Voyages of Samuel de Champlain, Vol. 1 by Samuel de Champlain

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The Voyages of Champlain, as an authority, must always stand in the front
rank. In trustworthiness, in richness and fullness of detail, they have no
competitor in the field of which they treat. His observations upon the
character, manners, customs, habits, and utensils of the aborigines, were
made before they were modified or influenced in their mode of life by
European civilization. The intercourse of the strolling fur-trader and
fishermen with them was so infrequent and brief at that early period, that
it made upon them little or no impression. Champlain consequently pictures
the Indian in his original, primeval simplicity. This will always give to
his narratives, in the eye of the historian, the ethnologist, and the
antiquary, a peculiar and pre-eminent importance. The result of personal
observation, eminently truthful and accurate, their testimony must in all
future time be incomparably the best that can be obtained relating to the
aborigines on this part of the American continent.

In completing this memoir, the reader can hardly fail to be impressed, not
to say disappointed, by the fact that results apparently insignificant
should thus far have followed a life of able, honest, unselfish, heroic
labor. The colony was still small in numbers, the acres subdued and brought
into cultivation were few, and the aggregate yearly products were meagre.
But it is to be observed that the productiveness of capital and labor and
talent, two hundred and seventy years ago, cannot well be compared with the
standards of to-day. Moreover, the results of Champlain's career are
insignificant rather in appearance than in reality. The work which he did
was in laying foundations, while the superstructure was to be reared in
other years and by other hands. The palace or temple, by its lofty and
majestic proportions, attracts the eye and gratifies the taste; but its
unseen foundations, with their nicely adjusted arches, without which the
superstructure would crumble to atoms, are not less the result of the
profound knowledge and practical wisdom of the architect. The explorations
made by Champlain early and late, the organization and planting of his
colonies, the resistance of avaricious corporations, the holding of
numerous savage tribes in friendly alliance, the daily administration of
the affairs of the colony, of the savages, and of the corporation in
France, to the eminent satisfaction of all generous and noble-minded
patrons, and this for a period of more than thirty years, are proofs of an
extraordinary combination of mental and moral qualities. Without
impulsiveness, his warm and tender sympathies imparted to him an unusual
power and influence over other men. He was wise, modest, and judicious in
council, prompt, vigorous, and practical in administration, simple and
frugal in his mode of life, persistent and unyielding in the execution of
his plans, brave and valiant in danger, unselfish, honest, and
conscientious in the discharge of duty. These qualities, rare in
combination, were always conspicuous in Champlain, and justly entitle him
to the respect and admiration of mankind.

ENDNOTES:

117. _Vide Creuxius, Historia Canadensis_, pp 183, 184.

118. The justness of Champlain's conception of the value of the fur-trade
has been verified by its subsequent history. The Hudson's Bay Company
was organized for the purpose of carrying on this trade, under a
charter granted by Charles II., in 1670. A part of the trade has at
times been conducted by other associations But this company is still
in active and rigorous operation. Its capital is $10,000,000. At its
reorganization in 1863, it was estimated that it would yield a net
annual income, to be divided among the corporators, of $400,000. It
employs twelve hundred servants beside its chief factors. It is easy
to see what a vast amount of wealth in the shape of furs and peltry
has been pouring into the European markets, for more than two hundred
years, from this fur bearing region, and the sources of this wealth
are probably little, if in any degree, diminished.

119. _Vide Documents inedits sur Samuel de Champlain_, par Etienne
Charavay, archiviste-paleographe, Paris, 1875.

120. The later sketches made by Champlain are greatly superior to those
which he executed to illustrate his voyage in the West Indies. They
are not only accurate, but some of them are skilfully done, and not
only do no discredit to an amateur, but discover marks of artistic
taste and skill.

ANNOTATIONES POSTSCRIPTAE

EUSTACHE BOULLE. A brother-in-law of Champlain, who made his first visit to
Canada in 1618. He was an active assistant of Champlain, and in 1625 was
named his lieutenant. He continued there until the taking of Quebec by the
English in 1629. He subsequently took holy orders.--_Vide Doc. inedits sur
Samuel de Champlain_, par Etienne Charavay. Paris, 1875, p. 8.

PONT GRAVE. The whole career of this distinguished merchant was closely
associated with Canadian trade. He was in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in the
interest of Chauvin, in 1599. He commanded the expedition sent out by De
Chaste in 1603, when Champlain made his first exploration of the River St.
Lawrence. He was intrusted with the chief management of the trade carried
on with the Indians by the various companies and viceroys under Champlain's
lieutenancy until the removal of the colony by the English, when his active
life was closed by the infirmities of age. He was always a warm and trusted
friend of Champlain, who sought his counsel on all occasions of importance.

THE BIRTH OF CHAMPLAIN. All efforts to fix the exact date of his birth have
been unsuccessful. M. De Richemond, author of a _Biographie de la Charente
Inferieure_, instituted most careful searches, particularly with the hope
of finding a record of his baptism. The records of the parish of Brouage
extend back only to August 11, 1615. The duplicates, deposited at the
office of the civil tribunal of Marennes anterior to this date, were
destroyed by fire.--_MS. letter of M. De Richemond, Archivist of the Dep.
of Charente Inferieure_, La Rochelle, July 17, 1875.

MARC LESCARBOT. We have cited the authority of this writer in this work on
many occasions. He was born at Vervins, perhaps about 1585. He became an
advocate, and a resident of Paris, and, according to Larousse, died in
1630. He came to America in 1606, and passed the winter of that year at the
French settlement near the present site of Lower Granville, on the western
bank of Annapolis Basin in Nova Scotia. In the spring of 1607 he crossed
the Bay of Fundy, entered the harbor of St. John, N. B., and extended his
voyage as far as De Monts's Island in the River St. Croix. He returned to
France that same year, on the breaking up of De Monts's colony. He was the
author of the following works: _Histoire de la Nouvelle France_, 1609; _Les
Muses de la Nouvelle France; Tableau de la Suisse, auquel sont decrites les
Singularites des Alpes_, Paris, 1618; _La Chasse aux Anglais dans l'isle de
Rhe et au Siege de la Rochelle, et la Reduction de cette Ville en 1628_,
Paris, 1629.

PLYMOUTH HARBOR. This note will modify our remarks on p. 78, Vol. II.
Champlain entered this harbor on the 18th of July, 1605, and, lingering but
a single day, sailed out of it on the 19th. He named it _Port St. Louis_,
or _Port du Cap St. Louis_.--_Vide antea_, pp. 53, 54; Vol. II., pp. 76-78.
As the fruit of his brief stay in the harbor of Plymouth, he made an
outline sketch of the bay which preserves most of its important features.
He delineates what is now called on our Coast Survey maps _Long Beach_ and
_Duxbury Beach_. At the southern extremity of the latter is the headland
known as the _Gurnet_. Within the bay he figures two islands, of which he
speaks also in the text. These two islands are mentioned in Mourt's
Relation, printed in 1622.--_Vide Dexter's ed._ p. 60. They are also
figured on an old map of the date of 1616, found by J. R. Brodhead in the
Royal Archives at the Hague; likewise on a map by Lucini, without date,
but, as it has Boston on it, it must have been executed after 1630. These
maps may be found in _Doc. His. of the State of New York_, Vol. I.;
_Documents relating to the Colonial His. of the State of New York_, Vol.
I., p. 13. The reader will find these islands likewise indicated on the map
of William Wood, entitled _The South part of New-England, as it is Planted
this yeare, 1634_.--_Vide New England Prospect_, Prince Society ed. They
appear also on Blaskowitz's "Plan of Plimouth," 1774.--_Vide Changes in the
Harbor of Plymouth_, by Prof. Henry Mitchell, Chief of Physical
Hydrography, U. S. Coast Survey, Report of 1876, Appendix No. 9. In the
collections of the Mass. Historical Society for 1793, Vol. II., in an
article entitled _A Topographical Description of Duxborough_, but without
the author's name, the writer speaks of two pleasant islands within the
harbor, and adds that Saquish was joined to the Gurnet by a narrow piece of
land, but for several years the water had made its way across and
_insulated_ it.

From the early maps to which we have referred, and the foregoing citations,
it appears that there were two islands in the harbor of Plymouth from the
time of Champlain till about the beginning of the present century. A
careful collation of Champlain's map of the harbor with the recent Coast
Survey Charts will render it evident that one of these islands thus figured
by Champlain, and by others later, is Saquish Head; that since his time a
sand-bank has been thrown up and now become permanent, connecting it with
the Gurnet by what is now called Saquish Neck. Prof. Mitchell, in the work
already cited, reports that there are now four fathoms less of water in the
deeper portion of the roadstead than when Champlain explored the harbor in
1605. There must, therefore, have been an enormous deposit of sand to
produce this result, and this accounts for the neck of sand which has been
thrown up and become fixed or permanent, now connecting Saquish Head with
the Gurnet.

MOUNT DESERT. This island was discovered on the fifth day of September,
1604. Champlain having been comissioned by Sieur De Monts, the Patentee of
La Cadie, to make discoveries on the coast southwest of the Saint Croix,
left the mouth of that river in a small barque of seventeen or eighteen
tons, with twelve sailors and two savages as guides, and anchored the same
evening, apparently near Bar Harbor. While here, they explored Frenchman's
Bay as far on the north as the Narrows, where Champlain says the distance
across to the mainland is not more than a hundred paces. The next day, on
the sixth of the month, they sailed two leagues, and came to Otter Creek
Cove, which extends up into the island a mile or more, nestling between the
spurs of Newport Mountain on the east and Green Mountain on the west.
Champlain says this cove is "at the foot of the mountains," which clearly
identifies it, as it is the only one in the neighborhood answering to this
description. In this cove they discovered several savages, who had come
there to hunt beavers and to fish. On a visit to Otter Cove Cliffs in June,
1880, we were told by an old fisherman ninety years of age, living on the
borders of this cove, and the statement was confirmed by several others,
that on the creek at the head of the cove, there was, within his memory, a
well-known beaver dam.

The Indians whose acquaintance Champlain made at this place conducted him
among the islands, to the mouth of the Penobscot, and finally up the river,
to the site of the present city of Bangor. It was on this visit, on the
fifth of September, 1604, that Champlain gave the island the name of
_Monts-deserts_. The French generally gave to places names that were
significant. In this instance they did not depart from their usual custom.
The summits of most of the mountains on this island, then as now, were only
rocks, being destitute of trees, and this led Champlain to give its
significant name, which, in plain English, means the island of the desert,
waste, or uncultivatable mountains. If we follow the analogy of the
language, either French or English, it should be pronounced with the accent
on the penult, Mount Desert, and not on the last syllable, as we sometimes
hear it. This principle cannot be violated without giving to the word a
meaning which, in this connection, would be obviously inappropriate and
absurd.

CARTE DE LA NOUVELLE FRANCE, 1632. As the map of 1632 has often been
referred to in this work, we have introduced into this volume a heliotype
copy. The original was published in the year of its date, but it had been
completed before Champlain left Quebec in 1629. The reader will bear in
mind that it was made from Champlain's personal explorations, and from such
other information as could be obtained from the meagre sources which
existed at that early period, and not from any accurate or scientific
surveys. The information which he obtained from others was derived from
more or less doubtful sources, coming as it did from fishermen,
fur-traders, and the native inhabitants. The two former undoubtedly
constructed, from time to time, rude maps of the coast for their own use.
From these Champlain probably obtained valuable hints, and he was thus able
to supplement his own knowledge of the regions with which he was least
familiar on the Atlantic coast and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Beyond the
limits of his personal explorations on the west, his information was wholly
derived from the savages. No European had penetrated into those regions, if
we except his servant, Etienne Brule, whose descriptions could have been of
very little service. The deficiencies of Champlain's map are here
accordingly most apparent. Rivers and lakes farther west than the Georgian
Bay, and south of it, are sometimes laid down where none exist, and, again,
where they do exist, none are portrayed. The outline of Lake Huron, for
illustration, was entirely misconceived. A river-like line only of water
represents Lake Erie, while Lake Michigan does not appear at all.

The delineation of Hudson's Bay was evidently taken from the TABULA NAUTICA
of Henry Hudson, as we have shown in Note 297, Vol. II., to which the
reader is referred.

It will be observed that there is no recognition on the map of any English
settlement within the limits of New England. In 1629, when the _Carte de la
Nouvelle France_ was completed, an English colony had been planted at
Plymouth, Mass., nine years, and another at Piscataqua, or Portsmouth, N.
H., six years. The Rev. William Blaxton had been for several years in
occupation of the peninsula of Shawmut, or Boston. Salem had also been
settled one or two years. These last two may not, it is true, have come to
Champlain's knowledge. But none of these settlements are laid down on the
map. The reason of these omissions is obvious. The whole territory from at
least the 40th degree of north latitude, stretching indefinitely to the
north, was claimed by the French. As possession was, at that day, the most
potent argument for the justice of a territorial claim, the recognition, on
a French map, of these English settlements, would have been an indiscretion
which the wise and prudent Champlain would not be likely to commit.

There is, however, a distinct recognition of an English settlement farther
south. Cape Charles and Cape Henry appear at the entrance of Chesapeake
Bay. Virginia is inscribed in its proper place, while Jamestown and Point
Comfort are referred to by numbers.

On the borders of the map numerous fish belonging to these waters are
figured, together with several vessels of different sizes and in different
attitudes, thus preserving their form and structure at that period. The
degrees of latitude and longitude are numerically indicated, which are
convenient for the references found in Champlain's journals, but are
necessarily too inaccurate to be otherwise useful. But notwithstanding its
defects, when we take into account the limited means at his command, the
difficulties which he had to encounter, the vast region which it covers,
this map must be regarded as an extraordinary achievement. It is by far the
most accurate in outline, and the most finished in detail, of any that had
been attempted of this region anterior to this date.

THE PORTRAITS OF CHAMPLAIN.--Three engraved portraits of Champlain have
come to our knowledge. All of them appear to have been after an original
engraved portrait by Balthazar Moncornet. This artist was born in Rouen
about 1615, and died not earlier than 1670. He practised his art in Paris,
where he kept a shop for the sale of prints. Though not eminently
distinguished as a skilful artist, he nevertheless left many works,
particularly a great number of portraits. As he had not arrived at the age
of manhood when Champlain died, his engraving of him was probably executed
about fifteen or twenty years after that event. At that time Madame
Champlain, his widow, was still living, as likewise many of Champlaln's
intimate friends. From some of them it is probable Moncornet obtained a
sketch or portrait, from which his engraving was made.

Of the portraits of Champlain which we have seen, we may mention first that
in Laverdiere's edition of his works. This is a half-length, with long,
curling hair, moustache and imperial. The sleeves of the close-fitting coat
are slashed, and around the neck is the broad linen collar of the period,
fastened in front with cord and tassels. On the left, in the background, is
the promontory of Quebec, with the representation of several turreted
buildings both in the upper and lower town. On the border of the oval,
which incloses the subject, is the legend, _Moncornet Ex c. p._ The
engraving is coarsely executed, apparently on copper. It is alleged to have
been taken from an original Moncornet in France. Our inquiries as to where
the original then was, or in whose possession it then was or is now, have
been unsuccessful. No original, when inquiries were made by Dr. Otis, a
short time since, was found to exist in the department of prints in the
Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris.

Another portrait of Champlain is found in Shea's translation of
Charlevoix's History of New France. This was taken from the portrait of
Champlain, which, with that of Cartier, Montcalm, Wolfe, and others, adorns
the walls of the reception room of the Speaker of the House of Commons, in
the Parliament House at Ottawa, in Canada, which was painted by Thomas
Hamel, from a copy of Moncornet's engraving obtained in France by the late
M. Faribault. From the costume and general features, it appears to be after
the same as that contained in Laverdiere's edition of Champlain's works, to
which we have already referred. The artist has given it a youthful
appearance, which suggests that the original sketch was made many years
before Champlain's death. We are indebted to the politeness of Dr. Shea for
the copies which accompany this work.

A third portrait of Champlain may be found in L'Histoire de France, par M.
Guizot, Paris, 1876, Vol. v. p. 149. The inscription reads: "CHAMPLAIN
[SAMUEL DE], d'apres un portrait grave par Moncornet." It is engraved on
wood by E. Ronjat, and represents the subject in the advanced years of his
life. In position, costume, and accessories it is widely different from the
others, and Moncornet must have left more than one engraving of Champlain,
or we must conclude that the modern artists have taken extraordinary
liberties with their subject. The features are strong, spirited, and
characteristic. A heliotype copy accompanies this volume.

PREFACE TO THE TRANSLATION.

The journals of Champlain, commonly called his Voyages, were written and
published by him at intervals from 1603 to 1632. The first volume was
printed in 1603, and entitled,--

1. _Des Sauuages, ou, Voyage de Samuel Champlain, de Brouage, faict en la
France Nouuelle, l'an mil six cens trois. A Paris, chez Claude de
Monstr'oeil, tenant sa boutique en la Cour du Palais, au nom de Jesus.
1604. Auec privilege du Roy_. 12mo. 4 preliminary leaves. Text 36 leaves.
The title-page contains also a sub-title, enumerating in detail the
subjects treated of in the work. Another copy with slight verbal changes
has no date on the title-page, but in both the "privilege" is dated
November 15, 1603. The copies which we have used are in the Library of
Harvard College, and in that of Mrs. John Carter Brown, of Providence, R.
I.

An English translation of this issue is contained in _Purchas his
Pilgrimes_. London, 1625, vol. iv., pp. 1605-1619.

The next publication appeared in 1613, with the following title:--

2. _Les Voyages du Sieur de Champlain Xaintongeois, Capitaine ordinaire
pour le Roy, en la marine. Divisez en deux livres. ou, journal tres-fidele
des observations faites es descouuertures de la Nouuelle France: tant en la
description des terres, costes, riuieres, ports, haures, leurs hauteurs, &
plusieurs delinaisons de la guide-aymant; qu'en la creance des peuples,
leur superslition, facon de viure & de guerroyer: enrichi de quantite de
figures, A Paris, chez Jean Berjon, rue S. Jean de Beauuais, au Cheual
volant, & en sa boutique au Palais, a la gallerie des prisonniers.
M.DC.XIII. Avec privilege dv Roy_. 4to. 10 preliminary leaves. Text, 325
pages; table 5 pp. One large folding map. One small map. 22 plates. The
title-page contains, in addition, a sub-title in regard to the two maps.

The above-mentioned volume contains, also, the Fourth Voyage, bound in at
the end, with the following title:--

_Qvatriesme Voyage du Sr de Champlain Capitaine ordinaire povr le Roy en la
marine, & Lieutenant de Monseigneur le Prince de Conde en la Nouuelle
France, fait en l'annee_ 1613. 52 pages. Whether this was also issued as a
separate work, we are not informed.

The copy of this publication of 1613 which we have used is in the Library
of Harvard College.

The next publication of Champlain was in 1619. There was a re-issue of the
same in 1620 and likewise in 1627. The title of the last-mentioned issue is
as follows:--

3. _Voyages et Descovvertures faites en la Novvelle France, depuis l'annee
1615. iusques a la fin de l'annee 1618. Par le Sieur de Champlain,
Cappitaine ordinaire pour le Roy en la Mer du Ponant. Seconde Edition. A
Paris, chez Clavde Collet, au Palais, en la gallerie des Prisonniers.
M.D.C.XXVII. Avec privilege dv Roy_. 12mo. 8 preliminary leaves. Text 158
leaves, 6 plates. The title-page contains, in addition, a sub-title, giving
an outline of the contents. The edition of 1627, belonging to the Library
of Harvard College, contains likewise an illuminated title-page, which we
here give in heliotype. As this illuminated title-page bears the date of
1619, it was probably that of the original edition of that date.

The next and last publication of Champlain was issued in 1632, with the
following title:--

4. _Les Voyages de la Novvelle France occidentale, dicte Canada, faits par
le Sr de Champlain Xainctongeois, Capitaine pour le Roy en la Marine du
Ponant, & toutes les Descouuertes qu'il a faites en ce pais depuis l'an
1603, iusques en l'an 1629. Ou se voit comme ce pays a este premierement
descouuert par les Francois, sous l'authorite de nos Roys tres-Chrestiens,
iusques au regne de sa Majeste a present regnante Louis XIII. Roy de France
& de Navarre. A Paris. Chez Clavde Collet au Palais, en la Gallerie des
Prisonniers, a l'Estoille d'Or. M.DC.XXXII. Avec Privilege du Roy_.

There is also a long sub-title, with a statement that the volume contains
what occurred in New France in 1631. The volume is dedicated to Cardinal
Richelieu. 4to. 16 preliminary pages. Text 308 pages. 6 plates, which are
the same as those in the edition of 1619. "Seconde Partie," 310 pages. One
large general map; table explanatory of map, 8 pages. "Traitte de la
Marine," 54 pages. 2 plates. "Doctrine Chrestienne" and "L'Oraison
Dominicale," 20 pages. Another copy gives the name of Sevestre as
publisher, and another that of Pierre Le Mvr.

The publication of 1632 is stated by Laverdiere to have been reissued in
1640, with a new title and date, but without further changes. This,
however, is not found in the National Library at Paris, which contains all
the other editions and issues. The copies of the edition of 1632 which we
have consulted are in the Harvard College Library and in the Boston
Athenaeum.

It is of importance to refer, as we have done, to the particular copy used,
for it appears to have been the custom in the case of books printed as
early as the above, to keep the type standing, and print issues at
intervals, sometimes without any change in the title-page or date, and yet
with alterations to some extent in the text. For instance, the copy of the
publication of 1613 in the Harvard College Library differs from that in
Mrs. Brown's Library, at Providence, in minor points, and particularly in
reference to some changes in the small map. The same is true of the
publication of 1603. The variations are probably in part owing to the lack
of uniformity in spelling at that period.

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