground. . : :

There are all over Canada two forts of oaks,
diftinguifhed by the names of the white and red ~
_ oaks, The firft are often found in lands which are
low, fwampy, fertile, and proper for producing
corn and lesumes. The red, the wood of which
is the leaft efteemed, orow in ‘dry fandy lands, both
of them bear acorns. The maple is likewife very
common in Canada, is very large and is made into
good furniture ; this grows on high grounds, sand

. fuch as are fit for bearing fruit-trees, which they

_ call Rbene. Here is the female maple, the wood
of which is ftreaked and clouded very much, but is
paler than the male; befides it has all its qualities
as well as its colour ; but it muft have a moift and

Tich foil.

- The cherry-tree, which is found promifuost
_amongft the maple and white wood-trees, is ver
fit for making furniture ; it yields a much preaicr
quantity of juice than the maple, but this is bitrc:
and the fugar made of it never lofes this ashi: a: 4
The Indians ufe its bark againft certain difeatcs,

Q4 which

*€ 248 5 LS es a
which are incident to women, There are in Calis? |
da, three forts of ath-trees; the free, the mongrel, 3
and the baftard. ‘The firft grows among maples is
fit for carpenter’s work, and for ftaves for dry~
‘ware cafks. Ihe fecond has the fame qualities; = §
and like the baftard, will grow only in low and ©
good lands. | ae

ee oe ee

They reckon alfo in this country three forts of
walnut-trees, the hard, the foft, and a third fort

, which has a very thin bark. The hard fort bears
a very {mall walnut, good to eat, but very coftive..
The wood is only fit for fire- wood, The tender,
bears a long fruit, as large as thofe in‘France, but
the fhell is very hard. ‘The kernels of them are
excellent. ‘The wood is not fo pretty as ours ; but

Se ne eed

to make amends it is almoft incorruptible in water;

or in the ground, and is difficult to confume in the it

fire. The third produces a nut of the fame fize ‘
_ with the firft, but in greater quantity, and whichis =

bitter, and inclofed in a very tender hufk; they make.

excellent oil of it. This tree yields a fweeter fap 4

than that of the maple, but in a {mall quantity. Fl

This grows only, as doth the foft walnut tree; in...
the belt lands, , +h:

The beech is here fo sleeidtile that whole tracts
are covered with them ; I have feen them growing
on fandy hills, and in exceeding fertile low Jands.
They bear great auanetivs of nuts, from which it
would be an eafy matter to extract an oil.’ The
bears make this their principal nourifhment, ds de, a
alfo the partridges. The wood of it is exceeding _

gn tender, and very fit for oars and for fhallops. Bue
_ thofe of canoes are made of maple. ‘The tree cal- j

led white-wood, which grows amongtt maples, and

ithe p

ee Ue aed

h the cherty-tree i 1S eaedion plentiful. Thefe trees

grow to a great thicknefs and very ftrait ; very good
planks and boards may be made of them, “and
even ftaves for dry ware cafks. It is foft and eafily

- worked; the Indians pecl off the bark of this tree

to cover their cabins.

Flms are very plenty all over this country.

There are white and red elms; the wood of this

tree is difficult to work but lafts longeft. The bark
of. the red elm 3 is that of which the “Troquois make
their canoes. ‘ Some of them which are miade of
one fingle piece, will contain twenty perfons; fome
of them are likewife hollow, and to thefe the bears
and wild cats retire in the month of November,

_and remain till April. The poplar grows com-

monly on the banks of rivers and on ‘the fea-

fhore.

In the thickeft woods are found great numbers of
prune or plumb-trees, loaden with a very four fruit.

The vinage-tree is a very pithy fhrub, which pro-

duces a four cluftering fruit, of the BONE: of bul-
lock’s blood ; they caufe infufe it in water, and

_make a fort of vinegar of it, The Pemime, is an-

other fhrub growing along rivulets, and in mea-

. dows ;, it bears alfo a cluftering fruit yielding a red

and very aftringent liquor. ‘There are three forts

of goofeberry-trees in this country; thefe are the

fame with thofe of France. The Bluez grows here
as in Europe in woods. ‘This fruit is a fovereign
and fpeedy cure for the dyfentery. The Indians
‘ad them as we do cherries in France.

‘The Atoca is a ftone-fruit of the fize of a cherry.

‘This plant which creeps along the ground in fwamps,

pro-

| (250 ' )
oe | produces 1 its fruit in water; this fruit is tharp, and
is made into a confeétion. The white'thorn ‘is
found along rivulets, and produces a quantity of
fruit with a treble kernel; this is the food of feve-
ral wild beafts. “What they call here the cotton-
tree, is a plant which fprouts like afparagus, to the
heighth of about three feet, and at the end grow /—
iy feveral tufts of flowers. In the morning before the
| dew has fallen off, they thake the flowers, and there
falls from it, with the humidity, a ind! of honey,

: which by boiling is reduced to a kind_of fugar.
The feed is formed in a fort of pod, which contains
a kind of very fine cotton.

The folei? is another very common plant in the
fields of the Indians, and which rifes to the height
of feven or eight feet. Its flower, which is very ©
: thick has much the fame figure with that of the
ae marigold, and the feed is difpofed in the fame man-
" ner; “the Indians extract an oil from it by boiling,
with which they anoint their hair, The legumes
they cultivate moft, are, Maize, or Turkey-corn,
French-beans, gourds, and melons, They have a
fort of gourds {maller than ours, and which afte
much of fugar ; they boil them whole 4 in water, Or i
roaft them under the afhes, and fo eat them with- bs
out any other preparation. a

a *

The Indians were acquainted before our arrival
in their country with the common and water me- q
Jon. The former are as good as thofe in France, .
efpecially in this ifland, whee they are in great
plenty. The hop-plant and capilaire are likewife

we ihe natural produce of Canada; but the latter - ‘
grows to a much greater height, and js infinitely - Y

better than in France. I now finifh a letter, by. @

. which 3

you may eal cover a traveller, rambling’) «4
erty itoick of Canada, and whois | ae
diverted with | every thing which prefents itelf to
his view. But what could you expect from ‘one meat
é _ who travels tigpugn fuch a country as this is. Pais.

b ‘

f aM, &c. {

eS ees eS.
SS eae

®

‘ -
\

ee. Tr Ee Re xe

Of the caufes of the exceffive cold in Canada. Of —

the refources zt affords for the fupport of life.
The character of the French Canadians.

Montreal, April 22d, 1701;

Madam,

‘JT is furprifing, that in France, where they fo
often meet with perfons who have fpent great
-part of their lives in Canada, they fhould have fo

- imperfect a‘notion of the country. This undoubt-

edly proceeds from this, that the greateft number of
thofe, to whom they apply for information, are ac-
quainted ‘only with its bad fide. The winter com-
monly begins before the veffels. fet fail in order to
return to France, and always in fuch a manner as to

aftonifh every one except the natives of the place. —

The firft frofts in a few days fill the rivers with ice,
and the earth is foon covered with fnow, which con-
tinues for fix months, and is always fix feet deep in

_ places not expofed to the wind.

!

It is true there is no want of wood to guard a-
gainft the cold, which very foon becomes extreme,

and encroaches greatly on the {pring : but it is, how-

ever, fomething extremely fhocking, not to be able
to

! i |

| ( dae

to ftir out of doots without being frozen, at icatt;
without being wrapt up in furs like a bears More-

over, what a fpectacle is it to behold one continued.

tract of fnow, which pains the fight, and hides from
your view all the beauties of nature ? No more dif-
ference between the rivers and fields; no more
variety, even the ‘trees are covered with fnow-
froft, with large icicles depending from all their
branches, under which you cannot pafs with faféty.
What can a man think who fees the horfes with
beards of ice more than a foot long, and who can
travel in a country, where, for the fpace of fix
months, the bears themfelves dare not fhew their
faces to the weather? Thus I have never pafled a
winter in this country without feeing fome one or
other carried to the hofpital, and who was obliged
to have his legs or arrhs cut off on account of theif
being benumbed and frozen, In a word, if the fky
is clear, the wind which blows from the weft is in-
tolerably piercing. If it gurns to the fouth or eaft,
the weather becomes.a little more moderate, but fo
thick a {now falls, that there is no fecing ten paces
before you, even at noon-day. On the other hand,
if a compleat thaw comes on, farewel to the yearly
{tock of capons, quarters of beef and mutton, poul-
try and fifh, which they had laid up in granaries;
depending on the continuance of the froft ; fo that
in fpite of the exceflive feverity of the cold, people
_are reduced to the neceffity of wifhing for its conti-
nuance, .

It is in vain to fay that the winters aré not now
as fevere as they were four and twenty years ago, and
that in all sue they will become ftill milder
in the fequel: the fufferings of thofe who have gone
before us, and the happinefs of fuch as may come
after us, are no remedies againft a prefent evil; un+

der’ i

(255)

der which we ourfelves labour. What comfort

would it have been to a Creole of Martinico, who
had arrived in France for the firft time during thehard

froft in 1799, fhould I, who had juft then returned

from Quebec, have told him that the cold he now
felt was ftill inferior to that of Canada? I fhould
however have told him truth, and could have fup-
ported it by good evidences; but he might very
well have anfwered me, that he found the cold in
France not a whit the lefs piercing, by being infor-
med it was ftill more fo in Canada.

But as foon as the month of May begins, we have
reafon to change our language, the mildnefs of this
latter part of the fpring being by fo much the more
agreeable, as it fucceeds fo rigorous a feafon. The
heat of the fummer, which in lefs than four months,

fhews us both the feed and the crop *, the ferenity

of autumn, during which there is a feries of fine wea-
ther, very feldom to be feen, in the greateft part of the

provinces of France: all which, joined to the li-

berty which is enjoyed in thiscountry, makes many
find their ftay hereas agreeable as in the kingdom
where they were born, and it is certain that our Ca-
nadians would without hefitation give it the prefe-
rence,

After all, thefe colds fo long and fo fevere, are
attended with inconveniencies which can never
thoroughly be remedied. I reckon in the firft place
the difficulty of feeding the cattle, which during the

* The ground is tilled in Autumn, and the feed fown be-
tween the middle of April and the tenth of May. The crop
is cut down between the 15th of Auguft and zoth of September.
The lands which are not tilled till the Spring yield fmaller crops, ,
becaufe the nitrous particles of the fncw are not fo well able to
penetrate jnto them.

whole

C BE

~

whole winter feafon can find nothing in the fields;
and confequently the preferving them muft be ex-
- tremely expenfive, while their fleth, after being kept

fix months on dry food, muft have loft almoft all
its relith. Cotn is alfo neceflary for the poultry,

and great care muft be taken to keep them alive —

during fo long a time. If to avoid expence all thofe
beafts are killed about the end of October, which
are intended for confumption before the month of
May, you may eafily judge how infipid this fort of
victuals muft be; and from the manner in which
they catch fifh through the ice, it appears this can-

not be very plentiful, befides its being frozen from —

the very firft, fo that it is almoft impoffible to have

it frefh in the feafon when it is moft wanted. Were.

it not for the cod-fifh and eels there would hardly

be any fuch thing as keeping Lent; with refpect to

butter and frefh eges there can be no queftion, nor
indeed is much more account to be made of garden-
ftuff, which is kept as well as may be in the cellars,
but lofes almoft ail its virtue after it has been there
for fome months, ‘

Add to this, that excepting apples, which are of
an excellent quality, and {mall fummer fruit which
does not keep, the fruits natural to France have not
as yet fucceeded in Canada. Thefe, Madam, areall
the difadvantages occafioned by this exceffive cold
feafon. We are, notwithftanding, as near the fun
as in the moft fourthern provinces of France, and
the farther you advance into the colony, you {till
approach the nearer to it. Whence then can arife

this difference of temperatures under the fame paral-
lels of latitude ? This is a queftion, which in my o-

pinion no one has as yet anfwered in a fatisfactory

manner, - ‘

pote | ‘ : ~ Mott

)

PNG ( agp ) }
Mot sails who have handled this matter afé
gh oth with faying that this long and fevere cold
is occafioried by the fhow lying “fo long on thé
" ground, that it is not poffible- it can ever be tho-
roughly warmed, efpecially in places under cover :
_ But this anfwer removes the difficulty only one ftep 3
for it may be afked what produces this great quan-
tity of fnow in climates as warm as Languedoc and
Provence, and in countries at a much greater diftancé
: from the mountains. : 1

‘The Sieur Denys, whotn I have already quoted
* oftner than once, affirms that the trees refute their
»-werdure before the fun is fufficient ly elevated above
the horizon to melt the fnow or warm the earth 4
this may be true in Acadia, and over all thé fea
coatt, but it is certain that every where elfe the fnow
is melted in the thickeft forefts before there is a fins
gle leaf upon the trees. This author feems to have
no better authority for faying that the fnow melts
tather by the heat of the earth than that of the air;
and that it always begins to melt from below: but
will he perfuade any man that the earth when cover-
_ ed with frozen water, is wafmer than the air, which
immediately receives the rays of the fun. Betides;
this is no anfwer to the queftion about the caufe of
that: deluge of fnow par overwhelms this im-
* thenfe country fituated in the middle of the tempe-
fate zone,

There is no quettion but that generally {peaking

_ the mountains, forefts, and lakes contribute ereatly
to it, but it appears Ss to me that we ought.to feek out
for other caufes befides. Father Jokeph Bretani,
an Italian Jefuit, who {pent the beft part of his life-
time in Canada, has left behind him in his own lan-
guage, an account of New France, wherein he en-
»~. Vou, iL R. ( deavours

‘\

( 258 )..
" deavours to clear: ‘up this point of natural philofo-
phy. “He will not allow that the cold, the caufes
of which we are enquiring into, ought to be attri-
buted to any of thofe juft mentioned, but methinks ae
he goes too far; for no reply can be made to expe- fj
rience, which convinces us of the decreafe of the
cold, accerding as the country is cleared, tho?
that may not happen in the proportion it ought, v
were the thicknefs of the woods its principal a
caufe. i a

He himielf confeffes that it is no rarething tofee
a frofty night fucceed a very hot fummer day; but
this way of reafoning appears to metofurnifh anar-

gument again{t himfelf; for how can this phoeho-
menon be explained otherwife than by faying that
the fun having opened the pores of the earth in the |
day time, the “humidity which was ftill contained in
it, the nitrous particles which the fnow had left
behind it in quantities, and the heat which an air
equally fubtle with that in this country ftill preferves
alter fun-fet, all together form thefe gentle frofts in
the fame manner as we make ice upon the fire. Be-

fides, the humidity of the earth has evidently a large
fhore in the exceffive colds of this climate ; but rs
whence could this humidity proceed in a country, the r

foil of which has for the moft a great mixture of fand
in it, if it was not from the number and extent of |
its lakes and rivers, the thicknefs of its forefts, its 7
mountains covered with fnow, which as it melts o-

verflows the plains, and the winds which carry the :

\ ra)

exhalations every where along with them. ;

But fhould Father Bretani be miftaken, as I be-
lieve he is, when he excludes all thofe from being
the caufes of the exceffive cold in Canada, yet what
he fubftitutes in their room feems, .in my opinion,

: , 1 EO

( 259 )
to contribute greatly toit, Thereare, fays he; htis
mid foils in the warmeft climates, and very dry foils
in the coldeft ; but a certain mixture of wet and dry
forms ‘ice and {fnow, the quantity of which deter-
mines the degree and Uiganon of cold. Now, who-

ever has ordvelied ever. fo little in. Canada mutt be

fenfible that this mixture obtains there in a very re-
markable manner. There is undoubtedly no coun-
try in the world which abounds more with water,
and there are few which have a greater mixture of .
ftones and fand. With all this it rains very feldom;
and the air is extremely pure and wholefome, an e-
vident proof of the natura! drynef{s of the foil: In
effect, Father Bretani tells us, that during the fix-
teen years he was employed as miffionary, in the
country of the Hurons, there were there at the famé
time to the pumber of fixty French, feveral of whom
were of avery delicate complexion, all of them had
been very ill fed, and had befides endured hardfhips
beyend what could be imagined, and yet that nof
one of that number had died.

y

It is true, this prodigious number of rivérs and

Jakes, which take up as much fpace in new Francé

as one half the continent of Europe, ought to fur-
nifh the air witha continual fupply of frefh vapours,
but befides that the greateft part of thefe waters are
extremely clear, and upon a fandy bottom, their
great and continual agitation by blunting the efh- -

-eacy of the fun’s rays, prevents vapours from being

exhaled in great quantities, or foon Caufes them to
fall again in mifts. For the winds raife as frequent

_ and violent tempefts upon thefe frefh-water feas as
upon the ocean, which is likewife the true reafon

why it rains fo feldom at fea.

R. 2 | The

/

" ( 8286.) 9°

The fecond caufe of the extreme cold oh Caliagss
according to father Bretani; jis the neighbourhood |
of tHe North Sea, covered with enormous iflands of

ice for more than eight months of the year, there,

Madam, hi may call to mind what I told you in

my fecond letter, of the cold we felt even in the

dog-days, from the neighbourhood of one of thefe
iMlands of ice, or rather from. the: wind which blew
upon us from that fide on which it lay, and which
poe: that moment it fell to the leeward of us. It
, befides, certain that it never fnows here but with
a > eickbeih wind, which blows from that quarter
in which the northern ice lyes; and tho’ the cold
is not fo very piercing when the fnow falls, yet it
cannot be doubted that it oreatly contributes to ren-
der the weft and north-weft winds fo extremely fharp,
which before they reach us blow over immenfe
countries, and a great chain of mountains entirely
covered ston it. . ceo

!
,

Laftly, if we believe the Italian miffionary, the
height of the land is not the leaft caufe of the fub-
tility ty-of the air of this country, and confequently
of the feverity of its cold. Father Bretani endea-

_vours to prove this height of the land from the

depth of the fea, which encreafes according to him
in proportion as. you approach Canada, and from
the number and height of the falls fo frequent in the —
rivers. But in my opinion the depth of the fea ab-
folutely proves nothing, and the falls of St. Law-
rence and fome other rivers in New France, no

‘more than the cataracts of the Nile. Moreover, it
4s not obfervéd that, from Montreal where the falls

commence to-the fea, the river St.- Lawrence is
much more rapid than fome of our rivers in Eu-

rope. I am therefore of opinion that we muft con-

fine our reafoning to the ices of the north; and that

even

. { per.)
even notwithftanding this, if Canada were as well |
cleared and as populous as France, the winters
would become much fhorter and lefs fevere: They
would not however be always fo mild as in France,
on account of the ferenity and purenefs of the air;
for it is certain that in the winter feafon every thing
elfe being equal, the froft is always fharper when
the fky is aN and the fin has rarified the air.

4
aa

if After winter is. paft, fifhing and hunting fupply
thofe who will take the trouble with provifions 3 in
abundance; befides the fifh ana the game which I
have alréady fpoken of, the river St. Lawrence and
the forefts furnifh the inhabitants with two articles,

whieh are a great refource tothem. From Quebec
as high as ‘Trois Rivieres, a prodigious quantity of
large eels are caught in the river, which eels come
down from Lake “Ontario, whereethey are bred in
the marfhes on the north fide of the Lake, and
meeting, as I have already obferved, with the white
porpoifes which give them chace, the greateft part
endeavour to return back, which is the reafon of
their being taken in fuch numbers. This fifhery is
carried on in the following manner.

Thro’ that whole extent of ground, which is co-
vered at high water, but left dry during the ebb,
boxes are fet at convenient diftances, which are fup-
ported by a pallifade of ofier hurdles, contrived in
fuch a manner that no free paflage is left for the
eels. Large cafting nets of the farne materials and
ftructure are fixed by the narroweft end in thefe
boxes, while the other extremity, which is very
wide, is backed againft the hurdles, upon which
- green branches are placed at intervals. When all
is covered by the tide, the eels which love to be near
the banks, and are attracted by the verdure, gather
62 7 in.

(‘266 Fo ee
in great numbers along the pallifade, go in to the
nets, which lead them into the prifons ‘prepared for
them, fo that all the boxes are often filled ‘in the
Apace of one tide. | - |

Thefe eels are laceer than ours, and yield a great
deal of oil.. I have already obferved that with what-
ever fauce they are dreffed, they ftill retain a difa-
greeable relifh, to which people cannot eafily accuf-
tom themfelves. This perhaps is the fault of our
cooks. All their bones terminate in a point fome-
what crooked, which I do net remember to have
feen in thofe of France. he beft method of pre-
parting this fifh, is to hang them up in a chimney,
and fuffer them to fry flowly in their fkins, which °
come off of themfelves, and all the oil runs out,
As great quantities of them are taken during the
time this fithery lafts, they are falted and barreled
up like herrings.

The other article I mentioned, is a fort of wood- |

pigeon, which ufed to come hither in the months” ~

of May and June, as was faid, in fuch numbers as
to darken the air, but the cafe is different at prefent.
Neverthelefs, a very great number {till come to reft
themfelves upon the trees, even in the neighbour-
hoad of the towns. They are commonly called
tuftles, and differ from the wood and other pigeons
in’ Europe, fufficiently to conflitute a fourth fpecies.
_ They are {maller than our largeft pigeons, and have
the fame eyes and changing fhadows upon their
necks. Their plumage is a dark brown, excepting
their wings, in which there are fome feathers of a
“very fine ‘blue,

Thefe birds may be faid to feck only an opportu-
Bi ity of being killed, for if there is a naked branch
upon

<

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heey

aA ‘ upon a tree, on that they chufe to perch, and fit in

MM

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fuch a manner, that the moft inexperienced gunner
can hardly fail of bringing down at leaft half a do-
zen at a fingle fhot. Means have likewife been
found of catching many of them alive; they are fed
till the firft fetting in of the frofts, nae killed, and
thrown into the ftore- -room, where they are preferv-
ed all the winter.

Thus it appears, Madam, that every one here is

poffeffed of the neceffaries of life ; but there is little
-paid to the King; the inhabitant is not acquainted

with taxes ; bread is cheap; fifh and flefh are not
dear; but ine. ftuffs, and all French commodities
are very expenfive. Gentlemen, and thofe officers

who have nothing but their pay, and are befides

encumbered with families, have the greateft reafon
to complaim. The women have a great deal of fpi-
rit and good nature, are extremely. agreeable, and
excellent breeders ; and thefe good qualities are for
the moft part all the fortune they bring their huf-
bands ; but God has bleffed the marriages in this
country in the fame manner he formerly bleffed
thofe of the Patriarchs. In order to fupport fuch
numerous families, they ought likewife to lead the
lives of Patriarchs, but the time for this is paft,
There are a greater number of nobleffe in New
France than in all the other colonies put together.

The king maintains here eight and twenty com-

_ panies of marines, and three etats majors. Man

families have been ennobled here, and there ftill re-
main feveral officers of the regiment of Corignan-
Salieres, who have peopled this country with gentle-

men who are not in extraordinary good circumftan-
ces, and ‘would be ‘till lefs fo, were not commerce
R Bet allowed

(86H) -
allo well them, and the right of hunting and things
Syhich j is common to every ohe,

Afcer all a 49 ace hich own fault if hey are

ever. expofed to want; the land is good almoft every —

where, and agriculture does not in the leaft derogate

from their quality. How many gentlemen through-

out all our provinces would envy the lot of the fim-
ple inhabitants of Canada, did they but know it?
And can thofe who languith here in a fhameful in=

digence, be excufed for “refufing to embrace a pro- |

feffion, “which the corruption of manners and the
moft falutary maxims has alone degraded from
its ancient dignity? There is not in the world a

* more wholefome climate than this; no particular

diftemper is epidemical here, . the fields. and woods

are full of fimples of a wonderful efficacy, and the

trees diftill balms of an excellent quality. Thefe
advantages ought at leaft to engage thofe whofe
birth providence has cat in this country to remain
in it; but inconftancy, averfion to a regular and af-
Gani labour, anda {pirit of independence, have

ever carried a great many young people out of it,

and prevented the colony from being & peopled.

‘Thefe, Madam, are the defeéts with which the
French Canadians are, with the greateft juftice, re-

: probe The fame may likewife be faid of the

Indians. , One would imagine that the air they
breathe ak this immenfe continent contributes to it;
but, the example and frequent intercourfe with its
natural inhabitants are more than fufficient to. con-
fitute this character. Our Creoles are likewife ac-
cufed of great avidity in amafling, and indeed they
do ¢hings “with this view, which could hardly be be-
lieved if they were not feen, ‘The journeys they un-

dertake ; the fatigues they undergo; the dangers to ,

“which

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st" 268) )
hick they expofe themfelves, and the efforts they
make, furpafs all imagination. There are however

. few lefs interefted, who diffipate with greater facili-

ty what has coft them fo much pains to acquire, or

who teftify lefs regret at having loft it. Thus there

is fome room to imagine that they commonly un-
dertake fuch painful and dangerous journeys out of
a tafte they have contracted for them. ‘They love
to breathe a free air, they are early accuftomed to a
wandering life; it has charms for them, which

make them forcet paft dangers and fatigues, and
they place their glory in encountering them often.

They have a great deal of wit, efpecially the fair
fex, in whom it is brilliant and eafy ; they are, be-.
fides, conftant and refolute, fertile in refources, cou-
rageous, and capable of managing the greateft af-
fairs. You, Madam, are acquainted with more

than one of this character, and have often declared

your furprife at it to me. I can affure you fuch are.

frequent i in this country, and are to be found in all
‘ranks and conditions of life.

I know not whether I ought to reckon amongft
the defeéts of our Canadians the good opinion they
entertain of themfelves, It is at Jeaft certain that
it infpires them with aconfidence, which leads them
to undertake and execute what would appear impof--
fible to many‘others. It muft however’be confefled
they have excellent qualities. There is nota pro-
vince in the kingdom where the people have a finer
complexion, a more advantageous ftature, or a body
better proportioned. ‘The ttrength of their confti-
tution is not always aniwerable, and if the. Cana-

_ dians live to any age, they foon look old and decre-

pid. This is not ‘entirely their own fault, it is like-
wife that of their parents, who are not fufficiently
watchful over their children to prevent their ruining

their

i RS ot /
Wide aye”,
oe y

6 6S

| pele health at a time of life, when if it faffers j it is

teldom or never recovered. Their agility and ade:
dre(s are unequalled ; the moft expert ‘Indians chen
felves are not better markfmen, or manage their ca-
noes in the moft dang¢rous rapids with greater fill.
Many are of opinion that they are unfit for his
fciences, which require any great degree of applica-

‘tion, and a continued ftudy. Iam not able to fay
whether this prejudice is well founded, for as yet |

we have feen no Canadian who has endeavoured to
remove it, which is perhaps owing to the diffipation
in which they are broughtup. But nobody can de-

_ py them an excellent genius for mechanics; they
have hardly any occafion for the affiftance of a maf-

ter in order to excel in this fcience; and fome are
every day to be met with who have fucceeded in all
trades, without ever having ferved an apprentice-

fhip.

Some people tax them with ingratitude, neverthe-
lefs they feem to me to have a pretty good difpofi-
tion; but their natural inconftancy often prevents
their attending to the duties required by gratitude.
Te is alledged they make bad fervants, which is
owing to their great haughtinefs of fpirit, and to
their loving liberty too much to fubject themfelves

willingly to fervitude. They are’ however good.

matters, which is the reverfe of what is faid of thofe
from whom the greateft part of them are defcended.
They would have been perfect in character, if to
their own virtues they had added thofe of their an-
ceftors. Their inconftancy in friendfhip has fome-
times been complained of; but this complaint can

tomed to confiraint, even in their own affairs. If

they

~

hardly be general, and in thofe who have given oc- ©
_ ¢afion for it, it proceeds from their not being accuf-

%
¥
Ay

they are not eafily difciplin’d, this likewife proceeds
- from the fame principle, or from their having a dif-
cipline peculiar to themfelves, which they believe is
better adapted for carrying on war againft the Indi-

ce (HD)

ans, in which they are not entirely toblame.. More-
ever, they appear to me to be unable to govern a
certain impetuofity, which renders them fitter for
fudden furprifes or hafty expeditions, than the regu-

Jar and continued operations of a campaign; It has

likewife been obferved, that amongft a great num-
ber of brave men who diftinguifhed. themfelves in
the laft wars, there were very few found capable of

bearing a fuperior. ‘This is perhaps owing to their
pot having fufficiently learned to obey. It is how- |

ever true, that when they are well conducted, there
is nothing which they will not accomplifh, whether
by fea or Jand, but in order to this they muft enter-
tain a great opinion of their commander. The late
M. d’ Iberville, who had all the good qualities of
his countrymen without any of their defects, could

~ have led them to the end of the world.

- There is one thing with refpeét to which they are

not eafily to be excufed, and that is the little natu-
ral affection moft of them fhew to their parents,
who for their part difplay a tendernefs for them,
which is not extremely well managed. The Indians
fall into the fame defect, and it produces amongit
them the fame confequences. But what above all
things ought to make the Canadians be held in
much efteem, is the great fund they have of piety
and religion, and that nothing is wanting to their

. education upon this article. Itis likewife true, that

when they are out of their own country they hardly
retain any of their defects. As with all this they
are extremely brave and active, they might be of
great fervice in war, in the marine and in the arts ;

Ai ana

and\Ioam ‘opinion’ that. “it would re :
' abalone e of the ftate, were ‘they t
a ay tei tn than they are at bee

ute the principal: Tiches of the: si

| would fill be, were it swell people one seat he

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ee TT ER“ “XE

Of the Troquoife village of the Fall of St.
Lewis. Of the different nations inbabiting
Canada. |

Fall of St, Lewis, May 1, 1722
Madam,

Came hither to fpend a part of the Eafter holi-

days; this is a time of devotion, and in this
village every thing infpires one with fentiments of
piety. All the exercifes of religion are carried on
in a very edifying manner, and we ftill feel the im-
preffion which the fervor of the firft inhabitants has
left behind it; for it is certain, that this for a long
time was the only place in Canada, where you could
perceive the great examples of thofe heroick virtues
with which God has been ufed to enrich his churches »
when in their infancy ; and the manner in which it
has been erected is fomething very extraordinary.

The miffionaries after pear for a long time wa-
‘tered the Iroquoife cantons with the fweat of their
brows, and fome of them even with their blood,
were at laft fenfible that it was impracticable to efta-
blifh the chriftian religion amongft them upon a folid -
foundation ; but they ftill had hopes of, reducing a

I con-

-

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confiderable number of thefe Indians under the yoke
of the faith. They perceived that God had an elect
_ few among thefe barbarians as in every nation ; but
‘they were perfuaded, that so make their calling and
elettion fure, they mutt feparate from their brethren ,
and therefore came to a refolution to fettle all thofé
who were difpofed to embrace Chriftianity in a colo-
ny by themfelves. They made known their defien
to the governor-general and interidant, who carry-
ing their views ftill farther, highly approved it, be-

ing fenfible that this fettlement would be. greatly —

advantageous to New France, as it has indeed been,
as well as another fimilar to it, which has fince been
fet on foot in the ifland of Montreal, under the name
of fa Montagne, of which the fuperiors of the femi-

nary of St. Sulpicius have’ always, had the direc- :

tion.

To return to this which has ferved as a model
for the other, one of the Iroquois miffionaries com-

municated his defign to fome 4quiers; they relifhed —

his propofal, and this fettlement was formed chiefly
out of that canton, which had at all times been
the moft averfe to the minifters of the gofpel, and
had even treated them the moft cruelly. Thus to
the great aftonifhment of the French and Indians,
thofe formidable enemies to’ God and our nation
were touched with that victorious grace, which takes
delight in triumphing over the hardeft and moft re-

bellious hearts, abandoning every thing that was.

deareft to them, that. they ‘might have no impedi-
ment in ferving the Lord with al liberty. A facri-
fice ftill more “glorious for Indians, than for any
other nation, becaufe there are none fo much at-
tached as they are to their families and their native

country.

: ~- Their

A
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~ Their numbers encreafed greatly in a fhort time,

and this progrefs was, in a great meafure, owing to

the zeal of the firft converts who compofed this
chofen flock’ In the very height of a war, and
even with the hazard of their lives they have tra-
velled over all the cantons, in order to make profe-
lites, and when they have fallen into the hands of
their enemies, who were often their neareft relations,
reckoned themfelves happy when dying in the midft
of the moft frightful torments, as having expofed
themfelves to them, folely for the glory of God
and the falvation of their brethren. Such were the
fentiments even of the murtherers of the minifters
of Jefus Chrift, and perhaps this oracle of St. Paul,
Ep. Rom. c. 20. Udi autem cbundavit delifium, fu-
perabundavit Gratia, was never {fo literally accom-
plifhed as now. It was moft commonly left to
their choice, either to renounce Jefus Chrift and re-
turn to their canton, or to fuffer the moft cruel
death, and there was not an example of one who |
accepted life upon that condition. Some have even
perifhed worn out with miferies in the prifons of
New-York, when they could have had their liberty
on changing their belief, or engaging not to live
. among ‘the F rench, which they imagined they
could not do without running the rifque of lofing
theirfaith... |

Thofe converts, who on fuch occafions difplayed
fo much fidelity and greatnefs of foul, mutt un-
doubtedly have been prepared for it by the pureft
virtue ; we cannot in reality call in queftion certain ©
. facts, which have been notorious over the whole co-
lony, and which render thofe very credible for which
we have only the evidence of the Indians themfelves
and their paftors. M. de St. Valier, who is head
of this church to this tary wrote as follows in the

year

™ \

ay (¢ Dyn BS
year 1688. ‘© The lives of all the Chriftians of
- this miffion are very extraordinary, and the whole
village would be taken for a monaftery. As. they
have quitted the allurements of their native country,
entirely to make fure of their falvation, they are all
led to the practice of the moft perfeét refignation,
and they preferve amongft them fuch excellent rules
for their fanétification that nothing can be added to
them.” chy

This village was at firft placed in the meadow dé
la Madeleire, about a league lower than the Fall of
St. Lewis on the fouth-fide. But the foil being
found improper for the culture’ of maiz, it was
tranfported to a place oppofite to the Fall itfelf, from
whence it has taken the name it ftill bears, though
. it has been carried from thence a few years ago a
league higher up. Ihave already obferved, that its _
fituation is charming, that the church, and the
i houfe of the miffionaries, are two of the fineft edi-
fices in this country, which makes me imagine,
that they have taken fuch good meafures as not to
be obliged to make a new tranfmigration, = = == *_
On my arrival here, I had laid my account with
departing immediately after the feftivals; but no-
thing is more fubject to difappointments of all kinds
_than this manner of travelling. I am, therefore,
ftill uncertain as to the day of my departure ; and
as in fuch voyages as miné, advantage is to be ta-
ken of every occurrence, | fhall now make the beft -
ufeI can of this prefent delay. 1 have fpent my
time in the company of fome old miffionaries, who
have lived a long time among the Indians, and I
fhall now, Madam, give you an account of what
I have heard -from them concerning the different.
. nations inhabiting this immenfe continent.

RSME vbtacheS eilt agONt
iat ie

eae by S
by Makes

eh baie Mis at ity is “4 * ee 9
Sion At Aa ATEN te S/n: I

i: ee ae

The firft land of America which is difcovered on
a voyage from France to Canada is Newfoundland,
one of the largeft iflands we are acquainted with,
Ic has never yet been fully determined, whether its
inhabitants are natives of the country; and its bar-
_fennefs, were it really as great as it is fuppofed to
be, ‘would be'no fufficient proof that they are not 5
for hunting and fifhing afford fufficient fubfiftence
for Indians. What is certain is, that none but Ef-
kimaux have ever been feen upon it, who are not
originally of this ifland. Their real native country
is the land of Laborador, or f.abrador, it is there,
at leait, they pafs the greateft part of the year; for,
in my opinion, it would be profaning the grateful
appellation of a native country; to apply it to wan-
dering barbarians who have no affection for any
country, and who being fcarce able to people two
or three villages, yet occupy an immenfe extent of
land. In effect, befides the coafts of Newfound-
~ Jand, which the Efkimaux wander over in the fum-
mer-time, there are none but that people to be feen
throughout all that vaft continent lying betwixt the
river St. Lawrence, Canada, and the North fea:
Some of them have been even found at a great dif:
tance from hence up the river Bourbon, which runs
from the weftward,’ and falls into Hudfon’s-Bay.

The origin of their name is not certain, but it is
probably detived from the Abenaquife word E/gui-
mantris, which fignifes an eater of raw flefh. The
-Efquimaux are in fact the only favages we know of
who eat raw flefh, though they are likewile in ufe
to broil or dry it in the fum. it is likewife certain,
that there is no nation known in America, which

anfwers better to the firft idea Europeans are apt to
conceive of favages. ‘They are almoit the only na-
tioh amongft whom the men -have beards, which

Vo. 1 3 , ae

ey \

i ( 254)

stad up to their eyes, and are fo thick, that it is
with difficulty the features of their faces are to be
diftinguithed. They have likewife fomething very’
frightful in their air and mien, fmall fiery eyes,
large and very ugly teeth, hair commonly black,

fometimes fair, always very much in diforder, and.
their whole external appearance extremely brutifh.
Their manners and character do not bely the defor-
_mity of their phifiognomy; they are fierce, favage,
fufpicious, turbulent, and have a conftant propen-
fity to do mifchief to ftrangers, who ought to be
‘perpetually on their guard againft them. As to the
qualities of their mind we have had fo little inter-
courfe with this nation that we do not as yet know

their real temper ; but they have always had a fuffi- .

cient bent towards miichief. »

They have been frequently known to go in the
night-time, and cut the cables of fhips at anchor,
in order to make them drive on fhore, and then
_plunder the wrecks; they are not afraid to attack
them even in open day on difcovering their crews
to be weak. It has never been poffible to tame
them, and it is not fafe to hold any difcourfe with
them but at the end of along pole. They notonly
refufe to. come near the Europeans, but they will
not fo much as eat any thing they prefent to them;
and in all things take fo many precautions on their
fide, which mark an extreme diftruft, that they
muft mutually infpire the fame with refpect to every
thing which comes from them. They are of an

advantageous ftature, and are tolerably well made.
Their fkin is as white as ours, which proceeds un-

doubtedly from their never going naked even in the -

warmeft weather.

‘ Their

( 275 )

- Their beards, their fair hair, the whitenefs of -
their fkin, and the little refemblance and intercourfe
they have with their neareft neighbours leave no
room to doubt of their having a different original
from the reft of the Americans; but the opinion of
their being defcended from the Bafques feems to

me to have little foundation, if it is true, as | am

informed it is, that the languages of the two nati- |
~ ons have no affinity with one another. This alli-
ance at any rate can be of no honour to any nati-
on; for if there is not on the furface of the earth a,
region lefs fit to be inhabited than Newfoundland
and Labrador, fo there is not, perhaps, a people
which deferves better to be confined to it than the
Efkimaux. For my part, Lam of opinion, that
they are originally from Greenland.

Thefe favages are covered in fuch a manner that
only a part of their faces and the ends of their
~ hands are to be feen. Over a fort of a fhirt made
of bladders, or the inteftines of fith cut into fillets,
and neatly enough fewed together, they throw a
kind of a furtout made of bear-fkin, or of the
fkin of fome other wild beaft, nay, fometimes of
the fkins of birds, whilft their head is covered with
a cow! of the fame ftuff, with the fhirt fixed to it;
on the top of which is a tuft of hair, which hangs
‘down and fhades their forehead. The shirt falls
- no lower than their loins, the furtout hangs down
behind to their thighs, and terminates before in a
_ point fomewhat lower than their girdle ; but in the
~ women it defcends on both fides as far as the mid-
leg, where it is fixed by a girdle, at which hang
little bones. The men wear breeches made of
fkins, with the hairy fide inwards, and faced on the
eutfide with ermine, and fuch like furs. They
likewife wear on their feet pumps of fkins, the
ae » 2 hairy

Sige deg y oH |
hairy f fe of whith is allo inwards ; ; ee above }
‘them furred boots of the fame, and over thefe a fe-

cond pair of pumps, then another pair of boots
over that. Ic is affirmed they are fometimes fhod.

in this manner three or four times over, which, ve
_ however, does not prevent thefe Indians from being q
extrerhely active. ‘Their arrows, the only weapons =—s_—

they ufe, are pointed with the tecth of the fea-cow,
to whicli they likewife add iron when they can get
it. In the fummer they live in the open air, night
and day, but in the winter under ground, ina fort

of caverns, where they lie pell-meil one. above an-. . #
other.

We are but little acquainted with the other na-
tions living beyond Hudfon’s-bay, and in its neigh-
bourhocd. In the fouthern parts of this bay, the
trade is carried on with the Mataffins, the Monfo-
nis, the Chriftinaux, and Affiniboils; thefe laft
muft come from a great diftance as they inhabit the
borders of a lake to the north or north-weft of the
Sioux, and likewife fpeak a dialect of their lan-
guage. The three others fpeak the Algonquin
tongue. The Chriftinaux or Kulliftinons, come from
the northward of Lake Superior. The Indians in
the neighbourhood of the river Bourbon *, and the
/ river St. Therefa, have no affinity in their language

either with the one or the other. Perhaps, they
may be better underftood amongft the Efkimaux,
who have been ften, as is faid, a great way above
the mouth of this river. It has been obferved that

2 —
ee tee

Bea =

2s

PE a igen

se

* Tris faid that a hundred leagues from the mouth of this
_ yiver, it is unnavigable for fifty more, but that a paflage is fourid
by means of rivers and Jakes which fall into it, and that after- |
ward: itruns through the middle of a very fine country, which
/ eontinues as far as the Lake of the Affiniboils, ftom whence i ne
takes its tHe. ©

{ i /

they

GQ 2gF

they are extremely fuperftitious, and ufe fome kind

of facrifices. Thofe who have had the greatett i in-
tercourfe with them, affure us, that in common
with the Indians of Canada, they have a notion of
a good and of an evil genius, that the Sun is their
great divinity, and that when they deliberate upon
any affair of importance, they make him an offer-
ing of fmoke which is done in the following man-
ner. At break of day they affemble in the cabbin
of one of their chiefs, who, after having lighted

_his pipe, prefents it three times to the rifing fun,

and then turning it with both his hands from the
eaft to the weft, he fupplicates this luminary to be
propitious to his people. This being done, all thofe
who compofe the afiembly, fmoke in the fame pipe.
All thefe Indians, though of four or five different
nations are known in the French accounts under the

. general name of the Savanois, becaufe the country
they inhabit is low, marfhy, and ill-wooded, and

in Canada, all thofe wet lands, ; which are good for
nothing are called Savannahs.

Coafting along the north-fhore of the Bay, -you
meet with two rivers, the firft of which is called
Danifh- River, and the fecond the river of the Sea-
Wolf; on the banks of both thefe rivers there are
Indians, who, I know not why, have got the name,

or rather nickname of Plats cétez de Chiens, or
_Flat-fided Dogs, and are often at war with the Sa-

vanois; but neither of them treat their prifoners.
with that barbarity which is ufual among the Cana-
dians, being contented with keeping them in fla-

_ very. Want fometimes reduces the Savanois to

ftrange extremities ; and whether it be idlenefs on
their part, or that their lands are abfolutely good
for nothing, they find themfelves entirely deftitute

et provifions when their hunting and fifhing prove

54 unfuc-

1

‘

“€ 278»)
unfuccefsful, and then they are faid to make no dif.
ficulty of eating one another. The moft daftardly”
are the firft facrifices it -is further pretended, that
when a man arrives at fuch an age that he can only
be a burthen and expence to his family, he- himfelf
pafies a cord round his own neck, the extremities
of which-he prefents to the child who is deareft to
him,-who ftrangles him as expeditioufly as he can,
belicving that in fo. doing, he performs a good ac-
tion, not only by putting an end to the fufferings
of his father, but likewife by advancing his happi-
nefs; for thefe Indians imagine, that a man who
dies old is born again in the other world at the age
of a child at the breaft; and that, on the contrary,
thofe who finith their courfe foon, become old when
they arrive at the country of fouls.

_ The young women among thefe people never
marry but with the advice of their parents, and the
fon-in law is obliged to ftay with his father-in-law,
and be fubfervient to him in every thing, till he has
children himfelf. The young men leave their fa-
ther’s houfes very early. ies Indians burn their
dead bodies, and wrap the afhes in the bark of a
tree, which they lay into the ground. Afterwards

ones erect upon the grave a fort of monument with »

pofts, to which they fix tobacco, in Order that the
deceafed may have materials for {moaking in the
other world. If he was a hunter, his bow and ar-
rows are fufpended there likewile. The mothers
lament their children for twenty days, and prefents
are made to the fathers, who make an acknowledg-
ment for them bya feait. War is held in lefs efti-

“mation amongit them than hunting ; but before

any perfon can be efteemed a good hunter, he muft
fatt for three ‘days running, “without tafting any

thing weyers and all that time he muft have his

face

=

,
s

~

( 279 )
face painted with black. The feaft being ended,
the candidate offers up a facrifice to the oreat {pirit,
confifting of a morfel of each of the animals he
has been u’ed to hunt, being commonly the tongue
and muzzle, which, except on fuch occafions, are
always the portion of the hunter himfelf. His pa-

rents and relations would rather die of hunger than |

touch it, and he is allowed to regale his friends and
ftrangers only in this manner.

It is further afferted, that thefe Indians are per-
feCtly difinterefted, that they poffefs a fidelity proof
again{t all temptation, that they cannot endure a
lie, and hold deceit in abhorrence. This, Madam;
is what I have been able to learn with refpect to
thefe northern people, with whom we have never
maintained any regular commerce, and have only
feen them in a tranfient manner. We fhall now
proceed ‘to thofe with whom we are better acquaint-
ed, who may be divided into three claffes’ diftin-
oo by their languages and their peculiar ge-
niufes.

In this vaft extent of country, properly called
New- France, and bounded on the north by Hud-
fon’s-Bay, which was difmembered from it by the
treaty of Utrecht, on the eaft by the fea, by the
Englifh colonies on the fouth, by Louifiana on the
fouth-eaft, and by the Spaniih poffeffions on the
weft; I fay, in this vaft extent of country there
are but three mother-tongues, from which all the\
reft are derived; thefe are, the Sioux, Algonquin, |
and Huron languages; we are but little acquainted

with the people who fpeak the firft, and nobody

knows how far they extend, We have hitherto had
no trade with any but the Sioux and Affiniboils, and
S 4 | even

e

C: 22e 085)? ae
even this trade has not been seat een cars
ried on,

_ Our miffionaries have endeavoured to make a fet-
tlement amoneft the firft, and I knew one who re-. a
eretted very much bis not being able to fucceed, or
rather his not ftaying longer amoneft them, as they
feemed to be extremely dbala Th here is, perhaps,
no peop'e to the north weft of the Miffiffippi, of
of whom we can recéive better, and more authentic _
information than this, by reafon that they can carry
on a trade with all the other nations on this immenfe
continent. They dwell commonly in meadows un-
der large tents made of fkins, which are very well
wrought, and live on wiid oats, which grow in great .
plenty in their meadows and rivers, and by hunt-
ing, efpecially the buffalo, which are covered with
wool, and are found by thoufands in their meadows.
They have no fixed abode, but travel in great com-
panies ike the Tartars, never flopping in any place
longer than they are detained by the chace.

AG fn SP

Our geosraphers Bivide this people into the wan-
dering Sioux, and the Sioux of the Meadows,’ into :
the Saux of the Eaft, and the Siouk of the Weft. ~
This divifion Coes not feem to me to be well found-
ed. All the Sioux live in the fame manner, whence
it happens, that a village which the year before was
gn the eaftern bank of the Mififippi, fhall be this
year on the weftern bank, and that thofe who have
lived for fome time on the banks of the river St.
Peter, fhall, perhaps, be at pre‘ent in fome meadow
a creat dittance from it. he name Sioux, which
we have given to thefe Indians, is entirely of our”
own Javention, or rather the two laft fyllables of
of the word Nad:ueffioux, a name by which feveral
nations diftinguith then, Others call them Na-
semen ve douwifs

: | (° 98F)

doueffis. ‘This nation is the moft populous we know
in Canada. ‘They were fufficiently pacific, and but
little addicted to war, before the Hurons and Ou-
tawais when they fled from the fury of the Iroquois,
- took refuge in their country. They laughed at them
for their fimplicity, and made them warlike at their
own expence. ‘The Sioux have a plurality of wives,
and feycrely punith fuch as are wanting in conjugal
fidelity. They cut off the tip of their nofes, and
make a circle in the fkin on the top of, their heads, ©
and afterwards tear it off. I have feen fome per-
fons, who were perfuaced thefe people fpoke with .
the Chinefe accent ; it would be no difficult mat-
ter to determine this fact, or if their language has
any affinity with that of China.

Thofe perfons. who have had intercourfe with the
Affiniboils, tell us, that they are tall, well-made,
robuft, active, and inured to cold, and all manner
of fatigue ; thar they are pricked over all the body,
and marked with the figures of ferpents and other
animals; and that they are in ufe to undertake very
Jong journeys. There is nothing in all this which.
diftinguifhes them from the other nations of this
continent which we are acquainted with ;, but what
particularly characterizes them, is, their being ex-
tremely phlegmatick, at leatt they appear fo in ref-
pect of the Chrifiinaux who trade with them, and
who are indeed of an extraordinary vivacity, con-
tinually dancing and finging, and {peaking with
precipitation and a volubility of tongue, which is
not oblerved 1 in any other Indian nation,

The true country of the Aliaibate, is in the |
. neighbourhood of a lake which bears their name, |
with which we are but little acquainted. A French-)
man, whom I faw at Montreal, afhired me he had
: been

Oishi ie

been there, but had feen it only in a tranfient nian-
ner, as one fees’ the fea in a harbour. It is the
common opinion, that this lake is fix hundred
Jeagues in circumference; that there is no paflage
to it but through roads almoft impracucable ; that
all its banks are delightful, that the climate is very

temperate, though it lies to the north-weft of Lake

Superior, where it is extremely cold, and that it
contains fo great a number of iflands, that it is cal-
ted in that country, the Lak of Iflands; fome In-
dians call it Michinipi, which fignifies the Great Wa-
ter; and it feems in effect to “he the refervoir or
futte of the greateft rivers, and all the great lakes
of North-Arnerica ; for on feveral aceounts, all the
following rivers are faid to have their rife froth it
the river “Bourbon, which runs into Hudfon’s-Bay ;
the river St. Laurence, which carries its waters to
the ocean; the Miflifippi, which falls mto the
eulph of Mexico ; the Mifouti, which mixes with

2 is laft, and till heir jundtion i isin nothing inferiorto —

t; and a fifth, which runs as they fay, weltward,
sh confequently difcharges its waters into the South-
Sea. It isa great pity that this lake was not known
to thof learned men who have fought for the ter-
reftrial paracife all over the world; it might have
been placed here with at leaft as great propriety as
in Scandinavia. I do not, however, warrant all
thefe facts, which are fupported only by the accounts

of travellers, and much lefs what the Indians have

related, that in the neighbourhood of the Lake of
the Affiniboils, there are men refembling the Furope-
ans, who ‘are fettied in a country where gold and
fiiver are fo common, that they are employed in
the meaneft ufes. Father Marquette, who difco-
vered the Mififfippi in 1672, fays in his relation,
that the Indians not only talked to him of the river

which runs from this lake weftward, but likewife -

added

€ 283... ,
added, that they had feen large fhips at its mouth.
_ It appears befides, that the Affiniboils are the fame
people who in the old maps are marked unde: the
name of Poualaks, and of whom fome accounts

fay, that their country is contiguous to that of the
Chriftinaux or Killiftinons.

The Algonquin and Huron languages fhare be-
twixt them almoft all the Indian nations of Canada,
with whom we have any commerce. A perfon well
acquainted with both might travel over above fif- |
teen hundred leaguts of a country without an in-
terpreter, and make himfelf underftood by above
a hundred different nations, who have each of them
their peculiar language. The Algonquin particu-~-
larly has a procigious extent. It begins at Aca-
dia and the eulph of St. Laurence, and makes a

circuit of twelve hundred leagues, turning from

the fouth eaft by the north to the fouth-weft. It is
even faid, that the Makingans or Wolves, and the
ereateft part of the Indians of New-England and

Virginia fpeak dialects of this lanouage.

The Abenaquis, or Conibas bordering upon New-
England, have, for their neareft neighbours the
Etechemins, or Malécites in the country about the
river Pentagoét, and further to the eaft are the Mic-
maks or Sourigquois, whofe country is properly Ac-
cadia, all along the coaft of the gulph of St. Lau- —
rence as far as Gafpey, whence a certain author has

Called them Ga/pefians, as well as the neighbour-

ing iflands. Going up the river St. Laurence, you
do not meet with any Indian nations at prefent till
you come to Saguenay. Yet when Canada was dif-
covered and fome years afterwards, feveral Indian
nations were found in that territory, which fpread
themfelves over the ifland of Anticofti, towards the

g moun-

€ 284 ) Oe
mountains of Notre Dame, and along the northern
fide of the river. Thofe moft frequently mention-
ed in ancient accounts are the Berfiamites, the Papi-
nachois, and the Montagnez, who were likewife

called, efpecially the latter, the inferior Algonquin:s, |

on account of their dwelling on the lower part of
the river with refpect to Quebec; but the greateft
part of the reft are reduced to a few families which
you meet with, fometimes in one place fometimes
in. another, | \

There were fome nations which ufed te come

‘down to the colony from the northern parts, fome-—

times by the Saguenay, but oftener by Trois Ri-
vieres, of whom we have heard no mention made
for fome time. paft. Such weie amongft others the
Attikamegues, who came from a great diftance, and
were furrounded by feveral other nations who ex-
tended themfelves to the country about Lake Sr.
‘fobn, and as far as the lakes of the Mifafirus and
INemifcan. Thefe are almoft all put to the fword
by the Iroquois, or deftroyed by diftempers, a con-
fequence of the milery the fear of thefe barbarians
has reduced them to ; which is much to be reeret-
ted, as they were a people without vice, of a
mild temper, and might have been eafily gained
over to fJefus Chrift, and to the intereft of the
French nation. Between Quebec and Mentreal,
and towards Trois Rivieres we ftill fnd a few Al-
gonquins who trade with the French, but do not

form a'village. In the time of the firft difcoveries

this nation poffefied all the northern fide of the ri-
ver, from Quebec, where M. Champlain found
them fettled. and made an alliance with them, as
far as the lake of St. Peter.

From -

'
4
4
¥

: : C/o 7)
From the ifand of Montreal, always taking 4
north courfe, you find a few villages of the Népi/-
fings, the Temifcamings, the Tétes de Boule, or Round-
beads, the Amikoués, and Outaways. The firft, |
who were the true Algonquins, and have’ alone ©
preferved the Algonquin language in its purity, have |
given their name toa {mall lake lying between Lake
Huron, and the river of the Outaways. The Te-
_ mifcamings poffefs the banks of another {mall lake,
which likewife bears their name, and feems to be .
the true fource of the river of the Outaways. ‘The
Roundheads are at no great diftance, who have their
name from the roundnefs of their heads ; they think
there is a great beauty in this figure, and it is very
probable the mothers give it to their children,
while in their cradles. The Amikoués, otherwife
called the uation of the Beaver, are reduced almoft
to nothing; the few remaining of them are found
in the ifland Manitoualin in the northern part of
Lake Huron. ‘The Outaways who were formerly
very numerous inhabited the banks of that great ri-
ver which bears their name, and of which they
pretended to be the lords. I know not but of three
yillages of them, very indifferently peopled, of
~ which I fhall {peak in the fequel.

Between Lake Huron and Lake Superior, even
in the ftreight itfelf, by which the fecond dif-
charges its waters into the firft, there is a fall called
by us Sault St. Marie, or the Fall of St. Mary.
The country round about it was formerly peopled
by Indians, who it is faid came from the fouthern
banks of Lake Superior, and were called Swulteurs,
that is to fay, /nbabitants of the Fall. This name |
was probably given them to fave the labour of pro- —
‘nouncing that which they gave themfelves, which
could not poflibly be dong without taking breath

two

\
-

‘ : (486 -)

two or three times *. There is no nation, at leatt
‘that I know of, fettled on the banks of Lake Su-
perior ; but in the pofts which we poffefs there a
trade is carried on with the Chriftinaux, who come
from the north-eaft, and fpeak the Algonquin lan-
guage, and with the Affiniboils, who come from
the north- weft.

Lake Michigan, which is almott parallel to Lake
Huron, into which it difcharges itfelf, and ‘is fepa-
rated'from it by a peninfula, about a hundred leagues
in length, growing continually narrower towards
the north, has but few inhabitants on itsbanks; I
do not even know if ever any nation was fixed there, _
and it is without foundation, that it has been called
in fome maps the lake of the !Ilinois. Going up the
River St. Fofeph, the waters of which it receives, you
find two villages of different nations, who have come
from fome other place not long fince. On the
welt fide of this lake is a large bay, extending eight
and twenty leagues to the fouth, and called the Bayé
des Puans, ox limply the Bay, Its entrance is very.
large, and interfperfed with iflands, fome of which
are Pera fifteen to twenty leagues in circumference,
They were formerly inhabited by the Poutewatamies,
whofe name they bear, excepting fome few onthe
right hwnd, where there are ftill fome Indians called
Noguets. ‘The Poutewatamies poffefs at prefent one
of the fmalleft of thefe iflands, and have befides
two other villages, one at the river St. Jofeph, and
the’ other at che Narrows. At the bottom of this ~~
bay are the Sakis and Otchagras, which laft arelike-
~ wife called Puans or Stinkards, for ‘what reafon I
‘know not; but before you arrive amongift them you
leave upon your-right hand, another fmall nation

| *-PANOTRIGOUEIOUHAK, : q
called ©

( 387_):

Pi galled Malbomines, or Filles dyvires that is, wild

- Oat Indians.

A fall river very much incommoded with falls,

- difcharges itfelf into the bottom of this bay, and is

known under the name of the Riviere des Renards.
or, river of the Foxes, on account of its neigh-
bgurhood to the Ousagamies, commonly called ‘the

- Renards or Foxes. All this country is extremely

beautiful, and that which flretches to the fouth-
ward as far as the river of the Illinois is ftill more
fo; it is, however, inhabited by two fmall nations
only, who are the Kicapous, and the Mufcoutins.
Some of our geographers have been pleafed to. give
the latter the title of the Nation of Fire, and their
country that of the Land of Fire. An equivocal
expreffion has given rile to this denomination.

_ Fifty years ago, the Miamis were fettled on the
fouthern extremity of Lake Michigan, in’ a place

called Chicagou, from the name of a {mall river,

which runs into the lake, the fource of which is
not far diftant from that of the river of the [Ili-
nois ; they are at prefent divided into three villages,
one of which ftands on the river St. Jofeph ; “the
fecond on another river which bears their name, and
runs into Lake Eré, and the third upon the river

Ouabache, which empties its waters into the Mif-

fifippi; thefe laft are better known by the appella-
tion of Ouyatanons. ‘There can be no ‘doubt, that
this nation and the Hlinois were not long'ago the
fame people,,confidering the great affinity which is
obferved between their languages; but I fhall be
able to {peak of this with greater certainty when I
fhall be on the fpot. I fhall only obferve farther,

that the greateft part of the Algonquin nations, if

we except thofe who are farther advanced to the
a -fouth-

AS

Stein

al

™

C aie F

fouthward, baly themfelves very litele in cultivating
the ground, but live almoft entirely by fithing aad
hunting, and are likewife very little difpoted to a fe-
dentary life. A plurality of wives is in ufe amoneft
fome of them ; yet, fo far from encreafing, they dimi-
nifh every day. Theré is not one nation in which
there are reckoned above fix thoufand fouls, and in

fome there are not above two thoufand.

The Huron language is not fo extenfive as the
Algonguin, which is undoubtedly owing to the na-
tions who fpeak it, having always been of a lefs
wandering, difpofition than the Algonquins. | fay,
the Huron language, to conform myfelf to the
opinion moft commonly received, for fome ftill
maintain, that the Iroquoife is the mother-tongue ;
be this as it will, all the Indians to the fouthward
of the river St. Laurence, from the river Sorel to
the extremity of Lake Erié, and even bordering
upon Virginia, belong to this language, and who-
ever iS acquainted with the Huron. under ftands
them all. Its dialects are multiplied extremely, and -
there are almoft as many as‘there are villages. ‘The
five cantons which compofe the Iroquois republick;

have each their own, and all that was heretofore in:

differently ‘called Huron was not the fame lan-
guage. I have not been able to learn to what lan-
guage the Cherokees belong, a pretty numerous na+
tion, inhabiting thofe vaft meadows between Laké
Erié and the. Miffiffippi.

But it ought to be obferved, that.as the greateft
part of the Indians of Canada have had at all times
an intercourfe with one another, fometimes as allies;
fometimes as enemies, though the three mother-_
tongues of which I have fpoken have no fort of
afhnity or analogy with one another, thefe mi

ave

Pree he SU ‘i "
’ te ay nt
gy ok

eee eR eee)

have, notwithftanding found means to do bufinefs
together without having occafion for an interpre-~
ter; whether through long cuftom they have ac-

[ _ quired a facility of making themfelves underftood
q by figns; or, whether they have formed a fort of
;
f

a common jargon which they have learned by prac-
tice. I am juft now informed I muft embark, I
hall conclude this article the firft leifure I haves

E
“a
: :
; af

r.

I have the honour to be, &c.

We. oo Diarrp

(298)

heey T E Ro XIL

Voyage to Catarocoui. Defeription'of the coun-
try, and of the Rapides or falls in the river
St. Lawrence. Defcrzption and fituation of
the Fort. Character and genius of the langua-
ges and nations of Canada. Origin of the
war between the \roquois and Algonkins.

Catarocout, May 14, 1721,
Madain,

Set out from the Fal! of St. Lewis on the 1ft of
May, after clofing my laft epiftle, and lay at
the weftern extremity of the ifland of Montreal,
where I did not however arrive till midnight. On
the morrow I employed the whole morning in vifit-
ing this country, which is exceeding fine. In the
afternoon I crofied Lake St. Lewis, to go to the
place called les Cafcades, where I found fuch of my
_ people, as had gone directly thither, employed in
{ewing their canoe, which they had let fall, as they
were carrying it on their fhoulders, and which was
thus fplir from one end tothe other. This, Ma-:
dam, is the pleafure, and at the fame time the in-
convenience of trayelling in fuch fmall vehicles, the
T2 deat

( 292 3) my
leaft thing in the werld breaks them, but then the
remedy is both ready and eafy: all you have to do,

is to provide yourfelf with a fufficient quantity of

bark, gum, and roots; befides, there are few places
where you may not meet with gum and roots fuffi-
clent tor ftitching your canoe.

What they call les Cafcades, is a rapide or fall, fi-
tuated exacily at the upper end of the ifland Perrot,
which feparates lake St. Lewis from the lake des
deux Montagnes. To fhun this, you keep a little to
the right, and make your canoes go empty over a
part of the river called /e Treu: you afterwards bring

them on fhore, and then make over a carrying place

of half a quarter of a league; that is to fay, you
carry your canoe and all your baggage on your
. fhoulders. This isto fhun a fereniii rapide called
le Beuiffon or the bufh, being a fine fheet of water,
falling from a flat rock of about a foot and a half
high. One might be'delivered from this trouble by
hollowing a little the bed ef a fmall river, which
difcharges itfelf into. another above the Cafcades,
‘The expence would be no. great matter.

Above the Bouiffen, the river is a large quarter of

a league broad, and the lands on both fides are ex-

cellent.and well wooded. ‘They begin to clear thofe
lying on the northern bank, and it would be very
eafy to make a sissdaidy 2y from the point oppofite to
the ifland of Montreal, as far as the height or creek
called La Galette. By this means one might . fhun
a paflage of forty leagues, and a navigation render-
ed almoit impracticable with Rapides, and always ex-
ceding tedious. A fort would even be better placed at
La Galette, where it would alfo be of more fervice

than at Catarocoui, becaufe nota fingle canoe can |

- pals it Wi ithout being feen ; whereas at Catarocoui,
they -

.

| Cae 2 i
they may flip thro’ between the iflands without be-
ing perceived. Morever, the lands about La Ga-
Jette are excellent, and for this reafon there muft al-.
ways be plenty of provifions, which would fave a
confiderable expence. Befides, a veffel might fail
from hence to Niagara in two days with a favour-
able wind. One of the objects in view, in build-
ing the fort of Cataracoui, was the commerce with
the Iroquois; but thofe Indians would as readily
come to La Galette as to Catarocoui. ‘They would
indeed have a little farther to travel, but they would
{hun a paflage of eight or ten leagues crofs lake On-_
tario: laftly, the fort at Galette would cover the
whole country lying between the river of the Outa-
wais and the river. St. Lawrence; for this country
cannot be attacked on the fide towards the river, by
reafon of the Rapides, and nothing is more eafy than
to defend the banks of the great river. I owe thefe
obfervations to a commiffary of the marine, who
was fent by the king in 1706 to vilit all the remote
parts of Canada.

The fame day, the 3d of May, I advanced three
leagues, and arrived at the place called Aux Cedres.
This is the third fall or rapide, and has taken its
name from the great number of cedars which were
formerly in this place: but they have fince been

‘moftly cut down. Onthe 4th I could get no far-

ther than to the fourth rapid, called 4 Coteau. de Lac,
tho’ no more than two leagues and a half from the
preceeding, becaufe one of my canoes happened to
fplit near it.’ Your Grace will not be furprifed at
the frequency of thefe fhipwrecks, after you have
been informed of the conftruction of thefe diminitive
gondolas. I think F have already told you there are
two forts of them; the one of the bark of elm,
wider, and of very coarfe workmanfhip, but com-

3 monly

( 204 )° )
monly the largeft. I know no nation but the Iro-
quois, which have any of this fort. The others are
of the bark of the birch tree, of a breadth lefs pro-
portioned to their length, and much better and
neater built. It is thefe latter 1 am going to de-
fcribe to you, as all the French, and almoft all the

Indians ufe no other. — |

They extend the pieces of bark, which are very
thick on flat and extremely thin timbers of Cedar-
wood. All thefe timbers from head to ftern are
kept in form by little crofs bars, which form the dif-
ferent feats in the canoe. ‘Iwo girders of the fame
materials, to which thefe bars are faftened or fewed,
bind the whole fabric. Between the timbers and
the bark are inferted fmall pieces of cedar, ftill more
flender than the timbers, and which for all that con-
tribute to ftrengthen the canoe, the two extremities
of which rife gently, and terminate in two fharp
points bending inwards. ‘Thefe two extremities are
perfectly alike; fo that in order to go backward,
the canoe-men have only to change offices. He
who happens to be behind fteers with his oar, ftill
rowing at the fame time; and the chief employ-
ment of he who is Foneartlas3 is to take care that the
canoe touch nothing that may break it. They alk
fit low down, or on their knees, and their oars are
a fort of paddles from five to fix feet long, com-
monly of maple. . But when they are to ffem any
ae current, they are obliged to make ule of a
pole, and to ftand upright, and this is called piequer
le fend, or piercing the "bottom. They muft be
well experienced to be able to preferve their balance
in this work, for nothing can be lighter, and confe-
quently eafier to overfet, than thefe vehicles, the’
largeft of which, with their whole loading, do not
draw above half a foot water. |
Fhe

e

8

af
i iag . SE
all

? Lg Cogs
The batk of which they are built, as well a8 the

« titnbers, are fewed with the roots of fir-trees, which

are more pliant, and lefs apt to dry than the ofier.
All the feams are gummed within fide and without,
but they muft be examined every day, to fee whe-
ther the gum has fcaled off. The largeft canoes
carry twelve men, two and two, and four thoufand
weight, or two tons. Of all he Indians, the molt
expert builders are the Outawais, and in general
the Algonquin nations excel the Huron Indians in
this trade. There are few French who can make a
canoe even fo much as tolerably well, but in con-
duéting them, they are at leaft full as fure to truft
to as the natives. as they exercife themfelves at it
from their infancy. All thefe canoes, the fmalleft
‘not excepted, carry fail, and with a favourable wind,
make twenty leagues a-day. Without fails you
mutt have able canoe-men; to make twelve in {till
water.

- From Coteau de Lac, to lake St. Francis, you
have only a large half league. This lake which I
croffed on the “5th, is feven leagues long, and at
moft three in breadth where broadeft: The lands
on both fides of it are low, but feem indifferent
good. The rout from Montreal thither lies fome-
what fouth- weft, and lake St. Francis lies weft-
fouth weft and eaft-fouth eaft. I encamped imme-
diately above it, and ih the night was awakened
with piercing cries, as of people making lamenta-
tions. I was frightened at firft, but they eon made °
me eafy, by telling me that it was a kind of cofmo-
tants called //warts from their howling. They alfo
told me thefe howlings were a fign of wind the next .
day, and it actually was fo.

4

, F «4 | O#

eg id 296 )-

On the fixth I pafled what they call les Cefiaue |

du Lac. This they call the channels, formed by a
multitude of iflands, which occupy almott all the ri-
ver in this place. I never faw a more charming
country, and the foil appears excellent. The reft

of the day we did nothing but cléar the rapides : the -

moft confiderable called /e W/oulinet, terrified me only
to look at it, and we had much ado to extricate our-
felves from it. I made however this day, almoft
feven leagues, and encamped at the foot of the fall
called /¢ Tong Sault: this is a rapide half a league in
length, where canoes cannot fail up, but half load-
ed. ‘We pafied it on the 7th in the morning. We

afterwards went on till three in the afternoon under —

fail, when the rain obliged us to encamp, and de-
tained us all next day. ‘There even fell on the 8tha
little fhow, andon the night it froze as in France
in the month of January. We were however under

the-fame parallel with Languedoc. On the ninth we

pafied Je Rapide plat, or flat fall, about feven leagues:
from the Saz/t, and five from‘ le Galots, which is
the laft of the Rapides. La Galette is a league and
a half farther, where we arrived on the 10th, I
could never have wearied of admiring the country
between this creek and the Gallots. It is impoffible
to fee nobler forefts, T remarked. efpecially oaks of
an amazing height.

Five or fix leagues from 1a Galette, is an ifland
called Tonihata, the foil of which appears tolerably
fertile, and which is about half a league long. An
-Jroquois, called the Quaker, for Bhue reafon q know

not, a man of excellent good fenfe, and much de-
voted to the French, had obeained the right to it
from the Compte de Frontenac. and he fhews his
- patent to every body that defires to fee it. He has
however fold his lordfhip for four pots of brandy ;

but

Re Se

< Soe
ie dee

on ( 297 >

but he has referved the ufufruit for his own life and —
has got together on it eighteen-or twenty families of
his own nation. I arrived; in his ifland on the qath,
and paid him a vifit. I found him at work in his
garden ; this is not ufual with the Indians; but this
perfon affects to follow all the French manners. He
received me very well, and would have regaled me,
but the fine weather invited me to purfue my voy-
ase. I took my leave of him, and went to pafs the
night two leagues from hence in a very pleafant
fpot. I had {till thirteen leagues to fail before I
eould reach’Catarocoui; the weather was fine, and
the night very clear; this prevailed with us to em-
bark at three in the morning. We paffed thro’ the
middle of an archipelago called the thoufand iflands,
and | am fully perfuaded there are above five hun-
dred of them. After you have got from amon
them, you have only a league and an haif to fail to
reach Catarocour. ‘The river here is opener, “and is
full half a league over. You leave afterwards on
your right three large creeks of a good depth, and
on the third the fort tlands.

This fort has four baftions built of anatle, which
occupy 2 quarter of a league in circuit. Its fituation
is truly exceeding pleafant. The banks of the river
prefent on all fice ae of ‘great variety, which
is alfo the cafe at the entry of Jake Ontari io, at no
more than a fhort league’s diftance : it is adorned
with a number of iflands™of different extent, all of
them well wooded, and without any thing to con-
fine the profpect on that fide. This lake bore for
fome time the name of St. Lewis, it afterwards ob-
tained that of Frontenac, as did alfo the fort of Ca-
tarocoui, of which Count Frontenac was the foun-
der: The lake however infenfibly recovered its an-

clent

ed

( #og6)) }

cient appellation, which is Huron in Iroquois, and
the fort that of the place where*it ftands.

} ‘A
. The foil from la Galette hither is barren enough; :
but this is only on the out fkirts; beyond that it ig
excellent, There is oppofite to the fort a very plea-
fant ifland in the middle of the river. They for-
merly put fome hogs in it, which multiplied greatly,
and whofe name it bears. There are two other fmall
iflands below this, and half a league diftant from each
other; one is called l’]fle aux Cedres, and the other
VIfle aux Cerfs. The creek of Catarouoi is double,
that is, there is a point very near the middle which
advances a great way into the water, and under- »
which there is excellent anchoring ground for the
largeft veffels. Monf. de la Salle, fo celebrated for
his difcoveries and misfortunes, who was once lord
of Catarocoui, and governor of the fort, had two
or three veflels here which were funk, and are ftill
to be feen. Behind the fort is a morafs, which fwarms
with game. This is at once a diverfion, and an ad-
vantage to the garrifon. There was formerly a very.
Jarge commerce carried on at this place, efpecially
with the Iroquois, and it was to hinder them: from
carrying their furs to the Englifh, and to hold them-
felves in refpect, the fort was built. But this com-
merce lafted not long, and the fort has not been
able to prevent thofe Barbarians from doing us a-
bundance of mifchief. They have ftill a few fami-
lies without the fort, as well as fome of the Mififa-
guez, an Algonquin nation, who have ftill a town
on the weftern fhore of lake Ontario, another at
Niagara, and a third at /e Detroit, or the Nar-
rows. ple ;

I found here; Madam, an occafion of fending my

letters to Quebec ; I am going to lay hold of fome .
Mie hours

\

| ("299 4)

hours leifure to fill this with what I have ftill to in-

form you of, with refpect to the different lanouages

of Canada. Thofe who have ftudied them to the:
bottom, pretend that the three of which I formerly

made mention, have all the marks of primitive lan-

guages: and it is certain that they have not any

common origin. ‘Their pronounciation would be
alone fufficient to prove this. The Sioux Indian hif-
fes rather than fpeaks. The Huron knows none of
the labial letters, fpeaks thro’ the throat, and afpi-

rates almoft all the fyllables ; the Algonquin pronoun-
ces with a fofter tone, and fpeaks more naturally.

I have not been able to learn any thing particular,
with refpect to the firft of thefe three tongues ; but our
ancient miffionaries have laboured much on the two
others, and on their principal dialects : the follow-
ing is what I have heard faid by the moft able of
them.

The Huron language has a copioufnefs, an ener-
ey, anda noblenefs, which are fcarce to be found
united in any of the fineft we know, and thofe whofe
native tongue it is, tho’ but a handful of people,
ftill retain a certain elevation of foul, which agrees
much better with the majefty of their difcourfe,.
than with the wretched eftate to which they are re-
duced. Some have imagined they found fome re-
femblance with the Hebrew in it; others, and a
much greater, pretend that it has the fame origin.
with that of the Greeks; but nothing can be more
frivolous than the proofs they alledge in fupport of
'¥t, We are in a fpecial manner to beware of re-
lying on the vocabulary of the Friar Gabriel Sagherd —
a Recollect, which has been cited in favour of this
opinion: ftill lefs on that of James Cartier, and of
the Baron dela Hontan. Thefe three authors took
at random 4 few words, fome from the Huron, and

others

ee oe Cage)
others from the Algonquin tongues, which they vey |
ill remembered, and which often fignified fomething

oS
very different from what they imagined. How many

errors have been oecafioned by fuch miftakes in tra-
vellers!

The Algonquin language has not the fame force
with the Huron, but much more fweetnefs and ele-
gance. Both have a richnels of expreffion, a varie-
ty of turns and phrafes, a propriety of diétion, and
a regularity, which are perfectly, aftonifhing. But
what is ftill more wonderful is, that amongft Bar-
barians, who never ftudied the graces of elocution,
and who never knew the ule of letters or writing, they
never.introduce a bad word, an improper term, or
a faulty conftruction, and that the very children re-
tain the fame purity in their lighteft and moft fami-

‘liar difcourfe.

Befides, their manner of animating whatever they
fay leaves no, room to doubt their comprehending all
the force of their expreffions, and all the beauty and
delicacy of their language. ‘The dialects which are »
derived from both, have retained neither the fame
force nor the fame graces. The Tfonnonthouans |
for inftance, one of the five Iroquoife cantons, pafs
amongft the Indians for being the moft ruftick in
their f,eech of any Indians. mm

In the Huron language every word is inflected
or conjugated ; there is’a certain art which I cannot
well explain to you, by which they diftinouifh
verbs from nouns, pronouns, adverbs, &c. Simpie
verbs have a twofold conjugation ; one abfolute,
and the other relative or reciprocal. The third per-
fons have two genders, which are all known in
_ their tongues: to wit, the noble and ignoble, ye
3 tor

(i268)

for number and tenfe, they have the fame difference

as the Greeks. For inftance, to relate the account
of a voyage, you ufe a different expreffion, if itis by
land, from that you would make ufe of had it been

“by water. Active verbs are multiplied as often as

there are different objects of their action. Thus the
verb which fignifies to eat, has as many different
variations as there are different forts of eatables.
The action is differently expreffed of an animated or
inanimate thing: thus, to fay you fee a man or you
fee a ftone, you muft make ufe of two different
verbs. To make ufe of any thing which belongs
to him who wfes it, or to the perfon to whom
he addreffes himfelf, there are fo many different .
verbs,

There is fomething of all this in the Algonquin
language, but the manner of it is different, and I
am by no means in a condition to inform you of it,
However, Madam, if it fhould follow from the
little I have been telling you that the richnefs and
variety of thefe languages render them exprefly dif-
ficult to be learned, the poverty and barrennefs into
which they have fince fallen caufe an equal confu-
fion. For as thefe people, when we firit beotin to
have any intercourfe with them, were ignorant of
every thing which was notin ufe among themfelves,
or which tell not under the cognizance of their fen-
fes, they wanted terms to exprefs them, or elfe had
let them fall into defuetude and obfcurity. Thus

having no regular form of worfhip, and forming

confuled ideas of the deity and of every thing relating
to religion, and never reflecting on any thing but the
objects of their fenfes, or matters which concerned

_themfelves or their own affairs, which were-fufficient-

ly confined, and being never accuftomed to difcourfe
of virtues, paffions, and many other matters which
\ are

(ee.

are the common fubjects of converfation with us, as —

they neither cultivated the arts, except fuch as were
neceflary to them, and which were reduced to a
very {mall number ; nor any fcience, minding only
fuch things as were within the reach of their capa-
city, and having no knowledge or defire of fuper-

fluities, nor any manner of luxury or refinement ;.

when we had occafion to {peak of all thefe:topicks
to them, there was found a prodigious void in their
Janguage, and it became neceflary, in order to be
underftood by them, to make ufe of troublefome
and perplexing circumlocutions to both them and us.
So that after learning their language, we were un-
der a neceflity to teach them a new one partly compof-
ed of their own terms, and partly of ours, in order to
facilitate the pronounciation of it. As to letters or
characters they had none, and they fupplied this
want by a fort of hieroglyphicks. Nothing con-

founded them more than to fee us exprefs our-
- felves in writing with the fame eafe as by word of
mouth,

If any one fhould afk me how I came to know
that the Sioux, Huron and. Algonkin languages are
mother tongues rather than fome others, which we
look upon as dialects of thefe, 1 anfwer that it is
impoflible to be miftaken in this point, and I afk
no other Proof of it than the wordsof Monf. Abbe
Dubos, which I have already cited: but laftly, as
we cannot judge in this cafe but by comparifon, if
by fuch reflections we are able to determine that all
the lanouages of Canada are derived from thefe
three already mentioned, I will acknowledge they
do not amount to an abfolute proof of their being
primitive, and as old as the firft inftitution or inven-
tion of languages. I add, that all thefe nations have
nl fome

( 203 )
forewhat of the Afiatic genius in their difcourfe,
which gives a figurative turn and expreffion to
things, and which is what has probably made fome
conclude that they are of Afiatic extraction, which
is moreover probable enough in other refpects.

Not only the nations of the Huron language have
always occupied themfelves more than the other !n-

- dians in hufbandry and cultivation of their lands ;

they have alfo been lefs difperfed, which has predu-
ced two effects; for firft, they are better fettled,
lodged and fortified, but have alfo always been un-
der a better fort of police, and a more diftinét and
regular form of government. ‘The quality of chief,
at leaft among the true Hurons who are Tionnon- .
tatez, is always hereditary. In the fecond place,
till the wars of the lroquois, of which we have been
witnefies, their country was the moft populous, tho’
polygamy never was in ufe init. They have alfo
the character of being the moft induftrious, moft
laborious, moft expert in the management of their
affairs, and moft prudent in their conduét, which
can be attributed to nothing but to that fpirit of fo-
ciety which they have better retained than the
others. This is in a fpecial manner remarked of
the Hurons, who forming at prefent but one nation
or people, and being reduced to two middling vil-
Jages very remote from each other, are, notwith-
ftanding the foul of all their councils in all matters
regarding the community. ’Tis true that notwith-
ftanding this difference, which is not to be difco-
vered at firft glance, there is a {trong refemblance in
the genius, manners, and cuftoms of all the Indians
of Canada; but this is owing to the mutual com-
merce they have carried on with each other for

‘Many ages.

This

ein

( gf)

Thids is the proper place to take notice of the ¢ g0-
vernment of thefe Indians, as well as of their cuftoms
and religion: but I can as yet difcover nothing but
a chaos and confufion, which it is impoffible for me
to unravel. You would certainly blame me fhould
I, like certain travellers, fill up my journal with
every thing I had heard, without giving myfelf any
trouble to afcertain the truth, and fhould retail to
you all the extravagant Soret charged to the ac-
count of our ibilint: or which have probably been

‘drawn from their traditions. Thefe traditions are

moreover fo very uncertain, and almoft always con-
tradi€t themfelves fo grofly, that it is almoft impoffible
to pick out any thing certain or coherent. In fact,

how fhould a people fuch as they have been found -

really to be, how fhould fueh perfons tranfmit a
faithful account of what has paffed amongft them
fo many ages, fince without any means of eafing or
affifting their memory? And can it be conceived
that men who think fo little of the ‘future, fhould
have fo much concern about the paft, as to preferve
faithful regifters of it? Thus, after all the re-
fearches that could poffibly be made, .we are yet in
the dark and to feek, as to the fituation of Canada,
when we firft difcovered it towards the middle le of the
fixteenth century, :

The fole point of their hiftory which has come
dewn clothed with any degree of probability, is
the origin of the war, which Monf. Champlain
found kindled between the Iroquois on one fide,
and the Hurons and Algonquins on the other, and
in which he engaged much too far for our real inte-
refts. I have ever been unable to difcover the epo-

cha of it, but I do not believe it of very old ftand-

ing. I will not put an end to this letter with this
account : but I warn you before hand, that I don’t
pretend

¢

(C8 05 )
*prarcad to vouch for this hiftorical piece, tho’ I have

_ it from pretty goed hands.

The Algonquins, as I have dlecady obferved, oc-
cupied all that tract of country lying between Que-
bec, and poffibly from Tadouffac to the Lake Ni-
piffing, running along the north fhore of the river

St. Lawrence, and tracing upwards the great river,

which difcharges itfelf into the former above the
ifland of Montreal. This would incline us to judge
that this people was then pretty reyeaSEOU Ss and it is
certain it has long made a very great figure in this

- part of America, where the Hurons only were able

to difpute the fuperiority with them over all the reft.
With refpect to fkill in hunting, they had no equal,
and ftood alfo foremoft in the lifts of fame for pro-
wefs in war. The few remaining of them at this
day, have not degenerated from the ancient renown
of their fathers, nor have their misfortunes in the
leaft tarnifhed their reputation.

The Iroquois had concluded a kind of treaty of
alliance with them, which was equally and greatly

~ Advantageous to either party, but which too, in the

eftimation of Indians, (with whom a great huntf-
man and great warrior are in equal veneration) gave

_ the Algonquins a real fuperiority over the Iroquois.

The latter almoft wholly taken up with the culti-
vating their fields, had ftipulated to pay a certain
proportion of their harvefts to the Algonkins, who
were on their part obliged to fhare with them the
fruits of their huntings, and to defend them againit
alll invaders. Thefe two nations lived in harmony
for a confiderable while, but an unreafonabl¢ piece
of pride in the one, and a certain, fudden, and un- .
expected difguft on the ey broke all bounds of

oo¥bL. I. RW Licks con-

os

3 ‘ !

a, a 3868 79 |
concord, and embroiled thofe two nations in an ir-
reconcileable quarrel. | de

As the winter feafon is that of their great hunt-
ing, and as the earth being covered with fnow, fur-.
nifhes no employment to the hufbandman, the In-
dians of both confederate nations joined camps and
wintered abroad in the forefts. But the Iroquois ge-
nerally left the hunting to the Algonquins, and con-
tented themfelves with fleaing the beafts, curing their
fiefh, and dreffing the fkins. This is now every
where the bufinefs of the women: poffibly this was
not then the cafe: be this as it will, the Iroquois
were perfectly fatisfied. Now and then however
fome particular perfons among them had a fancy to
make an effay at hunting, the Algonquins making
no oppofition to this practice. In this they acted
like bad politicians. It happened one winter that a ‘
company of the two nations halted ina place where ;
they made fure of a fuccefsful hunting; and fim
young Algonquins, accompanied with as manylro-
quoife of the fame age, were fent out to begin the
work, . ee

/
ne

They faw at firft a few elks, and immediately
prepared to give them chace. But the Algonquins
would not fuffer the Iroquois to accompany them, and
gave them to underftand that they would have em-
ployment enough in fleaing the beafts they fhould
catch. As ill luck would have it for thefe bragea-
docto’s, three days pafled without their being able

to kill a fingle elk, tho’ they. ftarted a great number.
This fmall fuecefs mortified them, and probably
highly pleafed the Iroquois, who earneftly defired
to be allowed to go fome other way, where ‘they

- “flattered themfelves they would) prove more fortu»
nate. Their propofal was reat to by the Algon-
quins,

a

4

2 ("307° )

Guins, juit as David’s brethren did formerly, when

that young fhepherd afked leave to go and ficht the :

giant Goliah. They told them it was vain to pre-
tend to be abler huntimen than the Algonquins; that
their office was to turn the glebe, and that it be-
eame them to leave the honourable profeffion of

' hunting to their betters, to whom that exercifé was

more fuitable. — : ,

- The Iroquois affronted at this anfwer made no
reply, but on the night following, they fet out pri-
vately to hunt. The Algonquins, when they a-
woke, were furprifed to find the Iroquois gone, but
their furprife was foon changed into the moft violent
hatred. _ For the fame evening they had the morti-
fication to fee the Iroquois returning loaded with
the flefh of elks. There are no mortals more fuf=
ceptible of an affront, or who carry theif refentment
farther than the Indians. ‘The effects of this were
fudden, for the Iroquois had fcarce clofed their eyes;
when they were.all butcher’d. Such a murder could
not be long concealed, and tho’ their bodies were

. buried fecretly, it was very foon known to their nas

~ tion. They at firft made their complaints with
great moderation, but they infifted on having juftice
done on the murderers. ‘They were too much def-

pifed to obtain their requeft, nor were they thought
worthy of receiving the fmalleft fatisfaction. |

The Iroquois being thus drove to defpair, cate
to a determined refolution to revenge the contetnpt
fhewn them, and piqued thermfelves more on punifh«
ing this, than even the murder itfelf. They bound
themfelves by oath to perifh to a man, or to have
their revenge; but as they did not believe them-
felves in 4 condition to try their fortune againft the
Algonquins, the terror of whofe name alone ee
- U 2 aE

‘ , fee
Bt ol 5, d RA Thay
wy ” = id ee
, a ‘
be a
Pas

See

all the other nations in awe, they went. toa diftance.
from, them, to try their ftrenth againft fome other,
lefs dreadful enemy, whom they provoked on pur-
pofe, and after they thought themfe'ves fufficiently
inured to warfare, they poured all at once upon the
Algonquins, and commenced that war of which we
| faw only the conclufion, and which fet all Canada
| on fire. This has been continued by the Jroquois
: | with unparalled fury, and with a fiercenefs fo much
hs the more dreadful, as. it was deliberate, and as it had
nothing of that headftrong-rage, which hurries men
into bad meafures, and ‘which is foon over. Be-
fides, Indians never think they have enough of re-
venge, till they have entirely exterminated their e-
nemies ; which is likewife more true of the Iroquois -
than of the other nations. They commonly fay of
them, that they advance like foxes, attack like lions,
and fly like birds, Thus they are almoft. always
fure of their blow, and their conduct. has fucceeded
fo. well with them, that had it not been for the
French, there would not have been left fo much as
the memory of any of thofe nations which dared, to
oppofe themfelves to this deluge. ,

Fp { ee
Ses oe
. ey ee eae
j , se =
SP im Sas
2 spittin = SPR 5
SS ee ee SI ee ee

Se ee ee

Thofe who fuffered moft were the Hurons, who
engaged i in this war as allies, auxiliaries, or neigh-
bours to the Algonquins, or becaufe thcy lay in the
way of both. We have feen with aftonifhment one

of the moft populous and warlike nations on this
continent, and. the moft efteemed of them all either

for wifdom or sood fenfe, almoft. wholly difappear

in a few years. We may even fay that there is not

any nation in all this part.of America who have not

paid very dearly, for the Iroquois being obliged to”

take up arms, and I know, none in all Canada ex; @

cept the Abenaquis, whom they have not molefted

in their own countries. For after they were once

: | entered,

C 2060 1)

pritered and proved their fuccefs in war, and had taft-

_ed of the fweets of conqueft, they could no longer re-
main quiet, like lions, whofe thirft after blood is only

encreafed by abi of it. One would hardly imagine
to what an immente diftance they have gone to feek

out their enemies, and to give them battle. Not-
withftanding, by dint of making continual war, as

they were not wkhout feveral checks at different
times, they have found themfelves extremely dimi-
nifhed ; and were it not for the flaves they have
made on all hands, mofof whom they have adopt-
ed, their fituation would be equally miferable with
that of the mations they have fubdued.

What happened in this refpect to the Iroquois,
may with ftill more reafon be faid of the other In-
dians in this country, and we are not to wonder if,
as | have already remarked, thefe nations diminifh
daily in avery fenfible manner. For tho’ their wars
appear Jefs ruinous than ours at firft fight, they are
however much more fo in proportion. The moft
numerous of thefe nations perhaps never contained
above fixty thoufand fouls, and there fometimes hap-
pen battles, in which cafe there 18 much blood fpilt.
A furprife, or coup de. main, {ometimes celtroys a

i]

whole town; oftentimes the fear of an irruption of

an enemy makes a whole canton be deferted, when
the fugitives to fhun the fword of the enemy, or
their torturing punifhments, pis themfelves to

die of hunger and mifery in the woods, or ohn moun-

tains, having feldom leifure or confideration enough
to carry the neceffary provifions to fuch places. T his
happened in the laft age to a great number of Hu-
rons and Algonquins, ok fated it has been impoffi-
ble to learn,

I am, &c.
U 3 LETTER

huamsie

side saris
ae
tea eis silt

. ’
pron Ye
A Wy

ri of Lacing

int

apa Me

hae

r

ri aed t sisi bits

: : EN NS Wie pie iy:
aes XY wit -8! “OU STORRS
a Ma Vay isi \ oe ‘

a ts aan Tas

ahaphe ee BYey ts
,

abate :
a chs ‘y if
: » A) hd adie) ny

ne

th a tpareat

(31 )

eee Ty ol Or Ree KUEs

Defcription of the country to the river of the
Onnontagues. Of the flux and reflux in the
great lakes of Canada. Manner in which the
Indians fing the war-fong. Of their God of
War, Manner of declaring war. Of the
collars of Wampum or Porcelain, and the
Calumet, with their cuftoms relating to peace
and war.

Anfe de la Famine, May 16th, 1721.

Madam,

E,.RE I am detained by a contrary wind,

_ which has the appearance of lafting fome
time, and keeping me above aday in one of the .
worft places in the world. I fhall endeavour to di- ©
vert my chagrin by writing to you. Whole ar-
mies of thofe pigeons we call turtles are continu-
ally paffing here, and if one of them would take
charge of my letters, perhaps, you might hear of
me before I leave this place; but the Indians have
not as yet thought of training up thefe birds to this
piece of dexterity, as it is faid the Arabians and
feveral other nations did formerly.

U4 .y

‘ C 342 ) |

I embarked on the rath, precifely at the fame
hour, on which I arrived the evening before at Ca-
tarocoui. I had only fix leagues to make, in or-
der to gain the ifland aux Chevreuils, or of Roe-
bucks, where there is a good harbour capable of
receiving large barks; but my Canadians having
forgot to examine their canoe, and the fun having
melted the gum in feveral places, it admitted the
water On all fides, and I was obliged to ftop two
hours in order to repair it in one of the iflands at
the entrance of Lake Ontario; we continued our~
courfe afterwards till paft ten at night, but not bes
ing able to gain the ifland aux Chevreuils, we were
obliged to pafs the remainder of the night at the
corner of the foreft.

Here I obferved for the firft time vines in the
woods, There were almoft as many as there were
trees, and they always climbed quite to their top.
This was the firft time I had made this obfervation
having never ftopt before but in open fields ; but
I am told this continues all the way to Mexico.
Thefe vines are very thick at bottom, and bear great
plenty of grapes, which, however, are no larger
than peafe, but this cannot be otherwile, feeing they

_ are neither pruned nor cultivated. When ripe they
afford excellent feeding for the bears, who climb to
the tops of the higheft trees in queft of them. Af.
ter all, they have only the Jeavings of the birds,
which would foon rob whole forefts of their
vintage.

{

Next day I fet out early in the morning, and at
eleven o’clock ftopt at the iland aux Gallots, three
leagues beyond the ifland aux Chevres, in 43 deg.
3 3 min. lat. I reimbarked a little after mid-day,
and made a traverfe of a Jeague and a half, in or-

der

Gere”)

“der to'gain the Point of the Traverfe, for had 1

coafted along the main-land in order to. get at that
place, from that where [ fpent the night, I fhould
have hada courfe to make of above forty leagues,

which way, however, muft be taken when the lake

is not very calm; for if it be ever fo little agitated,
the waves are as heavy as thofe at open fea. itis
not even poffible to range along the coaft when the

wind is any thing large.

a

From the point of the Ile aux Gallots, you fee
to the weftward the river of Chauguen, formerly
the river of Onnontagué, at the diftance of four-
teen leagues. As the lake was calm, as there was
no appearance of bad weather, and as we hada

' fimall breeze at eait, juft fufficient to fill our fails,

J took a refolution to fteer directly for that river,
in order to fave a circuit of fifteen or twenty leagues,
My guides who had more experience than I, ima-

gined this enterprize hazardous, but yielded out of

complaifance to my opinion. The beauty of the
country which lay on the left hand, did not tempt
me, any more than the jalmon and great quantities
of other excellent fifth, which are taken in the fix
fine rivers, which lie at the diftance of two or three
leagues from one another*. We therefore bore
away, and till four o’clock had no reafon to repent
it; but then the wind rofe all on a fudden, and
we fhould have been very well pleafed to have been
clofe in with the land. We made towards the
neareft, from which we ftill were three leagues, and
had great difficulty to gain it. At laft about feven

* The river of Affumption is a league from the point of the

-Traverfe, that of Sables three leagues farther; that of la Planche

two leagues beyond the former, that of La Grande Famine two
leagues more, that of La Petite Faming one league, and that
of La grofie Ecorce another league. |

in

( 314 A : :
in the evening we landed at Anfe ae la Famine, or the.
Creek of Famine, fo called, becaufe M. dela Barre,»
governor- -general of New- 'F rance, had very near
Jot his whole army there by hunger, and other dif-

tempers, when he was going upon an expedition
-againft the Iroquois.

It was high time we fhould arrive, the wind was
ftrong, and the waves ran fo high that no one durft
have crofled the Seine oppofite to the Louvre, in
fuch a fituation as we were then in. This place
is indeed very proper for deftroying an army which
fhould depend on hunting and fifhing for fubfift-
ence, befides that the air feems to be éxtremely

unwholfome. Nothing, however, can exceed the
beauty of the foreft, which covers all the banks of
this lake. The white and red oaks raife their heads
as high as the clouds, and there 1s, another tree
of a very large kind, the wood of which -is hard
but brittle, and bears a great refemblance to that
of the plane-tree ; its leaves have five points, are
of a middle fize, of a very beautiful green in the
infide, but whitifh without. It has got the name
of the cotton-tree, becaufe it bears a fhell nearly
of the thicknefs of an Indian Chefnut-tree, con-
taining a fort of cotton which, however feems to
be good for nothing.

As I was walking on the banks of the lake I ob-
ferved that it fenfibly lofes ground on this fide,
the land being here much lower and more fandy
for the {pace of half a league, than it is beyond it.
I likewife obferved that in this lake, and Iam told
that the fame thing happens in all the reft; there
is a fort of flux and reflux almoft jinMantineote! the
rocks near the banks being covered with water,
and uncovered again feveral times in the {pace of

a

| C 315) &

a quarter of an hour, even fhould the furface of
the lake be very calm, with fcarce a breath of wind.
After reflecting for fome time on this appearance, |
imagined it was owing to the fprings at the bottom
of the Jakes, and to the fhock of their currents with
thofe of the rivers, which fall into them from all
fides, and thus produce thofe intermitting mo-
tions.

- But would you believe it, Madam, that at this
feafon of the year, and in the 43d deg. of latitude,
there is not as yet fo much asa [ingle leaf upon
the trees, though we have fometimes as hot wea-
ther as with you in the month of July. This is
undoubtedly owing to the earth’s having been co-
vered with fnow for feveral months, and not being
as yet fufficiently warm to open the pores of the
roots, and to caufe the fap to afcend. The Grande
and Petiie famine {carce deferve the name of rivers ;
they are only brooks, e{pecially the latter, but are
pretty well flocked with fifh. There are eagles
here of a prodigious fize, my people have juit now
thrown down a neft, in which there was a cart-load
of wood and two eaglets, not as yet feathered, but
as big as the largeft [ndian puilets. They have eat
them, and declare they were very good. I return
to Catarocoui, where, the night | paffed there, ]
was witnefs to a pretty curious {cene.

About ten or eleven o’clock at night, juft as I
was going to retire, [ heard a cry, which I was told
was the war-cry, and foon after faw a troop of the
Miffifaquez enter the fort finging all the way. It
feems, for fome years paft, thefe Indians have been
engaged in a war which the Iroquois carried on
againit the Cherokees, a numerous nation inhabit-
ing a fine country to the fouthward of Lake Erié ;

an

A agi6)) Be

and fince sla Wie their young men “have had a
ftrange itching to be in action. Three or four
thefe bravoes equipped as if they had been going
a mafquerade, with their faces painted in fuch a
manner as to infpire horror, and followed by almoft
all the Indians in the neighbourhood of the fort,
after having gone through “all the cabbins fingin,
their war jones to the found of the chichikoué,
which is a fort of calabafh filled with little flint
ftones, came to perform the fame ceremony through
all the apartments in the fort, in order to do at
nour to the commandant and the reft of the of-
ficers. : ee ss
I own to you, Madam, that this ceremony has
fomething in it which infpires one with horror when
feen for the firft time, and I had not been as yet fo
fully fenfible as I then was, that I was among bar-
barians. ‘Their fongs are at all times melancholy
and doleful; but here they were to the laft degree
frichtful, occafioned perhaps entirely by the dark-
nefs of the night, and the apparatus of this feftival,
for fuch it is amoneft the Indians. This invitation
was made to the lroquois, who finding the war
with the Cherokees begin to turn burthenfome, or
not being in the humour, required time for deli-
beration, after which every one returned home.

It fhould feem, Madam, that in thefe fongs. they
invoke the god of war, whom the Hurons call
Arefkoui, and the Iroquois Agrefkoue'; I know not
what name he bears in the Algonquin languages.
. But it is not a little furprifing, that the Greek word
Aens, which is Mars, and the god of war in all thofe

countries which have followed the theology of Ho-
mer, fhould bé the root whence feveral terms in
the Fluron and Iroquoifé languages feem to be de-
rived,

|

(. aig

rived, which have a relation to war. Aregouen

fignifies to make war, and is conjugated in this.

manner: Garego, I make war, Sarego, thou mak-
eft war; Arego, he makes war. Moreover, Aret-
koui i is not only the Mars of thefe people, but like-
wile the fovereign of the gods, or as they exprefs
it, the Great Spirit, the Creator and Matter of the
Univerfe, the Genius who governs all things; but
it is chiefly in warlike expeditions that they invoke
him; as if the attribute, which does him greateft
Ronan. was, that of being the God of armies.
His name is their war-cry before battle, and in the
heat of the engagement : in their marches likewife
they repeat it often, as if to encourage one another,
and to implore his affiftance,

To take up the hatchet, is to declare war ; every
private perfon has a right to do it, and nothing can
be faid againft him ; unlefs it be among the Hurons
and Iroquois, where the matrons command and pro-
hibit a war as feems good unto them ; we fhall fee
in its proper place how far their authority extends
in thefe matters. But if a matron wants to engage
any one who does not depend on her, to levy a
a party for war, whether it be to appeale the manes
of her hufband, fon, or near relation, or whether
at be to procure prifoner s, in order to replace thofe
in her cabbin, of whom death or captivity has de-
prived her; fhe muft make him a prefent of a col-

lar of. Wampum, and fuch an invitation is feldom
found enectnal

When the bufinefs is to declare war in form be-
tween two or three nations, the manner of expreff-
ing itis to hang the kettle over the fire; which has
its origin without doubt from the barbarous cuftom
of eating their prifoners, and thofe who have been
| killed

yk. oe )
killed after boiling them. They likewife thy: fim-

ply, that they are going to eat fuch a nation, which

fignifies that they are poine to make war againft
them in the moft deftructive and outrageous man-
ner, and indeed they feldom do otherwife. When
they intend to engage an ally in the quarrel, they
fend him a porcelain or wampum, which is a large
fhell, in order to invite him to drink the blood, or
as the terms made ufe of fignify, the broth ‘of the
flefh of their enemies. After all, this practice may
have been very antient, without our being able to
infer from thence, that thefe people have always
been Anthropophagi, or Man-eaters. It was, per-
haps, at firft, only an allegorical manner of fpeak-
ing, with examples of which the {cripture ofteri
furnifhes us. David, in all appearance, had not to
do with enemics who were accuftomed to eat hu-
man flefh, when he fays: Dum appropriant fuper
te nocentes ut edunt carnes meas. Pfalms xxvi. 2.

Afterwards fome nations becoming favage and bar-

barous, may have fubftituted the reality in the room
of the figure.

IT took notice that the porcelain in thefe countries
are fhells ; thefe are found on the coafts of New-
England and Virginia; they are channelled, drawn
out “lenothwife, a little pointed, without ears and
pretty thick, The fith contained in thefe fhells
are not good to eat; but the infide is of fo beauti-
ful a varnifh with fuch lively colours, that it is im-
poffible to imitate it by art. When the Indians
went altogether naked, they made the fame ufe of

them which our firft parents did of the “leaves of ©

the fig-tree, when they difcovered their nakednefs
and were afhamed at it. They likewife hung them
at their necks, as being the moft precious: things

they had, and to this day their greateft riches and
wea fineft

‘ . pate
= ; wee Sn 1, net = ag ee
— a : P — pe SR ee ee ee ee Z a;
en seit = So ne ee ee Soe *
Sa ee et oe Se Ce oe == = ; :

—:
=

Se eda et gs sd

==

ee

RS a EE

fe
Jae

(319)

op fineft ornaments confift of them. In a wotd, they

entertain the fame notion of them that we do bf gold,
filver, @nd precious ftones; in which they are fo

‘much the more reafonable, as in a manner they have

only to ftoop to procure riches as real as ours, for
all that depends upon opinion. James Cartier in
his memoirs makes mention of a fhell of an un-

common fhape, which he found, as he {fays, in the .

ifland of Montreal ; he calls it E/urgui, and afirms
it had the virtue of ftopping a bleeding at the nofe.
Perhaps, it is the fame we are now {peaking of ;
but they are no longer to be found in the ifland of
Montreal, and I never heard of any but the fhells
of Virginia which had the property Cartier fpeaks
of.

%

There are two forts of thefe fhells, or to fpeak

‘more properly two colours, one white and the other

violet. The firft is moft common, and perhaps,
on that account lefs efteemed. The fecond feems
to have a finer grain when it is wrought ; the deeper

its colour-is, the more it is valued. Small cylin- ©
drical grains are made of both, which are bored
through and ftrung upon a thread, and of thefe the
branches and collars of- Porcelain or Wampum are
mate. The branches are no more than four or five
threads, or fmall ftraps of leather, about a foot in
length, on which the grains or beads of Wampum

are ftrung. The collars are in the manner of fillets

or diadems formed of thefe branches, fewed toge-
ther with thread, making four, five, fix or feven
rows of beads, and of a | proportionable length ; all
which depends on the importance of the affair in,

agitation, and dignity of the perfon to whom the
ety iS ‘peopalieay

t ~
nts | 8 oe
. ,
a nm °

7 : ‘ .

(( 32d- )

By a mixture of beads of different colours, they
form fuch figures and characters as they have a.
mind, which often ferve to diftinguifh the Miairs ia

queftion. Sometimes the beads are plaited, at leaft
it is certain that they frequently fend red collars
when a war is in agitation. Thefe collars are care-
fully preferved, and not only compofe part of the
publick treafures, but are likewife their regifters or
annals, and ought to be ftudied by thofe who have
the charge of the archives, which are depofited in
the cabbin of the chief. When there are two chiefs
in a village of equal authority, they keep the trea-
fures and archives by turns for one night, but’ this

night, at leaft at prefent, is a whole year. Col-
lars are never ufed but in affairs of confequence
for thofe of lefs importance they make ufe of
branches, or ftrings of porcelain, fkins, blankets,
maiz, either in grain or flour, and fuch like things;
for all thefe make a part of the publick treafure.

When they invite a village or a nation to enter into ~

an alliance, fometimes they fend them a pair of co-
lours tinged with blood ; but this practice is modern,
and there is good reafon to believes. they have taken
the hint from the white colours of thé French; and
the red of the Englifh. It is even. faid, that we

ourfelves firft introduced it amongft them, and that

they have thought of tinging theirs with bases
when. the queftion was to declare war.

The calumet is no lefs facred among the Indians
than the, collar of Wampum; it has even, if we
may believe them a divine original, for they maimr
tain, it was a prefent made them by the Sun. , It is
more in ufe among the fouthern and weftern nations,

than among the eaftern and northern; and is: more

frequently employed for peace than for war. Calu-
met is a Norman word, being a corruption of Cha-
Korveau,

7

aha a | ae ae
cicne: and the calumet of the Indians is properly
the ftalk of the pipe, but under that-name is un-
derfteod the whole pipe as well as the ftalk. The
ftaikk is very long in calumets of ceremony, and the
pipe has the fhape of our old hammers for arms ;
it iscommonly made of a it of reddifh marble,

very eafy to work, and found in the country of the

Aiouez, beyond the Mififiippi., The ftaik is of a

ight wood, painted with different colours, and a-

dorned with the heads, tails, and feathers of the
mott beautiful birds, which in all probability is only
intended for ornament,

The cuftom is to {moke in the calumet when: it
is accepted, and perhaps, there is no example of an
engagement entered into in this manner being vio-
lated. The Indians at leait are perfuaded, that the
ereat fpirit never fuficrs an infracion of this kind
to efcape with impunity. If in the midft of a bat-
tle, an enemy prefents a calumet, it may be refu-

fed ;. but if it is accepted, their arms on both fides.

-muit immediately be laid down. There are calu

mets for all different forts of treaties. When an
exchange-is agreed upon in trade’ they prefent a ca-

_jumet, in order to cement the bargain, which ren-

ders it in fome meafure facred. When a war is in
agitation, not only the ftalk, but even the feathers
with which it is adorned are red; fometimes they
are red only on one fide, and it is pretended, that
from the manner in which the feathers are difpofed,
they know at firft fight to what nation it is to be
prefented.

-It cannot be doubted, but that the Indians, by
caufing thofe to fmoke in the calumet, with whom
they feek to enter into a treaty of alliance or com-
merce, intend to take the fun for a witnefs, and in

You. 1. xX fome

( 322.) :
fome meafure for a guarantee of their mutual en-_
gacements ; for they never fail to blow the fmoke -
towards that luminary ;. but that from this practice,
and from the ordinary ufe of the calumet, we ought
to infer as fome have done, that this pipe might | 5
originally be the Caduceus of Mercury, appearsto
me “by fo much the lefs probable, as the Caduceus
had no manner of relation to the Sun, and as no-
thing i is to be found in the traditions of the Indians,
by which we can imagine they had ever the leaft
acquaintance with the Grecian Mythology. ‘ It
would, in; my opinion, be much more natural to ”
fuppofe, that thefe people, informed by experience
that the fmoke of their tobacco diffipated the va-
pours of the brain, made their heads clearer, raifed ©
their fpirits, and put them into a better condition
for managing affairs, have for that reafon intro~
_ duced it into their councils, where, indeed, they
have the pipe continually in their mouths, and that
after having maturely deliberated and taken their
refolutions, they imagined they could not find a
more proper fymbol for affixing a feal to what had ©
been agreed upon, nor a pledge more capable of fe-
curing its execution, than the inftrument which had
had fo much fhare in their deliberations. Perhaps,
Madam, you may think it more fimple, . ftill to d
fay, that thefe people imagined nothing could be a
more natural fign of a ftri€t union, than fmoking
out of the fame pipe, efpecially, if the fmoke be
offered to a Divinity, who fets the feal of religion \
upon it. To fmokethen out of the fame pipe, in
fign of alliance, is the fame thing as to drink out of
the fame cup, as has been at all times the practice
among feveral nations. Such cuftoms as thefe are
too natural an offspring of the human mind, for us
to feck for myfteries in them.

ae

: The -

ore 303 )

» The fize and ornaments of the calumets, which.
are prefented to perfons of diftinétion, on occafions
of importance, are not fo particular that we need
fearch far for their motives. When men begin to

‘ have ever fo little commerce together, or to enter-
tain mutual refpect for one another, they are foon
accuftomed to have certain regards fr one another,
chiefly on occafions when publick affairs are in agi-
tation, or, when they want to engage, the good- will
of thofe with whom they have bufinefs to tranfact,
and hence proceeds the care they take to give a
greater magnificence to the prefents they make one

- another.. But it is to the Pavis, a nation fettled on
the banks of the Miffouri, who extend themfelves a
good way towards New Mexico, that it is pretended.
the Sun gave the calumet. ~ But thefe Indians have
probably done like a great many other people, en-
deavoured to ennoble “by the marvellous, a cuftom
of which they were the authors; and all that can
be concluded from this tradition, is, that the Panis.
paid the Sun a more ancient and diftinouifhed wor-
thip than the other nations of that part of the con-
tinent of America, and that they were the firft who
thought of making the calumet a fymbol of alli-.
ance. Inthe laft place, if the calumet had been
in its inftitution the caduceus of Mercury, it would

have only been employed in affairs relating to peace
or commerce, whereas it is certain, that it is ufed in
treaties that have war for their object.

Thefe hints, Madam, I thought neceflary, in or-
der to give you a perfect knowledge of what relates
to the wars of the Indians, about “which I fhall en-
tertain you in my next letters till I have exhaufted
the fubject ; at leaft, if they are digreffions, they
are not altogether foreign to my cefign. Befides,
2 a

‘ R :
5 . ’

sth j Nes ope ae
Ware) Ree te a

a ee yoo

| a traveller endeavours to difpc ie any
ae agreeable manner he can very: ing
Py RBS TG ah Gg Been

nae

cue Ae

ig ‘

deo TT! BE Reo XIV:

Defeription of the country from the Anfe de la
Famine fo the Riviere des Sables. Motives
of the Indians for going to war. Departure
of the warriors for the campain, with what
precedes their fetting out. Their manner of
taking leave of thetr relations and countrymen.
Their arms offenfive and defenfive. Their care
in taking along with them their tutelary gods
Particularities of the country as far as Nia
gara. :

Riviere des Sables, May ig, 1721é
_ Madan,
¥ Am now once more ftopped by a contraty wird;
which arofe the moment-we were likelieft to
make moft fpeed. It even furprifed us fo abruptly,
that we would have been in great danger had we -
not fortunately met with this {mall river fo take
fanctuary in. You muft acknowledge there are a
multitude. of inconveniencies and difappointments
to cope with in fuch a voyage as this. It is a very
fad. thing to fail a hundred, and fometimes two hun-
dred leagues without meeting with a fingle houfe,
ae

( oeb- )

or feeing one human creature; to be cider
in a. voyage of two or three hundred leagues to.
fhun a paflage of twenty, made with many difficul-
ties, and with the hazard of lofing one’s life by the
caprice of the winds ; to be ftopped, as it fometimes
happens, for whole weeks, on fome point or barren
fhore, or if it fhould happen to rain, to be obliged’
to. take up one’s lodging under fome canoe, or in a
tent : if the wind proves ftrong we muft feek for
fhelter in fome wood, where we are expofed to be
crufhed to death by the fall of fome tree.. Thefe
inconveniencies might be fhunned in part by the
building veffels for failing on the lakes ; but in or-
der to have this advantage, the trade muft be better
able to afford it.

We are now on the borders of the Iroquois can-
tons, which is an exceeding delightful country. We
embarked early yefterday in the fineft weather ima-
_ginable. There was not a fingle breath of wind,
and the lake was as {mooth as glafs. About nine
or ten o’clock we pafied by the mouth of the river
of Onnantague, which feemed to me to'be about 120
feet in breadth. The lands near it are fomewhat
low, but exceeding well wooded. Almoft all the
rivers which water the Iroquois cantons difcharge
themfelves into this, the fource of which is-a fine
lake called G ‘arascudcbiaad on the banks of which are
faltpits. Towards half an hour paft eleven we made
fail by favour of a fmall breeze at north-eaft, and in
a lew hours pufhed on as far as the Bay des Goyogo-
_uins, which is ten leagues from the Riviere of On-
nontague. ‘The whole coaft in this tract is diverfi-
fied with fwamps and high lands fomewhat fandy,
covered with the fineft trees, efpecially oaks, which
feem as if planted by the hand of men.

| A ftrong

Ui

CgaRy)

A trong ¢ dale of wind from the land, which o-
vertook us oppofite to the Bay des Goyogouins,
obliged us to take fanctuary in it. This is one of
the fineft fpots | have ever feen. A peninfula well
wooded advances from the middle, and forms a
kind of theatre. On the left as you enter, you per-
ceive in a bight a fmall ifland which conceals: the
mouth of a river, by which the Goyogouins defcend
to the lake. The wind did not continue long, we
therefore fet out again, and made three or four
leagues farther. This morning we embarked before’
fun-rife, and have actually made five or fix leagues.
I know not how long the north-weft wind may de-
tainus here. Whilft I wait till a favourable gale
arifes, I will refume my relation ofthe wars of the
Indians, where I left it off.

“Theft Barbarians rarely refufe to engage in a war,
when invited by their allies. ~ They commonly do
not even want any invitation to take up arms; the
imaileft motive, even a very nothing, 1s with them
caufe fufficient. But above all, vengeance is their
darling paffion; they have always fome old or new
erudge to fatisfy ; for no length of time ever clofes
thofe’ fort of wounds, let them be ever fo flight.
Thus one can never be fure that the peace is fully
eftablifhed between two nations who have been long

- enemies: on the other hand, the defire of replacing

the dead by prifoners to appeafe their manes; the
Caprice of a private. perfon, a dream which every
one explains at random, with other reafons and pre-
texts equally frivolous, will often occafion a party

to gO to war, who thought of nothing lefs the day
before.

"Tis true, thefe {mall expeditions, without con-
fent of the council, are generally without any great

Dyk, con-

Cg) }
comfequence, and as'they demand no Sreat*prepara-

tions, there is little attention paid to them; but ge- —

gerally fpeaking, they are not much difpleafed to

fee,the youth exercifed, and keep themfelves im

bisasin, and they muft have very cogent reafons. to
oppote fuch a .refolution ; ; befides, they rarely em-"

ploy authority to this end, every one being matter.

of his own actions : But they try to intimidate fome

by talfe reports which they take care to fpread a-

broad ; others they follicit underhand; they engage
the chief to break off the party by prefents, which

is no difficult matter:; for a dream, true or falfe, no’

matter which, is all that is requifite to accomplith
it. Amongft fome nations their Jatt 'refource is to
addrefs themielves to the nations, which is general-

ly efficacious, but they never have recourfe to this!
method, but when the affair is of much confequence.

A war in which the whole nation is concerned,
is not foeafily put an end to: they weigh with much

deliberation the advantages and difadvantages of it,

and whilft they are confulting, they take great care

to remove every thing that may give the enemy, the,

é

leaft fufpicion of their intention of breaking with |

him, The war being once reiolved upon, they con+
fider fir the providing the neceflary provifions, and
the equipage of the warriors, which require no long
time. Their dances, fongs, feafts, and certain hi
perftitious ceremonies which vary greatly in diffe-
rent. nations, require a much greater length of
time,
4 j

He who is to command never thinks of fevying
tole till he has obferved a fait of feveral days,

during which he is. bedawb’d with black, holds no

manner of difcourfe with any one, invokes day and

night his tutelar genius, and above all-he is very
careful

( gag)

carefull to obferve what dreams he has. Their firm
perfuafion, according to the prefumptuous genius:

‘of thofe Barbarians, that he is marching forth to
certain victory, never fails to infpire him with fuch
dreams as he defires. ‘The faft being ended, he af-
fembles his friends, and holding a collar of porce~
lain in his hand, addrefles them in words like thefe:

My: brethren, the Great Spirit is the author of what
I fpeak, and has infpired me with the thought of
what | am going to put in execution. The blood
of fuch an one is not yet wiped away, his corpie is
not yet covered, and I am going to perform this
duty to him. He fets forth in like manner the o-
ther motives which move him to take up arms.
“+ Tiam therefore refolved to march to fuch a place
‘t to take {calps, or to make prifoners ;” Or, ‘¢ I will
‘* eat fach a nation, Should I perifh in this glo-

‘* rious enterprize, or fhould any of my compa-

«6 nions in it lole his life, this collar will ferve to re-
«© ceive us, that we may not be for ever hid in the
“¢ duft, or in the mire.” That is, perhaps, it will
be the recompence of him who buries the dead.

As he pronounces thefe laft words, he lays the
collar on the ground, and he who takes it up, by fo
doing declares himfelf his heutenant ; he then thanks
him for his zeal to revenge his brotlier or to main-
tain the honour of the nation. Then they fet water
on to warm, wafh the chief from his dawbing,
drefs, anoint with oil or fat, or paint his hair. They
paint his face with different colours, and clothe him
in his fineft robe. Thus adorned,’ he fings with a
hollow voice the fong of death; his flcdiot: that
is to fay, all thofe wito have oftred themfelves to
accompany him (for no one_is ever compelled) thun-
_der out one after another their war fone; for every
one has one peculiar to himfelf, which no other per-

‘

fon <i

+

ee ae

fon is allowed. to ufe; and there are even fome

oa

which are coveted by certain families.

After this previous meafure, which pafles in fome
remote place, and often ina ftove, the chief com-
municates his project to the council, who fit upon
it, without ever admitting him who is the author
of | it, to be prefent. As foon as his project is ap-
proved of he makes a feaft; at which the chief,
and. fometimes. the only, dith is a dog. Some
pretend that this animal is offered to the god of war,
before he is put in to the kettle, and poffibly this
may be the practice among{t fome nations. I am
glad, Madam, to have this opportunity of adver-
tifing you once for all, that I don’t pretend to fay that
what I relate on this fubject, is abfolutely univerfal
amoneft all the nations. But it feems certain, that
on the occafion I here {peak of they make many in-
vocations to their genii, good and evil, and above
all to the god of war.

All this takes up feveral days, or rather the fame
thing is repeated for feveral days running : but tho’
every one feems wholly employed in thefe feftivals,
each family takes its meafures for obtaining a fhare
of the prifoners, either to replace their lofies, or to
revenge their dead. In this view they make prefents
to the chief, who on his fide gives both his promife
and pledges befides. In default of prifoners they
demand fcalps, which are more eafily obtained. In
fome places, as amongft the Iroquois, as foon as a
military expedition is refolved on they fet on the
war kettle, and advertife their allies to fend or bring:

fomething to it, to fhew their approbation of the

enterprize, and their readinefs to take part in it.

“yet Mie sot de

(age)

All thofe who enlift themfelves, give alfo to the
chief, as a token ‘of their engagement, a bit of
wood with their mark upon it, and he who after
that fhould draw back, would never be fafe while
he lived; at leaft he would be difhonoured for ever. —
The party once formed, the war chief prepares a
anew feaft, to which the whole village is invited,
and before any thing is tafted, he, or an orator for
him, and in his name, accofts them in fuch words
as thefe: ‘* My brethren, | know I am not worthy
“* to be called a man, tho’ you all know that I
*« have more than once looked an enemy in ‘the
“face. We have been flaughtered ; the bones of
“© fuch and fuch perfons are yet unburied, they cry
“* out againft us, and we muft fatisfy their requeft.
«© They were once men as well as we; how there-
** fore could we fo foon forget them, and fit fo long
‘¢ in this lethargy on our matrefles ? In a word, the
** genius who is the guardian of my honour and
the \author of my renown, infpires me with
the refolution to revenge them. Youth, take
courage, anoint your hair, paint your vifages,
“< fill your quivers, caufe the forefts refound with
the voice of your military fones, let us eafe and
* comfort the deceafed, and fhew them that we

have avenged them.”

&
a

oY
n

After this difcourfe, and the applaufes with which
it never fails to be attended, the chief proceeds into
the midft of the affembly, his hatchet in his hand,
and fings his fong ; all his foldiers make refponfes in
the fame manner, and fwear to fecond him or to die
in the attempt. All this is accompanied with gef-
tures highly expreffive of their refolution never to
give ground to an enemy ; but it is to be remarked
that not a fyllable efcapes any foldier, which figni-
fies the leaft dependance. ‘The: whole confifts in

a pro- .

~

332

4 promife to ac&t with perfect unanimity and-in coti=
cert. Belides, the engagement they lay themfelves.

under, requires great acknowledgements on the part
ofthe chief. lor inftance, as often as any one in
the public dances ftrikes the poft with his hatchet,
and recals to memory his moit fignal exploits, as is
always. the cuftom, the chief under whofe conduc
he performed them, is obliged to make him a pre-
fent ; at leatt this is ufual among fome nations.

-'Thefe fongs are followed with dances ; fometimes
this is no more than a fierce fort of march, but in

cadence’; at others it is done by very lively ceftures,

expreflive of the operations of a campaign, “and. al-

ways in.¢adence. Laftly, the whole ceremony con-

cludes with a feaft. ‘Lhe war chief is no more than
a fpectator of it, with his pipe in his mouth; it is
even common enough in every confiderable feaft,
for him who. does the honours of it, to, touch no-
thing.at, all himiclf. . ‘The following days, and till
the. departure of the warriors, many things pafs,
the recital of which is not worth notice, and which
are, befides neither efiential nor generally practifed :

but I cannot forget a cuftom fingular enough, and
with which the Iroquois in particular never difgenfe:
it feems to have been devifed to difcover fuch pers
fons as are endued with natural eood fenfe, and what
is called: mother-wit, and are capable of govern-
ing themfelves as well as others ; for thefe Indians
whom we imagine barbarous people, believe it im-
poflible for any one to poffefs true courage without
being abfolute mafter of his paffions,. or vif he can-

not endure the’ moft cruel reverfes that can pofli- _

bly happen. The affair is this.

The moft ancient of the military company treat
the young people, at leaft fuch as have never feen
* an

"(e999 0

an enemy, with all the fcorn and infults: they are,
capable of devifing. They throw hot embers on

their heads; they throw the moft cruel reproaches in

\ their teeth; they in fhort load them with all manner
of injuries, and carry this treatment to the greateft

excefs. All this muft be endured with the utmof

-infenfibility ; ; to give at fuch occafions the leaft fign

oo

of impatience, would be fufficient to caufe them ral
declared for ever incapable of bearing arms: But
when this is done by perfons of the fame age, as it —
often happens, the agerefior muft take care to do
nothing wantonly, or out of private pique, or other-
wife he would be obliged, when the fport is ended,
to attone forthe affront by a prefent. I fay, when
the fport is ended, for whilft it lafts they are oblig-
ed to bear every thing without being angry; tho’

this fort of paftime often coes fo far as the throw-

ing big burning brands at-each others heads, and
giving heavy blows with cudgels.

As the hope of having their wounds cured, fhould

they happen to receive any, is no {mall encourage-

ment for the braveft to expofe themfelves boldly to
danger, they afterwards prepare the drugs for this
purpofe, and this is the office of their jugglers. I
will fome other time tell you what fort of perfons
thefe are. The whole town being afiembled, one
of thefe quacks declares he is going to communi-
cate to the roots and plants, of which he takes care
to provide good ftore, the virtue of healing all forts
of wounds, and even of reftoring the dead to life. He
falls immediately a finging ; the other quacks make re-
{ponfes to him, and it is believed that during the con-
cert, which would not appear to your ear very me
lodious, and which is accompanied with many gri-
maces on the part of the actors, the medicinal qua-
Jity is communicated to the plants. The chief jug-

: | gler

\

C334)
_ gler then makes trial of them; he begins with

bleeding his own lips, he applies his remedy; the

‘blood which the impoftor fucks in very dextroufly
ceafes to flow, and the whole auditory cries out, 7
miracle, a miracle. After this, he takes a dead ani-
mal, and leaves thefpectators as much time to cOA-
fider as they chufe, when by means of a canule or
pipe inferted under the tail, he cavfes it to move by
blowing his herbs into its throat when the exclama-
tions of admiration are redoubled. Laftly, the
whole company of jugglers makes the tour of the
cabbins, finging the praifes and virtues of their re-'
medies. Thefe tricks at bottom deceive no one,
but ferve to amufe the multitude, and cuftom se
be obeyed.

The following is another ufagepeculiart o the Mi-
amis, and perhaps to fome other nations in the neigh-
bourhood of Louifiana. I have extraéted’it from
the memoirs of a Frenchman who was eye-witnefs
of it. After a folemn feaft they placed, fays he,
ona kind of altar, fome figures of pagods, made
of bears fkins, the heads of which were painted
green. All the Indians pafied before this —
making their genufiexions, or bending their knees,
and the quacks led the band, holding i in their band
a fack, in which were inclofed all thefe things which

were wont to be ufed in their invocation or wor- _

fhip. He was the clevereft fellow who made the
moft extravagant contortions, and in proportion as
any one diftinguifhed himfelf this way, he was ap-
plauded with great fhouts. After they had thus
paid their firit homage to the idols, they all danced
in a very confufed manner, to the found of the
drum and chichicoué ; and during this the jugglers
pretended to bewitch or charm feveral Indians, who
feemed

: OC Saar) :

_ feemed to be expiring under the power of their in-
cantations: afterwards, by applying a certain pow-
der to their lips, they reftored them to life. -

When this farce had lated fome time, he who
prefided at the feaft, having two men and two wo-
men near him, run over all the cabbins, to intimate
. that the facrifices were going to begin. On meet-
ing any one in his way, he refted both harids on
his head, and the'other embraced his knees. -The
victims were to be dogs, and the cries of thefe ani-
mals, which were howling, and of the Indians who
howled as if to anfwer them, with all their might
_ |. were heard on all fides. When the viands were
ready, they were offered to the pagods, they were
afterwards eaten, and the bones were burnt. Mean
time the juggler continued to reftore the dead to
life, and the whole concluded with diftributing to
thefe quacks a portion of whatever was moft to their
fancy in the whole town.

From the time of their coming to the refolution
of making war, to the departure of the warriors,
the nights are fpent in finging, and the days in
making the neceflary preparations. They depute
warriors to fing the war fong amongft their neigh-

- bours and allies, whom they often take care to dif-
pofe to their defires before hand, and by fecret ne-
“gociations. If their rout is by water, they build or

repair their canoes ; if it happen to be in the winter
feafon, they provide themfelves in fledges and fnow
fhoes.. Thefe fnow fhoes, which are abfolutely ne-
ceflary for walking in the fnow, are about three
feet long, and from fifteen to fixteen inches in their
extreme width. ‘They are of an oval fhape, except
that the hind part terminates in a point; there are
mall bits of wood placed crofs wile five or fix inches

\ from

& 336 )

ee either end, which ferve to firengthen them,
and that on the fore pari is as it were the {tring of ‘a
bow, under an opening in which the foot is infert-
ed, and made faft with thongs. The tiffue or co-
vering of the fnow thoe is made of {traps of leather
two fingers- broad, and the border is of a light
wood hardened in the fire. To walk well on
thefe fhoes, you muft turn your knees. inwards, -
keeping your legs at a good diftance from each o-
ther. It is very difficult to accuftom one’s felf to:
them; but. when once you attain it, you walk ea-
fily and without fatiguing. yourfelf any more than’.
if you had nothing on your feet. It is impoffible
to make ufe of thefe fnow fhoes with common fhoes.
One muft wear thofe of the Indians, which are a
kind of facks made of dried hides, folded over the
extremity of the foot, and tied with cords,

Their fledges, which ferve to tranfport the bag-
gage, and in “cafe of neceffity the fick and wound-
ed, are two {mall and very thin boards half a foot
broad each, and fix or feven long. .The fore part
is fomewhat raifed, and the fides bordered with
{mall bands, to which the thongs for binding what-
ever is laid upon the carriage, is ‘fattened, Let thefe
carriages be ever fo much loaded, an aoe! draws
it without difficulty, by means of a long thong or
ftrap, which is pafs’d round his breaft, and is cal-
led acollar.. They ufe them lhkewife for carrying
burdens, and mothers for carrying their children

with their cradles; but in this cafe the thong or

collar is placed upon their forehead, and not on

their breatis,

7

Every thing being ready,’ and the day of their
departure come, they take their leave with great
demonftrations of real affection. Every one is de-
firous

ee

firous of having fomething thé warriors have been

in ufe to wear or carry about them, and gives them
in return pledges of their friendfhip, and affurances
of an everlafting remembrance of them. They
fearce ever enter any of their cabins without carry-
ing away their robe, in order to give them a better,
or at leaft one full as good in its ftead. Laftly, they
all repair to the chief. They find him armed as on
the firft day of his addreffing himfelf to them, and as
behas appeared in publick ever fince. T hey again have
their faces painted, every one after his own fancy
or caprice, and all of them generally fo as to ftrike
terror. The chief makes them a fhort harangue :

afterwards he comes out of his cabin finging the
death fong. They all follow him in file, or one
after another, obferving a profound filence; and the
fame thing is repeated every morning when they be-
gin their march. Here the women lead the van
with their provifions; and when the warriors have
joined them, they deliver to them all their baggage,
and remain almoft naked; at leaft as much fo as the

feafon will allow.

¢

Formerly the arms of theIndians were the bow and
arrow, and a kind of javelin, both pointed with a_
kind of bone worked in different manners ; and laft-
ly, the hatchet or break-head. This was formerly
a fhort club of a very hard wood, the head of which
was partly round, and partly fharp edged. Moft
had no defenfive weapon; but when they attacked
any entrenchment, they covered their whole body
with fmall light boards. Some have a fort of cui-
rafs, or brea{t plate, of {mall pliable rings very neat-
ly worked. They had even formerly a kind of
mail for the arms and thighs made of the fame ma-
terials. But as this kind of armour was found not to
be proof again{ft fire arms, they have renounced

MUL. 2s » ¢ them

st C338 1

them, without putting any thing in their place.

The weftern Indians always ufe bucklers of buffa-

joes hide, which are very light, and proof againft

mufket-fhot. It is pretty ferpriing, the orher Indian
nations never ufe them.

~ ‘When they ufe our fwords, which is very rare,
they handle them like our h.lf pike : hut when they
can have fire arms, powdey and fhot, they abandon
their bows, and are excellent markfmen. . We
have no caufe to repent having given them thefe
_ arms, tho’ we were not the firt to do it. The Iro-
quois had got them of the Dutch, who were then in
poffefion of New-York ; which laid us under the
neceffity of giving them to our allies. They havea
kind of ftandards or colours to know one another
by, and to enable them to rally; thefe are fmall
pieces of bark cut into a round form, which they
fix to the head of a pole, and on which is drawn
the mark of their nation or village. If the party is
numerous, each family or tribe has its peculiar en-
fign with its diftinguifhing mark. Their arms are
alto adorned with different figures, and fometimes
with the mark of the chief. .

But that which they are as careful not to fas

as even their arms, and which they guard with ftill
more care, is their manitous. I fhall treat more
particularly of them elfewhere; it fuffices here to
fay, that they are fo many fymbols, under which
every one reprefents his tutelar genius. They in-
clofe them all in a bag made of ruthes, and painted
with different colours; and often to do honour to
the chief, they place this bag in the prow of his ca-

‘noe. ifthere are too many manitous to be con-

tained in one bag, they diftribute them amongft fe-
veral bags, which are entr ufted to the care of the
[' lieutenant

/

Sg SER oe
lieutenant and of the elders of each family. To
thefe they join the prefents which have been made _
them in order to obtain prifoners, together with the |
tongues of all the animals killed during the cams
paign, and which are to be facrificed to the genii
at their return,

In their marches by land, the chief carries his “
own bag called his matrafs, but may difcharge this
burden on any one at pleafure, and need not fear
_ being refufed, this being looked upon as an honour
done the perfon to whom it is given: this is alfo a
fort of right of furvivorfhip to the command in
cafe the chief and his lieutenant fhould happen to
die in the campaign. But whilft I write you, be-
hold me arrived in the river Niagara, where I hall
meet with agreeable company, and remain fome
days, I fet out from Riviere des Sables, the 2 :ft
before fun rife, but the wind proving always con-
trary, we were obliged at ten o’clock to enter the
bay of the Tfonnonthouans. At half way between
this bay and Riviere des Sables, there is a {mall ri-
ver which 1 would not have failed to vifit, had I
been fooner informed of what it has that is fingular,
which I learnt juft after my arrival here.

This river is called Cafconchiagon, and is very
narrow, and fhallow at its difcharge into the lake.
A little higher it is 240 feet in breadth, and it is
affirmed that there is water to float the largeft fhips.
Two Jeagues from its mouth you are ftopped by a
fall, which feems to be about fixty ‘feet high, and
240 feet broad; a mufket fhot above this, you
_ find a fecond of the fame breadth, but not fo high
by a third: and half a league higher ftill a third,
which is full a hundred feet high, and 360 feet
broad. You meet after this with feveral rapids,

. Y¥'2 and

| (340 ; os

and after bite fifty leagues higher, you difcover
a fourth fall, nothing inferior to the third. The
courfe. of this river is an hundred leagues, and after ~
you have failed up fixty-leagues on it, you have no
more than ten to make over land, turning towards
the right, to arrive at the Ohio, ‘other wife, la Belle
Riviere. The place where you arrive at is called
Ganos, where, an officer worthy of credit, and from
whom | have received all I have been relating to
you, affures me he faw a fountain, the water of

‘which refembles oil, and has the tafte of iron. He
added, that a little farther there is another exactly of
the fame kind, and that the Indians make ufe of
| its water to mitigate all kinds of pains.

The bay of the Tfonnonthouans is a delightful
place: here is a fine river which meanders between
two beautiful meadows fkirted with hills, between
which you difcover vallies which ftretch a great
way, the whole forming the nobleft profpect in the
whole world, and is furrounded with a magnificent
foreft of the talleft and largelt timber trees : but the
foil feemed to me a little light and fandy. We fet.
out again at half an hour paft one, and continued
our voyage till ten at night. Our defign was to
take up our night’s lodgings within a {mall river
called. Buffaloe’s river ; but we found the entry fhut
up with fand banks, which often happens to fmall
rivers which. difcharge themfelves into thefe lakes,
by reafon of their carrying a great quantity of fand.
along with them : for when the wind blows directly
towards their mouths, the fand is {topped by the |
waves, and gradually forms a dike, fo high and
ftrone: that the current of the rivers cannot force a
paffage thro’ it, except at fuch times as they are
{woln by the petite of the fnow.

I was

es

4 ee

1 was obliged to pafs the reft of the night in my ’
canoe, where I was expofed to a very hard froft.
Thus the trees were fcarce' obferved to bud, but
were all in the fame ftate as in the middle of winter.
We fet out thence.at half an hour paft three in the
morning of the 22d, being afcenfion day, and went
to fay” maf at nine o'clock, at what is called /e

Grand Marais. This is much fuch another place

as that of the Tfonnonthouans, but the lands feem
better. Towards two o’clock in the afternoon, we
entered the river of Niagara formed by the great
fall, whereof I fhall fpeak prefently, or rather it is
the river St. Lawrence, which proceeds from lake
Frié, and paffes thro’ lake Ontario after fourteen
leagues of Narrows. It is called the river Niagara
from the fall being a courfe of fix leagues. After
failing three leagues, you find on the left fome ca-
bins of the [roquois, Tfonnonthouans, and of the
Miffifasues as at Catarocoui, ‘The Sieur de Jon-
caire, lieutenant of our troops, has alfo a cabbin at
this place, to which they have before hand given the
name of Fort * : tor it is pretended that in time this
will be changed into a great fortrefs.

I found here feveral officers, who were to return -
in a few days to Quebec. For this reafon I am
obliged to clofe my letter, which I fhall fend by that
way. As for my own part, | forefee I fhall have
time fufficient to write you another after they are
gone, and the place itfelf will in a great meafure
furnifh me materials enough to fill it, together with

* A fort has been fince built in the mouth of the river of
Niagara on the fame fide, and exaétly at the place where Monf.
de Denonville had built one, which fubfifted not long, There
even begins to be formed here a French town.

» ie, what

Sine Nar is TPS. 2

~& 342.)
what I fhall be able to learn of the officer I have
mentioned. :

I have the honour to be, 8c.’

Niagara, May. 23, 172%.

LETTER

es este

\

~~

\

ee TT en Ro KY,

Tranfactions between the 'Tfonnonthouans (a
tribe of the \roquois) and the Enelith, on oc-
cafion of building a French fort at Niagara,
Defeription of the country. Fire-dance ;
fiery on this occafion. Defcription of the Fall
of Niagara. | .

From the Fall of Niagara, May 14, 1721.
Madam, |

' Have already had the honour to acquaint you,
I that we have a fcheme for a fettlement in this
piace; but in order to know the reafon of this pro-
ject, it will be proper to obferve, that as the Eng-
lifh pretend, by virtue of the treaty of Utrecht, to
the fovereignty of all the Iroquoife country, and by
confequence, to be bounded on that fide, by Lake
Ontario only ; now it is evident, that, in cafe we
allow of their pretenfions, they would then have it
abfolutely in their power to eftablith themfelves
firmly in the heart of the French colonies, or at
leaft, entirely to ruin their commerce. In order,
therefore, to prevent this evil, it has been judged
proper, without, however, violating the treaty, to

Yh make

(0 Bag ew,

make a fettlement in fome place, which might. Bee

ure to us the free communication between the lakes,
and where the Englifh fhould not have it in their
power to oppofe us. A commiffion has therefore —
been given to M. de Joncaire, who having in his
youth been priioner amoneft the Tfonnonthouans,
fo infinuated himfelf into the good graces of thofe

Indians, chat they adopted him, fo that even in the
hotte(t of their wars with us, and notwithftanding ~

=
his remarkable fervices to his country, he has: al-

ways enjoyed the privileges of that adoption.

On receiving the orders I have been now men-
tioning to you, he repaired to them, affembled their
8 and after having affured them, that his great-
eft pleafure in this world would be to live amonett
his brethren ; he added, that he would much oftener
vifit them, ane he a cabin amongtt them, to which
he might retire when he had a mind to be private.
They ‘told him, that they had always looked upon
him as one of their own children, that he had only
to make choice of a place to his liking in any part
of the country. He afked no more, but ‘went im-
mediately and made choice of a fpot on the banks

of the river, which terminates the canton of Tfon-—
nonthouan, where he built his cabbin. The news
of this foon reached New-York, where it excit-—

ed fo much the more the jealoufy of the Englifh,

| as that nation had never been able to obtain the fa- »

vour granted to the Sieur de Joncaire, in any Iro-
quoife canton.

They made loud remonftrances, which being fe--
conded: with prefents, the other four cantons at once
efpoufed their interefts. They were, however, ne-
ver the nearer their petats as the cantons are not
only independant of each other, but hot very jea-

lous

/

Coa Vs

_ lous.of this independance. It was therefore necef-

fary to gain that of Tfonnonthouan, and the Eng-
lifh omitted nothing to accomplifh it ; but they were
foon fenfible they fhould never be able to get Jon-
caire difmiffed from Niagara. At laft they content-
ed themfelves with demanding, that, at leaft, they
might be permitted to have a cabin in the fame
place ; but this was likewiie refufed them. ‘* Our
country is in peace, faid the Tfonnonthouans, the
French and you will never be able to live together,
without raifing difturbances. Moreover, added.
they, it is of no confequence that Joncaire fhould

remain here; he isa child of the nation, he enjoys

his right which we are not at liberty to take from.
him.” : , ‘

es Madam, we matt acknowledge, that no-
thing but zeal for the publick good could poffibly

_ induce an officer to remain in fuch a country as this,

than which a wilder and more frightful is not to be

. feen. On the one fide you fee juft under your feet,

and as it were at the bottom of an aby{s, a great |
river, but which in this place is liker a torrent by
its rapidity, by the whirlpools formed by a thoufand

rocks, through which it with difficulty finds a paf-

fage, and by the foam with which it is always co-
vered ; on the other the view is confined by three
mountains placed one over the other, and whereof

_ the laft hides itfelf inthe clouds. ‘his would have

been a very proper {cene for the poets to make the
Titans attempt to fcale the heavens.. In a word,

on whatever fide you turn your eyes, you difcover

nothing which does not infpire a fecret horror.

You have, however, but a very fhort way to go,

to behold a very different profpeét. Behind thofe
_ uneultivated and uninhabitable mountains, you en-

Joy

(940°)
joy the fight of a rich country, magnificent foretts,

beautiful and fruitful hills; you breathe the pureft

air, under the mildeft and moft temperate climate

imaginable, fituated between two lakes the leaft of

which * is two hundred and fifty” leagues in Cif-
cuit. a,

“Tt is my opinion that had we’ the brdeainion?t to!

make fure of a place of this confequence, by a good
fortrefs, and by a tolerable colony, all the forces of
the Iroquoife and Englifh conjoinéd,; would not
have been able, at this t time to drivé us out of it,

and that we ourfelvés would have been in a condi-

tion to give law to the former, and to hinder moft
part of the Indians from carrying their furs to the
fecond, as they daily do with impunity. The com-
pany I found here with M. de Joncaire, was com-

ofed of the baron de Longueil, king’s lieutenant
in Montreal +, the marquis de Cavagnal, fon of
the marquis de Vaudreuil, the prefent governor of
New-France ; M. de Seneville, captain, and thé
Sieur de la Chauvignerie, enfign, and interpréter of
the Iroquoife language. Thefe gentlemen are about
negotiating an agteement of differences’ with the
canton of Onontapué, and were orderéd to vifit the
fettlement of the Sieur de Joncaire, with which they
. were extremely well fatisficd. The Tfonnonthou-
ans renewed to them the promife they had for-
merly made them, to maintain it. This was done

in a council, in which Joncaire, as they told mé, —

fpoke with all the good fenfe of a Frenchman, —
whereof he enjoys a large fhare, and with’ the fab
limeft eloquence of an’ Troquoife.

* Lake Ontario. Lake Erie is three hundred leagues round.
+ He died governor of this city.

a a Se a i a ee ae

C 347 )

On the eve of their departure, that is, on the
29th, a Miffifuague regaled us with a feftival, which
has fomething in it fingular enough, It was quite
dark when it began, and on entering the cabin of
this Indian, we found a fire lighted, near which fat
a man beating on a kind of drum; another was
conftantly fhaking his Chichicoué, and finging’ at
the fame time. ‘This lafted two hours, and tired
us very much as they were always repeating the
fame thing over again, or rather uttering half arti-
culated founds, and that without the leaft variation,
We entreated our hoft not to carry this prelude any
further, who with a good deal of difficulty fhewed
us this mark of complaifance.

Next, five or fix women made their appearance,
drawing up ina line, in very clofe order, their arms
hanging down, and dancing and finging at the
fame time, that is to fay, they moved fome paces
forwards, and then as many backwards, without
breaking the rank. When they had-continued this
exercife about a quarter of an hour, the fire, which
was all that gave light in the cabbin, was put out,
and then nothing was to be perceived but an Indian
dancing with a lighted coal in his mouth. The
concert of the drum and chichicoué ftill continued,
the women repeated their dances and finging from
time to time; the Indian danced all the while, but
as he could only be diftinguifhed by the light of the
coal in his mouth he appeared like a goblin, and
‘was horrible to fee. This medley of dancing, and
finging, and inftruments, and that fire which never
went out, hada very wild and whimfical appear-
ance, and diverted us for half an hour; after which
we went out of the cabin, though the entertainment
lafted till morning, This Madam is all | faw of the

~fire-dance, and I have not been: able to learn what

pafied

-

-to hold a lighted coal in his mouth fo long, with-

effect, though for a verv fhort while*. Befides, »

one of our ancient miffionaries of ‘Canada, a thing

fie say ) |
paffed the remainder of the night. The mufi Ry’
which I heard for fome time aber: was-a great deal
more fupportable at a diftance than when near it.
The contraft of male and female voices at a certain’ al
diftance had a pleafant effect enough ; and if the —
Indian women were taught mufick, I am confident

they would make very Meera fingers.
Twas very defirous to know how a man was able?

out being burnt, and without its going out; but
all J have been able to learn of this point is, that
the Indians are acquainted with a plant which ren+ ~
ders the part that has been rubbed with it infenfible’
to fire, but whereof they would never communi-
cate the difcovery to the Europeans. We know
that the onion and garlick will produce the fame

~

wes

how could this coa! remain fo long lighted? be this )
as it will, I remember to have read in the letters of 4

n
\
isis j a

that has fome relation to this, and which he learned *

from) another miffionary who was an eye-witnefs: i
This perfon fhewed him one day a ftone, which one ~ ‘ }
of their juglers or quacks had thrown into the fire 4
in his prefence, leaving it there till it became red’ 3 :
hot; after which falling into a fort of enthufiaftick J
frenzy,’ he took it between his teeth, and carrying ;
it always in that manner, went to vifit.a patient, | |
the miflionary following him; as he caft the ftone i
upon the ground, the father on taking it up,” “a
perceived the marks of the Indian’s teeth 1n it, but
yet could not obferve. the leaft fign of burningin- =
his mouth. He does not mention what the quack ee
* It is pretended that the leaves of the anemone of Canada, , St a

in other refpeéts very cauftick, have this’ virtue. ii.

( 349 )
did afterwards for the relief of the patient; but
here is another incident of the fame kind, and pro-
ceeding from the fame fource, and of which your
PagRre: will guage as you think proper. _

ue Huron woman, after having had a vifion, true
or falfe, was feized with a giddineis, and an almoft
univerfal contraction of the nerves. As this wo-
man from the beginning of the .diforder, never
- flept without having many troublefome dreams, fhe
began to fufpect fomething preternatural in it, and
took it into her head, fhe fhould be cured by means |
of a feaft whereof fhe herfelf regulated all the ce- |
remonies, according to what fhe faid, fhe remem-
bered to have feen formerly practifed. Firft, fhe
_would have them carry her to the village where fhe
was born, the elders whom fhe caufed to be adver-
tized of her defign exhorting all the people to ac-
company her. Ina moment’s time her cabin was
crowded with people, who came to offer her their
fervice. She accepted them, inftructed them in
what they were to do, and immediately the ftouteft
of them placed her in a kind of litter, and carried
her by turns, finging with all their might.

When they were come near the village, they a&
fembled a great council to which the mifMfionaries
were invited by way of compliment, who did all
An their power, but ineffectually, to difluade them
‘from a thing, in which they juftly fufpeéted equal
folly and fuperftition. They calmly heard all they
had to fay on this fubje&t, but when they had done
{fpeaking, one of the chiefs of the council, under-
took to refute their arguments, but with no better
fuccefs. Then leaving the miffionaries where he
found them, he exhor ted all the affiftants to acquit
themfelves exactly of what fhould be prelcribed

them,

ae ¢ 3H@. | |
them, and to maintain the ancient cuftoms. Whilft
he was ftill fpeaking, two deputies from the ‘pa- |
tient entered the aflembly, and requefted on her
behalf, to have fent her two young boys and two
young girls, attired in robes and belts of Wam-
pum, with certain prefents, which fhe mentioned,

adding, that fhe would make known her further in-

tentions to thefe four perfons,

Fhis was immediately put in execution, a fhort |
while afterwards, the four young perfons returned,
empty handed, and almoft naked, the patient hav-
ing ftript them of all they had, even to their very
robes, In this condition they “entered the council
which was fill afflembled, and fet forth the demands

of this woman, confifting of two and twenty arti-

cles, amongft which one was a blue covering, to

be furnifhed by the miffionaries, and all of them to

ibe delivered within an hour. They tried all their

rhetorick to obtain the covering, but this being pe-
remptorily refuled, they were obliged to go ‘with-
out it. As foonas thé fick perfon received the other
prefents, fhe entered the village, being carried, as
i have already faid, all the way. Towards even-
ing, a publick crier, by her order, made procla-
mation, to haye fires lighted in every cabbin, fhe
being to vific them all, ~ which accordingly fhe did
as foon as the fun was fet, being {upported. by two
eee and followed by, the whole village. She —

afied through the bncltte of all the fires, her feet
bd legs naked, without receiving any harm, whilft
her two fupporters, though they did their utmoft

eideavours to keep clear of being fcorched fuffered
pheaily,” as they were obl ged to conduét her i in ‘this
manner acsofs upwards ot three hundred fires : as
for her part, her conftant complaint was of in

co

Capen)
‘alls at the Hee of this courfe, fhe declared the
felt herlelf better.

On the morrow, at Girlie, they began, and by
her order too, a kind of Bacchanalian feftival, which
lafted three days. On the firft, all the people run
through the cabins, breaking and overturning every
thing, and, in proportion as the noife and hubbub
encreafed, the patient declared that her pains dimi-
nifhed. The other two days were {pent in running
over all the fires through which fhe had pafled, pro-
pofing her defires in anigmatical terms, which they
were obliged to divine, and to perform accordingly,
that inftant ; fome of thefe were obfcene even to a
horrible degree. The fourth day, the fick perfon’
made, a fecond time, the tour of all the cabbins,
but in a very different manner from the firft. She
was placed i in the midft of two troops of Indians,
marching one. after another, with a fad and lan-
‘guifhing air, and obferying a profound filence. No
perfon was fuffered to be in her way, and thofe who
formed the vanguard of her efcort, cleared the road
of all they met. As foon as the entered any cabin
they made her fit down, and placed themfelves
round her; the fighed, related with a moying ac-
cent, all her evils, and gave to underftand that her
_ being perfectly cured, depended on the accomplith-
_ meat of fome with, ‘which fhe kept to herfelf, and
which muft be divined. Every one did his beft
to interpret it,-but this defire was very complex,
and confifted ‘of a great number of particulars, fo —
that in proportion as they hit upon one of them,
they were obliged to give her what the fought for,
fhe fcarce eyer left any cabbin, till the had got all
it contained,

4 | S “When |

~

: NC Te eae eS
‘When fhe faw them at a lofs to guefs.her mean-
ing, fhe expreffed herfelf fomewhat more clearly,
and when they had guefled all, fhe caufed every
thing to be reftored. There was no longer any
doubt of her being perfectly cured, and a feftival
was made on the occafion, which confifted in cries, 4
or rather, hideous howlings, and all manner of ex-
travagancies. Laaftly, fhe’ paid her’ acknowledg- |
ments, and,: the better to teftify her gratitude, fhe
vifited all the cabbins a third time, but without any
ceremony. The miffionary, who was witnefs to q
this ridiculous fcene, fays, that the fick perfon was
not entirely cured, but that fhe was, however, a
great deal better, though the moft healthy and ro-.
buft perfon would have died under fuch an opera-
tion, ‘The father was at great pains to cauie her
take notice, that her pretended genius or familiar,
had promifed her a perfect cure, but had failed of
his promife. He was anfwered, that amongft fuch
a number of things as were to be done, it was hard-
ly poffible fomething fhould not have'been omitted.
He expected they would have chiefly infifted on the
refufal of the blue covering ; it is true they made no
mention of it, only they faid, that after this refufal,
the genius had appeared to the patient, and affured
her that this refufal fhould do her no prejudice, be-
caufe, the French not being natives of the country,
the genii had no power over them, I return to my
voyage. | :

The officers having ‘departed, I afcended thofe

_. frightful mountains, in ‘order to vifit the famous |
‘Fall of Niagara, above which I was to take water ;
this is a journey of three leagues, though formerly
five ; becaufe the way then lay by the other, that
__ js, the weft-fide of the river, and alfo becaufe the
place for embarking lay full two leagues ls ong
s Fall.

Q € 353 )
Fall. But there has fince been found, on the left,
at the diftance of half a quarter of a. league from
‘this cataract, a creek, where the currentiis not per-
‘ceivable, and confequently a place where one may
take water without danger. My firft care, after
my arrival, “was to vifit the nobleft cafcade perhaps
in the world; ‘but I prefently found the baron de la
Hontan had committed fuch a miftake with refpect
to its height and figure, as to give grounds to be-
We he had never (ert it, It is certain, that if you
meafure its height by that of the three mountains,
you are obliged to climb to get at it, it does not
come much fhort of what the map of M. Deflifle
_makes it; that is, fix hundred feet, having certain-
Jy gone into this paradox, either, on the faith of
‘the baron de la Hontan or father Hennepin ; burt
after I arrived at the fummit of the third motn-
tain, I obferved, that in the fpace of three leagues,
which I had to walk before I came to this piece of
water, though you are fometimes obliged to afcend,
“you muft yet defcend ftill more, a circumftance to:
which travellers feem not to have fuficiently attend-
ed. As it is impoffible to approach it but on one
' fide only, and confequently to fee it, excepting in
profil, or fideways; it is no eafy matter to meafure
its height with inftruments. It, has, however,
been attempted by means of a pole tied to a long
Tine, and after many repeated trials, it has been
found only one hundred and fifteen, or one hundred
and twenty feet high. But it is impoMfible to be
fure that the pole has not been ftopt by fome pro-
jecting rock; for though it was always drawn up
wet, as well as the ae of the line to which it was

tied, this proves nothing at all, as the water which

precipitates itfelf from the mountain, rifes very

high in foam. For my own part, after having
evar. I. Z exa-

/

( 354 ) :
examined it on a'l fides, where it could be viewed

to the greatell advantage, I am inclined to think.

-we cannot allow it lef than a hundred and forty, or
fitty feet.

As to its figure, it is in the fhape of a horfe-
fhoe, and is about four hundred paces in circum-
ference ; it is divided into two, exaétly in the mid-
dle, by a very narrow ifland, half a quarter of a
league long. It is true, thofe two parts very foon
unite; that on my fide, and which I could only
“have a fide view of, has feveral branches which pro-
ject from the body of the cafcade, but that which
I viewed in front, appeared to me quite entire.
The baron de la Hontan mentions a torrent, which
if this author has not invented it, muft certainly
fall through fome channel on ‘the melting of the
fnows.

You may eafily guefs, cit that a great way
below this Fall, the river {till retains ftrong marks
of fo violent a fhock ; accordingly, it becomes on-

ly navigable three leagues below, and exaétly at the

place which M. de Joncaire has chofen for his refi-_

dence. It fhould by right be equally unnavigable
above it, fince the river falls perpendicular the whole
{pace of its breadth. But befides the ifland, which
divides it into two, feveral rocks which are fcattered
up and down above it, abate much of the rapidity
of the ftream ; it is notwithf{tanding fo very ftrong,
that ten or twelve Outaways trying to crofs over to
the ifland to fhun the Iroquoife who were in purfuit
of them, were drawn into the precipice, in fpite of
all their efforts to preferve themfelves.

as _ I have

ae (355:

~ | have heard fay that the fifi that happen to be
‘entangled in the current, fall dead into the river,
‘and that the Indians of thofe parts were confiderably
advantaged by them; but I faw nothing of this
fort. 1 was alfo “olds that the birds that attempted
to fly over were fometimes caught in the whirlwind
formed, by the violence of the torrent. But I ob-
ferved quite the contrary, for I faw fmall birds fly-
- ing very low, and exactly over the Fall, which yet
cleared their paffage very well.

This fheet of water falls upon a rock, and there
are two reafons which induce me to believe, that it
has either found, or perhaps in time hollowed out
a cavern of confiderable depth. The firft is, that
the noife it makes is very hollow, refembling that

of thunder at a diftance. You can fcarce hear it
- at M. de Joncaire’s, and what you hear in this place,
may. poffibly be only that of the whirlpools caufed
by the rocks, which fill the bed of the river as far
as this. And fo much the rather as above the ca-
taract, you do not hear it near fo far. The fecond
is, that nothing has ever been feen again that has
once fallen over it, not even the wrecks of the
canoe of the Outaways, I mentioned juftnow. Be
this as it will, Ovid gives us the defcription of fuch °
another cataract fituated according to him in the
delightful valley of Tempe. | will not pretend that
the country of Niagara is as fine as that, though
I believe its cataract much the nobleft of the two *,

* Eft nemus Hemonia, prerupta quod undique claudit
Sylva, vocant Tempe, per que Peneus ab imo
Effufus Pindo fpamofis volvitur undis.
Dejedtifque gravi tenues agitantia fumos
Nubila conducit, fummifque afpergine {ylvas
deapiuit, et fonitis a vicina fatigat. Mer. Liv. 1.

ye oe Befides

) Ce) ee |

. Befides I perceived no mift above it, but from
behind, at a diftance, one would take it for fmoke, —
and there is no perfon who’ would not be deceived
with it, if he came in fight of the ifle, without
having been told before-hand that there was fo fur-
prifing a cataract in this place. Pete et
- The foil of the three leagues I had to walk a foot
to get hither, and which is called the carrying-place |
of Niagara, feems very indifferent ; it is even very,
ill-wooded, and you cannot walk ten paces without
treading on ant-hills, or meeting with rattle fnakes,
efpecially during the heat of the day. 1 think, I
told you, Madam, that the Indians efteem the flefh
of thofe reptiles a very great dainty. In general,
ferpents are no way frightful to thefe people; there
is no animal you fee oftener painted on their faces
and bodies, and they feldom ever purfue them, ex-
cept for food. The bones and. fkins of ferpents
are alfo of great fervice to their jugglers and wiz-
ards in divining ; the laft of which they make ufe
of for belts and fillets. It is no lefs true what we ©
are told of their having the fecret of enchanting, or;
to fpeak more properly, ftupifying thofe animals ;
their taking them alive, handling them, and put-
ting them in their bofom, without receiving any
hurt; a circumftance, which contributes not a lit-
tle towards gaining them the great credit they have
among ft thefe people.

I was going to feal this letter, when my people
came to tell me, we fhould not fet out to-morrow as
I expected. So I muft wait with patience, and
profit what I can of my fpare time. I am therefore _
going to refume the article of the wars of the In-
dians, which will not be fo foon exhaufted. The

Nah: | ee 039

|

C987.)

moment all the warriors are embarked, the canoes
fail to a little diftance, keeping clofe together in one
line; then the chief rifes, holding in his hand his
chichicouée, and fings lowe his own war-fong, to
which his foldiers made anfwer by a treble bee
fetched from the bottom of their breafts. The el-
ders and chiefs of the council who have remained on
the banks, then exhort the warriors to do their duty,
and above all to beware of being furprifed. ‘This
is, of all the advices which can be given an Indian,
the moft neceflary, and that, by which they gene-
‘rally profit leaft. This admonition, however, in-
terrupts not the chief who continues to fing all the
while. Laftly, the warriours conjure their relations
and friends, to remember them continually, and
then raifing the moft horrid fhouts or howlings all
together, they immediately fet out with fo much ce-
lericy, that they are inftantly out of fight.

' The Hurons and Iroquois ite no ufe of the
chichicoué, but give them to their prifoners, fo that
this which with other Indians is a warlike inftru-
ment, feems with them a mark or badge of flavery,
The warriors never make fhort marches, efpecially
when in large bodies ; moreover, they conttrue every
thing that happens into an omen, and the jugglers,
whofe function it is to explain them, haften or retard
their marches atpleafure. Whil® they are ina country
where they have no fufpicion of an enemy, they’
ufe no manner of precaution, and fometimes there
are fcarce half a dozen warriors together, the reft
being difperfed up and down a hunting. But let
them be at ever fo great a diftance from the rout,

they are fure to be at the place of rendezvous at the
hour appointed.

ZL. 3 s They

a aoe
They pitch their camp long before fun-fet, ni,

commonly leave in the front of it a large face, in- ,
clofed with a pallifade, or rather a kind of lattice-
work, on which are placed their manitous, turned

‘towards that fide on which their rout lies. They
invoke them for the fpace of an hour, and the fame
thing is done every morning before they fet out.

This being done, they imagine they have nothing,

to fear, being perfuaded that the gent take upon

themfelves the office of centinels, and the whole
army fleeps fecurely under their fafeguard. Noex-)
perience is able to undeceive thefe barbarians, or ta
draw them out of their prefumptuous confidence. —

This has its fource in an indolence and lazinefs which
nothing is able to overcome.

Every thing in the way of the warriors is held as _
anenemy. In cafe, however, they fhould happen .

to meet with their allies, or parties of near the fame
force with whom they no have quarrel, they enter in a
league of mutual friendfhip. If the allies they meet are

at war with the fame enemy, the chief of the ftrong- .

eft party, or of that which has firft taken up arms,
gives the other a prefent of fcalps, of which they
never fail to make provifion for fuch occafions ;
and tells him, You alfo have a blow here; that is,
you have fulfilled your engagements, your honour
is now fecure, and you are at liberty to return ; but

this is to be underftood when the rencounter is ac- |

cidental, and that no word or promife has —
betwixt them, or that they have no need of | a rein=
forcement.

When they are on the poi int of entering the ene-
my’s country, they halt to perform a very extraor-
dinary ceremony. In the evening there is a great

featt

3

rT

"
&

id

i

i
4

. ‘ C389)

feaft, after which they go to fleep As foon as aif
are awake, thofe who have had any dreams go from

tent to tent, or rather from fire to fire, finging their

death-fong, in which they infert their dreams in an

enigmatical manner. Every one {cts his brains to

work to interpret them, and fhould no one be abie

to fucceed in it, the sad s are free to return home.

A notable opportunity for cowards uly A fter-

wards new invocations are made to the genii, and

they animate themfelves anew to acquit themfelves

nobly, and to perform wonders; they fwear to aid

each other mutually ; laftly, they begin their march,

and in cafe they ee come thus far in canoes, they

take a great care to conceal them. If every thing

were exactly done, which is preicribed on fuch oc-

cafions, it would be very difficuit to furprife an In-

dian party in an paney's country. There muft no

more fires be lighted, no more fhouting, and no

more hunting ; they are not even to fpeak but by

figns ; but Asie laws are ill-obferved. The Indians

are naturally prefumptuous, and the leaft capable of
confinement of any people in the world. They

neglect not, however, to fend out fcouts every even-

ing, who employ two or three hours in excurfions

on different fides. If thefe difcover nothing, they

- fleep fecurely, and once more abandon their camp
to the fafeguard of their manitous.

As foon as they have difcovered an enemy, they
fend to reconnoitre him, and on the report of thofe
fent out, hold a council. The attack is generally
made.at day-break. This is the time they fuppofe
the enemy to be in the deepelt fleep, and they keep
‘themfelves the whole night laid flat upon their faces,
without ftirring. They take their approaches in the
fame manner, creeping upon hands and feer, till ie

ne 4 ay ee have

| ( a6 Ye
have got within a bow-fhot of the enemy. Then
they all ftart up, the chief gives the fignal by a
fmall cry, to which the whole body makes an{wer
by hideous howlings, and at the fame time make

their difcharge. ‘Lhen without giving them time'to —

recover from their confufion they pour upon them

with hatchet in hand. Since the Indian have fub-

ftituted iron hatchets to. their old wooden ones,
their battles have become more bloody. The com-
bat ended, they fealp the dead and dying, and ne-
ver think of making prifoners, till all refiftance 1S
over. |

But when they find the enemy on his guard, of
too ftrongly intrenched they retire, provided they
have ftill time to do it. If not, they boldly re-
folve on fighting to the laft drop, and there is fome-
“times abundance of blood-fhed on both fides: A
camp which has been forced is the’ very picture of

fury itfelf, the harbarous fiercenefs of the'conquers

ors, the defpair of the conquered, who know what
they have to expect fhould they fall alive into the
hands of the enemy, occafion prodigious efforts on
both fides, which furpafs all that can be related: of
them. The figure of the combatants al] befmeared
with black and red, ftill augments the horror of

the conflict, and a very good picture of hell might —

be drawn from this model. When the victory is
no longer doubtful, the conquerors firft difpatch all
fach as they defpair of being able to carry with
them, without trouble, and then try only to tire
the reft whom they are defirous of making pri-
foners.

oy

\ The Indians are ndeutalig intrepid, and in (pit of

their brutal fiercenefs always retain abundance of

! cold.

ek ee

‘cold blood in the midft of ation; yet they never
engage in an open country when they can avoid it,
their reafon for it being, fay they, that a victory

bought with blood is no victory, and that the glory
of a chief confifts above all things in bringing back
all his people fafe and found, or in whole fkins. [
have heard fay, that when two enemies who are ac-
quaintances meet in battle, they hold dialogues to-
gether like the fpeeches of former heroes. I-do
not believe this happens in the heat of the action,
but it may very well happen in fmail rencounters,
or before paffing fome rivulet, or facing an entrench-
ment, in which cafe they bid one another defianee,
or recall to memory what may have pafied in fome
former action,

‘War is almoft always made by furprize, which
generally fucceeds well enough. For if the Indians
are negligent in guarding again{t furprizes, they are
equally alert and dextrous in furprifing their ene-
mies. Befides, thefe people have a natural and a
moft admirable talent, or I might call it an inftin@,
to know whether they have pafled any particular
way. On the fmootheft grafs, or the hardeft earth,

even on the very ftones, they will difcover the tra-
ces of an enemy, and by their fhape and figure of
the footfteps, and the diftance between their prints,
they will, it is faid, diftinguifh not only different
nations, but alfo tell whether they were men or.
women who have gone that way. I was long of
opinion that what I had been told of them was much
exagoerated, but the uniform voices of all who have
lived and converfed much with Indians, leave me
no room to queftion the truth of them. If there
are any of the prifoners wounded in fuch manner
as that they cannot be tranfported, they immediate-

ly

( 362.)
ly burn them, and this is done in their firft tranf-
ports of rage, and as they are often obliged to
make a hatty retreat, they generally come off
cheaper than thofe they referve for a Aovips punifh-
ment.

It is cuflomary among fome nations, for the
chief of the victorious party to leave his hatchet
upon the field of battle, on which he takes care to
trace the mark of his nation, that of his family,
together with his own portrait, that is, an oval,
with all the figures he wears on his vifage repre-
fented within it. Others paint all thefe marks on
the trunk of a tre, or on a piece of bark, with
charcoal duft mixed with fome other colours. They
alfo add hi ieroglyphick characters by means of which
paffengers may inform themfelves of the minuteft
circumilances, not only of the action but of the
-whole campaign. The chief of the party may be
known by the marks above-mentioned ; the number
of his exploits by fo many matraffes ; the number
of his foldiers by fo many lines ; that of the, pri-
foners by fo many fmall figures carrying flaves, or
chichicoueés ; that of the killed by fo many human
figures without heads, with fuch different marks as
ferve to diflinguifh men grown from women and
children. But this is not always found very
near the place of action, for when a party is in
fear of being purfued, they place them at a df
tance from Thne route, in order to deceive their
puriuers.

Till fuch time as they reach a country where they
may be in fafety, they make abundance of difpatch,
and that the wounded may not retard their flight,
they caffy them by turns on litters, or draw them

On

Se ew

( 363 )

on fledoes if itis in the winter-feafon. On enter-
ing their canoes, they make their prifoners fing,
which is alfo done as often as they meet with any
of their allies. This honour cofts thofe who re-
ceive it a feaft, and fomething flill worfe than the
trouble of finging to the wretched captives. They
invite their allies to carefs them; now to carefs a
_prifoner is to do him all the mifchief they can think
of, or to maim him in fuch manner that he remains
acripple for'ever after. There are fome chiefs,
however, who take indifferent good care of thefe
unhappy people, and who do not fuffer them to be
too cruelly handled ; but nothing can come up to
their caré in watching them. In the day time they
are tied by the neck and arm to the timbers of a
canoe, and when the journey is by land, there is
always one to hold them. In the night-time they
are ftretched along the ground quite naked, and
there are cords fixed to hooks planted in the ground,
which tie their legs, arms, and neck fo faft, that
they cannot ftir, and there are befides, long cords,
which are faftened to their hands and feet in fuch
manner, that the leaft motion they make wakens the
Indian who lies on thefe cords.

After the warriors have got within a certain dif-
tance of their village, they halt, and the chief fends
to give notice of his approach. Amongft fome na-
tions, as foon as the deputy has got near enough
to be within hearing, he makes different cries which
communicate a een idea of the principal adven-
tures and fuccefs of the campaign. The firft fig-
nifies the number of men killed, by fo many death-
cries. Immediately the young people come out to
inform themfelves more particularly ; and often a
whole village runs out, .but only one perfon accofts

the

(364 c
the envoy, learns of him the detail of the news he
brings; as he relates any particular, the other turns
towards the reft of the people and repeats it aloud,
and they anfwer by fo many acclamations or cries
of lamentation, as the news prove mournful, or
the contrary.

The envoy is afterwards conduéted into a cabin,
where the elders put the fame queftions to him, af-
ter which a publick crier invites all the youth to
go to meet the warriors, and the women to carry
them refrefhments. In other parts they think of
nothing at firft but bewailing thofe they have loft.
The envoy makes only death-cries, No body
comes out to meet him; but on his entering the
village he finds all the people affembled, he relates
in few words all that has paffed, and then retires
to his cabin, where they bring him fomething to
eat, and for fome time they are wholly occupied in
mourning for the dead.

This term being expired, another cry is made,
to denote the victory. Then every one wipes off
his tears, and there is nothing but rejoicing ; fome-
thing like this is done, at the return from hunt-
ing; the women who have remained in the vil-
lage go out to meet them, on being informed of
their approach, and before they are acquainted with
the fuccefs of their hunting, they fignify by their
tears the number of deaths fince their departure.

To return to the warriors, the moment the wo-.

men join them is properly the beginning of the
fufferings of the prifoners; likewife, when fome of
them. have at firft been appointed to be adopted,
which is not lawful in every nation, their future
parents, whom they take care to inform, go to a

ereater

\

ie APY Sia ao

ereater diftance to receive them, and conduct them

to their cabbins by round about ways. The cap-

tives are generally long in the dark with refpe& to
their fate, and there are few who efcape the firft

fallies of the rage of the women. But this article

would carry me too far, and we muft fet out to-
’ morrow betimes.

I am, &c.

LETTER

SiO Aer

a

Bebe E: T RuiR XVE

Firft reception of the prifoners. Triumph of the

warriors. Diftribution of the captives; in
what manner their fate is decided, with what
happens afterwards. The inhumanity with
which thofe are treated who are condemned to
death. The courage they fhew. Negotiations

of the Indians.

Entrance of Lake Erié, May 27th, 1721.

Madam,

_Set out this morning from the Falls of Niagara, |
and had about feven leagues to make before I

got to Lake Erié, which I have done without any

, trouble. We laid our account with not lying here
sthis night; and while my people were rowing with
all their might, I made a good proerefs in a new
letter, and now whilft they are taking a little re-
pofe I fhall finifh, and give it to fome Canadians
going to Montreal, whom I met with in this place.
1 fhall refume my account where I left it off in
my lait.

All

s

| ( 68) )
All the prifoners who are-condemned to die, and
tho} hofe fate is not yet determined, are, as I

have already told you, Madam, abandoned to the —

women, who go before the warriors, and it is fur-
prifing how they are able to furvive all the torments
they make them fuffer. If any one has loft in the

war a fon, hufband, or any other perfon who was —

dear to her, were it thirty years before, fhe becomes
a fury, fhe fixes upon the firt who falls into her
hands, and it cannot be conceived to what length

her rage will tranfport her. She has no regard ei-

ther to humanity or decency, and at every blow fhe -

gives, .you would think he would fall dead at her
feet, if you did not know how ingenious thefe bar-
barians are in protracting the moft unheard of tor-

ments. . The whole night is fpent in this manner at

the encampment of the warriors.

Next day is a day of triumph for the conquerors.
The Iroquois and fome others affect a great mo-
defty, and {till a greater difintereftednefs on thefe oc-
cafions. The chiefs enter the village firft by them-
felves, without any marks of victory, obferving a
profound filence, and retire to their cabins, with-
out fhewing that they have the leaft pretenfions up-
on any of the captives, But.amongtt other nations
affairs are carried on in a different manner; the
chief marches at the head of his company with the

air of a conqueror, his lieutenant comes after him,
and. is preceded by a crier whofe bufinefs is to re-

peat the.death-cry. The warriors follow two and

two, the prifoners being in the middle crowned

with flowers, their face and hair painted, holding a
ftick in one hand and achichicoué in the other, their
body almoft naked, their arms tied above the el-
‘bow with a cord, the extremities.of which are hele
- by

ee (9369 9)
‘by the warriors, and finging all the while -their
death-fong to the beat of the chichikoué. ont
» This fong is at the fame time’ extremely fierce
and. doleful, the captive difcovering nothing that
has the leaft appearance of a perfon that has been
vanquifhed, or is under affliction. The purport of
this fong is as follows: ‘* I am brave and undaunt-
- $6 ed, and fear neither death nor the cruelleft tof-
** ments; thofe who fear them are cowards and lefs
«¢ than women ; life is nothing to a man that has
courage; may rage and defpair choak all my
<< enemies; why cannot I devour them and drink
‘up their blood to the laft drop.” The prifoners
are made to halt from time to time, the Indians
meanwhile flocking round them, dancing themfelves
_ ‘and caufing them to dance which they feem to do
very chearfully, relating all the time the braveft ac-
tions of their lives, and mentioning the names of
all thofe whom they have killed or burnt. They
take particular notice of thofe in whom the affift-
ants are moftly interefted ; and it may be faid, that
their chief defign is to incenfe the arbiters of their
fate more and more.againit them. Thele bravados
feldom fail to provoke the fury of all. who ‘hear
them, and their vanity frequently cofts’ them dear.
_ But from the manner in which they bear the cruel-
eft treatment, one should think that tormenting
them is doing them a pleafure. :

an;

Sometimes they are forced to run between two
‘rows of Indians armed with ftones and cud-
gels, who ftrike them as if they intended to
knock them down at every blow. This, however, —
never happens, for even when they feem to ftrike
at random, and to be actuated only by fury, they
eb to. cap aa goa take

“eet
ae

ape

(370) |
take care never to touch any part where a blow

might Shay mortal. During this operation any

one has the liberty to ftop the fufferer, who is like-
wife permitted to ftand in his defence, though 1 It is
feldom done to any purpofe. As foon as they ar-
rive at the village, they are led from cabbin to cab-
bin, and are every where treated in the fame man-
ner. Here they pluck off a nail, there they take
off a finger, either with their teeth, or a bad knife
which cuts like a faw; an old man tears off their

flefh to the bones, a child pierces them with an awl
wherever he can, a woman beats them unmerci-
fully till her arms fall down with fatigue; all this —
time none of the warriors lay hands on them, tho”

they are ftill their mafters. - They are not even fuf-
fered to be maimed without their permiffion, which

is feldom granted. This excepted, every one may

make them fuffer what torments he pleafes, and if
~ they are led about in feveral villages, either of the
fame nation, or of their neighbours, or allies, who

happen to defire it, they every tere meet with the |

farne reception.

Thefe preliminaries over, they fet about dividing
the captives whofe lot depends upon thofe into whofe
power they are delivered up. As foon as the coun-
cil, where their fate has been determined is over, a
crier calls an affembly of the people in the fquare,
where a diftribution is made without any noife or

difpute whatfoever. Thofe women who have loft
their fons or hufbands in the war, are commonly ©

fatisfied in the firft place. Afterwards ‘they fulfil
the engagements entered into with thofe from whom
they have received collars of Wampum; if there is
not a fufficient number of prifoners for this pur-
pofe, the defect is fupplied with fealps, which are
worn uy way of ornament on days of rejoicing,

7 but

=

(x 29a

but at other times are hung up at the gates of their

cabbins. If on the other hand the number of pri-
foners is more than fufficient for thefe purpofes, the
overplus is fent to their allics. The place of a chief
is never filled up but by a chief, or by two or three
flaves, who are always burnt, even though the
chief had died a natural death. The Troquois ne-
ver fail to fet apart fome prifoners for the ufe of the
publick, in which cafe the council difpofes of them
as they think proper; but the matrons {till have
the power to abrogate their fentence, being abfolute
fovereigns of the life and death of thofe who have
been condemned or abfolved by the council, >

‘The warriors, in fome nations, never diveft thet
felves entirely of the right of difpofing of their
prifoners, and thofe to whom the council has di-
{tributed them, are obliged to make reftitution to
them if demanded ; which, however, feldom hap-

pens, but when it does, they are alfo obliged to re-

ftore the pledges they have‘ received from thofe
who had contracted for thefe prifoners. If upon
their arrival, the warriors declare their intentions
upon this point, they are feldom oppofed. In ge-
-neral, the greateft number of the prifoners of war

are condemned to die, or to a very fevere flavery in

which their life is never fecure. Some are adopted,
and from that time their condition differs in nothing

from that of the children of the aes they af-\
fume all the rights of thofe whofe place they oc-.
_ cupy, and frequently enter into the fpirit of the

nation, of which they are become members, in
fuch a manner, that they make no difficulty of go-
ing to war again{t their own countrymen. _ By this
policy, the lroquoife have hitherto fupported them-
felves, for having been conftantly at war from time
immemorial, with all the nations round them, they

: A a2 mutt

“s

ne (6.3799) |
muft have.been,. by this time, reduced, to. nothin

had they. not taken care to naturalize alargs PrO-.

Poms of their Br oRRs: of MAN 0!) ety we Qube

eT pen ty ¢ py

It fometimes happens. that tee che tonne Ein
overplus of the captives, to other villages, they pre-
fent theirs to private perfons, who did notedemand .
any, who, in fuch a cafe, are not, fo.much their.
mafters as not to be obliged to confult the. chie!: iS, of
the council what they are to do. with them, ‘Qt, lfe
to adopt them. If the» firft cafe, he to whom a

flave has been given, fends. for him: by, one of ay a

family, he then ties him up to: the door ‘of his cab-
bin, after which he calls together the chiefs of the
council, to whom he. declares his intentions, and

afks their advice, which. they generally give in a

manner conformable to his inclinations. . In the fe-.
cond cafe, on delivering the prifoner into his hands,
they tell him. ‘* It is a long, time, fince we have.

been deprived of fuch a one, your friend, or rex

‘* lation, who was the. fupport of our village,”
Or, ‘* We regret the fpirit.of fuch a one, whom.

*¢ you.have; loft, and who, .by.his| wifdom main-,

“< tained the tranquillity of the publick, , he muft
“* this day. be made to appear again, he. was too_
* dear to us,..as well as too valuable a perfonage to.
‘¢ defer any Jonger bringing him back to; life 5 FG,
“¢ therefore ‘replace him upon his. mattrafs i in the,
«© perfon ofthis, captive.” .....:, Sy: Tim shee cael

here, are Satine private ei however, pro-,
bably of more credit and reputation than: ‘common,.
who receive the gift of a prifoner without any. con:
dition at all, an d with full liberty to difpofe. of him
as. they {hall ll think proper; on delivering him, into,
fuch a perfon’s hands the council addrefs him in
manner... ‘* Behold .wherewiihal to repair 1 the se

~

| (Gacy tee

“¢ of fuch a one, and to glad the heart of his fa-
‘¢ ther, his mother, his wife and his children’; whe-'
‘“‘ ther you chufe to make them drink the broth
<< of this fleth, or rather incline to replace’ the de-
<¢ ccafed upon his mattrafs in the perfon of this cap-
‘tive. You may’ do with him according to your’
ba will and pleafure.”

As foon as a prifoner is adopted he is carried to
the cabbin, where he is to remain, and his tonds are
immediately loofed. He is wafhed with warm wa-
ter, ‘and’ his wounds are probed, if he has any, and
were ‘they even full of worms he is foon cured ,
nothing is omitted to make him forget all the evils
he has fuffered, victuals are fet before him, and he
1S properly dreffed. Ina word, they could not do
more for the child of the houfe, or even for the per-
fon whom he reftores again to life, as they exprefs
themfelves. Some days after this a feaft is made,
in the courfe of which he receives in a folemn man-
ner the name of him whom.he replaces, and from
thenceforth not only fucceeds to all his rights, but.
likewife becomes liable to all his obligations. :

&

Amoneft the Hurons and !roquois thofe who are
condemned to be burnt, are fometimes as well trea-
ted from the firft, and even till the moment of their
execution, as thofe who are adopted. It is proba-
ble thefe are victims fattened for facrifice, and they’
are indeed offered up to the god of war: the only
difference betwixt them and other captives, is that
their faces are fmeared over with black. Exxcept-
ing this, they treat them in the beft manner poffible,
fettinge before them the beft food, never {peaking to
them ‘but with an air_of fr iendthip, calling them fon,
brother, nephew, according as they themfelves are
related to o the perfon whofe manes the prifoners are

Aca 3 to

‘

x

( 374.) |
to appeafe by their death : fometimes they yield the

girls up. to their pleafures, who ferve them as wives _

during the time they have yet to live. But when
they are apprifed of their fate, they muft be careful-
ly watched for fear they fhould efcape, For this
reafon it is often concealed from them.

‘

As foon as every.thing is ready for the execution
they are delivered up to a woman, who from the
fondnefs. of a mother paffes at once into the rage of
a fury, and from the tendereft careffes to the moft
extreme tranfports of madnefs. She begins with
invoking the fhade of him whom fhe is about to a-
venge. ‘* Approach, fays fhe, thou art going to

‘¢ be appeafed; I am preparing for thee a feaft,
“¢ drink deep draughts of this broth which is now ©

** to be -poured out before thee; receive the victim
_ 6 prepared for thee in the perfon of this warrior ;
«he fhall be burnt and put into the chaldron;
¢* burning hatchets fhall be applied to his fkin; his
“¢ fcalp fhall be flea’d off; they will drink out of
‘* his fcull; ceafe therefore thy complaining ; thou
«6 fhalt be fully fatised.” This formula, which is
properly the fentence of death, often varies confider-
ably in the expreffion, but is always nearly the fame
in fubftance. Accrier then calls the prifoner out of
his cabbin, proclaiming with a loud voice the in-
tentions of the perfon to whom he belongs, and con-
cludes with exhorting the youth to perform their
parts well. A fecond herald then advances, and
addreffing himfelf to the prifoner, tells him, ‘* Thou
‘* art going to be burnt, my brother, be of good

** courage.” . He again anfwers coolly, ‘¢ It is

© well, I thank thee.” Immediately the whole vil-
lage fet up.a loud fhout, and the prifoner is con-
ducted to the place appointed for his execution.

The

\

( Moree)

The prifoner is commonly tied to a pott by the
hands’ and feet, but in fuch a manner that he may
turn quite round it. Sometimes when the execu-
tion is to be in a cabbin, whence there is no danger
of his making his efcape, he is not tied, but fiutfer-
ed to run from one end to the other. Before they
begin burning him, he fings his death fong for the
laft time, then he makes a recital of all the gallant
actions of his life, and almoft always in a manner
the moft infulting to the by-ftanders. Afterwards
he exhorts them not to {pare him, but to remember
that he is a man and a warrior, I am much mif-
taken, if the fufferer’s finging with all his might,
and infulting and defying his executioners, as they
commonly do to their laft breath, is the circumftance
that ought to furprife us moft in thofe tragical and
barbarous fcenes ; for there is in this a fiercenefs
which elevates the mind, which tranfports it, and
éven withdraws it froin’ the thoughts of what they
fuffer, and at the fame time prevents their fhewing
too much fenfibility. . Befides, the motions they
make divert their thoughts, and produce the fame
effect, may fometimes a greater, than cries and
tears would do. In the laft place, they are fenfible
there is no mercy to be expected, and defpair gives
them ftrength, and infpires them with refolution. ©

This fpecies of infenfibility is not however fo u-'
niverfal as a great many have believed. It is no
rare thing to hear thefe wretches crying in fuch a
manner as would pierce the hardeft hearts, which
however only rejoices the actors and affiftants. But
as’ to this inhumanity in the Indians, of which hu-
man nature could hardly have been thought capa-
ble, I believe they have attained to it by. degrees,
and that practice has infenfibly accuftomed them to
it; that the defire of making their enemy fhow a

fea's -mean-

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TA a See ee

%

() ayes > |
meannefs of. fpirit, the infults which the fufferers
never, fail to offer to their tormentors, the defire of —
revenge, a ruling paffion in thefe people, which they
never “think fuficiently gratified while thofe who are

the objects of it continue to fhew, the leaft {parks of
remaining courage, and finally, fuperftition have all
a great fhare in it: for what excefles will nota falfe
zeal, inflamed by fo many paflions; produce!.

I fhall not give you a detail, Madam, of every
thing that pafles at thefe horrible executions... It
would ¢ engage me too far, becaufe there is no uni-
formity, nor;avy rules in them but what are fuggeft-
ed by fury.and.caprice. There are often as many
actors as fpectators, that isto fay, inhabitants of the
village, men,, women and children, every one doing
as. much mifchief as poffible, and none but thofe ~
belonging te the cabbin to which the prifoner had
been delivered, refraining from tormenting him 5 at
leaft this is the practice. among fome nations. They
commonly begin, with burning the feet, then the
legs, thus afcending to the head, and fometimes
they make the punifhment lat for a whole week,
as happened to a gentleman of Canada among sha Sot ;
Iroquois. . Thoie are leaft ipared, who having been, =
already taken and adopted, or fet at liberty,.are. =,
afterwards retaken. They are looked upon as un- .
natural children, or ungrateful perfons, who have ~
made war upon their parents and benefactors, and
no mercy whatever is fhewn them. It fometinse (
happens that the patient is left. at his liberty, even,
tho’ he is not executed in acabbin, and fufferedto
fland on ‘his own defence, which he does lefs thro”. >
hope of faying h's life, than out of a defire to.
revenge his death before hand, and to acquire the, .
reputation of dying like a brave man. There have.
been many inftances to prove -what a prodigious. -
degree, of tirength and cQuragy fuch a refolution is
| 7 : cape

capable of infpiring,. of which the following, atteft-
ed by perfons of credit who were eye-witnefles, is
. one very remarkable. | a sh oly

_- ‘An Iroquoiscaptain of the canton called Onneyouth,
rather chofe to expofe himfelf to the worft that could
happen, than to difhonour himfelf by flying, which
he reckoned of dangerous confequence from the ill
-~ example it would give to the youth under his com-
mand. He fought a long time like a man refolved
to die with his arms in his hands, but the Hurons
his enemies were refolved on taking him if poffible
alive. Luckily for him and thofe who were taken
prifoners with him, they were conducted to a vil-
lage where there happened to be fome miffionaries,
who were allowed the full liberty of converfing with
them. Thefe fathers found them of an admirable
. doeility, which they looked upon as a beginning of
the grace of their converfion; accordingly they ‘in-
. ftructed and baptized them ; they were all burnt in
a few days afterwards, and teftified to their laft mo-'
ments a fort of conftancy, which the Indians were
not till then acquainted with, and which, infidels’as'
they were, they attributed to the virtue of the fa-
crament of baptifm. ~

The Iroquois captain, notwith{tanding, believed
he might lawfuly do his enemies all the mif-
chief in his power, and delay his death as long as
poffible. They had made him afcend a fort of {tage

or theatre, where they began by burning his body
all over, without the leaft mercy, to which he ap-.
peared as infenfible as if he had felt no pain; but
on perceiving one of his companions whom they
were tormenting juft by him, betray fome figns of

_ weaknefs, he teftified a great deal of uneafinefs, and
— @mitted nothing in his power to encourage him to
| | bear

(378)

béar his fufferings with patience, thro’ the hopes of

the happinefs awaiting them in heaven, and he had

the fatisfaction to fee him expire like a brave man

and a chriftian.

Then all thofe who had put his companion to
death fell upon him with fuch rage as if they would
tear him to’ pieces. He appeared not at all moved
at it, and they’ were now at a lofs to find any part
of his body that was fenfible to pain ; when one of
the executioners, after making an incifion in thé
fkin’ quite round his head, tore it entirely off by
mere force and violence. The pain made hinv fall

into a fwoon, when his tormentors believing him
dead, left him. Upon his recovery a moment “after, |

and feeing nothing near him but the dead body of
his friend, he took up a firebrand with both hands,
feorched: and flead as they were, defying his execu-
tioners to come near him. This uncommon refolu-
tion terrified them, they made hideous fhouts, ran
to arms, fome laying hold of burning coals, and
and. others feizing red hot irons, and all at once
poured upon him ; he ftood the brunt of their fury
with the courage of a man in defpair, and even
made them retire. The fire that furrounded him .
ferved him for an entrenchment, which he com-
pleated with the ladders they had uted to afcend the
{caffold, and thus fortifying himfelf, and making’a
fort of citadel of his funeral pile, which was now
become the theatre of his bravery, and armed with
the inftruments of his torture, he was fora confi-
derable time the terror of a whole canton, and not’
one had the heart to approach him, tho’ he was
more than half burnt to death, and the blood trick-
led from all Party of his beady.

‘His

Px

om

Oe Ba

His foot happening to flip, ashe was endeavouring
to avoid a fire-brand darted at him, delivered him
once more into the hands of his murderers, who, as
you may well imagine, made him pay dear for the
terror he had putthem into. After being tired with
tormenting him, they threw him into the middle
of a great coal fire, where they left him, fully per-
fuaded he would never be able to rife from it. But
they were deceived, for when they leaft thought of
it, they beheld him armed with fire-brands running
towards the village, as if he was going to fet it on
fire. All hearts were frozen with fear, and no one
‘dared to face him, when juft as he had almoft reach-
ed the firft cabbin, a ftick thrown at him, and fal-
ling between his legs, brought him to the ground,
and they laid hold of him before he could recover
himfelf. Here they firft cut off his hands and feet,
and rolled him upon burning embers, and then
threw him below the burning trunk of a tree, the
whole village gathering round him to enjoy the fpec-
tacle.

- He loft fuch a quantity of blood as almoft ex-
tinguifhed the fire, fo that they had now no manner
of apprehenfion remaining of any future attempt.
He made however another, which ftruck terror into
the moft undaunted. He crept upon his knees and
elbows with fo much vigour, and with fuch a threat-
ning afpect, as made thofe who were neareft him re-
tire to a diftance, more indeed out of aftonifhment
than fear, for what could he have done mutilated
and difmembered as he was? In this dreadful con-
dition the miffionaries, who had never loft fight of
him, endeavoured to put him in mind of thofe eter-
nal truths with which he had been at firft fo much
_ penetrated ; he liftened with attention, and feemed
for fome time entirely taken up with the thoughts

of

8 ie) , | pe 2
of his falvation, when one of the Hurons tak- |
ing advantage of this. opportunity, ftruck ‘off his:
head. ? +0 inf we

f.

y tt ‘ y vod ‘ we Hy Wh a
If. chofe nations, Madam, make war like Barba- |
rians,-it mult however be allowed that in treaties of s
peace, and generally in all negociations, they dif-. Oa
play-fuch-a dexterity, adarefs and elevation of foul,
as would do honour, to the moft civilized nations.;
They never trouble themfelves about making con-
quelts, or extending their dominions, Some na-:
tions kn »w no manner of dominion or: fovereignty 3)
and thofe who have never been at a diftance from.
their native country, and who look upon themfelves:
as the lords and fovereigns- of the foil, are not fo’
jealousof their property as to find fault with new-
comers, who fettle on it, provided they do not at-
tempt to moleft them. The points which are the
only fubjects of their treaties, are to«make alliances:
againft powerful, enemies ; to put anend toa war
which may have become burthenfome to both par-:
ties; or rather to treat of a fufpenfion of hoftilities,
for I have already obferved, that every war i$ ever-
lafting among the !ndians, when it happens between:
different nations. ‘thus a treaty of peace is very.
ittle to be depended on, whil% any of the parties
are capable of molefting or giving uneafinefs to the
other. a

4

During the whole time of the negociation, and:

even before it commences, their chief care is, that;

they may not feem to make the firft advances, or if.

they do, they ufe all their addrefs to make their

enemy believe that it does not proceed fiom fear

or neceffity ; and this laft is managed very artfullys

A plenipotentiary abates nothing of his haughtinefs,,

even when the affairs of his country are in the worlt.
: 7 fituation; ?

| (38r)
Grugtion, ; and he has generally: the good fortune to
perfuade thofe-with whom he is treating, that it is
their intereft to_put an end to-hoftilities, tho’ they
have been the conquerors, It is befides of the Jatt
confequence to himfelf, to employ all his eloquence
and addrefs, for fhould his propofals happen not’to
_be-relifhed, he muft keep well on his guard, a’blow
with a hatchet being fometimes the only anfwer gi-
ven on fuch occafions. He is not out of danger
even if he efcapes the firft furprife, but muft lay his
account with being purfued and burnt, if: taken,
provided fuch an aé of violence can be juftified by
any pretext, fuch as that of reprifals for a like pro-
ceeding. Thus it happened to fome French a-
moneft the Iroquois, to whom they had been fent

on the part of the governor general; and the mif-’

-fionaries; who ‘for fome years refided among thofe
Barbarians, altho’ they were under the fafeguard of ‘
the public faith, and in fome meafure agents for the
colony, yet were every day in dread of being facri-
ficed to fome ancient grudge, or becoming viétims
to the intrigues of the governors of New York.

It is Papritine , in fhort, that nations who never.
make war from motives of intereft, and who even -
carry their difintereftednefs to fuch a height, that
their warriors never load themfelves with the ipoils
of the vanquifhed, and if they bring home any

booty, abandon it to the firft that pleafes to take it;
and laftly, who take up arms for glory only, or to

revenge themfelves on their enemies; it is, I fay,
quite aftonifhing to fee them fo well verfed and

practifed in the greateft refinements of policy, and
even fo as to keep minifters refiding amongft their
enemies at the public expence. They have one cuf-
tom with refpect to thefe agents, which at firft fight
appears fafficiently extravagant, tho’ it may be rec-

_ koned

¢

( 382 )

koned prudent enough at the fame time, which is
that they never pay any regard to any intelligence
they receive from thefe penfioners, if it is not ac-
companied with fome prefent. Their policy here
arifes no doubt from this confideration, that in or-
der to give an entire credit to any piece of intelli-
gence, it is not only neceffary that he who commu-
nicates it fhould have nothing to hope from it, but
even that it fhould be attended with fome expence
to him, both becaufe the intereft of the publie
fhould be his only motive for fending it, and alfo
that he ‘may not rafhly trouble them with rgneek
and fuperficial matters.

I am, &c.

End of the First Votume.

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