Voyages of Samuel de Champlain, Vol. 2 by Samuel de Champlain

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338. Read the 12th of July.

339. This fall is now avoided, and the navigation of the Richelieu secured
by a canal connecting Chambly Basin and St. Johns, a distance of about
ten miles.

340. It is not entirely certain what island is here referred to. It has
been supposed to be the Island of St. Therese. But, taking all of
Champlain's statements into consideration, the logical inference would
be that it is the Isle aux Noix.

341. "These two words were used in Acadie to indicate the _jongleur_, or
sorcerer. The word _pilotois_, according to P. Biard, Rel. 1611,
p. 17, came from the Basques, the Souriquois using the word _autmoin_,
which Lescarbot writes _aoutmoin_, and Champlain _ostemoy_.
P. Lejeune, in the Relation of 1636, p. 13, informs us that the
Montagnais called their Sorcerers _manitousiouekbi_: and according to
P. Brebeuf. Rel. 1635. p.35. the Hurons designated theirs by the name
_arendiouane_."--_Laverdiere, in loco_.

342. The distances are here overstated by more than threefold, both in
reference to the lake and the islands. This arose, perhaps, from the
slow progress made in the birch canoes with a party of sixty
undisciplined savages, a method of travelling to which Champlain was
unaccustomed; and he may likewise have been misled by the
exaggerations of the Indians, or he may have sailed to comprehend
their representation of distances.

343. Of the meaning of _chaousarou_, the name given by the Indians to this
fish, we have no knowledge. It is now known as the bony-scaled pike,
or gar pike, _Lepidosteus osseus_. It is referred to by several early
writers after Champlain.

"I saw," says Sagard, "in the cabin of a Montagnais Indian a certain
fish, which some call Chaousarou, as big as a large pike. It was only
an ordinary sized one, for many larger ones are seen, eight, nine, and
ten feet long, as is said. It had a snout about a foot and a half
long, of about the same shape as that of the snipe, except that the
extremity is blunt and not so pointed, and of a large size in
proportion to the body. It has a double row of teeth, which are very
sharp and dangerous;... and the form of the body is like that of a
pike, but it is armed with very stout and hard scales, of silver gray
color, and difficult to be pierced."--_Sagard's History of Canada_,
Bk. _iii_. p. 765; _Laverdiere_. Sagard's work was published in 1636.
He had undoubtedly seen this singular fish; but his description is so
nearly in the words of Champlain as to suggest that he had taken it
from our author.

Creuxius, in his History of Canada, published at Paris in 1664,
describes this fish nearly in the words of Champlain, with an
engraving sufficiently accurate for identification, but greatly
wanting in scientific exactness. He adds, "It is not described by
ancient authors, probably because it is only found in the Lake of the
Iroquois;" that is, in Lake Champlain. From which it may be inferred
that at that time it had not been discovered in other waters. By the
French, he says, it is called _piscis armatus_. This is in evident
allusion to its bony scales, in which it is protected as in a coat of
mail.

It is described by Dr. Kay in the Natural History of New York,
Zooelogy, Part I. p 271. On Plate XLIII. Fig. 139, of the same work,
the reader will observe that the head of the fish there represented
strikingly resembles that of the chaousarou of Champlain as depicted
on his map of 1612. The drawing by Champlain is very accurate, and
clearly identifies the Gar Pike. This singular fish has been found in
Lake Champlain, the river St. Lawrence, and in the northern lakes,
likewise in the Mississippi River, where is to be found also a closely
related species commonly called the alligator gar. In the Museum of
the Boston Society of Natural History are several specimens, one of
them from St. John's River, Florida, four feet and nine inches in
length, of which the head is seventeen and a half inches. If the body
of those seen by Champlain was five feet, the head two and a half feet
would be in about the usual proportion.

344. The Green Mountain range in Vermont, generally not more than twenty or
twenty-five miles distant. Champlain was probably deceived as to the
snow on their summits in July. What he saw was doubtless white
limestone, which might naturally enough be taken for snow in the
absence of any positive knowledge. The names of the summits visible
from the lake are the following, with their respective heights. The
Chin, 4,348 feet; The Nose, 4,044; Camel's Hump, 4,083; Jay's Peak,
4,018; Killington Peak, 3,924. This region was at an early period
called _Irocosia_.

345. This is not an inaccurate description of the beautiful as well as rich
and fertile valleys to be found among the hills of Vermont.

346. On entering the lake, they saw the Adirondack Mountains, which would
appear very nearly in the south. The points visible from the lake were
Mt. Marcy, 5,467 feet high above tide-water; Dix's Peak, 5,200; Nipple
Top, 4,900; Whiteface, 4,900; Raven Hill, 2,100; Bald Peak, 2,065.--
_Vide Palmer's Lake Champlain_, p. 12.

347. The river here referred to is the Hudson. By passing from Lake
Champlain through the small stream that connects it with Lake George,
over this latter lake and a short carrying place, the upper waters of
the Hudson are reached. The coast of Norumbegue and that of Florida
were both indefinite regions, not well defined by geographers of that
day. These terms were supplied by Champlain, and not by his
informants. He could not of course tell precisely where this unknown
river reached the sea, but naturally inferred that it was on the
southern limit of Norumbegue, which extended from the Penobscot
towards Florida, which latter at that time was supposed to extend from
the Gulf of Mexico indefinitely to the north.

348. This battle, or Skirmish, clearly took place at Ticonderoga, or
_Cheonderoga_, as the Indians called it, where a cape juts out into
the lake, as described by Champlain. This is the logical inference to
be drawn from the whole narrative. It is to be observed that the
purpose of the Indians, whom Champlain was accompanying, was to find
their enemies, the Iroquois, and give them battle. The journey, or
warpath, had been clearly marked out and described by the Indians to
Champlain, as may be seen in the text. It led them along the western
shore of the lake to the outlet of Lake George, over the fall in the
little stream connecting the two lakes, through Lake George, and
thence to the mountains beyond, where the Iroquois resided. They found
the Iroquois, however, on the lake; gave them battle on the little
cape alluded to; and after the victory and pursuit for some distance
into the forest, and the gathering up of the spoils, Champlain and his
allies commenced their journey homeward. But Champlain says he saw the
fall in the stream that connects the two lakes. Now this little stream
flows into Lake Champlain at Ticonderoga, and he would naturally have
seen the fall, if the battle took place there, while in pursuit of the
Iroquois into the forest, as described in the text. The fall was in
the line of the retreat of the Iroquois towards their home, and is
only a mile and three-quarters from the cape jutting out into the lake
at Ticonderoga. If the battle had occurred at any point north of
Ticonderoga, he could not have seen the fall, as they retreated
immediately after the battle: if it had taken place south of that
point, it would have been off the war-path which they had determined
to pursue. We must conclude, therefore, that the battle took place at
Ticonderoga, a little north of the ruins of the old Fort Carillon,
directly on the shore of the lake. If the reader will examine the plan
of the battle as given by Champlain's engraving, he will see that it
conforms with great exactness to the known topography of the place.
The Iroquois, who had their choice of positions are on the north, in
the direction of Willow Point, where they can most easily retreat, and
where Champlain and his allies can be more easily hemmed in near the
point of the cape. The Iroquois are on lower ground, and we know that
the surface there shelves to the north. The well-known sandy bottom of
the lake at this place would furnish the means of fastening the
canoes, by forcing poles into it, a little out from the shore during
the night, as they actually did. On Champlain's map of 1632, this
point is referred to as the location of the battle; and in his note on
the map. No. 65, he says this is the place where the Iroquois were
defeated by Champlain. All the facts of the narrative thus point to
Ticonderoga, and render it indisputable that this was the scene of the
first of the many recorded conflicts on this memorable lake. We should
not have entered into this discussion so fully, had not several
writers, not well informed, expressed views wholly inconsistent with
known facts.

349. The Indian name of Lake Champlain is _Caniaderiguaronte_, the lake
that is the gate of the country.--_Vide Administration of the
Colonies_, by Thomas Pownall. 1768, p. 267. This name was very
significant, since the lake and valley of Champlain was the "gate," or
war-path, by which the hostile tribes of Iroquois approached their
enemies on the north of the St. Lawrence, and _vice-versa_.

CHAPTER X.

RETURN FROM THE BATTLE, AND WHAT TOOK PLACE ON THE WAY.

After going some eight leagues, towards evening they took one of the
prisoners, to whom they made a harangue, enumerating the cruelties which he
and his men had already practised towards them without any mercy, and that,
in like manner, he ought to make up his mind to receive as much. They
commanded him to sing, if he had courage, which he did; but it was a very
sad song.

Meanwhile, our men kindled a fire; and, when it was well burning, they each
took a brand, and burned this poor creature gradually, so as to make him
suffer greater torment. Sometimes they stopped, and threw water on his
back. Then they tore out his nails, and applied fire to the extremities of
his fingers and private member. Afterwards, they flayed the top of his
head, and had a kind of gum poured all hot upon it; then they pierced his
arms near the wrists, and, drawing up the sinews with sticks, they tore
them out by force; but, seeing that they could not get them, they cut
them. This poor wretch uttered terrible cries, and it excited my pity to
see him treated in this manner, and yet showing such firmness that one
would have said, at times, that he suffered hardly any pain at all. They
urged me strongly to take some fire, and do as they did. I remonstrated
with them, saying that we practised no such cruelties, but killed them at
once; and that, if they wished me to fire a musket-shot at him, I should be
willing to do so. They refused, saying that he would not in that case
suffer any pain. I went away from them, pained to see such cruelties as
they practised upon his body. When they saw that I was displeased, they
called me, and told me to fire a musket-shot at him. This I did without his
feeing it, and thus put an end, by a single shot, to all the torments he
would have suffered, rather than see him tyrannized over. After his death,
they were not yet satisfied, but opened him, and threw his entrails into
the lake. Then they cut off his head, arms, and legs, which they scattered
in different directions; keeping the scalp which they had flayed off, as
they had done in the case of all the rest whom they had killed in the
contest. They were guilty also of another monstrosity in taking his heart,
cutting it into several pieces, and giving it to a brother of his to eat,
as also to others of his companions, who were prisoners: they took it into
their mouths, but would not swallow it. Some Algonquin savages, who were
guarding them, made some of them spit it out, when they threw it into the
water. 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. After this execution, we set out on our
return with the rest of the prisoners, who kept singing as they went along,
with no better hopes for the future than he had had who was so wretchedly
treated.

Having arrived at the falls of the Iroquois, the Algonquins returned to
their own country; so also the Ochateguins, [350] with a part of the
prisoners: well satisfied with the results of the war, and that I had
accompanied them so readily. We separated accordingly with loud
protestations of mutual friendship; and 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.

I returned with the Montagnais. After informing myself from the prisoners
in regard to their country, and of its probable extent, we packed up the
baggage for the return, which was accomplished with such despatch that we
went every day in their canoes twenty-five or thirty leagues, which was
their usual rate of travelling. When we arrived at the mouth of the river
Iroquois, some of the savages dreamed that their enemies were pursuing
them. This dream led them to move their camp forthwith, although the night
was very inclement on account of the wind and rain; and they went and
passed the remainder of the night, from fear of their enemies, amid high
reeds on Lake St. Peter. Two days after, we arrived at our settlement,
where I gave them some bread and peas; also some beads, which they asked me
for, in order to ornament the heads of their enemies, for the purpose of
merry-making upon their return. The next day, I went with them in their
canoes as far as Tadoussac, in order to witness their ceremonies. On
approaching the shore, they each took a stick, to the end of which they
hung the heads of their enemies, who had been killed, together with some
beads, all of them singing. When they were through with this, the women
undressed themselves, so as to be in a state of entire nudity, when they
jumped into the water, and swam to the prows, of the canoes to take the
heads of their enemies, which were on the ends of long poles before their
boats: then they hung them about their necks, as if it had been some costly
chain, singing and dancing meanwhile. Some days after, they presented me
with one of these heads, as if it were something very precious; and also
with a pair of arms taken from their enemies, to keep and show to the
king. This, for the sake of gratifying them, I promised to do.

After some days, I went to Quebec, whither some Algonquin savages came,
expressing their regret at not being present at the defeat of their
enemies, and presenting me with some furs, in consideration of my having
gone there and assisted their friends.

Some days after they had set out for their country, distant about a hundred
and twenty leagues from our settlement, I went to Tadoussac to see whether
Pont Grave had returned from Gaspe, whither he had gone. He did not arrive
until the next day, when he told me that he had decided to return to
France. We concluded to leave an upright man, Captain Pierre Chavin of
Dieppe, to command at Quebec, until Sieur de Monts should arrange matters
there.

ENDNOTES:

350. The Indian allies on this expedition were the Algonquins
(_Algoumequins_), the Hurons (_Ochatequins_), and the Montagnais
(_Montagnets_). The two former, on their way to Quebec, had met
Champlain near the river St. Anne, and joined him and the Montagnais,
who belonged in the neighborhood of Tadoussac, or farther east.--_Vide
antea_, p. 202. They now, at the falls near the Basin of Chambly,
departed to their homes, perhaps on the Ottawa River and the shores of
Lake Huron.

CHAPTER XI.

RETURN TO FRANCE, AND WHAT OCCURRED UP TO THE TIME OP RE-EMBARKATION.

After forming this resolution, we went to Quebec to establish him in
authority, and leave him every thing requisite and necessary for the
settlement, together with fifteen men. Every thing being arranged, we set
out on the first day of September [351] for Tadoussac, in order to fit out
our vessel for returning to France.

We set out accordingly from the latter place on the 5th of the month, and
on the 8th anchored at Isle Percee. On Thursday the 10th, we set out from
there, and on the 18th, the Tuesday following, we arrived at the Grand
Bank. On the 2d of October, we got soundings. On the 8th, we anchored at
Conquet [352] in Lower Brittany. On Saturday the 10th, we set out from
there, arriving at Honfleur on the 13th.

After disembarking, I did not wait long before taking post to go to Sieur
de Monts, who was then at Fontainebleau, where His Majesty was. Here I
reported to him in detail all that had transpired in regard to the winter
quarters and our new explorations, and my hopes for the future in view of
the promises of the savages called Ochateguins, who are good Iroquois.
[353] The other Iroquois, their enemies, dwell more to the south. The
language of the former does not differ much from that of the people
recently discovered and hitherto unknown to us, which they understand when
spoken.

I at once waited upon His Majesty, and gave him an account of my voyage,
which afforded him pleasure and satisfaction. I had a girdle made of
porcupine quills, very well worked, after the manner of the country where
it was made, and which His Majesty thought very pretty. I had also two
little birds, of the size of blackbirds and of a carnation color; [354]
also, the head of a fish caught in the great lake of the Iroquois, having a
very long snout and two or three rows of very sharp teeth. A representation
of this fish may be found on the great lake, on my geographical map. [355]

After I had concluded my interview with His Majesty, Sieur de Monts
determined to go to Rouen to meet his associates, the Sieurs Collier and Le
Gendre, merchants of Rouen, to consider what should be done the coming
year. They resolved to continue the settlement, and finish the explorations
up the great river St. Lawrence, in accordance with the promises of the
Ochateguins, made on condition that we should assist them in their wars, as
I had given them to understand.

Pont Grave was appointed to go to Tadoussac, not only for traffic, but to
engage in any thing else that might realize means for defraying the
expenses.

Sieur Lucas Le Gendre, of Rouen, one of the partners, was ordered to see to
the purchase of merchandise and supplies, the repair of the vessels,
obtaining crews, and other things necessary for the voyage.

After these matters were arranged, Sieur de Monts returned to Paris, I
accompanying him, where I stayed until the end of February. During this
time, Sieur de Monts endeavored to obtain a new commission for trading in
the newly discovered regions, and where no one had traded before. This he
was unable to accomplish, although his requests and proposals were just and
reasonable.

But, finding that there was no hope of obtaining this commission, he did
not cease to prosecute his plan, from his desire that every thing might
turn out to the profit and honor of France.

During this time, Sieur de Monts did not express to me his pleasure in
regard to me personally, until I told him it had been reported to me that
he did not wish to have me winter in Canada, which, however, was not true,
for he referred the whole matter to my pleasure.

I provided myself with whatever was desirable and necessary for spending
the winter at our settlement in Quebec. For this purpose I set out from
Paris the last day of February following, [356] and proceeded to Honfleur,
where the embarkation was to be made. I went by way of Rouen, where I
stayed two days. Thence I went to Honfleur, where I found Pont Grave and Le
Gendre, who told me they had embarked what was necessary for the
settlement. I was very glad to find that we were ready to set sail, but
uncertain whether the supplies were good and adequate for our sojourn and
for spending the winter.

ENDNOTES:

351. September, 1609.

352. A small seaport town in the department of Finisterre, twelve miles
west of Brest.

353. The Ochateguins, called by the French Hurons, were a branch of the
Iroquois. Their real name was Yendots. They were at this time allied
with the Algonquins, in a deadly war with their Iroquois cousins, the
Five Nations.--_Vide Gallatins Synopsis_, Transactions of Am. Antiq.
Society, Cambridge, 1836, Vol. II. p. 69, _et passim_.

354. The Scarlet tanager, _Pyranga rubra_, of a scarlet color, with black
wings and tail. It ranges from Texas to Lake Huron.

355. _Vide antea_, p. 216; and map. 1612.

356. Anno Domini 1610.

SECOND VOYAGE
OF
SIEUR. DE CHAMPLAIN
TO NEW FRANCE, IN THE YEAR 1610.

CHAPTER I.

DEPARTURE FROM FRANCE TO RETURN TO NEW FRANCE, AND OCCURRENCES UNTIL OUR
ARRIVAL AT THE SETTLEMENT.

The weather having become favorable, I embarked at Honfleur with a number
of artisans on the 7th of the month of March. [357] But, encountering bad
weather in the Channel, we were obliged to put in on the English coast at a
place called Porlan, [358] in the roadstead of which we stayed some days,
when we weighed anchor for the Isle d'Huy, [359] near the English coast,
since we found the roadstead of Porlan very bad. When near this island, so
dense a fog arose, that we were obliged to put in at the Hougue. [360]

Ever since the departure from Honfleur, I had been afflicted with a very
severe illness, which took away my hopes of being able to make the voyage;
so that I embarked in a boat to return to Havre in France, to be treated
there, being very ill on board the vessel. My expectation was, on
recovering my health, to embark again in another vessel, which had not yet
left Honfleur, in which Des Marais, son-in-law of Pont Grave, was to
embark; but I had myself carried, still very ill, to Honfleur, where the
vessel on which I had set out put in on the 15th of March, for some
ballast, which it needed in order to be properly trimmed. Here it remained
until the 8th of April. During this time, I recovered in a great degree;
and, though still feeble and weak, I nevertheless embarked again.

We set out anew on the 18th of April, arriving at the Grand Bank on the
19th, and fighting the Islands of St. Pierre on the 22nd. [361] When off
Menthane, we met a vessel from St. Malo, on which was a young man, who,
while drinking to the health of Pont Grave, lost control of himself and was
thrown into the Sea by the motion of the vessel and drowned, it being
impossible to render him assistance on account of the violence of the wind.

On the 26th of the month, we arrived at Tadoussac, where there were vessels
which had arrived on the 18th, a thing which had not been seen for more
than sixty years, as the old mariners said who sail regularly to this
country. [362] This was owing to the mild winter and the small amount of
ice, which did not prevent the entrance of these vessels. We learned from a
young nobleman, named Sieur du Parc, who had spent the winter at our
settlement, that all his companions were in good health, only a few having
been ill, and they but slightly. He also informed us that there had been
scarcely any winter, and that they had usually had fresh meat the entire
season, and that their hardest task had been to keep up good cheer.

This winter shows how those undertaking in future such enterprises ought to
proceed, it being very difficult to make a new settlement without labor;
and without encountering adverse fortune the first year, as has been the
case in all our first settlements. But, in fact, by avoiding salt food and
using fresh meat, the health is as good here as in France.

The savages had been waiting from day to day for us to go to the war with
them. When they learned that Pont Grave and I had arrived together, they
rejoiced greatly, and came to speak with us.

I went on shore to assure them that we would go with them, in conformity
with the promises they had made me, namely, that upon our return from the
war they would show me the Trois Rivieres, and take me to a sea so large
that the end of it cannot be seen, whence we should return by way of the
Saguenay to Tadoussac. I asked them if they still had this intention, to
which they replied that they had, but that it could not be carried out
before the next year, which pleased me. But I had promised the Algonquins
and Ochateguins that I would assist them also in their wars, they having
promised to show me their country, the great lake, some copper mines, and
other things, which they had indicated to me. I accordingly had two strings
to my bow, so that, in case one should break, the other might hold.

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