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Title: The Founder of New France
A Chronicle of Champlain
Author: Charles W. Colby
Release Date: October 15, 2009 [EBook #30257]
Language: English
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FOUNDER OF NEW FRANCE ***
Produced by Al Haines
[Frontispiece: THE ORDER OF GOOD CHEER--PORT ROYAL, 1606-7. From a
colour drawing by C. W. Jefferys]
THE FOUNDER OF
NEW FRANCE
A Chronicle of Champlain
BY
CHARLES W. COLBY
TORONTO
GLASGOW, BROOK & COMPANY
1915
Copyright in all Countries subscribing to
the Berne Contention
{v}
CONTENTS
Page
I. CHAMPLAIN'S EARLY YEARS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
II. CHAMPLAIN IN ACADIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
III. CHAMPLAIN AT QUEBEC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
IV. CHAMPLAIN IN THE WILDERNESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
V. CHAMPLAIN'S LAST YEARS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
VI. CHAMPLAIN'S WRITINGS AND CHARACTER . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
{vii}
ILLUSTRATIONS
THE ORDER OF GOOD CHEER--PORT ROYAL, 1606-7 . . . . _Frontispiece_
From a colour drawing by C. W. Jefferys.
PORTRAIT OF CHAMPLAIN ASCRIBED TO MONCORNET.
(See Bibliographical Note, p. 154) . . . . . . . _Facing page_ 4
From Laverdière's 'Champlain' in M'Gill
University Library.
COASTS EXPLORED BY CHAMPLAIN, 1604-7 . . . . . . . . " 36
Map by Bartholomew.
CHAMPLAIN'S DRAWING OF THE HABITATION AT QUEBEC . . " 64
From Laverdière's 'Champlain' in M'Gill
University Library.
HENRI DE BOURBON, PRINCE DE CONDÉ,
VICEROY OF NEW FRANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . " 74
From Laverdière's 'Champlain' in M'Gill
University Library.
THE DISCOVERY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN, 1609 . . . . . . . " 86
From a drawing by J. D. Kelly in the Château
de Ramezay, Montreal.
CHAMPLAIN'S ROUTE, 1615-16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . " 106
Map by Bartholomew.
{1}
CHAPTER I
CHAMPLAIN'S EARLY YEARS
Were there a Who's Who in History its chronicle of Champlain's life and
deeds would run as follows:
Champlain, Samuel de. Explorer, geographer, and colonizer. Born in
1567 at Brouage, a village on the Bay of Biscay. Belonged by parentage
to the lesser gentry of Saintonge. In boyhood became imbued with a
love of the sea, but also served as a soldier in the Wars of the
League. Though an enthusiastic Catholic, was loyal to Henry of
Navarre. On the Peace of Vervins (1598) returned to the sea, visiting
the Spanish West Indies and Mexico. Between 1601 and 1603 wrote his
first book--the _Bref Discours_. In 1603 made his first voyage to the
St Lawrence, which he ascended as far as the Lachine Rapids. From 1604
to 1607 was actively engaged in the attempt of De Monts to establish a
French colony in Acadia, at the same time exploring the seaboard from
Cape Breton to Martha's Vineyard. Returned to the St Lawrence in 1608
and founded Quebec. In 1609 discovered Lake Champlain, and fought his
first battle with the Iroquois. In 1613 ascended the Ottawa to a point
{2} above Lac Coulange. In 1615 reached Georgian Bay and was induced
to accompany the Hurons, with their allies, on an unsuccessful
expedition into the country of the Iroquois. From 1617 to 1629
occupied chiefly in efforts to strengthen the colony at Quebec and
promote trade on the lower St Lawrence. Taken a captive to London by
Kirke in 1629 upon the surrender of Quebec, but after its recession to
France returned (1633) and remained in Canada until his death, on
Christmas Day 1635. Published several important narratives describing
his explorations and adventures. An intrepid pioneer and the revered
founder of New France.
Into some such terms as these would the writer of a biographical
dictionary crowd his notice of Champlain's career, so replete with
danger and daring, with the excitement of sailing among the uncharted
islands of Penobscot Bay, of watching the sun descend below the waves
of Lake Huron, of attacking the Iroquois in their palisaded stronghold,
of seeing English cannon levelled upon the houses of Quebec. It is not
from a biographical dictionary that one can gain true knowledge of
Champlain, into whose experience were crowded so many novel sights and
whose soul was tested, year after year, by the ever-varying perils of
the wilderness. No life, it is true, can be fitly sketched in a
chronological {3} abridgment, but history abounds with lives which,
while important, do not exact from a biographer the kind of detail that
for the actions of Champlain becomes priceless. Kant and Hegel were
both great forces in human thought, yet throughout eighty years Kant
was tethered to the little town of Königsberg, and Hegel did not know
what the French were doing in Jena the day after there had been fought
just outside a battle which smote Prussia to her knees. The deeds of
such men are their thoughts, their books, and these do not make a
story. The life of Champlain is all story. The part of it which
belongs to the Wars of the League is lost to us from want of records.
But fortunately we possess in his _Voyages_ the plain, direct narrative
of his exploits in America--a source from which all must draw who would
know him well.
The method to be pursued in this book is not that of the critical
essay. Nor will these pages give an account of Champlain's times with
reference to ordinances regulating the fur trade, or to the policy of
French kings and their ministers towards emigration. Such subjects
must be touched on, but here it will be only incidentally. What may be
taken to concern us is the spirited action of {4} Champlain's middle
life--the period which lies between his first voyage to the St Lawrence
and his return from the land of the Onondagas. Not that he had ended
his work in 1616. The unflagging efforts which he continued to put
forth on behalf of the starving colony at Quebec demand all praise.
But the years during which he was incessantly engaged in exploration
show him at the height of his powers, with health still unimpaired by
exposure and with a soul that courted the unknown. Moreover, this is
the period for which we have his own narrative in fullest detail.
[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF CHAMPLAIN ASCRIBED TO MONCORNET
(See Bibliographical Note, P. 154)
From Laverdière's _Champlain_ in M'Gill University Library]
Even were we seeking to set down every known fact regarding Champlain's
early life, the task would not be long. Parkman, in referring to his
origin, styles him 'a Catholic gentleman,' with not even a footnote
regarding his parentage.[1] Dionne, in a biography {5} of nearly three
hundred pages, does indeed mention the names of his father and mother,
but dismisses his first twenty years in twenty lines, which say little
more than that he learned letters and religion from the parish priest
and a love of the sea from his father. Nor is it easy to enlarge these
statements unless one chooses to make guesses as to whether or not
Champlain's parents were Huguenots because he was called Samuel, a
favourite name with French Protestants. And this question is not worth
discussion, since no one has, or can, cast a doubt upon the sincerity
of his own devotion to the Catholic faith.
In short, Champlain by birth was neither a peasant nor a noble, but
issued from a middle-class family; and his eyes turned towards the sea
because his father was a mariner dwelling in the small seaport of
Brouage.
Thus when a boy Champlain doubtless had lessons in navigation, but he
did not become a sailor in the larger sense until he had first {6} been
a soldier. His youth fell in the midst of the Catholic Revival, when
the Church of Rome, having for fifty years been sore beset by Lutherans
and Calvinists, began to display a reserve strength which enabled her
to reclaim from them a large part of the ground she had lost. But this
result was not gained without the bitterest and most envenomed
struggle. If doctrinal divergence had quickened human hatreds before
the Council of Trent, it drove them to fury during the thirty years
that followed. At the time of the Massacre of St Bartholomew Champlain
was five years old. He was seventeen when William the Silent was
assassinated; twenty when Mary Stuart was executed at Fotheringay;
twenty-one when the Spanish Armada sailed against England and when the
Guises were murdered at Blois by order of Henry III; twenty-two when
Henry III himself fell under the dagger of Jacques Clement. The bare
enumeration of these events shows that Champlain was nurtured in an age
of blood and iron rather than amid those humanitarian sentiments which
prevail in an age of religious toleration.
Finding his country a camp, or rather two camps, he became a soldier,
and fought for ten {7} years in the wretched strife to which both
Leaguers and Huguenots so often sacrificed their love of country. With
Henry of Valois, Henry of Navarre, and Henry of Guise as personal foes
and political rivals, it was hard to know where the right line of faith
and loyalty lay; but Champlain was both a Catholic and a king's man,
for whom all things issued well when Henry of Navarre ceased to be a
heretic, giving France peace and a throne. It is unfortunate that the
details of these adventurous years in Champlain's early manhood should
be lost. Unassisted by wealth or rank, he served so well as to win
recognition from the king himself, but beyond the names of his
commanders (D'Aumont, St Luc, and Brissac) there is little to show the
nature of his exploits.[2] In any case, these ten years of campaigning
were a good school for one who afterwards was to look death in the face
a thousand times amidst the icebergs of the North Atlantic, and off the
rocky coast of Acadia, and in the forests of the Iroquois.
With such parentage and early experiences as have been indicated
Champlain entered upon his career in the New World. It is {8}
characteristic that he did not leave the army until his services were
no longer needed. At the age of thirty-one he was fortunate enough to
be freed from fighting against his own countrymen. In 1598 was signed
the Peace of Vervins by which the enemies of Henry IV, both Leaguers
and Spaniards, acknowledged their defeat. To France the close of
fratricidal strife came as a happy release. To Champlain it meant also
the dawn of a career. Hastening to the coast, he began the long series
of voyages which was to occupy the remainder of his life. Indeed, the
sea and what lay beyond it were henceforth to be his life.
The sea, however, did not at once lead Champlain to New France.
Provençal, his uncle, held high employment in the Spanish fleet, and
through his assistance Champlain embarked at Blavet in Brittany for
Cadiz, convoying Spanish soldiers who had served with the League in
France. After three months at Seville he secured a Spanish commission
as captain of a ship sailing for the West Indies. Under this
appointment it was his duty to attend Don Francisco Colombo, who with
an armada of twenty galleons sailed in January 1599 to protect Porto
Rico from the English. In the maritime strife of Spain {9} and England
this expedition has no part that remains memorable. For Champlain it
meant a first command at sea and a first glimpse of America.
The record of this voyage was an incident of no less importance in
Champlain's fortunes than the voyage itself. His cruisings in the
Spanish Main gave him material for a little book, the _Bref Discours_;
and the _Bref Discours_ in turn advanced his career. Apart from any
effect which it may have had in securing for him the title of
Geographer to the King, it shows his own aspiration to be a geographer.
Navigation can be regarded either as a science or a trade. For
Champlain it was plainly a science, demanding care in observation and
faithfulness of narrative. The _Bref Discours_ was written immediately
upon his return from the West Indies, while the events it describes
were still fresh in mind. Appearing at a time when colonial secrets
were carefully guarded, it gave France a glimpse of Spanish America
from French eyes. For us it preserves Champlain's impressions of
Mexico, Panama, and the Antilles. For Champlain himself it was a
profession of faith, a statement that he had entered upon the
honourable occupation of navigator; in other words, that {10} he was to
be classed neither with ship-captains nor with traders, but with
explorers and authors.
It was in March 1601 that Champlain reached France on his return from
the West Indies. The next two years he spent at home, occupied partly
with the composition of his _Bref Discours_ and partly with the quest
of suitable employment. His avowed preference for the sea and the
reputation which he had already gained as a navigator left no doubt as
to the sphere of his future activities, but though eager to explore
some portion of America on behalf of the French crown, the question of
ways and means presented many difficulties. Chief among these was the
fickleness of the king. Henry IV had great political intelligence, and
moreover desired, in general, to befriend those who had proved loyal
during his doubtful days. His political sagacity should have led him
to see the value of colonial expansion, and his willingness to advance
faithful followers should have brought Champlain something better than
his pension and the title of Geographer. But the problems of France
were intricate, and what most appealed to the judgment of Henry was the
need of domestic reorganization after a {11} generation of slaughter
which had left the land desolate. Hence, despite momentary impulses to
vie with Spain and England in oversea expansion, he kept to the path of
caution, avoiding any expenditure for colonies which could be made a
drain upon the treasury, and leaving individual pioneers to bear the
cost of planting his flag in new lands. In friendship likewise his
good impulses were subject to the vagaries of a mercurial temperament
and a marked willingness to follow the line of least resistance. In
the circumstances it is not strange that Champlain remained two years
ashore.
The man to whom he owed most at this juncture was Aymar de Chastes.
Though Champlain had served the king faithfully, his youth and birth
prevented him from doing more than belongs to the duty of a subaltern.
But De Chastes, as governor of Dieppe, at a time when the League seemed
everywhere triumphant, gave Henry aid which proved to be the means of
raising him from the dust. It was a critical event for Champlain that
early in 1603 De Chastes had determined to fit out an expedition to
Canada. Piety and patriotism seem to have been his dominant motives,
but an opening for profit was also {12} offered by a monopoly of the
Laurentian fur trade. During the civil wars Champlain's strength of
character had become known at first hand to De Chastes, who both liked
and admired him. Then, just at the right moment, he reached
Fontainebleau, with his good record as a soldier and the added prestige
which had come to him from his successful voyage to the West Indies.
He and De Chastes concluded an agreement, the king's assent was
specially given, and in the early spring of 1603 the founder of New
France began his first voyage to the St Lawrence.
Champlain was now definitely committed to the task of gaining for
France a foothold in North America. This was to be his steady purpose,
whether fortune frowned or smiled. At times circumstances seemed
favourable; at other times they were most disheartening. Hence, if we
are to understand his life and character, we must consider, however
briefly, the conditions under which he worked.
It cannot be said that Champlain was born out of his right time. His
active years coincide with the most important, most exciting period in
the colonial movement. At the outset Spain had gone beyond all rivals
in the {13} race for the spoils of America. The first stage was marked
by unexampled and spectacular profits. The bullion which flowed from
Mexico and Peru was won by brutal cruelty to native races, but Europe
accepted it as wealth poured forth in profusion from the mines. Thus
the first conception of a colony was that of a marvellous
treasure-house where gold and silver lay piled up awaiting the arrival
of a Cortez or a Pizarro.
Unhappily disillusion followed. Within two generations from the time
of Columbus it became clear that America did not yield bonanza to every
adventurer. Yet throughout the sixteenth century there survived the
dream of riches to be quickly gained. Wherever the European landed in
America he looked first of all for mines, as Frobisher did on the
unpromising shores of Labrador. The precious metals proving illusive,
his next recourse was to trade. Hawkins sought his profit from slaves.
The French bought furs from the Indians at Tadoussac. Gosnold brought
back from Cape Cod a mixed cargo of sassafras and cedar.
But wealth from the mines and profits from a coasting trade were only a
lure to the cupidity of Europe. Real colonies, {14} containing the
germ of a nation, could not be based on such foundations. Coligny saw
this, and conceived of America as a new home for the French race.
Raleigh, the most versatile of the Elizabethans, lavished his wealth on
the patriotic endeavour to make Virginia a strong and self-supporting
community. 'I shall yet live to see it an English nation,' he
wrote--at the very moment when Champlain was first dreaming of the St
Lawrence. Coligny and Raleigh were both constructive statesmen. The
one was murdered before he could found such a colony as his thought
presaged: the other perished on the scaffold, though not before he had
sowed the seed of an American empire. For Raleigh was the first to
teach that agriculture, not mines, is the true basis of a colony. In
itself his colony on Roanoke Island was a failure, but the idea of
Roanoke was Raleigh's greatest legacy to the English race.
With the dawn of the seventeenth century events came thick and fast.
It was a time when the maritime states of Western Europe were all
keenly interested in America, without having any clear idea of the
problem. Raleigh, the one man who had a grasp of the situation,
entered upon his tragic imprisonment in the {15} same year that
Champlain made his first voyage to the St Lawrence. But while thought
was confused and policy unsettled, action could no longer be postponed.
The one fact which England, France, and Holland could not neglect was
that to the north of Florida no European colony existed on the American
coast. Urging each of these states to establish settlements in a tract
so vast and untenanted was the double desire to possess and to prevent
one's neighbour from possessing. On the other hand, caution raised
doubts as to the balance of cost and gain. The governments were ready
to accept the glory and advantage, if private persons were prepared to
take the risk. Individual speculators, very conscious of the risk,
demanded a monopoly of trade before agreeing to plant a colony. But
this caused new difficulty. The moment a monopoly was granted,
unlicensed traders raised an outcry and upbraided the government for
injustice.
Such were the problems upon the successful or unsuccessful solution of
which depended enormous national interests, and each country faced them
according to its institutions, rulers, and racial genius. It only
needs a table of events to show how fully the English, the {16} French,
and the Dutch realized that something must be done. In 1600 Pierre
Chauvin landed sixteen French colonists at Tadoussac. On his return in
1601 he found that they had taken refuge with the Indians. In 1602
Gosnold, sailing from Falmouth, skirted the coast of Norumbega from
Casco Bay to Cuttyhunk. In 1603 the ships of De Chastes, with
Champlain aboard, spent the summer in the St Lawrence; while during the
same season Martin Pring took a cargo of sassafras in Massachusetts
Bay. From 1604 to 1607 the French under De Monts, Poutrincourt, and
Champlain were actively engaged in the attempt to colonize Acadia. But
they were not alone in setting up claims to this region. In 1605
Waymouth, sailing from Dartmouth, explored the mouth of the Kennebec
and carried away five natives. In 1606 James I granted patents to the
London Company and the Plymouth Company which, by their terms, ran
athwart the grant of Henry IV to De Monts. In the same year Sir
Ferdinando Gorges sent Pring once more to Norumbega. In 1607 Raleigh,
Gilbert, and George Popham made a small settlement at the mouth of the
Sagadhoc, where Popham died during the winter. As a result of his
death this colony {17} on the coast of Maine was abandoned, but 1607
also saw the memorable founding of Jamestown in Virginia. Equally
celebrated is Champlain's founding of Quebec in 1608. In 1609 the
Dutch under an English captain, Henry Hudson, had their first glimpse
of Manhattan.
This catalogue of voyages shows that an impulse existed which
governments could not ignore. The colonial movement was far from being
a dominant interest with Henry IV or James I, but when their subjects
saw fit to embark upon it privately, the crown was compelled to take
cognizance of their acts and frame regulations. 'Go, and let whatever
good may, come of it!' exclaimed Robert de Baudricourt as Joan of Arc
rode forth from Vaucouleurs to liberate France. In much the same
spirit Henry IV saw De Monts set sail for Acadia. The king would
contribute nothing from the public purse or from his own. Sully, his
prime minister, vigorously opposed colonizing because he wished to
concentrate effort upon domestic improvements. He believed, in the
second place, that there was no hope of creating a successful colony
north of the fortieth parallel. Thirdly, he was in the pay of the
Dutch.
{18}
The most that Henry IV would do for French pioneers in America was to
give them a monopoly of trade in return for an undertaking to transport
and establish colonists. In each case where a monopoly was granted the
number of colonists was specified. As for their quality, convicts
could be taken if more eligible candidates were not forthcoming. The
sixty unfortunates landed by La Roche on Sable Island in 1598 were all
convicts or sturdy vagrants. Five years later only eleven were left
alive.
For the story of Champlain it is not necessary to touch upon the
relations of the French government with traders at a date earlier than
1599. Immediately following the failure of La Roche's second
expedition, Pierre Chauvin of Honfleur secured a monopoly which covered
the Laurentian fur trade for ten years. The condition was that he
should convey to Canada fifty colonists a year throughout the full
period of his grant. So far from carrying out this agreement either in
spirit or letter, he shirked it without compunction. After three years
the monopoly was withdrawn, less on the ground that he had failed to
fulfil his contract than from an outcry on the part of merchants who
desired their share of the trade. To {19} adjudicate between Chauvin
and his rivals in St Malo and Rouen a commission was appointed at the
close of 1602. Its members were De Chastes, governor of Dieppe, and
the Sieur de la Cour, first president of the Parlement of Normandy. On
their recommendation the terms of the monopoly were so modified as to
admit to a share in the privilege certain leading merchants of Rouen
and St Malo, who, however, must pay their due share in the expenses of
colonizing. Before the ships sailed in 1603 Chauvin had died, and De
Chastes at once took his place as the central figure in the group of
those to whom a new monopoly had just been conceded.[3]
We are now on the threshold of Champlain's career, but only on the
threshold. The {20} voyage of 1603, while full of prophecy and
presenting features of much interest, lacks the arduous and
constructive quality which was to mark his greater explorations. In
1603 the two boats equipped by De Chastes were under the command of
Pontgravé[4] and Prevert, both mariners from St Malo. Champlain sailed
in Pontgravé's ship and was, in fact, a superior type of supercargo.
De Chastes desired that his expedition should be self-supporting, and
the purchase of furs was never left out of sight. At the same time,
his purpose was undoubtedly wider than profit, and Champlain
represented the extra-commercial motive. While Pontgravé was trading
with the Indians, Champlain, as the geographer, was collecting
information about their character, their customs, and their country.
Their religious ideas interested him much, and also their statements
regarding the interior of the continent. Such data as he could collect
between the end of May and the middle of August he embodied in a book
called _Des Sauvages_, which, true to its title, deals {21} chiefly
with Indian life and is a valuable record, although in many regards
superseded by the more detailed writings of the Jesuits.
The voyage of 1603 added nothing material to what had been made known
by Jacques Cartier and the fur traders about Canada. Champlain
ascended the St Lawrence to the Sault St Louis[5] and made two side
excursions--one taking him rather less than forty miles up the Saguenay
and the other up the Richelieu to the rapid at St Ours. He also
visited Gaspé, passed the Isle Percée, had his first glimpse of the
Baie des Chaleurs, and returned to Havre with a good cargo of furs. On
the whole, it was a profitable and satisfactory voyage. Though it
added little to geographical knowledge, it confirmed the belief that
money could be made in the fur trade, and the word brought back
concerning the Great Lakes of the interior was more distinct than had
before been reported. The one misfortune of the expedition was that
its author, De Chastes, did not live to see its success. He had died
less than a month before his ships reached Havre.
[1] It is hard to define Champlain's social status in a single word.
Parkman, besides styling him 'a Catholic gentleman,' speaks of him
elsewhere as being 'within the pale of the noblesse.' On the other
hand, the _Biographie Saintongeoise_ says that he came from a family of
fishermen. The most important facts would seem to be these. In
Champlain's own marriage contract his father is styled 'Antoine de
Champlain, Capitaine de la Marine.' The same document styles Champlain
himself 'Samuel de Champlain.' A petition in which he asks for a
continuation of his pension (_circ._ 1630) styles him in its opening
words 'Le Sieur de Champlain' and afterwards 'le dit sieur Champlain'
in two places, while in six places it styles him 'le dit sieur de
Champlain.' Le Jeune calls him 'Monsieur de Champlain.' It is clear
that he was not a noble. It is also clear that he possessed sufficient
social standing to warrant the use of _de_. On the title-page of all
his books after 1604 he is styled the 'Sieur de Champlain.'
[2] He served chiefly in Brittany against the Spanish allies of the
League, and reached the rank of quartermaster.
[3] The history of all the companies formed during these years for
trade in New France is the same. First a monopoly is granted under
circumstances ostensibly most favourable to the Government and to the
privileged merchants; then follow the howls of the excluded traders,
the lack of good voluntary colonists, the transportation to the colony
of a few beggars, criminals, or unpromising labourers; a drain on the
company's funds in maintaining these during the long winter; a steady
decrease in the number taken out; at length no attempt to fulfil this
condition of the monopoly; the anger of the Government when made aware
of the facts; and finally the sudden repeal of the monopoly several
years before its legal termination.--H. P. Biggar, _Early Trading
Companies of New France_, p. 49.
[4] François Gravé, Sieur du Pont, whose name, strictly speaking, is
Dupont-Gravé, one of the most active French navigators of the
seventeenth century. From 1600 to 1629 his voyages to the St Lawrence
and Acadia were incessant.
[5] Now called the Lachine Rapids. An extremely important point in the
history of New France, since it marked the head of ship navigation on
the St Lawrence. Constantly mentioned in the writings of Champlain's
period.
{22}
CHAPTER II
CHAMPLAIN IN ACADIA[1]
The early settlements of the French in America were divided into two
zones by the Gulf of St Lawrence. Considered from the standpoint of
colonization, this great body of water has a double aspect. In the
main it was a vestibule to the vast region which extended westward from
Gaspé to Lake Michigan and thence to the Mississippi. But while a
highway it was also a barrier, cutting off Acadia from the main route
that led to the heart of the interior. Port Royal, on the Bay of
Fundy, was one centre and Quebec another. Between them stretched
either an impenetrable wilderness or an inland sea. Hence Acadia
remained separate from the Laurentian {23} valley, which was the heart
of Canada--although Acadia and Canada combined to form New France. Of
these two sister districts Canada was the more secure. The fate of
Acadia shows how much less vulnerable to English attack were Quebec,
Three Rivers, and Montreal than the seaboard settlements of Port Royal,
Grand Pré, and Louisbourg.
It is a striking fact that Champlain had helped to found Port Royal
before he founded Quebec. He was not the pioneer of Acadian
colonization: De Monts deserves the praise of turning the first sod.
But Champlain was a leading figure in the hard fight at St Croix and
Port Royal; he it was who first charted in any detail the Atlantic
seaboard from Cape Breton to Cape Cod; and his narrative joins with
that of Lescarbot to preserve the story of the episode.
Although unprosperous, the first attempt of the French to colonize
Acadia is among the bright deeds of their colonial history. While the
death of De Chastes was most inopportune, the future of the French race
in America did not hinge upon any one man. In 1603 fishing on the
Grand Bank off Newfoundland was a well-established occupation of
Normans and Bretons, the fur trade held out hope of great {24} profit,
and the spirit of national emulation supplied a motive which was
stronger still. Hence it is not surprising that to De Chastes there at
once succeeds De Monts.
As regards position they belonged to much the same class. Both were
men of standing, with enough capital and influence to organize an
expedition. In respect, however, of personality and circumstance there
were differences. By reason of advanced age De Chastes had been unable
to accompany his ships, whereas De Monts was in his prime and had
already made a voyage to the St Lawrence. Moreover, De Monts was a
Huguenot. A generation later no Huguenot could have expected to
receive a monopoly of the fur trade and a royal commission authorizing
him to establish settlements, but Henry IV, who had once been a
Protestant, could hardly treat his old co-religionists as Richelieu
afterwards treated them. The heresy of its founder was a source of
weakness to the first French colony in Acadia, yet through a Calvinist
it came into being.
Like De Chastes, De Monts had associates who joined with him to supply
the necessary funds, though in 1604 the investment was greater than on
any previous occasion, and a {25} larger number were admitted to the
benefits of the monopoly. Not only did St Malo and Rouen secure
recognition, but La Rochelle and St Jean de Luz were given a chance to
participate. De Monts' company had a capital of 90,000 livres, divided
in shares--of which two-fifths were allotted to St Malo, two-fifths to
La Rochelle and St Jean de Luz conjointly, and the remainder to Rouen.
The personal investment of De Monts was somewhat more than a tenth of
the total, as he took a majority of the stock which fell to Rouen.
Apart from Sully's unfriendliness, the chief initial difficulty arose
over religion. The Parlement of Normandy refused to register De Monts'
commission on the ground that the conversion of the heathen could not
fitly be left to a heretic. This remonstrance was only withdrawn after
the king had undertaken to place the religious instruction of the
Indians in the charge of priests--a promise which did not prevent the
Protestant colonists from having their own pastor. The monopoly
contained wider privileges than before, including both Acadia and the
St Lawrence. At the same time, the obligation to colonize became more
exacting, since the minimum number of new settlers per annum was raised
from fifty to a hundred.
{26}
Champlain's own statement regarding the motive of De Monts' expedition
is that it lay in the desire 'to find a northerly route to China, in
order to facilitate commerce with the Orientals.' After reciting a
list of explorations which began with John Cabot and had continued at
intervals during the next century, he continues: 'So many voyages and
discoveries without results, and attended with so much hardship and
expense, have caused us French in late years to attempt a permanent
settlement in those lands which we call New France, in the hope of thus
realizing more easily this object; since the voyage in search of the
desired passage commences on the other side of the ocean and is made
along the coast of this region.'
A comparison of the words just quoted with the text of De Monts'
commission will serve to illustrate the strength of Champlain's
geographical instinct. The commission begins with a somewhat
stereotyped reference to the conversion of the heathen, after which it
descants upon commerce, colonies, and mines. The supplementary
commission to De Monts from Montmorency as Lord High Admiral adds a
further consideration, namely, that if Acadia is not occupied by the
French it will {27} be seized upon by some other nation. Not a word of
the route to the East occurs in either commission, and De Monts is
limited in the powers granted to a region extending along the American
seaboard from the fortieth parallel to the forty-sixth, with as much of
the interior 'as he is able to explore and colonize.'
This shows that, while the objects of the expedition were commercial
and political, Champlain's imagination was kindled by the prospect of
finding the long-sought passage to China. To his mind a French colony
in America is a stepping-stone, a base of operations for the great
quest. De Monts himself doubtless sought honour, adventure, and
profit--the profit which might arise from possessing Acadia and
controlling the fur trade in 'the river of Canada.' Champlain remains
the geographer, and his chief contribution to the Acadian enterprise
will be found in that part of his _Voyages_ which describes his study
of the coast-line southward from Cape Breton to Malabar.
But whether considered from the standpoint of exploration or
settlement, the first chapter of French annals in Acadia is a fine
incident. Champlain has left the greatest fame, but he was not alone
during these years {28} of peril and hardship. With him are grouped De
Monts, Poutrincourt, Lescarbot, Pontgravé, and Louis Hébert, all men of
capacity and enterprise, whose part in this valiant enterprise lent it
a dignity which it has never since lost. As yet no English colony had
been established in America. Under his commission De Monts could have
selected for the site of his settlement either New York or Providence
or Boston or Portland. The efforts of the French in America from 1604
to 1607 are signalized by the character of their loaders, the nature of
their opportunity, and the special causes which prevented them from
taking possession of Norumbega.[2]
De Monts lacked neither courage nor persistence. His battle against
heartbreaking disappointments shows him to have been a pioneer of high
order. And with him sailed in 1604 Jean de Biencourt, Seigneur de
Poutrincourt, whose ancestors had been illustrious in {29} Picardy for
five hundred years. Champlain made a third, joining the expedition as
geographer rather than shipmaster. Lescarbot and Hébert came two years
later.
The company left Havre in two ships--on March 7, 1604, according to
Champlain, or just a month later, according to Lescarbot. Although De
Monts' commission gave him the usual privilege of impressing convicts,
the personnel of his band was far above the average. Champlain's
statement is that it comprised about one hundred and twenty artisans,
and there were also 'a large number of gentlemen, of whom not a few
were of noble birth.' Besides the excitement provided by icebergs, the
arguments of priest and pastor diversified the voyage, even to the
point of scandal. After crossing the Grand Bank in safety they were
nearly wrecked off Sable Island, but succeeded in reaching the Acadian
coast on May 8. From their landfall at Cap de la Hève they skirted the
coast-line to Port Mouton, confiscating _en route_ a ship which was
buying furs in defiance of De Monts' monopoly.
Rabbits and other game were found in abundance at Port Mouton, but the
spot proved quite unfit for settlement, and on May 19 De Monts charged
Champlain with {30} the task of exploring the coast in search of
harbours. Taking a barque of eight tons and a crew of ten men
(together with Ralleau, De Monts' secretary), Champlain set out upon
this important reconnaissance. Fish, game, good soil, good timber,
minerals, and safe anchorage were all objects of search. Skirting the
south-western corner of Nova Scotia, the little ship passed Cape Sable
and the Tusquet Islands, turned into the Bay of Fundy, and advanced to
a point somewhat beyond the north end of Long Island. Champlain gives
at considerable length the details of his first excursion along the
Acadian seaboard. In his zeal for discovery he caused those left at
Port Mouton both inconvenience and anxiety. Lescarbot says, with a
touch of sharpness: 'Champlain was such a time away on this expedition
that when deliberating about their return [to France] they thought of
leaving him behind.' Champlain's own statement is that at Port Mouton
'Sieur de Monts was awaiting us from day to day, thinking only of our
long stay and whether some accident had not befallen us.'
De Monts' position at Port Mouton was indeed difficult. By changing
his course in mid-ocean he had missed rendezvous with the {31} larger
of his two ships, which under the command of Pontgravé looked for him
in vain from Canseau to the Bay of Islands. Meanwhile, at Port Mouton
provisions were running low, save for rabbits, which could not be
expected to last for ever. The more timid raised doubts and spoke of
France, but De Monts and Poutrincourt both said they would rather die
than go back. In this mood the party continued to hunt rabbits, to
search the coast north-easterly for Pontgravé, and to await Champlain's
return. Their courage had its reward. Pontgravé's ship was found, De
Monts revictualled, Champlain reappeared, and by the middle of June the
little band of colonists was ready to proceed.
As De Monts heads south-west from Port Mouton it is difficult to avoid
thoughts regarding the ultimate destiny of France in the New World.
This was the predestined moment. The Wars of Religion had ended in the
reunion of the realm under a strong and popular king. The French
nation was conscious of its greatness, and seemed ready for any
undertaking that promised honour or advantage. The Huguenots were a
sect whose members possessed Calvinistic firmness of will, together
with a special motive for emigrating. And, {32} besides, the whole
eastern coast of America, within the temperate zone, was still to be
had for the taking. With such a magnificent opportunity, why was the
result so meagre?
A complete answer to this query would lead us far afield, but the whole
history of New France bears witness to the fact that the cause of
failure is not to be found in the individual French emigrant. There
have never been more valiant or tenacious colonists than the peasants
of Normandy who cleared away the Laurentian wilderness and explored the
recesses of North America. France in the age of De Monts and Champlain
possessed adequate resources, if only her effort had been concentrated
on America, or if the Huguenots had not been prevented from founding
colonies, or if the crown had been less meddlesome, or if the quest of
beaver skins farther north had not diverted attention from Chesapeake
Bay and Manhattan Island. The best chance the French ever had to
effect a foothold in the middle portion of the Atlantic coast came to
them in 1604, when, before any rivals had established themselves, De
Monts was at hand for the express purpose of founding a colony. It is
quite probable that even if he had landed on Manhattan Island, the
European {33} preoccupations of France would have prevented Henry IV
from supporting a colony at that point with sufficient vigour to
protect it from the English. Yet the most striking aspect of De Monts'
attempt in Acadia is the failure to seize a chance which never came
again to the French race. In 1607 Champlain sailed away from Port
Royal and the English founded Jamestown. In 1608 Champlain founded
Quebec, and thenceforth for over a century the efforts of France were
concentrated on the St Lawrence. When at length she founded Louisbourg
it was too late; by that time the English grasp upon the coast could
not be loosened.
Meanwhile De Monts, to whom the future was veiled, left Port Mouton
and, creeping from point to point, entered the Bay of Fundy--or, as
Champlain calls it, 'the great Baye Françoise, so named by Sieur de
Monts.' The month was June, but no time could be lost, for at this
juncture the aim of exploration was the discovery of a suitable site,
and after the site had been fixed the colonists needed what time
remained before winter to build their houses. Hence De Monts' first
exploration of the Baye Françoise was not exhaustive. He entered
Annapolis Basin and glanced at {34} the spot which afterwards was to be
Port Royal. He tried in vain to find a copper-mine of which he had
heard from Prevert of St Malo. He coasted the Bay of St John, and on
June 25 reached St Croix Island. 'Not finding any more suitable place
than this island,' says Champlain, the leaders of the colony decided
that it should be fortified: and thus was the French flag unfurled in
Acadia.
The arrangement of the settlement at St Croix was left to Champlain,
who gives us a drawing in explanation of his plan. The selection of an
island was mainly due to distrust of the Indians, with whom, however,
intercourse was necessary. The island lay close to the mouth of a
river, now also called the St Croix. As the choice of this spot proved
most unfortunate, it is well to remember the motives which prevailed at
the time. 'Vessels could pass up the river,' says Champlain, 'only at
the mercy of the cannon on this island, and we deemed the location most
advantageous, not only on account of its situation and good soil, but
also on account of the intercourse which we proposed with the savages
of these coasts and of the interior, as we should be in the midst of
them. We hoped to pacify them in course of time and put an end to the
wars {35} which they carry on with one another, so as to derive service
from them in future and convert them to the Christian faith.'
De Monts' band was made up largely of artisans, who at once began with
vigour to erect dwellings. A mill and an oven were built; gardens were
laid out and many seeds planted therein. The mosquitoes proved
troublesome, but in other respects the colonists had good cause to be
pleased with their first Acadian summer. So far had construction work
advanced by the beginning of autumn that De Monts decided to send an
exploration party farther along the coast to the south-west. 'And,'
says Champlain, 'he entrusted me with this work, which I found very
agreeable.'
The date of departure from St Croix was September 2, so that no very
ambitious programme of discovery could be undertaken before bad weather
began. In a boat of eighteen tons, with twelve sailors and two Indian
guides, Champlain threaded the maze of islands which lies between
Passamaquoddy Bay and the mouth of the Penobscot. The most striking
part of the coast was Mount Desert, 'very high and notched in places,
so that there is the appearance to one at sea as of seven or eight
mountains extending along {36} near each other.' To this island and
the Isle au Haut Champlain gave the names they have since borne.
Thence advancing, with his hand ever on the lead, he reached the mouth
of the Penobscot, despite those 'islands, rocks, shoals, banks, and
breakers which are so numerous on all sides that it is marvellous to
behold.' Having satisfied himself that the Penobscot was none other
than the great river Norumbega, referred to largely on hearsay by
earlier geographers, he followed it up almost to Bangor. On regaining
the sea he endeavoured to reach the mouth of the Kennebec, but when
within a few miles of it was driven back to St Croix by want of food.
In closing the story of this voyage, which had occupied a month,
Champlain says with his usual directness: 'The above is an exact
statement of all I have observed respecting not only the coasts and
people, but also the river of Norumbega; and there are none of the
marvels there which some persons have described. I am of opinion that
this region is as disagreeable in winter as that of our settlement, in
which we were greatly deceived.'
[Illustration: COASTS EXPLORED BY CHAMPLAIN, 1604-7]
Champlain was now to undergo his first winter in Acadia, and no part of
his life could have been more wretched than the ensuing {37} eight
months. On October 6 the snow came. On December 3 cakes of ice began
to appear along the shore. The storehouse had no cellar, and all
liquids froze except sherry. 'Cider was served by the pound. We were
obliged to use very bad water and drink melted snow, as there were no
springs or brooks.' It was impossible to keep warm or to sleep
soundly. The food was salt meat and vegetables, which impaired the
strength of every one and brought on scurvy. It is unnecessary to cite
here Champlain's detailed and graphic description of this dreadful
disease. The results are enough. Before the spring came two-fifths of
the colonists had died, and of those who remained half were on the
point of death. Not unnaturally, 'all this produced discontent in
Sieur de Monts and others of the settlement.'
The survivors of the horrible winter at St Croix were not freed from
anxiety until June 15, 1605, when Pontgravé, six weeks late, arrived
with fresh stores. Had De Monts been faint-hearted, he doubtless would
have seized this opportunity to return to France. As it was, he set
out in search of a place more suitable than St Croix for the
establishment of his colony. On June 18, with a party {38} which
included twenty sailors and several gentlemen, he and Champlain began a
fresh voyage to the south-west. Their destination was the country of
the Armouchiquois, an Algonquin tribe who then inhabited Massachusetts.
Champlain's story of his first voyage from Acadia to Cape Cod is given
with considerable fulness. The topography of the seaboard and its
natural history, the habits of the Indians and his adventures with
them, were all new subjects at the time, and he treats them so that
they keep their freshness. He is at no pains to conceal his low
opinion of the coast savages. Concerning the Acadian Micmacs he says
little, but what he does say is chiefly a comment upon the wretchedness
of their life during the winter. As he went farther south he found an
improvement in the food supply. At the mouth of the Saco he and De
Monts saw well-kept patches of Indian corn three feet high, although it
was not yet midsummer. Growing with the corn were beans, pumpkins, and
squashes, all in flower; and the cultivation of tobacco is also noted.
Here the savages formed a permanent settlement and lived within a
palisade. Still farther south, in the neighbourhood of Cape Cod, {39}
Champlain found maize five and a half feet high, a considerable variety
of squashes, tobacco, and edible roots which tasted like artichokes.
But whether the coast Indians were Micmacs or Armouchiquois, whether
they were starving or well fed, Champlain tells us little in their
praise. Of the Armouchiquois he says:
I cannot tell what government they have, but I think that in this
respect they resemble their neighbours, who have none at all. They
know not how to worship or pray; yet, like the other savages, they have
some superstitions, which I shall describe in their place. As for
weapons, they have only pikes, clubs, bows and arrows. It would seem
from their appearance that they have a good disposition, better than
those of the north, but they are all in fact of no great worth. Even a
slight intercourse with them gives you at once a knowledge of them.
They are great thieves, and if they cannot lay hold of any thing with
their hands, they try to do so with their feet, as we have oftentimes
learned by experience. I am of opinion that if they had any thing to
exchange with us they would not give themselves to thieving. They
bartered away to us their bows, arrows, and quivers for pins and
buttons; and if they had had any thing else better they would have done
the same with it. It is necessary to be on one's guard against this
people and live in a state of distrust of them, yet without letting
them perceive it.
{40} This passage at least shows that Champlain sought to be just to
the savages of the Atlantic. Though he found them thieves, he is
willing to conjecture that they would not steal if they had anything to
trade.
The thieving habits of the Cape Cod Indians led to a fight between them
and the French in which one Frenchman was killed, and Champlain
narrowly escaped death through the explosion of his own musket. At
Cape Cod De Monts turned back. Five of the six weeks allotted to the
voyage were over, and lack of food made it impossible to enter Long
Island Sound. Hence 'Sieur de Monts determined to return to the Island
of St Croix in order to find a place more favourable for our
settlement, as we had not been able to do on any of the coasts which he
had explored during this voyage.'
We now approach the picturesque episode of Port Royal. De Monts,
having regained St Croix at the beginning of August, lost no time in
transporting his people to the other side of the Bay of Fundy. The
consideration which weighed most with him in establishing his
headquarters was that of trade. Whatever his own preferences, he could
not forget that his partners in France expected a return {41} on their
investment. Had he been in a position to found an agricultural colony,
the maize fields he had seen to the south-west might have proved
attractive. But he depended largely upon trade, and, as Champlain
points out, the savages of Massachusetts had nothing to sell. Hence it
was unwise to go too far from the peltries of the St Lawrence. To find
a climate less severe than that of Canada, without losing touch with
the fur trade, was De Monts' problem. No one could dream of wintering
again at St Croix, and in the absence of trade possibilities to the
south there seemed but one alternative--Port Royal.
In his notice of De Monts' cruise along the Bay of Fundy in June 1604,
Champlain says: 'Continuing two leagues farther on in the same
direction, we entered one of the finest harbours I had seen all along
these coasts, in which two thousand vessels might lie in security. The
entrance is 800 paces broad; then you enter a harbour two leagues long
and one broad, which I have named Port Royal.' Here Champlain is
describing Annapolis Basin, which clearly made a deep impression upon
the minds of the first Europeans who saw it. Most of all did it appeal
to the imagination of Poutrincourt, who had come to Acadia for the {42}
purpose of discovering a spot where he could found his own colony. At
sight of Port Royal he had at once asked De Monts for the grant, and on
receiving it had returned to France, at the end of August 1604, to
recruit colonists. Thus he had escaped the horrible winter at St
Croix, but on account of lawsuits it had proved impossible for him to
return to Acadia in the following year. Hence the noble roadstead of
Port Royal was still unoccupied when De Monts, Champlain, and Pontgravé
took the people of St Croix thither in August 1605. Not only did the
people go. Even the framework of the houses was shipped across the bay
and set up in this haven of better hope.
The spot chosen for the settlement lay on the north side of the bay.
It had a good supply of water, and there was protection from the
north-west wind which had tortured the settlers at St Croix. 'After
everything had been arranged,' says Champlain, 'and the majority of the
dwellings built, Sieur de Monts determined to return to France, in
order to petition His Majesty to grant him all that might be necessary
for his undertaking.' Quite apart from securing fresh advantages, De
Monts at this time was sore pressed to defend his title against the
traders who were {43} clamouring for a repeal of the monopoly. With
him returned some of the colonists whose ambition had been satisfied at
St Croix. Champlain remained, in the hope of making further
explorations 'towards Florida.' Pontgravé was left in command. The
others numbered forty-three.
During the autumn they began to make gardens. 'I also,' says
Champlain, 'for the sake of occupying my time made one, which was
surrounded with ditches full of water, in which I placed some fine
trout, and into which flowed three brooks of very fine running water,
from which the greater part of our settlement was supplied. I made
also a little sluice-way towards the shore, in order to draw off the
water when I wished. This spot was entirely surrounded by meadows,
where I constructed a summer-house, with some fine trees, as a resort
for enjoying the fresh air. I made there, also, a little reservoir for
holding salt-water fish, which we took out as we wanted them. I took
especial pleasure in it and planted there some seeds which turned out
well. But much work had to be laid out in preparation. We resorted
often to this place as a pastime; and it seemed as if the little birds
round took pleasure in it, for they gathered there in large {44}
numbers, warbling and chirping so pleasantly that I think I have never
heard the like.'
After a busy and cheerful autumn came a mild winter. The snow did not
fall till December 20, and there was much rain. Scurvy still caused
trouble; but though twelve died, the mortality was not so high as at St
Croix. Everything considered, Port Royal enjoyed good
fortune--according to the colonial standards of the period, when a
winter death-rate of twenty-six per cent was below the average.
At the beginning of March 1606 Pontgravé fitted out a barque of
eighteen tons in order to undertake 'a voyage of discovery along the
coast of Florida'; and on the 16th of the month a start was made.
Favoured by good weather, he and Champlain would have reached the
Hudson three years before the Dutch. But, short of drowning, every
possible mischance happened. They had hardly set out when a storm cast
them ashore near Grand Manan. Having repaired the damage they made for
St Croix, where fog and contrary winds held them back eight days. Then
Pontgravé decided to return to Port Royal 'to see in what condition our
companions were whom we had left there sick.' On their {45} arrival
Pontgravé himself was taken ill, but soon re-embarked, though still
unwell. Their second start was followed by immediate disaster.
Leaving the mouth of the harbour, two leagues distant from Port Royal,
they were carried out of the channel by the tide and went aground. 'At
the first blow of our boat upon the rocks the rudder broke, a part of
the keel and three or four planks were smashed and some ribs stove in,
which frightened us, for our barque filled immediately; and all that we
could do was to wait until the sea fell, so that we might get
ashore.... Our barque, all shattered as she was, went to pieces at the
return of the tide. But we, most happy at having saved our lives,
returned to our settlement with our poor savages; and we praised God
for having rescued us from this shipwreck, from which we had not
expected to escape so easily.'
This accident destroyed all hope of exploration to the southward until
word came from France. At the time of De Monts' departure the outlook
had been so doubtful that a provisional arrangement was made for the
return of the colonists to France should no ship arrive at Port Royal
by the middle of July. In this event Pontgravé was to take his people
{46} to Cape Breton or Gaspé, where they would find trading ships
homeward bound. As neither De Monts nor Poutrincourt had arrived by
the middle of June, a new barque was built to replace the one which had
been lost on April 10. A month later Pontgravé carried out his part of
the programme by putting aboard all the inhabitants of Port Royal save
two, who were induced by promise of extra pay to remain in charge of
the stores.
Thus sorrowfully the remnant of the colonists bade farewell to the
beautiful harbour and their new home. Four days later they were nearly
lost through the breaking of their rudder in the midst of a tempest.
Having been saved from wreck by the skill of their shipmaster,
Champdoré, they reached Cape Sable on July 24. Here grief became
rejoicing, for to their complete surprise they encountered Ralleau, De
Monts' secretary, coasting along in a shallop. The glad tidings he
gave them was that Poutrincourt with a ship of one hundred and twenty
tons had arrived. From Canseau the _Jonas_ had taken an outer course
to Port Royal, while Ralleau was keeping close to the shore in the hope
of intercepting Pontgravé. 'All this intelligence,' says Champlain,
'caused us to turn back; and we arrived at {47} Port Royal on the 25th
of the month, where we found the above-mentioned vessel and Sieur de
Poutrincourt, and were greatly delighted to see realized what we had
given up in despair.' Lescarbot, who arrived on board the _Jonas_,
adds the following detail: 'M. de Poutrincourt ordered a tun of wine to
be set upon end, one of those which had been given him for his proper
use, and gave leave to all comers to drink freely as long as it lasted,
so that there were some who made gay dogs of themselves.'
Wine-bibbing, however, was not the chief activity of Port Royal.
Poutrincourt at once set men to work on the land, and while they were
sowing wheat, rye, and hemp he hastened preparations for an autumn
cruise 'along the coast of Florida.' On September 5 all was ready for
this voyage, which was to be Champlain's last opportunity of reaching
the lands beyond Cape Cod. Once more disappointment awaited him. 'It
was decided,' he says, 'to continue the voyage along the coast, which
was not a very well considered conclusion, since we lost much time in
passing over again the discoveries made by Sieur de Monts as far as the
harbour of Mallebarre. It would have been much better, in my opinion,
{48} to cross from where we were directly to Mallebarre, the route
being already known, and then use our time in exploring as far as the
fortieth degree, or still farther south, revisiting upon our homeward
voyage the entire coast at pleasure.'
In the interest of geographical research and French colonization
Champlain was doubtless right. Unfortunately, Poutrincourt wished to
see for himself what De Monts and Champlain had already seen. It was
the more unfortunate that he held this view, as the boats were
victualled for over two months, and much could have been done by taking
a direct course to Cape Cod. Little time, however, was spent at the
Penobscot and Kennebec. Leaving St Croix on September 12, Poutrincourt
reached the Saco on the 21st. Here and at points farther south he
found ripe grapes, together with maize, pumpkins, squashes, and
artichokes. Gloucester Harbour pleased Champlain greatly. 'In this
very pleasant place we saw two hundred savages, and there are here a
large number of very fine walnut trees, cypresses, sassafras, oaks,
ashes and beeches.... There are likewise fine meadows capable of
supporting a large number of cattle.' So much was he charmed with this
harbour and {49} its surroundings that he called it Le Beauport. After
tarrying at Gloucester two or three days Poutrincourt reached Cape Cod
on October 2, and on the 20th he stood off Martha's Vineyard, his
farthest point.
Champlain's chronicle of this voyage contains more detail regarding the
Indians than will be found in any other part of his Acadian narratives.
Chief among Poutrincourt's adventures was an encounter with the natives
of Cape Cod. Unlike the Micmacs, the Armouchiquois were 'not so much
hunters as good fishermen and tillers of the land.' Their numbers also
were greater; in fact, Champlain speaks of seeing five or six hundred
together. At first they did not interfere with Poutrincourt's
movements, even permitting him to roam their land with a body of
arquebusiers. After a fortnight, however, their suspicions began to
become manifest, and on October 15 four hundred savages set upon five
Frenchmen who, contrary to orders, had remained ashore. Four were
killed, and although a rescue party set out at once from the barque,
the natives made their escape.
To pursue them was fruitless, for they are marvellously swift. All
that we could do was to carry away the dead bodies and bury them near a
cross {50} which had been set up the day before, and then to go here
and there to see if we could get sight of any of them. But it was time
wasted, therefore we came back. Three hours afterwards they returned
to us on the sea-shore. We discharged at them several shots from our
little brass cannon, and when they heard the noise they crouched down
on the ground to escape the fire. In mockery of us they pulled down
the cross and disinterred the dead, which displeased us greatly and
caused us to go for them a second time; but they fled, as they had done
before. We set up again the cross and reinterred the dead, whom they
had thrown here and there amid the heath, where they kindled a fire to
burn them. We returned without any result, as we had done before, well
aware that there was scarcely hope of avenging ourselves this time, and
that we should have to renew the undertaking when it should please God.
With a desire for revenge was linked the practical consideration that
slaves would prove useful at Port Royal. A week later the French
returned to the same place, 'resolved to get possession of some savages
and, taking them to our settlement, put them to grinding corn at the
hand-mill, as punishment for the deadly assault which they had
committed on five or six of our company.' As relations were strained,
it became necessary to offer beads {51} and gewgaws, with every show of
good faith. Champlain describes the plan in full. The shallop was to
leave the barque for shore, taking
the most robust and strong men we had, each one having a chain of beads
and a fathom of match on his arm; and there, while pretending to smoke
with them (each one having an end of his match lighted so as not to
excite suspicion, it being customary to have fire at the end of a cord
in order to light the tobacco), coax them with pleasing words so as to
draw them into the shallop; and if they should be unwilling to enter,
each one approaching should choose his man and, putting the beads round
his neck, should at the same time put the rope on him to draw him by
force. But if they should be too boisterous and it should not be
possible to succeed, they should be stabbed, the rope being firmly
held; and if by chance any of them should get away, there should be men
on land to charge upon them with swords. Meanwhile, the little cannon
on our barque was to be kept ready to fire upon their companions in
case they should come to assist them, under cover of which firearms the
shallop could withdraw in security.
This plot, though carefully planned, fell far short of the success
which was anticipated. To catch a redskin with a noose required more
skill than was available. Accordingly, {52} none were taken alive.
Champlain says: 'We retired to our barque after having done all we
could.' Lescarbot adds: 'Six or seven of the savages were hacked and
hewed in pieces, who could not run so lightly in the water as on shore,
and were caught as they came out by those of our men who had landed.'
Having thus taken an eye for an eye, Poutrincourt began his homeward
voyage, and, after three or four escapes from shipwreck, reached Port
Royal on November 14.
Champlain was now about to spend his last winter in Acadia. Mindful of
former experiences, he determined to fight scurvy by encouraging
exercise among the colonists and procuring for them an improved diet.
A third desideratum was cheerfulness. All these purposes he served
through founding the _Ordre de Bon Temps_, which proved to be in every
sense the life of the settlement. Champlain himself briefly describes
the procedure followed, but a far more graphic account is given by
Lescarbot, whose diffuse and lively style is illustrated to perfection
in the following passage:
To keep our table joyous and well provided, an order was established at
the board of the said M. de Poutrincourt, {53} which was called the
Order of Good Cheer, originally proposed by Champlain. To this Order
each man of the said table was appointed Chief Steward in his turn,
which came round once a fortnight. Now, this person had the duty of
taking care that we were all well and honourably provided for. This
was so well carried out that though the epicures of Paris often tell us
that we had no _Rue aux Ours_ over there, as a rule we made as good
cheer as we could have in this same _Rue aux Ours_, and at less cost.
For there was no one who, two days before his turn came, failed to go
hunting or fishing, and to bring back some delicacy in addition to our
ordinary fare. So well was this carried out that never at breakfast
did we lack some savoury meat of flesh or fish, and still less at our
midday or evening meals; for that was our chief banquet, at which the
ruler of the feast or chief butler, whom the savages called Atoctegic,
having had everything prepared by the cook, marched in, napkin on
shoulder, wand of office in hand, and around his neck the collar of the
Order, which was worth more than four crowns; after him all the members
of the Order carrying each a dish. The same was repeated at dessert,
though not always with so much pomp. And at night, before giving
thanks to God, he handed over to his successor in the charge the collar
of the Order, with a cup of wine, and they drank to each other. I have
already said that we had abundance of game, such as ducks, bustards,
grey and white geese, partridges, larks, and other birds; moreover
moose, caribou, beaver, otter, bear, rabbits, wild-cats, racoons, and
other animals such as the savages caught, whereof {54} we made dishes
well worth those of the cook-shop in the _Rue aux Ours_, and far more;
for of all our meats none is so tender as moose-meat (whereof we also
made excellent pasties) and nothing so delicate as beaver's tail. Yea,
sometimes we had half a dozen sturgeon at once, which the savages
brought us, part of which we bought, and allowed them to sell the
remainder publicly and to barter it for bread, of which our men had
abundance. As for the ordinary rations brought from France, they were
distributed equally to great and small alike; and, as we have said, the
wine was served in like manner.
The results of this régime were most gratifying. The deaths from
scurvy dropped to seven, which represented a great proportionate
decrease. At the same time, intercourse with the Indians was put on a
good basis thereby. 'At these proceedings,' says Lescarbot, 'we always
had twenty or thirty savages--men, women, girls, and children--who
looked on at our manner of service. Bread was given them gratis, as
one would do to the poor. But as for the Sagamos Membertou, and other
chiefs who came from time to time, they sat at table eating and
drinking like ourselves. And we were glad to see them, while, on the
contrary, their absence saddened us.'
These citations bring into view the writer who has most copiously
recorded the early {55} annals of Acadia--Marc Lescarbot. He was a
lawyer, and at this date about forty years old. Having come to Port
Royal less as a colonist than as a guest of Poutrincourt, he had no
investment at stake. But contact with America kindled the enthusiasm
of which he had a large supply, and converted him into the historian of
New France. His story of the winter he passed at Port Royal is quite
unlike other narratives of colonial experience at this period.
Champlain was a geographer and preoccupied with exploration. The
Jesuits were missionaries and preoccupied with the conversion of the
savages. Lescarbot had a literary education, which Champlain lacked,
and, unlike the Jesuits, he approached life in America from the
standpoint of a layman. His prolixity often serves as a foil to the
terseness of Champlain, and suggests that he must have been a merciless
talker. Yet, though inclined to be garrulous, he was a good observer
and had many correct ideas--notably the belief that corn, wine, and
cattle are a better foundation for a colony than gold or silver mines.
In temperament he and Champlain were very dissimilar, and evidence of
mutual coolness may be found in their writings. These we shall
consider at a {56} later stage. For the present it is enough to note
that both men sat at Poutrincourt's table and adorned the Order of Good
Cheer.
Meanwhile De Monts was in France, striving with all the foes of the
monopoly. Thanks to the fur trade, his company had paid its way during
the first two years, despite the losses at St Croix. The third season
had been much less prosperous, and at the same moment when the Dutch
and the Basques[3] were breaking the monopoly by defiance, the hatters
of Paris were demanding that it should be withdrawn altogether. To
this alliance of a powerful guild with a majority of the traders, the
company of De Monts succumbed, and the news which Poutrincourt received
when the first ship came in 1607 was that the colony must be abandoned.
As the company itself was about to be dissolved, this consequence {57}
was inevitable. Champlain in his matter-of-fact way states that De
Monts sent letters to Poutrincourt, 'by which he directed him to bring
back his company to France.' Lescarbot is much more outspoken.
Referring to the merits and struggles of De Monts, he exclaims:
Yet I fear that in the end he may be forced to give it all up, to the
great scandal and reproach of the French name, which by such conduct is
made a laughing-stock and a byword among the nations. For as though
their wish was to oppose the conversion of these poor Western peoples,
and the glory of God and of the King, we find a set of men full of
avarice and envy, who would not draw a sword in the service of the
King, nor suffer the slightest ill in the world for the honour of God,
but who yet put obstacles in the way of our drawing any profit from the
province, even in order to furnish what is indispensable to the
foundation of such an enterprise; men who prefer to see the English and
Dutch win possession of it rather than the French, and would fain have
the name of God remain unknown in those quarters. And it is such
godless people who are listened to, who are believed, and who win their
suits. _O tempora, O mores_!
On August 11, 1607, Port Royal was abandoned for the second time, and
its people, sailing by Cape Breton, reached Roscou in Brittany at the
end of September. The {58} subsequent attempt of Poutrincourt and his
family to re-establish the colony at Port Royal belongs to the history
of Acadia rather than to the story of Champlain. But remembering the
spirit in which he and De Monts strove, one feels glad that Lescarbot
spoke his mind regarding the opponents who baffled their sincere and
persistent efforts.
[1] This word has sometimes been traced to the Micmac _àkade_, which,
appended to place-names, signifies an abundance of something. More
probably, however, it is a corruption of Arcadia. The Acadia of De
Monts' grant in 1604 extended from the parallel of 40° to that of 46°
north latitude, but in the light of actual occupation the term can
hardly be made to embrace more than the coast from Cape Breton to
Penobscot Bay.
[2] There appears in Verrazano's map of 1529 the word Aranbega, as
attached to a small district on the Atlantic seaboard. Ten years later
Norumbega has become a region which takes in the whole coast from Cape
Breton to Florida. At intervals throughout the sixteenth century
fables were told in Europe of its extraordinary wealth, and it was not
till the time of Champlain that this myth was exposed. Champlain
himself identifies 'the great river of Norumbega' with the Penobscot.
[3] Traders from the extreme south of France, whose chief port was St
Jean de Luz. Though living on the confines of France and Spain, the
Basques were of different racial origin from both Spaniards and French.
While subject politically to France, their remoteness from the main
ports of Normandy and Brittany kept them out of touch with the mariners
of St Malo and Havre, save as collision arose between them in the St
Lawrence. Among the Basques there were always interlopers, even when
St Jean de Luz had been given a share in the monopoly. They are
sometimes called Spaniards, from their close neighbourhood to the
Pyrenees.
{59}
CHAPTER III
CHAMPLAIN AT QUEBEC
From the Island of Orleans to Quebec the distance is a league. I
arrived there on the third of July, when I searched for a place
suitable for our settlement, but I could find none more convenient or
better than the point of Quebec, so called by the savages, which was
covered with nut-trees. I at once employed a portion of our workmen in
cutting them down, that we might construct our habitation there: one I
set to sawing boards, another to making a cellar and digging ditches,
another I sent to Tadoussac with the barque to get supplies. The first
thing we made was the storehouse for keeping under cover our supplies,
which was promptly accomplished through the zeal of all, and my
attention to the work.
Thus opens Champlain's account of the place with which his name is
linked imperishably. He was the founder of Quebec and its preserver.
During his lifetime the results seemed pitifully small, but the task
once undertaken was never abandoned. By steadfastness he prevailed,
and at his death had created a {60} colony which became the New France
of Talon and Frontenac, of La Salle and D'Iberville, of Brébeuf and
Laval. If Venice from amid her lagoons could exclaim, _Esto perpetua_,
Quebec, firm based upon her cliff, can say to the rest of Canada,
_Attendite ad petram undo excisi estis_--'Look unto the rock whence ye
are hewn.'
Champlain's Quebec was very poor in everything but courage. The fact
that it was founded by the men who had just failed in Acadia gives
proof of this virtue. Immediately upon his return from Port Royal to
France, Champlain showed De Monts a map and plan which embodied the
result of his explorations during the last three years. They then took
counsel regarding the future, and with Champlain's encouragement De
Monts 'resolved to continue his noble and meritorious undertaking,
notwithstanding the hardships and labours of the past.' It is
significant that once more Champlain names exploration as the
distinctive purpose of De Monts.
To expect a subsidy from the crown was futile, but Henry felt
compunction for his abrupt recall of the monopoly. The result was that
De Monts, in recognition of his losses, {61} was given a further
monopoly--for the season of 1608 only. At the same time, he was
expressly relieved from the obligation to take out colonists. On this
basis De Monts found partners among the merchants of Rouen, and three
ships were fitted out--one for Acadia, the others for the St Lawrence.
Champlain, as lieutenant, was placed in charge of the Laurentian
expedition. With him went the experienced and invaluable Pontgravé.
Nearly seventy-five years had now passed since Jacques Cartier first
came to anchor at the foot of Cape Diamond. During this period no one
had challenged the title of France to the shores of the St Lawrence; in
fact, a country so desolate made no appeal to the French themselves.
Roberval's tragic experience at Cap Rouge had proved a warning. To the
average Frenchman of the sixteenth century Canada meant what it
afterwards meant to Sully and Voltaire. It was a tract of snow; a land
of barbarians, bears, and beavers.
The development of the fur trade into a staple industry changed this
point of view to a limited extent. The government, as we have seen,
considered it desirable that colonists should be established in New
France {62} at the expense of traders. For the St Lawrence, however,
the first and only fruits of this enlightened policy had been Chauvin's
sixteen derelicts at Tadoussac.
The founding of Quebec represents private enterprise, and not an
expenditure of money by Henry IV for the sake of promoting
colonization. De Monts and Champlain were determined to give France a
foothold in America. The rights upon which the venture of 1608 was
financed did not run beyond the year. Thenceforth trade was to be
free. It follows that De Monts and his partners, in building a station
at Quebec, did not rely for their expenses upon any special favours
from the crown. They placed their reliance upon themselves, feeling
confident of their power to hold a fair share of the trade against all
comers. For Champlain Quebec was a fixed point on the way to the
Orient. For De Monts it was a key to the commerce of the great river.
None of his rivals would begin the season of 1609 with a permanent post
in Canada. Thus part of the anticipated profits for 1608 was invested
to secure an advantage in the approaching competition. The whole
success of the plan depended upon the mutual confidence of De Monts and
Champlain, both {63} of whom unselfishly sought the advancement of
French interests in America--De Monts, the courageous capitalist and
promoter; Champlain, the explorer whose discoveries were sure to
enlarge the area of trading operations.
Pontgravé sailed from Honfleur on April 5, 1608. Champlain followed
eight days later, reaching Tadoussac at the beginning of June. Here
trouble awaited him. The Basque traders, who always defied the
monopoly, had set upon Pontgravé with cannon and muskets, killing one
man and severely wounding two others, besides himself. Going ashore,
Champlain found Pontgravé very ill and the Basques in full possession.
To fight was to run the risk of ruining De Monts' whole enterprise, and
as the Basques were alarmed at what they had done, Darache, their
captain, signed an agreement that he would not molest Pontgravé or do
anything prejudicial to the rights of De Monts. This basis of
compromise makes it clear that Pontgravé was in charge of the season's
trade, while Champlain's personal concern was to found the settlement.
An unpleasant dispute was thus adjusted, but the incident had a still
more unpleasant sequel. Leaving Tadoussac on June 30, {64} Champlain
reached Quebec in four days, and at once began to erect his storehouse.
A few days later he stood in grave peril of his life through conspiracy
among his own men.
The ringleader was a locksmith named Jean Duval, who had been at Port
Royal and narrowly escaped death from the arrows of the Cape Cod
Indians. Whether he framed his plot in collusion with the Basques is
not quite clear, but it seems unlikely that he should have gone so far
as he did without some encouragement. His plan was simply to kill
Champlain and deliver Quebec to the Basques in return for a rich
reward, either promised or expected. Some of the men he had no chance
to corrupt, for they were aboard the barques, guarding stores till a
shelter could be built. Working among the rest, Duval 'suborned four
of the worst characters, as he supposed, telling them a thousand
falsehoods and presenting to them prospects of acquiring riches.' The
evidence subsequently showed that Champlain was either to be strangled
when unarmed, or shot at night as he answered to a false alarm. The
conspirators made a mutual promise not to betray each other, on penalty
that the first who opened his mouth should be poniarded.
[Illustration: CHAMPLAIN'S DRAWING OF THE HABITATION OF QUEBEC
A Storehouse.
B Pigeon-house.
C Building for storing arms and housing workmen.
D Workmen's quarters.
E Sun-dial.
F Building containing forge and artisans' quarters.
G Outside galleries.
H Champlain's private quarters.
I Main door with drawbridge.
L Walk (10 feet wide) all round the building.
M Ditch surrounding the building.
N Platforms for artillery.
O Champlain's garden.
P Kitchen.
Q Terrace in front of the building on the river-bank.
R The St Lawrence river.
From Laverdière's _Champlain_ in M'Gill University Library]
{65}
Out of this deadly danger Champlain escaped through the confession of a
vacillating spirit named Natel, who regretted his share in the plot,
but, once involved, had fears of the poniard. Finally he confessed to
Testu, the pilot, who immediately informed Champlain. Questioned as to
the motive, Natel replied that 'nothing had impelled them, except that
they had imagined that by giving up the place into the hands of the
Basques or Spaniards they might all become rich, and that they did not
want to go back to France.' Duval, with five others, was then seized
and taken to Tadoussac. Later in the summer Pontgravé brought the
prisoners back to Quebec, where evidence was taken before a
court-martial consisting of Champlain, Pontgravé, a captain, a surgeon,
a first mate, a second mate, and some sailors. The sentence condemned
four to death, of whom three were afterwards sent to France and put at
the discretion of De Monts. Duval was 'strangled and hung at Quebec,
and his head was put on the end of a pike, to be set in the most
conspicuous place on our fort, that he might serve as an example to
those who remained, leading them to deport themselves correctly in
future, in the discharge of their {66} duty; and that the Spaniards and
Basques, of whom there were large numbers in the country, might not
glory in the event.'
It will be seen from the recital of Duval's conspiracy that Champlain
was fortunate to escape the fate of Hudson and La Salle. While this
_cause célèbre_ was running its course to a tragic end, the still more
famous _habitation_ grew day by day under the hands of busy workmen.
As fruits of a crowded and exciting summer Champlain could point to a
group of three two-storeyed buildings. 'Each one,' he says, 'was three
fathoms long and two and a half wide. The storehouse was six fathoms
long and three wide, with a fine cellar six feet deep. I had a gallery
made all round our buildings, on the outside, at the second storey,
which proved very convenient. There were also ditches, fifteen feet
wide and six deep. On the outer side of the ditches I constructed
several spurs, which enclosed a part of the dwelling, at the points
where we placed our cannon. Before the habitation there is a place
four fathoms wide and six or seven long, looking out upon the
river-bank. Surrounding the habitation are very good gardens.'
Three dwellings of eighteen by fifteen feet each were a sufficiently
modest starting-point {67} for continental ambitions, even when
supplemented by a storehouse of thirty-six feet by eighteen. In
calling the gardens very good Champlain must have been speaking with
relation to the circumstances, or else they were very small, for there
is abundant witness to the sufferings which Quebec in its first twenty
years might have escaped with the help of really abundant gardens. At
St Croix and Port Royal an attempt had been made to plant seeds, and at
Quebec Champlain doubtless renewed the effort, though with small
practical result. The point is important in its bearing on the nature
of the settlement. Quebec, despite such gardens as surrounded the
_habitation_, was by origin an outpost of the fur trade, with a small,
floating, and precarious population. Louis Hébert, the first real
colonist, did not come till 1617.
Lacking vegetables, Quebec fed itself in part from the river and the
forest. But almost all the food was brought from France. At times
there was game, though less than at Port Royal. The river supplied
eels in abundance, but when badly cooked they caused a fatal dysentery.
The first winter was a repetition of the horrors experienced at St
Croix, with even a higher death-rate. Scurvy began {68} in February
and lasted till the end of April. Of the eighteen whom it attacked,
ten died. Dysentery claimed others. On June 5, 1609, word came that
Pontgravé had arrived at Tadoussac. Champlain's comment is eloquent in
its brevity. 'This intelligence gave me much satisfaction, as we
entertained hopes of assistance from him. Out of the twenty-eight at
first forming our company only eight remained, and half of these were
ailing.'
The monopoly granted to De Monts had now reached its close, and trade
was open to all comers. From 1609 until 1613 this unrestricted
competition ran its course, with the result that a larger market was
created for beaver skins, while nothing was done to build up New France
as a colony. On the whole, the most notable feature of the period is
the establishment of close personal relations between Champlain and the
Indians. It was then that he became the champion of the Algonquins and
Hurons against the Iroquois League or Five Nations, inaugurating a
policy which was destined to have profound consequences.
The considerations which governed Champlain in his dealings with the
Indians lay quite outside the rights and wrongs of their tribal {69}
wars. His business was to explore the continent on behalf of France,
and accordingly he took conditions as he found them. The Indians had
souls to be saved, but that was the business of the missionaries. In
the state of nature all savages were much like wild animals, and
alliance with one nation or another was a question which naturally
settled itself upon the basis of drainage basins. Lands within the
Laurentian watershed were inhabited mainly by Algonquins and Hurons,
whose chief desire in life was to protect themselves from the Iroquois
and avenge past injuries. The Five Nations dwelt far south from the
Sault St Louis and did not send their furs there for the annual barter.
Champlain, ever in quest of a route to the East, needed friends along
the great rivers of the wilderness. The way to secure them, and at the
same time to widen the trading area, was to fight for the savages of
the St Lawrence and the Ottawa against those of the Mohawk.
And Champlain was a good ally, as he proved in the forest wars of 1609
and 1615. With all their shortcomings, the Indians knew how to take
the measure of a man. The difference between a warrior and a trader
was {70} especially clear to their untutored minds, they themselves
being much better fighters than men of commerce. Champlain, like
others, suffered from their caprice, but they respected his bravery and
trusted his word.
In the next chapter we shall attempt to follow Champlain through the
wilderness, accompanied by its inhabitants, who were his guides and
friends. For the present we must pursue the fortunes of Quebec, whose
existence year by year hung upon the risk that court intrigue would
prevail against the determination of two brave men.
From 1608 till 1611 De Monts had two partners, named Collier and
Legendre, both citizens of Rouen. It was with the money of these three
that the post at Quebec had been built and equipped. Champlain was
their lieutenant and Pontgravé the commander of their trading ships.
After four years of experience Collier and Legendre found the results
unsatisfactory. 'They were unwilling,' says Champlain, 'to continue in
the association, as there was no commission forbidding others from
going to the new discoveries and trading with the inhabitants of the
country. Sieur de Monts, seeing this, bargained with them for what
remained at the settlement at Quebec, {71} in consideration of a sum of
money which he gave them for their share.'
Thus the intrepid De Monts became sole proprietor of the _habitation_,
and whatever clustered round it, at the foot of Cape Diamond. But the
property was worthless if the fur trade could not be put on a stable
basis. Quebec during its first three years had been a disappointment
because, contrary to expectation, it gave its founders no advantage
over their competitors which equalled the cost of maintenance. De
Monts was still ready to assist Champlain in his explorations, but his
resources, never great, were steadily diminishing, and while trade
continued unprofitable there were no funds for exploration. Moreover,
the assassination of Henry IV in 1610 weakened De Monts at court.
Whatever Henry's shortcomings as a friend of Huguenots and colonial
pioneers, their chances had been better with him than they now were
with Marie de Médicis.[1] Champlain states that De Monts' engagements
did not permit him to prosecute his interests at court. {72} Probably
his engagements would have been less pressing had he felt more sure of
favour. In any event, he made over to Champlain the whole conduct of
such negotiations as were called for by the unsatisfactory state of
affairs on the St Lawrence.
Champlain went to France. What follows is an illuminating comment upon
the conditions that prevailed under the Bourbon monarchy. As Champlain
saw things, the merchants who clamoured for freedom of trade were
greedy pot-hunters. 'All they want,' he says, 'is that men should
expose themselves to a thousand dangers to discover peoples and
territories, that they themselves may have the profit and others the
hardship. It is not reasonable that one should capture the lamb and
another go off with the fleece. If they had been willing to
participate in our discoveries, use their means and risk their persons,
they would have given evidence of their honour and nobleness, but, on
the contrary, they show clearly that they are impelled by pure malice
that they may enjoy the fruit of our labours equally with ourselves.'
Against folk of this sort Champlain felt he had to protect the national
interests which were so dear to him and De Monts. As things then {73}
went, there was only one way to secure protection. At Fontainebleau a
great noble was not habituated to render help without receiving a
consideration. But protection could be bought by those who were able
to pay for it.
The patron selected by Champlain was the Comte de Soissons, a Bourbon
by lineage and first cousin of Henry IV. His kinship to the boy-king
gave him, among other privileges, the power to exact from the regent
gifts and offices as the price of his support. Possessing this
leverage, Soissons caused himself to be appointed viceroy of Canada,
with a twelve-year monopoly of the fur trade above Quebec. The
monopoly thus re-established, its privileges could be sublet, Soissons
receiving cash for the rights he conceded to the merchants, and they
taking their chance to turn a profit out of the transaction.
Such at least was the theory; but before Soissons could turn his post
into a source of revenue he died. Casting about for a suitable
successor, Champlain selected another prince of the blood--Henri de
Bourbon, Prince de Condé, who duly became viceroy of Canada and holder
of the monopoly in succession to his uncle, the Comte de Soissons.
The part of Champlain in these transactions {74} is very conspicuous,
and justly so. There was no advantage in being viceroy of Canada
unless the post produced a revenue, and before the viceroy could
receive a revenue some one was needed to organize the chief Laurentian
traders into a company strong enough to pay Soissons or Condé a
substantial sum. Champlain was convinced that the stability of trade
(upon which, in turn, exploration depended) could be secured only in
this way. It was he who memorialized President Jeannin[2]; enlisted
the sympathy of the king's almoner, Beaulieu; appealed to the royal
council; proposed the office of viceroy to Soissons; and began the
endeavour to organize a new trading company. Considering that early in
1612 he suffered a serious fall from his horse, this record of activity
is sufficiently creditable for one twelvemonth. Meanwhile the Indians
at Sault St Louis grieved at his absence, and his enemies told them he
was dead.
[Illustration: HENRI DE BOURBON, PRINCE DE CONDÉ, VICEROY OF NEW
FRANCE. From Laverdière's _Champlain_ in M'Gill University Library.]
It was not until 1614 that the new programme in its entirety could be
carried out. {75} This time the delay came, not from the court, but
from the merchants. Negotiations were in progress when the ships
sailed for the voyage of 1613, but Champlain could not remain to
conclude them, as he felt that he must keep faith with the Indians.
However, on his return to France that autumn, he resumed the effort,
and by the spring of 1614 the merchants of Rouen, St Malo, and La
Rochelle had been brought to terms among themselves as participants in
a monopoly which was leased from the viceroy. Condé received a
thousand crowns a year, and the new company also agreed to take out six
families of colonists each season. In return it was granted the
monopoly for eleven years. De Monts was a member of the company and
Quebec became its headquarters in Canada. But the moving spirit was
Champlain, who was appointed lieutenant to the viceroy with a salary
and the right to levy for his own purposes four men from each ship
trading in the river.
Once more disappointment followed. Save for De Monts, Champlain's
company was not inspired by Champlain's patriotism. During the first
three years of its existence the obligation to colonize was wilfully
disregarded, while in the fourth year the treatment accorded {76} Louis
Hébert shows that good faith counted for as little with the fur traders
when they acted in association as when they were engaged in cut-throat
competition.
Champlain excepted, Hébert was the most admirable of those who risked
death in the attempt to found a settlement at Quebec. He was not a
Norman peasant, but a Parisian apothecary. We have already seen that
he took part in the Acadian venture of De Monts and Poutrincourt.
After the capture of Port Royal by the English he returned to France
(1613) and reopened his shop. Three years later Champlain was
authorized by the company to offer him and his family favourable terms
if they would emigrate to Quebec, the consideration being two hundred
crowns a year for three years, besides maintenance. On this
understanding Hébert sold his house and shop, bought an equipment for
the new home, and set off with his family to embark at Honfleur. Here
he found that Champlain's shareholders were not prepared to stand by
their agreement. The company first beat him down from two hundred to
one hundred crowns a year, and then stipulated that he, his wife, his
children, and his domestic should serve it for the three years during
which the grant {77} was payable. Even at the end of three years, when
he found himself at liberty to till the soil, he was bound to sell
produce to the company at the prices prevalent in France. The company
was to have his perpetual service as a chemist for nothing, and he must
promise in writing to take no part in the fur trade. Hébert had cut
off his retreat and was forced to accept these hard terms, but it is
not strange that under such conditions colonists should have been few.
Sagard, the Récollet missionary, says the company treated Hébert so
badly because it wished to discourage colonization. What it wanted was
the benefit of the monopoly, without the obligation of finding settlers
who had to be brought over for nothing.
A man of honour like Champlain could not have tricked Hébert into the
bad bargain he made, and their friendship survived the incident. But a
company which transacted its business in this fashion was not likely to
enjoy long life. Its chief asset was Champlain's friendship with the
Indians, especially after his long sojourn with them in 1615 and 1616.
Some years, particularly 1617, showed a large profit, but as time went
on friction arose between the Huguenots of La Rochelle {78} and the
Catholics of Rouen. Then there were interlopers to be prosecuted, and
the quarrels of Condé with the government brought with them trouble to
the merchants whose monopoly depended on his grant. For three years
(1616-19) the viceroy of Canada languished in the Bastille. Shortly
after his release he sold his viceregal rights to the Duke of
Montmorency, Admiral of France. The price was 11,000 crowns.
In 1619 Champlain's company ventured to disagree with its founder, and,
as a consequence, another crisis arose in the affairs of New France.
The cause of dispute was the company's unwillingness to keep its
promises regarding colonization. Champlain protested. The company
replied that Pontgravé should be put in charge at Quebec. Champlain
then said that Pontgravé was his old friend, and he hoped they would
always be friends, but that he was at Quebec as the viceroy's
representative, charged with the duty of defending his interests. The
leader of Champlain's opponents among the shareholders was Boyer, a
trader who had formerly given much trouble to De Monts, but was now one
of the associates. When in the spring of 1619 Champlain attempted to
sail for Quebec as usual, Boyer {79} prevented him from going aboard.
There followed an appeal to the crown, in which Champlain was fully
sustained, and Boyer did penance by offering a public apology before
the Exchange at Rouen.
It was shortly after this incident that Condé abdicated in favour of
Montmorency. The admiral, like his predecessor, accepted a thousand
crowns a year and named Champlain as his lieutenant. He also
instituted an inquiry regarding the alleged neglect of the company to
maintain the post at Quebec. The investigation showed that abundant
cause existed for depriving the company of its monopoly, and in
consequence the grant was transferred, on similar terms, to William and
Emery de Caën. Here complications at once ensued. The De Caëns, who
were natives of Rouen, were also Huguenots, a fact that intensified the
ill-feeling which had already arisen on the St Lawrence between
Catholic and heretic. The dispute between the new beneficiaries and
the company founded by Champlain involved no change in the policy of
the crown towards trade and colonization. It was a quarrel of persons,
which eventually reached a settlement in 1622. The De Caëns then
compromised by reorganizing the {80} company and giving their
predecessors five-twelfths of the shares.
The recital of these intricate events will at least illustrate the
difficulties which beset Champlain in his endeavour to build up New
France. There were problems enough even had he received loyal support
from the crown and the company. With the English and Dutch in full
rivalry, he saw that an aggressive policy of expansion and settlement
became each year more imperative. Instead, he was called on to
withstand the cabals of self-seeking traders who shirked their
obligations, and to endure the apathy of a government which was
preoccupied with palace intrigues.
At Quebec itself the two bright spots were the convent of the
Récollets[3] and the little farm of Louis Hébert. The Récollets first
came to New France in 1615, and began at once by language study to
prepare for their work among the Montagnais and Hurons. It was a
stipulation of the viceroy that six of them should be supported by the
company, and in the absence of parish priests they ministered to the
ungodly hangers-on of the fur trade as well as to the Indians. Louis
{81} Hébert and his admirable family were very dear to the Fathers. In
1617 all the buildings which had been erected at Quebec lay by the
water's edge. Hébert was the first to make a clearing on the heights.
His first domain covered less than ten acres, but it was well tilled.
He built a stone house, which was thirty-eight feet by nineteen.
Besides making a garden, he planted apple-trees and vines. He also
managed to support some cattle. When one considers what all this means
in terms of food and comfort, it may be guessed that the fur traders,
wintering down below on salt pork and smoked eels, must have felt much
respect for the farmer in his stone mansion on the cliff.
We have from Champlain's own lips a valuable statement as to the
condition of things at Quebec in 1627, the year when Louis Hébert died.
'We were in all,' he says, 'sixty-five souls, including men, women, and
children.' Of the sixty-five only eighteen were adult males fit for
hard work, and this small number must be reduced to two or three if we
include only the tillers of the soil. Besides these, a few adventurous
spirits were away in the woods with the Indians, learning their
language and endeavouring to exploit the beaver trade; but twenty years
after the founding of Quebec the {82} French in Canada, all told,
numbered less than one hundred.
Contrast with this the state of Virginia fifteen years after the
settlement of Jamestown. 'By 1622,' says John Fiske, 'the population
of Virginia was at least 4000, the tobacco fields were flourishing and
lucrative, durable houses had been built and made comfortable with
furniture brought from England, and the old squalor was everywhere
giving way to thrift. The area of colonization was pushed up the James
River as far as Richmond.'
This contrast is not to be interpreted to the personal disadvantage of
Champlain. The slow growth and poverty of Quebec were due to no fault
of his. It is rather the measure of his greatness that he was
undaunted by disappointment and unembittered by the pettiness of spirit
which met him at every turn. A memorial which he presented in 1618 to
the Chamber of Commerce at Paris discloses his dream of what might be:
a city at Quebec named Ludovica, a city equal in size to St Denis and
filled with noble buildings grouped round the Church of the Redeemer.
Tributary to this capital was a vast region watered by the St Lawrence
and abounding 'in rolling plains, {83} beautiful forests, and rivers
full of fish.' From Ludovica the heathen were to be converted and a
passage discovered to the East. So important a trade route would be
developed, that from the tolls alone there would be revenue to
construct great public works. Rich mines and fat cornfields fill the
background.
Such was the Quebec of Champlain's vision--if only France would see it
so! But in the Quebec of reality a few survivors saw the hunger of
winter yield to the starvation of spring. They lived on eels and roots
till June should bring the ships and food from home.
[1] The second and surviving wife of Henry IV--an Italian by birth and
in close sympathy with Spain. As regent for her son, Louis XIII, she
did much to reverse the policy of Henry IV, both foreign and domestic.
[2] One of the chief advisers of Marie de Médicis. In the early part
of his career he was President of the Parlement of Dijon and an
important member of the extreme Catholic party. After the retirement
of the Duc de Sully (1611) he was placed in charge of the finances of
France.
[3] The Récollets were a branch of the Franciscan order, noted for the
austerity of their rule.
{84}
CHAPTER IV
CHAMPLAIN IN THE WILDERNESS
Champlain's journeyings with the Indians were the holiday of his life,
for at no other time was he so free to follow the bent of his genius.
First among the incentives which drew him to the wilderness was his
ambition to discover the pathway to China. In 1608 the St Lawrence had
not been explored beyond the Lachine Rapids, nor the Richelieu beyond
Chambly--while the Ottawa was known only by report. Beyond Lake St
Louis stretched a mysterious world, through the midst of which flowed
the Great River. For an explorer and a patriot the opportunity was
priceless. The acquisition of vast territory for the French crown, the
enlargement of the trade zone, the discovery of a route to Cathay, the
prospect of Arcadian joys and exciting adventures--beside such
promptings hardship and danger became negligible. And when exploring
the wilderness Champlain was in full command. {85} Off the coast of
Norumbega his wishes, as geographer, had been subject to the special
projects of De Monts and Poutrincourt. At Fontainebleau he waited for
weeks and months in the antechambers of prelates or nobles. But when
conducting an expedition through the forest he was lord and master, a
chieftain from whose arquebus flew winged death.
The story of Champlain's expeditions along these great secluded
waterways, and across the portages of the forest, makes the most
agreeable page of his life both for writer and reader, since it is here
that he himself is most clearly in the foreground. At no point can his
narrative be thought dull, compact as it is and always in touch with
energetic action. But the details of fur trading at Tadoussac and the
Sault St Louis, or even of voyaging along the Acadian seaboard, are far
less absorbing than the tale of the canoe and the war party. Amid the
depths of the interior Champlain reaped his richest experiences as an
explorer. With the Indians for his allies and enemies he reached his
fullest stature as a leader.
It is not important to dwell upon the minor excursions which Champlain
made from his headquarters at Quebec into the country of the {86}
Montagnais.[1] He saw little of the rocky northland which, with its
myriad lakes and splendid streams, sweeps from the St Lawrence to
Hudson Bay. Southward and westward lay his course to the cantons of
the Iroquois south of Lake Ontario and the villages of the Hurons north
of Lake Simcoe. Above all, the expeditions of 1609, 1613, and 1615 are
the central episodes of his work as an explorer, each marked by a
distinct motive and abounding with adventures. In 1609 he discovered
Lake Champlain and fought his first battle with the Iroquois. In 1613
he was decoyed by a lying guide into a fruitless search for the
North-West Passage by the route of the Ottawa. In 1615 he discovered
Lake Huron, traversed what is now Central Ontario, and attacked the
Iroquois in the heart of their own country. These three journeys make
the sum of Champlain's achievements as a pioneer of the interior. For
all three, likewise, we have his own story, upon which all other
versions are based and from which they draw their most striking details.
[Illustration: THE DISCOVERY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN, 1609. From a drawing
by J. D. Kelly in the Château de Ramezay, Montreal.]
The discovery of Lake Champlain had its root in Champlain's promise to
the Algonquins {87} that he would aid them in their strife with the
Iroquois. In turn this promise was based upon the policy of
conciliating those savage tribes from whom the French derived their
supply of furs, and with whom throughout the St Lawrence basin they
most constantly came in contact.
It was the year which followed the founding of Quebec. Of the
twenty-eight who entered upon the first winter eight only had survived,
and half of these were ailing. On June 5 relief came in the person of
Des Marais, who announced that his father-in-law, Pontgravé, was
already at Tadoussac. Champlain at once set out to meet him, and it
was arranged that Pontgravé should take charge of the settlement for
the coming year, while Champlain fulfilled his promise to aid the
Algonquins in their war with the Iroquois. The full plan required that
Pontgravé should spend the winter in Canada, while Champlain, after his
summer campaign, was to return to France with a report of his
explorations.
The Indians had stated that the route to the land of the Iroquois was
easy, and Champlain's original design was to proceed in a shallop
capable of carrying twenty Frenchmen. Early in July he reached the
mouth {88} of the Richelieu, but on arriving at Chambly he found it
quite impossible to pass the falls with his shallop. Either the
expedition must be abandoned or the plan be radically changed, with the
consequence of incurring much greater risks. To advance meant sending
back the shallop with its crew and stores, embarking in a canoe, and
trusting wholly to the good faith of the savages. The decision was not
easy. 'I was much troubled,' says Champlain. 'And it gave me especial
dissatisfaction to go back without seeing a very large lake, filled
with handsome islands and with large tracts of fine land bordering on
the lake, where their enemies lived, according to their
representations. After duly thinking over the matter I determined to
go and fulfil my promise and carry out my desire. Accordingly I
embarked with the savages in their canoes, taking with me two men, who
went cheerfully. After making known my plan to Des Marais and others
in the shallop, I requested the former to return to our settlement with
the rest of our company, giving them the assurance that in a short
time, by God's grace, I would return to them.'
Having convinced himself, Champlain was next forced to convince the
Indians, whose {89} first impulse was to abandon the campaign when they
found that they would be accompanied by only three of the Frenchmen.
Champlain's firmness, however, communicated itself to them, and on July
12 they set out from Chambly Basin to commence the portage. At the top
of the rapid a review of forces was held, and it proved that the
Indians numbered sixty men, equipped with twenty-four canoes.
Advancing through a beautifully wooded country, the little war-party
encamped at a point not far below the outlet of Lake Champlain, taking
the precaution to protect themselves by a rough fortification of tree
trunks.
At this point Champlain introduces a graphic statement regarding the
methods which the Indians employ to guard against surprise. On three
sides they protect the camp by fallen trees, leaving the river-bank
without a barricade in order that they may take quickly to their
canoes. Then, as soon as the camp has been fortified, they send out
nine picked men in three canoes to reconnoitre for a distance of two or
three leagues. But before nightfall these scouts return, and then all
lie down to sleep, without leaving any pickets or sentries on duty.
When {90} Champlain remonstrated with them for such gross carelessness,
they replied that they worked hard enough during the daytime. The
normal formation of an Indian war-party embraced three divisions--the
scouts, the main body, and the hunters, the last always remaining in
the rear and chasing their game in a direction from which they did not
anticipate the appearance of the enemy. Having arrived at a distance
of two or three days' march from their enemies, they united in a single
party (save for the scouts) and advanced stealthily by night. At this
juncture their food became baked Indian meal soaked in water. They hid
by day and made no fire, save that required to smoke their tobacco.
Thus does Champlain describe the savage as he is about to fall upon his
foe. He gives special prominence to the soothsayer, who on the eve of
battle enters into elaborate intercourse with the devil. Inside a
wooden hut the necromancer lies prostrate on the ground, motionless.
Then he springs to his feet and begins to torment himself,
counterfeiting strange tones to represent the speech of the devil, and
carrying on violent antics which leave him in a stream of perspiration.
Outside the hut the Indians sit round on their {91} haunches like apes
and fancy that they can see fire proceeding from the roof, although the
devil appears to the soothsayer in the form of a stone. Finally, the
chiefs, when they have by these means learned that they will meet their
enemy and kill a sufficient number, arrange the order of battle.
Sticks a foot long are taken, one for each warrior, and these are laid
out on a level place five or six feet square. The leader then explains
the order of battle, after which the warriors substitute themselves for
the sticks and go through the manoeuvres till they can do them without
confusion.
From this description of tactics we pass speedily to a story of real
war. Reaching Lake Champlain, the party skirted the western shore,
with fine views of the Green Mountains, on the summit of which
Champlain mistook white limestone for snow. On July 29, at Crown
Point, the Iroquois were encountered at about ten o'clock in the
evening. Thus the first real battle of French and Indians took place
near that remarkable spot where Lake Champlain and Lake George draw
close together--the Ticonderoga of Howe, the Carillon of Montcalm.
The Algonquins were in good courage, for, {92} besides the muskets of
the three Frenchmen, they were inspired by a dream of Champlain that he
had seen the Iroquois drowning in a lake. As soon as the enemies saw
each other, both began to utter loud cries and make ready their
weapons. The Algonquins kept out on the water; the Iroquois went
ashore and built a barricade. When the Algonquins had made ready for
battle
they dispatched two canoes to the enemy to inquire if they wished to
fight, to which the latter replied that they wished nothing else; but
they said that at present there was not much light, and that it would
be necessary to wait for day so as to be able to recognize each other;
and that as soon as the sun rose they would offer us battle. This was
agreed to by our side. Meanwhile the entire night was spent in dancing
and singing, on both sides, with endless insults and other talk; as how
little courage we had, how feeble a resistance we should make against
their arms, and that when day came we should realize it to our ruin.
Ours also were not slow in retorting, telling them that they would see
such execution of arms as never before, together with an abundance of
such talk as is not unusual in the siege of a town.
Care had been taken by the Algonquins that the presence of Champlain
and his two companions should come to the Iroquois as a complete
surprise. Each of the Frenchmen {93} was in a separate canoe, convoyed
by the Montagnais. At daylight each put on light armour and, armed
with an arquebus, went ashore. Champlain was near enough the barricade
to see nearly two hundred Iroquois, 'stout and rugged in appearance.
They came at a slow pace towards us, with a dignity and assurance which
greatly impressed me, having three chiefs at their head.' Champlain,
when urged by his allies to make sure of killing the three chiefs,
replied that he would do his best, and that in any case he would show
them his courage and goodwill.
Then began the fight, which must be described in Champlain's own words,
for in all his writings there is no more famous passage.
As soon as we had landed, they began to run for some two hundred paces
towards their enemies, who stood firmly, not having as yet noticed my
companions, who went into the woods with some savages. Our men began
to call me with loud cries; and in order to give me a passage way they
opened in two parts and put me at their head, where I marched some
twenty paces in advance of the rest, until I was within about twenty
paces of the enemy, who at once noticed me and, halting, gazed at me,
as I did also at them. When I saw them make a move to fire at us, I
rested my musket against my cheek and aimed directly at one of the
three chiefs. With the same shot two fell to {94} the ground; and one
of their men was so wounded that he died some time after. I had loaded
my musket with four balls. When our side saw this shot so favourable
for them, they began to raise such loud cries that one could not have
heard it thunder. Meanwhile the arrows flew on both sides. The
Iroquois were greatly astonished that two men had been so quickly
killed, although they were equipped with armour woven from cotton
thread and with wood which was proof against their arrows. This caused
great alarm among them. As I was loading again, one of my companions
fired a shot from the woods, which astonished them anew to such a
degree that, seeing their chiefs dead, they lost courage and took to
flight, abandoning their camp and fort and fleeing into the woods,
whither I pursued them, killing still more of them. Our savages also
killed several of them and took ten or twelve prisoners. The remainder
escaped with the wounded. Fifteen or sixteen were wounded on our side
with arrow shots, but they were soon healed.
The spoils of victory included a large quantity of Indian corn,
together with a certain amount of meal, and also some of the native
armour which the Iroquois had thrown away in order to effect their
escape. Then followed a feast and the torture of one of the prisoners,
whose sufferings were mercifully concluded by a ball from Champlain's
musket, delivered in such wise that the unfortunate did not see {95}
the shot. Like Montcalm and other French commanders of a later date,
Champlain found it impossible to curb wholly the passions of his savage
allies. In this case his remonstrances had the effect of gaining for
the victim a _coup de grâce_--which may be taken as a measure of
Champlain's prestige. The atrocious savagery practised before and
after death is described in full detail. Champlain concludes the lurid
picture as follows: 'This is the manner in which these people behave
towards those whom they capture in war, for whom it would be better to
die fighting or to kill themselves on the spur of the moment, as many
do rather than fall into the hands of their enemies.'
Beyond the point at which this battle was fought Champlain did not go.
At Ticonderoga he was within eighty miles of the site of Albany. Had
he continued, he would have reached the Hudson from the north in the
same summer the _Half Moon_[2] entered it from the mouth. But the
Algonquins were content with their victory, though they candidly {96}
stated that there was an easy route from the south end of Lake George
to 'a river flowing into the sea on the Norumbega coast near that of
Florida.' The return to Quebec and Tadoussac was attended by no
incident of moment. The Montagnais, on parting with Champlain at
Tadoussac, generously gave him the head of an Iroquois and a pair of
arms, with the request that they be carried to the king of France. The
Algonquins had already taken their departure at Chambly, where, says
Champlain, 'we separated with loud protestations of mutual friendship.
They asked me whether I would not like to go into their country to
assist them with continued fraternal relations; and I promised that I
would do so.' As a contribution to geographical knowledge the
expedition of 1609 disclosed the existence of a noble lake, to which
Champlain fitly gave his own name. Its dimensions he considerably
over-estimated, but in all essential respects its situation was
correctly described, while his comments on the flora and fauna are very
interesting. The garpike as he saw it, with amplifications from the
Indians as they had seen it, gave him the subject for a good fish
story. He was deeply impressed, too, by the richness of the
vegetation. His attack on the {97} Iroquois was not soon forgotten by
that relentless foe, and prepared a store of trouble for the colony he
founded. But the future was closed to his view, and for the moment his
was the glorious experience of being the first to gaze with European
eyes upon a lake fairer and grander than his own France could show.
Four years elapsed before Champlain was enabled to plunge once more
into the depths of the forest--this time only to meet with the severest
disappointment of his life. Much has been said already regarding his
ambition to discover a short route to Cathay. This was the great prize
for which he would have sacrificed everything save loyalty to the king
and duty to the church. For a moment he seemed on the point of gaining
it. Then the truth was brutally disclosed, and he found that he had
been wilfully deceived by an impostor.
It was a feature of Champlain's policy that from time to time French
youths should spend the winter with the Indians--hunting with them,
living in their settlements, exploring their country, and learning
their language. Of Frenchmen thus trained to woodcraft during
Champlain's lifetime the most notable were Étienne Brulé, Nicolas
Vignau, Nicolas {98} Marsolet, and Jean Nicolet. Unfortunately the
three first did not leave an unclouded record. Brulé, after becoming a
most accomplished guide, turned traitor and aided the English in 1629.
Champlain accuses Marsolet of a like disloyalty.[3] Vignau, with more
imagination, stands on the roll of fame as a frank impostor.
Champlain, as we have seen, spent the whole of 1612 in France, and it
was at this time that Vignau appeared in Paris with a tale which could
not but kindle excitement in the heart of an explorer. The basis of
fact was that Vignau had undoubtedly passed the preceding winter with
the Algonquins on the Ottawa. The fable which was built upon this fact
can best be told in Champlain's own words.
He reported to me, on his return to Paris in 1612, that he had seen the
North Sea; that the river of the Algonquins [the Ottawa] came from a
lake which emptied into it; and that in seventeen days one could go
from the Falls of St Louis to this sea and back again; that he had seen
the wreck and débris of an English ship that had been wrecked, on board
of which were eighty men who had escaped to the shore, and whom the
savages killed because the English endeavoured to take from them by
force their Indian corn and other necessaries of life; and that he had
seen {99} the scalps which these savages had flayed off, according to
their custom, which they would show me, and that they would likewise
give me an English boy whom they had kept for me. This intelligence
greatly pleased me, for I thought that I had almost found that for
which I had for a long time been searching.
Champlain makes it clear that he did not credit Vignau's tale with the
simple credulity of a man who has never been to sea. He caused Vignau
to swear to its truth at La Rochelle before two notaries. He
stipulated that Vignau should go with him over the whole route.
Finally, as they were on the point of sailing together for Canada in
the spring of 1613, he once more adjured Vignau in the presence of
distinguished witnesses, saying 'that if what he had previously said
was not true, he must not give me the trouble to undertake the journey,
which involved many dangers. Again he affirmed all that he had said,
on peril of his life.'
After taking these multiplied precautions against deceit, Champlain
left the Sault St Louis on May 29, 1613, attended by four Frenchmen and
one Indian, with Vignau for guide. Ascending the Ottawa, they
encountered their first difficulties at the Long Sault, {100} where
Dollard forty-seven years later was to lose his life so gloriously.
Here the passage of the rapids was both fatiguing and dangerous.
Prevented by the density of the wood from making a portage, they were
forced to drag their canoes through the water. In one of the eddies
Champlain nearly lost his life, and his hand was severely hurt by a
sudden jerk of the rope. Having mounted the rapids, he met with no
very trying obstacle until he had gone some distance past the Chaudière
Falls. His reference to the course of the Gatineau makes no sense, and
Laverdière has had recourse to the not improbable conjecture that the
printer dropped out a whole line at this point. Champlain also
over-estimates considerably the height of the Rideau Falls and is not
very exact in his calculation of latitude.
The hardships of this journey were greatly and unnecessarily increased
by Vignau, whose only hope was to discourage his leader. In the end it
proved that 'our liar' (as Champlain repeatedly calls him) had hoped to
secure a reward for his alleged discovery, believing that no one would
follow him long, even if an attempt were made to confirm the accuracy
of his report. But Champlain, undeterred by portages and mosquitoes,
kept on. Some {101} savages who joined him said that Vignau was a
liar, and on their advice Champlain left the Ottawa a short distance
above the mouth of the Madawaska. Holding westward at some distance
from the south shore, he advanced past Muskrat Lake, and after a hard
march came out again on the Ottawa at Lake Allumette.
This was the end of Champlain's route in 1613. From the Algonquins on
Allumette Island he learned that Vignau had wintered with them at the
time he swore he was discovering salt seas. Finally, the impostor
confessed his fraud and, falling on his knees, asked for mercy. The
Indians would gladly have killed him outright, but Champlain spared his
life, though how deeply he was moved can be seen from these words:
'Overcome with wrath I had him removed, being unable to endure him any
longer in my presence.' After his confession there was nothing for it
but to return by the same route. An astrolabe found some years ago
near Muskrat Lake may have been dropped from Champlain's luggage on the
journey westward, though he does not mention the loss.
Apart from disclosing the course of the Ottawa, the _Voyage_ of 1613 is
chiefly notable {102} for its account of Indian customs--for example,
the mode of sepulture, the _tabagie_ or feast, and the superstition
which leads the Algonquins to throw pieces of tobacco into the cauldron
of the Chaudière Falls as a means of ensuring protection against their
enemies. Of the feast given him by Tessouät, an Algonquin chief,
Champlain says:
The next day all the guests came, each with his porringer and wooden
spoon. They seated themselves without order or ceremony on the ground
in the cabin of Tessouät, who distributed to them a kind of broth made
of maize crushed between two stones, together with meat and fish which
was cut into little pieces, the whole being boiled together without
salt. They also had meat roasted on the coals and fish boiled apart,
which he also distributed. In respect to myself, as I did not wish any
of their chowder, which they prepare in a very dirty manner, I asked
them for some fish and meat, that I might prepare it my own way, which
they gave me. For drink we had fine, clear water. Tessouät, who gave
the _tabagie_, entertained us without eating himself, according to
their custom.
The _tabagie_ being over, the young men, who are not present at the
harangues and councils, and who during the _tabagie_ remain at the door
of the cabins, withdrew, when all who remained began to fill their
pipes, one and another offering me one. We then spent a full half-hour
in this occupation, not a word being spoken, as is their custom.
{103}
But for the dexterous arrangement by which Champlain managed to cook
his own food, the _tabagie_ would have been more dangerous to health
than the portage. In any case, it was an ordeal that could not be
avoided, for feasting meant friendly intercourse, and only through
friendly intercourse could Champlain gain knowledge of that vast
wilderness which he must pierce before reaching his long-sought goal,
the sea beyond which lay China.
As for Vignau, his punishment was to make full confession before all
the French who had assembled at the Sault St Louis to traffic with the
Indians. When Champlain reached this rendezvous on June 17, he
informed the traders of all that had happened, including
the malice of my liar, at which they were greatly amazed. I then
begged them to assemble in order that in their presence, and that of
the savages and his companions, he might make declaration of his
maliciousness; which they gladly did. Being thus assembled, they
summoned him and asked him why he had not shown me the sea of the
north, as he had promised me at his departure. He replied that he had
promised something impossible for him, since he had never seen the sea,
and that the desire of making the journey had led him to say what he
did, also that he did not suppose that I would undertake it; and he
begged them to be pleased to pardon him, as he also {104} begged me
again, confessing that he had greatly offended, and if I would leave
him in the country he would by his efforts repair the offence and see
this sea, and bring back trustworthy intelligence concerning it the
following year; and in view of certain considerations I pardoned him on
this condition.
Vignau's public confession was followed by the annual barter with the
Indians, after which Champlain returned to France.
We come now to the _Voyage_ of 1615, which describes Champlain's
longest and most daring journey through the forest--an expedition that
occupied the whole period from July 9, 1615, to the last days of June
1616. Thus for the first time he passed a winter with the Indians,
enlarging greatly thereby his knowledge of their customs and character.
The central incident of the expedition was an attack made by the Hurons
and their allies upon the stronghold of the Onondagas in the heart of
the Iroquois country. But while this war-party furnishes the chief
adventure, there is no page of Champlain's narrative which lacks its
tale of the marvellous. As a story of life in the woods, the _Voyage_
of 1615 stands first among all Champlain's writings.
As in 1609, there was a mutuality of interest between Champlain and the
Indians who {105} traded at the Sault. His desire was to explore and
theirs was to fight. By compromise they disclosed to him the recesses
of their country and he aided them against the Iroquois. In 1615 the
Hurons not only reminded him of his repeated promises to aid them, but
stated flatly that without such aid they could no longer attend the
annual market, as their enemies were making the route too unsafe. On
their side they promised a war-party of more than two thousand men. A
further proof of friendship was afforded by their willingness to
receive a missionary in their midst--the Récollet, Father Joseph Le
Caron.
Champlain's line of exploration in 1615-16 took the following course.
He first ascended the Ottawa to the mouth of the Mattawa. Thence
journeying overland by ponds and portages he entered Lake Nipissing,
which he skirted to the outlet. French River next took him to Georgian
Bay, or, as he calls it for geographical definition, the Lake of the
Attigouautan [Hurons]. His own name for this vast inland sea is the
_Mer Douce_. That he did not explore it with any degree of
thoroughness is evident from the terms of his narrative as well as from
his statement that its length, east and {106} west, is four hundred
leagues. What he saw of Lake Huron was really the east shore of
Georgian Bay, from the mouth of French River to the bottom of
Matchedash Bay. Here he entered the country of the Hurons, which
pleased him greatly in comparison with the tract before traversed. 'It
was very fine, the largest part being cleared, and many hills and
several rivers rendering the region agreeable. I went to see their
Indian corn, which was at that time [early in August] far advanced for
the season.'
[Illustration: CHAMPLAIN'S ROUTE, 1615-16]
Champlain's route through the district between Carmaron and Cahaigué
can best be followed in Father Jones's map of Huronia.[4] The points
which Champlain names are there indicated, in each case with as careful
identification of the locality as we are ever likely to get. For those
who are not specialists in the topography of Huronia it may suffice
that Champlain left Matchedash Bay not far from Penetanguishene, and
thence went to Carmaron at the very north of the peninsula. Returning,
he passed through some of the largest of the Huron villages, and after
sixteen days came out at Cahaigué, which was situated {107} close to
Lake Simcoe and almost on the site of the modern Hawkestone. It was
here that most of the Huron warriors assembled for the great expedition
against the Onondagas. Setting out on their march, they first went a
little to the northward, where they were joined on the shores of Lake
Couchiching by another contingent. The party thus finally made up,
Champlain's line of advance first took him to Sturgeon Lake.
Afterwards it pursued that important waterway which is represented by
the Otonabee river, Rice Lake, and the river Trent. Hence the warriors
entered Lake Ontario by the Bay of Quinte.
This country between Lake Simcoe and the Bay of Quinte seems to have
pleased Champlain greatly. He saw it in September, when the
temperature was agreeable and when the vegetation of the forest could
be enjoyed without the torment inflicted by mosquitoes. 'It is
certain,' he says, 'that all this region is very fine and pleasant.
Along the banks it seems as if the trees had been set out for ornament
in most places, and that all these tracts were in former times
inhabited by savages who were subsequently compelled to abandon them
from fear of their enemies. Vines and nut trees are here very
numerous. {108} Grapes mature, yet there is always a very pungent
tartness, which is felt remaining in the throat when one eats them in
large quantities, arising from defect of cultivation. These localities
are very pleasant when cleared up.'
From the Bay of Quinte the war-party skirted the east shore of Lake
Ontario, crossing the head of the St Lawrence, and thence following the
southern shore about fourteen leagues. At this point the Indians
concealed all their canoes and struck into the woods towards Lake
Oneida. Though made up chiefly of Hurons, the little army embraced
various allies, including a band of Algonquins. Whether from
over-confidence at having Champlain among them or from their natural
lack of discipline, the allies managed their attack very badly. On a
pond a few miles south of Oneida Lake lay the objective point of the
expedition--a palisaded stronghold of the Onondagas. At a short
distance from this fort eleven of the enemy were surprised and taken
prisoners. What followed was much less fortunate. Champlain does not
state the number of Frenchmen present, but as his drawing shows eleven
musketeers, we may infer that his own followers were distinctly {109}
more numerous than at the battle on Lake Champlain.
The height of the palisade was thirty feet, and a system of gutters
supplied abundant water for use in extinguishing fire. Champlain's
plan of attack was to employ a _cavalier_, or protected scaffolding,
which should overtop the palisade and could be brought close against
it. From the top of this framework four or five musketeers were to
deliver a fusillade against the Iroquois within the fort, while the
Hurons kindled a fire at the foot of the palisade. Champlain's drawing
shows the rest of the musketeers engaged in creating a diversion at
other points.
But everything miscarried. Though the _cavalier_ was constructed, the
allies threw aside the wooden shields which Champlain had caused to be
made as a defence against the arrows of the Iroquois while the fire was
being kindled. Only a small supply of wood had been collected, and
even this was so placed that the flames blew away from the palisade
instead of towards it. On the failure of this attempt to fire the fort
all semblance of discipline was thrown to the winds. 'There also rose
such disorder among them,' says Champlain, 'that one could not
understand {110} another, which greatly troubled me. In vain did I
shout in their ears and remonstrate to my utmost with them as to the
danger to which they exposed themselves by their bad behaviour, but on
account of the great noise they made they heard nothing. Seeing that
shouting would only burst my head and that my remonstrances were
useless for putting a stop to the disorder, I did nothing more, but
determined, together with my men, to do what we could and fire upon
such as we could see.' The fight itself lasted only three hours, and
the casualties of the attacking party were inconsiderable, since but
two of their chiefs and fifteen warriors were wounded. In addition to
their repulse, the Hurons suffered a severe disappointment through the
failure to join them of five hundred allies who had given their solemn
promise. Although Champlain had received two severe wounds, one in the
leg and another in the knee, he urged a second and more concerted
attack. But in vain. The most the Hurons would promise was to wait
four or five days for the expected reinforcements. At the end of this
time there was no sign of the five hundred, and the return began. 'The
only good point,' says Champlain, 'that I have seen in their mode of
{111} warfare is that they make their retreat very securely, placing
all the wounded and aged in their centre, being well armed on the wings
and in the rear, and continuing this order without interruption until
they reach a place of security.'
Champlain himself suffered tortures during the retreat, partly from his
wounds, but even more from the mode of transportation. The Indian
method of removing the wounded was first to bind and pinion them 'in
such a manner that it is as impossible for them to move as for an
infant in its swaddling-clothes.' They were then carried in a kind of
basket, 'crowded up in a heap.' Doubtless as a mark of distinction,
Champlain was carried separately on the back of a savage. His wound
was so severe that when the retreat began he could not stand. But the
transportation proved worse than the wound. 'I never found myself in
such a _gehenna_ as during this time, for the pain which I suffered in
consequence of the wound in my knee was nothing in comparison with that
which I endured while I was carried bound and pinioned on the back of
one of our savages. So that I lost my patience, and as soon as I could
sustain myself got out of this prison, or rather _gehenna_.'
{112}
The enemy made no pursuit, but forced marches were kept up for
twenty-five or thirty leagues. The weather now grew cold, as it was
past the middle of autumn. The fight at the fort of the Onondagas had
taken place on October 10, and eight days later there was a snowstorm,
with hail and a strong wind. But, apart from extreme discomfort, the
retreat was successfully accomplished, and on the shore of Lake Ontario
they found the canoes intact.
It had been Champlain's purpose to spend the winter at Quebec, and when
the Hurons were about to leave the east end of Lake Ontario for their
own country he asked them for a canoe and an escort. Four Indians
volunteered for this service, but no canoe could be had, and in
consequence Champlain was forced reluctantly to accompany the Hurons.
With his usual patience he accepted the inevitable, which in this case
was only unpleasant because he was ill prepared for spending a winter
among the Indians. After a few days he perceived that their plan was
to keep him and his companions, partly as security for themselves and
partly that he might assist at their councils in planning better
safeguards against their enemies.
{113}
This enforced residence of Champlain among the Hurons during the winter
of 1615-16 has given us an excellent description of Indian customs. It
was also the means of composing a dangerous quarrel between the Hurons
and the Algonquins. Once committed to spending the winter among the
Indians, Champlain planned to make Huronia a point of departure for
still further explorations to the westward. Early in 1616 there seemed
to be a favourable opportunity to push forward in the direction of Lake
Superior. Then came this wretched brawl of Hurons and Algonquins,
which threatened to beget bitter hatred and war among tribes which
hitherto had both been friendly to the French. Accepting his duty,
Champlain gave up his journey to the far west and threw himself into
the task of restoring peace. But the measure of his disappointment is
found in these words:
If ever there was one greatly disheartened, it was myself, since I had
been waiting to see this year what during many preceding ones I had
been seeking for with great toil and effort, through so many fatigues
and risks of my life. But realizing that I could not help the matter,
and that everything depended on the will of God, I comforted myself,
resolving to see it in a short time. I had such sure {114} information
that I could not doubt the report of these people, who go to traffic
with others dwelling in those northern regions, a great part of whom
live in a place very abundant in the chase and where there are great
numbers of large animals, the skins of several of which I saw, and
which I concluded were buffaloes from their representation of their
form. Fishing is also very abundant there. This journey requires
forty days as well in returning as in going.
Thus Champlain almost had a chance to see the bison and the great
plains of the West. As it was, he did his immediate duty and restored
the peace of Huron and Algonquin. In partial compensation for the
alluring journey he relinquished, he had a better opportunity to study
the Hurons in their settlements and to investigate their relations with
their neighbours--the Tobacco Nation, the Neutral Nation, _les Cheveux
Relevés_, and the Race of Fire. Hence the _Voyage_ of 1615 not only
describes the physical aspects of Huronia, but contains intimate
details regarding the life of its people--their wigwams, their food,
their manner of cooking, their dress, their decorations, their marriage
customs, their medicine-men, their burials, their assemblies, their
agriculture, their amusements, and their mode of fishing. It is
Champlain's most {115} ambitious piece of description, far less
detailed than the subsequent narratives of the Jesuits, but in
comparison with them gaining impact from being less diffuse.
It was on May 20, 1616, that Champlain left the Huron country, never
again to journey thither or to explore the recesses of the forest.
Forty days later he reached the Sault St Louis, and saw once more his
old friend Pontgravé. Thenceforward his life belongs not to the
wilderness, but to Quebec.
[1] An Algonquin tribe dwelling to the north of the St Lawrence, for
the most part between the Saguenay and the St Maurice.
[2] Henry Hudson, an English mariner with a Dutch crew, entered the
mouth of the Hudson in a boat called the _Half Moon_ on September 4,
1609. As named by him, the river was called the 'Great North River of
New Netherland.'
[3] Marsolet's defence was that he acted under constraint.
[4] This map will be found in _The Jesuit Missions_ in this Series, and
also in vol. xxxiv of _The Jesuit Relations_, ed. Thwaites.
{116}
CHAPTER V
CHAMPLAIN'S LAST YEARS
When Champlain reached the Sault St Louis on July 1, 1616, his career
as an explorer had ended. The nineteen years of life that still
remained he gave to Quebec and the duties of his lieutenancy.
By this time he had won the central position in his own domain.
Question might arise as to the terms upon which a monopoly of trade
should be granted, or as to the persons who should be its recipients.
But whatever company might control the trade, Champlain was the king's
representative in New France. When Boyer affronted him, the council
had required that a public apology should be offered. When Montmorency
instituted the investigation of 1620, it was Champlain's report which
determined the issue. Five years later, when the Duc de Ventadour
became viceroy in place of Montmorency, Champlain still remained
lieutenant-general of New {117} France. Such were his character,
services, and knowledge that his tenure could not be questioned.
Notwithstanding this source of satisfaction, the post was difficult in
the extreme. The government continued to leave colonizing in the hands
of the traders, and the traders continued to shirk their obligations.
The Company of the De Caëns did a large business, but suffered more
severely than any of its predecessors from the strife of Catholic and
Huguenot. Those of the reformed religion even held their services in
the presence of the Indians, thus anticipating the scandals of Kikuyu.
Though the Duc de Ventadour gave orders that there should be no
psalm-singing after the outbound ships passed Newfoundland, this
provision seems not to have been effective. It was a difficult problem
for one like Champlain, who, while a loyal Catholic, had been working
all his life with Huguenot associates.
The period of the De Caëns was marked by the presence at Quebec of
Madame Champlain. The romance of Champlain's life does not, however,
revolve about his marriage. In 1610, at the age of forty-three, he
espoused Hélène Boullé, whose father was secretary of the King's
Chamber to Henry IV. {118} As the bride was only twelve years old, the
marriage contract provided that she should remain two years longer with
her parents. She brought a dowry of six thousand livres, and
simultaneously Champlain made his will in her favour. Probably De
Monts had some part in arranging the marriage, for Nicholas Boullé was
a Huguenot and De Monts appears as a witness to the notarial documents.
Subsequently, Madame Champlain became an enthusiastic Catholic and
ended her days as a nun. She had no children, and was only once in
Canada, residing continuously at Quebec from 1620 to 1624. No mention
whatever is made of her in Champlain's writings, but he named St
Helen's Island after her, and appears to have been unwilling that she
should enter a convent during his lifetime.
One need feel little surprise that Madame Champlain should not care to
visit Canada a second time, for the buildings at Quebec had fallen into
disrepair, and more than once the supply of food ran very low. During
1625 Champlain remained in France with his wife, and therefore did not
witness the coming of the Jesuits to the colony. This event, which is
a landmark in the history of Quebec and New France, followed upon the
inability of {119} the Récollets to cover the mission field with any
degree of completeness. Conscious that their resources were unequal to
the task, they invoked the aid of the Jesuits, and in this appeal were
strongly supported by Champlain. Once more the horizon seemed to
brighten, for the Jesuits had greater resources and influence than any
other order in the Roman Catholic Church, and their establishment at
Quebec meant much besides a mere increase in the population. The year
1626 saw Champlain again at his post, working hard to complete a new
factory which he had left unfinished, while the buildings of the Jesuit
establishment made good progress under the hand of workmen specially
brought from France. What still remained imperfect was the
fortification. The English had destroyed the French settlements at
Mount Desert and Port Royal. What was to hinder them from bombarding
Quebec?
This danger soon clouded the mood of optimism that had been inspired by
the coming of the Jesuits. The De Caëns objected to any outlay on a
fort, and would not give Champlain the men he needed. In reply
Champlain sent the viceroy a report which was unfavourable to the
company and its methods. But even without this {120} representation,
the monopoly of the De Caëns was doomed by reason of events which were
taking place in France.
At the court of Louis XIII Richelieu had now gained an eminence and
power such as never before had been possessed by a minister of the
French crown. Gifted with imagination and covetous of national
greatness, he saw the most desirable portions of other continents in
the hands of the Spaniards, the Portuguese, the English, and the Dutch.
The prospect was not pleasing, and he cast about for a remedy.
For Hanotaux,[1] Richelieu is 'the true founder of our colonial
empire,' and La Roncière adds: 'Madagascar, Senegal, Guiana, the
Antilles, Acadia, and Canada--this, to be exact, was the colonial
empire for which we were indebted to Richelieu.' Regarding his breadth
of outlook there can be no doubt, and in his _Memoirs_ he left the
oft-quoted phrase: 'No realm is so well situated as France to be
mistress of the seas or so rich in all things needful.' Desiring to
strengthen maritime commerce and to hold distant {121} possessions, he
became convinced that the English and the Dutch had adopted the right
policy. Strong trading companies--not weak ones--were what France
needed.
Henry IV could have given the French a fair start, or even a lead, in
the race for colonies. He missed this great opportunity; partly
because he was preoccupied with the reorganization of France, and
partly because Sully, his minister, had no enthusiasm for colonial
ventures. Twenty years later the situation had changed. Richelieu,
who was a man of wide outlook, was also compelled by the activity of
England and Holland to give attention to the problem of a New France.
The spirit of colonization was in the air, and Richelieu, with his
genius for ideas, could not fail to see its importance or what would
befall the laggards. His misfortune was that he lacked certain
definite qualifications which a greater founder of colonies needed to
possess. Marvellous in his grasp of diplomatic situations and in his
handling of men, he had no talent whatever for the details of commerce.
His fiscal régime, particularly after France engaged in her duel with
the House of Hapsburg, was disorganized and intolerable. Nor did he
recognize that, {122} for the French, the desire to emigrate required
even greater encouragement than the commercial instinct. He compelled
his company to transport settlers, but the number was not large, and he
kindled no popular enthusiasm for the cause of colonization. France
had once led the crusade eastward. Under proper guidance she might
easily have contributed more than she did to the exodus westward.
At any rate Richelieu, 'a man in the grand style, if ever man was,' had
decided that New France should no longer languish, and the Company of
One Hundred Associates was the result. In 1627 he abolished the office
of viceroy, deprived the De Caëns of their charter, and prepared to
make Canada a real colony. The basis of the plan was an association of
one hundred members, each subscribing three thousand livres.
Richelieu's own name heads the list of members, followed by those of
the minister of finance and the minister of marine. Most of the
members resided in Paris, though the seaboard and the eastern provinces
were also represented. Nobles, wealthy merchants, small traders, all
figure in the list, and twelve titles of nobility were distributed
among the shareholders to help in the enlistment of capital. The
company received a {123} monopoly of trade for fifteen years, and
promised to take out three hundred colonists annually during the whole
period covered by the grant. It also received the St Lawrence valley
in full ownership. One notable provision of the charter was that only
Roman Catholics should be sent to New France, and the company was
placed under special obligation to maintain three priests in each
settlement until the colony could support its own clergy.
Champlain was now sixty years of age, and he had suffered much.
Suddenly there burst forth this spontaneous enthusiasm of Richelieu the
all-powerful. Was Champlain's dream of the great city of Ludovica to
come true after all?
Alas, like previous visions, it faded before the glare of harsh,
uncompromising facts. The year in which Richelieu founded his Company
of New France was also the year of a fierce Huguenot revolt. Calling
on England for aid, La Rochelle defied Paris, the king, and the
cardinal. Richelieu laid siege to the place. Guiton, the mayor, sat
at his council-board with a bare dagger before him to warn the
faint-hearted. The old Duchesse de Rohan starved with the populace.
{124} Salbert, the most eloquent of Huguenot pastors, preached that
martyrdom was better than surrender. Meanwhile, Richelieu built his
mole across the harbour, and Buckingham wasted the English troops to
which the citizens looked for their salvation. Then the town yielded.
The fall of La Rochelle was a great personal triumph for Richelieu, but
the war with England brought disaster to the Company of New France. At
Dieppe there had lived for many years an Englishman named Jarvis, or
Gervase, Kirke, who with his five sons--David, Lewis, Thomas, John, and
James--knew much at first hand about the French merchant marine. Early
in the spring of 1628 Kirke (who had shortly before moved to London)
secured letters of marque and sent forth his sons to do what damage
they could to the French in the St Lawrence. Champlain had spent the
winter at Quebec and was, of course, expecting his usual supplies with
the opening of navigation. Instead came Lewis Kirke, sent from
Tadoussac by his brother David, to demand surrender.
Champlain made a reply which, though courteous, was sufficiently bold
to convince the Kirkes that Quebec could be best captured {125} by
starvation. They therefore sailed down the St Lawrence to intercept
the fleet from France, confident that their better craft would overcome
these 'sardines of the sea.' The plan proved successful even beyond
expectation, for after a long cannonade they captured without material
loss the whole fleet which had been sent out by the Company of New
France. Ships, colonists, annual supplies, building materials--all
fell into the hands of the enterprising Kirkes, who then sailed for
England with their booty. Alike to Champlain and to the Hundred
Associates it was a crippling blow.
Thus, but for the war with England, Quebec would have seen its
population trebled in 1628. As it was, the situation became worse than
ever. Lewis Kirke had been careful to seize the cattle pastured at Cap
Tourmente and to destroy the crops. When winter came, there were
eighty mouths to feed on a scant diet of peas and maize, imperfectly
ground, with a reserve supply of twelve hundred eels. Towards spring
anything was welcome, and the roots of Solomon's seal were esteemed a
feast. Champlain even gave serious thought to a raid upon the Mohawks,
three hundred miles away, in the hope that food could be brought back
{126} from their granaries. Finally, on the 19th of July 1629, Lewis
Kirke returned with a second summons to surrender. This time only one
answer was possible, for to the survivors at Quebec the English came
less in the guise of foes than as human beings who could save them from
starvation. Champlain and his people received honourable treatment,
and were promised a passage to France. The family Hébert, however,
decided to remain.
We need not dwell upon the emotions with which Champlain saw the French
flag pulled down at Quebec. Doubtless it seemed the disastrous end of
his life-work, but he was a good soldier and enjoyed also the comforts
of religion. A further consolation was soon found in the discovery
that Quebec might yet be reclaimed. Ten weeks before Champlain
surrendered, the two countries were again at peace, and the Treaty of
Suza embodied a provision that captures made after the treaty was
signed should be mutually restored. This intelligence reached
Champlain when he landed in England on the homeward voyage. It is
characteristic of the man, that before going on to France he posted
from Dover to London, and urged the French ambassador that he should
insistently claim Quebec.
{127}
As a result of the war Canada and Acadia were both in the possession of
England. On the other hand, the dowry of Henrietta Maria was still,
for the most part, in the treasury of France. When one remembers that
1628 saw Charles I driven by his necessities to concede the Petition of
Right, it will be readily seen that he desired the payment of his
wife's dowry. Hence Richelieu, whose talents in diplomacy were above
praise, had substantial reason to expect that Canada and Acadia would
be restored. The negotiations dragged on for more than two years, and
were complicated by disputes growing out of the captures made under
letter of marque. When all was settled by the Treaty of St
Germain-en-Laye (March 1632) Quebec and Port Royal became once more
French--to the profound discontent of the Kirkes and Sir William
Alexander,[2] but with such joy on the part of Champlain as only
patriots can know who have given a lifelong service to their country.
Having regained Canada, Richelieu was forced to decide what he would do
with it. {128} In certain important respects the situation had changed
since 1627, when he founded the Company of New France. Then Gustavus
Adolphus and the Swedes were not a factor in the dire strife which was
convulsing Europe.[3] In 1632 the political problems of Western and
Central Europe had assumed an aspect quite different from that which
they had worn five years earlier. More and more France was drawn into
the actual conflict of the Thirty Years' War, impelled by a sense of
new and unparalleled opportunity to weaken the House of Hapsburg.
This, in turn, meant the preoccupation of Richelieu with European
affairs, and a heavy drain upon the resources of France in order to
meet the cost of her more ambitious foreign policy. Thus the duel with
Austria, as it progressed during the last decade of the cardinal's
life, meant a fresh check to {129} those colonial prospects which
seemed so bright in 1627.
Richelieu's first step in resuming possession of Canada was to compose
matters between the De Caëns and the Company of New France. Emery de
Caën and his associates were given the trading rights for 1632 and
79,000 livres as compensation for their losses through the revocation
of the monopoly. Dating from the spring of 1633, the Company of New
France was to be placed in full possession of Canada, subject to
specific obligations regarding missions and colonists. Conformably
with this programme, Emery de Caën appeared at Quebec on July 5, 1632,
with credentials empowering him to receive possession from Lewis and
Thomas Kirke, the representatives of England. With De Caën came Paul
Le Jeune and two other Jesuits, a vanguard of the missionary band which
was to convert the savages. 'We cast anchor,' says Le Jeune, 'in front
of the fort which the English held; we saw at the foot of this fort the
poor settlement of Quebec all in ashes. The English, who came to this
country to plunder and not to build up, not only burned a greater part
of the detached buildings which Father Charles Lalemant had {130}
erected, but also all of that poor settlement of which nothing is now
to be seen but the ruins of its stone walls.'
The season of 1632 thus belonged to De Caën, whose function was merely
to tie up loose ends and prepare for the establishment of the new
régime. The central incident of the recession was the return of
Champlain himself--an old man who had said a last farewell to France
and now came, as the king's lieutenant, to end his days in the land of
his labours and his hopes. If ever the oft-quoted last lines of
Tennyson's _Ulysses_ could fitly be claimed by a writer on behalf of
his hero, they apply to Champlain as he sailed from the harbour of
Dieppe on March 23, 1633.
Come, my friends,
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars until I die.
Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
It was Champlain's reward that he saw {131} Quebec once more under the
fleur-de-lis, and was welcomed by the Indians with genuine emotion.
The rhetorical gifts of the red man were among his chief endowments,
and all that eloquence could lavish was poured forth in honour of
Champlain at the council of the Hurons, who had come to Quebec for
barter at the moment of his return. The description of this council is
one of the most graphic passages in Le Jeune's _Relations_. A captain
of the Hurons first arose and explained the purpose of the gathering.
'When this speech was finished all the Savages, as a sign of their
approval, drew from the depths of their stomachs this aspiration, _ho,
ho, ho_, raising the last syllable very high.' Thereupon the captain
began another speech of friendship, alliance, and welcome to Champlain,
followed by gifts. Then the same captain made a third speech, which
was followed by Champlain's reply--a harangue well adapted to the
occasion. But the climax was reached in the concluding orations of two
more Huron chiefs. 'They vied with each other in trying to honour
Sieur de Champlain and the French, and in testifying their affection
for us. One of them said that when the French were absent the earth
was no longer the earth, the river was {132} no longer the river, the
sky was no longer the sky; but upon the return of Sieur de Champlain
everything was as before: the earth was again the earth, the river was
again the river, and the sky was again the sky.'
Thus welcomed by the savages, Champlain resumed his arduous task. He
was establishing Quebec anew and under conditions quite unlike those
which had existed in 1608. The most notable difference was that the
Jesuits were now at hand to aid in the upbuilding of Canada. The
Quebec of De Monts and De Caën had been a trading-post, despite the
efforts of the Récollets and Jesuits to render it the headquarters of a
mission. Undoubtedly there existed from the outset a desire to convert
the Indians, but as a source of strength to the colony this disposition
effected little until the return of the Jesuits in 1632.
With the re-establishment of the Jesuit mission the last days of
Champlain are inseparably allied. A severe experience had proved that
the colonizing zeal of the crown was fitful and uncertain. Private
initiative was needed to supplement the official programme, and of such
initiative the supply seemed scanty. The fur traders notoriously
shirked their obligations to enlarge the colony, {133} and after 1632
the Huguenots, who had a distinct motive for emigrating, were forbidden
by Richelieu to settle in Canada. There remained the enthusiasm of the
Jesuits and the piety of those in France who supplied the funds for
their work among the Montagnais, the Hurons, and the Iroquois. As the
strongest order in the Roman Catholic Church, the Jesuits possessed
resources which enabled them to maintain an active establishment in
Canada. Through them Quebec became religious, and their influence
permeated the whole colony as its population increased and the zone of
occupation grew wider. Le Jeune, Lalemant, Brébeuf, and Jogues are
among the outstanding names of the restored New France.
During the last two years of his life Champlain lived patriarchally at
Quebec, administering the public affairs of the colony and lending its
religious impulses the strength of his support and example. Always a
man of serious mind, his piety was confirmed by the reflections of
advancing age and his daily contact with the missionaries. In his
household there was a service of prayer three times daily, together
with reading at supper from the lives of the saints. In pursuance of a
vow, he built a chapel named Notre Dame de la {134} Recouvrance, which
records the gratitude he felt for the restoration of Quebec to France.
He was, in short, the ideal layman--serving his king loyally in all
business of state, and demeaning himself as a pilgrim who is about to
set forth for the City of God.
It is not to be inferred from the prominence of Champlain's religious
interests that he neglected his public duties, which continued to be
many and exacting. One of his problems was to prevent the English from
trading in the St Lawrence contrary to treaty; another was to
discourage the Hurons from selling their furs to the Dutch on the
Hudson. The success of the mission, which he had deeply at heart,
implied the maintenance of peace among the Indians who were friendly to
the French. He sought also to police the region of the Great Lakes by
a band of French soldiers, and his last letter to Richelieu (dated
August 15, 1635) contains an earnest appeal for a hundred and twenty
men, to whom should be assigned the duty of marshalling the Indian
allies against the English and Dutch, as well as of preserving order
throughout the forest. The erection of a fort at Three Rivers in 1634
was due to his desire that the annual barter should take place at {135}
a point above Quebec. A commission which he issued in the same year to
Jean Nicolet to explore the country of the Wisconsins, shows that his
consuming zeal for exploration remained with him to the end.
It was permitted Champlain to die in harness. He remained to the last
lieutenant of the king in Canada. At the beginning of October 1635 he
was stricken with paralysis, and passed away on Christmas Day of the
same year. We do not possess the oration which Father Paul Le Jeune
delivered at his funeral, but there remains from Le Jeune's pen an
appreciation of his character in terms which to Champlain himself would
have seemed the highest praise.
On the twenty-fifth of December, the day of the birth of our Saviour
upon earth, Monsieur de Champlain, our Governor, was reborn in Heaven;
at least we can say that his death was full of blessings. I am sure
that God has shown him this favour in consideration of the benefits he
has procured for New France, where we hope some day God will be loved
and served by our French, and known and adored by our Savages. Truly
he had led a life of great justice, equity, and perfect loyalty to his
King and towards the Gentlemen of the Company. But at his death he
crowned his virtues with sentiments of piety so lofty that he
astonished us all. What tears he shed! how {136} ardent became his
zeal for the service of God! how great was his love for the families
here!--saying that they must be vigorously assisted for the good of the
Country, and made comfortable in every possible way in these early
stages, and that he would do it if God gave him health. He was not
taken unawares in the account which he had to render unto God, for he
had long ago prepared a general Confession of his whole life, which he
made with great contrition to Father Lalemant, whom he honoured with
his friendship. The Father comforted him throughout his sickness,
which lasted two months and a half, and did not leave him until his
death. He had a very honourable burial, the funeral procession being
formed of the people, the soldiers, the captains, and the churchmen.
Father Lalemant officiated at this burial, and I was charged with the
funeral oration, for which I did not lack material. Those whom he left
behind have reason to be well satisfied with him; for, though he died
out of France, his name will not therefor be any less glorious to
posterity.
[1] Gabriel Hanotaux, member of the French Academy, is the author of
the most authoritative work on the life and times of Richelieu.
[2] Alexander had received grants from the British crown in 1621 and
1625 which covered the whole coast from St Croix Island to the St
Lawrence.
[3] At this period the largest interest in European politics was the
rivalry between France and the House of Hapsburg, which held the
thrones of Spain and Austria. This rivalry led France to take an
active part in the Thirty Years' War, even though her allies in that
struggle were Protestants. Between 1627, when the Company of New
France was founded, and 1632, when Canada was restored to France, the
Swedes under Gustavus Adolphus had won a series of brilliant victories
over the Catholic and Hapsburg forces in Germany. After the death of
Gustavus Adolphus in 1632, Richelieu attacked the Emperor Ferdinand II
in great force, thereby conquering Alsace.
{137}
CHAPTER VI
CHAMPLAIN'S WRITINGS AND CHARACTER
There are some things that speak for themselves. In attempting to
understand Champlain's character, we are first met by the fact that he
pursued unflinchingly his appointed task. For thirty-two years he
persevered, amid every kind of hardship, danger, and discouragement, in
the effort to build up New France. He had personal ambitions as an
explorer, which were kept in strict subordination to his duty to the
king. He possessed concentration of aim without fanaticism. His
signal unselfishness was adorned by a patience which equalled that of
Marlborough. Inspired by large ideals, he did not scorn imperfect
means.
Thus there are certain large aspects of Champlain's character that
stand forth in the high light of deed, and do not depend for their
effect either upon his own words or those of others. But when once we
have paid tribute {138} to the fine, positive qualities which are
implied by his accomplishment, we must hasten to recognize the
extraordinary value of his writings as an index to his mind and soul.
His narrative is not an epic of disaster. It is a plain and even
statement of great dangers calmly met and treated as a matter of
course. Largely it is a record of achievement. At points where it is
a record of failure Champlain accepts the inevitable gracefully and
conforms his emotions to the will of God. The _Voyages_ reveal a
strong man 'well four-squared to the blows of fortune.' They also
illustrate the virtue of muscular Christianity.
At a time which, like ours, is becoming sated with cleverness, it is a
delight to read the unvarnished story of Champlain. In saying that the
adjective is ever the enemy of the noun, Voltaire could not have
levelled the shaft at him, for few writers have been more sparing in
their use of adjectives or other glowing words. His love of the sea
and of the forest was profound, but he is never emotional in his
expressions. Yet with all his soberness and steadiness he possessed
imagination. In its strength and depth his enthusiasm for colonization
proves this, even if we omit his picture of the fancied Ludovica. But
{139} as a man of action rather than of letters he instinctively omits
verbiage. In some respects we suffer from Champlain's directness of
mind, for on much that he saw he could have lingered with profit. But
very special inducements are needed to draw him from his plain tale
into a digression. Such inducements occur at times when he is writing
of the Indians, for he recognized that Europe was eager to hear in full
detail of their traits and customs. Thus set passages of description,
inserted with a sparing hand, seemed to him a proper element of the
text, but anything like conscious embellishment of the narrative he
avoids--probably more through mere naturalness than conscious
self-repression.
From Marco Polo to Scott's _Journal_ the literature of geographical
discovery abounds with classics, and standards of comparison suggest
themselves in abundance to the critic of Champlain's _Voyages_. Most
naturally, of course, one turns to the records of American exploration
in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries--to Ramusio, Oviedo, Peter
Martyr, Hakluyt, and Purchas. No age can show a more wonderful galaxy
of pioneers than that which extends from Columbus to La Salle, and
among the great explorers of this era {140} Champlain takes his place
by virtue alike of his deeds and writings. In fact, he belongs to the
small and distinguished class of those who have recorded their own
discoveries in a suitable and authentic narrative, for in few cases
have geographical results of equal moment been described by the
discoverer himself.
Among the many writings which are available for comparison and contrast
one turns, singularly yet inevitably, to Lescarbot. The singularity of
a comparison between Champlain and Lescarbot is that Lescarbot was not
a geographer. At the same time, he is the only writer of importance
whose trail crosses that of Champlain, and some light is thrown on
Champlain's personality by a juxtaposition of texts. That is to say,
both were in Acadia at the same time, sat together at Poutrincourt's
table, gazed on the same forests and clearings, met the same Indians,
and had a like opportunity of considering the colonial problems which
were thrust upon the French in the reign of Henry IV.
It would be hard to find narratives more dissimilar,--and the contrast
is not wholly to the advantage of Champlain. Or rather, there are
times when his Doric simplicity of style {141} seems jejune beside the
flowing periods and picturesque details of Lescarbot. No better
illustration of this difference in style, arising from fundamental
difference in temperament, can be found than the description which each
gives of the _Ordre de Bon Temps_. To Champlain belongs the credit of
inventing this pleasant means of promoting health and banishing ennui,
but all he tells of it is this: 'By the rules of the Order a chain was
put, with some little ceremony, on the neck of one of our company,
commissioning him for the day to go a-hunting. The next day it was
conferred upon another, and thus in succession. All exerted themselves
to the utmost to see who would do the best and bring home the finest
game. We found this a very good arrangement, as did also the savages
who were with us.'
Such is the limit of the information which we receive from Champlain
regarding the _Ordre de Bon Temps_, his own invention and the life of
the company. It is reserved for Lescarbot to give us the picture which
no one can forget--the Atoctegic, or ruler of the feast, leading the
procession to dinner 'napkin on shoulder, wand of office in hand, and
around his neck the collar of the Order, which was worth more than four
crowns; after him all the {142} members of the Order, carrying each a
dish.' Around stand the savages, twenty or thirty of them, 'men,
women, girls, and children,' all waiting for scraps of food. At the
table with the French themselves sits the Sagamos Membertou and the
other Indian chiefs, gladdening the company by their presence. And the
food!--'ducks, bustards, grey and white geese, partridges, larks, and
other birds; moreover moose, caribou, beaver, otter, bear, rabbits,
wild-cats, racoons, and other animals,' the whole culminating in the
tenderness of moose meat and the delicacy of beaver's tail. Such are
the items which Champlain omits and Lescarbot includes. So it is
throughout their respective narratives--Champlain ever gaining force
through compactness, and Lescarbot constantly illuminating with his
gaiety or shrewdness matters which but for him would never have reached
us.
This difference of temperament and outlook, which is so plainly
reflected on the printed page, also had its effect upon the personal
relations of the two men. It was not that Lescarbot scandalized
Champlain by his religious views, for though liberal-minded, Lescarbot
was not a heretic, and Champlain knew how to live harmoniously even
with Huguenots. {143} The cause of the coolness which came to exist
between them must be sought rather in fundamental contrasts of
character. To Champlain, Lescarbot doubtless seemed a mere hanger-on
or protégé of Poutrincourt, with undue levity of disposition and a
needless flow of conversation. To Lescarbot, Champlain may well have
seemed deficient in literary attainments, and so preoccupied with the
concerns of geography as to be an uncongenial companion. To whatever
cause conjecture may trace it, they did not become friends, although
such lack of sympathy as existed shows itself only in an occasional
pin-prick, traceable particularly in the later editions of their
writings. For us it is the more needful to lay stress upon the merits
of Lescarbot, because he tends to be eclipsed by the greater reputation
of Champlain, and also because his style is sometimes so diffuse as to
create prejudice. But at his best he is admirable, and without him we
should know much less than we do about that Acadian experience which
holds such a striking place in the career of Champlain.
The popular estimate of French character dwells overmuch upon the
levity or gaiety which undoubtedly marks the Gallic race. {144} France
could not have accomplished her great work for the world without
stability of purpose and seriousness of mood. Nowhere in French
biography are these qualities more plainly illustrated than by the acts
of Champlain. The doggedness with which he clung to his patriotic and
unselfish task is the most conspicuous fact in his life. Coupled
therewith is his fortitude, both physical and moral. In times of
crisis the conscript sets his teeth and dies without a murmur. But
Champlain enlisted as a volunteer for a campaign which was to go on
unceasingly till his last day. How incessant were its dangers can be
made out in full detail from the text of the _Voyages_. We may omit
the perils of the North Atlantic, though what they were can be seen
from Champlain's description of his outward voyage in the spring of
1611. The remaining dangers will suffice. Scurvy, which often claimed
a death-roll of from forty to eighty per cent in a single winter;
famine such as that which followed the failure of ships from home to
arrive at the opening of navigation; the storms which drove the frail
shallop on the rocks and shoals of Norumbega; the risk of mutiny; the
chances of war, whether against the Indians or the English; the rapids
{145} of the wilderness as they threatened the overloaded canoe on its
swift descent; the possible treachery of Indian guides--such is a
partial catalogue of the death-snares which surrounded the pathway of
an explorer like Champlain. Every one of these dangers is brought
before us by his own narrative in a manner which does credit to his
modesty no less than to his fortitude. Without embellishment or
self-glorification, he recites in a few lines hairbreadth escapes which
a writer of less steadfast soul would have amplified into a thrilling
tale of heroism. None the less, to the discriminating reader
Champlain's _Voyages_ are an Odyssey.
Bound up with habitual fortitude is the motive from which it springs.
In Champlain's case patriotism and piety were the groundwork of a
conspicuous and long-tested courage. The patriotism which exacted such
sacrifices was not one which sought to define itself even in the form
of a justifiable digression from the recital of events. But we may be
sure that Champlain at the time he left Port Royal had made up his mind
that the Spaniards, the English, and the Dutch were not to parcel out
the seaboard of North America to the exclusion of the French. As for
the religious {146} basis of his fortitude, we do not need Le Jeune's
story of his death-bed or the record of his friendship with men of
religion. His narrative abounds throughout with simple and natural
expressions of piety, not the less impressive because they are free
from trace of the theological intolerance which envenomed French life
in his age. And not only did Champlain's trust in the Lord fortify his
soul against fear, but religion imposed upon him a degree of
self-restraint which was not common among explorers of the seventeenth
century. It is far from fanciful to see in this one of the chief
causes of his hold upon the Indians. To them he was more than a useful
ally in war time. They respected his sense of honour, and long after
his death remembered the temperance which marked his conduct when he
lived in their villages.
As a writer, Champlain enjoyed the advantage of possessing a fresh,
unhackneyed subject. The only exception to this statement is furnished
by his early book on the West Indies and Mexico, where he was going
over ground already trodden by the Spaniards. His other writings
relate to a sphere of exploration and settlement which he made his own,
and of which he well merited to be the chronicler.
{147}
Running through the _Voyages_ is the double interest of discovery and
colonization, constantly blending and reacting upon each other, but
still remaining matters of separate concern. It is obvious that in the
mind of the narrator discovery is always the more engaging theme.
Champlain is indeed the historian of St Croix, Port Royal, and Quebec,
but only incidentally or from chance. By temper he was the explorer,
that is, the man of action, willing to record the broad results, but
without the instinct which led Lescarbot to set down the minutiae of
life in a small, rough settlement. There is one side of Champlain's
activity as a colonizer which we must lament that he has not
described--namely, his efforts to interest the nobles and prelates of
the French court in the upbuilding of Canada. A diary of his life at
Paris and Fontainebleau would be among the choicest documents of the
early colonial era. But Champlain was too blunt and loyal to set down
the story of his relations with the great, and for this portion of his
life we must rely upon letters, reports, and memoranda, which are so
formal as to lack the atmosphere of that painful but valiant experience.
Excluding the brief notices of life at St Croix, {148} Port Royal, and
Quebec, Champlain's _Voyages_ present a story of discovery by sea and
discovery by land. In other words, the four years of Acadian adventure
relate to discoveries made along the seaboard, while the remaining
narratives, including the _Des Sauvages_ of 1604, relate to the basin
of the St Lawrence. Mariner though he was by early training, Champlain
achieved his chief success as an explorer by land, in the region of the
Great Lakes. Bad fortune prevented him from pursuing his course past
Martha's Vineyard to the mouth of the Hudson and Chesapeake Bay. It
was no small achievement to accomplish what he did on the coast of
Norumbega, but his most distinctive discoveries were those which he
made in the wilderness, leading up to his fine experience of 1615-16
among the Hurons.
To single out Champlain's chief literary triumph, it was he who
introduced the Algonquin, the Huron, and the Iroquois to the delighted
attention of France. Ever since the days of Cartier the French had
known that savages inhabited the banks of the St Lawrence, but
Champlain is the pioneer in that great body of literature on the North
American Indian, which thenceforth continued without interruption in
France to the _René_ and _Atala_ {149} of Chateaubriand. Above all
other subjects, the Indians are Champlain's chief theme.
To some extent the account of Indian life which is given in the
_Voyages_ suffers by comparison with the _Relations_ of the Jesuits.
The Fathers, by reason of their long residence among the Indians,
undoubtedly came to possess a more intimate knowledge of their
character and customs than it was possible for Champlain to acquire
during the time he spent among them. On the other hand, the Jesuits
were so preoccupied with the progress of the mission that they tended
to view the life of the savages too exclusively from one angle.
Furthermore, the volume of their description is so great as to
overwhelm all readers who are not specially interested in the mission
or the details of Indian custom. Champlain wrote with sufficient
knowledge to bring out salient traits in high relief, while his
descriptive passages are sufficiently terse to come within the range of
those who are not specialists. When we remember the perpetual interest
which, for more than three hundred years, Europe has felt in the North
American Indian, the _Voyages_ of Champlain are seen in their true
perspective. For he, with fresh eyes, saw the red man in his wigwam,
at his council, and on {150} the war-path; watched his stoic courage
under torture and his inhuman cruelty in the hour of vengeance. Tales
of the wilderness, the canoe, the portage, and the ambush have never
ceased to fascinate the imagination of Europe. Champlain's narrative
may be plain and unadorned, but, with such a groundwork, the
imagination of every reader could supply details at will.
In all essential respects Champlain seems to have been a good observer
and an accurate chronicler. It is true that his writings are not free
from error involving facts of distance, altitude, and chronology. But
such slips as have crept into his text do not constitute a serious
blemish or tend to impugn the good faith of his statements on matters
where there is no other source of information. Everything considered,
his substantial accuracy is much more striking than his partial
inaccuracy. In fact, no one of his high character and disinterested
zeal could write with any other purpose than to describe truly what he
had seen and done. The seal of probity is set upon Champlain's
writings no less than upon the record of his dealings with his
employers and the king. Unselfish as to money or fame, he sought to
create New France.
{151}
In national progress much depends on the auspices under which the
nation was founded and the tradition which it represents. Thus
England, and all the English world, has an imperishable tradition in
the deeds and character of Alfred the Great; thus Canada has had from
the outset of the present stage in her development a great possession
in the equal self-sacrifice of Montcalm and Wolfe. On the other hand,
the nation is doomed to suffer which bases its traditions of greatness
upon such acts as the seizure of Silesia by Frederick or Bismarck's
manipulation of the Ems telegram.
For Canada Champlain is not alone a heroic explorer of the seventeenth
century, but the founder of Quebec; and it is a rich part of our
heritage that he founded New France in the spirit of unselfishness, of
loyalty, and of faith.
{152}
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
_Original Text_
The best edition of Champlain's own works, in the original text, is
that of Laverdière--_Oeuvres de Champlain, publiées sous le Patronage
de l'Université Laval. Par l'Abbé C.-H. Laverdière, M.A. Seconde
Edition. 6 tomes, 4to. Quebec: Imprimé au Séminaire par Geo. B.
Desbarats_, 1870.
The list of Champlain's writings includes:
1. The _Bref Discours_, describing his trip to the West Indies.
2. The _Des Sauvages_, describing his first voyage to the St Lawrence.
3. The _Voyages_ of 1613, covering the years 1604-13 inclusive.
4. The _Voyages_ of 1619, covering the years 1615-18 inclusive.
5. The _Voyages_ of 1632, which represent a re-editing of the early
voyages from 1603 forward, and continue the narrative from 1618 to 1629.
6. A general treatise on the duties of the mariner.
{153}
_English Translations_
1. The _Bref Discours_, in a translation by Alice Wilmere, was
published by the Hakluyt Society in 1859.
2. The _Des Sauvages_ (1604) was translated in _Purchas His Pilgrimes_
(1625).
3. The _Voyages_ of 1604-18 inclusive were translated by C. P. Otis for
the Prince Society of Boston, in three volumes, 1878-82, with the Rev.
E. F. Slafter as editor. This is a fine work, but not easily
accessible in its original form. Fortunately, Professor Otis's
translation has been reprinted, with an introduction and notes by
Professor W. L. Grant, in the _Original Narratives of Early American
History_ (Scribners, 1907). The passages quoted in the present volume
are taken from Otis's translation, with occasional changes.
4. The _Voyages_ of 1604-16 inclusive have also been well translated by
Annie Nettleton Bourne, with an introduction and notes by Professor E.
G. Bourne (A. S. Barnes and Co., 1906). This translation follows the
edition of 1632, and also gives the translation of _Des Sauvages_ which
appears in Purchas.
_General Literature_
The career of Champlain is treated in many historical works, of which
the following are a {154} few: Parkman, _Pioneers of France in the New
World_; Dionne, _Samuel de Champlain_ (in the 'Makers of Canada'
series); Biggar, _Early Trading Companies of New France_, Slafter,
_Champlain_ (in Winsor's _Narrative and Critical History of America_,
vol. iv, part i, chap. iii); Salone, _La Colonisation de la
Nouvelle-France_; Suite, _Histoire des Canadiens-Français_; Ferland,
_Cours d'Histoire du Canada_; Garneau, _Histoire du Canada_, fifth
edition, edited by the author's grandson, Hector Garneau.
_Portrait_
Unfortunately, there is no authentic portrait of Champlain. That
ascribed to Moncornet is undoubtedly spurious, as has been proved by V.
H. Paltsits in _Acadiensis_, vol. iv, pp. 306-11.
{155}
INDEX
Acadia, 22-3; the first French colony in, 24, 34-7, 40-8, 52-5;
abandoned, 56-8.
Alexander, Sir William, his interest in Acadia, 127 and note.
Algonquins, the, 68-9, 86-7, 101-2, 113-14; their expedition against
the Iroquois, 87-96.
America, early opinions regarding, 13.
Armouchiquois, the, 38, 39-40, 49-52.
Basques, the, 56 n.; defy French trading monopoly at Tadoussac, 63, 64.
Boyer, his public apology to Champlain, 78-9.
Brulé, Étienne, explorer and interpreter, 97-8.
Caën, Emery de, represents France in the restoration of Quebec, 129.
Caën, William and Emery de, granted a monopoly in New France, 79-80,
117, 119-20; deprived of their charter, 122; monopoly restored, 129-30.
Cartier, Jacques, 61.
Champdoré, with Champlain at Port Royal, 46.
Champlain, Samuel de, his birth and parentage, 2-3; serves in the Wars
of the League, 6-8; his voyage to the West Indies and Mexico, 8-10; his
first voyage to the St Lawrence, 11-12, 16, 19-21; with De Monts'
expedition to Acadia, 23, 26-43; his work at Port Royal, 43-6; with
Poutrincourt's exploring expedition, 47-52; founds the Order of Good
Cheer at Port Royal, 52-4; his second voyage to the St Lawrence and the
founding of Quebec, 59-68, 81, 82-3, 123; a conspiracy to kill him,
64-5; his habitation, 66-7; his Indian policy, 68-70, 87, 97, 104-5;
organizes a trading company in France and secures a monopoly, becoming
lieutenant-general of New France, 71-5; his difficulties with his
company, 77-80; his expedition with the Algonquins against the
Iroquois, 87-96, 101-2; his marriage, 117-18; is grossly deceived by
Nicolas Vignau, 98-104; wounded in expedition with the Hurons against
the Onondagas, 104-12; winters with the Hurons, 112-15, 146, 148-50;
his work as king's lieutenant in Quebec, 116-17, 119, 134; captured and
taken to London, 124-6, 127; his reception on his return to Quebec,
130-1; his last years and death, 133-6; his writings and character,
84-5, 137-51, 152-3; a comparison with Lescarbot, 55-7, 140-3; his
patriotism, 12, 62, 78, 84; his strong geographical instinct, 9-10, 20,
26-7, 29, 55, 139-40, 148; his ambition to discover a westerly route to
the East, 26, 62, 69, 84, 97, 103; his explorations, 21, 30, 35-6,
38-40, 41, 44, 47-9, 84-6, 96, 99-101, 105-8.
Champlain, Madame, 117-18.
Champlain's Company, its charter, 74-5; its treatment of Louis Hébert
and failure to encourage colonization, 76-8; deprived of its monopoly,
79.
Chastes, Aymar de, 24; sends Champlain on his first voyage to the St
Lawrence, 11-12, 16, 19, 20-1.
Chauvin, Pierre, secures monopoly of the fur trade in the St Lawrence,
16, 18-19, 62.
Coligny, Admiral de, his interest in New France, 14.
Colombo, Don Francisco, and Champlain, 8.
Company of One Hundred Associates, founding of the, 122-3, 129;
disaster befalls it, 124, 125.
Condé, Prince de, viceroy of Canada, 73-4, 75, 78.
Duval, Jean, his plot to kill Champlain, 64; suffers death, 65.
France, and the Wars of the League, 6-8; her colonization policy,
10-11, 15, 17, 18, 25, 28, 61-2, 117, 121, 132; and trading monopolies
in New France, 19 and note, 26-7, 56-57, 79, 80; her magnificent
opportunity of colonial expansion, 31-3; the Huguenot revolt at La
Rochelle, 123-4; war with Britain, 124-6; her rivalry with the House of
Hapsburg, 121, 128 and note; her colonial policy retarded by her
ambitious foreign policy, 127-9.
Georgian Bay, Champlain at, 105-6.
Gosnold, Bartholomew, an English navigator, 13, 16.
Great Britain, her colonization policy, 14-15; founds a colony in
America, 16-17, 33, 82; her capture of New France, 124-7.
Hébert, Louis, in Acadia, 28, 29; scurvily treated by Champlain's
Company, 76-7; his farm in Quebec, 67, 80-1.
Henry IV, 7, 8; his interest in colonial expansion, 10-11, 17, 18, 24,
25, 60, 121; assassinated, 71.
Holland, her interest in America, 14-16, 17.
Hudson, Henry, explorer, 17, 66, 95 n.
Huguenots, the, forbidden to settle in New France, 133.
Hurons, the, 68-9, 113-14; their expedition against the Onondagas,
104-12; their welcome to Champlain on his return to Quebec, 130-1.
Indians, their tactics when on a war expedition, 89-92; when
retreating, 110-11; some customs of, 95, 102; missions to, 132-3, 134.
Iroquois, and Champlain, 68-9; their battle with the Algonquins, 91-5,
97; with the Hurons, 108-10.
James I, and colonization, 16, 17.
Jeannin, President, and Champlain, 74.
Jesuits, established at Quebec, 118-19, 129, 132, 133, 149.
Kirke, Jarvis or Gervase, and his sons, their expedition against New
France, 124-6, 127.
Kirke, Lewis, his capture of Quebec, 124-6; restores it to France, 129.
Kirke, Thomas, 124; with his brother represents England in the
restoration of Quebec, 129.
Lake Champlain, discovery of, 86, 91, 96-7.
Lalemant, Father Charles, at Quebec, 129, 133, 136.
La Roche, his colony on Sable Island, 18.
La Rochelle, revolt of, 123-4.
Le Caron, Father Joseph, among the Hurons, 105.
Le Jeune, Father Paul, his arrival at Quebec, 129, 131, 133; his
appreciation of Champlain, 135-6.
Lescarbot, Marc, 28, 29, 55-6; quoted on De Monts' colony in Acadia,
30, 47, 52, 52-4, 57-8; a comparison with Champlain, 55, 140-3.
Marais, Des, with Champlain in New France, 87, 88.
Marsolet, Nicolas, a guide and interpreter, 97-8.
Micmacs, the, 38.
Montagnais, the, 86 n., 93, 96.
Montmorency, Duke of, 26-7; viceroy of Canada, 78, 79, 80.
Monts, Sieur de, 16, 24; his trading company and monopoly, 22 n., 25-7,
28, 29, 56-7, 60-1, 68; his colonizing expedition to Acadia, 23, 28-43;
equips Champlain's expedition to the St Lawrence, 60-1, 62-3, 70-2;
member of Champlain's Company, 75.
New France, 23; and the trading companies, 19 and note; explorations
in, 21, 23, 84; religious strife in, 117; the Huguenots forbidden to
settle in, 117, 123, 133; surrendered to Britain, 126; restored to
France, 127; progress in retarded by the Thirty Years' War, 128-9.
Nicolet, Jean, an explorer and interpreter, 98, 135.
Norumbega, what it comprised, 28 n., 36.
Onondagas, the, 104, 108-10.
Pontgravé, Sieur du, his voyages to New France, 20 and note; with De
Monts' expedition to Acadia, 28, 31, 37, 42; left in command at Port
Royal, 43-6; with Champlain in the St Lawrence, 61, 63, 65, 68, 87.
Port Mouton, De Monts' expedition at, 29-31.
Port Royal, the French colony at, 34, 40-6, 47; Order of Good Cheer
founded, 52-4; colony abandoned, but re-established, 56-8; captured by
the British, 76.
Poutrincourt, Seigneur de, with De Monts in Acadia, 28-9, 31, 41-2; his
colonizing expedition to Port Royal, 46-56, 58.
Prevert, a mariner of St Malo, 20, 34.
Quebec, 59-60, 62, 81; Champlain reaches, 64, 66-7; hard times in,
67-8, 83, 87; two bright spots, 80-1; captured by the Kirkes, 124-6;
restored to France, 127.
Raleigh, Sir Walter, his colony in America, 14, 16.
Ralleau, with Champlain in Acadia, 30, 46.
Récollets, the, in New France, 80, 119.
Richelieu, Cardinal, his energetic colonial policy, 120-3, 129, 133;
succumbs to European interests, 124, 127-8 n.
Sagard, Gabriel, a Récollet missionary, 77.
St Croix, the French colony at, 34-5, 37.
St Germain-en-Laye, treaty of, 127.
St Lawrence, the, 22, 61-2; Champlain's explorations of, 21, 84.
Soissons, Comte de, and Champlain, 73.
Spain, her early conquests in America, 8, 12-13.
Sully, Duc de, opposes French colonization, 17, 25, 61, 121.
Suza, treaty of, 126.
Tessouät, an Algonquin chief, 102.
Thirty Years' War, its effect on New France, 128 and note.
Three Rivers, erection of fort at, 134.
Ventadour, Duc de, viceroy of New France, 116, 117.
Vignau, Nicolas, 97; deceives Champlain with a story of the North Sea,
98-101; his punishment, 103-4.
Wars of the League, the, 6-8.
Printed by T. and A. Constable, Printers to His Majesty
at the Edinburgh University Press
THE CHRONICLES OF CANADA
THIRTY-TWO VOLUMES ILLUSTRATED
Edited by GEORGE M. WRONG and H. H. LANGTON
THE CHRONICLES OF CANADA
PART I
THE FIRST EUROPEAN VISITORS
1. THE DAWN OF CANADIAN HISTORY
By Stephen Leacock.
2. THE MARINER OF ST MALO
By Stephen Leacock.
PART II
THE RISE OF NEW FRANCE
3. THE FOUNDER OF NEW FRANCE
By Charles W. Colby.
4. THE JESUIT MISSIONS
By Thomas Guthrie Marquis.
5. THE SEIGNEURS OF OLD CANADA
By William Bennett Munro.
6. THE GREAT INTENDANT
By Thomas Chapais.
7. THE FIGHTING GOVERNOR
By Charles W. Colby.
PART III
THE ENGLISH INVASION
8. THE GREAT FORTRESS
By William Wood.
9. THE ACADIAN EXILES
By Arthur G. Doughty.
10. THE PASSING OF NEW FRANCE
By William Wood.
11. THE WINNING OF CANADA
By William Wood.
PART IV
THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH CANADA
12. THE FATHER OF BRITISH CANADA
By William Wood.
13. THE UNITED EMPIRE LOYALISTS
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14. THE WAR WITH THE UNITED STATES
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15. THE WAR CHIEF OF THE OTTAWAS
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16. THE WAR CHIEF OF THE SIX NATIONS
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17. TECUMSEH: THE LAST GREAT LEADER OF HIS PEOPLE
By Ethel T. Raymond.
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PIONEERS OF THE NORTH AND WEST
18. THE 'ADVENTURERS OF ENGLAND' ON HUDSON BAY
By Agnes C. Laut.
19. PATHFINDERS OF THE GREAT PLAINS
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20. ADVENTURERS OF THE FAR NORTH
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21. THE RED RIVER COLONY
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22. PIONEERS OF THE PACIFIC COAST
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26. THE TRIBUNE OF NOVA SCOTIA
By William Lawson Grant.
27. THE WINNING OF POPULAR GOVERNMENT
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PART VIII
THE GROWTH OF NATIONALITY
28. THE FATHERS OF CONFEDERATION
By A. H. U. Colquhoun.
29. THE DAY OF SIR JOHN MACDONALD
By Sir Joseph Pope.
30. THE DAY OF SIR WILFRID LAURIER
By Oscar D. Skelton.
PART IX
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31. ALL AFLOAT
By William Wood.
32. THE RAILWAY BUILDERS
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