The voyages and explorations of Samuel de Champlain, 1604-1616

of

W. L. Grant

THE VOYAGES AND

EXPLORATIONS OF

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

(1604-1616)

NARRATED BY HIMSELF,

TRANSLATED BY

ANNIE NETTLETON BOURNE

TOGETHER WITH

THE VOYAGE OF 1603

Reprinted from
PURCHAS HIS PILGRIMES

EDITED WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES BY

EDWARD GAYLORD BOURNE

Late Professor of History in Yale University

WITH SPECIAL INTRODUCTION BY

W. L. GRANT, M.A.

Professor of Colonial History, Queens University
Kingston, Ontario

TWO VOLUMES
VOL. I

TORONTO

THE COURIER PRESS, LIMITED
1911

COPYRIGHT, 1911, BY
THE A. S. BARNES COMPANY.

SPECIAL INTRODUCTION

THE history of Western Civilization be-
gins in a conflict with the Orient, a conflict
of which it maybe the end is not yet. But
the routes between East and West have
been trodden by the caravans of trade more
often even than by the feet of armies. The
treasures of the East were long brought
overland to Alexandria, or Constantinople,
or the cities of the Levant, and thence dis-
tributed to Europe by the galleys of Genoa
or of Venice. But when the Turk placed
himself astride the Bosporus, and made
Egypt his feudatory, new routes had to be
found. In the search for these were made
the three greatest voyages in history, those
of Columbus, of Vasco da Gama, and —
greatest of all — of Magellan.

In his search for the riches of Cipangu
Columbus stumbled upon America. The
great Genoese lived and died under the il-
lusion that he had reached the outmost
verge of Asia ; and though even in his life-
time men realized that what he had found
was no less than a new world, America

INTRODUCTION

was long looked on as an unwelcome ob-
stacle of unknown extent across the path
of the Eastern trader. Farther and far-
ther men ranged the coast, seeking into
every bay and estuary, in the vain hope
that the South Sea might open to their
gaze. To southwards, Magellan found a
strait, but the journey was long and dan-
gerous, and open only to the ships of
Spain. To northwards France took up the
search, and it was in quest of the Orient
that Jacques Cartier put out from St. Malo.
For a moment Chaleur Bay seemed to
him the strait of his dream, but soon he
came to its end, "whereof we were much
torn with grief," he says in his quaint old
French. On his next voyage he went in
vain up the St. Lawrence as far as Mon-
treal ; but the terrors of a Canadian winter,
with its attendant scurvy, and the still
greater horrors of the Wars of Religion,
for the next half-century restricted the
French to fishing voyages to Newfound-
land and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. With
the Peace of Vervins and the Edict bf
Nantes in 1598, France had rest from for-
eign and civil strife, and turned again to
the nobler task of exploration. This was
the quest to which the sea-captain of
Brouage, Samuel de Champlain, gave the
ii

INTRODUCTION

best years of his life, "always travelling-
with an hungry heart," with the great
South Sea ever a day's journey in advance.
Tired at last, he gave himself up to estab-
lish on the rock of Quebec a station from
which his successors might fare forth. In
his search for the South Sea he had been
the first great explorer of Canada, and this
series of "Trail Makers of the North"
appropriately begins with his undaunted
name.

As the new world opened out, the search
for the Orient took a second place. Even
in the days of Champlain, his partners
thought chiefly of trade with the natives,
and in the next two centuries a series of
great fur-trading companies, English and
French, took toll of the country, and
pushed ever farther west and north.
Among these, too, there were great-hearted
dreamers, men who "yearned beyond the
sky-line where the strange roads go down,"
and of such was Alexander Mackenzie. His
great voyage to the mouth of the mighty
river which bears his name was made in
1789; four years later he had pierced the
Rockies, and come out upon the shores of
the Pacific ; first of white men to cross the
continent by land, the Highland Scot had
made true the dream of Champlain.
iii

INTRODUCTION

As the West revealed its vastness, men
gave themselves to its exploration. An-
other great fur-trader, indefatigable as Mac-
kenzie, was the New Englander, Daniel
Williams Harmon. If his voyages did less
for geography, they tell us even more of
the manners and customs of the old lords
of the prairies, ere yet Canada had entered
upon the experiment of seeking to make in
the West a great civilization from the off-
scourings of Europe.

To these records has been added "The
Wild North Land," a journal of the youth-
ful travels of the late General Sir William
Butler. The record of his adventures adds
hardly less than Harmon to our knowledge
of a vanishing race, and also shows that in
these later days the hardihood of the Celt
is as cheery and as unflinching as in the
day of Champlain and of Mackenzie.

To the travels of Mackenzie, Harmon
and Butler I have contributed short intro-
ductions. That to the voyages of Cham-
plain is by the late Professor Bourne of
Yale, whose premature death is mourned
by every student of early American history.

W. L. GRANT.

IV

INTRODUCTION

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN was the first ex-
plorer to make a detailed examination of
the coast of New England and Nova Scotia
and to prepare a full and accurate report of
his observations. To him, likewise, we are
indebted for our earliest exact accounts of
the Indians of New England, eastern
Canada and New York. To the Canadian
he is more than the explorer and the acute
observer of the native life ; he is the founder
of New France and at the same time the
chief of its early historians. To the stu-
dent of history to-day, in addition to all this,
he stands forth as perhaps the ablest of the
earlier makers of America, a leader of in-
defatigable energy and sterling character, a
Frenchman who devoted his life to extend-
ing the name and power of France and the
civilizing influences of the Church. His
fame is impregnably established and grows
with the lapse of time and the extension of
knowledge of his work.

In view of all these facts it is surprising
that his writings have to so slight a degree

INTRODUCTION

been accessible to the English reader. His
earliest account of the Indians of the St.
Lawrence River region, published in Paris
in 1604 under the title Des Sauvages, ou,
Voyage de Sammuel Champlain de Brouagc
faict en la France Nouvelle, I'an mil six
tens trois, was made English and published
in Purchas His Pil grimes, London, 1625.
In 1859 the Hakluyt Society brought out an
English version of his Brief Discours
des choses plus remarqudbles que Sammuel
Champlain de Brouage a reconneues aux
Indes Occidcntallcs au voiage qu'il en a
faict en iceles en I'anncc mil Vc. Illlxx
XIX & en I'anncc mil Vic I (1598-1601),
under the title Narrative of a Voyage to the
West Indies and Mexico, 1599-1602. The
original remained unpublished until 1870,
when the Abbe Laverdiere published his
CEuvrcs de Champlain.

It was not until 1878, some 270 years
after his exploration of the New England
coast, that New Englanders and others un-
familiar with French could read the earliest
descriptions of the shores since so rich in
historic associations, whose picturesque va-
riety of scenery and invigorating air have
rendered them familiar and even dear to
thousands of fortunate sojourners from
every part of our country who have only
vi

INTRODUCTION

this transitory connection with New Eng-
land. In that year the Prince Society
began the publication, under the learned edi-
torial care of Reverend Edmund F. Slafter,
of an English translation of all of Cham-
plain's narratives of explorations on the
New England coast, in New York, and in
Canada down to the year 1617, when his
activity in exploration gave place to efforts
to build up Quebec. The translation was
entrusted to a highly competent scholar,
the late Charles Pomeroy Otis, at that time
Professor of Modern Languages in the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The
translation, the editorial notes and the biog-
raphy of Champlain by Air. Slafter, formed
a whole which was highly honorable to
American scholarship and imposed lasting
obligations upon every student of Cham-
plain's career. Yet the edition was strictly
limited and is now to be found only in the
richer public or private collections of
Americana. Equally scarce and expensive
is Laverdiere's collected edition of Cham-
plain's works in the original.

It remains true, then, even after all the
loving labors that Laverdiere, Slafter and
Otis have devoted to the publication and
elucidation of Champlain's writings, that
they are still a closed book to that rapidly
vii

INTRODUCTION

growing body of readers who are interested
in the original narratives of the explorers,
the earliest observations of the Indians as
yet tmcontaminated by contact with Euro-
peans, and the local history of New England
and Canada. No more fitting addition,
therefore, to The Trailmakers' Series could
be made than a satisfactory popular edition
of Champlain's own narrative of his ex-
plorations. In such an edition the transla-
tion should be both accurate and readable,
and the notes should be as brief and clear as
possible. To fulfill these requirements, the
translator and the editor have made an
earnest effort.

The Prince Society Edition of Cham-
plain's Voyages contains translations: i,
of the narrative entitled, DCS Sauvages, ou,
royagc of Sammucl Champlain de Brou-
age faict en la France Nouvelle, en Van mil
si.r ecus trois, etc., i. e., the voyage of 1603,
with its description of the Indians; 2, of
the narrative of 1613, entitled, Les Voyages
du Sicur de Champlain Xaintongeois, Capi-
taine ordinaire pour le Roy en la Marine,
Devises en deux livres, ou Journal tres-
ndele des Observations faites es descouver-
turcs de la Nouvelle France; tant en la de-
scription des terres, costes, rivieres, ports,
havres, leurs hauteurs et plusieurs decli-
viii

INTRODUCTION

naisons de la guide aymant; qu'en la
creance des peuples, leur superstitions,
fafon de vivre & de guerroyer, etc., Paris,
MDCXIII; 3, Quatriesme Voyage du Sr
de Champlain, Capitaine ordinaire pour le
Roy en la Marine & Lieutenant de Mon-
seigneur le Prince de Conde en la Nouvelle
France, fait en I'annee 1613 (2 and 3 were
published in the same volume in 1613) ; and
4, Voyages et Descouvertures faites en la
Nouvelle France depuis I'annee 1615, jus-
ques a la in de I'annee 1618. Par le Sieur
de Champlain, Capitaine ordinaire pour le
Roy en la mer du Ponant, Paris, 1619.

As the authorities of the Prince Society
were unwilling to consent to have their
translation reissued in a popular form, two
courses were open for those who had in
hand the preparation of a popular edition :
either these narratives could be translated
over again without the expectation of mak-
ing any considerable improvement on Mr.
Otis's work, or an English version could be
undertaken of that portion of Champlain's
own final edition of his works which relates
to his explorations. This final edition was
published in 1632 under the title : Les Voy-
ages de la Nouvelle France Occidentale
dicte Canada, faits par le Sr de Champlain
Xainctongeois, Capitaine pour le Roy en la
ix

INTRODUCTION

Marine du Ponant & tonics les Descouver-
turesqu'il a faites en ce pais depuis I' an 1603,
jusques en I' an 1629, etc. The latter course
was chosen, for two reasons. First, this
compilation, although hastily prepared, is in
a very definite sense a revised and final edi-
tion by the author of his earlier publications.
This is shown by the frequent corrections
in estimates of distances and in the char-
acter of the omissions. Second, in this edi-
tion Champlain appears not only as a nar-
rator of his own explorations, but as the
historian of the earlier French discoveries
and as the earliest French writer on colo-
nization. His criticisms and judgments on
the various aspects of the colonial experi-
ments that he records help us to under-
stand his point of view and the French point
of view in regard to a number of important
questions of colonial policy in regard to
which the English practice was different.

The narrative of 1632, then, contains all
the essentials of the earlier narratives, ar-
ranged in a systematic historical form, and,
in addition, a sketch of the earlier French
explorations and many interesting reflec-
tions on colonial policy. It is true the Abbe
Laverdiere was inclined to think that this
narrative was edited by a hand unfriendly
to the Recollect friars and favorable to the
x

INTRODUCTION

Jesuits, because so many particulars related
to the Recollects in the earlier narratives
are omitted in the narrative of 1632. I have
examined each omission and am convinced
that this conclusion is erroneous. In dove-
tailing several narratives of successive voy-
ages into a history, Champlain had it in
mind to present a continuous story of ex-
plorations, and he omitted details unessen-
tial for that purpose. A very competent
scholar who has made extensive critical re-
searches into the early literature of New
France writes of this opinion of Laver-
diere, "I cannot find any grounds for ac-
cepting it."1

Again, the statement in the preface to
the translation in the Prince Society edition,
I, 219, that the narrative of 1632 "is an
abridgement, and not a second edition in
any pnoper sense. It omits for the most
part personal details and descriptions of the
manners and customs of the Indians, so
that very much that is essential to the full
comprehension of Champlain's work as an
observer and explorer is gone," is most mis-
leading and can only be accounted for on
the ground that the writer had not care-

1 See H. P. Biggar, The Early Trading Com-
panies of New France, 279-280, where the case is
gone into in some detail.

xi

INTRODUCTION

fully studied the 1632 edition, and had been
unduly influenced by the summary way in
which Champlain treated the voyage of
1603. In the present edition attention is
called in the notes to nearly all the cases
where the narrative of 1632 omits interest-
ing details found in the earlier narratives.

The voyage of 1603 is very briefly re-
counted in this final narrative to avoid need-
less repetition. The geographical features
of the St. Lawrence were more fully and
accurately described in Champlain's later
voyages, and his observations upon the In-
dians in 1603, so far as they were confirmed
by later study, he incorporated with his later
descriptions.

In this edition, however, it has been
thought best to include Purchas's version of
the voyage of 1603, even at the risk of some
repetition, in order to place before the mod-
ern reader Champlain's first impressions,
unrevised, of the Indians of the St. Law-
rence, and the geographical details of this
first voyage, especially when it could be
done in so fine an example of early seven-
teenth century prose. This will be relished,
I am sure, not only for its own beauty, but
also because it lends Champlain's story the
antique flavor which his own writing has
for the modern Frenchman,
xii

INTRODUCTION

The translation of that part of the 1632
edition of Champlain's Voyages here given
(Laverdiere, Voyages, 1632, I, pp. 1-309)
was undertaken by my wife, who devoted
herself assiduously to the task. As editor,
I have gone over the text, carefully com-
paring it with the original for verification
and occasional revision. That it is entirely
free from misconceptions or mistakes can-
not be expected, nor will such expectations
be entertained by any who have had experi-
ence in preparing translations. We have,
however, made especial efforts to reduce
such slips to the minimum.

In the preparation of the translation
much help was derived from Mr. Otis's
work, but in the same way that a translator
to-day of Herodotus or Thucydides could
and would legitimately be aided by the ver-
sions of Rawlinson or Jowett. As the texts
used by Mr. Otis and by Mrs. Bourne are
often almost identical for pages at a time,
the versions unavoidably have much in com-
mon. For innumerable French sentences in
direct narrative prose there is a natural
English equivalent that would occur to in-
dependent translators in substantially iden-
tical form. In such cases, to give a studiedly
varied form of expression would be most
unprofitable, and such a practice would
xiii

INTRODUCTION

place a progressively heavy handicap on
each successive translator.

In preparing the notes, the voluminous
commentaries of the Abbe Laverdiere and
Mr. Slafter have been freely drawn upon,
but in most cases the source of the note
has been indicated by the initial L. or S.
Help has also been derived from Dr. Sam-
uel E. Dawson's valuable History of the
St. Lawrence Basin and from Professor
Ganong's admirable monograph on Docket
(St. Croix} Island (Transactions of the
Royal Society of Canada, 2d Sen, VIII, sec.
IV, 127-231), and also from Professor Gan-
ong's Champ Iain's Narrative of the Ex-
ploration and First Settlement of Acadia
(Acadiensis, IV, 179-216). That every
modern student of Champlain's career owes
a debt to Francis Parkman, both for kind-
ling his interest and extending his knowl-
edge, goes without saying.

The proper purposes of an Introduction
to this edition of Champlain's Voyages
would not be met without a sketch of the
great explorer's life.

Samuel Champlain was born at Brouage,
a small seaport town in the old province of
Saintonge, southeast of Roche fort and op-
posite the island of Oleron, about the year
1567. The once excellent harbor has long
xiv

INTRODUCTION

since been filled in by the sea, and the little
peasant village now lies nearly two miles in-
land. Although Cham plain was interested
from early youth in the art of navigation,
his first known voyage was one to Spain in
1598 with his uncle, who was in command
of a French ship chartered by the Spanish
authorities. Early in 1599, Champlain was
given command of this ship for the voyage
to the West Indies and New Spain with
the annual- fleet. His observations on this
voyage, which lasted two years, he recorded
in his Brief Disc ours des Choses plus re-
marquables . . . reconneues aux Indes
Occidentallas, the earliest French account
that we have of New Spain. To this jour-
ney may be safely attributed the beginnings
of Champlain's interest in colonization, and
through it he alone of all the great leaders
in the colonization of North America had
the privilege of observing and studying a
European colony before he tried to found
one. Soon after his return to France,
Champlain was enlisted by Aymar de
Chastes, the Governor of Dieppe, to make a
reconnoissance of the St. Lawrence in com-
pany with the merchant and fur trader,
Francis Grave, Sieur du Pont, a citizen of
the Breton seaport, St. Malo. De Chastes
had secured a patent from King Henry IV
xv

INTRODUCTION

and had formed a trading company under
whose patronage a settlement was to be
made on the St. Lawrence. Champlain and
Pontgrave (as he is more commonly called)
explored the St. Lawrence as far as the
rapids above Montreal, and later the country
about Gaspe. Champlain's account of this
voyage, published in 1604, he entitled, DCS
Sauvages, ou Voyage de Samuel Champlain
de Brouage, fait en la France Nouvelle I' an
mil six cens trois. This is the earliest de-
tailed description we have of the Algon-
quin Indians of eastern Canada.2

When Champlain and Pontgrave returned
they learned that De Chastes had died. His
place as the promoter of a French colony in
the New World was taken by Pierre du
Gua (or Guast), Sieur de Monts, and the
site selected was the milder region to the
south of the mouth of the St. Lawrence.
De Monts secured a charter from Henry IV

'See vol. II, pp. 151-229. The attention of the
reader may here be called to the fact that while
the English followed the Spanish usage started
by Columbus, of calling the aborigines of the
New World "Indians," i. e., people of the In-
dies, the early French writers adopted the simple
descriptive name of Sauvages, which, in the sev-
enteenth century, had the primary meaning
"wild," e. g., as in hcrbes sauvages, "weeds," or
the English, "wild animals."
xvi

INTRODUCTION

similar to the later English proprietary
charters, which granted him all the region
between the fortieth and forty-sixth de-
grees of north latitude, or from Philadel-
phia to Cape Breton Island.3 De Monts
was also granted the monopoly of the fur
trade from Tadoussac southward. It is not
necessary here to go into the history of this
enterprise which provided Champlain the
opportunity to make the first careful ex-
ploration of the coast of Nova Scotia and
New England. After following the shore
line of Nova Scotia round into the Bay of
Fundy and exploring its more sheltered
waters, De Monts and his associates selected
Dochet Island in the St. Croix River as the
most suitable place for their settlement, in
July, 1604. During August and September,
Champlain explored the coast of Maine as
far west as Monhegan Island, almost to
the mouth of the Kennebec, when prudence
dictated a return to the settlement. A win-
ter of tragic misery bereft the little colony
of half its numbers, and in June, 1605, De

8 De Monts's charter is given in English transla-
tion in the Maine Hist. Soc. Collections, ad series,
VII, 2-6. Three years later James I of England
granted the Plymouth Company the right to estab-
lish a colony in the same region, completely ignor-
ing the prior grant of the French king and the
rights of De Monts under it.
xvii

INTRODUCTION

Monts, encouraged by the return of his as-
sociate, Poutrincourt, with supplies, under-
took a further exploration of the coast to
find a more desirable location for the colony.
The new ground covered in this reconnois-
sance was the shores of Maine, New Hamp-
shire and Massachusetts, around Cape Cod
as far as Nauset Harbour. In this region,
in August, 1605, came their first clash with
the Indians. Upon their return to the St.
Croix, the explorers found that Pontgrave
had arrived from France with reinforce-
ments. It was then decided to remove the
colony across the Bay of Fundy to the more
sheltered location of Annapolis Basin. It
was now given the name Port Royal. In
the fall De Monts returned to France.

In September, 1606, another attempt was
made, this time by Poutrincourt and Cham-
plain, to find a more favorable site for the
colony. So much of the time at their dis-
posal, however, was consumed in following,
contrary to Champlain's advice, along the
coast already explored, that the only real
addition to their previous exploration was
the short stretch from Nauset Harbour to
Wood's Hole, where they gave the name of
River Champlain to the tidal passage; a
name which should be restored to that tor-
tuous channel, as a memorial of the ex-
xviii

INTRODUCTION

plorer, to mark the limit of his explorations
in New England, and to remind the thou-
sands who pass the spot every summer of
his services to American history and geog-
raphy. In 1607, De Monts's monopoly of
the fur trade was taken away, and the col-
ony had to be given up for lack of resources
to meet expenses. After a brief exploration
of the Basin of Mines, Champlain and his
fellow-colonists returned to France, arriv-
ing at St. Malo, October i, 1607.

From this time the scene of Champlain's
labors and plans for a New France is the
St. Lawrence Basin. In April, 1608, he set
sail for Canada in company with Pont
Grave, to carry on the further exploration
of the St. Lawrence as the lieutenant of De
Monts, to whom King Henry IV granted a
monopoly of the Indian trade for one year,
to meet the expenses of the expedition.
After a brief excursion up the Saguenay,
Champlain began the voyage up the St.
Lawrence from Tadoussac, June 30, 1608.
The foundations of a settlement at Quebec
were laid on July 3. Hardly was this work
begun when Champlain was apprised of a
plot to murder him and sell the new station
to the Basques. The ringleader was hanged
and three accomplices were sent to France
for punishment when Pont Grave returned
xix

in September. The first winter at Quebec
was a repetition of the cruel hardships
which Cartier had suffered there. Ten of
the little company died of scurvy and five of
dysentery. Of the miseries to which the
Indians were reduced in the long Canadian
winter, Champlain has given a most vivid
picture.

In the summer of 1609, Champlain, to
cement his friendship with the Algonquins,
which he regarded as an indispensable req-
uisite for a successful settlement at Que-
bec, joined in one of their war parties
against the Iroquois. They proceeded up
the St. Lawrence to the mouth of the Rich-
elieu, which was then followed to the beau-
tiful lake to which Champlain gave his own
name after a victorious encounter with the
Iroquois at Ticonderoga. In September,
1609, Champlain returned to France to re-
port to De Monts and to the King.

The early spring of 1610 found him
again on his way to New France, where he
again joined a war party against the Iro-
quois, who were ensconced in a barricade
at the mouth of the Richelieu. His reasons
lor such participation in these Indian wars
he gives at length in his narrative. This
year saw no new exploration, and Cham-
plain returned to France in the fall.
xx

INTRODUCTION

In the spring of 1611, after his arrival in
Canada, Champlain went up the St. Law-
rence to Montreal to meet the band of Al-
gonquins with whom he had left, for the
winter, one of his men, presumably Etienne
Brule, to make observations. On this oc-
casion Champlain had the thrilling experi-
ence of shooting the Lachine Rapids in a
canoe. He was the second European to ac-
complish this feat, in which he was antici-
pated only by Brule a few days earlier. In
August, 1611, Champlain returned to
France, where he remained until 1613, when
he undertook one of his most important ex-
plorations, that up the Ottawa to verify the
reports of the mendacious voyageur named
Nicholas de Vignaud, who asserted that he
had been to the sea on the north (Hudson
Bay). The incident of the discovery of De
Vignaud's deceit is one of the most dra-
matic in Champlain's narratives. Although
he was profoundly disappointed not to reach
the sea, as he had hoped, he explored the
Ottawa beyond the site of the present city
of that name, as far as Allumette Island,
and made some of the most interesting ob-
servations of Indian manners and customs
that his works contain.

During these years the work of the ex-
plorer was constantly impeded by the con-
xxi

INTRODUCTION

tending interests of rival fur traders.
Champlain felt that the only practical way
to deal with the Indians and to advance the
interests of a settlement was through the
agency of a responsible monopoly, and that
free, unregulated competition in dealing
with Indians by rival traders would be de-
moralizing to all concerned. On the other
hand, every grant of a monopoly called
forth a storm of protests and accusations
from the traders not admitted to these privi-
leges, which, they asserted, should belong to
all Frenchmen in common. The year 1614
Champlain spent in France, trying to ad-
just these matters and arranging for the
establishment of missions among the In-
dians. In April, 1615, he set sail for New
France with four Recollect friars, who thus
began one of the most wide-reaching and
imposing missionary enterprises of mod-
ern times.

It was an eventful year also in Cham-
plain's experience, for it was marked by
the discovery of Lake Huron and Lake On-
tario, an attack on the Iroquois in central
New York, and a winter in an Indian vil-
lage. Following his route of 1613, up the
Ottawa, he continued his exploration west-
ward to Lake Nipissing and thence to the
shores of Lake Huron. The Huron In-
xxii

INTRODUCTION

dians that he found in this region, familiar
now to many holiday-seekers as the Mus-
koka Lake country, were planning an
expedition against one of the home strong-
holds of the Iroquois, far to the south,
across Lake Ontario. Champlain embraced
the opportunity to accompany them to see
something of the region which the Dutch
fur traders were penetrating by way of the
Hudson, The attack upon the Iroquois fort,
which was situated not many miles from
the present city of Syracuse, was repulsed,
owing to the flighty, undisciplined righting
of the assailants, whom Champlain in vain
tried to steady. The lateness of the season
precluded his being accompanied to Quebec,
and he had to spend the winter with the
Indians. He joined in their fall hunting,
and during four tedious months he had an
unequaled opportunity to study Indian life
as yet uncontaminated by association with
Europeans. Of their villages, preparation
of food, marriage customs, funeral cere-
monies, religious usages, their pow-wows
and medicine men, he has given us not only
one of the earliest, but one of the best de-
scriptions that we have.

This expedition of 1615-16 was the last
work of exploration which Champlain ac-
complished, and with it the portion of the
xxiii

INTRODUCTION

narrative of 1632, selected for this edition,
closes. The rest of it, a little more than
half, belongs to the history of Quebec and
of Canada, and not to the story of American
exploration. It is the record of Champlain's
devotion to his great design of establishing
a New France in America, and of the ob-
stacles arising from the lack of real vital
interest in the work in the minds of the
ruling powers in France and from the jeal-
ousies of rival traders and companies. In
the years 1628 and 1629, to internal dissen-
sions the new peril of outside hostility was
added, and the prospects of a New France
were temporarily eclipsed by the English at-
tack upon and capture of Quebec. In the
years immediately following, Champlain la-
bored in France in the interest of the col-
ony. Most important among the varied ac-
tivities in its behalf was the preparation
of a revised narrative of his explorations
and of the history of New France down
to 1629. This work was the Voyages of
1632.

Canada had now been restored to France,
and in 1633 Champlain returned to Canada
under a new commission as Governor. But
little over two years of life remained, and
these, like the thirty of ceaseless activity
that had preceded them, were devoted to
xxiv

INTRODUCTION

restoring the colony from the ravages of
war. The end came on Christmas Day,
1635, after an illness of nearly three months.

Champlain left no children. He did not
marry until over forty years of age. In
1610 he entered into a contract of marriage
with Helene Boulle, then a girl of twelve,
who, by agreement, was to live two years
more with her parents before joining her
husband. She went to Quebec with him in
1620 and lived there four years. After that
their lives drew apart and Madame de
Champlain lived by herself in Paris, and
later asked her husband to allow her to
enter a convent of Ursuline nuns. Cham-
plain refused, but some years after his
death she carried out her wish and founded
an Ursuline monastery in Meaux.

In his first two publications, Champlain
is plain "Samuel Champlain of Brouage,"
but some time later and before the issue of
his narrative of 1613 he was raised to noble
rank and henceforth became the Sieur de
Champlain.

Of Champlain no authentic portrait is
known to exist. Those hitherto reproduced
have been shown by Victor Hugo Paltsits to
be all derived from a lithograph, the work
of a nineteenth century artist, Louis Cesar
Joseph Ducornet, which was given to the

XXV

INTRODUCTION

public in 1854.* Yet although we have
no physical likeness of the man, his moral
image is ineffaceably stamped upon the
memory of every student of his writings.
The more familiar one becomes with these
narratives, the more solid and permanent
is the impression of a singularly well-
rounded character, full of strength, dignity
and sweetness.

If we compare him with the other explor-
ers and founders of that age he stands above
them all in the range of his achievement.
The explorations of De Soto and Coronado
surpass those of Champlain in the extent of
territory covered and in magnitude, but the
results fall short of his in accuracy of de-
tail and in permanent positive contribution
to knowledge. The figure of La Salle is
more brilliant on the page of the historian,
but he was inferior to Champlain as a
leader, and, like De Soto and Coronado, he
ranks as an explorer only ; Champlain, on
the other hand, was not only an explorer
who "threw light into the dark places of
American geography and brought order out
of chaos of American cartography/'5 he
was also the historian of his expeditions and

* A Critical Examination of Champlain s Por-
traits. Acadiensis, Vol. IV (1904), pp. 306-312.
6 Parkman, Pioneers of New France, 256.
xxvi

INTRODUCTION

of the early days of Quebec, and in addition
to that the most indefatigable promoter of
French colonization and the first French
writer to discuss the principles of colonial
policy. In France, he undertook the work
to which Raleigh and Hakluyt in England
devoted themselves with such assiduity. Of
the English explorers who were also writ-
ers, Captain John Smith has attained the
widest celebrity. That his explorations
should rank with Champlain's will hardly
be pretended by his most enthusiastic ad-
mirers. On the other hand, his writings are
too full of the air of romance, if not of its
substance, for him to be taken as a serious
historian of his own career ; and his ser-
vices as an administrator in Virginia, con-
siderable as they were, extended over too
short a time to rival Champlain's at Quebec.
Of English founders and governors of colo-
nies who have also recorded the history of
such beginnings, William Bradiord and
John Winthrop unquestionably stand first
in this period, and a comparison of their
work with that of "The Father of New
France" suggests itself. In literary quality
Bradford's History of Plimouth Plantation
surpasses anything that Champlain wrote,
and the community over which Winthrop
presided so many years and whose story
xxvii

INTRODUCTION

he told with such candor has played a far
larger part in American history and life
than fell to the fortune of the people of New
France, yet the outlook and range of Cham-
plain's achievements are far more compre-
hensive than those of either Bradford or
Winthrop. Neither of them was an ex-
plorer, nor did either become a sympathetic
and observing student of Indian life. Thus,
in some one or two of the many fields of
his activity, others have surpassed Cham-
plain, but no other Frenchman and no
Spaniard or Englishman has attained his
high level and wide range. His fame is
steadily increasing, and the two races who
dwell in the scene of his labors, however
antagonistic in other things, unite in a
friendly rivalry in rendering homage to
his name.

EDWARD GAYLORD BOURNE.
New Haven, June, 1906.

xxviu

CONTENTS

VOLUME I

BOOK I

Introduction. Edward Gaylord Bourne v

Index of Chapters xxix

Dedication to Cardinal Richelieu xxxvii

INDEX OF CHAPTERS
CHAPTER I

PAGE

Extent of New France and the excellence of
its soil. Reasons for establishing Colo-
nies in the New France of the West.
Rivers, lakes, ponds, woods, meadows and
islands of New France. Its fertility. Its
peoples I

CHAPTER II

That Kings and great Princes ought to take
more pains to spread the knowledge of the
true God and magnify His glory among
barbarians than to multiply their states.
Voyages of the French to the New World
since the year 1504 9

xxix

CONTENTS
CHAPTER III

PAGE

Voyage to Florida under the reign of King
Charles IX by Jean Ribaut. He has a fort
built, called Fort Charles, on the River of
May. Albert, the Captain, whom he leaves
there, has no provisions, and is killed by
the soldiers. They are taken to England
by an Englishman. Voyage of Captain
Laudonniere. Narrowly escapes being
killed by his own men ; has four of them
hanged. Is pursued by famine. Recom-
pense from the Emperor Charles to those
who discovered the Indies. The French
driven from the River of May by the
Spaniards. They attack Laudonniere.
The French killed and hanged with in-
scriptions 16

CHAPTER IV

The King of France feigns to take no notice
for a time of the injury that he has re-
ceived from the Spaniards in the cruelty
that they showed to the French. Ven-
geance for it was reserved for Sieur
Chevalier de Gourgues. His voyage ; his
arrival on the coast of Florida. Is at-
tacked by some Spaniards whom he de-
feats and treats as they did the French. . 25

CHAPTER V

The voyage that Sieur de Roberval de-
spatched. Sends Alphonse of Saintonge
to Labrador. His departure. His arrival.
Return on account of the ice. The voy-

XXX

PAGE

ages of foreigners to the North, to go to
the West ( ?) Indies. Voyage of the
Marquis de la Roche without result. His
death. Noticeable defect in his under-
taking 40

CHAPTER VI

Voyage of Sieur de Saint Chauvin. His plan.
Remonstrances made with him by Pont
Grave. Sieur de Monts goes with him.
Return of Saint Chauvin and Du Pont to
France. Second voyage of Chauvin : his
plan 46

CHAPTER VII

Fourth undertaking in New France by the
Commander de Chaste. Sieur du Pont
Grave chosen for the voyage to Tadous-
sac. The author undertakes the voyage.
Their arrival at the Great Sault St. Louis.
Their difficulty in passing it. Their re-
treat. Death of this commander, which
breaks up the sixth voyage 51

CHAPTER VIII

Voyage of Sieur de Monts. Wishes to con-
tinue the plan of the late Commander de
Chaste. Obtains a commission from the
king to make discoveries farther south.
Forms a company with the merchants of
Rouen and Rochelle. The author goes
with him. They reach Cape Heve. They
discover several harbors and rivers. Sieur

xxxi

CONTENTS

PAGE

de Poutrincourt goes with Sieur de
Monts. Complaints of this Sieur de
Monts. His commission revoked 57

BOOK II

CHAPTER I

Description of La Heve. Of Port Mouton.
Of Cape Negro. Of the Cape Sable and
Sable Bay. Of Cormorant Island. Of
Cape Fourchu. Of Long Island. Of Bay
Saint Mary. Of Port Saint Margaret,
and of all the remarkable things that
there are along the coast of Acadie 66

CHAPTER II

Description of Port Royal, and its peculiari-
ties. Of High Island. Of the Harbor of
Mines. Of the Great French Bay. Of
the River Saint John, and what we have
noticed between the Harbor of 'Mines and
this place. Of the island called by the
savages Manthane. Of the Etechemins
River, and several beautiful islands in it.
Of Saint Croix Island, and other con-
spicuous things on this shore 73

CHAPTER III

Of the coast, peoples, and River of Norem-
begue 83

xxxii

CONTENTS

CHAPTER IV

PAGE

Discovery of the Quinibequy River, which is
on the coast of the Almouchiquois, as far
as latitude 42°, and the particulars of the
voyage. How the men and women pass
the time during the winter 93

CHAPTER V

The Choiiacoet River. Places that the author
discovered there. Cape of Islands. Ca-
noes of the people made of birch bark.
How the savages of that country revive
those who faint away. Use stones in-
stead of knives. Their chief honorably
received by us 103

CHAPTER VI

Continuation of the discoveries along the
coast of the Almouchiquois, and what we
specially noticed there 112

CHAPTER VII

Continuation of these explorations as far as
Port Fortune, some twenty leagues from
there 123

CHAPTER VIII

Discovery from Cape la Heve to Canseau,
very much in detail 131

xxxiii

CONTENTS

BOOK III
CHAPTER I

PAGE

Voyages of Sieur de Poutrincourt in New
France, where he left his son, Sieur de
Biencourt. The Jesuit fathers who wer«
sent there, and their progress in making
the Christian faith flourish 137

CHAPTER II

Second undertaking of Sieur de Monts. Ad-
vice that the author gave hi«i. Obtains
commission from the King. His depar-
ture. Buildings that the author makes in
Quebec. Outcries against Sieur de
Monts 161

CHAPTER III

Departure of the author, to go to settle the
great River St. Lawrence. Description of
the harbor of Tadoussac ; of the River
Saguenay; of the Isle of Orleans 166

CHAPTER IV

Discovery of the Hare Island; of the Island
of Coudres, and of the Falls of Mont-
morency 171

CHAPTER V

Arrival of the author at Quebec, where he
made his place of abode. Habits of the
savages of that country 174

xxxiv

CONTENTS
CHAPTER VI

PAGE

Planting of vines at Quebec by the author.

His kindness to the poor savages 180

CHAPTER VII

Journey from Quebec to the Island of St.
Eloi, and the meeting that I had with
some Algonquin and Ochataiguin sav-
ages 186

CHAPTER VIII

Return to Quebec, and then continuation with
the savages to the Rapids of the River of
the Iroquois 191

CHAPTER IX

Departure from the rapids of the Iroquois
River. Description of a large lake. Of
the encounter with the enemy that we had
at this lake, and of the manner in which
they attacked the Iroquois 198

CHAPTER X

Return from the battle, and what happened on

the way 214

CHAPTER XI

Defeat of the Iroquois near the mouth of this

River Iroquois 219

CHAPTER XII

Description of whaling in New France 230

XXXV

CONTENTS
CHAPTER XIII

PAGE

Departure of the author from Quebec. Mont
Royal and its cliffs. Islands where pot-
ter's clay is found. Island of Ste. Helene. 233

CHAPTER XIV

Two hundred savages return the Frenchman
who had been entrusted to them, and take
back the savage who had returned from
France. Various remarks by the author.. 242

To

Monseigtieur, the most illustrious Cardinal,
Duke de Richelieu, Head, Grand Master
and Superintendent-General of the Com-
merce and Navigation of France.

MONSEIGNEUR :

These narratives are offered to you as
the one to whom they are chiefly due, not
only because of your eminent power in the
Church and in the State, as well as in the
command of all navigation, b'ut also that
you may be promptly informed of the great-
ness, the fertility, and the beauty of the
places that they describe. For it may be as-
sumed that it was not without great and
vital reasons that the Kings who were
predecessors of His Majesty, and he also,
not only raised the standard of the Cross
in that land, in order to establish the faith
there, as they did, but also wished to attach
to it the name of New France. You will
find here the great and dangerous voyages
that have been undertaken thither ; the dis-
coveries that followed upon them; the ex-
tent of these lands, no less than four times
xxxvii

DEDICATION

as large as France ; their situation ; the fa-
cility with which a safe and important com-
merce can be carried on there; the great
profit to be derived from it ; the fact that
our Kings have taken possession of a large
part of the country ; the missions that they
have instituted there of various religious
orders ; their progress in the conversion of
a good many savages ; [the account of] the
clearing of certain tracts of land, by which
you will discover that they in no way fall
short of the soil of France in fertility ; and,
finally, the settlements and forts which have
been built there in the name of France. The
fact that I have been assiduously engaged
in the preservation of these beginnings, as
well as in a large number of these discover-
ies, for the last thirty years, both by the au-
thority of our viceroys, and by that of your
Grace, will be my excuse, Monseigneur, if
you please, for the liberty that I take in of-
fering you this little treatise, feeling confi-
dent that it will not be disagreeable to you ;
not out of consideration for myself, but
only out of consideration for the public,
who already make your name resound on
the shores of every sea throughout the habi-
table earth, with their acclamations of the
results of which the continuation of your
glorious deeds gives promise. And since
xxxviii

DEDICATION

your Grace has raised them to the utmost
height on land, by the peace that you have
established in this Kingdom after so many
and such fortunate victories, you will not be
less inclined to call forth admiration during
the peace in the matters that concern it:
above all, in the re-establishment of the
commerce of France in the most remote
countries, as the most assured way that she
has of reviving it under your favorable aus-
pices. But among these foreign peoples
those of New France are foremost in ex-
tending their hands to you ; believing, with
all France, that, since God, on the one hand,
has constituted you a Prince of the Church,,
and, on the other hand, has raised
you to the pre-eminent dignities that you
hold, you will not only bestow upon them
the light of the faith which they long for
continually, but will also assist and support
the possession of this new land, by the set-
tlements and colonies that will be found
necessary there ; and that, in fine, since God
has expressly chosen you among all men
for the perfection of this great work, it will
be entirely accomplished by your hands.
This is my constant wish, and I add to it
the offer of my remaining years, which I
shall regard as very happily and usefully
employed in so glorious a design if, in addi-
xxxix

DEDICATION

tion to all my past labors, I may still be
honored by the commands that I await from
your Grace,

MONSEIGNEUR :

Your very humble and very affectionate
servant, CHAMPLAIN.

xl

The Voyages of
Sieur de Champlain

VOLUME I— BOOK I

CHAPTER I

Extent of New France and the excellence of >ts
soil. Reasons for establishing Colonies in the
New France of the West. Rivers, lakes, ponds,
woods, meadows and islands of New France. Its
fertility. Its peoples.

THE labors that Sieur de Champlain has
endured in discovering several countries,
lakes, rivers, and islands of New France,
during the last twenty-seven years,1 have
not made him lose courage because of the
difficulties that have been encountered ; but,
on the contrary, the dangers and risks that
he has met with, instead of lessening, have
redoubled his courage. And two very strong »
reasons in particular have decided him to
make new voyages there. The first is that
under the reign of King Louis the Just,2
France should become enriched and in-

'I. e., from 1603 to 1630.
'Louis XIII.

I

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

creased by a country of which the extent
exceeds sixteen hundred leagues in length
and nearly five hundred in breadth; the
second, that the richness of the soil and the
useful things that can be derived from it,
whether for commerce or to make life pleas-
ant in that country, are such that one can-
not estimate the advantage that the French
would gain from it some day, if the French
colonies that may be established there
should be protected by the favor and au-
thority of His Majesty.

The new discoveries led to the purpose
of establishing colonies, which, though at
first of little account, have nevertheless in
course of time, by means of commerce, be-
come equal to the states of the greatest
Icings. One may put in this class several
cities that the Spaniards have founded in
Peru and other parts of the world within
the last hundred and twenty years, which
were nothing to begin with. Europe can
offer the example of the city of Venice,
which was originally a refuge for poor fish-
ermen. Genoa, one of the most superb cit-
ies of the world, was built in a region sur-
rounded by mountains, very wild, and so
sterile that the inhabitants were obliged to
have soil brought from outside to cultivate
their garden plots, and their sea is without
2

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

fish. The city of Marseilles, which formerly
was nothing but a great marsh, surrounded
by rugged hills and mountains, nevertheless
in the course of time made its land fertile,
and has become famous and an important
seat of commerce. Similarly, many small
colonies which had the convenience of ports
and harbors have increased in wealth and in
reputation. «-.

It must be said also that the country of
New France is a new world, and not a king-
dom ; perfectly beautiful, with very con-
venient locations, both on the banks of the
great river St. Lawrence (the ornament of
the country) and on other rivers, lakes,
ponds and brooks. It has, too, an infinite
number of beautiful islands, and they con-
tain very pleasant and delightful meadows
and groves where, during the spring and
the summer, may be seen a great number of
birds which come there in their time and
season. The soil is very fertile for all kinds
of grain; the pasturage is abundant; and
a network of great rivers and lakes, which
are like seas lying across the countries, lend
great facility to all the explorations of the
interior, whence one could get access to the
oceans on the west, the east, the north, and
even on the south.

The country is filled with immense tall
3

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

forests composed of the same kinds of trees
that we have in France. The air is salubri-
ous and the water excellent in the latitudes
corresponding to ours. The benefit that can
be derived from this country, according to
what Sieur de Champlain hopes to demon-
strate, is sufficient to make the enterprise
worth considering, since this country can
supply for the service of the King the same
advantages that we have in France, as will
appear from the following account.

In New France there are a great many
savage peoples ; some of whom are seden-
tary, fond of cultivating the soil, and hav-
ing cities and villages enclosed with pali-
sades ; others are roving tribes which live
by hunting and fishing, and have no knowl-
edge of God. But there is hope that the
clergy who have been sent there and who
are beginning to establish themselves and to
found seminaries will be able in a few years
to make great progress in the conversion of
these peoples. This is the first care of His
Majesty, who, turning his eyes toward
Heaven rather than toward the earth, will
support, if it is his good pleasure, such
founders as engage to transport clergy to
work at this sacred harvest, and propose to
establish a Colony as being the only way of
making the name of the true God recog-
4

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

nized, and of establishing the Christian re-
ligion there : such founders, too, as would
oblige the French who go there to work,
first of all, at tilling the soil, in order to
have the necessaries of life on the spot,
without being forced to bring them from
France. That done, the country will fur-
nish in abundance all that can be wished in
life, whether to satisfy needs or pleasures,
as will be shown hereafter. «J

If one cares for hawking, one can find in
these places all sorts of birds of prey in as
great numbers as one could wish : falcons,
gerfalcons, sakers, tassels, sparhawks, gos-
hawks, marlins, muskets, two kinds of ea-
gles, little and big owls, great horned owls
of exceptional size, pyes, woodpeckers. And
there are other kinds of birds of prey, less
common than those named, with grey plu-
mage on the back and white on the belly, as
fat and large as a hen, with one foot like
the talon of a bird of prey, with which it
catches fish ; the other like that of a duck.
The latter serves for swimming in the wa-
ter when he dives for fish. This bird is not
supposed to be found except in New
France.3

3The belief that this bird, which was probably
the bald buzzard or sea eagle, has one foot webbed
is a bit of folk-lore.

5

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

For hunting with setters, there are three
kinds of partridges : some are true pheas-
ants, others are black, and still others white.
These last come in winter and have flesh
like wood-pigeons, of a very excellent
flavor.

As for hunting for other game, river
birds abound there ; all sorts of ducks, teal,
white and grey geese, bustards,4 little
geese, woodcock, snipe, little and big larks,
plover, herons, cranes, swans, divers of two
or three kinds, coots, ospreys, curlews,
thrushes, white and grey sea gulls ; and on
the coasts and shores of the sea, cormorants,
sea parrots, sea pyes, and others in infinite
numbers which come there in their season.

In the woods and in the country which
is inhabited by the Iroquois, a people of
New France, there are many wild turkeys,
and at Quebec a quantity of turtle-doves
throughout the summer; also blackbirds,
linnets, sky larks, and other kinds of birds
of varied plumage, which in their season
sing very sweetly.

After this kind of hunting may be men-
tioned another not less pleasant and agree-
able, but more difficult. There are in this

*The brant goose was called outarde (bustard)
by the early French explorers. On these birds cf.
J. P. Baxter, Jacques Car tier, 138, n.
6

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

same country, foxes, common wolves and
spotted lynxes, wild cats, porcupines, beav-
ers, muskrats, otters, sables, martens, va-
rieties of badgers, hares, bears, moose,
stags, deer, caribous as big as wild asses,
kids, flying squirrels, and other kinds of
animals which we do not have in France.
They can be caught either by lying in wait
or with a trap, or, if one suddenly shouts
on the islands where they resort most often,
one can kill them easily as they throw them-
selves in the water when they hear the
noise ; or they can be caught in any other
way that the ingenuity of those who take
pleasure in it may suggest.

If one is fond of fishing, whether with
the line, nets, warrens, weels or other in-
ventions, there are rivers, brooks, lakes and
ponds in as great number as one could de-
sire, with an abundance of salmon; very
beautiful trout, fine and large, of every
kind; sturgeon of three sizes; shad; very
good bass, some of which weigh twenty
pounds. There are carp of all kinds and
some of them are very large ; and pike,
some of them five feet long ; turbot without
scales, two or three kinds, big and little ;
white fish a foot long; gold fish, smelts,
tench, perch, tortoises, seal, of which the
oil is very good even for frying ; white por-
7

r

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

poises, and many others that we do not
have and that are not found in our rivers
and ponds. All these varieties of fish are
found in the great river St. Lawrence ; be-
sides, cod and whales are caught on the
coasts of New France in nearly all seasons.
Thus one can judge of the pleasure that
the French will have when once they are
settled in these places ; living a sweet, quiet
life, with perfect freedom to hunt, fish, and
make homes for themselves according to
their desires ; with occupation for the mind
in building, clearing the ground, working
gardens, planting them, grafting, making
nurseries, planting all kinds of grains, roots,
vegetables, salad greens and other pot-
herbs, over as much land and in as great
quantity as they wish. The vines there bear
pretty good grapes, even though they are
wild. If these are transplanted and culti-
vated they will yield fruit in abundance.
And he who will have thirty acres of
cleared land in that country, with the help
of a few cattle, and of hunting and fishing,
and trading with the savages in conformity
to the regulations of the company of New
France, will be able to live there with a
family of ten as well as those in France
who have an income of fifteen or twenty
thousand livres.

8

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

CHAPTER II

That Kings and great Princes ought to take
more pains to spread the knowledge of the true
God and magnify His glory among barbarians
than to multiply their states. Voyages of the
French to the New World since the year 1504.

THE most illustrious palms and laurels
that kings and princes can win in this
world are contempt for temporal blessings
and the desire to gain the spiritual. They
cannot do this more profitably than by con-
verting, through their labor and piety, to
the catholic, apostolic and Roman religion,
an infinite number of savages, who live
without faith, without law, with no knowl-
edge of the true God. For the taking of
forts, the winning of battles, and the con-
quests of countries, are nothing in compari-
son with the reward of those who prepare
for themselves crowns in heaven, unless it
be fighting against infidels. In that case,
war is not only necessary, but just and holy,
since the safety of Christianity, the glory of
God and the defence of the faith are at
stake. These labors are, in themselves,
9

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

praiseworthy and very commendable, be-
sides being in conformity to the command-
ment of God, which says, That the conver-
sion of an infidel is of more value than the
conquest of a kingdom.1 And if all this
cannot move us to seek after heavenly bless-
ings at least as passionately as after those
of the earth, it is because men's covetous-
ness for this world's blessings is so great
that most of them do not care for the con-
version of infidels so long as their fortune
corresponds to their desires, and everything
conforms to their wishes. Moreover, it is
this covetousness that has ruined and is
wholly ruining the progress and advance-
ment of this enterprise, which is not yet
well under way, and is in danger of col-
lapsing, unless His Majesty establishes
there conditions as righteous, charitable and
just as he is himself; and unless he him-
self takes pleasure in learning what can be
done to increase the glory of God and to
benefit his state, repelling the envy of those
who should support this enterprise, but who
seek its ruin rather than its success.

It is nothing new for the French to make

'Possibly a confused and vague recollection of
"For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain
the whole world and lose his own soul?" Mark
viii, 36.

IO

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

sea voyages for conquest. We know very
well that the discovery of new countries and
noble enterprises on the sea were begun by
our forefathers.

It was the Bretons and Normans who, in
the year 1504, were the first Christians to
discover the grand bank of the Codfish2
and the islands of the New World, as is
noted in the histories of Niflet and of An-
toine Maginus.3

It is also very certain that in the time
of King Francis I, in the year 1523, he
sent Verazzano, a Florentine, to discover
the lands, coasts and harbors of Florida, as
the accounts of his voyages bear testimony ;
where, after having explored the coast from
latitude 33° to latitude 47°, just as he was
thinking of making a home there, death put
an end to his life and his plans.4

After that, the same King Francis, per-
suaded by Messire Philip Chabot, Admiral
of France, sent Jacques Cartier to discover

JThe words of the original are "le grand Bane
des Moluques." The last word should be
"Monies."

"The reference is to Wytfliet's Descriptions
Ptolemaicce Augmentum, as translated into French
by Antoine Magin. Douay, 1611. See Parkman.
Pioneers of New France, 190.

4On Verazzano. See Bourne, Spain in Amer-
ica, 143-145.

II

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

new lands, and for this purpose he made
two voyages in the years 1534 and 1535. In
the first he discovered the Island of New-
foundland and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence,
with several other islands in this gulf, and
he would have gone farther had not the se-
vere season hastened his return. This
Jacques Cartier was from the city of St.
Malo. He was thoroughly versed and ex-
perienced in seamanship ; the equal of any
one of his times. And St. Malo is under
obligation to preserve his memory, for it
was his greatest desire to discover new
lands. At the request of Charles de Mouy,
Sieur de la Mailleres,5 at that time Vice-

*

Admiral, he undertook the same voyage for
the second time ; and in order to compass
his purpose and to have His Majesty lay
the foundation of a colony to increase the
honor of God and his royal authority, he5*
gave his commissions with that of the afore-
said Sieur Admiral, who had the direction
of this embarkation and contributed all he
could to it. When the commissions had been
prepared, His Majesty put this same Car-
tier in charge, and he set sail with two ves-
sels on May 16, 1535. His voyage was so
successful that he arrived at the Gulf of

'Meilleraye. L.
"*I. e., the Vice-Admiral.
12

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

Saint Lawrence, entered the river with his
ships of 800 tons burden,6 and even got as
far as an island a hundred and twenty
leagues up the river, which he called the Isle
of Orleans. From there he went some ten
leagues farther up the same stream to
winter on a small river which is almost
dry at low tide. This he named St. Croix,
because he arrived there on the day of the
Exaltation of the Holy Cross.7 The place
is now called the St. Charles River and at
present the Recollect fathers and the Jesuit
fathers are stationed there to found a semi-
nary for the instruction of youth.

From there Cartier went up the river
some sixty leagues, as far as a place which
was called Ochelaga in his time and is now
called Grand Sault St. Louis.8 It was in-
habited by savages who were sedentary and
cultivated the soil. This they no longer do,
because of the wars that have made them
withdraw into the interior.

When Cartier, according to his account,
perceived the difficulty of passing up the

"A copyist's or printer's error. The narrative of
Cartier's second voyage gives the tonnage of his
three vessels as 100-120, 60 and 40, respectively.
-(L.)

'September 14.

"The modern Lachine Rapids.

13

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

rapids and that it was impossible, he re-
turned where his vessels were; and the
weather and the season we~e so urgent that
he was obliged to winter on the St. Croix
River, in the place where the Jesuits live
now, on the border of another little river
which empties into the St. Croix, called the
Jacques Cartier River, as his narratives tes-
tify.

Cartier was made so unhappy in this voy-
age, particularly by the ravages of scurvy,
of which the larger part of his men died,
that when spring came he returned to
France, saddened and disturbed enough at
this loss and at the little progress that he
thought he had made. He came to the con-
clusion, as a result of his winter's experi-
ence with the scurvy, which he called the
disease of the country, that the climate was
so different from our own that we could
not live in it without great difficulty.

So when he had made his report to the
King and to the Sieur Admiral and De Mail-
leres,8* who did not go deeply into the mat-
ter, the enterprise bore no fruit. But if Car-
tier could have understood the cause of his
sickness, and the beneficial and certain rem-
edy for its prevention, although he and his
men did receive some relief from an herb
8*I. e., De Meilleraye, the Vice- Admiral.
14

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

called aneda? just as we did when we were
in the same plight, there is no doubt that
the King from that time would not have
neglected to forward the plan, as he had
already done : for at that time the country
was more peopled with sedentary tribes
than now. It was this last fact that led His
Majesty to have this second voyage made
and the undertaking carried on, for he had
a holy desire to send colonists there. This
was what came of it.

This affair might well have been under-
taken by some others than Cartier, who
would not have been so soon daunted and
would not, on that account, have abandoned
an enterprise so well begun. For, to tell the
truth, those who are the leaders of explora-
tions are oftentimes those who can put an
end to the execution of a praiseworthy
project, if people stop to consider their re-
ports. For, if they are believed, it is thought
that the enterprise is impossible or so in-
volved in difficulties that it cannot be
brought to completion without almost un-
endurable outlay and trouble. This is the
reason why this enterprise did not achieve
success. Besides, there are sometimes af-
fairs of so much importance in a state as to

"Apparently a spruce or arbor vitae. Parkman,
Pioneers of France, 214.

15

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

cause others to be neglected for awhile ; or
it may be that those who would gladly have
gone on with them, die, and so the years
pass with nothing done.

CHAPTER III

Voyage to Florida under the reign of King
Charles IX by Jean Ribaut. He has a fort built,
called Fort Charles, on the River of May. Albert,
the Captain, whom he leaves there, has no pro-
visions, and is killed by the soldiers. They are
taken to England by an Englishman. Voyage of
Captain Laudonniere. Narrowly escapes being
killed by his own men : has four of them hanged.
Is pursued by famine. Recompense from the Em-
peror Charles to those who discovered the Indies.
The French driven from the River of May by the
Spaniards. They attack Laudonniere. The French
killed and hanged with inscriptions.

UNDER the reign of Charles IX and the
leadership of Admiral de Chastillon,1 Jean
Ribaut set sail on February 18, 1562, with
two ships equipped with all that he needed
to found a colony. Passing by the islands
of the Gulf of Mexico, he sailed close to the
coast of Florida, where he explored a river
which he called the River of May.2 There

'Admiral Coligny, who was Lord of Chatillon.
'The St. John's.

16

he built a fort, to which he gave the name
of Charles, leaving in command of it Cap-
tain Albert, whom he supplied with all that
he thought necessary. This done, he re-
turned to France on July 20. He was nearly
six months on the voyage.

But Captain Albert did not take the trou-
ble to have land cleared and planted, so as
to prevent want, and they ate their provi-
sions without the system that is necessary
in such matters, with the result that they
found themselves so short that the scarcity
was extreme. Thereupon, as the soldiers
and others in subjection to him did not wish
to obey him, he had one of them hanged
for a very small matter. This brought about,
within a few days, a mutiny so violent and
disobedience so great, that they killed their
captain and made another man, Nicolas
Barre, their leader. When they saw that no
help was coming from France, they built a
little boat to return there, and set sail with
very few provisions. History tells us that
their hunger was so cruel that they ate one
of their companions. But God pitied this
miserable crew and had mercy upon them,
and they were picked up by an Englishman
who came to their aid and took them to
England, where they revived. This shows
how little pains was taken to bring relief
17

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

to the colonists, on account of the war that
was going on between France and Spain.

Nevertheless, it was very cruel to let men
die of hunger and be reduced to the point
of eating one another, to save risking a
small vessel at sea, which could bring them
relief. This delayed the founding of a col-
ony and foreboded a worse end, since the
beginning had been badly conducted in
every respect.

Peace was made between France and
Spain, which gave leisure to enter upon
new plans and expeditions. The same
Sieur Admiral de Chastillon had other ves-
sels equipped, under the charge of Captain
Laudonniere, wrho was supplied with every-
thing for his emigrants. He left on April
22, 1564, and reached the coast of Florida
in latitude 32°, at the River of May. There
he landed all his companions and supplies
and had a fort built, which he called Caro-
line.

While the ships were at this place, con-
spiracies were formed against Laudonniere,
which were discovered. When everything
was straightened out, Laudonniere decided
to send back his ships to France, and he let
Captain Bourdet command them. He set
out on the voyage, leaving Laudonniere
with his companions, some of whom were
18

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

so rebellious that they threatened to kill
their captain if he did not let them cruise
for plunder in the direction of the Islands
of the Virgins and Santo Domingo ; and he
had to give his permission and let them go.
They got into a small vessel, made prey of
some Spanish ships, and, after they had
sailed all about all these islands, they were
obliged to return to Fort Caroline. Upon
their arrival, Laudonniere had four of the
principal mutineers seized and put to death.

After these misfortunes, as the provisions
were coming to an end, they suffered much
until May, without any help from France.
And when they had been obliged, for six
weeks, to go in search of roots in the
woods, they at last resolved to build a boat
and have it ready by the month of August
to return to France.

The famine, however, increased more and
more, and these men became so weak and
debilitated that they were scarcely able to
complete their work. This led them to look
for provisions among the savages, who
treated them badly, charged them much
more for their provisions than they were
worth, laughing at and making fun of the
Frenchmen, who endured these jeers grudg-
ingly. Laudonniere pacified them as gently
as he could, but, do what he would, it was
19

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

necessary to fight the savages, in order to
get something to live on. They were so suc-
cessful that they got some Indian corn,
which gave them courage to finish their
ship. That done, they began to pull down
and demolish the fort, so as to return to
France. While they were engaged in this
they descried four sail. At first they feared
'that they were Spanish, but at last recog-
nized them as English, and they, when they
saw that the Frenchmen were in need, aided
them with supplies and even fitted up their
vessel. This remarkable courtesy was of-
fered by the leader of this expedition, whose
name was Jean Hanubins3 [Hawkins].
When he had assisted them to the best of
his ability, he weighed anchor and set sail
to carry out the purpose of his voyage.

As Laudonniere was about to set sail
with his companions, he sighted some ves-
sels out at sea, and, while he was in sus-
pense as to who they were, it was dis-
covered that it was Captain Ribaut, who
had come to bring aid to Laudonniere. The
rejoicing on both sides was great, for now
they saw the revival of their hope that be-
fore had seemed absolutely lost. But they

'That Hawkins appears in the text disguised as
Hanubins is one of the many indications that
Champlain did not see the proofs of his book.
2O

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

y sorry that the fort had heen
pulled down. Ribaut told Laudonniere that
;d had reports had heen made concern-
ing him, which he recognized to be false,
and that, if they had heen true, he should
have had reason to do what he had heen
ordered.

It is always the rule that virtue is op-
rd by the slander of the wicked, which,
in the end, reveals them for what they are
and causes them to be despised by every
one. It is well known how much trouble
this made in the conquest of the Indies, both
for Christopher Columbus and later for
I-'erdinancl Cortez and others, who, blamed
unfairly, justified themselves in the end to
the Emperor.

This is why one should not believe any-
thing thoughtlessly, before matters have
been thoroughly examined into ; but one
should always recognize the merit and
worth of the generous courage which sac-
rifices itself for God, for king and for
•country, as did these men just mentioned,
to whom the Emperor accorded recognition,
in spite of envy, and whom he honored with
wealth and fine, honorable commissions, in
order to give them courage to do well, in
order to inspire others to imitate them, and
the wicked to reform.
21

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

While Laudonniere and Ribaut were con-
sulting about having their provisions un-
loaded, they sighted, on September 4, 1565,
six sails which seemed to be big vessels and
which they recognized as Spanish. They
dropped anchor in the harbor where Ri-
baut's four ships were and assured the
French of their friendship. Then, seeing
that some of the soldiers were on shore,
they fired cannon shots at our men, which,
since their force was small, obliged them to
cut their cable at the hawse-holes and set
sail. The Spaniards did the same and pur-
sued them in full force the next day. And
as our vessels were better sailers than theirs,
they returned to the coast and landed
at a river, eight leagues from Fort Caro-
line, and our ships returned to the River of
May. Three of the Spanish vessels, how-
ever, came to the harbor and put ashore
their infantry, provisions and ammunition.

Captain Ribaut, contrary to the advice of
Laudonniere, who explained to him the dif-
ficulties that might be incurred, whether
from the heavy winds that usually prevailed
at that season, or from some other cause,
though it was an obstinate act, and he al-
ways wanted to have his own way without
counsel, which is a very bad thing in such
matters, decided to face the Spaniard and

22

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

fight him at whatever cost. With this ob-
ject, he had his vessels manned and
equipped with all that was necessary, and
set sail on September 8. He left his men
very poorly supplied and Laudonniere
pretty sick. The latter did not cease to en-
courage his soldiers all he could and ex-
hort them to fortify themselves to the best
of their ability, so as to resist the forces of
their enemy, who were getting ready to at-
tack Laudonniere on September 20. At
that time there was a very violent down-
pour, which continued so long that our men,
who were tired out with watching, aban-
doned their task. They thought, too, that
the enemy would not come in such a terri-
ble storm. Some of them who went on the
rampart saw the Spaniards coming, and
cried : "To arms ! To arms ! The enemy is
coming!" At this cry, Laudonniere pre-
pared to await them, and urged his men to
the fight. They wanted to protect two
breaches that had not yet been repaired, but
at last they were overcome and killed. Lau-
donniere, seeing that he could not hold out
any longer, expected to be killed in getting
away, and escaped into the woods with the
savages, where he found a number of sol-
diers, whom he rallied with a great deal of
trouble. Taking their way through heavy

23

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

swamps and marshes, they reached the en-
trance of the River of May, where there was
a ship commanded by a nephew of Cap-
tain Ribaut, who had not been able to get
any farther than this place, on account of
the great storm. The other ships were lost
on the coast, as were many soldiers and
sailors. Ribaut and many others were cap-
tured and cruelly and inhumanly killed ; and
some of them were hanged with an inscrip-
tion on their backs, bearing these words :
We have not hanged these men as French-
men, but as Lutherans, enemies of the
faith.4

Laudonniere, in the face of so many dis-
asters, decided to return to France on Sep-
tember 25, 1565. He weighed anchor, set
sail on November u, and arrived near the
coast of England. As he felt ill there, he
had them put him ashore to recover his
health, and from there he came to France
to make his report to the King. The Span-
iards, however, fortified themselves in three
places to ensure themselves against every
event. We shall see, in the next chapter,

4This last is not well authenticated. The most
recent and most careful study of this clash be-
tween the French and the Spaniards in Florida is
Woodbury Lowery: The Spanish Settlements in
the United States, 1562-1574. New York, 1905.

24

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

what punishment God gave to the Spaniards
for their injustice and cruelty to the French.

CHAPTER IV

The King of France feigns to take no notice for
a time of the injury that he has received from the
Spaniards in the cruelty that they showed to the
French. Vengeance for it was reserved for Sieur
Chevalier de Gourgues. His voyage : his arrival
•on the coast of Florida. Is attacked by some
Spaniards whom he defeats and treats as they did
the French.

THE King, knowing the injustice and in-
sults inflicted on the French, his subjects,
by the Spaniards, as I have said, had rea-
son to demand reparation and satisfaction
for them of Charles V,1 Emperor and
King of Spain, on the ground of their hav-
ing been committed in violation of the prom-
ise that the Spanish had made not to disturb
nor molest them in the preservation of what
they had gained with so much trouble in
New France,1* in accordance with the com-
missions of the King of France, their mas-

lrThe King of Spain at this time was Philip II.

^This statement is an error. The Spanish king
had made no such promise. His attitude was quite
the contrary. Cf. Lowery, Spanish Settlements,
1562-1574, pp. 101-119.

25

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

ter, of which the Spaniards were not igno-
rant. Nevertheless, they had put them to
death ignominiously, on the specious pre-
tence that they were Lutherans, as they
said, although they were better Catholics
than they were, without hypocrisy or super-
stition, and had been converted to the Chris-
tian faith several centuries before the Span-
iards.2

His Majesty feigned to take no notice of
this offence for a while, because the two
crowns had some differences to settle first,
and principally with the Emperor,:! which
prevented any satisfaction being received
for such inhumanities.

I'.ut since God never deserts His own and
never suffers barbarous treatment shown
them to remain unpunished, these Spaniards
were paid back in the same coin that they
had offered the French. For in the year
1567 appeared the brave Chevalier de Gour-
gues, who was full of valor and courage, to
avenge this insult to the French nation;

'Champlain is in error here. The majority of
the French were Calvinists, although there were
some Catholics among them. See Lowery, Span-
ish Settlements, 53.

*This is not clear, but apparently Champlain
means that the Spanish King was particularly slow
to make any settlement of their difficulties.
26

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

and, seeing that none of the nobility with
whom France abounded offered to get sat-
isfaction for such an injury, he undertook
the enterprise. And, in order not to have
his purpose known beforehand, he spread
abroad the rumor that an expedition was
being prepared for a certain deed that he
wished to accomplish on the coast of Africa.
For this purpose a number of sailors and
soldiers assembled at Bordeaux, where ship
stores of all kinds are supplied. They pro-
vided and furnished themselves with every-
thing that he thought would be necessary
on this voyage.

He set sail on August 23 of the same
year in three ships, and he had with him
250 men. Once at sea, he put into port on
the coast of Africa, either to recruit, or for
some other reason. But it was not for long,
for he set sail at once, and made it known
through some trustworthy friends of his
that he had altered his first plan for an-
other, which was more honorable than that
in connection with the coast of Africa, less
dangerous, and easier to carry out. And
where he stopped to recruit he was told
that what he said was displeasing to several
of his men, who believed that the voyage
was ended, and that they would have to go
back with nothing accomplished. Neverthe-
27

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

less, they all had a great desire to try some
other plan.

Sieur de Gourgues, knowing the wish of
his companions, who had not lost cour-
age, and being assured in regard to his
crew, found an excuse to assemble his coun-
cil, whom he told the reason why he could
not carry out what he had undertaken. He
said that the plan must not be thought of
any more, but also that there was not the
slightest probability of their returning to
France with nothing accomplished. He said
that he knew of another undertaking not
less glorious than profitable for such brave
spirits as he had in his ships, of which the
memory would be immortal ; that it was one
of the most signal exploits that could be
undertaken. " Each one was consumed with
eagerness and desire to see the accomplish-
ment of what he mentioned, and he told
them that if he were well supported in this
praiseworthy enterprise he would be proud
to die in carrying it out. And as they wished
Sieur de Gourgues to tell them his plan he
got them all together and spoke as follows :

"My companions and faithful friends of
my fortune, you are not ignorant of how
much I cherish such brave spirits as you.
And you have shown this courage sufficient-
ly by the fine resolution that you have made
28

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

to follow and help me in every danger and
honorable risk that we shall have to under-
go and face, whenever we shall be confront-
ed by them. And you know the interest that
I have in the preservation of your lives. I
do not wish to involve you in the risk of an
enterprise that I might know would end in
ruin without honor. It would be great and
reprehensible foolhardiness on my part to
risk your lives in a plan as difficult as that,
which I do not think this is, seeing that I
have devoted a good part of my possessions
and many of my friends to equip these
ships and send them to sea, for I am the
only undertaker of this voyage. But all
that does not give me so much cause to be
anxious, as I have to rejoice to see that you
all are resolved upon another enterprise,
which will redound to your glory: to wit,
to go to revenge the injury which our na-
tion received from the Spaniards, who in-
flicted such a wound upon France that she
will always bleed from the sufferings and
infamous treatment that they made the
French endure, and the barbarous and un-
heard-of cruelties which they committed.
The resentment that I have sometimes felt
on account of it has made me shed tears of
pity, and has roused my courage so much
that I have resolved, with the help of God,
29

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

and your help, to have just revenge for such
a crime and such cruelty on the part of the
Spaniards, upon these base and cowardly
hearts who miserably surprised our fellow-
countrymen, whom they had not dared to
face with arms in their hands. They are
in a bad situation, and we shall take them
by surprise easily. I have men on my ships
who know the country very well, and we
can go there in safety. Here, dear compan-
ions, is something to inspire our courage.
Show that you are as ready to carry
out this good plan as to follow me.
Will you not be glad to bear away tri-
umphant laurels from the pillage of our
enemies ?"

He had no sooner stopped speaking than
each of them cried, joyfully: "Let us go
whither you will. We could not have a
greater pleasure and honor than that
which you propose, which is a thousand
times more honorable than can be imag-
ined. We much prefer to die in the pursuit
of this just vengeance for the insult that
was offered to France than to be wounded
in another undertaking. The greatest de-
sire of us all is to conquer or to die, in
showing you the utmost fidelity. Command
what you think best ; you have soldiers who
have the courage to accomplish what you
30

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

command. We shall not rest until we are
face to face with the enemy."

Joy increased as never before in the ships.
Sieur de Gourgues had the course changed
and fired several cannon shots to begin the
rejoicing and to encourage all the soldiers.
And then this generous chevalier set sail
toward the shores of Florida, and was so
favored by good weather that in a few days
he arrived near Fort Caroline. At dawn
the savages of the country displayed the
smoke of many fires, until Sieur de Gour-
gues had lowered sail and dropped anchor.
He sent on shore to find out from the sav-
ages what the condition of the Spaniards
was. They were very glad to see Sieur de
Gourgues intent upon attacking them. They
stated that they were about 400 in number,
very well armed, and equipped with every-
thing necessary. When he had found out
how the Spaniards were encamped he be-
gan to prepare his soldiers for the attack.
Let us see if they will have the courage to
stand by Sieur de Gourgues, just as they
did by Laudonniere, who was ill-supplied
with ammunition and with what he needed.

Then Sieur de Gourgues, having his men

and some savages lead him through the

heart of the woods, without being seen by

the Spaniards, acquainted himself with the

31

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

places and the condition in which they were.
The Saturday before Low Sunday, in the
month of April, 1568, he attacked the two
forts violently and prepared to take them
by storm, in which he encountered great re-
sistance. And the courage of the French
was shown when the battle raged, for
they threw themselves headlong into the
fight, at times being driven back, and then
taking heart to return to the contest with
more valor than before. Though severely
attacked they defended better. Neither death
nor wounds made them turn pale or made
them lose either judgment or bravery.

Our noble chevalier, cutlass in hand, in-
spired them with courage, and, like a bold
lion, at the head of his men, reached the
top of the rampart, beat back the Spaniards
and made his way among them. His sol-
diers followed him, fought bravely, forced
an entrance into the two forts, and killed
all whom they encountered ; so that all ex-
cept those who died, or fled, were taken
prisoners by the French. Those who ex-
pected to escape into the woods were cut
to pieces by the savages, who treated them
as they had treated our men. Two days af-
terward Sieur de Gourgues took possession
of the large fort, which the enemy had aban-
doned after some resistance, some of their
32

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

number having been killed and others cap-
tured.

As he continued victorious and had come
to the end of so glorious an undertaking,
remembering the insult that the Spaniards
had done the French, he had some of them
hanged, with inscriptions on the back, bear-
ing these words : "I have not had these men
hanged as Spaniards, but as pirates, rob-
bers, and sea rovers." After this execution
he had the forts torn down and destroyed;
then set sail to return to France, leaving in
the hearts of the savages an everlasting re-
gret at being deprived of so high-minded a
captain. His departure was on May 30,
1568, and he reached Rochelle on June 6.
From there he went to Bordeaux, where
he was received with as much honor and
enthusiasm as ever a captain was.

But no sooner had he arrived in France
than the Emperor sent to the King to de-
mand justice for his subjects, whom Sieur
de Gourgues had hanged in the West In-
dies. His Majesty was so angered by this
that he threatened to have Sieur de Gour-
gues beheaded, and he was obliged to go
away for some time until the King's anger
should pass off. Thus this noble Chevalier
redeemed the honor of the French nation,
which the Spaniards had offended, and it
33

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

would have been an eternal regret to
France if it had not revenged the outrage
received from the Spanish nation. It was
the noble undertaking of a gentleman, who
carried it out at his own cost and expense,
solely for honor, without other hope. He
achieved it gloriously, and this glory is
more to be esteemed than all the treasures
of the world.4

\Ye have observed the great defects and
failures in the voyages of Ribaut and Lau-
donniere. Ribaut was blamed in his for
not carrying provisions for more than ten
months, and not ordering land cleared and
prepared for tilling, in order to be provided
against the scarcity which might occur and
the dangers that ships encounter at sea, or
indeed their failure to arrive in time to re-
lieve want. It at last reduced those who
took part in the undertaking to the greatest
extremity, even to the point of killing one
another, to keep alive on human flesh, as
they did on this voyage, which caused the
soldiers to rebel greatly against their chief.

*Parkman, Pioneers of New France, 171, re-
marks, in regard to the account of de Gourgues'
exploit : "It must be admitted that there is a
strong savor of romance in the French narrative."
See also Lowery, Spanish Settlements, 1562-1574,
316-336.

34

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

So disorder and disobedience were rife
among them. At last they were obliged,
though with incredible regret and after a
considerable loss of men and property, to
abandon the land and possessions that they
had acquired in this country; and all that
for the lack of having made their plans with
judgment and reason.

Experience shows that in such voyages
and expeditions the kings and princes and
the members of their council who have un-
dertaken them had too little knowledge for
carrying out their plans. It shows that if
there have been men of experience in these
matters, they have been few ; for most men
have tried these undertakings on the foolish
reports of some tricksters, who, simply to
give themselves importance, pretended to
be very knowing in such matters, of which
they were very ignorant. For, in order to
begin and complete these enterprises with
honor and profit, one must spend long years
in sea voyages and be experienced in such
discoveries.

The greatest mistake that Laudonniere
made, when he went with the intention of
spending the winter, was to provide him-
self with so few provisions, whereas he
ought to have been governed by the exam-
ple of Captain Albert's wintering at Fort
35

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

Charles, whom Ribaut left so ill-supplied
with everything. These omissions ordina-
rily occur in such undertakings, because it
is supposed that those countries yield with-
out being planted. Besides, such voyages
are undertaken unreasonably, without prac-
tical knowledge or experience. It is one
thing to make such plans in table talk,
drawing on the imagination for the situa-
tion of places, the customs of the people
who inhabit them, the profit and benefit that
may be derived from them. It is a very dif-
ferent matter to send men across seas to
distant countries, to traverse unknown
shores and islands, from what it is to form
such idle fancies in the mind, making ideal
and imaginary voyages and navigations.
That is not the way to carry out with honor
the work of discovery. First, it is necessary
to consider maturely the questions which
arise in such matters ; to communicate with
those who have acquired a great deal of
knowledge of them, who know the difficul-
ties and the dangers which they offer, in-
stead of setting out so thoughtlessly on the
strength of simple report and talk. For it
is of little use to discourse upon distant
countries, and go to live in them, without
having first explored them, and having
lived in them at least a whole year, in or-
36

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

der to understand the character of the coun-
tries, and the variety of seasons, for the
sake of founding a colony there afterward.
Most of the undertakers of colonies and ex-
plorers do not do this, but are satisfied
merely to see the shores and hills in pass-
ing, without stopping there.

Others undertake such voyages on the
strength of simple reports made to persons
who, although they are very intelligent in
the affairs of the world, and have had long
and considerable experience, nevertheless
are ignorant in these matters, believing that
everything follows the rule that exists in
the latitude where they are. In this they
find themselves very much mistaken. For
there are such strange changes in nature
that it is only by seeing them that we can
believe in their reality. The reasons for this
are extremely varied and very numerous,
and therefore I shall pass them over in si-
lence. I have said this in passing, in order
that those who come after us and who make
new plans may avail themselves of these
points and consider them, so that when they
set sail thither, the ruin and loss of others
may serve as an example and as an appren-
ticeship.

The third fault, and the most harmful,
of Ribaut's was in not having the supplies

37

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

and ammunition that he had brought for
Laudonniere and his companions unloaded
before exposing himself to the danger of
losing everything, as he did, since he did
not go there to fight the enemy, but to
be always on the defensive, to assist Lau-
donniere with his men, to fortify himself,
and to hold his own against those who
should attack him. He could have seen
clearly that, since it was the purpose of the
enemy to take the fort, he needed to be
stronger than those who guarded it, if he
were not to expose himself thoughtlessly to
danger and to chance. He would have done
better to take account of the forces of the
enemy before attacking them and being sure
of victory. But, on the contrary, as a result
of despising the advice of Laudonniere,
who was more experienced than he in
knowledge of the places, very great evil
befell him.

Furthermore, in such undertakings, the
ships that carry the provisions and the mili-
tary stores for a colony should take as di-
rect a course as possible, without turning
aside to giv» chase to any other vessel, since,
if they found it necessary to fight and
should lose, this misfortune would not be
confined to themselves, but they would put
the colony in danger of being lost. In that
38

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

case, the men would be obliged to give up
everything, and see themselves reduced to
suffer a miserable death from the hunger
that would attack them when the provisions
were gone, on account of not being supplied
and provisioned for at least two years, while
waiting for the land to be cleared in order
to support those who are in the country.
These are great mistakes, like those of our
more recent undertakers who did not have
any land cleared, or find any means of do-
ing so, in the twenty-two years during
which the country has been inhabited, for
they had no thought beyond getting profit
from furs. The day will come when they
will lose all that we possess there. This is
easy to see, if the King does not establish
a good system there.

These are the greatest defects that can be
observed in the first voyages, and those that
followed have scarcely been more fortunate.

39

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

CHAPTER V

The voyage that Sieur de Roberval despatched.
Sends Alphonse of Saintonge to Labrador. His
departure. His arrival. Return on account of the
ice. The voyages of foreigners to the North, to
go to the West (?) Indies.1 Voyage of the Mar-
quis de la Roche without result. His death. No-
ticeable defect in his undertaking.

IN the year 1541 Sieur de Roberval, who
had renewed this holy undertaking, sent
Alphonse, of Saintonge (one of the best
navigators of his time in France), who
wished, by his discoveries, to find a more
northern passage toward Labrador. He had
two good ships equipped with all that he
needed for this discovery, and took his de-
parture in this year, I54I.2 And after hav-
ing sailed along the northern coasts, and the
lands of Labrador, in search of a passage
that would facilitate commerce with the
people of the East, by a shorter way than
that around the Cape of Good Hope, or by
the Straits of Magellan, owing to chance

'It should be East Indies.

"Roberval despatched Cartier in 1541 and went
himself with Alphonse in 1542. See Parkman,
Pioneers of France, 216-228.
40

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

obstacles, and the risk that he ran from
the ice, he was obliged to return ; and he
had no more to pride himself on than Car-
tier.

This second enterprise was only for the
purpose of discovering a passage, but the
other3 was to explore the interior, and in-
habit it, if possible. Thus these two voy-
ages did not succeed. As for the passage,
I shall not describe in detail the attempts
of foreign nations to find a passage by the
north, to go to the East Indies : how, in the
years 1576, 1577 and 1578, Mr. Martin For-
bichet4 made three voyages ; and, seven
years afterward,5 Humphrey Gilbert went
there with five ships. He was lost on Sable
Island and lived there two years.6 After-
ward John Davis, an Englishman, made
three voyages ;7 got as far as latitude 72°,
and passed by a strait that bears his name
now. Another man, named Captain Georges,
made this voyage in the year 1590, and on
account of the ice was obliged to return

"Roberval's voyage of 1542.

4Frobisher.

"I. e., 1583.

"Gilbert's largest ship, the Delight, was wrecked
on Sable Island, but he was lost on his return in
the Squirrel.

'1585, 1586, 1587.

41

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

without accomplishing anything.8 Several
others who have undertaken it have had a
similar fortune.

As for the Spaniards and Portuguese,
they have wasted their time there. The
Dutch fared no better in searching for such
a passage toward the East by way of Nova
Zembla than the others who lost so much
time in looking for it in the West, beyond
the lands called Labrador.

All this is only to show how much honor,
if this passage, which was so greatly de-
sired, had been found, would have come to
him who lighted upon it ; and how much
advantage to the state or realm which
would have possessed it. Since, then, it is
our own opinion that this enterprise is of
such value, it should not be despised now,
and that which cannot be done in one place
can be accomplished in another, in time,
provided His Majesty be pleased to assist
the undertakers of so praiseworthy a pro-
ject. I will leave this discourse to return
to our new conquerors in the country of
New France.

Sieur Marquis de la Roche, of Brittany,

Apparently this Captain Georges should be Cap-
tain George Weymouth. If so, the voyage was in
1602. There was no Arctic voyage in 1590 that is
recorded.

42

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

incited by a holy desire to raise the stand-
ard of Jesus Christ, and set up the arms of
his King, took a commission, in the year
1598, from King Henry the Great (of
happy memory), who felt much interest in
the plan. Sieur de la Roche had several
ships fitted out, with a number of men and
a full equipment of things necessary for
such a voyage. But as he had no knowledge
of the places, except through a pilot named
Chedotel,9 from Normandy, he landed his
men on Sable Island, 25 leagues to the
south of the land of Cape Breton. There
the men, who stayed in this place with very
few conveniences, were left for seven10
years with no help but that of God. They
were obliged to live in the earth, like foxes,
for there was neither wood nor stone in
this island suitable for building, except the
wreckage and broken pieces of vessels that
came to the coast of the island. They lived
on nothing but the fiesh of oxen and cows,
which animals they found there in great
quantity, for they had escaped from a Span-
ish ship which was lost on its way to in-
habit the Island of Cape Breton. They
dressed in the skins of seals, when they had
worn out their clothes, saving the oil for

"Also written Chefdostel and Chefd'hostel.
10Five years, 1598-1603.

43

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

their use. They also relied upon catching
fish, which is plentiful about that island.
They stayed there until the parliament of
Rouen ordered the before-mentioned Che-
dotel to go to rescue these poor wretches,
with the understanding that he should have
half of the commodities that they had been
able to collect during their sojourn in this
island, such as hides, seal-skins, oil, and
black foxes. This was done. Returning
to France at the end of seven years, s< une
of them went to see His Majesty in Paris,
who commanded the Duke of Sully to sup-
ply their needs. He did so, to the amount
of 50 crowns, to encourage them to go
back. The Marquis de la Roche, meanwhile,
who was trying, in court, to get the things
that His Majesty had promised him for his
project, was denied them at the request of
certain persons who did not wish the true
religion of God to grow, or to see the Cath-
olic, Apostolic and Roman religion flourish
there. This caused him so much displeasure
that, on that account and for other reasons,
he was attacked by a severe sickness, which
carried him off. He had given all his prop-
erty and labor without experiencing any re-
sult.

In this plan of his two defects may be
noted : one, that this Marquis did not have
44

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

some one experienced in such matters ex-
plore and reconnoitre where he was to set-
tle, before assuming so excessive an out-
lay ; the other, that envious persons who
were near the King in his council at this
time interfered with the accomplishment of
the project and the good intention that His
Majesty had of conferring benefits upon
him. Thus kings are often deceived by
those in whom they have confidence. The
history of the past sufficiently illustrates the
fact, and this instance can furnish us an
example of it. This is the end of the fourth
voyage. We come to the fifth.

45

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

CHAPTER VI

Voyage of Sieur de Saint Chauvin. His plan.
Remonstrances made with him by Pont Grave.
Sieur de Monts goes with him. Return of St.
Chauvin and Du Pont to France. Second voyage
of Chauvin : his plan.

A YEAR afterward, in 1599, Sieur Chau-
vin of Normandy, Captain in the King's
Navy, a man of great skill and experienced
in navigation (who had served His Majesty
in past wars, although he belonged to the
religion pretending to be reformed1), un-
dertook this voyage under the commission
of His Majesty, at the request of Sieur du
Pont Grave, of St. Malo, a man expert in
sea voyages, for he had made many of them.
He was accompanied by other ships as far
as Tadoussac, ninety leagues up the river;
a place where they traded for fur and
beaver with the savages of the country,

'I. e., the Protestant religion. The French Cal-
vinists, or Huguenots, called their faith the re-
formed religion, and they were called the "re-
formed," in distinction from the followers of
Luther. Catholic writers commonly prefixed "pre-
tendue" to the word "reformee" — e. g., "la re-
ligion pretendue reformee."
46

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

who came there every spring. This Du
Pont, desiring to find means to control this
traffic, went to court, to seek some one of
authority and special influence with the
King, for the purpose of obtaining a com-
mission to the effect that the trade of this
river should be forbidden to all persons
without the permission and consent of him
who should be provided with that same
commission, on condition that they should
settle in the country, and make a home
there. This was a good beginning and
one which would not cost the King any-
thing if what was in the commission
should be carried out. It was the plan to
take five hundred men there to fortify the
country and defend it. The King had great
confidence in this undertaker who, never-
theless, did not expect to go to any more
expense than he could help ; for, under the
pretext of making a settlement, and of car-
rying out what he had promised, he wished
to deprive all the subjects of the realm of
trade there, and to keep the beaver for him-
self alone. And to give the enterprise a
good start he began his preparations. The
ships were equipped with such necessaries
as he thought suitable for the enterprise.
Many artisans set out and presented them-
selves at Honfleur, the place of embarka-
47

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

tion. When his ships were out at sea he
made this same Pont Grave his lieutenant
of one of them. But, since the head was of
the opposing religion, this was not the way
to establish the faith among those people
whom they wished to subjugate. This was
what was least considered. They went to
the harbor of Tadoussac, the trading-place,
and the affair was rather badly managed
for making great progress. They decided
to build a habitation there : the most dis-
agreeable and barren place in this country,
covered with nothing but pines, firs, birches,
mountains and almost inaccessible cliffs, the
soil very ill-fitted for any profitable cultiva-
tion, and the cold so extreme that if there
is an ounce of cold forty leagues up the
river there is a pound at Tadoussac. And
how many times have I been astonished
to see these places so frightful in the
spring !

Now, when this Sieur Chauvin wished to
build there, and to leave some men, and to
protect them against the severe cold, al-
though he had learned from Pont Grave
that it was not his opinion that they should
build there, Pont Grave urged Sieur Chau-
vin several times to go up this river, where
it is better for building, for he had been
on another voyage as far as the three riv-
48

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

ers, in search of the savages, in order to
trade with them.

Sieur de Monts took this same voyage for
pleasure, with Sieur Chauvin, and he was of
the same opinion as Grave, and, perceiving
that this place was very disagreeable, he
would have been very glad to look at what
was farther up the river. But whatever
was the reason, whether because the time
did not permit then, or because of other
considerations in the mind of the under-
taker, he employed several workmen to
build a villa, twenty-five feet long by
eighteen wide and eight feet high. It was
covered with boards, with a fireplace in
the middle, and was in the shape of
a guardhouse, and was surrounded by
hurdles (which I have seen there) and
a small ditch dug in the sand. For, in
that country, where there are no rocks,
it is all very poor sand. There was a lit-
tle brook below, where they left sixteen
men provided with a few necessaries, whom
they could harbor in this same lodging.
The little that they had was put at the dis-
posal of all, and so it did not last long.
Behold them there very warm for the win-
ter! Having done this much, Sieur Chau-
vin returned, not caring to look or discover
further. Pont Grave did the same.
49

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

While they were in France our winterers
consumed, in a short time, the little that
they had, and when winter came upon them
they were well aware of the difference be-
tween France and Tadoussac. It was the
court of King Petaud ; each one wished to
command. Laziness and idleness, with the
diseases that attacked them, reduced them
to great want, and obliged them to give
themselves up to the savages, who kindly
harbored them, and they left their lodging.
Some died miserably ; others suffered a
great deal while waiting for the return of
the ships.

Sieur Chauvin, seeing his men filling their
lungs with the air of the Saguenay, which
was very dangerous, arranged to make a
second voyage, which was as fruitful as the
first. He wanted to make another better
planned, but he did not keep at it long be-
fore he was seized with a malady that sent
him to another world.

The trouble with this undertaking was
giving to a man of opposing religion a
commission to establish a nursery for the
Catholic, Apostolic and Roman faith, of
which the heretics have such a horror and
abomination. These are the defects that
must be mentioned in regard to this enter-
prise.

SO

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

CHAPTER VII

Fourth undertaking in New France by the Com-
mander de Chaste. Sieur du Pont Grave chosen
for the voyage to Tadoussac. The author under-
takes the voyage. Their arrival at the Great Sault
St. Louis. Their difficulty in passing it Their re-
treat. Death of this commander, which breaks up
the sixth voyage.1

THE fourth undertaking was that of Sieur
Commander de Chaste, Governor of Dieppe,
who was a very honorable man, a good
Catholic, and a great servant of the King.
He had served His Majesty worthily and
faithfully on many important occasions.
And though his head bore the weight of
grey hairs, as well as of years, he still
wished to hand down to posterity, by this
praiseworthy undertaking, his favorable
opinion of the design, and even wished to
go there himself, to spend his remaining
years in the service of God and of his King,
by making a home there ; with the intention

lThe original has here the Arabic numeral "6."
This is inconsistent with the opening line of this
summary and with the conclusion of the chapter.
Through some inadvertence, probably "6" was set
up by the printer instead of "5."

51

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

of living and dying there gloriously, as he
hoped, if God had not taken him from this
world sooner than he expected. One may
be very sure that under his management
heresy never would have been implanted in
the Indies ; for he had very Christian plans,
of which I could show good proof, as he
did me the honor to communicate somewhat
of them to me.

After the death of Chauvin, then, he ob-
tained a new commission from His Majesty.
Inasmuch as the expense was very great, he
formed a company with several gentlemen
and principal merchants of Rouen, and of
other places, upon certain conditions. When
this was done, they had ships equipped, not
only for the carrying out of this undertak-
ing, but for discovering and peopling the
country. Pont Grave, with His Majesty's
commission (as one who had already made
the voyage and knew the difficulties of the
passage), was chosen to go to Tadoussac,
and promised to go as far as Sault St.
Louis,2 explore it, and go farther, in order
to make a report on his return, and direct
a second expedition. And the Sieur Com-
mander left his position as Governor, with

"The Lachine Rapids, just above Montreal.
Hereafter, in the text, it will be translated the
St. Louis Rapids.

52

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

the permission of His Majesty, who loved
him specially, to go to the country of New
France.

At this time I arrived at court, having
just returned from the West Indies, where
I had been nearly two years and a half,
after the Spaniards had left Blavet,3 and
peace was made with France. There, dur-
ing the wars, I had served His Majesty un-
der Marshal d'Aumont, de Saint Luc, and
Marshal de Brissac. As I went to see Sieur
Commander de Chaste from time to time,
thinking that I could serve him in his pur-
pose, he did me the favor, as I have said,
to tell me something about it, and to ask
me if I would like to go on the voyage, to
see the country, and what the undertakers
were doing there. I told him that I was
his servant ; that as for allowing myself the
liberty to go on this voyage I could not
do that without the command of His Majes-
ty, to whom I was under obligations, not
only from my birth, but by reason of a
pension with which he honored me, so that
I might have means to support myself at

'Now Port Louis in the department of Morbi-
han. The Spaniards surrendered Blavet in June,
1598. Champlain's narrative of his voyage to the
West Indies may be read in English in the edition
published by the Hakluyt Society in 1859.

53

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

court ; and that if he wished to speak to
him about it, and the King should command
me to go, I should find it very agreeable.
This he promised me, and he did so, and
he received word from His Majesty for me
to make this voyage, and to bring him a
faithful report of it. To this end, Monsieur
de Gesvre, his executive secretary, sent me
with a letter addressed to Pont Grave, tell-
ing him to receive me into his ship, and
have me see and become acquainted with
all I could in these places, and to aid me
himself, so far as was possible in this en-
terprise.

Thus despatched, I left Paris, and sailed
in Du Font's ship in the year 1603. We had
a good voyage as far as Tadoussac, with
medium-sized barks of from 12 to 15
tons burden, and went a league up the
great St. Louis Rapids. Pont Grave and I
got into a very light little boat, with five
sailors, so as not to have to navigate a
larger one, because of the difficulties.
When we had gone a league in a sort of
lake with a great deal of trouble, on ac-
count of the little water that we found in
it, and had reached the foot of the rapids,
which empties into this lake, we decided
that it would be impossible to go farther
with our skiff ; for it was so raging and in-
54

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

terspersed with rocks that we found our-
selves obliged to go almost a league by land
to see the upper part of the rapids, and we
could not see any more of it. All that we
could do was to note the difficulties; the
whole country; the length of this river;
the reports of savages as to what was
in the land; their accounts of the people;
the places ; the sources of the principal riv-
ers, especially of the great River St. Law-
rence.

Then I wrote a short account,4 and made
an exact map of all that I had seen and
observed, and so we returned to Tadoussac,
having made but little progress. Our ves-
sels were there trading with the savages;
and when this was done we embarked, set-
ting sail, and went back to Honfleur. There
we learned the news of the death of Sieur
Commander de Chaste, which was a great

*Champlain's account of the voyage of 1603 was
published in Paris in 1603 under the title : Des
Sauvages, ou Voyage de Samuel Champlain, de
Brouage, faict en la France Nouvelle, I'an mil
six cens trois. It was translated into English by
Purchas and published in Purchas His Pilgrims.
London: 1625, vol. vi, pp. 1605-1619. This version
is reprinted in the present edition, vol. ii, pp.
151-229. This narrative was newly translated by
Professor Otis for the Prince Society edition of
Champlain's Voyages. See vol. ; 231-291.

55

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

affliction to me, for I perceived that it would
be difficult for any one else to undertake
this voyage without being thwarted, unless
he were a Seigneur whose authority had
the power to overcome envy.

I scarcely paused at Honfleur, but went
on to His Majesty, to whom I showed the
map5 of this country, with the very careful
account that I had written of it. He was
much pleased with it, promising not to give
up the project, but to have it continued, and
to favor it. Thus, the fifth voyage was
broken up by the death of this Commander.

I have not noted any defect in this un-
dertaking, as far as the beginning of it
was concerned. But I know that immedi-
ately several French merchants who had an
interest in this business began to complain
that the fur trade was closed to them for
the purpose of giving it to one man.

This map is no longer extant.

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

CHAPTER VIII

Voyage of Sieur de Monts. Wishes to continue
the plan of the late Commander de Chaste. Ob-
tains a commission from the king to make dis-
coveries farther south. Forms a company with
the merchants of Rouen and Rochelle. The au-
thor goes with him. They reach Cape Heve. They
discover several harbors and rivers. Sieur de Poi-
trincourt goes with Sieur de Monts. Complaints
of this Sieur de Monts. His commission revoked.

AFTER the death of Sieur the Commander
de Chaste, Sieur de Monts, of Saintonge, of
the so-called reformed religion, Gentleman-
in-ordinary of the King's Chamber, and
Governor of Pons, who had given good
service to the King in all the past wars, in
whom the King had great confidence, on
account of his faithfulness, which he ex-
hibited even unto his death, was carried
away by zeal and longing to people and in-
habit the country of New France, and there
expose his life and his property. He wished
to follow in the footsteps of the late Com-
mander in that country, where he had been,
as I have said, with Sieur Chauvin, to ex-
plore, although the little that he had seen
had made him lose the desire to go to the
great River St. Lawrence, having seen
57

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

nothing on this voyage but a rugged coun-
try. This made him wish to go farther
south, to enjoy a softer and more pleasant
air. And, not pausing at the accounts of
it that had been given to him, he wished to
look for a place of which he knew neither
the situation nor the temperature, except
through the imagination and the reason,
which concludes that the nearer the south
the warmer the climate. Desiring to carry
out this noble undertaking, he got a com-
mission from the King, in the year IOO3,1
to people and inhabit the country, on con-
dition of implanting there the Catholic,
Apostolic and Roman faith, letting each
one live according to his religion.2 That
being granted, he continued the company
with the merchants of Rouen, Rochelle, and

'The text has 1623, an obvious misprint. The
patent is dated Nov. 8, 1603. It is printed in Les-
carbot, Histoire de la Nouvelle France, book iv,
ch. i. It is accessible in English in Murdoch's
History of Nova Scotia, I, 21-24.

"This last clause must refer to the practice of De
Monts. There is nothing about religious toleration
in the charter. This charter, which made De Monts
the King's Lieutenant-General, or Viceroy, in 1603
over the region between the 4Oth and 46th paral-
lels, i. e., from Philadelphia to Cape Breton,
should be compared with the earlier English pro-
prietary grants. IH less than three years after

58

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

other places, to whom the fur trade was
granted by this commission, to the exclu-
sion of all the other subjects of His Majes-
ty. When everything was arranged, Sieur
de Monts set sail at Havre de Grace, and
had several ships equipped, not only for the
fur trade of Tadoussac, but for that of the
shores of New France. He got together a
number of gentlemen, and all sorts of arti-
sans, soldiers and others, as many of one
religion as of another, priests and minis-
ters.

Sieur de Monts asked me if I would like
to make the voyage with him. The desire
that I had had on the last voyage had in-
creased, and led me to agree to go, with the
permission that the King should give me,
which would allow me to go, with the un-
derstanding that I should make a faithful
report to him of all that I saw and discov-
ered. When we all were at Dieppe, we set
sail. One ship went to Tadoussac; that
of Pont Grave with the commission of
Sieur de Monts, to Canseau, and along the
coast toward the Island of Cape Breton, to
see those who were violating the regulations

Henry IV's grant to De Monts, James I granted
five-sixths of this same region to the Virginia
Company, April 10-20, 1606, absolutely ignoring
any French claims and King Henry's patent.

59

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

of His Majesty. Sieur de Monts took a
lower course toward the shores of Acadkv1
and the weather was so favorable for us
that we were only a month in getting as far
as Cape de la Heve.4 When we arrived
there we went on farther to look for a
place to settle in, as we did not find this
one pleasant. Sieur de Monts delegated
me to search for some suitable place, which
I did with a certain pilot whom I took with
me. We discovered several harbors and riv-
ers, when Sieur de Monts stopped at an isl-
and named St. Croix/' of which he thought
the site strong, the soil round about very
good; the temperature (in latitude 45°)
mild. He had his ships come there, and
employed each man, according to his sta-
tion and trade, either to unload them, or
to prepare a lodging promptly When the
ships were unloaded he sent them back as
speedily as possible, and Sieur de Poutrin-
court6 (who had come with Sieur de Monts
to see the country, with the idea of inhabit-

*Acadie later meant Nova Scotia. Here it means
the coast region granted to De Monts between the
4Oth and 46th parallels.

4Cape La Have on modern maps ; about fifty
miles southwest of Halifax.

"Dochet Island, in the St. Croix River.

"This name is spelled Poitrincourt in the text,
but the accepted form, Poutnncourt, will be used.
60

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

ing it, and of securing the grant of some
place from him, in pursuance of his com-
mission) returned with them.

But we will let him go, while we see if
we shall overcome the cold better than those
who wintered at Tadoussac. When our
ships had returned to France they heard an
infinite number of complaints from the Bre-
tons, the Basques, and others, of the ill-
usage and bad treatment that they received
on our shores, from the captains of Sieur
de Monts, who seized them, prevented them
from fishing and deprived them of the use
of things which had always been free to
them; so that if the King did not intro-
duce some regulations there, all this navi-
gation would be lost, and his custom-duties
would, in this way, be diminished and their
women and children would be made poor
and miserable and be obliged to beg for their
living. Petitions were sent in with regard
to this, but the envy and wrangling did not
cease. There was no lack in court of per-
sons who promised that, for a sum of
money, Sieur de Monts' commission should
be annulled. The affair was so conducted
that Sieur de Monts did not know how to
prevent the estrangement of the King to-
ward him, by certain personages in favor,
who had promised the King to support
61

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

three hundred men in this country. So, in
a short time, His Majesty's commission was
revoked at the price of a certain sum that
a certain personage received, without His
Majesty's knowing anything about it.7 Such
\vas the recompense for the three years that
Sieur de Monts had spent, with an outlay
of more than 100,000 livres.8 In the first
of these three years he suffered a great deal
and endured great distress on account of t he-
severe cold and the long duration of snow
three feet deep, for five months ; although
at any time one could reach the shores,
where the sea does not freeze, except at
the mouth of rivers, which are clogged
with ice making its way to the sea.
ies, almost half of his men died
from the disease of the country," and
he was obliged to send the remainder
of his men back with Sieur de Poutrin-
court, who was his lieutenant that year,
Pont (irave having been it the year before.

'The King's minister, Sully, revoked the patent
in July, 1607. For fuller details see H. F. Biggar,
The Early Trading Companies of New France,
63-64.

"The livre, at this time, contained about as much
silver as two francs, and its purchasing value was
equal, approximately, to about six francs to-day,
or $1.20. Perkins, France Under Richelieu and
Mazarin, II, 371. "Scurvy.

62

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

These are the plans of Sieur de Monts
which were broken up. He promised to go
farther south to make a settlement that
should be healthier and milder than the Isl-
and of St. Croix, where he had spent the
winter. Since that time some people have
been at Port Royal,10 where they liked it
better, because they did not find the win-
ter so harsh in latitude 45°. To recompense
these losses, 6000 livres were ordered given
him by the Council of His Majesty, to be
taken from the ships that were going to
trade for furs.

But to what expense would he have had
to be put in all the ports and harbors to
collect this sum, to find out who had traded,
and the right proportion to be levied on over
eighty ships which frequent these shores?
It was giving him an endless task, necessi-
tating an expense in excess of the receipts,
as he well perceived. For Sieur de Monts
got almost nothing out of it, and was
obliged to let this decree go as he could.
This was how these matters were managed
by His Majesty's Council. God pardon
those whom He has called, and improve
those who are living ! Heavens ! what fur-
ther enterprise could any one risk, when
everything is revoked in this way, without

"Annapolis Basin, Nova Scotia.
63

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

judging maturely of things, before any re-
sults can be forthcoming? Those who have
the least knowledge make the most com-
plaint and wish to be thought to know
more than those who have full experi-
ence; and they speak only from envy, or
for their own interest, on false reports and
appearances, without informing themselves
further.

There is something to find fault with in
this undertaking : namely, two opposing re-
ligions never produce great results for the
glory of God among the infidels, whom one
wishes to convert. I have seen the minister
and our cure come to blows in a religious
quarrel. I do not know which was the more
courageous, or which gave the better blow,
but I know very well that the minister com-
plained sometimes to Sieur de Monts of
having been beaten, and they ended the con-
troversy in this way. I will leave you to
judge if it was a pleasant sight; the sav-
ages were sometimes on one side, sometimes
on the other, and the French mixed in ac-
cording to their respective beliefs, and re-
viled first one and then the other religion, al-
though Sieur de Monts made peace as much
as he could. These insults were really a
means to the infidel of making him still
more hardened in his infidelity.
64

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

Now, since Sieur de Monts did not wish
to go to live on the St. Lawrence River,
he ought to have sent some one to explore
a place suitable for the foundation of a col-
ony, which would not be liable to be aban-
doned like that of St. Croix, and Port
Royal, where no one knew the place ; and
he ought to have expended from four to
five thousand livres, so as to be sure of the
place, and even to have had some one pass
a winter there, in order to get acquainted
with the climate. If that had been done,
there is no doubt at all that the soil, and
the warmth such as would have been found
in a good climate, would have induced the
settlers to stay there. And even if Sieur de
Monts's commission had been revoked they
would not have given up living in the coun-
try within three years and a half, as was
done in Acadie, but enough ground would
have been cleared to enable them to send
commodities to France. If these matters
had been well managed, little by little we
should have adapted ourselves to the situ-
ation, and the English and the Flemish
would not have got the benefit of places
that they took from us, where they have
settled to our loss.11

It will not be out of place to gratify the
"Champlain refers to the English settlements in
65

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

curious reader, and especially those who
make sea voyages, with a description of the
discoveries of these coasts during three
years and a half while I was in Acadie,
both at the settlement at St. Croix, and at
Port Royal, when I had opportunity to see
and discover everything, as will be seen in
the following book.

BOOK II

CHAPTER I

Description of la Heve. Of Port Mouton. Of
Cape Negro. Of the Cape Sable and Sable Bay.
Of Cormorant Island. Of Cape Fourchu. Of Long
Island. Of Bay Saint Mary. Of Port Saint Mar-
garet, and of all the remarkable things that there
are along the coast of Acadie.

CAPE LA HEVE1 is a place where there is
a bay containing several islands covered
with firs, and a great tract of oaks, young
elms and birches. It is on the coast of
Acadie, in latitude 44° 5', and the declina-

New England and to the Dutch occupation of
New Netherland.

'Cape La Have, some twenty miles west of Lun-
enburg, Nova Scotia.

66

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

tion of the compass was 16° I5',1* 75
leagues northeast of Cape Breton.

Seven leagues from this cape is another
called Port Mouton2, where are two little
rivers in latitude 44 degrees and some min-
utes, where the soil is very stony and filled
with undergrowth and heather. There are
a great many rabbits there, and there is a
good deal of game, because of the ponds
which are there.

Going along the coast one sees a very
good harbor for vessels, and in the interior
a little river, which goes pretty far into the
land. I named it the harbor of Cape Ne-
gro,3 because of a rock which, from a dis-
tance, resembles one. It rises above the wa-
ter near a cape where we went the same
day, which is four leagues from it, and
ten leagues from Port Mouton. This

^Before the invention of the chronometer the
exact determination of longitude was impossible.
Champlain adopted the method of determining lo-
cation by giving the latitude and indicating the
declination of the needle from the true north. It
was supposed that in this way the longitude could
be determined approximately. Champlain's ex-
planation of his system and his method of draw-
ing his maps will be found in Voyages of Cham-
plain, Prince Society edition, III, 219-224, and in
Laverdiere, Voyages, 1613, p. 270, ff.

The name is still in use.

'Negro Harbour.

67

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

cape is very dangerous, on account of
the rocks which project into the sea. The
coasts that I saw up to that point are all
low, covered with the same wood as that
at Cape la Heve, and the islands are all
full of game. Going along farther we
passed the night at Sable Bay, where the
ships can anchor, without any fear of
danger.

Cape Sable, two good leagues from Sable
Bay, is also very dangerous, on account of
certain rocks and reefs that extend almost
a league into the sea. From there one goes
to Cormorant Island, which is a league
from it, so named because of the infinite
number of these birds that are on it; and
we filled a large barrel with their eggs.
From this island, going west about six
miles, crossing a bay which runs up two or
three leagues to the north, one comes upon
several islands that project two or three
leagues into the sea, of which the area of
some is perhaps two, of others three
leagues, and of others less, as far as I could
judge. Most of them are very dangerous
to approach in large vessels, on account of
the high tides and the rocks which are on
a level with the water. These islands are
covered with pine trees, firs, birches and as-
pens. A little farther on there are four more.
68

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

On one of them there are so many of the
birds called penguins that one can easily
kill them with a stick. On another there
are sea wolves.4 On two others there is
such a quantity of birds of different varie-
ties that one who had not seen them could
not imagine them, such as cormorants,
ducks of three kinds, geese, marmettes,5
bustards, sea parrots, snipe, vultures, and
other birds of prey; sea gulls, dunlins of
two or three species ; herons, large sea gulls,
curlews, sea pyes, divers, ospreys, appoils,
crows, cranes, and other kinds, which make
their ne%ts there. I named them Seal Isl-
ands.0 They are in latitude 43^°, distant
from the mainland, or Cape Sable, four or
five leagues. From there we went to a cape
that I called Forked Harbor,7 since such
was its shape, distant from the Seal Islands

4Seals. Commonly called sea wolves by the early
navigators. Slafter. Loup marin will, after this,
be rendered "seals" in this translation.

"This word is not given in the dictionaries. In
many cases the identification of animals and birds
and plants mentioned by the early explorers is
very difficult and requires the expert knowledge
of the naturalist. American fauna and flora were
generally given the names of those European
fauna and flora which they most resembled.

*The name is still in use.

7Port Fourchu. The name survives in Cape
Fourchu. It is just west of Yarmouth.

69

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

of seals from five to six leagues. This har-
bor is very good for ships at the entrance,
but inside it is almost entirely dry at low
tide, except the channel of a little river, all
surrounded by meadows which make this
place rather pleasant. Cod fishing is good
there near the harbor. We went north ten or
twelve leagues without finding any harbor
for our ships, only a number of coves, or
very fine beaches, where the land seemed
suitable for cultivation. The woods there are
very beautiful, but they contain very few
pines and firs. This coast is very safe, with-
out islands, rocks, or shallows ; so that, in
my judgment, ships can go there with confi-
dence. A quarter of a league from the coast
I came to an island, which is called Long
Island, lying north northeast and south
southwest, which makes a passage to the
Great French Bay,8 so named by De Monts.
This island is six leagues long, and in
some places nearly one league wide, and in
other places only a quarter of a league. It
is covered with a quantity of wood, such
as pines and birches. The whole coast is
bordered with very dangerous rocks, and
there is no place suitable for ships, except
that at the end of the islaad there are sev-
eral refuges for shallops, and two or three
*The Bay of Fundy.

70

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

rocky islands, where the savages hunt seals.
The tides run very high there, particularly
at the little passage of the island, which is
very dangerous for vessels, if they venture
going through it.

Going northeast two leagues from the
passage of Long Island, one finds a cove
where ships can anchor in safety. It is a
quarter of a league in circumference. Its
bottom is nothing but mud, and the land
surrounding it is all bordered with rather
high rocks. In this place, according to the
report of a miner, called Master Simon,
who was with me, there is a very good sil-
ver mine.9 Some leagues farther there is a
little river, called the Boulay,10 where the
tide comes half a league inland, at the en-
trance of which one can easily anchor ships
of a hundred tons burden. A quarter of a
league from this place there is a good har-
bor for vessels where we found an iron
mine, which the miner thought yielded fifty
per cent. Sailing three leagues farther to
the northeast, one comes upon another ra-
ther good iron mine, near which there is a
river surrounded by fine, pleasant mead-
ows. The soil round about is as red as
blood. Some leagues farther along there is

'Little River on Digby Neck. Slafter.
"Sandy Cove.

71

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

another river which is dry at low tide, ex-
cept its channel, which is very small.11 This
runs near Port Royal. At the upper end
of this bay there is a channel which is also
dry at low tide. About it are a number of
fields and good lands to cultivate, although
covered with a quantity of beautiful trees
of all kinds, as I have said above. This
bay, from Long Island to the upper end,
may extend about six leagues. All the coast
of the mines is rather high ground, inter-
sected by capes, which appear round and
project a little into the sea. On the other
side of the bay, to the southeast, the land
is low and good, and there is a very good
harbor, and at its entrance a bar over which
one must go, where, at low tide, the water
is a fathom and a half deep. When one has
passed this he finds three fathoms and a
good bottom. Between the two points of
the harbor there is a pebbly island which is
covered at high tide. This place extends
half a league into the land. The tide there
goes down three fathoms, and there are
quantities of shellfish there, such as mus-
sels, snails and cockles. The soil is the best
that I have seen. I called this harbor the

""South Creek, or Smelt River, which rises near
Annapolis Basin, or the Port Royal Basin of the
French." Slafter.

72

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

harbor of Saint Margaret.12 All this south-
east coast is much lower land than that of
the mines, which are only a league and a
half from the coast o-f Port Saint Margaret,
the width of the bay, which is three leagues
at its entrance. I measured the altitude at
this place, and I found it was in latitude
45 J° and a little more, and the declination
of the needle was 17° 16'. This bay was
named Saint Mary Bay.

CHAPTER II

Description of Port Royal, and its peculiarities.
Of High Island. Of the Harbor of Mines. Of the
Great French Bay. Of the River Saint John, and
what we have noticed between the Harbor of
Mines and this place. Of the Island called by the
savages Manthane. Of the Etechemins River, and
several beautiful islands in it. Of Saint Croix
Island, and other conspicuous things on this
shore.

PASSING1 Long Island, with the cape six
leagues to the northeast, one comes to a
cove where ships can drop anchor in 4, 5,

"Weymouth Harbour.

JThis chapter begins another exploring trip, and
the narrative is taken up at the farthest point
reached in the earlier exploration. For the inter-
mediate events see Voyages of Champlain, Prince
Society edition, II. 18-21.

73

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

6 and 7 fathoms of water. The bottom is
sand. This place serves only as a road-
stead. Continuing two leagues in the same
direction we enter one of the most beauti-
ful harbors in this whole coast, where a
great number of ships could go in safety.
The mouth is 800 paces wide and 25
fathoms deep; it is two leagues long and
one league wide. I named it Port Royal.2
Three rivers empty into it, one of which is
rather large. It comes from the east, and is
called the River Esquille, the name of a lit-
tle fish the size of a smelt which it yields in
great quantity. Herring are also caught
there, and other kinds of fish of which there
is an abundance in their season. This river
is almost a quarter of a league wide at the
mouth, where there is an island, perhaps
half a league in circumference, covered
with wood, like all the rest of the land,
such as pines, firs, spruces, birches, aspens,
and some oaks, though comparatively fe\v.
This river has two mouths, one on the north
shore, the other on the south of the island.
That on the north is the better. There ships
can drop anchor in the shelter of the isl-
and in 5, 6, 7 and 8 fathoms of water. But
one must guard against certain shallows
near the island and the mainland, which
2Annapolis Basin.

74

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

are very dangerous if one does not know
the channel.

I went 14 or 15 leagues up the river,
where the tide rises, and it is not naviga-
ble much farther inland. At this place it
is 60 paces wide and about i| fathoms deep.
The land about this river is covered with
a great number of oak, ash and other trees.
Between the mouth of the river and the
place where we were, there are many mead-
ows, but they are flooded by the high tides.
They are crossed by many little brooks, on
which shallops and boats can go in high wa-
ter. Within the harbor there is another isl-
and, nearly two leagues away from the first,
where there is another little river which
runs a good way inland. I named this one
the River St. Anthony.3 Its mouth is about
four leagues across the woods from the end
of Saint Mary Bay. As for the other river,
it is only a brook filled with rocks, which
one could not ascend in any way whatever,
for lack of water.4 This place is in latitude
45°, and the declination of the needle is
17° 8'.

Leaving Port Royal and going 8 or 10
leagues to the northeast of the cape, along

"Bear River.

'Sometimes called Moose River and sometimes
Deep Brook. Slafter.

75

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

the coast of Port Royal, I crossed a part of
the bay, some 5 or 6 leagues, to a place
that I named the Cape of Two Bays,5 and
passed by an island which is one league
from it and is also one league in circum-
ference. It rises some 40 or 45 fathoms
in height and is all surrounded by great
rocks; except in one place, where there is
a slope, with a salt-water pond at the foot.
The water comes in below a pebbly point in
the form of a spur. The top of the island is
flat, covered with trees, and it has a very
beautiful spring. In this place there is a
copper mine. From there I went to a har-
bor a league and a half from it, where
there is also a copper mine. This harbor
is in latitude 45 2-3 degrees. It is dry at
low tide. To enter, it is necessary to place
buoys and to mark the sand bar at the
mouth, which extends along a channel par-
allel with the mainland on the other side.
Then one enters a bay, which is almost a
league long and half a league wide. In some
places the bottom is muddy and sandy, and
vessels can run aground there. The sea
there rises and falls from four to five
fathoms. This Cape of Two Bays, where
the harbor of mines is situated, is so called
because to the north and the south of the
"Cape Chignecto.

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

cape there are two bays which run up east
northeast and northeast some 12 to 15
leagues;6 and there is a strait at the open-
ing of each bay not more than half a league
wide. Beyond the strait it suddenly widens
to about 3, 4 or 5 leagues.7 There are also
several islands in this bay, where there are
ponds, and two or three little rivers which
flow into it, by which the savages go in
their canoes to Tregate, and to Misamichy
in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, partly by
water, partly by land.

All the country that I saw after the little
passage on Long Island, sailing along the
coast, is nothing but rocks, with no place
where ships could go in safety, except Port
Royal. The country is covered with a quan-
tity of pines and birches, and, in my opin-
ion, it is not especially fertile.

We went west two leagues to the Cape
of Two Bays, then north five or six leagues
and crossed the other bay.9 Going west
some six leagues one finds a little river,10
at the mouth of which is a rather low cape,
which projects into the sea; and somewhat
inland a mountain the shape of a Cardinal's

"Chignecto Bay and Basin of Mines.
TThat is, Chignecto Bay.
"Chignecto Bay.
10Quaco River.

77

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

"hat.11 In this place there is an iron mine,
and there is no anchorage, except for shal-
lops. Four leagues west southwest there is
a rocky point,12 which projects a little sea-
ward, where there are very great tides
which are very dangerous. Near this point
there is a cove about half a league in cir-
cumference, in which there is a very good
iron mine. Four leagues farther along
there is a beautiful bay, which cuts into the
land and has within it three islands and a
rock. Two of the islands are one league
west of the cape,13 and the other is at the
r.iotith of one of the largest, deepest rivers
that I had yet seen, which I called the River
Saint John, because it was on that day that
I arrived there,14 and which is called by the
savages Ouygoudy.15 This river is danger-
ous, if one is not familiar with certain
points and rocks on both banks. It is nar-
row at its mouth, then begins to widen and,
having doubled its swiftness, narrows once

"Porcupine Mountain. Ganong. Notes from Ga-
nong will, henceforth, be marked G.

"McCoy's Head, G.

"Negro Head, G.

"June 24, St. John's Day.

"In all probability a mistake. Ouygoudy was
the name the Indians gave to their camping-
ground on Navy Island, G.
78

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

more and makes a sort of fall between two
big rocks, where the water flows with such
rapidity that if one throw a piece of wood
into it, it is sucked to the bottom and one
sees it no more; but, by waiting for high
tide16 one can go through this strait easily,
and then it widens to about a league in some
places, and contains three islands, on which
there are a great many meadows and beau-
tiful trees, such as oaks, beeches, walnuts,17
and wild grapevines. The inhabitants of
the country go by this river as far as Ta-
doussac, which is on the great River Saint
Lawrence, and cross but little land to get
there. It is 65 leagues from the River St.
John to Tadoussac. At its mouth, which is
in latitude 45 2-3 degrees, there is an iron
mine. Shallops cannot go more than fifteen
leagues in this river, because of the rapids,
which can be navigated only by using the
canoes of the savages.

From the River St. John I went to four
islands, on one of which was a great quan-
tity of birds called magpies. Their young
are as good as young pigeons. This island
is three leagues from the mainland. Far-
ther west there are other islands : among

16It is passable only at half tide, G.
"Professor Ganong believes that noyers means
butternuts here.

79

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

them one having an area of six leagues,
which is called by the savages Menane.18
At the south of this there are, among the
islands, several harbors suitable for ships.
From the Magpie Islands I went to a river
in the mainland called the River of the
Etechemins, from a tribe of savages so
called in their country, and we passed by
such a number of beautiful islands that I
could not count them. Some had an area
of two leagues, some three, others more or
less. They are all in a bay,10 in my judg-
ment of more than fifteen leagues in cir-
cumference, with several good places for as
many ships as one would wish. Round
about there is good fishing: cod, salmon,
bass, herring, halibut and other fishes in
great number. Going west northwest, three
leagues past the islands, one enters a river,
almost half a league wide at its mouth,20 in
which there are two islands one or two
leagues further up : one very small,21 near
the mainland on the west ; and the other in

"Grand Manan. Champlain used the form Man-
thane in his first account (1613), and that name
is given in the heading to this chapter. Laverdiere
says that Menane is the true name.

"Passamaquoddy Bay.

'"St. Croix, G.

2lLittle Dochet (pronounced "Doshay"), G.
80

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

the middle.22 The latter has a circumfer-
ence of eight or nine hundred paces and
rises out of the water three or four fathoms
high, with rocky sides, except in one small
place where there is a little point of sand
and clayey soil, useful for making bricks
and other necessary things. There is an-
other sheltered place for ships of from
eighty to a hundred tons, but it is dry at
low tide. The island is covered with firs,
birches, maples and oaks. It is in itself a
very good site, and there is but one stretch
of about forty paces where its sides are
lower, and that is easy to fortify. The
shores of the mainland being distant from
each other on both sides from about nine
hundred to a thousand paces, ships could
not pass up the river without being at the
mercy of the cannon from the island, which
is the place that we believed to be the best,
whether for situation, the excellence of the
soil, or for such intercourse as it is pro-
posed to have with the savages of these
shores and inland. For it is in the midst of
those whom we hope to pacify in time,
abolishing the wars that they have with one
another, in order both to obtain service
from them and to convert them to the
Christian faith. This place was named, by
22Dochet, G.

81

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

DC A Fonts, St. Croix Island.23 Going farther
up, one sees a large bay,24 in which there
are two islands — one high, the other flat —
and three rivers, two of medium size, of
which one flows in from the east and the
other from the north, and the third, a large
one, flowing in from the west :25 that is the
River of the Etechemins. Two leagues up
this there is a rapid, where the savages
carry their canoes on the land about 500
paces. Then they enter the river again.
From there, after crossing a bit of land,
one comes to the River Norembegue,28 and
the St. John. The place where the rapid
is ships cannot get through, on account of
its being nothing but rocks, and of there
being only four or five feet of water. In
May and June there are such big catches of
herring and bass that one could load boats
there with them. The soil is of the finest,
and there are 15 or 20 acres of cleared land.
The savages sometimes go there five or six

^For a most complete study of St. Croix Island
and the part it played in diplomatic controversy
see W. F. Ganong, Docket (St. Croix} Island,
Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, 2d
scries, vol. viii, sect. 4, 127-231. This monograph
is fully illustrated with maps, plans and photo-
graphs.

24Oak Bay, G. "The St. Croix.

""Norumbega, The Penobscot.
82

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

weeks during the fishing season. All the
rest of the country is covered with very
thick forests. If the land were cleared,
grain would grow very well. This place is
in latitude 45 1-3 degrees, and the variation
of the needle is 17° 32'. A settlement was
made in this place in the year i6o4.27

CHAPTER III

Of the coast, peoples, and river of Norem-
begue.

CONTINUING1 from the St. Croix River
along the coast about 25 leagues, we passed
a great quantity of islands, banks, reefs and
rocks, which project more than four leagues
into the sea in some places. I called them
the Ranges. Most of them are covered
with pines and firs, and other poor kinds of
wood. Among these islands there are a
great many good, fine harbors, but they are
not attractive. I went near an island about
four or five leagues long. The distance
from this island to the mainland on the

^Champlain, in this narrative, omits the story
of the establishment of this settlement. For it see
Voyages of Champlaitt, Prince Society Ed., II,
34-38.

^his exploring trip was begun Sept. 2, 1604.
Voyages of Champlain, II, 38.

83

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

north is net a hundred paces. It is very
high with notches here and there, so that it
appears, when one is at sea, like seven or
eight mountains rising close together. The
tops of most of them are without trees, be-
cause they are nothing but rock. The only
trees are pines, firs and birches. I called
it the Island of the Desert Mountains.2 It
is in latitude 44^°.

The savages of this place, having made
an alliance with us, guided us on the Pe-
metegoit River,3 so called by them, and told
us that their captain, named Bessabez, was
the chief of the river. I think that this
river is the one which several pilots and
historians call Norembegue, and which
most of them have described as large and
spacious, with a great number of islands,
and having its mouth in latitude 43° and
43^°, and others in latitude 44°, more or
less.4 As for the variation of the needle I
never have read anything about it, or

'Isle des Monts Deserts. Mount Desert Island.
It was discovered Sept. 5, 1604.

"The Penobscot, Sept. 7. The name Penobscot
is a corruption of one of the Indian names, for
which see Slafter in Voyages of Champlain, II, 40,
and Laverdiere, (Euvres de Champlain, Voyage
de 1613, 31.

'Actually a little over 44°. The text follows here
the reading of the 1613 text.
84

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

heard any one speak of it. It has been
said also that there is a large city, well
populated with savages who are skillful
and expert making use of cotton thread. I
am confident that most of those who men-
tion them did not see them, and speak from
what they heard from those who knew no
more about them than they did.5 I know
very well that there are some people who
may have seen the mouth of it, because, as
a matter of fact, there are a quantity of isl-
ands, and it is in latitude 44°, at its mouth,
as they say. But there is nothing to show
that any one ever entered it, for they would
have described it in a different way, so that
so many people would not doubt it. I shall
state, then, what I discovered and saw from
the beginning, as far as I went.

In the first place, at its mouth, 10 or 12
leagues from the mainland, there are sev-
eral islands, which are in latitude 44°, and
in 1 8° 40' of the declination of the needle.
The Island of Mount Desert makes one of
the points at its mouth, and lies toward the

"Champlain probably refers to the account of the
-city of Norumbega, which was contained in His-
toire Universelle des Indes Occidentals, Douay,
1607, and to that of Jean Alfonse. Both the.se are
quoted and refuted by Lescarbot, Histoire.de la
MoUvelle France, ed. Tross, II, 470-473.

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

east ; and the other is low land, and is called
by the savages Bedabedec.6 It is west of
this, and they are nine or ten leagues apart ;
and nearly in the middle of the sea there
is another island which is so high and strik-
ing that I named it Isle Haute.7 All about
there is an infinite number of them, of vary-
ing sizes, but the largest is that of Mount
Desert. The fishing for different kinds of
fish is very good there, as is also the hunt-
ing for game. Three or four leagues from
the point of Bedabedec,8 following the
mainland to the north, through which this
river flows, are some very high hills which,
in fine weather, can be seen 12 or 15 leagues
out at sea.9 Proceeding on the south side of
Isle Haute, sailing along it about a quarter
of a league, where there are some reefs
which are out of the water, heading to the
west until all the mountains that are north
of this island are opened up, you can feel
sure that when you see the eight or nine
summits of Mount Desert Island, and that
of Bedabedec, you will be opposite the
River of Norembegue. In order to go into
it, it is necessary to head the ship to the

*The region about Rockland and Camden,
Slafter.

'The name M still used.
•Owl's Head. The Camden Hills.

86

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

north, which is over the highest mountains
of this Bedabedec, and you will not see any
islands in front of you ; and you can enter
safely, with plenty of water, although you
see a quantity of breakers, islands and rocks
east and west of you. You must avoid them
with the lead in hand; and I think, from
what I have been able to judge, that one
cannot enter this river at any other place,
except with small vessels or shallops; for
(as I have said above) the quantity of isl-
ands, rocks, shallows, banks and breakers
is such everywhere that it is strange to see.
Now, to return to our route, at the en-
trance of the river there are some beautiful
islands which are very pleasant like mead-
ows. I went as far as a place to which
the savages guided us, where it is not more
than an eighth of a league wide, and some
two hundred paces from the land, on the
west, there is a rock, level with the water,
which is dangerous.10 From there to Isle
Haute it is fifteen leagues : and from this
narrow place (which was the narrowest
that we had found), after making about
seven or eight leagues, we came upon a lit-
tle river, near which we had to anchor, in-
asmuch as in front of us we saw a quan-
tity of rocks visible at low water; and also
10Fort Point Ledge, near Castine.
8?

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

because, if we had wished to go farther, it
would have been impossible to make half a
league, on account of a waterfall there,
which came down a slope seven or eight
feet. I saw it from a canoe with the sav-
ages that we had with us, and found only
enough water there for a canoe. But be-
yond the falls, which are about two hun-
dred paces wide, the river is beautiful and
delightful as far as the place where we an-
chored. I went ashore to see the country,
and, as far as I went, going hunting, I
found it pleasant and agreeable. The oaks
there seemed to have been planted for
pleasure. I saw few firs, but a good many
pines on one bank of the river ; on the other
it was all oaks, and a little brushwood
which spread a good way inland ; and I will
say that from the entrance to where I went,
which was about 25 leagues,11 I did not see
any city, or village, or appearance of there
having been any, although there were one
or two cabins of the savages, with no one
in them, which were made in the same way .
as those of the Souriquois,11* covered with
the bark of trees; and, as far as I could
judge, there are not many savages on this,

"Champlain went up to the present site of Ban-
gor.

n*The Micmacs of Nova Scotia.
88

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

river, which is called Pemetegoit. They do
not come there any more than to the isl-
ands except some months in summer, dur-
ing the season for fishing and hunting,
which are very good there. They are a peo-
ple who have no fixed habitation, as far as
I have found out and learned from them :
for they winter sometimes in one place,
sometimes in another, where they see that
the hunting for wild beasts is better; for
they live from it as necessity compels, with-
out having anything in reserve for times of
scarcity, which is sometimes very great.

Now, this river must necessarily be the
Norembegue; for, going past it as far as
latitude 41°, to which I coasted along, one
sees no other in the latitudes above men-
tioned, except that of the Quinibequy,12
which is almost as high up, but not of so
great length. On the other hand, there can-
not be any other which rises far inland, in-
asmuch as the great River Saint Lawrence
runs along the coast of Acadie and of No-
rembegue, and there is not more than 45
leagues of land between them, or 60 at the
widest place in a straight line.

Now I will leave this discourse, to return
to the savages who took me to the falls of
the Norembegue River. They went to in-

"The Kennebec.

89

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

form Bessabez, their chief, and other sav-
ages, who went on another little river to
inform theirs, named Cabahis, and tell him
of our arrival.

On the sixteenth of the month,13 about
thirty savages came to us, on the assurance
of those who had served us as guide. This
Bessabez came also to find us that same
day, with six canoes. As soon as the sav-
ages who were on land saw him coming,
they all fell to singing, dancing and jump-
ing until he was ashore; then afterward
they all sat down on the ground in a circle,
according to their custom when they wish
to make a speech, or have a feast. Soon
after Cabahis, the other chief, arrived also
with twenty or thirty of his companions,
who withdrew to one side and greatly en-
joyed looking at us, for it was the first time
that they had seen Christians. Some time
afterward I went ashore with two of my
companions and two of our savages, who
served us as interpreters, and ordered those
on our boat to approach the savages and
have their arms ready for use if they no-
ticed any movement among these people
against us. Bessabez, seeing us ashore, had
us sit down, and began to smoke with his
companions, as they usually do before mak-
"September, 1604.

90

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

ing their speeches, and made us presents of
venison and game.14 All the rest of the day
and the night following, they did nothing
but sing, dance and make good cheer, until
the dawn. Then each one returned, Bessa-
bez with his companions on his side, and
we on ours, well satisfied at having made
the acquaintance of these people.

On the seventeenth of the month I took
the altitude and found the latitude was
45° 25'.15 This done I departed, to go to
another river called Quinibequy,16 35
leagues away from this place and almost
15 from Bedabedec. This tribe of savages
of Quinibequy is called Etechemins as well
as those of Norembegue.

The eighteenth of the month I went near
a little river where Cabahis was. He came
with us in our boat about 12 leagues. I
asked him where the River Norembegue
came from, and he told me that it comes
from beyond the fall which I have men-
tioned above, and that after going some dis-
tance on it one enters a lake, by way of

uln preparing this narrative Champlain omitted
the account of the negotiations given in the nar-
rative of 1613. Voyage de 1613, 36-37; Voyages
of Champlain, II, 46.

"The correct latitude should have been 44° 46'. S.

"The Kennebec.

91

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

which they go to the St. Croix River, a.
small part of the way by land; then they
enter the Etechemins River.17 Besides, an-
other river flows into the lake, and on it
they go several days, and then enter an-
other lake, and they go through the middle
of this, and, when they reach the end, they
go some distance by land, and afterward en-
ter a little river which flows into the great
St. Lawrence River.18 All these people
of Norembegue are very tawny, dressed in
beaver skins and other furs, like the Cana-
dian and Souriquois19 savages, and they
have the same way of living.

This is an exact statement of all that I
observed, whether of the coasts, the people,,
or the River Norembegue, and not of the
marvels that any one has written about
them. I believe that this place is as agree-
able in winter as St. Croix.

"By the east branch of the Penobscot, the Mata-
wamkeag River.

"By the Penobscot to the northwest through,
Lake Pemadumcook, and next through Lake Che-
suncook, etc., till the upper waters of the Chau-
diere were reached. Champlain failed to under-
stand that the lake entered by way of the Mata-
wamkeag, going toward the St. Croix, was dif-
ferent from the one passed through going toward
Quebec. "The Micmacs.

92

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

CHAPTER IV

Discovery of the Quinibequy River, which is
on the coast of the Almouchiquois, as far as lati-
tude 42°, and the particulars of the voyage. How
the men and women pass the time during the
winter.

SKIRTING the coast westward1 one passes
the mountains of Bedabedec, and we saw
the mouth of the river, where one may ap-
proach with large ships, but where there
are some shallows that one must avoid, lead
in hand. Going about eight leagues, run-
ning westward along the coast, we passed
a number of islands and rocks jutting out a
league into the sea, and went as far as an
island ten leagues from Quinibequy. At the
entrance of this river there is a rather higk
island, which we named the Tortoise,2 and
between this and the mainland there are
some scattering rocks, which are covered
at high tide; nevertheless, one always sees

'Champlain here omits the incidents of the first
winter of the colony, 1604-05. For them see Voy-
ages of Champlain, II, 49-55 ; Laverdiere, Voyage
de 1613, 40-45. The narrative now takes up the
explorations of the summer of 1605, where the
exploration of 1604 stopped.

'Seguin Island, reached July I.

93

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

the water break above them. Tortoise Isl-
and and the river lie south southeast, and
north northwest. At the entrance there are
two medium-sized islands — one on one side,
and the other on the other ; and some 300
paces inward there are two rocks, where
there are no woods, but there is a little
grass. We anchored 300 paces from the
mouth, in five or six fathoms of water. I
decided to go inland, to see the upper part
of the river and the savages who live there.
When we had gone some leagues our boat
came near being lost on a rock that we
grazed in passing. Farther along we met
two canoes which had come for hunting
birds which, for the most part, are moulting
at that season and cannot fly. We accosted
these savages, and they guided us. Going
on farther to see their captain, called Man-
thoumermer, when we had made from seven
to eight leagues, we passed by certain isl-
ands, straits and brooks, which flow into
the river, where I saw some beautiful mead-
ows. And when we had coasted along an
island about four leagues in length, they led
us to where their chief was with twenty-five
or thirty savages.3 As soon as we had an-

*At Wiscasset Harbor. "For Champlain's route
after entering the mouth of the Kennebec see
Slafter in Voyages of Champlain, II, 58.

94

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

chored he came to us in a canoe a little
apart from ten others which accompanied
it. Drawing near to our boat he made
a speech, in which he made it clear that
he was glad to see us, and that he wished
to have our alliance, and make peace
with their enemies with our help, saying
that the next day he would send to us two
other savage captains who were in the in-
terior— one called Marchim and the other
Sasinou, chief of the Quinibequy River.

The next day they guided us down the
river by another way than that by which
we came, to go to a lake ; and passing some
islands each of them left an arrow near a
cape4 by which all the savages pass. They
think that, if they do not do that, some mis-
fortune will befall them, so the devil makes
them believe ; and they live in this supersti-
tion, as they do in many others.

Beyond this cape we passed a very
narrow rapid, but not without great diffi-
culty; for, although we had a good, fresh
wind and filled our sails with it as much as
possible, we could not get through in that
way, and were obliged to fasten a hawser
to some trees and to pull on it. Thus we
managed to get through by the strength
of our arms, aided by the favorable wind.

4Hocicomock Point

95

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

The savages who were with us carried their
canoes on the land, as they could not get
1hcm through with paddles. After having
cleared this rapid we saw some beautiful
meadows. I was very much astonished with
regard to this rapid, because when we went
along with the tide ebbing we had it in
our favor, but when we were at the rapid
we found it against us, and after we had
passed the rapid the tide was ebbing, as be-
fore, for which we were very glad.5

Following our route we came to the lake,6
from three to four leagues long, where
there are some islands. Two rivers flow
into it — the Quinibequy, which comes from
the north northeast,7 and the other from
the northwest, by which Marchim and Sasi-
nou were expected. When we had waited
for them all that day and saw that they
were not coming, we decided to make some
use of the time. We weighed anchor, and
two savages came with us from this lake
to guide us, and this day we anchored at
the mouth of the river, where we caught
a quantity of various kinds of good fish.
Meantime our savages went hunting, but

'For an explanation of this curious phenomenon
see Slafter's note in Voyages of Champlain, II, 59.
'Merrymeeting Bay.
'The Androscoggin.

96

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

failed to return. The way by which we de-
scended that river is much safer and better
than that by which we had come. Tortoise
Island, which is at the mouth of that river,
is in latitude 44°, and the declination of the
needle is 19° 12'. About four leagues from
there, in the sea, toward the southwest, are
three little islands where the English fish
for cod. One can go from this river8 across
the land as far as Quebec, some 50 leagues,
without passing more than one portage of
two leagues. Then one enters another little
river9 which empties into the great River
St. Lawrence. This Quinibequy river is
very dangerous for ships for half a league,
because there is so little water, and there
are big tides, rocks and shallows as much
outside as within it. There would be a good
channel if it were well explored. The little
that I saw of the country along the banks of
this river is very poor, for there is nothing
but rocks on all sides. There is a quantity
of small oaks and very little tillable ground.
There is an abundance of fish here, as in
the other rivers mentioned above. The peo-
ple live like those of our settlement, and
tell us that the savages who plant Indian
corn are very far inland, and that they have

"The Kennebec.
*The Chaudiere.

97

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

given up doing so on the shores, on account
of the war that they had with the others,
who took it from them. This is what I have
been able to learn of this place, which I do
not believe is any better than the others.

The savages that live on all these shores
are very few in number. During the win-
ter, if there is a great deal of snow, they
hunt the moose,10 and other animals, upon
which they live most of the time ; and if
there is not much snow it is not to their
advantage, inasmuch as they cannot get
anything without excessive labor, which
causes them to endure and suffer a great
deal. When they do not hunt they live on
a shellfish which is called the clam. They
dress themselves in winter in good furs of
the beaver and the moose. The women make
all the clothes, but not so neatly but that
one sees the flesh under the arms, for they
are not skillful enough to make them fit bet-
ter. When they go hunting they take a kind
of racket, twice as big as those on our side
of the water, which they attach to their
feet, and they can go on the snow in this
way without sinking in; the women and
children, as well as the men, looking for
the tracks of animals. Then, when they have

wEslans, elk, here means moose ; usually called
by its Indian name, orignac.
98

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

found them, they follow them until they
see the beast, and then they shoot at it with
their bows, or kill it with stabs of swords
fastened to the end of a short pike staff,
which is easily done, since these animals
cannot walk on the snow without sinking
into it. Then the women and children come
to the place and make a hut there, and give
themselves a feast. Afterward they return
to see if they can find others.

Coasting along by the shore we anchored
behind a little island near the mainland,11
where we observed more than eight savages
running along the shore to see us ; dancing
and signifying the pleasure that they felt.
I visited an island, which is very beautiful
on account of what grows on it, for there
are beautiful oaks and walnuts, the land is
cleared, and there are many vines, which
bear beautiful grapes in their season — they
were the first that I had seen on all these
shores since I was at Cape la Heve. We
called it the Isle of Bacchus.12 When the
tide was high we weighed anchor and en-

"Stratton Island. A short passage occurs just
before this in the 1613 narrative which records the
sight of some high mountains to the west, which
are identified as the White Mountains. Cf. Slaf-
ter's note in Voyages of Champlcun, II, 61.

"Richmond Island. S.

99

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

tered a little river, where we could not go
before, inasmuch as it is a bar harbor and
has only half a fathom of water at low tide,
a fathom and a half when the sea is at half
tide, and two fathoms when it is high.
When one is within it one finds 3, 4. 5 and
6 fathoms. When we had anchored, a lot of
savages came to the bank of the river and
began to dance.13 Their captain at the time,
whom they called Honemechin, was not
with them. He arrived about two or three
hours afterward with two canoes. Tben he
went off, circling all about our boat. These
people shave the hair on the top of their
heads rather high up and wear the rest
very long, combing and twisting it in the
back in various ways very neatly with
feathers that they fasten to the head. They
paint their faces black and red, like other
savages that I have seen. They are an ac-
tive people, with well-formed bodies. Their
weapons are pikes, clubs, bows and arrows,
on the end of which some put the tail of a
fish called the signoc;** others use bone, and

"These Indians Champlain calls Almouchiquois
in his earlier narrative, Voyages, II, 63. They are
the same as the Massachusetts of the early Eng-
lish settlers.

"The horseshoe crab. Champlain gives a picture
of this shellfish in his map of 1612. ;
100

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

still others have them all of wood. They till
and cultivate the ground, which we had not
seen done before. Instead of ploughs they
have an instrument of wood, very strong,
made like a spade. The inhabitants of the
country call this river the Choiiacoet.15

I went ashore to see their tillage on the
bank of the river, and I saw their corn,
which is Indian corn. They make gardens
of it, planting three or four grains in a
place, then heaping up a quantity of earth
with the shells of that same fish, the sig-
noc,16 on them, then planting again as much
as three feet off, and so on. Among the corn
in each hill they plant three or four Brazil-
ian beans,17 which are of various colors.
When they are grown they intertwine
among this corn, which grows five or six
feet high, and keep the field very free from
weeds. We saw there many squashes18 and

15The Saco. Champlain reached this point July
9, 1605.

"The shell of the horseshoe crab used as a
shovel.

"The kidney bean, commonly used as string
beans. Phaseolus vulgaris. This bean is indige-
nous in America, and probably came to be called
the Brazilian bean because it was supposed to
have been introduced into France from Brazil.

"The familiar summer squash, indigenous in
America.

IOI

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

pumpkins and some tobacco, which they
also cultivate. The Indian corn that I saw
there was two feet high, and some of it was
three. They sow it in May and harvest it
in September. As for the beans, they were
beginning to blossom, as were also the
squashes and pumpkins. I saw there a great
quantity of nuts, which are small, and have
several divisions. There were not any yet
on the trees, but we found enough of them
underneath that had fallen the year before.
There are also a great many vines, which
bear a very beautiful berry, from which we
made a very good verjuice, something that
we had not seen before, except in the Isle
of Bacchus, nearly two leagues distant from
this river. Their settled habitation, the till-
age and the beautiful trees, gave me the im-
pression that the air there is milder and
better than that where we passed the win-
ter, and than that of other places on the
coast. The forests in the interior are very
light, but, nevertheless, consist of oaks,
beeches, ashes and young elms. In wet
places there are a great many willows. The
savages stay in this place all the time, and
have a big cabin surrounded by palisades
made of rather large trees placed side by
side, whither they retire when their enemies
come to war against them ; and they cover
102

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

their cabins with oak bark. This place is
very pleasant and as agreeable as any one
could see. The river is full of fish and is
surrounded with meadows. At its mouth
there is an island which would make a good
fortress, where one would be safe.

CHAPTER V

The Chouacoet River. Places that the author
discovered there. Cape of Islands. Canoes of the
people made of birch bark. How the savages of
that country revive those who faint away. Use
stones instead of knives. Their chief honorably
received by us.

Ox Sunday, the twelfth of the month,1
we left the river called Chouacoet. Coast-
ing along the shore, after having made six
or seven leagues, we were obliged by a con-
trary wind to anchor and go ashore, where
we saw two meadows, each a league long
and half a league wide. From Chouacoet
to this place (where we saw some little
birds, which have a song like blackbirds,
and are black, except the end of the wings,
which are orange)2 there are a great many
grapevines and nut trees. This coast is

'July 12, 1605, fell on Tuesday. L.
'The Redwing blackbird. S.
103

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

sandy in most places from Quinibequy.
This day we turned back two or three
leagues toward Choiiacoet, as far as a cape
that we named Island Harbor,3 good for
ships of a hundred tons. It is among three
islands.

Heading northeast a quarter north,4 near
this place, one enters another harbor5 where
there is no passage (although there are isl-
ands), except that by which one enters. At
the entrance there are some dangerous
rocks, with the sea breaking over them. On
these islands there are so many red currants
that one sees nothing else in most places,
and there are an infinite number of pigeons,
of which we caught a good many. The
Island Harbor is in latitude 43° 25'.

Sailing along the coast we noticed
smoke on the shore of the sea. We ap-
proached as near as possible, and saw no
savages, which made us think that they had
fled from the place. The sun was sinking,
and we could not find any place to pass that
night, because the coast was flat and sandy.
Heading south, in order to keep off shore,
so that we might anchor, when we had
made about two leagues, we observed a

'Cape Porpoise Harbor. S.
*I. e., northeast by north.
"Goose Fair Harbor. S.

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

cape on the mainland, south a quarter
southeast6 of us, perhaps six leagues away.
Two leagues to the east we saw three or
four rather high islands,7 and to the west
a large bay. The shores of this bay, as far
as the cape, run inland from where we were
about four leagues. It is two leagues wide
from north to south, and three at its en-
trance.8 And not discovering any place suit-
able to put up in, we decided to go to that
cape under short sail a part of the night,
and approached it as far as where the wa-
ter was 1 6 fathoms deep. There we an-
chored to await the dawn.

The next day we went to this cape, where
there are three islands near the mainland
full of trees of different kinds, as at Choii-
acoet, and on the whole coast; and to an-
other flat one, where the sea breaks, which
juts out into the sea a little farther than
the others, where there is not any wood at
all. We named this place Island Cape.9
Near it we perceived a canoe with five or
six savages in it who were coming to us,
who, when they were near our boat, went

"I. e., south by east. This was Cape Anne.
'The Isles of Shoals.

"The broad water at the mouth of the Merri-
mac.
"Cape Anne.

105

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

away to dance on the shore. I landed to
see them, and gave each one a knife and
some biscuit, which caused them to dance
again better than before. When this was
over, I made them understand, as best I
could, that they should show me how the
coast lay. After having depicted for them,
with a piece of charcoal, the bay and the
Island Cape, where we were, they repre-
sented for me, with the same crayon, an-
other bay, which they showed as very
large.10 They put six pebbles at equal dis-
tances, thus giving me to understand that
each of these stood for as many chiefs and
tribes. Then they represented within this
bay a river11 which we had passed, which
extends very far, and has shoals. We found
a great many vines in this place, with green
grapes on them a little larger than peas,
and many nut trees, on which the nuts were
no larger than musket balls. These savages
told us that all who lived in this country
cultivated and planted the soil, like the
others that we had seen before. This
place is in latitude 43 degrees and some
minutes.

Doubling the cape12 we entered a cove,

"Massachusetts Bay.

"The Merrimac.

"This paragraph and the two short ones follow-

106

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

where there are quantities of vines, Brazil-
ian peas,13 pumpkins, squashes, and some
roots that are good, which the savages
cultivate, and which taste somewhat like
chards.14

This place, which is rather pleasant, is
fertile in walnut14* trees, cypresses,15 oaks,
ashes and beeches, which are very beautiful.

We saw there a savage who hurt his foot
so badly, and lost so much blood, that he
fell in a faint. A number of others sur-
rounded him and sang some time before
they touched him. Then, making certain
signs with the feet and hands, they moved
his head, and, with a sigh, he came to him-
self. Our surgeon dressed the wound and
he was not prevented, on that account, from
going off gaily.

When we had sailed half a league16 we
noticed several savages on the point of a
rock. They ran dancing along the shore

ing are taken from the description of the voyage
of 1606 and are inserted here to make the record
of the exploration of this coast a continuous nar-
rative. See Voyages of Champlain, II, 111-112.
See Laverdiere's note, Voyage de 1632, I, 86.

"Probably for beans by a slip of the pen.

"This plant was the Jerusalem artichoke. S.

U*I. e., hickory trees.

"The red cedar. S.

"The exploration of July, 1605, is here resumed.
lO/

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

toward their companions to warn them of
our coming. When they had shown us the
direction in which they lived they made a
sign with smoke, to show us their dwell-
ings. We anchored near a little island,17
from which we sent our canoe to carry
them knives and cakes. \Ve perceived, from
the number of them, that these places were
more inhabited than the others that we had
seen. After we had spent two hours study-
ing these people, whose canoes are made of
birch bark, like those of the Canadians,
Souriquois and Etechemins, we weighed
anchor, and, with the prospect of good
weather, we set sail. Continuing our route
west southwest, we saw many islands on
both sides. Having made seven or eight
leagues, we anchored near an island,18
where we saw a great deal of smoke all
along the shore and many savages running
to see us. We sent two or three men in a
canoe toward them, to whom we gave some
knives and beads to present to them. They
were much pleased with these things, and
danced several times in acknowledgment.
We could not find out the name of their
chief, because we did not understand their

"Thatcher's Island. S.

"Probably in Boston Harbor, near the western
end of Noddle's Island, now East Boston. S.
1 08

V

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

language. All along the shore there is a
great deal of land cleared, and planted with
Indian corn. The country is very pleasant
and agreeable, with a great many beautiful
trees. Those who inhabit it have canoes
made all in one piece, very easy to upset if
one is not skillful in managing them. We
had not seen any of that kind before. This
is how they make them : after having taken
much trouble and spent a long time in fell-
ing the largest and tallest tree that they can
find, with stone hatchets (for at that time
they had no other kind, unless some of them
got some from the savages on the coast of
Acadie, who got them in the fur trade),
they take off the bark, and round it all but
one side, where they set fires every little
way all along the log. Sometimes they take
red-hot pebbles, which they also put on it,
and when the fire is too fierce they extin-
guish it with a little water; not entirely,
but only enough to prevent the edge of the
canoe from being burned. When it is as
much hollowed out as they wish, they
scrape it all over with these stones. The
pebbles with which they do the cutting are
like our musket flints.

The next day, the I7th of the month, we
weighed anchor to go to the cape, which
we had seen the day before, and which was,
109

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

south southwest19 of us. This day we could
make only five leagues, and we passed some
islands covered with wood.20 I recognized
in the bay everything that the savages of
Island Cape had described to me. As we
continued our course, a great many people
came to us from the islands and the main-
land in canoes. We anchored a league from
the cape, which I named Saint Louis,21
where we saw smoke in several places.
When we were trying to go there our boat
ran on a rock, where we were in great
danger; for, if we had not got it off
promptly, it would have overturned into
the sea, which was ebbing, where there were
about five or six fathoms of water. But
God preserved us, and we anchored near
this cape, whither came fifteen or sixteen
canoes of savages, some of them containing
fifteen or sixteen, who began to show-
signs of great joy, and made a variety of
speeches, which we did not understand at
all. We sent three or four men ashore in
our canoe, to get some water, and to see
their chief, named Honabetha. He was
given some knives, and other trinkets, which
I thought it proper to give them. He came

"Southeast?
*°In Boston Bay.
"Brant Point. S.

1 10

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

alongside to see us, with a number of his
companions, of whom there were as many
on the bank as in their canoes. We received
the chief very kindly, and gave him good
cheer; and when he had been there some
time he returned. The men whom we had
sent to them brought us some little squashes
the size of one's fist, which we ate as a
salad, like cucumbers. They are very good.
They brought, also, some purslane, which
grows freely amongst the Indian corn, and
of which they take no more account than of
weeds. We saw, in this place, a great many
little houses scattered about the fields where
they plant their Indian corn.

There is, besides, in this bay a very large
river,22 which I named River du Gas. I
think it rises in the direction of the Iro-
quois, a tribe23 that has open war with the
Montagnais of the great Saint Lawrence
River.

"Probably the Charles River. Apparently added
at the end of the chapter to make complete the
description of Boston Bay, although it would
naturally have been mentioned earlier. The river
was named after De Monts, whose family name
was Du Guast (also spelled Gua, or Gas).

23Champlain's maps greatly contract the width
of the land between the coast and Lake Cham-
plain.

Ill

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

CHAPTER VI

Continuation of the discoveries along the coast
of the Almouchiquois, and what we specially no-
ticed there.

THE next day we rounded Cape St.
Louis, so named by us, a rather flat coun-
try, in latitude 42^°, and this day made two
leagues along a sandy shore. In going by
we saw there a great many cabins and gar-
dens, and entered a little bay. Two or three
canoes came toward us, on their way from
catching cod and other fish, which abound
there. They catch them with hooks made
of a piece of wood, into which they drive
a bone shaped like a harpoon, which they
fasten very carefully so that it shall not
come out, the whole being in the form of
a hook. The line which is attached to it is
of hemp, I think, like that in France ; and
they told me that they gathered the plant
for it in their land without cultivating it,
indicating to us that it was four or five fjset
high.1 This canoe went back to the land to
warn those of this settlement, who made

'The swamp milkweed, or Indian hemp. S.
112

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

fires in our honor ; and we saw eighteen or
twenty savages come to the edge of the wa-
ter and dance. Our canoe went ashore to
give them some trinkets, with which they
were very much pleased. Some of them
came to us and asked us to come to their
river. We weighed anchor to do so, but we
could not enter it because of the little wa-
ter that we found there, as it was low tide.
And so we were obliged to anchor at the
mouth. I went ashore, where I saw a great
many more savages, who received us very
graciously. I explored the river, where I
observed nothing but an arm of water
which extended a little inland. This land
is, in part, cleared. In it there is only a
brook which cannot carry boats, except at
high tide. This place is about a league in
circumference. At one side of the entrance
to it there is a sort of island covered with
wood, principally pines, which is connected
at one end with some pretty long sand
dunes ; on the other side there is rather
high ground. There are two islets in this
bay, that one does not see unless one is
within it. And in this bay the sea is almost
dry at low tide. This place is very notice-
able from the sea, inasmuch as the shore
is very flat, except the cape at the entrance
of the bay. We named it Cape St. Louis

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

Harbor,2 it being distant two leagues from
this cape, and ten from the Island Cape. It
is in about the same latitude as Cape St.
Louis.

We left this place,3 and, coasting along
the shore southward, we made four or five
leagues and passed near a rock level with
the water. Continuing our course we per-
ceived land which we thought was islands ;
but, getting near it, we discovered that it
was the mainland, north northwest of us,
and that it was the cape of a large bay*
more than 18 or 19 leagues in circumfer-
ence, where we were so engulfed that we
had to turn completely about to round the
cape that we had seen. We named it Cape
Blanc,5 because it was sand and dunes
which looked white. A favorable wind
served us well in this place, for without it
we should have been in danger of being
cast on the shore. This bay is very safe,
provided one does not go nearer the shore

'This was the harbor of Plymouth. See Voy-
ages of Champlain, II, 78, for his plan and the
identification of the places on it. This harbor
had been visited by Martin Pring in 1603, and
Capt. John Smith explored it in 1614 and named
it Plymouth.

*On July 19, 1605.

*Cape Cod Bay.

"Cape Cod.

114

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

than a good league, for it has no islands or
rocks, except the one of which I have
spoken, which is near a river that runs some
distance inland.6 We named this river Ste.
Suzanne du Cap Blanc. From it to Cape
St. Louis is ten leagues across. Cape
Blanc is a sandy point which bends around
to the south six leagues. This coast con-
sists of lofty sand dunes, which are con-
spicuous as one comes from the sea. Sound-
ing at arbout 15 or 18 leagues from the land
one finds 30, 40 and 50 fathoms of water
all the way until one comes to 10 fathoms,
near the shore, which is very safe. There is
a great stretch of open country on the shore
before one enters the woods .which are very
agreeable and pleasant to see. We anchored
off the shore and noticed several savages,
toward whom four of our men went. Walk-
ing on a sand dune they saw a sort of bay
and some cabins bordering it all around.
When they were about a league and a half
from us there came dancing toward them
(as they told us) a savage who had come
down from the high part of the coast and
who returned there shortly afterward to
warn those of his settlement of our coming.
The next day7 we went to the place that

•Wellfleet Harbor.
'July 20.

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

our men had discovered, which we found
to be a very dangerous port, because of
shallows and bars, and where we saw break-
ers in every direction. It was almost low
tide when we entered it, and there were
only four feet of water in the northern
passage ; at high tide there are two fathoms.
When we were in it we found this place
rather large, perhaps three or four leagues
in circumference, all surrounded by little
houses, about which each occupant had as
much land as was necessary for his sup-
port. A rather pretty little river empties
into it. At low tide it is about three and
a half feet deep. There are also two or
three brooks bordered by meadows. This
place would be very fine, if only the harbor
were good. I took the altitude and found the
latitude 42°, and the variation of the needle
1 8° 40'. A great many savages came to us,
both men and women, who ran up from ev-
ery direction dancing. We named this place
Port de Mallebarre.8

The next day we went, with our arms,
to see their settlement, going a league along
the coast. Before arriving at their cabins,
we entered a field planted with Indian corn
in the way that we have already described.
It was in flower and was five and a half feet

"Nauset Harbor.

116

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

high. There was some less advanced,
planted later. We also saw a great many
Brazilian beans, and squashes of various
sizes, good to eat; some tobacco and some
roots that they cultivated, which have the
taste of the artichoke. The woods are filled
with oaks, walnuts9 and very beautiful cy-
presses,10 which are reddish and have a
very good odor. There were also several
fields that were not cultivated at all, because
they were letting the soil lie fallow; when
they wish to plant it they burn the grass
and then till it with their wooden spades.
Their cabins are round, covered with great
mats made of reeds, and on the top, in the
middle, there is about a foot and a half
open, where the smoke of the fires that they
make escapes. We asked them if that was
their settled home, and if it snowed there
much ; which we could not very well as-
certain, as we did not know their language,
although they tried as hard as they could
to tell us by signs, taking some sand in their
hands, then spreading it on the ground and
showing that it was the color of our neck-
bands and that it came upon the earth to
the depth of a foot. Others of them showed
us that it was less; giving us also to un-

"Here probably hickories.
10Red cedars.

117

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

der stand that the harbor never freezes.
But we could not find out whether
the snow lasted long or not. Never-
theless, I think that the region is tem-
perate, and that the winter is not
severe.11

None of the savages this side of the Isl-
and Cape wear either gowns or furs, except
very rarely, and what gowns they do wear
are made of grass and of hemp, and scarce-
ly cover their bodies, reaching only to the
thighs. They have only the private parts
concealed with a small piece of skin. And
the women, too, except that with them it
comes down a little lower in the back than
with the men. All the rest of the body is
naked. When the women came to see us
they wore gowns open in the front. The
men cut off their hair on the top of the
head, like those at the Chouacoet River. I
saw, among other things, a girl with her
hair dressed quite neatly, with a skin dyed
red, embroidered on the upper part with
little beads of shell. A part of her hair

"At this point Champlain omits the account
given in his earlier narrative of the fray with the
Indians, which resulted in the death of a sailor.
This was the first recorded clash between the
French and the Massachusetts Indians. See Voy-
ages of Champlain, II, 83-84. Laverdiere, Voy-
ages, 1613; pp. 67-68.

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

hung down her back, and the rest was
braided in different ways. These people
paint their faces red, black and yellow.
They have almost no beard, and pull it out
as fast as it grows, and their bodies are well
proportioned. I do not know what govern-
ment they have, and I think that in that
they resemble their neighbors, who have
not any, and do not know how to worship
or to pray. For arms they have only pikes,
clubs, bows and arrows. They appear, to
look at them, good-natured and better than
those in the north; but, to tell the truth,
they are bad, and even the little we saw
of them enabled us easily to discern their
character. They are great thieves, and if
they cannot secure a thing with their hands
they try to do so with their feet, as we have
often experienced. One should be on one's
guard with these people and constantly dis-
trust them, without ever letting them be
aware of it. They bartered their bows, ar-
rows and quivers with us for pins and but-
tons; and if they had had anything better
they would have done the same thing. They
gave us a great deal of tobacco, which they
dry, then powder. When they eat Indian
corn they boil it in earthen pots, which they
make differently from our method. They
also bray it in wooden mortars and reduce
119

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

it to flour, then make cakes and biscuits of
it, like the Indians of Peru.12

There is some cleared land, and they are
clearing some every day. This is how they
do it : they cut the trees three feet from
the ground, then burn the branches on the
trunk, and plant their corn between these
cut trees, and in the course of time take up
the roots. There are also some beautiful
meadows which would feed a goodly num-
ber of cattle. This harbor is very beautiful
and good. There is enough water in it for
ships, and one can be sheltered there be-
hind the islands. It is in latitude 43°, and
we named it Beauport.13

The last day of September14 we de-
parted from Beauport, passed by Cape St.

"Nauset Harbor, on the southeast bend of Cape
Cod, was the end of the exploration of 1605. The
earlier narrative records a few more observations.
about the Indians, etc., and then tells of the re-
turn and the removal of the settlement from St.
Croix to Port Royal and its history down to Sept.
5, 1606, when Poutrincourt set out to make fur-
ther exploration of the coast to the south. Cham-
plain roughly fitted the narrative of the voyage of
1606 on to that of the 1605 voyage with some
overlapping. It begins in the following paragraph
with some further observations about Cape Anne.

"Gloucester Harbor.

"Sept. 30, 1606.

12O

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

Louis,15 and sailed all night toward Cape
BlanC.16 In the morning, one hour before
dawn, we found ourselves to the leeward of
Cape Blanc, in Baye Blanche,17 in eight feet
of water, a league from the land. We an-
chored there, in order not to go any nearer
before daylight and to see how the tide
was. Meanwhile, we sent our shallop to
make soundings. Not more than eight feet
of water was found, so that it was neces-
sary to decide, while we waited for day-
light, what we should do. The water low-
ered to five feet, and sometimes our bark
went aground on the sand, always without
any shock or any damage, for the sea was
fine and we had not less than three feet of
water under us. Then the sea began to
rise, which gave us great hope.

When it was day we observed a very low,
sandy shore, off which we were, only more
to the leeward. Thither we sent the shal-
lop to make soundings in the direction of
some rather high land, where we thought
that there was a great deal of water, and,
in fact, we found there seven fathoms. We
anchored there, and at the same time pre-
pared the shallop, with nine or ten men, to

15Brant Point.
"Cape Cod.
"Cape Cod Bay.

121

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

go ashore to look at a place where we
thought there was an excellent harbor, to
which we could go if the wind should rise
higher than it then was. Having explored
we entered it in 2, 3 and 4 fathoms of
water. When we were within we found 5
or 6 fathoms. There were a great many
oysters there, which were very good. We
had not seen them before, and we called
the place Oyster Harbor.18 It is in latitude
42°. Three canoes of savages came to us.
This day the wind was favorable for us,
and so we weighed anchor to go to Cape
Blanc, distant from this place five leagues
north a quarter northeast, and we doubled
it.

The next day, October 2, we arrived off
Mallebarre,19 where we sojourned some
time, on account of an adverse wind. Dur-
ing this time we went with the shallop, with
a dozen or fifteen men, to visit the harbor.
There a hundred and fifty savages came to
meet us, singing and dancing, according to
their custom. When we had seen this place
we returned to our ship and, as the wind
was favorable, we sailed along the coast
toward the south.

"Probably Barnstable Harbor. S.

"Nauset.

122

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

CHAPTER VII

Continuation of these explorations as far as
Port Fortune, some twenty leagues from there.

WHEN we were about six leagues from
Mallebarre we anchored near the shore, as
the wind was unfavorable. Along the shore
we perceived some smoke made by the sav-
ages, which decided us to go to see them,
and, with this object, the shallop was
equipped. But when we were near the
beach, which is sandy, we could not reach
it for the swell was too great. When the
savages saw this they launched a canoe and
eight or nine of them came toward us sing-
ing and making signs of the joy that they
felt at seeing us. Then they showed us that
lower down there was a harbor, where we
could put our bark in a safe place. As the
shallop could not get to the shore it came
back to the bark, and the savages returned
to the shore after we had treated them
kindly.

The next day, the wind being favorable,
we continued our course five leagues to the
north,1 and had no sooner gone thus far

JA mistake for the south.
123

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

than we found three or four fathoms of
water a league and a half from the shore.
When we had gone a little farther the bot-
tom rose to a fathom and a half, and two
fathoms, which gave us some apprehension,
as we saw the sea breaking on all sides, and
did not see any passage by which we could
return on our course, for the wind was
directly contrary.

Being thus entangled among the breakers
and sand-bars it was necessary to take
our chances on a passage where we could
judge that there was the most water for
our bark, which drew at least four feet, and
we went among the breakers to where it
was four and a half feet deep. At last we
succeeded, by the grace of God, in getting
by a sandy point which juts almost three
leagues into the sea, south southeast, a very
dangerous place. Doubling this cape, which
we named Cap Batturier,2 a dozen or thir-
teen leagues from Mallebarre, we anchored
in two and a half fathoms of water, for we
perceived that we were surrounded on all
sides by breakers and shoals, except in some
places where the sea was not so rough. We
sent the shallop to find a channel, so that
we might go to a place which we judged

'Monomoy Point. The distances arc overesti-
mated, S. Cap Batturier means Cape of Shoals.
124

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

to be the one that the savages had told us
about; and we thought, too, that there was
a river there, where we could be safe.

When our shallop arrived there, our men
went ashore and looked over the place.
Then they came back, bringing a savage
with them, and told us that we could enter
there at high tide, which we decided to do.
Immediately we weighed anchor and, under
the guidance of the savage, who piloted us,
we anchored at a roadstead3 in front of the
harbor, where there were six fathoms of
water and a good bottom. We could not
enter the harbor, for night had overtaken
us.

The next day some one was sent to place
beacons on the end of a sand bank at the
mouth of the harbor; then, as it was high
tide, we entered in two fathoms of water.
When we got there we praised God that we
were in a place of safety.4 Our rudder,
which had broken, had been repaired with
ropes, and we feared lest, among these
shallows and strong tides, it would break
again, which would have caused us to
be lost.

Within this harbor there is only one
fathom of water, and at high tide two. On

"Chatham Roads, or Old Stage Harbor. S.
*Stage Harbor, Chatham. S.
125

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

the east there is a bay which runs north-
ward about three leagues. In it there are
an island and two other little coves, which
make the landscape beautiful. There is a
good deal of cleared land, and there are
in-.uiy little hills, where they raise corn and
other grains upon which they live. There
are also very beautiful vines there, a great
many walnuts, oaks, cypresses5 and a few
pines. All the people here are very fond of
tilling the soil, and store Indian corn for
the winter, which they preserve in the fol-
lowing way : they make trenches on the
hillsides in the sand, five or six feet, more
or less, deep; put their corn and other
grains in big sacks made of grass, and
throw them into these trenches and cover
them with sand three or four feet above
the surface of the earth. They take from
their store at need, and it is as well pre-
served as it could be done in our grana-
ries.6

'Cedars.

"The Pilgrim Fathers found such stores. Brad-
ford writes : "And heaps of sand newly padled
with their hands, which they digging up, found in
them diverce faire Indian baskets filled with corne,
and some in eares, faire and good, of diverce col-
lours." History of Plymouth Plantation, ed. 1898,
p. 99. See also the other quotations in Voyages
of Ckamplain, II, 121.

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

In this place we saw some five or six
hundred savages who were all naked, ex-
cept their private parts, which they cover
with a little piece of doe-skin or seal-skin.
The women also cover theirs with skins,
or white leaves, and all have the hair
well combed, and braided in various ways,
like the Choiiacoet7 women, and are well
proportioned in their bodies, which are
olive-colored. They deck themselves with
feathers, shell beads and other gew-gaws,
which they arrange very neatly in a
sort of embroidery. Their arms are bows,
arrows and clubs ; and they are not so much
great hunters as good fishermen and hus-
bandmen.

As to what their regulations, government
and belief may be, I have only been able
to conjecture, and I think that they are not
different, in these respects, from our Souri-
quois and Canadian savages who worship
neither the sun, nor the moon, nor anything
else, and pray no more than the beasts. Still,
they have among them some persons who,
they say, have an understanding with the
devil, in whom they have great faith, who
tell them everything that is to befall them,
although lying most of the time. They hold
them as prophets, although they deceive

'I. e., the Maine Indians.
127

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS '

them, as the Egyptians and Bohemians8 do
the simple villagers. They have chiefs
whom they obey in questions of war, but
not otherwise. They work and do not have
any higher rank than their companions.

Their habitations are separated from one
another according to the land that each can
occupy, and are large, made circular, cov-
ered with matting, or the leaf of the Indian
corn. They are furnished only with a bed
or two, raised a foot from the ground, made
of a number of pieces of wood piled one
upon another, on top of which they put a
reed mat, in the Spanish fashion (a sort of
matting two or three fingers thick), on
which they sleep.9 They have a great
many fleas in summer, even in the fields.
When we went walking we were so cov-
ered with them that we had to change our
clothes.

All the harbors, bays and shores from
Choiiacoet are filled with every kind of
fish, like those on the coasts of Acadie, and

"The Gypsies. Egyptians, in the popular form,
"Gypsies" came to be the common English name
for these wandering fortune-tellers, while in
French it came to be "Bohemians"; hence the
origin of "Bohemian" in the sense of unconven-
tional.

8Cf. the quotations, from Gookin and Mourt's
Relation, in Voyages of Champlain, II, 125.
128

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

in such abundance that I can assure you
that there was not a day or a night when
we did not see and hear pass by our boat
more than a thousand porpoises, which were
chasing the small fish. There is also a quan-
tity of various kinds of shellfish, and espe-
cially oysters. Game birds are very abun-
dant there.

It would be a very suitable place for
building and laying the foundations of a
commonwealth, if the harbor were a little
deeper and the entrance to it safer than it
is. It was named Port Fortune,10 on ac-
count of an accident that happened there.
It is in latitude 41^ degrees and is 13
leagues from Mallebarre. We saw all
the surrounding country, which is very
beautiful, as I have said above, and we
saw a great many little houses here and
there.

Having left Port Fortune, and gone six
or seven leagues, we sighted an island,
which we named La Soupgonneuse,11 be-
cause from a distance we had several times

"Chatham. Five men who stayed on shore over-
night, contrary to Poutrincourt's orders, were sur-
prised by the Indians and several of them killed.
See Voyages of Champlain, II, 126-130. Laver-
diere, Voyages, 1613, 105-107.

"The Doubtful, Martha's Vineyard. S.
129

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

thought that it was something besides an
island. Coasting along to the southwest
nearly twelve leagues we passed near a
river which is very small and difficult to
approach, because of shallows and rocks at
its mouth. I gave it my name.12 All that
we saw of this coast consists of low and
sandy lands, which are not lacking in
beauty and fertility, although hard to reach.
There are no shelters, very many reefs, and
there is little water for nearly two leagues
from the land. The most that we found
was seven or eight fathoms in some chan-
nels, though it did not extend more than
the length of a cable ; then one suddenly
returned to two or three fathoms. No one
should trust himself to it without having
become very familiar with it by taking
soundings.

These are all the coasts that we explored,
whether inAcadie or among the Etechemins
and Almouchiquois.13 I made a very exact
map of what I saw of them, which I had

"This was the tidal passage commonly called
Wood's Hole. It is to be regretted that those
who wished to get rid of this homely name should
have tried to transform Hole into a supposed
Norse "Holl," an imaginary relic of the Norse-
men, instead of trying to revive this earliest au-
thentic name, Champlain River.

1SI. e., whether in Nova Scotia or New England.
130

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

engraved in the year i6o4,14 and it has
since been published with the accounts of
my first voyages.15

CHAPTER VIII

Discovery from Cape la Heve to Canseau, very
much in detail.

GOING from Cape de la Heve1 to Sesam-
bre,2 which is an island so called by some
people from St. Malo, 15 leagues from
La Heve, one finds a great many islands,
which we named Les Martyres, because
formerly some Frenchmen were killed there
by the savages. These islands are in sev-

"Evidently copyist's error. No doubt the map
of 1612 is meant, which is reproduced in Voyages
of Champlain, III, 228. Slafter calls it the map of
1613, but the date on the map is 1612.

15Champlain omits here the account of the re-
turn voyage, of the winter of 1606-07 at Port
Royal, of which Lescarbot has given such an en-
tertaining account, and of the following spring
and summer until about the middle of August,
1607. See Voyages of Champlain, II, 132-150.
Laverdiere, Voyages, 1613, 108-126.

'Champlain left Port Royal August n, 1607,
but he does not begin his description in this narra-
tive until he strikes new ground, going east on
the coast of Nova Scotia.

"Now Sambro. S.

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

eral inlets and bays. In one of them there
is a river called Ste. Marguerite,3 seven
leagues from Sesambre, in latitude 44° 25'.
The coasts and islands are covered with a
great many pines, firs, birches and other
poor kinds of trees. Fishing is abundant
and also bird-hunting.

From Sesambre we passed a very safe
bay of about seven or eight leagues in ex-
tent, with no islands in it, except at the bot-
tom, where there is the mouth of a little
river with not much water in it.4 Then,
heading northeast by east, we came to a har-
bor eight leagues from Sesambre, which is
quite good for ships of 100 to 120 tons.
At its mouth there is an island, from which,
at low tide, one can go to the mainland. We
named this place Port Ste. Heleine.5 It is
in latitude 44° 40', a little more or less.

From this place we went to a bay called
The Bay of All Islands, which has an area
of perhaps 14 or 15 leagues,6 dangerous
places on account of the sand-bars, shal-
lows and reefs that are there. The country
looks very poor, being filled with the same
kinds of wood that I have mentioned above.

"The name still survives.
4Halifax Harbor.
*Perpisawick Inlet. S.

"Nicomtau Bay and the islands in and near it
132

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

From there we went along to near a river
six leagues distant, which is called Green
Island River, because it has one at its
mouth.7 This short stretch that we went
was filled with a great many rocks jutting
almost a league into the sea, where the wa-
ter breaks a great deal. It is in latitude

45i°.

From there we went to a place where
there is a bay and two or three islands, and
a rather fine harbor,8 three leagues from
Green Island. We also passed several isl-
lands that are in a row, and named them
Les Isles Rangees. They are six or seven
leagues from Green Island. After this we
passed by another bay,9 where there are
several islands, and went as far as a place
where we found a ship which was fishing
among some islands that are somewhat
distant from the shore, four leagues from
Les Isles Rangees. We called this place
Savalette Harbor,10 from the captain of the
boat that was fishing. He was a Basque.

Leaving this place we arrived at Canseau11

TThe River St. Mary and Wedge Island. L.

"Country Harbor.

"Tor Bay.

"White Haven.

"Spelled Canseau by Champlain in 1632 and
Campseau in 1613. The modern English form is
Can so.

133

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

on the 27th of the month.12 It is distant
from Savalette Harbor six leagues, in
which space we passed a great many isl-
ands before we reached Canseau. The rasp-
berries on them were plentiful beyond de-
scription.

All the shores that we coasted along, from
Cape Sable to this place, consist of moder-
ately high land and cliffs ; for the most part
places bordered by a number of islands and
reefs which jut out into the sea sometimes
nearly two leagues. They are very bad for
ships to approach ; nevertheless, there is no
lack of good harbors and roadsteads along
these coasts and islands. As for the land,
it is worse and more disagreeable than in
other places that we had seen, except about
some rivers and brooks where the country
is rather pleasant. In these places the win-
ter must be cold, and it lasts almost six
months.

This port of Canseau is among islands,
and it is very hard of approach, if the
weather is not good, on account of the rocks
and reefs all about.

From this place to the Island of Cape Bre-
ton, which is in latitude 45f°, and 14" 50'

"August. Champlain omits here the meeting
with Champdore and Lescarbot at Canseau. Voy-
•gea of Champlain, II, 154.

134

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

of the variation of the needle, it is eight
leagues; and to Cape Breton 25 leagues.
Between the two there is a large bay en-
tering about nine or ten leagues into the
land. It makes a passage between the Isl-
and of Cape Breton and the mainland,
which extends to the great Bay of Saint
Lawrence, by which one goes to Gaspe and
Isle Percee, where there is fishing. This
passage by the Island of Cape Breton is
very narrow. Large ships do not go
through it at all, although there is enough
water there, because of the great currents
and the violence of the tides. We named
this place Running Passage.13 It is in lati-
tude 45f°.

This Cape Breton Island is triangular in
form, 80 leagues in circumference, and is,
for the most part, mountainous land, yet
in some places pleasant. In the middle of
it there is a sort of lake,14 where the sea
enters from the north a quarter northeast
and from the south a quarter southeast,15

13Le Passage Courante: the Gut or Strait of
Canso.

"Great Bras d'or Lake.

"That is, the northern entrance lies north by east
and the southern south by east. There is no natu-
ral entrance at the south, but one has been made
by digging a canal through the narrow Isthmus of
St. Peter's.

135

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

and there are many islands filled with a
great deal of game, and shellfish of several
kinds; among others, oysters which have
not much flavor. In this place there are
several harbors and places for fishing,
namely, English Harbor,16 two or three
leagues from Cape Breton; and the other,
Niganis, 18 or 20 leagues farther north.
The Portuguese formerly wished to inhabit
this island, and passed a winter there, but
the severity of the weather and the cold
made them abandon their settlement.16*
When I had seen all these things I returned
to France, having spent four years equally
divided between the settlement at St. Croix
and Port Royal."

"Later named Louisbourg.

"*Possibly at the time of the exploration of
Fagundes, 1521. See Harrisse, Discovery of North
America, 182, ff.

17More exactly three years and four months
from May, 1604, to September, 1607.

136

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

BOOK III

CHAPTER I

Voyages of Sieur de Poutrincourt in New
France, where he left his son, Sieur de Biencourt.
The Jesuit fathers who were sent there, and their
progress in making the Christian faith flourish.1

THE late Sieur de Poutrincourt, the elder,
having obtained a grant from Sieur de
Monts, in virtue of his commission, of some
lands adjacent to Port Royal, which he had
abandoned, the settlement remaining in his
right, this Sieur de Poutrincourt made ev-
ery endeavor to settle it and left there his
son, Sieur de Biencourt, whom, while he
was considering how to establish himself
there, the people of Rochelle and the
Basques assisted in most of his expeditions,
in the hope of getting furs by this means.
But his plan did not succeed as he wished,
for the very charitable Madame de Guer-
cheville interfered in this matter, in kind-
ness and consideration toward the Jesuit
fathers. This is the account of it.

This Sieur Jean de Poutrincourt, before

*In his account of these events Champlain fol-
lowed very closely Father Biard's Relation de la
Nouvelle France, etc., Lyons, 1616, for which see
Thwaites's Jesuit Relations, vols. iii and iv.

137

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

Sieur de Monts left New France, asked him
for Port Royal as a grant. This he be-
stowed upon him, on condition that within
the following two years this Sieur de Pou-
trincourt should go there himself with sev-
eral other families, to cultivate and settle
the country; which he promised to do in
the year 1607. The late King Henry the
Great ratified and confirmed this grant and
told the late Reverend Father Coton that
he wished to make use of their company for
the conversion of savages, promising two
thousand livres for their maintenance.
Father Coton obeyed the commandment of
His Majesty; and among others of their
fathers Father Biard presented himself to
be employed in so holy a voyage ; and in
the year 1608 he was sent to Bordeaux,
where he remained a long time without
hearing anything further of the expedition
to Canada.

In the year 1609 Sieur de Poutrincourt
arrived at Paris. The King having been in-
formed of it, and knowing that contrary to
His Majesty's expectations, he had not
stirred from France, was very much vexed
with him. In order to please His Majesty,
he equipped himself for the voyage. Upon
this resolution F"ather Coton offered to give
him some monks. Then Sieur de Poutrin-
I3S

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

court told him that it would be better to
wait until the next year, promising that as
soon as he should arrive at Port Royal he
would send back his son, with whom the
Jesuit fathers could come.

In fact, in the year 1610, this Sieur de
Poutrincourt set out at the end of Febru-
ary and reached Port Royal in the month
of June following, where, having assembled
as many savages as he could, he had about
twenty-five of them baptized on Saint John
the Baptist's Day [June 24] by a priest
called Messire Josue Fleche, surnamed The
Patriarch.

A little while afterward he sent Sieur de
Biencourt, his son, aged 19, back to France
to carry the good news of the baptism of
the savages, and to arrange that he should
soon be assisted with provisions, with which
he was ill-supplied, to pass the winter
there.2

The Reverend Father Christofle Baltha-
zar, Provincial, commissioned the fathers
Pierre Biard and Remond Masse to go with
Sieur de Biencourt. The King — Louis the
Just— caused to be delivered to them five
hundred crowns promised by the King, his
father, and several rich ornaments given by

2To see how closely Champlain followed Biard's
Relation, cf. Jesuit Relations, III, 615.

139

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

Madame de Guercheville and Madame de
Sourdis. When they arrived at Dieppe
there was some discussion among the
Jesuit fathers and the merchants, which
caused the fathers to retire to their College
of Eu.

When Madame de Guercheville knew
this, she was very indignant that the trades-
men had been so presumptuous as to have
offended and thwarted these fathers, and
said that they ought to be punished; but
their only chastisement lay in their not be-
ing admitted to the expedition. And, know-
ing that the equipment would not go above
four thousand livres, she took up a collec-
tion in the court, and by this kind action
she got that sum, with which she paid the
merchants who had troubled these fathers,
and cut them off from all association with
them ; and, with the rest of this sum and
other large property, she established a fund
for the maintenance of these fathers, not
wishing them to be a charge to Sieur de
Poutrincourt. She also arranged that the
profits that came from furs and fish, which
the ship should bring back, should not re-
vert to the benefit of the associates and
other merchants, but should go back to
Canada, in the possession of Sieur Robin
and Sieur de Biencourt, who should use it
140

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

for the support of Port Royal and the
French who were living there.

In reference to this it was decided and
ordained that since this money of Madame
de Guercheville had been designed for the
benefit of Canada, the Jesuits should take
part in the profits of the association of Sieur
Robin and Sieur de Biencourt, and share
them with them.

It was this contract of partnership that
spread about so many rumors, complaints
and outcries against the Jesuit fathers, who,
in that and everything else, are justly gov-
erned according to God and to reason, to
the shame and confusion of those who envy
and malign them.

On January 26, 1611, the same fathers
embarked with this Sieur de Biencourt,
whom they helped with money to get the
ship off, and to alleviate the great want
that they experienced in this voyage ; since,
in coasting along the shores, they stopped
and sojourned in several places before ar-
riving at Port Royal, which was on June
12, i6u,3 Whitsunday; and during this
voyage these fathers had a great scarcity
of provisions, and of other things, accord-
ing to the accounts of the pilot, David de
Bruges, and the captain, Jean Daune — both

*The correct date is May 22. L.
141

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

of them of the so-called reformed religion
— who confessed that they found these good
fathers quite different from what they had
been described.

Sieur de Poutrincourt, desiring to return
to France, to order his affairs better, left
his son, Sieur de Biencourt, and the Jesuit
fathers behind him. Altogether, they num-
bered about twenty persons. He left there
in the middle of July of the same year,
1611, and arrived in France at the end of
the month of August.

During the winter this Sieur de Bien-
court caused annoyances to the people of
the son of Pontgrave, whose name was
Robert Grave, whom he treated pretty bad-
ly ; but, at last, through the efforts of the
Jesuit fathers, everything was pacified, and
they remained good friends.

As Sieur de Poutrincourt was seeking in
France every means of aiding his son,
Madame de Guercheville, who was pious,
virtuous and very much devoted to the con-
version of the savages, having already col-
lected some funds, communicated with him
in regard to the matter, and said that she
would very gladly join the company, and
that she would send some Jesuit fathers
with him for the aid of Canada.

The contract of partnership was approved,
142

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

this lady being empowered by her husband,
Monsieur de Liencour, first Equerry of the
King and Governor of Paris. By the
contract it was fixed that she should, at
this time, give a thousand crowns for the
cargo of a ship, provided that she should
share the profit that this voyage should
yield, and of the lands that the King had
given to Sieur de Poutrincourt, as set down
in the original of the contract. This Sieur
de Poutrincourt reserved for himself Port
Royal, and its lands; not intending that
they should be included in the common
stock of the other lordships, capes, har-
bors and provinces that he said he had in
this country near Port Royal. This lady
requested him to produce titles to show that
these lordships and lands belonged to him
and how he possessed so large a domain.
But he excused himself by saying that his
titles and papers were in New France.

When this lady heard this, as she was
suspicious of Sieur de Poutrincourt, and
wished to guard herself against being taken
by surprise, she made a contract with Sieur
de Monts that he should cede back to her
all the rights, deeds and claims that he had,
or ever had had, in New France, derived
from the gift made him by the late Henry
the Great. Madame de Guercheville ob-
143

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

tained letters from His Majesty, now reign-
ing, in which the gift was made anew to
her of all the lands of New France from
the great river as far as Florida, excepting
only Port Royal, which was what Sieur de
Poutrincourt possessed then, and nothing
else.

This lady gave money to the Jesuit fa-
thers to put into the hands of some mer-
chant at Dieppe, but this Sieur de Poutrin-
court inveigled these same fathers into giv-
ing him four hundred of this thousand
crowns.

He sent, in charge of this expedition, an
employee of his called Simon Imbert San-
drier, who acquitted himself rather badly in
the management of this equipped and
freighted ship. He left Dieppe December
31, in the height of winter, and reached
Port Royal January 23, the next year, 1612.

Sieur de Biencourt was very glad, on the
one hand, to see fresh aid coming; and, on
the other hand, he was annoyed that Ma-
dame de Guercheville was out of the com-
pany,4 according to what this Imbert told

4Madame de Guercheville through acquiring De
Monts's titles and through the king's grant had
become the proprietary of all the northeastern
coast with the exception of Port Royal, an acces-
sion of power which superseded the partnership
with Poutrincourt.

144

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

him. He was also disturbed by complaints
that the Jesuit fathers made to him of the
bad management of this expedition by this
Imbert, who wrongfully and without cause
accused the fathers. Nevertheless, they
obliged him to confess that he was
fooling when he spoke to this Sieur de
Biencourt.5

At last, all these matters having quieted
down and been pardoned, Father Masse,
who was with the savages to learn their
language, became ill in a place where he
was in great want, for everything was
in disorder in this settlement. Father
Biard lived at Port Royal, where he
suffered great fatigue and great want
during several days, being compelled to
collect some acorns and roots for his
Sustenance.

Meanwhile, they were fitting out a ves-
sel in France to withdraw the Jesuits from
Port Royal, and found a new settlement in
another place. The captain of this vessel
was La Saussaye, who had with him thirty
persons who were to winter there, includ-
ing two Jesuits and their servants, who
were to land at Port Royal. He already
had with him two other Jesuit fathers,
namely : Father Quentin and Father Gilbert

6Cf. Biard in Jesuit Relations, III, 239-243.
145

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

clu Thet, but they were to go back to France
with the crew, which numbered 38. The
Queen had contributed to the expense for
arms, powder and ammunition. The ship
was 100 tons burden. It left Honfleur
March 12, in the year 1613, and reached
La Heve, in Acadie, May 16, where they
set up the arms of Madame de Guercheville
as a sign of possession. They came to Port
Royal, where they found only five persons
— two Jesuit fathers, Hebert, an apothecary
(who took the place of Sieur de Biencourt
while he went to a long distance to look for
provisions), and two other persons. It was
to him that they presented the letters from
the Queen to release the fathers and per-
mit them to go wherever it seemed good to
them; which was done, and these fathers
withdrew their goods from the country and
left some provisions to this Hebert, so that
he should not be in need.

They went from this place, and settled
the desert mountains at the mouth of the
Pemetegoet6 River. The pilot reached the
coast on the east of the Island of Mount
Desert,7 where the fathers stayed, and they
gave thanks to God, erecting a cross, and
had the holy sacrifice of the Mass ; and this

"Penobscot.

7L'isle des Monts Deserts.
146

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

place was named St. Sauveur.J It is in
latitude 44^. degrees.

They had scarcely begun to settle them-
selves there, and to clear the land, when the
English appeared and gave them something
quite different to be concerned about.

Ever since the English had established
themselves in Virginia, in order to provide
themselves with codfish they had been ac-
customed to come to fish sixteen leagues
from the Island of Mount Desert ; and, ar-
riving there for this purpose in the year
1613, they were caught by the fogs and cast
up on the shores of the savages of Pemete-
goet, who, supposing them to be French,
told them that there were others of them
at St. Sauveur. The English being in need
of provisions, and all the men in poor con-
dition, ragged and half-naked, found out
all they could about the strength of these
Frenchmen; and having got a response in
accordance with their desire, they went
straight to them and made ready to fight
them. The Frenchmen, seeing a single ship
at full sail approaching, without knowing
that ten others were near by, recognized
that it was English. Immediately Sieur de

'Frenchman's Bay. Parkman, Pioneers of
France, 302. Cf. Biard's Relation, Jesuit Rela-
tions, III, 265.

147

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

la Motte le Vilin, Lieutenant Saussaye and
some others rushed on board their ship to
defend it. La Saussaye remained on shore
with most of his men ; but, in the end, the
English, being stronger than the French,
after some fighting took our men. The
English numbered 60 soldiers and had 14
pieces of cannon. In this fight Gilbert du
Thet was killed by a musket shot; some
others were wounded and the rest were
captured, except Lamets and four others
who ran away. Afterward they went aboard
the French ship, took possession of it, pil-
laged what they found there and took away
the commission of the King which La Saus-
saye had in his chest. The captain who
commanded this ship was named Samuel
ArgalL

The enemy went ashore and hunted for
La Saussaye, who had fled to the woods.
The next day he came to find the English-
man, who received him kindly. Being asked
for his commission he went to his chest to
get it, believing that it had not been opened.
He found there all his clothes and conveni-
ences, except the commission, which greatly
astonished him. And then the Englishman,
feigning indignation, said to him: "What?
You gave us to understand that you had a
commission from the King, your master,
148

and cannot produce it? Then you are out-
laws and pirates who deserve death."
Thereupon the English divided the plunder
among themselves.

The Jesuit fathers, seeing the danger to
which the French were exposed, labored
with Argall until they succeeded in pacify-
ing the English, . and Father Biard, by
strong arguments, proved to him that all
their men were people of substance, and
recommended by His Most Christian
Majesty. The Englishman made believe
that he agreed with him, and accepted the
arguments of the fathers, and they said to
Sieur de la Saussaye : "It is altogether your
fault to let your letters get lost in that way."
And afterward they had these same fathers
to dine at their table.

There was talk of sending the French-
men back to France, but they did not wish
to give them anything but a shallop for the
thirty of them, to go in search of a passage
along the coast. The fathers explained to
them that it was impossible for a shallop
to suffice to carry them without danger.
And then Argall said : "I have found an-
other device to take them to Virginia."
The workmen were promised that they
should not be forced in point of religion,
and that after one year of service they
149

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

should be sent back to France, and three of
them accepted this offer. Sieur de la Motte,
also, had consented, from the beginning, to
go to Virginia with this English captain,
who honored him because he had found him
doing his duty ; and he allowed him to take
some of his men with him and Father Bi-
ard; that they should be four, namely,
two fathers and two others, and that they
should be taken to the islands where
the English fish for cod, and that he
should give orders to them that by their
means he9 could pass over to France.
This the English captain granted him
very willingly.

In this way it was possible for the shal-
lop to carry the men divided into three com-
panies. Fifteen were with the pilot who
had got away, fifteen with the Englishman,
and fifteen in the shallop that had been
given, in which Father Masse was; and it
was delivered into the hands of La Saus-
saye, and this same Father Masse, with
some provisions ; but there were no sailors.
By good fortune the pilot met it, which was
a great benefit to them, and they went as
far as Sesambre, beyond La Heve, where
Robert Grave's ship and another ship were.

"It should be "they." Cf. the passage in Biard's
Relation, Jesuit Relations, iv. 22, 23.

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

They divided the Frenchmen into two com-
panies, to take them over to France, and
arrived at St. Malo without having run
any risk from storms.

Captain Argall took the fifteen French-
men and the Jesuit fathers to Virginia.
When they got there the head man of the
place, called the Marshal, the military com-
mander of the country, threatened to put
the fathers and all the Frenchmen to death,
but Argall opposed him with all his power,
saying that he had given them his word.
And, seeing that he was too weak to sus-
tain and defend them, he resolved to show
the commissions that he had taken; and
when the Marshal saw them he was ap-
peased, and promised that the word that
had been given them should be kept to
them.

This Marshal assembled his council and
resolved to go to the coast of Acadie, and
there to raze all the habitations and for-
tresses as far as latitude 46°, with the pre-
tence that all that country belonged to
him.10

1DBiard adds that Argall was instructed to hang
La Saussaye and his men. Jesuit Relations, iv,
34, 35- This order of Dale's may be compared with
the destruction of the French in Florida by Men-
endez, except that Menendez acted under instruc-

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

Upon this resolution of the Marshal, Ar-
gall resumed his course with three vessels,
divided the Frenchmen among them and
returned to St. Sauveur. He thought he
should find La Saussaye there, and a ship
recently arrived, but he learned that he had
returned to France. They set up a cross
there, in place of that which the fathers had
placed there, which they broke down, and
on theirs they inscribed the name of the
King of Great Britain, for whom they took
possession of this place.

Then they went to St. Croix, which he
burned. He also took away all the land-
marks that were there, and carried off a
supply of salt that they found in it.11

Afterward he went to Port Royal, guided
by a savage whom he took by force, the
Frenchmen being unwilling to direct him.
He went ashore, made an entrance, saw the
dwelling and, not finding any one in it,
took what there was of plunder, had it
burned, and in two hours the whole
was in ashes. And he took all the land-
marks that the French had put there,

tions from the King, while it is hard to see any
basis, whatever, of authority for Dale's action.
Cf. Parkman's strong expressions, Pioneers of
New France, 312-13.

"Cf. Biard, Jesuit Relations, iv, 37.

152

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

so that those who were there were forced
to abandon this abode and go with the
savages.

A wicked and unnatural Frenchman, who
was with those who escaped into the woods,
approaching the edge of the water, shouted
loudly and demanded that they should
parley. This was granted him, and then he
said : "I was surprised that, since there is
with you a Spanish Jesuit, named Father
Biard, you do not put him to death for a
bad man who will do you harm if he can,
if you let him." Is it possible that the
French nation produces such monsters of
men, so detestable as sowers of calumnious
falsehoods, in order to make these good
fathers lose their lives?

The English left Port Royal November
9, 1613. In this voyage the winds and
storms were such that the three ships got
separated from one another. The bark in
which there were six Englishmen could not
be recovered afterward, but Captain Ar-
gall's ship reached Virginia. He informed
him12 who Father Biard was and he13 took
him to be a Spaniard, and was waiting for

"I. e., Argall told Dale, the Governor of Vir-
ginia. See Biard's Relation, Jesuit Relations, iv,

32, 53-

"I. e., Governor Dale.

153

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

him to put him to death.14 He15 was then in
the third vessel, which was under the com-
mand of a captain named Turnel, a mortal
enemy of the Jesuits ; and this vessel was so
beaten about by the southwest wind that,
bearing off to the east, he was obliged to
stand for the Azores, 500 leagues from Vir-
ginia. They now killed all the horses that
had been taken from Port Royal, which
they ate in lieu of other provisions. At
last they reached an island of the Azores>
and then he said to the father: "God is
provoked with us, and not with you,16 for
the evil that we have made you suffer un-
justly. But I am surprised that Frenchmen,
off there in the woods, in the midst of so
much misery and apprehension, should have
spread the rumor that you are Spanish ; and
they not only said it and assured us of it,
but they signed the statement."

"Monsieur," said the father, "you know
that, in spite of all the calumnies and slan-

"This sentence is very blind in the French. It
has been interpreted in the light of Biard's Rela-
tion, from which the story was hastily compiled.

"I. e., Father Biard.

"The French reads here "et nous contre
vous" (and we with you). Biard's text has "mais.
non pas contre vous." It is evident that the copy-
ist, or compositor, substituted "nous" for "non
pas." Cf. Jesuit Relations, iv, 56, 57.

154

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

ders, I never spoke ill of those who accused
me; you are witness of the patience that I
have had in the face of such adversity, but
God knows the truth. Not only have I
never been in Spain, nor has any of my
relatives, but I am a good and loyal French-
man in the service of God, and of my King,
and I shall always show, at the peril of my
life, that they are wrong who slander me,
and who call me Spanish. God forgive
them, and may He be pleased to deliver us
from their hands, and you particularly, for
our good, and let us forget the past."

Then they went to anchor in the road-
stead of the island of Fayal, which is one of
the Azores ; but they were obliged to anchor
in this harbor17 and to hide the fathers in
some place in the hold of the ship,
and make them give their word that they
would not reveal themselves, which they
promised.

The ship was inspected by the Portu-
guese, who went down where the fathers
were. The latter saw them without mak-
ing any sign ; and, nevertheless, if they had
made themselves known to the Portuguese,
they would have been delivered at once,
and all the English would have been

1TI. e., they finally had to enter the harbor, in-
stead of anchoring outside in the roadstead.

155

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

hanged ; but these inspectors, as a result of
not looking carefully, did not see the Jesuit
fathers at all, and went back to land; and
thus the English were delivered from the
danger in which they were of being
hanged. They went to fetch all that they
needed, then weighed anchor, put to seay
and expressed many thanks to the fathers,,
whom they caressed ; and, no longer think-
ing them Spanish, they treated them as
kindly as possible ; they admired their great
constancy and virtue in enduring the things
that they had said to them, and were noth-
ing but kindness and witnesses of good
friendship until they reached England; the
fathers having shown them in this way
what was contrary to the opinion of a good
many enemies of the Catholic church and
to the prejudice of the truth, namely: that
their doctrine teaches that it is not neces-
sary to keep the faith with heretics.

At last Argall18 reached the harbor of
Milfier,19 in the year 1614, in the province
of Wales, where the captain was impris-
oned for having neither passport nor com-

"Champlain here, in hurried compilation, for-
got that Argall got back safely to Virginia, and
that it was Turnel who was driven to the Azores.
and then went to England. See above, p. 151.

"Milford.

156

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

mission. His General had it and had be-
come separated from him, as his Vice-
Admiral had done.20

The Jesuit fathers told how it all took
place, and afterward Captain Argall21 was
released, and returned to his ship, and the
fathers were kept on land, loved and cher-
ished by many people. And, in consequence
of the account that the captain of their ship
gave of what took place in the Azores, the
news came to London, to the Court of the
King of Great Britain, where the ambassa-
dor of His Most Christian Majesty has-
tened on the release of the fathers. They
were conducted to Dover, and from there
went to France, and withdrew to their Col-
lege in Amiens, after having been nine
months and a half in the hands of the Eng-
lish.

Sieur de la Motte also arrived in Eng-
land at the same time, in a vessel which
came from the Bermudas, having been to
Virginia. He was captured in his ship and
arrested, but released through the media-

"Argall probably had the commission, but
whether he is referred to by the "General" or
"Vice-Admiral" is not clear. Only one superior
to Turnel is mentioned by Biard. Jesuit Rela-
tions, iv, 68-69.

"Turnel.

157

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

tion of Monsieur du Biseau, at that time
ambassador of the King in England.

Madame de Guercheville, having been
informed of all this, sent La Saussaye to
London to ask for the restoration of the
ship, and that was all that one could ob-
tain at that time. Three Frenchmen died
in Virginia and four remained there while
a great effort was being made for their re-
lease.

The fathers baptized there thirty little
children, except three who were baptized
at the approach of death.22

It must be admitted that this enterprise
was thwarted by many misfortunes that one
could well have avoided at the beginning,
if Madame de Guercheville had given three
thousand six hundred livres to Sieur de
Monts, who wished to have a settlement at
Quebec, and everything quite different. I
spoke of it two or three times to the Rev-
erend Father Coton, who managed this af-
fair. He would have liked to have the
treaty made with few conditions, or by
other means, which could not be to the ad-
vantage of this Sieur de Monts, which was
the reason why nothing was done ; although

MToo hastily condensed. Biard says the Jesuits
baptized "about twenty, and these were little chil-
dren, except three," etc. Jesuit Relations, iv, 87.
158

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

I was able to explain to this father what
advantages he could have in the conversion
of the infidels, as well as for the commerce
and traffic that could be carried on by
means of the great River Saint Lawrence
much better than in Acadie, which is dif-
ficult to secure, on account of the infinite
number of its harbors, which cannot be
guarded without large forces. Acadie, fur-
thermore, is little peopled with savages;
and, in addition, one cannot get through
these regions into the interior, where there
are a number of inhabitants of sedentary
character. This can be done by the River
Saint Lawrence much more easily than by
the shores of Acadie.

Still further [I told him] that the Eng-
lishman23 who was fishing at that time near
some islands 13 to 14 leagues from the
Island of Mount Desert, which is at the
mouth of the River Pemetegoet, would do
what he could to injure our men, as he was
near Port Royal and other places. This
could not then be expected at Quebec,
where the English are not acquainted at
all. If this Madame de Guercheville had

"The singular number here should probably be
a plural. Perhaps the text was dictated to a copy-
ist who, in the phrase, faisait alors ses pesches,
may have written "faisait" for "fasaient."

159

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

taken possession of Quebec at that time,
one could have had assurance that by the
watchfulness of the Jesuit fathers, and the
instructions that I could have given them,
the country would have been much better
supplied ; and that the Englishman would
not have found it stripped of provisions and
of arms, and would not have taken posses-
sion of it, as he has done in these last
wars.24 He has done this as a result of the
acts of some bad Frenchmen, added to the
fact that then these fathers did not have
with them any man to conduct their affairs,
except La Saussaye, who was little experi-
enced in knowledge of places. But it is in
vain that men talk and act ; one cannot avoid
what it pleases God to arrange.

All this shows how enterprises planned
in haste, and without any solid foundation,
and carried out without regard for the real
substance of the affair, always come out
badly.

*4Champlain refers to the capture of Quebec by
the Kirkes in 1629. The story is told in Park-
man, Pioneers of New France, 435-445.

160

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

CHAPTER II

Second undertaking of Sieur de Monts. Advice
that the author gave him. Obtains commission
from the King. His departure. Buildings that the
author makes in Quebec. Outcries against Sieur
de Monts.

LET us return and follow the second un-
dertaking of Sieur de Monts, who did not
lose courage at all, and did not wish to dally
in so good a course. The Reverend Fa-
ther Coton having refused to come to an
agreement with him about the 3,600 livres,
he spoke especially with me of his plans.
I gave him counsel, and advised him to go
to settle on the great River Saint Lawrence,
with which I was familiar through the voy-
age that I had made to it ;* and I gave him
a taste of the reasons why it was more ap-
propriate and convenient to inhabit that
place than any other. He resolved upon it ;
and with this end he spoke of it to His
Majesty, who agreed with him, and gave
him a commission to go to settle in the
country. And to enable him to sustain the
expense more easily, he interdicted the traf-

'In 1603. See below, vol. ii, pp. 151-229.
161

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

fie of furs to all his subjects for one year
only.2

For this purpose he had two ships
equipped at Honfleur and made me his
lieutenant in the country of New France
in the year 1608. Pont Grave started first
to go to Tadoussac, and I went after him
in a ship loaded with things necessary and
suitable for a settlement. God favored us
so fortunately that we arrived at the har-
bor of Tadoussac,3 on that river, at which
place I had all the goods unloaded, with
the men, laborers and artisans, to go up the
river to find a place convenient and suitable
for a settlement. When I had found the
narrowest place in the river, which the
natives call Quebec,4 I had a settlement
built and established there, and had the
ground cleared, and had some garden
plots made. But while we were working
with so much labor, let us see what
was going on in France with regard

'The commission is given in Voyages of Cham-
plain, II, 160-163; and in the original in Laver-
diere, Voyages, 1613, 136-137.

'June 3, 1608.

4Champlain omits here the incidents of the stay
at Tadoussac, of his exploration of the Saguenay
and of the voyage to Quebec. Cf. Voyages of
Cham plain, II, 164-175. Some of the details are
inserted below, p. 168, ff.

162

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

to the carrying out of this under-
taking.

Sieur de Monts had stayed in Paris, on
account of some affairs of his son; and,
while hoping that His Majesty would con-
tinue to allow him this commission, he had
not been long in peace when it was insisted
more than ever that he ought to go to the
Council. The Bretons, Basques, Rochelois
and Normans renewed the complaints;5
and, gaining the ears of those who wished
to befriend them, said that it was a people
that was concerned, that it was a public in-
terest. But it was not perceived that these
were envious people, who did not ask for
their own good, but rather for their ruin,
as will become evident in the sequel of this
narrative.

However that may have been, the com-
mission was revoked for the second time,
without any power to stop it. It would be
necessary, on this account, to return from
Quebec the next spring; so that he who
should put the most into it would lose the
most ; and this would, no doubt, be Sieur de
Monts, who wrote me what had taken place.
This gave me occasion to return to France
to view these commotions. The building re-
mained in the hands of Sieur de Monts, who

BL e., against De Monts's monopoly privileges.
I63

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

came to an agreement in regard to it with
his partners some time later. He, mean-
while, put it into the hands of a certain mer-
chant of La Rochelle, under stated condi-
tions, to serve them as a shelter where they
could deposit their merchandise and trade
with the savages. It was at that time that I
made the overture to the Reverend Father
Coton, for Madame de Guercheville,6 to see
if she wished to have it ; which could not be,
as I have said above, since the trade was
open until another commission should be
issued which should afford a better regula-
tion than in the past

I went to find Sieur de Monts, to whom
I explained all that had taken place in our
winter quarters, and what I had been able
to discover and learn of the conveniences
that one might hope for on the great River
St. Lawrence ; which was the occasion of
my seeing His Majesty, in order to give
him a special account, in which he took
great pleasure. Sieur de Monts, in the
meantime, carried away by a desire to keep
his hold on this matter at whatever cost,
at once did all that he could to have a new
commission. But those who envied him,
by means of favor at court, had so shaped
matters that his labor was in vain. Ob-
*See above, p. 158.

164

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

serving this, on account of the desire that
he had to see his lands peopled, he did not
give up wishing to continue the settlement,
even without a commission, and to have the
interior of the country up this river ex-
plored more in detail. And for the execu-
tion of this enterprise he united with the
Company to have some vessels equipped, as
did several others, to whom the traffic was
not interdicted, who followed in our foot-
steps and carried off the gain derived from
the pains of our labor, without having been
willing to contribute to the undertakings.

When the ships were ready, Pont Grave
and I set sail7 to make this voyage in the
year 1610, with artisans and other labor-
ers, and hindered by bad weather. Arriv-
ing at the harbor of Tadoussac,8 and at that
of Quebec, we found each one there in
good spirits.

Before going farther I have thought that
it would not be out of place to write a de-
scription of the great river, and of some
discoveries that I made up this St. Law-
rence River ; of its beauty and the fertility
of the country, and of what took place in
the wars against the Iroquois.9

'March 7- 'April 26.

"Champlain now goes back to the events of 1608
in Canada,

I65

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

Departure of the author, to go to settle the
great River St. Lawrence. Description of the
harbor of Tadoussac ; of the River Saguenay ; of
the Isle of Orleans.

AFTER having recounted to the late King
all that I had seen and discovered, I set
sail to go to settle the great River St.
Lawrence at Quebec, as the lieutenant, at
that time, of Sieur de Monts. I left Hon-
fleur April 13, 1608, and the third of June
arrived at Tadoussac,1 80 or 90 leagues from
Gaspe, and anchored in the roadstead of
Tadoussac, which is one league from the
harbor. This is like a cove at the mouth
of the River Saguenay, where there is a
tide that is very strange on account of
its swiftness. Here sometimes violent
winds rise and bring on great cold. It is
said that it is 45 or 50 leagues from the
harbor of Tadoussac to the first fall of this
river,2 which comes from the north north-
west. This harbor is small, and it could
not hold more than twenty ships. There
is enough water, and it lies in the shelter

'See above, p. 162.
'The Saguenay.

166

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

of the River Saguenay and of a little rocky
island which is almost intersected by the
sea. The rest is high mountains, where
there is little land, unless it be rocks and
sand covered with trees, such as firs and
birches. There is a little pond near the har-
bor enclosed by mountains covered with
trees. At the entrance of the harbor there
are two points, one on the southwest side
running out nearly a league into the sea,
which is called the Point aux Allouettes ;3
the other on the northwest side running out
an eighth of a league and called Rocky
Point.4 The winds from the south south-
east strike the harbor, but are not to be
feared, but the wind from the Saguenay
certainly is. The two points just mentioned
are dry at low tide.

In this place there were a number of sav-
ages who came there to trade in furs. Many
of them came to our ship with their canoes,
which are eight or nine feet long and about
a foot or a foot and a half wide in the mid-
dle, and diminish at both ends. They are
very apt to upset if one does not know well
how to manage them. They are made of
birch bark, strengthened inside with little
hoops of white cedar, very neatly arranged,

'Lark Point.

4Now called Pointe aux Vaches.
167

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

and they are so light that a man can easily
carry one of them. Each one can carry the
weight of a hogshead. When they wish to
cross the land, to go to some river where
they have business, they carry them with
them. From Choiiacoet5 all along the coast
as far as Tadoussac they are all alike.

I visited some places on the River Sa-
guenay, which is a beautiful river and very
deep, say from 80 to 100 fathoms. Fifty
leagues from the mouth of the harbor, it
is said, there is a great waterfall,6 which
comes from a very high place and with
great impetuosity. There are some very
barren islands in this river, being nothing
but rocks covered with small firs and
heather. The river is half a league wide
in some places and a quarter at its mouth,
where the current is so strong that it still
flows out when the tide is three-quarters
flood in the St. Lawrence. All the land
that I saw consisted of nothing but moun-
tains and promontories of rock, for the
most part covered with firs and birches —
a country very disagreeable from whatever
point of view; in short, it is a real desert

"The Saco River, Maine.

'Probably the falls of the Chicoutimi, 45 feet
high. The Chicoutimi empties into the Saguenay
about 95 miles above Tadoussjj
1 68

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

without inhabitants. When I went hunting
in the places that seemed to me the most
pleasant I found nothing but little birds like
swallows, and some river birds that come
there in summer. Except those there are
none at all, on account of the excessive cold
of that region. This river comes from the
northwest.7

The savages informed me that after pass-
ing the first rapid they pass eight others,
then go a day without finding any; and
then again they pass ten others and come
to a lake,8 which takes them three days. In
each day they can easily make ten leagues
going up stream. At the end of the lake
there are people who are nomads. There
are three rivers that empty into this lake.
One comes from the north, very near the
sea,9 where they said it was a great deal
colder than in their country ; the other two
come from other regions of the interior,
where there are tribes of savages who are
nomads and live by hunting only. This is
the region where our savages go to carry
the merchandise that we give them in ex-

TCf. the narrative of the voyage of 1603, vol. ii,
p. 175, below.

"Lake St. John.

'The Mistassini, by which the Indians went to
Hudson Bay. L.

169

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

change for the furs that they have, such as
beaver, marten, lynx and others, which are
there in great quantity and which they then
bring to our ships. These northern people
said to our men that they see the salt wa-
ter; and if that is true, as I think is cer-
tainly so, it cannot be anything but a gulf
which cuts into the land on the north.10
The savages said that it might be forty or
fifty days' journey from this sea on the
north to the harbor of Tadoussac, because
of the difficulty of the roads and rivers, and
because the country is very mountainous
and is covered with snow the greater part
of the year. This is a true statement of
what I learned of this stream. I have often
wished to make this discovery, but I have
not been able to do it without the savages,
who have been unwilling to have me or any
other of our men go with them. Neverthe-
less, they have promised me that I shall
go."

'"Hudson Bay.

"Champlain never had this opportunity. Hud-
son Bay was first approached from the land side
in 1662 by Radisson and Chouart, more commonly
called Grosseilliers, his landed title. Cf. S. E.
Dawson, The St. Lawrence, 323-325.

170

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

CHAPTER IV

Discovery of the Hare Island ; of the Island of
Coudres, and of the Falls of Montmorency.

I LEFT Tadoussac1 to go to Quebec, and
passed near an island which is called Hare
Island, about six leagues from this port. It
is two leagues from the land on the north
and nearly four leagues from the land on
the south. From Hare Island we went to a
little river which is dry at low tide, where
at some 700 to 800 paces inland there are
two waterfalls. We named it Salmon Riv-
er,2 on account of catching some there.
Running along the northern shore we came
to a point that projects into the sea, which
we named Cape Dauphin,3 three leagues
from Salmon River. From there we went
to a cape that we named Eagle Cape,* eight
leagues from Cape Dauphin. Between the
two there is a large bay, at the head of which
is a little river that dries up at low tide, and
we named it Flat River or Malle Baye.5

'June 30, 1608.
2It is now Black River. S.
3Cape Salmon.
4Goose Cape. S.

"The modern spelling is Malbaie ; part of it is
now named Murray Bay.

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

From Eagle Cape we went to the Isle aux
Coudres,6 a league distant and about a
league and a half long.7 It is somewhat
level and grows narrower at the ends. At
the western end there are some meadows
and rocky points, which project somewhat
into the river ; and on the southwest side
there are many reefs ; yet it is attractive,
on account of the woods that surround it.
It is distant about half a league from the
land on the north, where there is a little
river that comes from some distance in the
interior, which we named Riviere du Gouf-
fre,8 since abreast of it the tide runs with
extraordinary swiftness ; and, although it
looks calm, it is always much in motion,
its depth being very great; but the river
itself is shallow, and there are a great many
rocks at its mouth and all about it. From
the Isle aux Coudres we coasted along the
shore and reached a cape that we named
the Cap de Tourmente,9 which is seven

*The name is still in use. It means Hazel Isl-
and.

7The translation here follows Laverdiere's re-
construction of the text. Voyages, 1632; part I,

p. 134-

8The name is still in use. It means River of
the Whirlpool. S.

"Cape Tourmente, 1920 feet high. The name
means Tempest Cape.

172

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

leagues from it, and we called it that be-
cause, with ever so little wind, the water
rises as if it were high tide. In this place
the water begins to be fresh. From there
we went to the Island of Orleans, two
leagues, on the south side of which there
are a number of islands — low, covered with
trees and very pleasant, full of large mead-
ows and a great deal of game. Some of
these islands are, as far as I could judge,
two leagues long, and others a little more
or less. All about them there are a great
many rocks and shallows that are very dan-
gerous to cross. These are about two
leagues distant from the mainland on the
south. All this shore, both on the north
and on the south, from Tadoussac to the
Island of Orleans, is mountainous and the
soil is very poor, with nothing but pines,
firs and birches, and some very bad rocks;
and in the greater part of these places one
would not know how to go.

Then we skirted the Island of Orleans on
the south side, which is a league and a half
from the mainland, and on the north side
it is half a league. It is six leagues long
and one league wide, or a league and a half
in some places. It is very pleasant on the
north side, owing to the great extent of
woods and meadows; but the passage on
173

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

that side is very dangerous, because of the
great number of points and rocks between
the mainland and the island. There are a
great many beautiful oaks on the island,
and in some places nut trees, and on the
edges of the woods vines and other trees
such as we have in France.

This place is the beginning of the beau-
tiful and fertile country of the great river
and is 120 leagues from its mouth. At the
end of the island there is a torrent of wa-
ter from the north side, which I named the
Falls of Montmorency. It comes from a
lake which is about ten leagues in the in-
terior and it falls from a height of nearly 25
fathoms,10 above which the land is level
ami pleasant to look at, although inland
there are seen high mountains, which seem
to be from 15 to 20 leagues distant.

CHAPTER V

Arrival of the author at Quebec, where he made
his place of abode. Habits of the savages of that
country.

FROM the Island of Orleans to Quebec
it is one league. When I arrived there on

"The height of the falls is given as 265 feet in
Baedeker's Canada, p. 53.
174

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

July 31 I looked for a suitable place for
our buildings, but I could not find any
more convenient or better situated than the
point of Quebec, so called by the savages,
which is filled with nut trees and vines. I
immediately employed some of our work-
men in cutting them down, in order to put
our buildings there.2 Some I set to saw-
ing boards, some to digging a cellar and
making ditches, and others I sent to Ta-
doussac with the boat to get our supplies.
The first thing that we made was the store-
house in which to put our provisions un-
der cover, which was promptly finished
through the diligence of each one and the
care that I had of it. Near this place is a
pleasant river, where formerly Jacques Car-
tier passed the winter.3

While the ship-carpenters, the wood-

'1608.

2The spot was near "where the Champlain Mar-
ket now stands in the lower town of the present
city, and partly on the site now occupied by the
Church of Notre Dame des Victoires." S. E. Daw-
son, The St. Lawrence, 254.

'Champlain here omits the story of the conspir-
acy of the locksmith ; the description of the build-
ings and a discussion of the site of Cartier's win-
ter quarters in 1535, which he gave in his narra-
tive of 1613. Cf. Voyages of Champlain, II, i/6~
188; Laverdiere, Voyages, 1613, 148-161.

175

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

sawers and other workmen, worked on our
lodging I set all the others at clearing the
land about the building, in order to make
the garden-plots in which to sow grain and
seeds, to see how they would all turn out,
for the soil appeared very good.

Meanwhile a great many savages were in
cabins near us, fishing for eels, which be-
gin to come about September 15 and go
away on October 15. At this time all the
savages live on this manna and dry enough
of it to last through the winter to the month
of February, when the snow is about two
and a half feet deep, or three at the most.
And when the eels and other things that
they collect have been prepared they go to
hunt the beaver, which they do until the be-
ginning of January. They were not very
successful in the beaver hunt, for the wa-
ter was too high and the rivers had over-
flowed, as they told us. When their eels
give out they have recourse to hunting the
elk4 and other wild beasts, which they can
find, while waiting for the spring. At that
time I was able to supply them with sev-
eral things. I made a special study of their
customs.

All these people are so much in want that
sometimes they are driven to live on certain

*I. e., the moose.

176

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

kinds of shellfish and to eat their dogs and
the skins with which they protect them-
selves against the cold. If some one should
show them how to live and teach them how
to till the soil, and other things, they would
learn very easily, for there are a good many
of them who have good judgment and re-
ply intelligently to what is asked of them.
There is an evil tendency among them to
be revengeful, and to be great liars, and
one cannot rely upon them, except with
caution and when one is armed. They make
promises enough, but keep few of them,
most of them being without law, as far as I
could see, and, besides, full of false be-
liefs. I asked them what ceremonies they
employed in praying to their god ; they told
me that they made use of none, except that
each prayed in his heart as he wished. This
is why they have no law, and do not know
what it is to worship God and pray to Him,
but live like brute beasts ; but I think that
they would soon be converted to Christian-
ity if some people would settle among them
and cultivate their soil, which is what most
of them wish. They have among them some
savages whom they call Pilotois, who, they
believe, talk with the devil face to face, who
tells them what they must do, whether in
case of war or in regard to other matters;
177

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

and if he should command them to carry
out a certain enterprise they would obey his
command at once. They believe, also, that
all the dreams that they have are true;
and, in fact, there are a great many of them
who say that they have seen and dreamed
things which have come to pass or will take
place. But, to tell the truth about the mat-
ter, these are diabolical visions, which de-
ceive them and lead them astray. This is
all that I have been able to learn about
their brutish belief.

All these people are well-built, without
deformity, and are active. The women are
equally well-formed, plump, and of a tawny
complexion, because of certain pigments
which they put on which make them look
olive-colored. They are dressed in skins ;
a part of the body is covered, the rest is
naked ; but in winter they make up for it,
for they are dressed in good furs, like elk,
otter, beaver, bear, seal, deer and roe, which
they have in great quantity. In winter,
when there is a great deal of snow, they
make a sort of racquets, which are three or
four times as large as those in France,5
which they attach to their feet, and in this
way they can go in the snow without sink-
ing in ; without them they could not hunt

*I. e., the racquets used for tennis.
178

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

or go in many places. They have an odd
sort of marriage, namely: when a girl is
fourteen or fifteen years old, and she has
several suitors, she may associate with all
of them that she likes. Then at the end of
five or six years she makes her own choice
from them of a husband, and they live to-
gether to the end of their lives. But if, af-
ter living some time together, there are no
children, then the man may unmarry him-
self and take another wife, saying that his
own is good for nothing. Thus the girls
are freer thar the women.

After marriage they are chaste, and the
husbands are, for the most part, jealous.
They give presents to the fathers or rela-
tives of the girls whom they have married.
These are the ceremonies and ways that
they employ in their marriages.

As for their burials, when a man or a
woman dies, they dig a big grave, where
they put all the possessions that they had,
such as kettles, furs, axes, bows, arrows,
robes and other things ; then they put the
body in the grave and cover it with earth,
and put a great many large pieces of wood
on top, and one piece erect This they paint
red on the upper part They believe in the
immortality of the soul, and say that they
will be happy in other lands with their rela-
179

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

tives and friends who are dead. In the case
of captains and others in positions of au-
thority, they come, after the death, three
times a year for a celebration and dance,
and sing on the grave.

They are very timid and constantly fear
their enemies, and scarcely sleep at all wher-
ever they are, although I reassured them
every day as much as I could and advised
them to do as we do, namely : let some
watch while others sleep, and let each one
have his arms ready, like him who was on
guard ; and that they should not take dreams
for the truth, on which to rely. But these
teachings were of little use, and they said
that we understood better than they how to
protect ourselves against these things, and
that in time, if we should come to live in
their country, they would learn.

CHAPTER VI

Planting of vines at Quebec by the author. His
kindness to the poor savages.

ON the first of October I had wheat
planted, and on the fifteenth rye.

On the third of the month there was
180

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

white frost in some places, and the leaves
began to fall from the trees on the fifteenth.

On the twenty-fourth of the month I had
some native vines planted, which came on
very finely. But after I had left the settle-
ment, to come to France, they were all
spoiled from neglect, which was a great
grief to me on my return.

On November 18 there was a great snow-
fall, but it stayed only two days on the
ground.

On February 51 it snowed hard.

On the twentieth of the month we saw
some savages on the other side of the river,
begging us to come to their aid, but it was
beyond our power to do so, on account of
the great amount of drifting ice in the riv-
er. Hunger pressed these poor, miserable
creatures so hard that, not knowing what
to do, they resolved to die — men, women
and children — in the attempt to cross the
river, in the hope that they cherished that
I would come to their rescue in their ex-
treme want. Having then taken this reso-
lution, the men and women took their chil-
dren and got into their canoes, thinking to
reach our side through an opening in the
ice that the wind had made; but they were
scarcely in the middle of the river before

'1609.

181

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

their canoes were caught and broken into
a thousand pieces by the ice. They had the
presence of mind to throw themselves, with
their children, whom the women carried on
their backs, upon a large cake of ice. While
they were on it one could hear them cry-
ing out in such a way as to excite great
pity ; and they expected nothing but death.
But fortune so favored these poor wretches
that a big piece of ice struck so hard against
the side of the one upon which they were
that it threw them on the shore. When they
saw this favorable turn, they reached the
shore with as much joy as they had ever
had in doing so, in spite of the great hun-
ger from which they had suffered. They
came to our settlement looking so thin and
worn that they seemed like skeletons, most
of them not able to stand up. I was aston-
ished to see them and at the way in which
they had crossed, when I thought of how
feeble and weak they were. I had bread
and beans given to them, but they could not
wait for them to be cooked to eat them ;
and I loaned them some bark of trees to
cover their cabins. As they were making
their cabins they discovered a piece of car-
rion that I had thrown out nearly two
months before to attract foxes, of which
we caught black and red ones, like those in
182

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

France but having much more fur. This
carrion was a sow and a dog, which had
been exposed to the warm weather and the
cold. When the weather was growing mild
it smelled so strong that one could not stay
near it. Nevertheless, they lost no time in
seizing it and taking it to their cabin, where
they devoured it at once half-cooked, and
never did meat seem to taste better to them.
I sent two or three men to warn them that
they should not eat it, if they did not wish
to die. As they approached their cabin they
smelled such a stench of this half-warmed-
up carrion, of which each savage had a
piece in his hand, that they thought they
should vomit, and so they scarcely stopped
there at all. However, I did not fail to help
them as much as I could; but it was little,
considering their numbers, and in one
month they would have eaten up all our
provisions, if they could have got hold of
them, they are such gluttons. For when they
have food they do not keep anything in re-
serve, but make good cheer with it continu-
ally, day and night ; then afterward they die
of hunger.

They did another thing, besides, as
distressful as the first. I had had a dog
placed in the top of a tree, to allure mar-
tens and birds of prey. I took pleasure in
183

VOYA :;D EXPLORATIO:.

this, inasmuch as, ordinarily, this carrion
was set upon by them. These savages went
to the tree, and, since they were too weak
to climb it, cut it down and at once took
away the dog, which was nothing but skin
and bones, with the head tainted and smell-
ing bad; and it was at once devoured.

This is the pleasure that they have the
most often in winter. In summer they are
able to support themselves, and to get pro-
so as not to be attacked by such
me need, from the rivers, which are
full of fish, and from hunting birds and
wild animals. The soil is very fine and
good for cultivation, if only they would
take the trouble to sow Indian corn, as all
their neighbors do — the Algonquins, Hu-
rons and Iroquois — who are not assailed
with so cruel famines, because they know
how to provide against them by the care
and foresight that they exercise: with the
result that they live happily, compared with
these Montagnais, Canadians2 and Souri-
quois who live along the seacoast. The snow
and ice stay on the ground five months ;
that is, from the month of December until
toward the end of April, when it is almost

The name applied in Champlain's time to the
Indians along the St. Lawrence, below the Sa-
guenay. L.

184

:.!U£L DE CHAMPLAIX

all melted. From Tadoussac to Gaspe, Cape
Breton, Newfoundland and the Great Bay*
the snow and ice continue in most places
until the end . at which date some-

times the mouth of the great river is sealed
with ice; but at Quebec there is not any,
which shows a strange difference for 120
leagues of distance in longitude, for the
mouth of the river is at latitude 49°, 50° and
51**, and our settlement is in latitude 46^'.
As for the country, it is beautiful and pleas-
ant, and brings all sorts of grain and seeds
to maturity. There are all the kinds of
trees there that we have in our forests on
this side of the sea, and a great many fruits,
although they are wild, because they are not
cultivated; such as walnuts, cherries, plum
trees, vines, raspberries, strawberries, green
and red gooseberries and a good many other
little fruits which are rather good there.
There are also several kinds of good herbs
and roots. There are plenty of fish to catch
in the rivers, and there are a great many
meadows and an enormous quantit
game.

On the eighth of April at this season4
the snow was all melted and, nevertheless,

The part of the Gulf of St. Lawrence between
Labrador and Newfoundland,
'1600,

I85

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

the air was still pretty cold until into May,
when the trees began to put forth their
leaves.5

CHAPTER VII

Journey from Quebec to the Island of St.
Eloi, and the meeting that I had with some Al-
gonquin and Ochtaiguin savages.

WITH this purpose1 I departed on the
eighteenth of the month. The river begins
to widen here, sometimes to a league and
even a league and a half in some places.
The country becomes more and more beau-
tiful. The banks of the river are partly
hills and partly level land without rocks,
except a very few. As for the river, it is
dangerous in many places, because of sand-
bars and rocks, and is not good to sail in
without the lead in hand. The river is very
abundantly supplied with several sorts of

"Champlain omits here the account of the scur-
vy which he gave in the narrative of 1613. Cf.
Voyages of Chamflain, II, 197-200; Laverdiere,
Voyages, 1613, 170-172.

'That is, to explore the country of the Iroquois.
June 7 Champlain had left Quebec, to go to Ta-
doussac on business ; he now returned and is start-
ing from Quebec, June 18. See references in pre-
ceding note.

1 86

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

fish, not only such as we have on this side
of the sea, but others that we have not. The
country is all covered with large, high for-
ests of the same kinds of trees that we have
about our settlement. There are also many
vines and nut trees on the bank of the riv-
er and a great many little brooks and rivers
which are navigable only with canoes. We
passed near Point St. Croix.2 This point is
sandy. It projects a little into the river,
and is exposed to the northwest wind,
which beats upon it. There are some mead-
ows, but they are submerged every time
the tide is high. The tide falls nearly two
and a half fathoms. This passage is very
dangerous to go through, on account of the
quantity of rocks that lie across the river,
although there is a good channel which is
very crooked, where the river runs like a
mill-race, and one must take plenty of
time for the passage. This place has de-
ceived a great many people, who thought
that they could not go through it except at
high tide for lack of a channel, but we have
found the contrary. As for going down,
one can do it at low tide; but to go up
would be very difficult, unless there should
be a high wind, because of the great cur-
rent ; and so it is necessary to wait until
'Point Platon. Dawson, St. Lawrence, 236.
I87

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

the tide is one-third flood to pass, when the
current in the channel is 6, 8, 10, 12 and
15 fathoms deep.

Continuing our course we came to a river
which is very pleasant. It is nine leagues
from St. Croix and twenty-four from Que-
bec. We named it St. Mary's River.3 The
whole length of this river from St. Croix is
very beautiful.

Continuing our route I met two or three
hundred savages, who were in cabins near
a little island called St. Eloi, a league and
a half from St. Mary. We investigated
and found that they were some tribes of
savages called Ochateguins4 and Algon-
quins, who were going to Quebec, to assist
us in exploration of the countries of the
Iroquois, against whom they carry on mor-
tal combat, sparing nothing that belongs to
them.

After having recognized them I went
ashore to see them and asked who their
chief was. They told me that they had two
of them — one named Iroquet and the other
Ochasteguin, whom they pointed out to me
— and I went to their cabin, where they re-
ceived me well, according to their custom.
I began to explain to them the purpose of

'Now the Ste. Anne. L.
4The Hurons.

1 88

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

my journey, with which they were very
much pleased ; and, after talking of several
things, I withdrew. Some time afterward
they came to my shallop, where they made
me accept some skins, showing a good
many signs of pleasure, and then they re-
turned to land.

The next day the two chiefs came to find
me. Then they remained some time with-
out saying a word, meditating and smoking
constantly. After having thought it all
over, they began to harangue in a loud
voice all their companions who were on the
river bank, their arms in their hands, lis-
tening very attentively to what their chiefs
said to them, namely : that nearly ten moons
ago, as they reckoned, Iroquet's son had
seen me, and that I had given him a kind
reception, and that we desired to assist
them against their enemies, with whom
they had been at war for a long time, be-
cause of a great deal of cruelty that the
enemy had shown toward their tribe, on
the pretext of friendship; and that, having
always desired vengeance since that time,
they had asked all the savages on the bank
of the river to come to us, to form an alli-
ance with us, and that they never had seen
Christians, which had also induced them to
come to see us, and that I might do as I
189

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

wished with them and their companions ;
that they had no children with them, but
men who knew how to fight and were full
of courage, and who were familiar with the
country and the rivers in the country of the
Iroquois ; and that now they begged me to
return to our settlement, that they might
see our houses ; that after three days we
should return all together to the war, and
that for a sign of great friendship and joy
I should have muskets and arquebuses fired,
and that they would be very much pleased ;
which I did. They gave great cries of as-
tonishment, and especially those who never
had heard nor seen them before.

After I had heard them I replied to them
that to please them I should be very glad
to go back to our settlement, to give them
more pleasure, and that they might infer
that I had no other intention than to en-
gage in war, since I carried with me noth-
ing but arms, and not merchandise for bar-
ter, as they had been led to understand ;
that my desire was only to accomplish that
which I had promised them ; and that if I
had known of any one who had made evil
reports to them, I should regard such as
enemies more than they themselves did.
They told me that they did not believe any
of it, and that they had heard nothing said ;
190

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

but the contrary was true, for there were
some savages who told ours. I contented
myself in waiting for an opportunity to be
able to show them in reality something dif-
ferent from what they could have expected
of me.

CHAPTER VIII

Return to Quebec, and then continuation with
the savages to the Rapids of the River of the Iro-
quois.

THE next day we all set out together to
go to our settlement, where they enjoyed
themselves five or six days, which passed
in dances and festivities, because of the de-
sire that they felt that we should be in the
war.

Pont Grave came at once from Tadous-
sac with two little barks full of men, in
response to a letter in which I begged him
to come as promptly as he could.

When the savages saw him coming they
rejoiced more than before, especially as I
told them that he had given me some men
to assist them, and that perhaps we should
go together.

On the twenty-eighth of the month I left
191

Quebec, to assist the savages. On the first
of June1 we reached St. Croix, 15 leagues
from Quebec, with a shallop equipped with
all I needed.

I left St. Croix on June [July] 3, with
all the savages, and we passed the Trois
Rivieres,2 which is a very beautiful coun-
try, covered with a great many beautiful
trees. From this place to St. Croix it is 15
leagues. At the mouth of this river there
are six islands, of which three are very
small and the others from 1500 to 1600
paces long, very pleasant to look at; and
near Lake St. Peter, about two leagues up
the river, there is a small rapid, which
is not very difficult to pass. This place is
in latitude 46 degrees, less some minutes.
The savages of the country gave us to un-
derstand that some days' journey off there
is a lake through which the river passes.
The lake is ten days' journey long,3 and
then one passes some falls, and afterward
three or four more lakes five or six days'
journey long ; and at the end there are four
or five leagues by land and then one enters
directly into another lake, where the Sa-

*This should be July.

2The river is now the St. Maurice. The town
is Three Rivers. It is at the head of tidewater.
'Lake Ontario.

192

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

guenay has its principal source.* The sav-
ages come from this place to Tadoussac.
The Trois Rivieres is twenty days' journey
for the savages ; and they say that at the
end of this river there are some people who
are great hunters, without a fixed abode,
and that they can see the Northern Sea5 in
less than six days' journey. What little
land I have seen is sandy, rather high, with
hills crowded with pines and firs on the
river banks ; but about a quarter of a league
inland the woods are very beautiful and
open, and the country is level.

Continuing our route as far as the en-
trance to Lake St. Peter, which is a very
pleasant and level country, we crossed the
lake in 2, 3 and 4 fathoms of water. It
may be eight leagues long and four wide.
On the north side we saw a very pleasant
river extending some fifty leagues into the
interior ; and I named it St. Suzanne ;6 and
on the south side there are two of them,
one called Riviere du PontT and the other
Riviere de Gennes8 — which are very beauti-
ful and in a fine, fertile country. The water
is almost still in the lake, which is very full

*Champlain here fell into a misunderstanding of
what the Indians meant.

'Hudson Bay. "The River du Loup. L.

'The Nicolet. L. 8The Yamaska. L.

193

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

of fish. On the north side land can be seen
some 12 or 15 leagues from the lake, which
is rather mountainous. Having crossed the
lake we passed by a great number of islands
of different sizes, where there are a great
many nut trees and vines, and beautiful
meadows, with quantities of game and wild
animals, which come from the mainland to
these islands. The fish there are more plen-
tiful than in any other place in the river
that we have seen. From these islands we
went to the mouth of the River of the Iro-
quois,9 where we stayed two days and re-
freshed ourselves with good venison, birds
and fish, which the savages gave us. Here
there was some controversy among them on
the subject of the war, with the result that
there were only a certain number of them
who decided to go with me, and the others
returned to their country with their wives
and the merchandise that they had got in
trade.

Starting from the mouth of this river,
which is about 400 or 500 paces wide and
is very beautiful, running southward,10 we
reached a place which is in latitude 45°,
about 22 or 23 leagues from Trois Rivi-

*The Richelieu.

10The Richelieu runs north. Champlain, how-
ever, often speaks of the course of a river in this
194

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

eres. The whole river, from its mouth to
the first rapid,11 which is 15 leagues, is very
smooth and bordered with woods, as are
all the. other places named above, and of the
same varieties. There are nine or ten beau-
tiful islands before one reaches the first
rapid of the Iroquois, which are about a
league or a league and a half long, covered
with a quantity of oaks and nut trees. The
river is nearly half a league wide in some
places, and is very full of fish. We did not
find less than four feet of water. The en-
trance to the rapid is a sort of lake,12 into
which the water descends, which is about
three leagues in circumference, and there
are some meadows there where no savages
are settled, on account of the wars. There
is very little water at the rapid, which flows
with great swiftness, and there are a great
many rocks and stones, which prevent the
savages from going up by water; but in
returning they descend very well. All this
country is very level, full of forests, vines

way, saying that the course of a certain river goes
north when he means that one following up the
course would go north.

"The word "sault" is usually rendered "rapid"
or "rapids" in this translation when these words
would ordinarily be used by an English writer.

12Chambly Basin.

195

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

and nut trees. Up to this time no Chris-
tians had been as far as this place except
us, and we had a good deal of trouble get-
ting up the river with oars.

As soon as I had reached the rapids I
took five men and we went ashore to see if
we could get by this place, and we went
about a league and a half without seeing
any chance of it, unless we should venture
in water running with great rapidity, where
on both sides there were a great many
stones which are very dangerous, and where
the water was very shallow. The rapids
may be 600 feet wide. And when we saw
that it was impossible to cut the trees and
make a way, with the few men that I had,
I decided, by the advice of each of them, to
do something different from what we had
promised, inasmuch as the savages had as-
sured me that the roads were easy ; but we
found the contrary true, which I have al-
ready said, which was why we returned
from them to our shallop, where I had left
some men to guard it, and to tell the sav-
ages, when they should arrive, that we had
gone to explore along this rapid.

When we had seen what we wished to

of this place, as we were returning we met

some savages who had come to explore as

we had done. They told us that all their

196

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

companions had reached our shallop. There
we found them much pleased and satisfied
that we had gone in this way without a
guide, except for the reports that they had
several times given us.

Having come back, and having seen what
little chance there was of passing the rap-
ids with our shallop, I was troubled ; and I
was much disappointed to return without
having seen a large lake filled with beauti-
ful islands and a great deal of beautiful
country bordering the lakes, where their
enemies live, as they had represented it to
me. After thinking things over by myself,
I resolved to go there to fulfill my promise
and the desire that I felt, and I set out with
the savages in their canoes and took with
me two men who volunteered. For when
our men saw, in good earnest, that I in-
tended to go with their canoes, their hearts
failed them, which resulted in my sending
them back to Tadoussac.

I went directly to speak to the captains
of the savages, and gave them to under-
stand that they had told us the contrary to
what I had seen at the rapids, namely, that
it was beyond our power to go up it with the
shallop; nevertheless, that this would not
hinder me from aiding them as I had prom-
ised. This news saddened them very much,
197

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

and they wished to make another decision ;
but I told them and urged upon them that
they ought to hold to their first plan; and
that I, with two others, would go to the
war with them in their canoes, to show
them that, as for myself, I would not fail
to keep my word to them, although I
should be alone; and that, at that time, I
did mot wish to force any one of my com-
panions to embark except those who volun-
teered, of whom I had found two, that I
would take with me.

They were very much pleased at what I
told them, and at hearing the decision that
I had made, and they kept promising to
show me beautiful things.

CHAPTER IX

Departure from the rapids of the Iroquois Riv-
er. Description of a large lake. Of tke encoun-
ter with the enemy that we had at this lake, and
of the manner in which they attacked the Iro-
quois.

I LEFT these rapids of the Iroquois River
on July 2.1 All the savages began to carry

'This date in aH probability should be the I2th.
L.

198

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

their canoes, arms and baggage by land
about half a league, in order to get by the
swiftness and force of the rapids. This was
quickly accomplished.

Then they put them all in the water, and
two men in each boat, with their baggage ;
and they made one of the men from each
canoe go by land about a league and a half,
the length of the rapid, which is not so vio-
lent as at its mouth, except in certain places
where rocks obstruct the river, which is not
more than 300 or 400 paces wide. After we
had passed the rapid, which was not with-
out difficulty, all the savages who had gone
by land by a pretty good path and level
country, although there were a great many
trees, re-embarked in their canoes. My men
went by land, too, and I by water, in a
canoe. They had a review of all their men
and found that they had twenty- four ca-
noes, with sixty men in them. When they
had had their review, we continued on our
way as far as an island three leagues long,2
covered with the most beautiful pines that
I had ever seen. They hunted, and caught
some wild animals there. Going on farther,
about three leagues from there, we en-
camped, to rest that night.

Immediately they all began, some to cut

*Sainte-Therese. L.

199

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

wood, others to strip off the bark of trees
to cover their cabins, to provide shel-
ter for themselves ; others began to fell big
trees for a barricade on the bank of the
river about their cabins. They know so well
how to do this that in less than two hours
five hundred of their enemy would have had
a good deal of trouble to attack them with-
out losing a great many of their number.
They do not barricade the side toward the
river, where their canoes are drawn up, so
as to be able to embark, if occasion requires.

When they were lodged they sent three
canoes with nine good men, as is their cus-
tom in all their encampments, to reconnoi-
tre for two or three leagues, to see if they
can discover anything. Later these come
back. They sleep all night, relying upon the
exploration of these scouts, which is a very
bad custom among them; for sometimes
they are surprised while asleep by their ene-
mies, who knock them in the head before
they have a chance to get up to defend
themselves.

Being aware of that, I explained to them
the mistake that they were making, and told
them that they ought to watch, as they had
seen us do every night, and have men on the
lookout, to listen and see if they saw any-
thing; and that they should not live like
200

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

beasts. They told me that they could not
keep watch, and that they worked enough
by day in hunting; and, above all, when
they go to war, they divide their bands into
three parts, viz., one part to hunt, distribu-
ted in various places ; one to constitute the
main body, who are always under arms;
and the other part as scouts, to explore
along the rivers, to see if there is any mark
or sign to indicate that their enemies have
passed, or their friends. This they recog-
nize by certain marks that the chiefs of dif-
ferent tribes exchange. These are not al-
ways alike, and they inform themselves
from time to time when they are changed.
In this way they recognize whether those
who have passed are friends or enemies.
The hunters never hunt in advance of the
main body, or of the scouts, in order not
to cause alarm or disorder, but in the rear,
and in the direction where they do not ex-
pect their enemies ; and they continue thus
until they are two or three days' journey
from their enemies, when they go at night
by stealth, all in a body, except the scouts.
And by day they retire within the thickest
part of the woods, where they rest, without
wandering off, or making any noise, or
lighting any fire, even when necessary for
food, during this time, in order not to be
201

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

noticed if, by chance, their enemies should
pass. They do not make any fire, except
for smoking; and they eat Indian meal
cooked, which they soak in water, like por-
ridge. They preserve this meal for times
of need, and when they are near their ene-
mies, or when they are retreating after an
attack, they do not care to hunt, but retreat
at once.

In all their encampments they have their
Pilotois, or Ostemoy, a kind of persons who
act as soothsayers, in whom these people
believe. The soothsayer builds a cabin sur-
rounded by sticks of wood, and covers it
with his robe. When it is done he ensconces
himself inside in such a way that he cannot
be seen at all ; then he takes hold of one of
the posts of his cabin and shakes it, mutter-
ing some words between his teeth, by which
he says he invokes the devil, who appears
to him in the form of a stone and tells him
whether they will find their enemies and kill
many of them. This Pilotois lies flat on the
ground, motionless, only making believe to
speak to the devil ; then suddenly he rises
to his feet, talking and writhing in such a
way that, although he is naked, he is all in
a perspiration. All the people are about the
cabin, seated on their buttocks like mon-
keys. They told me often that the shaking
202

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

of the cabin that I saw was caused by the
devil and not by the man who was inside,
although I observed the contrary; for it
was (as I have already said) the Pilotois
who seized one of the props of the cabin
and made it move so. They also told me
that I should see fire come out of the top.
which I did not see at all. These rogues
also disguise their voices and make them
sound big and clear and speak in a language
that is unfamiliar to the other savages ; and
when they make it sound broken the sav-
ages believe that it is the devil who speaks,
and that he is saying what is to happen in
their war, and what they must do. Never-
theless, all these rascals who play sooth-
sayer do not speak two true words out of a
hundred and impose upon these poor folk,
like plenty of others in the world, in order
to get their living from the people. I often
admonished them that all that they did was
sheer folly, and that they ought not to put
faith in it.3

Now, after they have learned from their
soothsayers what is to happen to them, they
take as many sticks, a foot long, as they

""This mode of divination was universal among
the Algonquin tribes, and is not extinct to this
day among their roving Northern bands." Park-
man, Pioneers of New France, 344.
203

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

themselves number, and represent their
chiefs by others a little longer. Then they
go into the woods and clear a place five or
six feet square, where the chief, as field
sergeant, arranges all the sticks in the order
that seems good to him ; then he calls all
his companions, who all come armed, and
shows them the rank and order that they
are to keep when they fight with their ene-
mies. All the savages watch this attentively,
noticing the figure which their chief has
made with these sticks, and afterward they
retire and begin to arrange themselves as
they have seen these sticks, and then mingle
with one another, and return directly to
their order; continuing this two or three
times, and doing it at all their encamp-
ments, without needing a sergeant to make
them keep in their ranks, which they know
well how to keep, without getting into con-
fusion. This is the rule that they abide by
in their warfare.

We left the next day, continuing our
course in the river as far as the entrance to
the lake. In this there are many pretty isl-
ands, which are low, covered with very
beautiful woods and meadows, where there
is a quantity of game, and animals for hunt-
ing, such as stags, fallow-deer, fawns, roe-
bucks, bears and other animals which come
204

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

from the mainland to these islands. We
caught a great many of them. There are
also many beavers, not only in this river,
but in many other little ones which empty
into it. These places, although they are
pleasant, are not inhabited by any savages,
on account of their wars. They withdraw as
far as possible from the river into the in-
terior, in order not to be suddenly surprised.
The next day we entered the lake, which
is of great extent, perhaps 50 or 60 leagues
long.4 There I saw four beautiful islands
10, 12 and 15 leagues long,5 which formerly
had been inhabited by savages, like the
River of the Iroquois; but they had been
abandoned since they had been at war with
one another. There are also several rivers
which flow into the lake that are bordered
by many fine trees, of the same sorts that
we have in France, with a quantity of vines
more beautiful than any I had seen in any
other place; many chestnut trees, and I
have not seen any at all before, except on
the shores of the lake, where there is a great
abundance of fish of a good many varieties.
Among other kinds there is one called by

'Lake Champlain is about 90 miles long.

"These dimensions are overstated three-fold, S.
The islands were Isle la Motte, Long Island,
Grand Isle, and Valcour. L.
205

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

the savages Chaousarou,8 which is of vari-
ous lengths ; but the longest, as these people
told me, is eight or ten feet. I saw some of
them five feet long, as big as a man's thigh,
with a head as large as two fists, a snout
two and a half feet long, and a double row
of very sharp and dangerous teeth. Its
body is, in all respects, like that of the pike,
'•ut it is armed with scales so strong that a
» 1 agger could not pierce them, and it is sil-
ver grey in color. And the end of its snout
is like that of a pig. This fish fights all the
others in the lakes and rivers, and is won-
derfully cunning, to judge from what the
people have assured me, which is, that
when it wishes to catch certain birds, it goes
into the rushes or weeds which border the
lake in several places, and puts its snout
out of the water without moving at all, so
that when the birds come to light on its
snout, thinking that it is the trunk of a
tree, the fish is so skillful in closing its
snout, which had been half open, that it
draws the birds under the water by the feet.
The savages gave me a head of one of
them. They set great store by them, saying
that when they have a headache they
Weed themselves with the teeth of this

"The gar pike, or bony-scaled pike. See the note
in Voyages of Champlain, II, 216.
206

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

fish where the pain is, and it passes off
at once.

Continuing our course in this lake on the
west side I saw, as I was observing the
country, some very high mountains on the
east side, with snow on the top of them.7 I
inquired of the savages if these places were
inhabited. They told me that they were — by
the Iroquois — and that in these places there
were beautiful valleys and open stretches
fertile in grain, such as I had eaten in this
country, with a great many other fruits ; and
that the lake went near some mountains,
which were perhaps, as it seemed to me,
about fifteen leagues from us. I saw on the
south others not less high than the first,
but they had no snow at all.8 The savages
told me that it was there that we were to
go to find their enemies, and that these
mountains were thickly peopled. They also
said it was necessary to pass a rapid,9 which
I saw afterward, and from there to enter
another lake, three or four leagues long;10

'The Green Mountains. Mr. Slafter thinks
Champlain took outcroppings of white limestone
for snow. The Green Mountains would not have
snow on them in July, as they are only about 4000
feet high.

"The Adirondacks.

*The outlet of Lake George.

"Lake George.

207

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

and that when we had reached the end of
that it would be necessary to follow a trail
for four leagues, and to pass over a river11
which empties on the coast of the Almou-
chiquois,12 near the coast of Norumbegue ;13
and that it was only two days' journey by
their canoes, as I have [also] learned since
from some prisoners that we took, who de-
scribed to me very much in detail all that
they had found out themselves about the
matter through some Algonquin interpret-
ers who knew the Iroquois language.

Now, as we began to approach within
two or three days' journey of the home of
their enemies, we did not advance more,
except at night, and by day we rested. Nev-
ertheless, they did not omit, at any time, the
practice of their customary superstitions, to
find out how much of their undertakings
would succeed, and they often came to me
to ask if I had dreamed, and if I had seen
their enemies. I answered them "no," and
told them to be of good courage and to
keep up hope. When night came we pur-

J1The Hudson.

"The Massachusetts coast.

"Adopting Laverdiere's emendation founded on
the text of the 1613 narrative. The text of the
1632 narrative merely repeats Almouchiquois
twice.

208

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

sued our journey until daylight, when we
withdrew into the thickest part of the
woods and passed the rest of the day there.
About ten or eleven o'clock, after having
taken a little walk around our encampment,
I went to rest; and I dreamed that I saw
the Iroquois, our enemies, in the lake, near
a mountain, drowning within our sight ; and
when I wished to help them our savage al-
lies told me that we must let them all die,
and that they were worthless. When I woke
up they did not fail to ask me, as is their
custom, if I had dreamed anything. I told
them the substance of what I had dreamed.
This gave them so much faith that they no
longer doubted that good was to befall
them.

When evening came we embarked in our
canoes to continue on our way ; and, as we
were going along very quietly, and without
making any noise, on the twenty-ninth of
the month,14 we met the Iroquois at ten
o'clock at night at the end of a cape that
projects into the lake on the west side,15
and they were coming to war. We both be-
gan to make loud cries, each getting his
arms ready. We withdrew toward the wa-
ter and the Iroquois went ashore and ar-

"July 29, 1609.
"At Ticonderoga.

209

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

ranged their canoes in line, and began to
cut down trees with poor axes, which they
get in war sometimes, and also with others
of stone ; and they barricaded themselves
very well.

Our men also passed the whole night with
their canoes drawn up close together, fas-
tened to poles, so that they might not get
scattered, and might fight all together, if
there were need of it ; we were on the water
within arrow range of the side where their
barricades were.

When they were armed and in array, they
sent two canoes set apart from the others
to learn from their enemies if they wanted
to fight. They replied that they desired noth-
ing else ; but that, at the moment, there was
not much light and that they must wait for
the daylight to recognize each other, and
that as soon as the sun rose they would open
the battle. This was accepted by our men ;
and while we waited, the whole night was
passed in dances and songs, as much on one
side as on the other, with endless insults,
and other talk, such as the little courage
they had, their feebleness and inability to
make resistance against their arms, and that
when day came they should feel it to their
ruin. Our men also were not lacking in re-
tort, telling them that they should see such
210

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

power of arms as never before; and much
other talk, as is customary in the siege of a
city. After plenty of singing, dancing, and
parleying with one another, daylight came.
My companions and I remained concealed
for fear that the enemy should see us, pre-
paring our arms the best that we could,
separated, however, each in one of the ca-
noes of the Montagnais savages. After arm-
ing ourselves with light armor, each of us
took an arquebuse and went ashore. I saw
the enemy come out of their barricade,
nearly 200 men, strong and robust to look
at, coming slowly toward us with a dignity
and assurance that pleased me very much.
At their head there were three chiefs. Our
men also went forth in the same order, and
they told me that those who wore three
large plumes were the chiefs ; and that there
were only three of them ; and that they were
recognizable by these plumes, which were a
great deal larger than those of their com-
panions ; and that I should do all f could to
kill them. I promised them to do all in my
power, and said that I was very sorry that
they could not understand me well, so that
I might give order and system to their at-
tack of the enemy, in which case we should
undoubtedly destroy them all ; but that this
could not be remedied ; that I was very glad
211

AMD EXPLORATIONS

to encourags them and to show them the
good-will th::i i felt, when we should en-
gage in battle.

As soon as we were ashore they began
to run about 200 paces toward their enemy,
who were standing firmly and had not yet
noticed my companions, who went into the
woods with some savages. Our men began
to call me with loud cries ; and, to give me
a passageway, they divided into two parts
a;ul put me at their head, where I marched
about twenty paces in front of them until
I was thirty paces from the enemy. They
at once saw me and halted, looking at me,
and I at them. When I saw them making a
move to shoot at us, I rested my arque-
buse against my cheek and aimed directly
at one of the three chiefs. With the same
shot two of them fell to the ground, and one
of their companions, who was wounded and
afterward died. I put four balls into my
arquebuse. When our men saw this shot
so favorable for them, they began to make
cries so loud that one could not have heard
it thunder. Meanwhile the arrows did not
fail to fly from both sides. The Iroquois
were much astonished that two men had
been so quickly killed, although they were
provided with armor woven from cotton
thread and from wood, proof against their
212

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

. • , s

arrows. This alarmed them greatly. As I
was loading again, one of my companions
fired a shot from the woods, which aston-
ished them again to such a degree that, see-
ing their chiefs dead, they lost courage,
took to flight and abandoned the field and
their fort, fleeing into the depths of the
woods. Pursuing them thither I killed some
more of them. Our savages also killed sev-
eral of them and took ten or twelve of them
prisoners. The rest escaped with the
wounded. There were fifteen or sixteen of
our men wounded by arrow shots, who were
soon healed.

After we had gained the victory they
amused themselves by taking a great quan-
tity of Indian corn and meal from their ene-
mies, and also their arms, which they had
left in order to run better. And having
made good cheer, danced and sung, we re-
turned three hours afterward with the pris-
oners.

This place, where this charge was made,
is in latitude 43 degrees and some minutes,
and I named the lake Lake Champlain.

213

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

CHAPTER X

Return from the battle, and what happened on
the way.

AFTER going eight leagues, toward even-
ing they took one of the prisoners and
harangued him about the cruelties that he
and his people had inflicted on them, with-
out having any consideration for them ; and
said that similarly he ought to make up his
mind to receive as much. They commanded
him to sing, if he had any courage; which
he did, but it was a song very sad to hear.

Meanwhile our men lighted a fire, and
when it was blazing well, each one took a
brand and burned this poor wretch little by
little, to make him suffer greater torment.
Sometimes they stopped and threw water
on his back. Then they tore out his nails
and put the fire on the ends of his fingers
and on his privy member. Afterward they
flayed the top of his head and dripped on
top of it a kind of gum all hot; then they
pierced his arms near the wrists, and with
sticks pulled the sinews, and tore them out
by force ; and when they saw that they could
not get them, they cut them. This poor
214

wretch uttered strange cries, and I pitied
him when I saw him treated in this way;
and yet he showed such endurance that one
would have said that, at times, he 4id not
feel any pain.

They strongly urged me to take some fire
and do as they were doing, but I explained
to them that we did not use such cruelties
at all, and that we killed them at once, and
that if they wished me to fire a musket shot
at him I would do it gladly. They said
"no," and that he would not feel any pain.
I went away from them, distressed to see so
much cruelty as they were practising upon
this body. When they saw that I was not
pleased at it, they called me and told me to
fire a musket shot at him ; which I did with-
out his seeing it at all. After he was dead
they were not satisfied, for they opened his
belly and threw his entrails into the lake ;
then they cut off his head, his arms, and
his legs, which they scattered in different
directions, and kept the scalp, which they
had skinned off, as they had done with all
the others that they had killed in the battle.

They committed also another wickedness,
which was to take the heart, which they cut
into several pieces and gave to a brother of
his and others of his companions, who were
prisoners, to eat. They put it into their
215

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

mouths, but would not swallow it. Some
Algonquin savages, who were guarding
them, made some of them spit it out and
threw it into the water. This is how these
people treat those whom they capture in
war ; and it would be better for them to die
in fighting, or to kill themselves on the spur
of the moment, as there are many who do,
rather than fall into the hands of their ene-
mies. After this execution we resumed our
march to return with the rest of the pris-
oners, who always went along singing,
without any hope of being better treated
than the other. When we arrived at the
rapids of the River of the Iroquois,1 the
Algonquins returned to their country, and
also the Ochateguins2 with some of the pris-
oners. They were well pleased with what
had taken place in the war, and that I had
gone with them readily. So we separated
with great protestations of friendship, and
they asked me if I did not wish to go into
their country to aid them always as a
brother. I promised that I would do so,
and I returned with the Montagnais.

After informing myself, through the pris-
oners, about their country, and about how
large it might be, we packed up the bag-

'The Richelieu.
'Hurons.

2l6

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

gage to return; which we did with such
speed that every day we made 25 or 30
leagues in their canoes, which is the ordi-
nary rate.3 When we were at the mouth of
the River Iroquois, there were some of the
savages who dreamed that their enemies
were pursuing them. This dream at once
led them to move the camp, although the
night was very bad on account of winds
and rain; and they went to pass the night
among some high reeds, which are in Lake
St. Peter, until the next day. Two days
afterward we reached our settlement, where
I had them given bread, peas and beads,
which they asked me for to ornament the
heads4 of their enemies, in order to make

*This is an overstatement, unless it means with
a rapid current.

4Here, apparently in the sense of scalps. Cham-
plain uses "teste," "head," where we should ex-
pect "chevelure," which was used for "scalp" by
the later writers.

It is possible that he used the word (or form)
"test" which is recorded in Cotgrave's French and
English Dictionary, 1673, as meaning "the scalp
or skull of the head," and that the printer set it
up "teste." In Robert Sherwood's Dictionary
English and French, 1672, the definition of the
hairy scalp is: "Perecraine; tais, test, tests." In
James Howell's Lexicon Tetraglotton: An Eng-
lish-French-Italian-Spanish Dictionary, London,
1660. the definition is the same, except that the
second word is spelled "teste." There would be

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

merry on their arrival. The next day I
went with them in their canoes to Tadous-
sac, to see their ceremonies. As they ap-
proached the shore each one took a stick
with the heads of their enemies hung on
the ends, with these beads on them, singing
one and all. When they were near the
shore the women undressed entirely naked
and threw themselves into the water, going
in front of the canoes, to take the heads to
hang afterward to their necks, like a pre-
cious chain. Some days afterward they
made me a present of one of these heads
and of two sets of their enemies' weapons,
to preserve, in order to show them to the
King; which I promised to do, to give
them pleasure.

no need of discussing this point except for the
fact that Champlain's words might be taken as
evidence that the Canadian Indians beheaded
their captives, as was true of the New England
Indians.

On this question see "The Scalp Trophy," by
Francis C. Clark, The Magazine of History, Jan-
uary, 1906, 29-39, and February, 1906, 105-114.
That the Canadian Indians practiced scalping in
Cartier's time (1535) is proved by his remark,
"et nous fut par ledict Donnacona monstre les
peaulx de cinq testes d'homme estandus sur du
boys come paulx de pchermin" (Bref Recit.,
Tross ed., 29), and by Champlain's remark, p. 215,
above. His other references to scalping will be
found below, p. 225; vol. II, pp. 2, 31, 160.
218

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

CHAPTER XI

Defeat of the Iroquois near the mouth of this
River Iroquois.

IN the year 16m,1 when I had gone with
a bark and some men from Quebec to the
mouth of the River Iroquois, to wait for
400 savages, who were to join me, so that
I might aid them in another war, which
turned out to be more imminent than we
thought, an Algonquin savage in a canoe
came swiftly to warn me that the Algon-
quins had encountered the Iroquois, who
numbered one hundred, and that they were
well barricaded, and that it would be hard

'Champlain returned to France in the fall of
1609, setting out from Tadoussac Sept. 5 and ar-
riving at Honfleur Oct. 13. He had interviews
with De Monts and with the King, Henry IV,
and set out on his return from Honfleur March
7. He arrived at Tadoussac April 26. Two days
later he started for Quebec. A war party of
Montagnais soon appeared at Quebec and re-
minded Champlain of his promises of the previous
year. He kept his word, starting June 14, and in
this narrative takes up the thread at his arrival
at the mouth of the Richelieu. See Voyages of
Champlain, II, 227-238; Laverdiere, Voyages,

1613, 20O-2I2.

"219

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

to get the upper hand of them if the Misthi-
gosches (as they call us) did not come
promptly.

At once the alarm began among some of
the savages, and each one jumped into his
canoe with his arms. They were promptly
ready, but in confusion ; for they hurried
so, that, instead of advancing, they delayed
themselves. They came to our bark, beg-
ging me to go with them in their canoes,
and my companions also, and urged me so
hard that I embarked in one with four oth-
ers. I asked La Routte, who was our pilot,
to stay in the bark and send me four or five
more of my companions.

When we had gone about half a league
across the river, all the savages went ashore
and, abandoning their canoes, took their
shields, bows, arrows, clubs and swords,
which they fasten to the end of big sticks,
and began to run into the woods in such a
way that we soon lost them from view, and
they left us five without a guide. Never-
theless, we kept following them and went
about half a league into the thick woods,
into fens and marshes, always with water
to our knees, each armed with the corselet
of a pikeman, which was very burdensome.
Besides, there were quantities of mosquitoes
so thick that they scarcely allowed us to
220

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

catch our breath at all ; they persecuted us
so much and so cruelly that it was a strange
experience. Nor did we know where we
were until we noticed two savages crossing
the woods. We called them, and told them
that they must stay with us to guide us and
conduct us to where the Iroquois were, and
that otherwise we could not go there, and
we should lose our way. This they did.
After going a little way, we noticed a sav-
age coming swiftly to look for us, to have
us advance as quickly as possible. He gave
me to understand that the Algonquins and
the Montagnais had tried to force the bar-
ricade, and that they had been repulsed and
the best men of the Montagnais had been
killed and several others wounded. They
had withdrawn to wait for us, and their
hope was altogether in us. We had not
gone more than an eighth of a league with
this savage, who was the captain of the Al-
gonquins, when we heard the yells and cries
of both, calling one another names, and at
the same time skirmishing lightly while they
waited for us. As soon as the savages saw
us, they began to shout in such a way that
one would not have heard it thunder. I
ordered my companions to follow me all the
time, and not to separate from me at all. I
went near to the barricade of the enemy to
221

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

explore it. It was made of heavy trees set
close together in a circle, which is the usual
shape of their fortresses. All the Montag-
nais and Algonquins also approached this
barricade. Then we began to discharge a
great many musket shots through the foli-
a-v, since we could not see them as they
could us. I was wounded as I was shoot-
ing the first time into the side of their bar-
ricade, by an arrow shot which slit the end
of my ear and entered my neck. I took
hold of it and pulled it out ; it was barbed
on the end with a very sharp stone. An-
other of my companions was wounded at
the same time in the arm by another arrow,
which I pulled out for him. Nevertheless,
my wound did not prevent me from doing
my duty, nor our savages from doing their
part ; and likewise the enemy, to such a de-
gree that the arrows were seen flying from
one side and the other as thick as hail. The
Iroquois were astonished at the noise of our
muskets, and especially at the fact that the
balls pierced better than their arrows ; and
they were so frightened at the effect of
them, when they saw several of their com-
panions fall dead and wounded, that, on ac-
count of their fear, thinking these shots
could not be cured, they threw themselves
on the ground when they heard the noise ;

222

SAMUEL DE CHAM PLAIN

and we hardly missed a shot and fired two
or three balls at a time, and most of the
time we had our muskets resting on the
edge of their barricade. When I saw that
our ammunition was beginning to fail, I
said to all the savages that they must over-
come them by force and break their barri-
cade; and to do this they must take their
shields and cover themselves with them, and
thus get so near that ropes could be tied to
the posts which held them up, and then, by
main strength, they could pull hard enough
to throw them over, and by this means
make a big enough opening to get into their
fort ; and that, meanwhile, we would keep
back the enemy by musket shots when they
came out to stop our men; and also that a
certain number should go behind some big
trees that were near this barricade, in order
to throw them over on them to crush them ;
that others should protect them with their
shields, to prevent the enemy from injuring
them, which they did promptly. And as
they were about to accomplish it, the bark,
which was a league and a half from us,
heard us fighting, through the echo of our
muskets, which resounded as far off as they
were ; this led a young man from St. Malo,
full of courage, called Des Prairies, who
had his bark near us to trade in skins, to say
223

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

to all those who were there that it was a
great shame for them to see me fighting in
this way with the savages, without coming
to my aid, and that, for his part, he had too
much regard for his honor, and did not
wish any one to be able to reproach him in
this way, and thereupon he decided to come
to me in a shallop with some of his com-
panions, and of mine, whom he took with
him. As soon as he arrived he went toward
the fort of the Iroquois, which was on the
bank of the river. There he went ashore
and came to find me. When I saw him I
ordered the savages who were breaking
down the fortress, to stop, so that the new-
comers might have their part of the pleas-
ure. I begged Sieur des Prairies and his
companions to fire some salutes of the mus-
ket before our savages should take the ene-
my by storm, as they had decided to do ; this
they did, and they shot several times, each
one doing his duty. When they had shot
enough I addressed our savages and incited
them to complete the work. Immediately
approaching the barricade, as they had done
before, with us on their flank, to shoot at
any who should try to hinder the destruc-
tion, they bore themselves so well and so
valorously that, with the help of our mus-
kets, they made an opening in it, though it
224

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

was one hard to get through, since it was
the height of a man from the ground and
there were the branches of the trees that
had been felled, which were very trouble-
some. However, when I saw a sufficiently
practicable entrance, I gave orders not to
fire any more, which were obeyed. At the
same moment twenty or thirty, not only of
savages, but our men, went in, sword in
hand, scarcely meeting any resistance. At
once all who were sound began to flee, but
they did not go far, for they were cut down
by those who were around the barricade,
and those who escaped were drowned in the
river. We took fifteen prisoners and the
rest were killed by musket shots, by arrows
and by swords. When this was done there
came another shallop with some of our
companions in it, who were too late, al-
though in time enough to strip the booty.
This did not amount to much, for there
was nothing but robes of beaver on dead
bodies covered with blood, which the sav-
ages would not take the trouble to plunder,
and they laughed at those who did it, name-
ly, those in the last shallop. Having gained
the victory by the grace of God, they gave
us much praise.

These savages scalped the heads of their
dead enemies, as they are accustomed to do,
225

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

as a trophy of their victory, arid took them
away. They returned with fifty of their own
men wounded, and three of the Montagnais
and Algonquins dead, singing, their prison-
ers with them. They hung these heads2 on
sticks in front of their canoes, and a dead
body cut into quarters, to eat in revenge,3
as they said ; and they came in this way to
where our barks were, near the mouth of
the River of the Iroquois.

My companions and I set sail in a shal-
lop, where I had my wound dressed. I
asked the savages for an Iroquois prisoner,
whom they gave me. I saved him from a
good many tortures that he would have suf-
fered, such as they inflicted upon his com-
panions, whose nails they tore out, whose
fingers they cut off, and whom they burned
in many places. That day they killed three of
them in this way. They took others to the
edge of the water and fastened them all
erect to a stake, then each one came with a
torch of birch bark and burned him now in
one place, now in another; and these poor
wretches, when they felt the fire, shrieked
so loud that it was a strange thing to hear

"Here, meaning scalps.

*See Parkman's note, Pioneers of New France,
359, on ceremonial or superstitious cannibalism
among the Indians.

226

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

them. After making them suffer in this
way, they took some water and threw it
over their bodies, to make them suffer
more; then they applied the fire again in
such a way that the skin fell from their
bodies, and they continued to cry out
loudly and to exclaim, dancing until
these poor unfortunates fell dead on the
spot.

As soon as a body fell to the ground they
beat it with heavy blows of a stick, then
cut off the arms and legs and other parts
of it, and he was not regarded as a man of
importance among them who did not cut
off a piece of the flesh and give it to the
dogs. Nevertheless, all these tortures were
endured with such firmness that those who
look on are astonished.

As for the other prisoners who remained,
whether to the Algonquins or the Montag-
nais, they were kept to be killed by the
hands of their wives and daughters, who
in this do not show themselves any less in-
human than the men, and they even sur-
pass them in cruelty ; for, by their cunning,
they invent more cruel tortures and take
pleasure in making them end their lives
thus.

The next day Captain Iroquet arrived,
and another Ochateguin, who had eighty
227

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

men with him, and they were very sorry
not to have been at the defeat. Among all
these nations there were very nearly two
hundred men who never had seen Chris-
tians before, and they wondered at them
greatly.

We were together three days at an island
of the River of the Iroquois ; then each na-
tion returned to his own country. I had a
young fellow4 who had passed two winters
at Quebec, who had a wish to go with the
Algonquins to learn their language, get ac-
quainted with the country, see the great
lake, observe the rivers, and what people
inhabited it ; also to explore the mines and
the rarer things of this place, so that, on
his return, he could give us information
about all these things. I asked him if he
was agreeable to it, for it was not my wish
to force him to it. I went to find Captain
I roquet, who was very affectionate to me,
and asked him if he wished to take this
young fellow with him into his country, to
pass the winter, and bring him back in the
spring. He promised me to do it, and treat
him like his son. He told it to the Algon-

4Apparently Etienne Brule. Laverdiere, Voy-
ages, 1632, part I, 178. For Brule's later history
see C. W. Butterfield, Stephen Brule, Cleveland,
1898.

228

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

quins, who were not too pleased, for fear
some accident should befall him.

When I had shown them how much I
wished it, they said to me that since I had
that wish that they would take him and
treat him like a child of their own. They
obliged me also to take a young man in his
place to carry to France, in order to re-
port to them what he should see. I ac-
cepted the proposition gladly, and was very
much pleased with it. He was of the tribe
of the Ochateguins called Hurons. This
gave them the more reason for treating my
boy well, whom I provided with what lie
needed; and we promised one another to
meet again at the end of June.

Some days afterward this Iroquois pris-
oner, whom I had under guard, on account
of the excess of liberty that I allowed him,
got away and escaped, because of the fear
and terror that he felt, in spite of the as-
surances given him by a woman of his tribe,
whom we had at our settlement.

229

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS
CHAPTER XII

Description of whaling in New France.

Ix1 has seemed to me not inappropriate
to give here a short description of whale
fishing, which many people have not seen
and believe to be done by cannon shots,
since there are bold liars who affirm as
much to those who know nothing of it.
Many have obstinately maintained it to me,
on account of these false reports.

Those, then, who are most skillful in this
fishery are the Basques,2 who, for the pur-
pose, put their ships in a safe harbor, near
where they think there are a good many
whales, and fit out shallops manned by good
men and provided with lines, which are
small ropes made of the best hemp that can
be found, at least 150 fathoms long; and

'Champlain here omits the details of his return
to Quebec and of his leaving there Aug. 8 and
Tadoussac Aug. 13 for France. He takes up the
thread with this description of whaling. Cf. Voy-
ages of Champ lain, II, 249-252.

2The hardy sailors of the Basque provinces in
Spain had been engaged in fishing and whaling off
Newfoundland since the time of the Cabot voy-
ages.

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

they have a great many partisans as long as
a short pike, with the iron six inches wide.
Others are a foot and a half wide and two
feet long, very sharp. They have in each
shallop a harpooner, who is the most agile
and adroit man among them and draws the
biggest wages next to the masters, inas-
much as his is the most dangerous position.
As soon as this shallop is out of port, they
look in every direction, tacking from one
side to the other, to see if they can see and
discover a whale. If they do not see any-
thing, they go ashore and climb the highest
point that they can find, to get a farther
view. There they leave a man on the watch.
He descries the whale, which is discovered
both by its size and by the water that it
spurts from its blow-holes, more than a
hogshead at a time and to the height of
two lances; and by the amount of water
that it spurts they judge how much oil it
can yield. There are some from which they
draw as much as 120 barrels; from others
it is less.

Upon seeing this tremendous fish they
embark promptly in their shallops and, by
means of oars or the wind, proceed until
they are above him. Seeing him under wa-
ter, the harpooner at once goes to the prow
of the shallop and with a harpoon, which
231

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

is an iron two feet long and half a foot
wide at the barbs, attached to a stick as
long as a short pike, having in the middle
a hole to which the line is fastened ; and
as soon as the harpooner sees his opportu-
nity he throws his harpoon at the whale
and strikes him well in the front, and, at
once, when he feels the wound, he goes to
the bottom. And if by chance, in turning,
he strikes sometimes the shallop with his
tail, or the men, he breaks them like glass.
This is all the risk of being killed that they
run in harpooning. But as soon as they
have thrown the harpoon into him they pay
out their line until the whale is at the bot-
tom ; and, sometimes, as they do not go
down straight, they drag the shallop more
than eight or nine leagues, going as fast as
a horse ; and they are obliged more often
than not to cut their line, lest the whale
drag them under water. When it goes
straight to the bottom it stays there only a
little while and then returns very quietly to
the surface ; and as fast as it rises they take
in the line gently, and then, when he is at
the top, two or three shallops get around
him with partisans, with which they give
him several blows ; and when he feels the
blows he sounds again immediately, shed-
ding blood and growing so weak that he has

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

no strength nor vitality any more; and
when he rises again they succeed in killing
him. When he is dead he does not go to
the bottom again; and then they tie him
with stout ropes and drag him ashore to
the place where they do their trying out;
that is, where they have the fat of this
whale melted, to extract the oil from it.

This is the way in which they are caught,
and not by cannon shots, as many think, as
I have already said.

CHAPTER XIII

Departure of the author from Quebec. Mont
Royal and its cliffs. Islands where potter's clay
is found. Island of Ste. Helene.

IN the year I6U1 I took back my savage
to those of his tribe, who were to come
to Sault St. Louis,2 intending to get my

'Champlain arrived at Honfleur on his return
Sept. 27, 1610. On March I, 1611, he set sail from
Honfleur on his return to New France. He here
omits all details of the voyage, in particular the
experiences with icebergs, told at some length in
the earlier narrative. He reached Quebec May 21,
on his way to the Sault St. Louis. Cf. Voyages
of Champlain, III, 1-9.

2The Lachine Rapids.

233

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

servant whom they had as a hostage. I
left Quebec May 20 [21] and arrived at
these great rapids on the 28th, where I did
not find any savages, who had promised me
to be there on the 2Oth of the month. I
immediately went in a poor canoe with the
savage that I had taken to France and one
of our men. After having looked on all
sides, not only in the woods, but also along
the river bank, to find a suitable place for
the site of a settlement, and to prepare a
place in which to build, I went eight leagues
by land, along the rapids through the
woods, which are rather open, and as far
as a lake,3 where our savage took me. There
I contemplated the country very much in
detail. But in all that I saw I did not find
any place at all more suitable than a little
spot which is just where the barks and shal-
lops can come easily, either with a strong
wind or by a winding course, because of
the strength of the current. Above this
place (which we named La Place Royale),
a league from Mont Royal, there are a great
many little rocks and shoals, which are very
dangerous. And near this Place Royale
there is a little river running back a good
way into the interior, all along which there
are more than sixty acres of cleared land,
*The Lake of Two Mountains. L.
2.34

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

like meadows,4 where one might sow grain
and make gardens. Formerly savages tilled
there, but they abandoned them, on account
of the usual wars that they had there. There
are also a great number of other beautiful
meadows, to support as many cattle as one
wishes, and all the kinds of trees that we
have in our forests at home, with a great
many vines, walnuts,5 plum trees, cherries,
strawberries and other kinds which are very
good to eat. Among others there is one
very excellent, which has a sweet taste, re-
sembling that of plantains (which is a fruit
of the Indies), and is as white as snow,
with a leaf like that of the nettle, and run-
ning on trees or the ground, like ivy. Fish-
ing- is very good there, and there are all the
kinds that we have in France, and a great
many others that we do not have, which
are very good ; as is also game of different

4The place selected by Champlain is now called
Pointe a Callieres. "It is the centre of the present
city of Montreal. The Custom House now stands
upon the site he chose, and the Montreal ocean
steamships discharge their cargoes there. A lit-
tle river, now covered in and used for drainage,
fell in at that point, and on its banks were the
clearings cultivated by the Hochelagans of Car-
tier before the great war drove them westwards."
S. E. Dawson, The St. Lawrence, 262.

"Here, noyers probably describes butternuts.

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

kinds ; and hunting is good : stags, hinds,
does, caribous, rabbits, lynxes, bears, beav-
ers and other little animals which so abound
that while we were at these rapids we never
were without them.

After having made a careful exploration,
then, and found this place one of the most
beautiful on this river, I at once had the
woods cut down and cleared from this Place
Royale, to make it level and ready for build-
ing. Water can easily be made to flow
around it, making a little island of it, and
a settlement can be made there as one may
wish.

There is a little island twenty fathoms
from this Place Royale, which is about 100
paces long, where one could put up a good,
well-defended set of buildings. There are
also a great many meadows containing very
good potter's clay, whether for bricks or
to build with, which is a great convenience.
I had some of it worked up, and made a
wall of it four feet thick and from three to
four feet high and ten fathoms long, to see
how it would last through the winter when
the floods came down, which, in my opin-
ion, would not rise to this wall, although the
land is about twelve feet above that river,
which is quite high. In the middle of the
river there is an island about three-quarters
236

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

of a league in circumference, where a good*
and strong town could be built, and I
named it Isle de Ste. Helene.6 These rapids
descend into a sort of lake, where there are
two or three islands and some beautiful
meadows.

While waiting for the savages I had two-
gardens made : one in the meadows and the
other in the woods which I had cleared;
and the second day of June7 I sowed
some seeds in them, which came up
in perfect condition, and in a little
while, which showed the goodness of the
soil.

I resolved to send Savignon, our savage,
with another, to meet those of his country,
in order to make them come quickly ; and
they hesitated to go in our canoe, which
they distrusted, for it was not good for
much.

On the seventh8 I went to explore a little
river,9 by which sometimes the savages go
to war, which leads to the rapids of the

"Laverdiere suggests that this name occurred to
Champlain from his recent marriage with Helene
Boulle, the daughter of Nicolas Boulle, secretary
of the King's Chamber. Voyages, 1613, 245.

7i6ii.

"Of June.

"The River St. Lambert.

237

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

river of the Iroquois.10 It is very pleasant,
with meadows on it more than three leagues
in circumference, and a great deal of land
which could be tilled. It is one league from
the great rapids11 and a league and a half
from Place Royale.

On the ninth our savage arrived. He had
"been a little way beyond the lake,12 which
is about ten leagues long, that I have seen
before. He did not meet anything there,
and could not go any farther, because their
canoe gave out and they were obliged to
return. They reported to us that above the
rapids they saw an island where there were
so many herons that the air was filled with
them. There was a young man called Louis,
who was a great lover of hunting, who
when he heard that, wanted to go there to
satisfy his curiosity, and earnestly begged
our savage to take him there. This the sav-
age consented to do, with a Montagnais
chief, a very fine fellow, called Outetoucos.
In the morning this Louis went to call the
two savages, to go to this island of herons.

10The Richelieu. The route was up the St. Lam-
bert, then down the Montreal into Chambly
Basin, then up the Richelieu. L.

"The Sault St. Louis, familiar to the modern
tourist as the Lachine Rapids.

12The Lake of the Two Mountains.
238

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

They embarked in a canoe and went there.
This island is in the middle of the rapids.
There they took as many herons and other
birds as they wished and re-embarked in
their canoe. Outetoucos, against the wishes
of the other savage, and such pressure as
he could bring to bear, wished to pass
through a place that was very dangerous,
where the water falls nearly three feet, say-
ing that formerly he had gone that way,
which was false. He was a long time argu-
ing with our savage, who wished to take
him on the south side, along the mainland,
where they had been oftenest accustomed
to pass. Outetoucos did not want to do this,
saying that there was no danger at all.
When our savage saw that he was obstinate
he yielded to his wish ; but he told him that
at least they must empty out some of the
birds that were in the canoe, for it was
too heavily loaded, or they would cer-
tainly fill with water and be lost. This he
refused to do, saying that it would be time
enough when they saw that there was dan-
ger for them. So they let themselves go in
the current. When they reached the main
fall of the rapids, they wished to get out
of it and throw over their load ; but there
was no longer time, for the swiftness of the
water overmastered them and they were im-
239

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

mediately engulfed in the whirlpools of the
rapids, which turned them around a thou-
sand times, up and down, and did not re-
lease them for a long time. At last the vio-
lence of the water tired them out so much
that this poor Louis, who did not know any-
thing about swimming, lost his head, and as
the canoe was under water he had to let go
of it. When it came to the surface again
the two others, who kept holding on to it,
did not see our Louis any more, and so he
died miserably.

\\ hen they had got beyond this fall, Oute-
toucos, being naked and having confidence
in his power to swim, abandoned the canoe
to get to the land, but as the water there
was very swift he was drowned. For he
was so tired out and overcome by the labor
that he had had that it was impossible for
him to save himself.

Our savage, Savignon, being more cau-
tious, kept holding to the canoe firmly until
it was in an eddy whither the current had
carried it ; and knew so well how to act, in
spite of the effort and fatigue that he had
undergone, that he came very quietly to
land, where he threw the water out of the
canoe. He returned in great fear that
vengeance would be taken upon him,
as they do toward one another; and
240

he told us this story, which caused us
sorrow.

The next day I went in another canoe to
these rapids with this savage and another
of our men, to see the place where they
were lost, and also to try to recover their
bodies. I assure you that when he showed
me the spot my hair stood on end, and I
was astonished that the dead men had been
so rash and so lacking in sense as to pass
through so terrible a place when they could
go elsewhere ; for it was impossible to pass
there, for there are seven or eight falls
where the water goes down as by steps, the
lowest three feet high, and there is an ex-
traordinary seething and boiling. A part
of these rapids was all white with foam, and
the noise was so great when the air re-
sounded with the roar of the cataracts that
it sounded like thunder. After having seen
this place, and examined it in detail, we
searched along the river for these bodies,
while a rather light shallop was going on
the other side, and we returned without
finding them.

241

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

CHAPTER XIV

Two hundred savages return the Frenchman
who had been entrusted to them, and take back
the savage who had returned from France. Vari-
ous remarks by the author.

ON the 1 3th of this month1 two hundred
Huron savages, with the chiefs, Ochate-
guin, Iroquet, and Tregouaroti, brother of
our savage, brought back my lad. We were
very glad to see them, and I went to meet
them with a canoe and our savage. Mean-
time, they advanced quietly in order, our
men preparing to give them a salvo with the
arquebuses and some small pieces. As they
were approaching they began to shout all
together, and one of the chiefs commanded
their address to be made, in which they
praised us highly, calling us truthful, in
that I had kept my word to them, to come
to find them at these rapids. After they had
given three more shouts, a volley of mus-
ketry was fired twice, which astonished
them so much that they asked me to tell
them that there should not be any shooting,
saying that the greater number of them

'June 13, 1611.

242

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

never had seen Christians before, nor heard
thunderings of that sort, and that they
were afraid of its doing them harm. They
were very much pleased to see our savage
well, for they had supposed him dead, on
account of reports which some Algonquins
had made to them, who had heard it from
the Montagnais savages. The savage warm-
ly praised the good treatment that I had
given him in France, and the curious things
that he had seen there, at which he made
them all wonder : and they went away quiet-
ly enough to their cabins in the woods, to-
wait for the morning, when I should show
them the place where I wished them to
encamp. I also saw my lad, who was
dressed like a savage, and he also praised
the treatment of the savages, according to
the customs of their country ; and explained
to me all that he had seen in the winter,
and what he had learned from them.

When the next day came I showed them
a place for their cabins, with regard to
which the elders and leading men consulted
by themselves. And, after spending a \(>n^
time doing this, they had me called alone
with my servant, who had learned their
language very well, and they told him that
they desired to form a close friendship with
me, in view of the courtesy that I had
243

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

shown their in the past; and they again
praised the . e.itment that I had shown to
our savage as if he were a brother, and
said f'-.di rna'c put them under obligations to
wish ";e =-0 much good that all that I de-
sired of them they would try to provide me
with. After a good deal of discourse they
made me a present of one hundred beavers.
] gave them in exchange some other kinds
erchandise ; and they told me that there
v/ere more than four hundred savages who
were to come from their country, and that
what had detained them was an Iroquois
prisoner who belonged to me, who had es-
caped and had returned to his country.
He had given them to understand that I
had given him his liberty and some mer-
chandise, and that I was coming to the rap-
ids with six hundred Iroquois to wait for
the Algonquins and kill them all. The fear
occasioned by this news had stopped them,
and that but for that they would have come.
I told them that the prisoner had stolen
away without leave, and that our savage
knew well in what way he had gone, and
that there had been no thought of giving
up their friendship, as they had been told,
since we had gone to the war in company
with them, and had sent my lad into their
couatry to accept their friendship ; and that
244

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

this promise that I had kept so faithfully
to them confirmed this fact still more. They
replied that, as far as they were concerned,
they never had thought it so, and that they
understood well that all this talk was far
from the truth ; and that if they had thought
otherwise they would not have come; and
that it was the others who were afraid, as
a consequence of never having seen a
Frenchman, except my youth. They also
told me that three hundred Algonquins
were coming in five or six days, if we
wished to wait for them, to go to war with
them against the Iroquois, and that if I did
not go they would return without doing it.
I talked with them a great deal about the
source of the great river,2 and about their
country, concerning which they discoursed
in detail, not only with regard to the riv-
ers, falls, lakes and lands, but also the peo-
ples who inhabit it, and what is found there.
Four of them assured me that they had
seen a sea very remote from their country,
• and that the path thither was very difficult,
not only because of the wars, but also be-
cause of the wilderness that it is necessary
to cross in order to reach it. They also told
me that the preceding winter some savages
came from the region of Florida, beyond
'The St. Lawrence.

245

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

the country of the Iroquois, who lived in
sight of our ocean sea and were on friendly
terms with these savages. In fine, they gave
me very exact descriptions, showing me by
signs all the places where they had been,
taking pleasure in recounting all these
things to me; and I did not get tired of
listening to them, in order to find out from
them matters about which I had been un-
certain. When all this talk was over I told
them that they should trade off the few
commodities that they had ; which they did.
The next day, after having traded off all
that they had, which was little, they made
a barricade around their dwelling on the
side where the woods were, and said that
it was for their safety, in order to avoid
being surprised by the enemy; which we
took for gospel truth.3 When night came,
they called our savage, who was sleeping
on my despatch boat, and my servant, and
they went to them. After having talked
some time they had me called, too, about
midnight. When I came to their cabin I
found them all seated in council, and they

'Champlain explains, in his narrative of 1613,
that he discovered later that these Indians were
suspicious of the other Frenchmen and feared
they would be attacked. Voyages of Cham plain,
II, 23 and 26.

246

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

made me sit near them, saying that it was
their custom when they wished to make a
proposition to assemble at night, in order
not to be diverted by looking at things, and
that the daylight diverted the mind by
things ; but, in my opinion, they wished to
tell me their wishes in secret, having con-
fidence in me, as they have since given me
to understand, telling me that they wanted
very much to see me alone ; that some of
them had been beaten; that they were as
well disposed toward me as toward their
children, and had so much confidence in me
that they would do what I said, but that
they were very distrustful of other sav-
ages;4 that if I should return I might take
as many of their people as I wished, pro-
vided that they were under the leadership
of a chief ; and that they sent for me to as-
sure me further of their friendship, which
never should be broken, and to beg that I
should not be ill-disposed toward them;
that knowing that I had made up my mind
to see their country, they would show it to

4For des autres sauvagcs, the reading, to judge
from the more detailed account in the narrative
of 1613, should be either des autres, i. e., the
other Frenchmen, or des autres pataches, the other
boats, i. e., those belonging to the independent
French traders who had followed after Cham-
plain. Cf. Laverdiere, Voyages, 1613, 251, 257.

247

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

me at the risk of their lives, aiding me with
a goodly number of men who could go any-
where ; and that in the future we should ex-
pect the same from them that they did from
us. They at once sent for fifty beavers and
four of their shell necklaces5 (which they
value as we do chains of gold). These
presents, they said, were from the other
captains, who never had seen me, and that
they had sent them to me, and that they de-
sired to be my friends always, but that if
there were any Frenchmen who wished to
go with them they should be very glad, and
that they wished more than ever to main-
tain a firm friendship.

After much talk I proposed to them that,
since they were willing to show me their
country, I would ask His Majesty to aid
us with forty or fifty men equipped with
what was necessary for this journey, and
that I would embark with them, provided
that they supply us with what provisions
we should need during this journey; that
I would take something to them to make
presents with to the chiefs of the country
through which we should go, and that we
should return to pass the winter in our set-
tlement; that if I should find the country
to be good and fertile, several settlements

'Necklaces of wampum.
248

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

would be made there, and that by this
means we should have communication with
one another, living happily in the future in
the fear of God, whom they would be
taught to know.

They were much pleased with this propo-
sition, and asked me to shake hands on it,
saying that they, on their part, would do
all that they could to carry it out ; and that
as for provisions we should not lack for
them any more than they themselves ; and
they assured me once more that I should
be shown what I wished to see. Upon that
I took my leave of them at daybreak, thank-
ing them for their willingness to favor my
desire, and begging them always to con-
tinue to feel so.

The next day, the i/th of that month *
they decided to return and to take with
them Savignon, to whom I gave some trin-
kets. He gave me to understand that he
was going to lead a hard life in compari-
son with that which he had had in France.
So he went off with great regret, and I
was very glad to be relieved of him. Two
captains told me that in the morning of the
next day they would send to fetch me;
which they did. I and my servant embarked
with those who came. When we came to

"June 17, 1611.

249

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

the rapids we went some leagues into the
woods, where they were encamped on the
lake, where I had been before. When they
saw me they were very much pleased and
began to shout, according to their custom,
and our savage came to me to ask me to go
into his brother's cabin, where he at once
had meat and fish put over the fire to give
me a feast.

While I was there a feast was held, to
which all the leaders and I also were in-
vited. And although I had already had a
good meal, nevertheless, in order not to of-
fend against the custom of the country, I
went to it. After banqueting they went into
the woods to hold their council, and, mean-
while, I amused myself in looking at the
landscape, which is very pretty. Some time
afterward they sent for me, to tell me what
they had resolved upon among themselves.
I went to them with my servant. When I
had seated myself near them they told me
that they were glad to see me, and that I
had not failed to keep my word as to what
I had promised them ; and that they real-
ized my kind intentions more and more,
which were to keep up my friendship fur-
ther; and that before going away they
wished to take leave of me ; and that it
wowld have been very disappointing for
250

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

them if they had gone without seeing me
again; and that they thought that, in that
case, I should have been ill-disposed toward
them. They begged me again to give them
a man. I told them that if there was one
among us who desired to go with them, I
should be very glad of it.

After having made me understand their
good-will for the last time, and I mine to-
ward them, the case of a savage came up,
who had been a prisoner of the Iroquois
three times and had escaped very fortunate-
ly, and was resolved to go, with nine others,
to avenge the cruelties that his enemies had
made him suffer. All the captains begged
me to dissuade him if I could, inasmuch as
he was very brave, and they feared that if
he should advance so far into the enemy
with so small a force he never would re-
turn. I did so, to please them, by all the
reasons that I could urge, which were of
little effect upon him, as he showed me
some of his fingers cut off and great cuts
and burns on his body ; and he said that it
was impossible for him to live without kill-
ing his enemies and having his revenge;
and that his heart told him that he must
depart as soon as he could; which he
did.

When I had finished with them I begged
251

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

them to take me back in our despatch boat.
To do this they prepared eight canoes to
run the rapids, and stripped themselves
naked, and made me take off everything but
my shirt ; for often it happens that some are
lost in shooting the rapids; therefore, they
keep close to one another, to aid one an-
other promptly if a canoe should happen to
capsize. They said to me: "If by chance
yours should happen to turn over, as you
do not know how to swim, on no account
abandon it, but hold on to the little sticks
that are in the middle, for we will save you
easily." I assure you that those who have
not seen or passed this place in these little
boats that they have, could not pass it with-
out great fear, even the most self-possessed
persons in the world. But these people are
so skillful in shooting these rapids that it
is easy for them. I did it with them — a
thing that I never had done, nor had any
Christian, except my youth — and we came
to our barks, where I lodged a large num-
ber of them.

There was a young man among us who
decided to go with the Huron savages, who
live about 180 leagues from the rapids ; and
he went with Savignon's brother, who was
one of the captains, and he promised me to
show him all that he could.
252

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

The next day7 a number of Algonquin
savages came. They traded the little that
they had, and made me a special gift of
thirty beavers, for which I paid them. They
begged me to continue in my good feeling
toward them ; which I promised to do. They
talked to me very particularly in regard to
some explorations in the north, which could
be turned to use. And, in connection with
this, they told me that if there was one of
my companions who wished to go with
them, they would show him something that
I would be glad of, and that they would
treat him like one of their children. I prom-
ised them to give them a young fellow,8 and
they were very glad. When he left me to
go with them I gave him a detailed memo-
randum of things that he ought to observe
among them.

After they had traded the little that they
had, they separated into three groups — one
to go to war, one to go up by the rapids,
and the other by way of a small stream,
which empties into the great rapids — and
they set out on the i8th day of this month,"
and we also.

TJuly 12. The next day after Pont Grave started
for Tadoussac. Voyages of Champlain, III, 31.

'Probably Nicolas de Vignau, L. For Vignau
see below, vol. II, pp. i and 33, ff.

•July 18, 1611

253

VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

On the i Qth I arrived at Quebec, where
I decided to return to France, and I reached
La Rochelle on the nth of August10

"According to the narrative of 1613 Champlain
left Tadoussac Aug. 11 and reached La Rochelle
Sept. 16. Voyages of Champlain, III, 34. Soon
after his arrival in France Champlain nearly lost
his life by a fall from a horse. For the further
details of his stay there see vol. II, 43, ff.

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