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

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On the 28th of this month they came and erected cabins at the harbor of
Tadoussac, where our vessel was. At daybreak their grand Sagamore came out
from his cabin and went about all the others, crying out to them in a loud
voice to break camp to go to Tadoussac, where their good friends were. Each
one immediately took down his cabin in an incredibly short time, and the
great captain was the first to take his canoe and carry it to the water,
where he embarked his wife and children and a quantity of furs. Thus were
launched nearly two hundred canoes, which go wonderfully fast; for,
although our shallop was well manned, yet they went faster than ourselves.
Two only do the work of propelling the boat, a man and a woman. Their
canoes are some eight or nine feet long, and a foot or a foot and a half
broad in the middle, growing narrower towards the two ends. They are very
liable to turn over, if one does not understand how to manage them, for
they are made of the bark of trees called _bouille_, [139] strengthened on
the inside by little ribs of wood strongly and neatly made. They are so
light that a man can easily carry one, and each canoe can carry the weight
of a pipe. When they wish to go overland to some river where they have
business, they carry their canoes with them.

Their cabins are low and made like tents, being covered with the same kind
of bark as that before mentioned. The whole top for the space of about a
foot they leave uncovered, whence the light enters; and they make a number
of fires directly in the middle of the cabin, in which there are sometimes
ten families at once. They sleep on skins, all together, and their dogs
with them. [140]

They were in number a thousand persons, men, women and children. The place
at St. Matthew's Point, where they were first encamped, is very pleasant.
They were at the foot of a small slope covered with trees, firs and
cypresses. At St. Matthew's Point there is a small level place, which is
seen at a great distance. On the top of this hill there is a level tract of
land, a league long, half a league broad, covered with trees. The soil is
very sandy, and contains good pasturage. Elsewhere there are only rocky
mountains, which are very barren. The tide rises about this slope, but at
low water leaves it dry for a full half league out.

ENDNOTES:

137. _Sagamo_, thus written in the French According to Lafleche, as cited
by Laverdiere, this word, in the Montagnais language, is derived from
_tchi_, great and _okimau_, chief, and consequently signifies the
Great Chief.

138. The Etechemins, may be said in general terms to have occupied the
territory from St. John, N. B., to Mount Desert Island, in Maine, and
perhaps still further west, but not south of Saco. The Algonquins here
referred to were those who dwelt on the Ottawa River. The Montagnais
occupied the region on both sides of the Saguenay, having their
trading centre at Tadoussac. War had been carried on for a period we
know not how long, perhaps for several centuries, between these allied
tribes and the Iroquois.

139. _Bouille_ for _bouleau_, the birch-tree. _Betula papyracea_, popularly
known as the paper or canoe birch. It is a large tree, the bark white,
and splitting into thin layers. It is common in New England, and far
to the north The white birch, _Betula alba_, of Europe and Northern
Asia, is used for boat-building at the present day.--_Vide
Chronological History of Plants_, by Charles Pickering, M.D., Boston,
1879, p. 134.

140. The dog was the only domestic animal found among the aborigines of
this country. "The Australians," says Dr. Pickering, "appear to be the
only considerable portion of mankind destitute of the companionship of
the dog. The American tribes, from the Arctic Sea to Cape Horn, had
the companionship of the dog, and certain remarkable breeds had been
developed before the visit of Columbus" (F. Columbus 25); further,
according to Coues, the cross between the coyote and female dog is
regularly procured by our northwestern tribes, and, according to Gabb,
"dogs one-fourth coyote are pointed out; the fact therefore seems
established that the coyote or American barking wolfe, _Canis
latrans_, is the dog in its original wild state."--_Vide Chronological
History of Plants_, etc., by Charles Pickering, M.D., Boston, 1879, p.
20.

"It was believed by some for a length of time that the wild dog was of
recent introduction to Australia: this is not so."--_Vide Aborigines
of Victoria_, by R. Brough Smyth, London, 1878, Vol. 1. p. 149. The
bones of the wild dog have recently been discovered in Australia, at a
depth of excavation, and in circumstances, which prove that his
existence there antedates the introduction of any species of the dog
by Europeans. The Australians appear, therefore, to be no exception to
the universal companionship of the dog with man.

CHAPTER III.

THE REJOICINGS OF THE INDIANS AFTER OBTAINING A VICTORY OVER THEIR
ENEMIES--THEIR DISPOSITION, ENDURANCE OF HUNGER, AND MALICIOUSNESS.--THEIR
BELIEFS AND FALSE OPINIONS, COMMUNICATION WITH EVIL SPIRITS--THEIR
GARMENTS, AND HOW THEY WALK ON THE SNOW--THEIR MANNER OF MARRIAGE, AND THE
INTERMENT OF THEIR DEAD.

On the 9th of June the savages proceeded to have a rejoicing all together,
and to celebrate their _tabagie_, which I have before described, and to
dance, in honor of their victory over their enemies. Now, after they had
feasted well, the Algonquins, one of the three nations, left their cabins
and went by themselves to a public place. Here they arranged all their
wives and daughters by the side of each other, and took position themselves
behind them, all singing in the manner I have described before. Suddenly
all the wives and daughters proceeded to throw off their robes of skins,
presenting themselves stark naked, and exposing their sexual parts. But
they were adorned with _matachiats_, that is beads and braided strings,
made of porcupine quills, which they dye in various colors. After finishing
their songs, they all said together, _Ho, ho, ho:_ at the same instant all
the wives and daughters covered themselves with their robes, which were at
their feet. Then, after stopping a short time, all suddenly beginning to
sing throw off their robes as before. They do not stir from their position
while dancing, and make various gestures and movements of the body, lifting
one foot and then the other, at the same time striking upon the ground.
Now, during the performance of this dance, the Sagamore of the Algonquins,
named _Besouat_, was seated before these wives and daughters, between two
sticks, on which were hung the heads of their enemies. Sometimes he arose
and went haranguing, and saying to the Montagnais and Etechemins: "Look!
how we rejoice in the victory that we have obtained over our enemies; you
must do the same, so that we may be satisfied." Then all said together,
_Ho, ho, ho_. After returning to his position, the grand Sagamore together
with all his companions removed their robes, making themselves stark naked
except their sexual parts, which are covered with a small piece of skin.
Each one took what seemed good to him, as _matachiats_, hatchets, swords,
kettles, fat, elk flesh, seal, in a word each one had a present, which they
proceeded to give to the Algonquins. After all these ceremonies, the dance
ceased, and the Algonquins, men and women, carried their presents into
their cabins. Then two of the most agile men of each nation were taken,
whom they caused to run, and he who was the fastest in the race, received a
present.

All these people have a very cheerful disposition, laughing often; yet at
the same time they are somewhat phlegmatic. They talk very deliberately, as
if desiring to make themselves well understood, and stopping suddenly, they
reflect for a long time, when they resume their discourse. This is their
usual manner at their harangues in council, where only the leading men, the
elders, are present, the women and children not attending at all.

All these people suffer so much sometimes from hunger, on account of the
severe cold and snow, when the animals and fowl on which they live go away
to warmer countries, that they are almost constrained to eat one another. I
am of opinion that if one were to teach them how to live, and instruct them
in the cultivation of the soil and in other respects, they would learn very
easily, for I can testify that many of them have good judgment and respond
very appropriately to whatever question may be put to them. [141] They have
the vices of taking revenge and of lying badly, and are people in whom it
is not well to put much confidence, except with caution and with force at
hand. They promise well, but keep their word badly.

Most of them have no law, so far as I have been able to observe or learn
from the great Sagamore, who told me that they really believed there was a
God, who created all things. Whereupon I said to him: that, "Since they
believed in one sole God, how had he placed them in the world, and whence
was their origin." He replied: that, "After God had made all things, he
took a large number of arrows, and put them in the ground; whence sprang
men and women, who had been multiplying in the world up to the present
time, and that this was their origin." I answered that what he said was
false, but that there really was one only God, who had created all things
upon earth and in the heavens. Seeing all these things so perfect, but that
there was no one to govern here on earth, he took clay from the ground, out
of which he created Adam our first father. While Adam was sleeping, God
took a rib from his side, from which he formed Eve, whom he gave to him as
a companion, and, I told him, that it was true that they and ourselves had
our origin in this manner, and not from arrows, as they suppose. He said
nothing, except that he acknowledged what I said, rather than what he had
asserted. I asked him also if he did not believe that there was more than
one only God. He told me their belief was that there was a God, a Son, a
Mother, and the Sun, making four; that God, however, was above all, that
the Son and the Sun were good, since they received good things from them;
but the Mother, he said, was worthless, and ate them up; and the Father not
very good. I remonstrated with him on his error, and contrasted it with our
faith, in which he put some little confidence. I asked him if they had
never seen God, nor heard from their ancestors that God had come into the
world. He said that they had never seen him; but that formerly there were
five men who went towards the setting sun, who met God, who asked them:
"Where are you going?" they answered: "We are going in search of our
living." God replied to them: "You will find it here." They went on,
without paying attention to what God had said to them, when he took a stone
and touched two of them with it, whereupon they were changed to stones; and
he said again to the three others: "Where are you going?" They answered as
before, and God said to them again: "Go no farther, you will find it here."
And seeing that nothing came to them, they went on; when God took two
sticks, with which he touched the two first, whereupon they were
transformed into sticks, when the fifth one stopped, not wishing to go
farther. And God asked him again: "Where are you going?" "I am going in
search of my living." "Stay and thou shalt find it." He staid without
advancing farther, and God gave him some meat, which he ate. After making
good cheer, he returned to the other savages, and related to them all the
above.

He told me also that another time there was a man who had a large quantity
of tobacco (a plant from which they obtain what they smoke), and that God
came to this man, and asked him where his pipe was. The man took his pipe,
and gave it to God, who smoked much. After smoking to his satisfaction, God
broke the pipe into many pieces, and the man asked: "Why hast thou broken
my pipe? thou seest in truth that I have not another." Then God took one
that he had, and gave it to him, saying: "Here is one that I will give you,
take it to your great Sagamore; let him keep it, and if he keep it well, he
will not want for any thing whatever, neither he nor all his companions."
The man took the pipe, and gave it to his great Sagamore; and while he kept
it, the savages were in want of nothing whatever: but he said that
afterwards the grand Sagamore lost this pipe, which was the cause of the
severe famines they sometimes have. I asked him if he believed all that; he
said yes, and that it was the truth. Now I think that this is the reason
why they say that God is not very good. But I replied, "that God was in all
respects good, and that it was doubtless the Devil who had manifested
himself to those men, and that if they would believe as we did in God they
would not want for what they had need of; that the sun which they saw, the
moon and the stars, had been created by this great God, who made heaven and
earth, but that they have no power except that which God has given them;
that we believe in this great God, who by His goodness had sent us His dear
Son who, being conceived of the Holy Spirit, was clothed with human flesh
in the womb of the Virgin Mary, lived thirty years on earth, doing an
infinitude of miracles, raising the dead, healing the sick, driving out
devils, giving sight to the blind, teaching men the will of God his Father,
that they might serve, honor and worship Him, shed his blood, suffered and
died for us, and our sins, and ransomed the human race, that, being buried,
he rose again, descended into hell, and ascended into heaven, where he is
seated on the right hand of God his Father." [142] I told him that this was
the faith of all Christians who believe in the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, that these, nevertheless, are not three Gods, but one the same and
only God, and a trinity in which there is no before nor after, no greater
nor smaller; that the Virgin Mary, mother of the Son of God, and all the
men and women who have lived in this world doing the commandments of God,
and enduring martyrdom for his name, and who by the permission of God have
done miracles, and are saints in heaven in his paradise, are all of them
praying this Great Divine Majesty to pardon us our errors and sins which we
commit against His law and commandments. And thus, by the prayers of the
saints in heaven and by our own prayers to his Divine Majesty, He gives
what we have need of, and the devil has no power over us and can do us no
harm. I told them that if they had this belief, they would be like us, and
that the devil could no longer do them any harm, and that they would not
lack what they had need of.

Then this Sagamore replied to me that he acknowledged what I said. I asked
him what ceremonies they were accustomed to in praying to their God. He
told me that they were not accustomed to any ceremonies, but that each
prayed in his heart as he desired. This is why I believe that they have no
law, not knowing what it is to worship and pray to God, and living, the
most of them, like brute beasts. But I think that they would speedily
become good Christians, if people were to colonize their country, of which
most of them were desirous.

There are some savages among them whom they call _Pilotoua_, [143] who have
personal communications with the devil. Such an one tells them what they
are to do, not only in regard to war, but other things; and if he should
command them to execute any undertaking, as to kill a Frenchman or one of
their own nation, they would obey his command at once.

They believe, also, that all dreams which they have are real; and many of
them, indeed, say that they have seen in dreams things which come to pass
or will come to pass. But, to tell the truth in the matter, these are
visions of the devil, who deceives and misleads them. This is all that I
have been able to learn from them in regard to their matters of belief,
which is of a low, animal nature.

All these people are well proportioned in body, without any deformity, and
are also agile. The women are well-shaped, full and plump, and of a swarthy
complexion, on account of the large amount of a certain pigment with which
they rub themselves, and which gives them an olive color. They are clothed
in skins, one part of their body being covered and the other left
uncovered. In winter they provide for their whole body, for they are
dressed in good furs, as those of the elk, otter, beaver, seal, stag, and
hind, which they have in large quantities. In winter, when the snows are
heavy, they make a sort of _raquette_ [144] two or three times as large as
those in France. These they attach to their feet, and thus walk upon the
snow without sinking in; for without them, they could not hunt or make
their way in many places.

Their manner of marriage is as follows: When a girl attains the age of
fourteen or fifteen years, she may have several suitors and friends, and
keep company with such as she pleases. At the end of some five or six years
she may choose that one to whom her fancy inclines as her husband, and they
will live together until the end of their life, unless, after living
together a certain period, they fail to have children, when the husband is
at liberty to divorce himself and take another wife, on the ground that his
own is of no worth. Accordingly, the girls are more free than the wives;
yet as soon as they are married they are chaste, and their husbands are for
the most part jealous, and give presents to the father or relatives of the
girl whom they marry. This is the manner of marriage, and conduct in the
same.

In regard to their interments, when a man or woman dies, they make a
trench, in which they put all their property, as kettles, furs, axes, bows
and arrows, robes, and other things. Then they put the body in the trench,
and cover it with earth, laying on top many large pieces of wood, and
erecting over all a piece of wood painted red on the upper part. They
believe in the immortality of the soul, and say that when they die
themselves, they shall go to rejoice with their relatives and friends in
other lands.

ENDNOTES:

141. _Vide_ Vol. II of this work, p 190.

142. This summary of the Christian faith is nearly in the words of the
Apostles Creed.

143. On _Pilotoua_ or _Pilotois, vide_ Vol. II. note 341.

144. _Une maniere de raquette_. The snow-shoe, which much resembles the
racket or battledore, an instrument used for striking the ball in the
game of tennis. This name was given for the want of one more specific.

CHAPTER IV.

THE RIVER SAGUENAY AND ITS SOURCE.

On the 11th of June, I went some twelve or fifteen leagues up the Saguenay,
which is a fine river, of remarkable depth. For I think, judging from what
I have heard in regard to its source, that it comes from a very high place,
whence a torrent of water descends with great impetuosity. But the water
which proceeds thence is not capable of producing such a river as this,
which, however, only extends from this torrent, where the first fall is, to
the harbor Tadoussac, at the mouth of the Saguenay, a distance of some
forty-five or fifty leagues, it being a good league and a half broad at the
widest place, and a quarter of a league at the narrowest; for which reason
there is a strong current. All the country, so far as I saw it, consisted
only of rocky mountains, mostly covered with fir, cypress, and birch; a
very unattractive region in which I did not find a level tract of land
either on the one side or the other. There are some islands in the river,
which are high and sandy. In a word, these are real deserts, uninhabitable
for animals or birds. For I can testify that when I went hunting in places
which seemed to me the most attractive, I found nothing whatever but little
birds, like nightingales and swallows, which come only in summer, as I
think, on account of the excessive cold there, this river coming from the
northwest.

They told me that, after passing the first fall, whence this torrent comes,
they pass eight other falls, when they go a day's journey without finding
any; then they pass ten other falls and enter a lake [145] which it
requires two days to cross, they being able to make easily from twelve to
fifteen leagues a day. At the other extremity of the lake is found a people
who live in cabins. Then you enter three other rivers, up each of which the
distance is a journey of some three or four days. At the extremity of these
rivers are two or three bodies of water, like lakes, in which the Saguenay
has its source, from which to Tadoussac is a journey of ten days in their
canoes. There is a large number of cabins on the border of these rivers,
occupied by other tribes which come from the north to exchange with the
Montagnais their beaver and marten skins for articles of merchandise, which
the French vessels furnish to the Montagnais. These savages from the north
say that they live within sight of a sea which is salt. If this is the
case, I think that it is a gulf of that sea which flows from the north into
the interior, and in fact it cannot be otherwise. [146] This is what I have
learned in regard to the River Saguenay.

ENDNOTES:

145. This was Lake St John. This description is given nearly _verbatim_ in
Vol. II. p. 169.--_Vide_ notes in the same volume, 294, 295. 146.
Champlain appears to have obtained from the Indians a very correct
idea not only of the existence but of the character of Hudson's Bay,
although that bay was not discovered by Hudson till about seven years
later than this.

CHAPTER V.

DEPARTURE FROM TADOUSSAC FOR THE FALL.--DESCRIPTION OF HARE ISLAND, ISLE DU
COUDRE, ISLE D'ORLEANS, AND SEVERAL OTHERS--OUR ARRIVAL AT QUEBEC

On Wednesday, the eighteenth day of June, we set out from Tadoussac for the
Fall. [147] We passed near an island called Hare Island, [148] about two
leagues, from the northern shore and some seven leagues from Tadoussac and
five leagues from the southern shore. From Hare Island we proceeded along
the northern coast about half a league, to a point extending out into the
water, where one must keep out farther. This point is one league [149] from
an island called _Isle au Coudre_, about two leagues wide, the distance
from which to the northern shore is a league. This island has a pretty even
surface, growing narrower towards the two ends. At the western end there
are meadows and rocky points, which extend out some distance into the
river. This island is very pleasant on account of the woods surrounding it.
It has a great deal of slate-rock, and the soil is very gravelly; at its
extremity there is a rock extending half a league out into the water. We
went to the north of this island, [150] which is twelve leagues distant
from Hare Island.

On the Thursday following, we set out from here and came to anchor in a
dangerous cove on the northern shore, where there are some meadows and a
little river, [151] and where the savages sometimes erect their cabins. The
same day, continuing to coast along on the northern shore, we were obliged
by contrary winds to put in at a place where there were many very dangerous
rocks and localities. Here we stayed three days, waiting for fair weather.
Both the northern and Southern shores here are very mountainous, resembling
in general those of the Saguenay.

On Sunday, the twenty-second, we set out for the Island of Orleans, [152]
in the neighborhood of which are many islands on the southern shore. These
are low and covered with trees, Seem to be very pleasant, and, so far as I
could judge, some of them are one or two leagues and others half a league
in length. About these islands there are only rocks and shallows, so that
the passage is very dangerous.

They are distant some two leagues from the mainland on the south. Thence we
coasted along the Island of Orleans on the south. This is distant a league
from the mainland on the north, is very pleasant and level, and eight
leagues long. The coast on the south is low for some two leagues inland;
the country begins to be low at this island which is perhaps two leagues
distant from the southern shore. It is very dangerous passing on the
northern shore, on account of the sand-banks and rocks between the island
and mainland, and it is almost entirely dry here at low tide.

At the end of this island I saw a torrent of water [153] which descended
from a high elevation on the River of Canada. Upon this elevation the land
is uniform and pleasant, although in the interior high mountains are seen
some twenty or twenty-five leagues distant, and near the first fall of the
Saguenay.

We came to anchor at Quebec, a narrow passage in the River of Canada, which
is here some three hundred paces broad. [154] There is, on the northern
side of this passage, a very high elevation, which falls off on two sides.
Elsewhere the country is uniform and fine, and there are good tracts full
of trees, as oaks, cypresses, birches, firs, and aspens, also wild
fruit-trees and vines which, if they were cultivated, would, in my opinion,
be as good as our own. Along the shore of Quebec, there are diamonds in
some slate-rocks, which are better than those of Alencon. From Quebec to
Hare Island is a distance of twenty-nine leagues.

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