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

S >> Samuel de Champlain >> Voyages of Samuel de Champlain, Vol. 2

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21

* * * * *

CHAMPLAIN'S EXPLANATION OF THE ACCOMPANYING MAP.

PORT ST. LOUIS.

_The figures indicate fathoms of water_.

_A_. Indicates the place where vessels lie.
_B_. The channel.
_C_. Two islands. [Note: Clark's Island is now the sole representative of
the two figured by Champlain in 1605. The action of the waves has
either united the two, or swept one of them away. It was named after
Clark, the master's mate of the "May Flower," who was the first to
step on shore, when the party of Pilgrims, sent out from Cape Cod
Harbor to Select a habitation, landed on this island, and passed the
night of the 9th of December, O. S. 1620. _Vide_ Morton's Memorial,
1669, Plymouth Ed. 1826. p. 35: Young's Chronicles, p. 160; Bradford's
His. Plym. Plantation, p. 87. This delineation removes all doubt as to
the missing island in Plymouth Harbor, and shows the incorrectness of
the theory as to its being Saquish Head, suggested in a note in
Young's Chronicles, p. 64. _Vide_ also Mourt's Relation, Dexter's ed.,
note 197.]
_D_. Sandy downs. [Note: Saquish Neck]
_E_. Shoals.
_F_. Cabins where the savages till the ground.
_G_. Place where we beached our barque.
_H_. Land having the appearance of an island, covered with wood and
adjoining the sandy downs. [Note: Saquish Head, which seems to have
been somewhat changed since the time of Champlain. Compare Coast
Survey Chart of Plymouth Harbor, 1857.]
_I_. A high promontory which may be seen four or five leagues at
sea. [Note: Manomet Bluff.]

* * * * *

On the 19th of the month, we set out from this place. Coasting along in a
southerly direction, we sailed four or five leagues, and passed near a rock
on a level with the surface of the water. As we continued our course, we
saw some land which seemed to us to be islands, but as we came nearer we
found it to be the main land, lying to the north-north-west of us, and that
it was the cape of a large bay, [164] containing more than eighteen or
nineteen leagues in circuit, into which we had run so far that we had to
wear off on the other tack in order to double the cape which we had
seen. The latter we named Cap Blanc, [165] since it contained sands and
downs which had a white appearance. A favorable wind was of great
assistance to us here, for otherwise we should have been in danger of being
driven upon the coast. This bay is very safe, provided the land be not
approached nearer than a good league, there being no islands nor rocks
except that just mentioned, which is near a river that extends some
distance inland, which we named St. Suzanne du Cap Blanc, [166] whence
across to Cap St. Louis the distance is ten leagues. Cap Blanc is a point
of sand, which bends around towards the south some six leagues. This coast
is rather high, and consists of sand, which is very conspicuous as one
comes from the Sea. At a distance of some fifteen or eighteen leagues from
land, the depth of the water is thirty, forty, and fifty fathoms, but only
ten on nearing the shore, which is unobstructed. There is a large extent
of open country along the shore before reaching the woods, which are very
attractive and beautiful. We anchored off the coast, and saw some savages,
towards whom four of our company proceeded. Making their way upon a
sand-bank, they observed something like a bay, and cabins bordering it on
all sides. When they were about a league and a half from us, there came to
them a savage dancing all over, as they expressed it. He had come down from
the high shore, but turned about shortly after to inform his fellow
inhabitants of our arrival.

The next day, the 20th of the month, we went to the place which our men had
seen, and which we found a very dangerous harbor in consequence of the
shoals and banks, where we saw breakers in all directions. It was almost
low tide when we entered, and there were only four feet of water in the
northern passage; at high tide, there are two fathoms. After we had
entered, we found the place very spacious, being perhaps three or four
leagues in circuit, entirely surrounded by little houses, around each one
of which there was as much land as the occupant needed for his support. A
small river enters here, which is very pretty, and in which at low tide
there are some three and a half feet of water. There are also two or three
brooks bordered by meadows. It would be a very fine place, if the harbor
were good. I took the altitude, and found the latitude 42 deg., and the
deflection of the magnetic needle 18 deg. 40'. Many savages, men and women,
visited us, and ran up on all sides dancing. We named this place Port de
Mallebarre. [167]

* * * * *

CHAMPLAIN'S EXPLANATION OF THE ACCOMPANYING MAP.

MALLEBARRE.

_The figures indicate fathoms of water_.

_A_. The two entrances to the harbor.
_B_. Sandy downs where the savages killed a sailor belonging to the barque
of Sieur de Monts.
_C_. Places in the harbor where the barque of Sieur de Monts was.
_D_. Spring on the shore of the harbor.
_E_. A river flowing into the harbor.
_F_. A brook.
_G_. A small river where quantities of fish are caught.
_H_. Sandy downs with low shrubs and many vines.
_I_. Island at the point of the downs.
_L_. Houses and dwelling-places of the savages that till the land.
_M_. Shoals and sand-banks at the entrance and inside of the harbor.
_O_. Sandy downs.
_P_. Sea-coast,
_q_. Barque of Sieur de Poutrincourt when he visited the place two years
after Sieur de Monts.
_R_. Landing of the party of Sieur de Poutrincourt.

NOTES. A comparison of this map with the Coast Survey Charts will show very
great changes in this harbor since the days of Champlain. Not only has the
mouth of the bay receded towards the south, but this recession appears to
have left entirely dry much of the area which was flooded in 1605. Under
reference _q_, on the above map, it is intimated that De Poutrincourt's
visit was two years after that of De Monts. It was more than one, and was
the second year after, but not, strictly speaking, "two years after."

* * * * *

The next day, the 21st of the month, Sieur de Monts determined to go and
see their habitation. Nine or ten of us accompanied him with our arms; the
rest remained to guard the barque. We went about a league along the coast.
Before reaching their cabins, we entered a field planted with Indian corn
in the manner before described. The corn was in flower, and five and a half
feet high. There was some less advanced, which they plant later. We saw
many Brazilian beans, and many squashes of various sizes, very good for
eating; some tobacco, and roots which they cultivate, the latter having the
taste of an artichoke. The woods are filled with oaks, nut-trees, and
beautiful cypresses, [168] which are of a reddish color and have a very
pleasant odor. There were also several fields entirely uncultivated, the
land being allowed to remain fallow. When they wish to plant it, they set
fire to the weeds, and then work it over with their wooden spades. Their
cabins are round, and covered with heavy thatch made of reeds. In the roof
there is an opening of about a foot and a half, whence the smoke from the
fire passes out. We asked them if they had their permanent abode in this
place, and whether there was much snow. But we were unable to ascertain
this fully from them, not understanding their language, although they made
an attempt to inform us by signs, by taking some sand in their hands.
Spreading it out over the ground, and indicating that it was of the color
of our collars, and that it reached the depth of a foot. Others made signs
that there was less, and gave us to understand also that the harbor never
froze; but we were unable to ascertain whether the snow lasted long. I
conclude, however, that this region is of moderate temperature, and the
winter not severe. While we were there, there was a north-cast storm, which
lasted four days; the sky being so overcast that the sun hardly shone at
all. It was very cold, and we were obliged to put on our great-coats, which
we had entirely left off. Yet I think the cold was accidental, as it is
often experienced elsewhere out of season.

On the 23d of July, four or five seamen having gone on shore with some
kettles to get fresh water, which was to be found in one of the sand-banks
a short distance from our barque, some of the savages, coveting them,
watched the time when our men went to the spring, and then seized one out
of the hands of a sailor, who was the first to dip, and who had no
weapons. One of his companions, starting to run after him, soon returned,
as he could not catch him, since he ran much faster than himself. The other
savages, of whom there were a large number, seeing our sailors running to
our barque, and at the same time shouting to us to fire at them, took to
flight. At the time there were some of them in our barque, who threw
themselves into the sea, only one of whom we were able to seize. Those on
the land who had taken to flight, seeing them swimming, returned straight
to the sailor from whom they had taken away the kettle, hurled several
arrows at him from behind, and brought him down. Seeing this, they ran at
once to him, and despatched him with their knives. Meanwhile, haste was
made to go on shore, and muskets were fired from our barque: mine, bursting
in my hands, came near killing me. The savages, hearing this discharge of
fire-arms, took to flight, and with redoubled speed when they saw that we
had landed, for they were afraid when they saw us running after them. There
was no likelihood of our catching them, for they are as swift as horses.
We brought in the murdered man, and he was buried some hours later.
Meanwhile, we kept the prisoner bound by the feet and hands on board of our
barque, fearing that he might escape. But Sieur de Monts resolved to let
him go, being persuaded that he was not to blame, and that he had no
previous knowledge of what had transpired, as also those who, at the time,
were in and about our barque. Some hours later there came some savages to
us, to excuse themselves, indicating by signs and demonstrations that it
was not they who had committed this malicious act, but others farther off
in the interior. We did not wish to harm them, although it was in our power
to avenge ourselves.

All these savages from the Island Cape wear neither robes nor furs, except
very rarely: moreover, their robes are made of grasses and hemp, scarcely
covering the body, and coming down only to their thighs. They have only the
sexual parts concealed with a small piece of leather; so likewise the
women, with whom it comes down a little lower behind than with the men, all
the rest of the body being naked. Whenever the women came to see us, they
wore robes which were open in front. The men cut off the hair on the top of
the head like those at the river Choueacoet. I saw, among other things, a
girl with her hair very neatly dressed, with a skin colored red, and
bordered on the upper part with little shell-beads. A part of her hair
hung down behind, the rest being braided in various ways. These people
paint the face red, black, and yellow. They have scarcely any beard, and
tear it out as fast as it grows. Their bodies are well-proportioned. I
cannot tell what government they have, but I think that in this respect
they resemble their neighbors, 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. They gave us a large quantity of tobacco, which they dry and
then reduce to powder. [169] When they eat Indian corn, they boil it in
earthen pots, which they make in a way different from ours. [170]. They
bray it also in wooden mortars and reduce it to flour, of which they then
make cakes, like the Indians of Peru.

In this place and along the whole coast from Quinibequy, there are a great
many _siguenocs_, [171] which is a fish with a shell on its back like the
tortoise, yet different, there being in the middle a row of little
prickles, of the color of a dead leaf, like the rest of the fish. At the
end of this shell, there is another still smaller, bordered by very sharp
points. The length of the tail-varies according to their size. With the end
of it, these people point their arrows, and it contains also a row of
prickles like the large shell in which are the eyes. There are eight small
feet like those of the crab, and two behind longer and flatter, which they
use in swimming. There are also in front two other very small ones with
which they eat. When walking, all the feet are concealed excepting the two
hindermost which are slightly visible. Under the small shell there are
membranes which swell up, and beat like the throat of a frog, and rest upon
each other like the folds of a waistcoat. The largest specimen of this fish
that I saw was a foot broad, and a foot and a half long.

We saw also a sea-bird [172] with a black beak, the upper part slightly
aquiline, four inches long and in the form of a lancet; namely, the lower
part representing the handle and the upper the blade, which is thin, sharp
on both sides, and shorter by a third than the other, which circumference
is a matter of astonishment to many persons, who cannot comprehend how it
is possible for this bird to eat with such a beak. It is of the size of a
pigeon, the wings being very long in proportion to the body, the tail
short, as also the legs, which are red; the feet being small and flat. The
plumage on the upper part is gray-brown, and on the under part pure white.
They go always in flocks along the sea-shore, like the pigeons with us.

The savages, along all these coasts where we have been, say that other
birds, which are very large, come along when their corn is ripe. They
imitated for us their cry, which resembles that of the turkey. They showed
us their feathers in several places, with which they feather their arrows,
and which they put on their heads for decoration; and also a kind of hair
which they have under the throat like those we have in France, and they say
that a red crest falls over upon the beak. According to their description,
they are as large as a bustard, which is a kind of goose, having the neck
longer and twice as large as those with us. All these indications led us to
conclude that they were turkeys. [173] We should have been very glad to
see some of these birds, as well as their feathers, for the sake of greater
certainty. Before seeing their feathers, and the little bunch of hair which
they have under the throat, and hearing their cry imitated, I should have
thought that they were certain birds like turkeys, which are found in some
places in Peru, along the sea-shore, eating carrion and other dead things
like crows. But these are not so large; nor do they have so long a bill, or
a cry like that of real turkeys; nor are they good to eat like those which
the Indians say come in flocks in summer, and at the beginning of winter go
away to warmer countries, their natural dwelling-place.

ENDNOTES:

160. It will be observed that, after doubling this cape, they sailed two
leagues, and then entered Plymouth Harbor, and consequently this cape
must have been what is now known as Brant Point.

161. The latitude is 42 deg. 5'.

162. This was plainly our Indian hemp, _Asclepias incarnata_. "The fibres
of the bark are strong, and capable of being wrought into a fine soft
thread; but it is very difficult to separate the bark from the stalk.
It is said to have been used by the Indians for bow-strings."--_Vide
Cutler in Memoirs of the American Academy_, Vol. I. p. 424. It is the
Swamp Milkweed of Gray, and grows in wet grounds. One variety is
common in New England. The Pilgrims found at Plymouth "an excellent
strong kind of Flaxe and Hempe"--_Vide Mourt's Relation_, Dexter's
ed. p. 62.

163. _Port du Cap St. Louis_. From the plain, the map in his edition of
1613, drawing of this Harbor left by Champlain, and also that of the
edition of 1632, it is plain that the "Port du Cap St. Louis" is
Plymouth Harbor, where anchored the "Mayflower" a little more than
fifteen years later than this, freighted with the first permanent
English colony established in New England, commonly known as the
Pilgrims. The Indian name of the harbor, according to Captain John
Smith, who visited it in 1614. was Accomack. He gave it, by direction
of Prince Charles, the name of Plymouth. More recent investigations
point to this harbor as the one visited by Martin Pring in 1603.--
_Vide Paper by the Rev Benj. F. De Costa, before the New England
His. Gen. Society_, Nov. 7, 1877, New England His. and Gen. Register,
Vol. XXXII. p. 79.

The interview of the French with the natives was brief, but courteous
and friendly on both sides. The English visits were interrupted by
more or less hostility. "When Pring was about ready to leave, the
Indians became hostile and set the woods on fire, and he saw it burn
'for a mile space.'"--_De Costa_. A skirmish of some seriousness
occurred with Smith's party. "After much kindnesse upon a small
occasion, wee fought also with fortie or fiftie of those: though some
were hurt, and some slaine, yet within an hour after they became
friends."--_Smith's New England_, Boston, ed. 1865, p. 45.

164. Cape Cod Bay.

165. They named it "le Cap Blanc," the White Cape, from its white
appearance, while Bartholomew Gosnold, three years before, had named
it Cape Cod from the multitude of codfish near its shores. Captain
John Smith called it Cape James. All the early navigators who passed
along our Atlantic coast seem to have seen the headland of Cape
Cod. It is well defined on Juan de la Cosa's map of 1500, although no
name is given to it. On Ribero's map of 1529 it is called _C. de
arenas_. On the map of Nic. Vallard de Dieppe of 1543, it is called
_C. de Croix_.

166. Wellfleet Harbor. It may be observed that a little farther back
Champlain says that, having sailed along in a southerly direction four
or five leagues, they were at a place where there was a "rock on a
level with the surface of the water," and that they saw lying
north-north-west of them Cap Blanc, that is, Cape Cod; he now says
that the "rock" is near a river, which they named St. Suzanne du Cap
Blanc, and that from it to Cap St. Louis the distance is ten
leagues. Now, as the distance across to Brant Point, or Cap St. Louis,
from Wellfleet Harbor, is ten leagues, and as Cap Blanc or Cape Cod is
north-northwest of it, it is plain that Wellfleet Harbor or Herring
River, which flows into it, was the river which they named St. Suzanne
du Cap Blanc, and that the "rock on a level with the water" was one of
the several to be found near the entrance of Wellfleet Bay. It may
have been the noted Bay Rock or Blue Rock.

167. _Port de Mallebarre_, Nauset Harbor, in latitude 41 deg. 48'. By comparing
Champlain's map of the harbor, it will be seen that important changes
have taken place since 1605. The entrance has receded a mile or more
towards the south, and this has apparently changed its interior
channel, and the whole form of the bay. The name itself has drifted
away with the sands, and feebly clings to the extremity of Monomoy
Point at the heel of the Cape.

168. Not strictly a cypress, but rather a juniper, the Savin, or red cedar,
_Juniparus Virginiana_, a tree of exclusively American origin; and
consequently it could not be truly characterized by any name then
known to Champlain.

169. The method of preparing tobacco here for smoking was probably not
different from that of the Indian tribes in Canada. Among the Huron
antiquities in the Museum at the University Laval are pipes which were
found already filled with tobacco, so prepared as to resemble our
fine-cut tobacco.--_Vide Laverdiere in loco_.

170. The following description of the Indian pottery, and the method of its
manufacture by their women, as quoted by Laverdiere from Sagard's
History of Canada, who wrote in 1636, will be interesting to the
antiquary, and will illustrate what Champlain means by "a way
different from ours:"--

"They are skilful in making good earthen pots, which they harden very
well on the hearth, and which are so strong that they do not, like our
own, break over the fire when having no water in them. But they cannot
sustain dampness nor cold water so long as our own, since they become
brittle and break at the least shock given them; otherwise they last
very well. The savages make them by taking some earth of the right
kind, which they clean and knead well in their hands, mixing with it,
on what principle I know not, a small quantity of grease. Then making
the mass into the shape of a ball, they make an indentation in the
middle of it with the fist, which they make continually larger by
striking repeatedly on the outside with a little wooden paddle as much
as is necessary to complete it. These vessels are of different sizes,
without feet or handles, completely round like a ball, excepting the
mouth, which projects a little."

171. This crustacean, _Limulus polyphemus_, is still seen on the strands of
New England. They are found in great abundance in more southern
waters: on the shores of Long Island and New Jersey, they are
collected in boat-loads and made useful for fertilizing purposes.
Champlain has left a drawing of it on his large map. It is vulgarly
known as the king-crab, or horse-foot; to the latter it bears a
striking similarity. This very accurate description of Champlain was
copied by De Laet into his elaborate work "Novvs Orbis," published in
1633, accompanied by an excellent wood-engraving. This species is
peculiar to our Atlantic waters, and naturally at that time attracted
the attention of Europeans, who had not seen it before.

172. The Black skimmer or Cut-water, _Rhynchops nigra_. It appears to be
distinct from, but closely related to, the Terns. This bird is here
described with general accuracy. According to Dr. Coues, it belongs
more particularly to the South Atlantic and Gulf States, where it is
very abundant; it is frequent in the Middle States, and only
occasionally seen in New England. The wings are exceedingly long; they
fly in close flocks, moving simultaneously. They seem to feed as they
skim low over the water, the under-mandible grazing or cutting the
surface, and thus taking in their food.--_Vide Coues's Key to North
American Birds_, Boston, 1872, p. 324.

Whether Champlain saw this bird as a "stray" on the shores of Cape
Cod, or whether it has since ceased to come in large numbers as far
north as formerly, offers an interesting inquiry for the
ornithologists. Specimens may be seen in the Museum of the Boston
Society of Natural History.

173. Champlain was clearly correct in his conclusion. The wild Turkey,
_Meleagris gallopavo_, was not uncommon in New England at that
period. Wood and Josselyn and Higginson, all speak of it fully:--

"Of these, sometimes there will be forty, threescore and a hundred of
a flocke; sometimes more, and sometimes lesse; their feeding is
Acornes, Hawes, and Berries; some of them get a haunt to frequent our
_English_ corne: In winter, when the snow covers the ground, they
resort to the Sea shore to look for Shrimps, and such small Fishes at
low tides. Such as love Turkie hunting, most follow it in winter after
a new-falne Snow, when hee may followe them by their tracts; some have
killed ten or a dozen in half a day; if they can be found towards an
evening and watched where they peirch, if one come about ten or eleven
of the clock, he may shoote as often as he will, they will sit,
unlesse they be slenderly wounded. These Turkies remaine all the yeare
long, the price of a good Turkey cocke is foure shillings; and he is
well worth it for he may be in weight forty pound: a Hen, two
shillings."--_Wood's New England Prospect_, 1634, Prince Society ed.,
Boston, p. 32.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21