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Title: The Founder of New France:
   A Chronicle of Champlain
   [Vol. 3 of "The Chronicles of Canada"]
Author: Colby, Charles William (1867-1955)
Illustrator: Champlain, Samuel de (ca. 1570-1635)
Illustrator: Jefferys, Charles William (1869-1951)
Illustrator: Kelly, John David (1862-1958)
Illustrator: Moncornet, Balthazar (ca. 1600-1668)
Date of first publication: 1915
Edition used as base for this ebook:
   Toronto: Glasgow, Brook & Company, 1920
Date first posted: 9 October 2009
Date last updated: 9 October 2009
Project Gutenberg Canada ebook #400

This ebook was produced by:
Marcia Brooks, David T. Jones
& the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
at http://www.pgdpcanada.net




_CHRONICLES OF CANADA_

Edited by George M. Wrong and H. H. Langton
In thirty-two volumes


3
THE FOUNDER OF
NEW FRANCE

BY CHARLES W. COLBY


_Part II_

_The Rise of New France_




[Illustration: THE ORDER OF GOOD CHEER--PORT ROYAL, 1606-7

From a colour drawing by C. W. Jefferys]




THE FOUNDER OF
NEW FRANCE

A Chronicle of Champlain


BY

CHARLES W. COLBY


[Illustration]


TORONTO
GLASGOW, BROOK & COMPANY
1920


_Copyright in all Countries subscribing to
the Berne Convention_


PRESS OF THE HUNTER-ROSE CO., LIMITED, TORONTO


                              CONTENTS


                                                        Page

  I.  CHAMPLAIN'S EARLY YEARS                              1

 II.  CHAMPLAIN IN ACADIA                                 22

III.  CHAMPLAIN AT QUEBEC                                 59

 IV.  CHAMPLAIN IN THE WILDERNESS                         84

  V.  CHAMPLAIN'S LAST YEARS                             116

 VI.  CHAMPLAIN'S WRITINGS AND CHARACTER                 137

      BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE                               152

      INDEX                                              155


                              ILLUSTRATIONS


THE ORDER OF GOOD CHEER--PORT
ROYAL, 1606-7                                  _Frontispiece_

From a colour drawing by C. W. Jefferys.

PORTRAIT OF CHAMPLAIN ASCRIBED TO            _Facing page_ 4
MONCORNET. (See Bibliographical Note,
p. 154)

From Laverdière's 'Champlain' in McGill University
Library.

COASTS EXPLORED BY CHAMPLAIN, 1604-7                  "   36

Map by Bartholomew.

CHAMPLAIN'S DRAWING OF THE HABITATION                 "   64
AT QUEBEC

From Laverdière's 'Champlain' in McGill University
Library.

HENRI DE BOURBON, PRINCE DE CONDÉ,                    "   74
VICEROY OF NEW FRANCE

From Laverdière's 'Champlain' in McGill University
Library.


THE DISCOVERY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN,                      "   86
1609

From a drawing by J. D. Kelly in the Château
de Ramezay, Montreal.

CHAMPLAIN'S ROUTE, 1615-16                            "  106

Map by Bartholomew.




CHAPTER I

CHAMPLAIN'S EARLY YEARS


WERE there a _Who's Who in History_ its chronicle of Champlain's life
and deeds would run as follows:

    Champlain, Samuel de. Explorer, geographer, and colonizer. Born
    in 1567 at Brouage, a village on the Bay of Biscay. Belonged by
    parentage to the lesser gentry of Saintonge. In boyhood became
    imbued with a love of the sea, but also served as a soldier in
    the Wars of the League. Though an enthusiastic Catholic, was
    loyal to Henry of Navarre. On the Peace of Vervins (1598)
    returned to the sea, visiting the Spanish West Indies and
    Mexico. Between 1601 and 1603 wrote his first book--the _Bref
    Discours_. In 1603 made his first voyage to the St Lawrence,
    which he ascended as far as the Lachine Rapids. From 1604 to
    1607 was actively engaged in the attempt of De Monts to
    establish a French colony in Acadia, at the same time exploring
    the seaboard from Cape Breton to Martha's Vineyard. Returned to
    the St Lawrence in 1608 and founded Quebec. In 1609 discovered
    Lake Champlain, and fought his first battle with the Iroquois.
    In 1613 ascended the Ottawa to a point above Lac Coulange. In
    1615 reached Georgian Bay and was induced to accompany the
    Hurons, with their allies, on an unsuccessful expedition into
    the country of the Iroquois. From 1617 to 1629 occupied chiefly
    in efforts to strengthen the colony at Quebec and promote trade
    on the lower St Lawrence. Taken a captive to London by Kirke in
    1629 upon the surrender of Quebec, but after its recession to
    France returned (1633) and remained in Canada until his death,
    on Christmas Day 1635. Published several important narratives
    describing his explorations and adventures. An intrepid pioneer
    and the revered founder of New France.

Into some such terms as these would the writer of a biographical
dictionary crowd his notice of Champlain's career, so replete with
danger and daring, with the excitement of sailing among the uncharted
islands of Penobscot Bay, of watching the sun descend below the waves of
Lake Huron, of attacking the Iroquois in their palisaded stronghold, of
seeing English cannon levelled upon the houses of Quebec. It is not from
a biographical dictionary that one can gain true knowledge of Champlain,
into whose experience were crowded so many novel sights and whose soul
was tested, year after year, by the ever-varying perils of the
wilderness. No life, it is true, can be fitly sketched in a
chronological abridgment, but history abounds with lives which, while
important, do not exact from a biographer the kind of detail that for
the actions of Champlain becomes priceless. Kant and Hegel were both
great forces in human thought, yet throughout eighty years Kant was
tethered to the little town of Königsberg, and Hegel did not know what
the French were doing in Jena the day after there had been fought just
outside a battle which smote Prussia to her knees. The deeds of such men
are their thoughts, their books, and these do not make a story. The life
of Champlain is all story. The part of it which belongs to the Wars of
the League is lost to us from want of records. But fortunately we
possess in his _Voyages_ the plain, direct narrative of his exploits in
America--a source from which all must draw who would know him well.

The method to be pursued in this book is not that of the critical essay.
Nor will these pages give an account of Champlain's times with reference
to ordinances regulating the fur trade, or to the policy of French kings
and their ministers towards emigration. Such subjects must be touched
on, but here it will be only incidentally. What may be taken to concern
us is the spirited action of Champlain's middle life--the period which
lies between his first voyage to the St Lawrence and his return from the
land of the Onondagas. Not that he had ended his work in 1616. The
unflagging efforts which he continued to put forth on behalf of the
starving colony at Quebec demand all praise. But the years during which
he was incessantly engaged in exploration show him at the height of his
powers, with health still unimpaired by exposure and with a soul that
courted the unknown. Moreover, this is the period for which we have his
own narrative in fullest detail.

[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF CHAMPLAIN ASCRIBED TO MONCORNET (See
Bibliographical Note, p. 132)

From Laverdière's _Champlain_ in McGill University Library]

Even were we seeking to set down every known fact regarding Champlain's
early life, the task would not be long. Parkman, in referring to his
origin, styles him 'a Catholic gentleman,' with not even a footnote
regarding his parentage.[1] Dionne, in a biography of nearly three
hundred pages, does indeed mention the names of his father and mother,
but dismisses his first twenty years in twenty lines, which say little
more than that he learned letters and religion from the parish priest
and a love of the sea from his father. Nor is it easy to enlarge these
statements unless one chooses to make guesses as to whether or not
Champlain's parents were Huguenots because he was called Samuel, a
favourite name with French Protestants. And this question is not worth
discussion, since no one has, or can, cast a doubt upon the sincerity of
his own devotion to the Catholic faith.

    [Footnote 1: It is hard to define Champlain's social status in a
    single word. Parkman, besides styling him 'a Catholic
    gentleman,' speaks of him elsewhere as being 'within the pale of
    the _noblesse_.' On the other hand, the _Biographie
    Saintongeoise_ says that he came from a family of fishermen. The
    most important facts would seem to be these. In Champlain's own
    marriage contract his father is styled 'Antoine de Champlain,
    Capitaine de la Marine.' The same document styles Champlain
    himself 'Samuel de Champlain.' A petition in which he asks for a
    continuation of his pension (_circ._ 1630) styles him in its
    opening words 'Le Sieur de Champlain' and afterwards 'le dit
    sieur Champlain' in two places, while in six places it styles
    him 'le dit sieur de Champlain.' Le Jeune calls him 'Monsieur de
    Champlain.' It is clear that he was not a noble. It is also
    clear that he possessed sufficient social standing to warrant
    the use of _de._ On the title-page of all his books after 1604
    he is styled the 'Sieur de Champlain.']

In short, Champlain by birth was neither a peasant nor a noble, but
issued from a middle-class family; and his eyes turned towards the sea
because his father was a mariner dwelling in the small seaport of
Brouage.

Thus when a boy Champlain doubtless had lessons in navigation, but he
did not become a sailor in the larger sense until he had first been a
soldier. His youth fell in the midst of the Catholic Revival, when the
Church of Rome, having for fifty years been sore beset by Lutherans and
Calvinists, began to display a reserve strength which enabled her to
reclaim from them a large part of the ground she had lost. But this
result was not gained without the bitterest and most envenomed struggle.
If doctrinal divergence had quickened human hatreds before the Council
of Trent, it drove them to fury during the thirty years that followed.
At the time of the Massacre of St Bartholomew Champlain was five
years old. He was seventeen when William the Silent was assassinated;
twenty when Mary Stuart was executed at Fotheringay; twenty-one when the
Spanish Armada sailed against England and when the Guises were murdered
at Blois by order of Henry III; twenty-two when Henry III himself fell
under the dagger of Jacques Clement. The bare enumeration of these
events shows that Champlain was nurtured in an age of blood and iron
rather than amid those humanitarian sentiments which prevail in an age
of religious toleration.

Finding his country a camp, or rather two camps, he became a soldier,
and fought for ten years in the wretched strife to which both Leaguers
and Huguenots so often sacrificed their love of country. With Henry of
Valois, Henry of Navarre, and Henry of Guise as personal foes and
political rivals, it was hard to know where the right line of faith and
loyalty lay; but Champlain was both a Catholic and a king's man, for
whom all things issued well when Henry of Navarre ceased to be a
heretic, giving France peace and a throne. It is unfortunate that the
details of these adventurous years in Champlain's early manhood should
be lost. Unassisted by wealth or rank, he served so well as to win
recognition from the king himself, but beyond the names of his
commanders (D'Aumont, St Luc, and Brissac) there is little to show the
nature of his exploits.[2] In any case, these ten years of campaigning
were a good school for one who afterwards was to look death in the face
a thousand times amidst the icebergs of the North Atlantic, and off the
rocky coast of Acadia, and in the forests of the Iroquois.

    [Footnote 2: He served chiefly in Brittany against the Spanish
    allies of the League, and reached the rank of quartermaster.]

With such parentage and early experiences as have been indicated
Champlain entered upon his career in the New World. It is characteristic
that he did not leave the army until his services were no longer needed.
At the age of thirty-one he was fortunate enough to be freed from
fighting against his own countrymen. In 1598 was signed the Peace of
Vervins by which the enemies of Henry IV, both Leaguers and Spaniards,
acknowledged their defeat. To France the close of fratricidal strife
came as a happy release. To Champlain it meant also the dawn of a
career. Hastening to the coast, he began the long series of voyages
which was to occupy the remainder of his life. Indeed, the sea and what
lay beyond it were henceforth to be his life.

The sea, however, did not at once lead Champlain to New France.
Provençal, his uncle, held high employment in the Spanish fleet, and
through his assistance Champlain embarked at Blavet in Brittany for
Cadiz, convoying Spanish soldiers who had served with the League in
France. After three months at Seville he secured a Spanish commission as
captain of a ship sailing for the West Indies. Under this appointment it
was his duty to attend Don Francisco Colombo, who with an armada of
twenty galleons sailed in January 1599 to protect Porto Rico from the
English. In the maritime strife of Spain and England this expedition
has no part that remains memorable. For Champlain it meant a first
command at sea and a first glimpse of America.

The record of this voyage was an incident of no less importance in
Champlain's fortunes than the voyage itself. His cruisings in the
Spanish Main gave him material for a little book, the _Bref Discours_;
and the _Bref Discours_ in turn advanced his career. Apart from any
effect which it may have had in securing for him the title of Geographer
to the King, it shows his own aspiration to be a geographer. Navigation
can be regarded either as a science or a trade. For Champlain it was
plainly a science, demanding care in observation and faithfulness of
narrative. The _Bref Discours_ was written immediately upon his return
from the West Indies, while the events it describes were still fresh in
mind. Appearing at a time when colonial secrets were carefully guarded,
it gave France a glimpse of Spanish America from French eyes. For us it
preserves Champlain's impressions of Mexico, Panama, and the Antilles.
For Champlain himself it was a profession of faith, a statement that he
had entered upon the honourable occupation of navigator; in other words,
that he was to be classed neither with ship-captains nor with traders,
but with explorers and authors.

It was in March 1601 that Champlain reached France on his return from
the West Indies. The next two years he spent at home, occupied partly
with the composition of his _Bref Discours_ and partly with the quest of
suitable employment. His avowed preference for the sea and the
reputation which he had already gained as a navigator left no doubt as
to the sphere of his future activities, but though eager to explore some
portion of America on behalf of the French crown, the question of ways
and means presented many difficulties. Chief among these was the
fickleness of the king. Henry IV had great political intelligence, and
moreover desired, in general, to befriend those who had proved loyal
during his doubtful days. His political sagacity should have led him to
see the value of colonial expansion, and his willingness to advance
faithful followers should have brought Champlain something better than
his pension and the title of Geographer. But the problems of France were
intricate, and what most appealed to the judgment of Henry was the need
of domestic reorganization after a generation of slaughter which had
left the land desolate. Hence, despite momentary impulses to vie with
Spain and England in oversea expansion, he kept to the path of caution,
avoiding any expenditure for colonies which could be made a drain upon
the treasury, and leaving individual pioneers to bear the cost of
planting his flag in new lands. In friendship likewise his good
impulses were subject to the vagaries of a mercurial temperament and a
marked willingness to follow the line of least resistance. In the
circumstances it is not strange that Champlain remained two years
ashore.

The man to whom he owed most at this juncture was Aymar de Chastes.
Though Champlain had served the king faithfully, his youth and birth
prevented him from doing more than belongs to the duty of a subaltern.
But De Chastes, as governor of Dieppe, at a time when the League seemed
everywhere triumphant, gave Henry aid which proved to be the means of
raising him from the dust. It was a critical event for Champlain that
early in 1603 De Chastes had determined to fit out an expedition to
Canada. Piety and patriotism seem to have been his dominant motives, but
an opening for profit was also offered by a monopoly of the Laurentian
fur trade. During the civil wars Champlain's strength of character had
become known at first hand to De Chastes, who both liked and admired
him. Then, just at the right moment, he reached Fontainebleau, with his
good record as a soldier and the added prestige which had come to him
from his successful voyage to the West Indies. He and De Chastes
concluded an agreement, the king's assent was specially given, and in
the early spring of 1603 the founder of New France began his first
voyage to the St Lawrence.

       *       *       *       *       *

Champlain was now definitely committed to the task of gaining for France
a foothold in North America. This was to be his steady purpose, whether
fortune frowned or smiled. At times circumstances seemed favourable; at
other times they were most disheartening. Hence, if we are to understand
his life and character, we must consider, however briefly, the
conditions under which he worked.

It cannot be said that Champlain was born out of his right time. His
active years coincide with the most important, most exciting period in
the colonial movement. At the outset Spain had gone beyond all rivals
in the race for the spoils of America. The first stage was marked by
unexampled and spectacular profits. The bullion which flowed from Mexico
and Peru was won by brutal cruelty to native races, but Europe accepted
it as wealth poured forth in profusion from the mines. Thus the first
conception of a colony was that of a marvellous treasure-house where
gold and silver lay piled up awaiting the arrival of a Cortez or a
Pizarro.

Unhappily disillusion followed. Within two generations from the time of
Columbus it became clear that America did not yield bonanza to every
adventurer. Yet throughout the sixteenth century there survived the
dream of riches to be quickly gained. Wherever the European landed in
America he looked first of all for mines, as Frobisher did on the
unpromising shores of Labrador. The precious metals proving illusive,
his next recourse was to trade. Hawkins sought his profit from slaves.
The French bought furs from the Indians at Tadoussac. Gosnold brought
back from Cape Cod a mixed cargo of sassafras and cedar.

But wealth from the mines and profits from a coasting trade were only a
lure to the cupidity of Europe. Real colonies, containing the germ of a
nation, could not be based on such foundations. Coligny saw this, and
conceived of America as a new home for the French race. Raleigh, the
most versatile of the Elizabethans, lavished his wealth on the patriotic
endeavour to make Virginia a strong and self-supporting community. 'I
shall yet live to see it an English nation,' he wrote--at the very
moment when Champlain was first dreaming of the St Lawrence. Coligny and
Raleigh were both constructive statesmen. The one was murdered before he
could found such a colony as his thought presaged: the other perished on
the scaffold, though not before he had sowed the seed of an American
empire. For Raleigh was the first to teach that agriculture, not mines,
is the true basis of a colony. In itself his colony on Roanoke Island
was a failure, but the idea of Roanoke was Raleigh's greatest legacy to
the English race.

With the dawn of the seventeenth century events came thick and fast. It
was a time when the maritime states of Western Europe were all keenly
interested in America, without having any clear idea of the problem.
Raleigh, the one man who had a grasp of the situation, entered upon his
tragic imprisonment in the same year that Champlain made his first
voyage to the St Lawrence. But while thought was confused and policy
unsettled, action could no longer be postponed. The one fact which
England, France, and Holland could not neglect was that to the north of
Florida no European colony existed on the American coast. Urging each of
these states to establish settlements in a tract so vast and untenanted
was the double desire to possess and to prevent one's neighbour from
possessing. On the other hand, caution raised doubts as to the balance
of cost and gain. The governments were ready to accept the glory and
advantage, if private persons were prepared to take the risk. Individual
speculators, very conscious of the risk, demanded a monopoly of trade
before agreeing to plant a colony. But this caused new difficulty. The
moment a monopoly was granted, unlicensed traders raised an outcry and
upbraided the government for injustice.

Such were the problems upon the successful or unsuccessful solution of
which depended enormous national interests, and each country faced them
according to its institutions, rulers, and racial genius. It only needs
a table of events to show how fully the English, the French, and the
Dutch realized that something must be done. In 1600 Pierre Chauvin
landed sixteen French colonists at Tadoussac. On his return in 1601 he
found that they had taken refuge with the Indians. In 1602 Gosnold,
sailing from Falmouth, skirted the coast of Norumbega from Casco Bay to
Cuttyhunk. In 1603 the ships of De Chastes, with Champlain aboard, spent
the summer in the St Lawrence; while during the same season Martin Pring
took a cargo of sassafras in Massachusetts Bay. From 1604 to 1607 the
French under De Monts, Poutrincourt, and Champlain were actively engaged
in the attempt to colonize Acadia. But they were not alone in setting up
claims to this region. In 1605 Waymouth, sailing from Dartmouth,
explored the mouth of the Kennebec and carried away five natives. In
1606 James I granted patents to the London Company and the Plymouth
Company which, by their terms, ran athwart the grant of Henry IV to De
Monts. In the same year Sir Ferdinando Gorges sent Pring once more to
Norumbega. In 1607 Raleigh, Gilbert, and George Popham made a small
settlement at the mouth of the Sagadhoc, where Popham died during the
winter. As a result of his death this colony on the coast of Maine was
abandoned, but 1607 also saw the memorable founding of Jamestown in
Virginia. Equally celebrated is Champlain's founding of Quebec in 1608.
In 1609 the Dutch under an English captain, Henry Hudson, had their
first glimpse of Manhattan.

This catalogue of voyages shows that an impulse existed which
governments could not ignore. The colonial movement was far from being a
dominant interest with Henry IV or James I, but when their subjects saw
fit to embark upon it privately, the crown was compelled to take
cognizance of their acts and frame regulations. 'Go, and let whatever
good may, come of it!' exclaimed Robert de Baudricourt as Joan of Arc
rode forth from Vaucouleurs to liberate France. In much the same spirit
Henry IV saw De Monts set sail for Acadia. The king would contribute
nothing from the public purse or from his own. Sully, his prime
minister, vigorously opposed colonizing because he wished to concentrate
effort upon domestic improvements. He believed, in the second place,
that there was no hope of creating a successful colony north of the
fortieth parallel. Thirdly, he was in the pay of the Dutch.

The most that Henry IV would do for French pioneers in America was to
give them a monopoly of trade in return for an undertaking to transport
and establish colonists. In each case where a monopoly was granted the
number of colonists was specified. As for their quality, convicts could
be taken if more eligible candidates were not forthcoming. The sixty
unfortunates landed by La Roche on Sable Island in 1598 were all
convicts or sturdy vagrants. Five years later only eleven were left
alive.

For the story of Champlain it is not necessary to touch upon the
relations of the French government with traders at a date earlier than
1599. Immediately following the failure of La Roche's second expedition,
Pierre Chauvin of Honfleur secured a monopoly which covered the
Laurentian fur trade for ten years. The condition was that he should
convey to Canada fifty colonists a year throughout the full period of
his grant. So far from carrying out this agreement either in spirit or
letter, he shirked it without compunction. After three years the
monopoly was withdrawn, less on the ground that he had failed to fulfil
his contract than from an outcry on the part of merchants who desired
their share of the trade. To adjudicate between Chauvin and his rivals
in St Malo and Rouen a commission was appointed at the close of 1602.
Its members were De Chastes, governor of Dieppe, and the Sieur de la
Cour, first president of the Parlement of Normandy. On their
recommendation the terms of the monopoly were so modified as to admit to
a share in the privilege certain leading merchants of Rouen and St Malo,
who, however, must pay their due share in the expenses of colonizing.
Before the ships sailed in 1603 Chauvin had died, and De Chastes at once
took his place as the central figure in the group of those to whom a new
monopoly had just been conceded.[3]

    [Footnote 3: The history of all the companies formed during
    these years for trade in New France is the same. First a
    monopoly is granted under circumstances ostensibly most
    favourable to the Government and to the privileged merchants;
    then follow the howls of the excluded traders, the lack of good
    voluntary colonists, the transportation to the colony of a few
    beggars, criminals, or unpromising labourers; a drain on the
    company's funds in maintaining these during the long winter; a
    steady decrease in the number taken out; at length no attempt to
    fulfil this condition of the monopoly; the anger of the
    Government when made aware of the facts; and finally the sudden
    repeal of the monopoly several years before its legal
    termination.--H. P. Biggar, _Early Trading Companies of New
    France_, p. 49.]

       *       *       *       *       *

We are now on the threshold of Champlain's career, but only on the
threshold. The voyage of 1603, while full of prophecy and presenting
features of much interest, lacks the arduous and constructive quality
which was to mark his greater explorations. In 1603 the two boats
equipped by De Chastes were under the command of Pontgravé[4] and
Prevert, both mariners from St Malo. Champlain sailed in Pontgravé's
ship and was, in fact, a superior type of supercargo. De Chastes desired
that his expedition should be self-supporting, and the purchase of furs
was never left out of sight. At the same time, his purpose was
undoubtedly wider than profit, and Champlain represented the
extra-commercial motive. While Pontgravé was trading with the Indians,
Champlain, as the geographer, was collecting information about their
character, their customs, and their country. Their religious ideas
interested him much, and also their statements regarding the interior of
the continent. Such data as he could collect between the end of May and
the middle of August he embodied in a book called _Des Sauvages_, which,
true to its title, deals chiefly with Indian life and is a valuable
record, although in many regards superseded by the more detailed
writings of the Jesuits.

    [Footnote 4: Francois Gravé, Sieur du Pont, whose name, strictly
    speaking, is Dupont-Gravé, one of the most active French
    navigators of the seventeenth century. From 1600 to 1629 his
    voyages to the St Lawrence and Acadia were incessant.]

The voyage of 1603 added nothing material to what had been made known by
Jacques Cartier and the fur traders about Canada. Champlain ascended the
St Lawrence to the Sault St Louis[5] and made two side excursions--one
taking him rather less than forty miles up the Saguenay and the other up
the Richelieu to the rapid at St Ours. He also visited Gaspé, passed the
Isle Percée, had his first glimpse of the Baie des Chaleurs, and
returned to Havre with a good cargo of furs. On the whole, it was a
profitable and satisfactory voyage. Though it added little to
geographical knowledge, it confirmed the belief that money could be made
in the fur trade, and the word brought back concerning the Great Lakes
of the interior was more distinct than had before been reported. The one
misfortune of the expedition was that its author, De Chastes, did not
live to see its success. He had died less than a month before his ships
reached Havre.

    [Footnote 5: Now called the Lachine Rapids. An extremely
    important point in the history of New France, since it marked
    the head of ship navigation on the St Lawrence. Constantly
    mentioned in the writings of Champlain's period.]




CHAPTER II

CHAMPLAIN IN ACADIA[6]


THE early settlements of the French in America were divided into two
zones by the Gulf of St Lawrence. Considered from the standpoint of
colonization, this great body of water has a double aspect. In the main
it was a vestibule to the vast region which extended westward from Gaspé
to Lake Michigan and thence to the Mississippi. But while a highway it
was also a barrier, cutting off Acadia from the main route that led to
the heart of the interior. Port Royal, on the Bay of Fundy, was one
centre and Quebec another. Between them stretched either an impenetrable
wilderness or an inland sea. Hence Acadia remained separate from the
Laurentian valley, which was the heart of Canada--although Acadia and
Canada combined to form New France. Of these two sister districts Canada
was the more secure. The fate of Acadia shows how much less vulnerable
to English attack were Quebec, Three Rivers, and Montreal than the
seaboard settlements of Port Royal, Grand Pré, and Louisbourg.

    [Footnote 6: This word has sometimes been traced to the Micmac
    _àk[)a]de_, which, appended to place-names, signifies an abundance
    of something. More probably, however, it is a corruption of
    Arcadia. The Acadia of De Monts' grant in 1604 extended from the
    parallel of 40° to that of 46° north latitude, but in the light
    of actual occupation the term can hardly be made to embrace more
    than the coast from Cape Breton to Penobscot Bay.]

It is a striking fact that Champlain had helped to found Port Royal
before he founded Quebec. He was not the pioneer of Acadian
colonization: De Monts deserves the praise of turning the first sod. But
Champlain was a leading figure in the hard fight at St Croix and Port
Royal; he it was who first charted in any detail the Atlantic seaboard
from Cape Breton to Cape Cod; and his narrative joins with that of
Lescarbot to preserve the story of the episode.

Although unprosperous, the first attempt of the French to colonize
Acadia is among the bright deeds of their colonial history. While the
death of De Chastes was most inopportune, the future of the French race
in America did not hinge upon any one man. In 1603 fishing on the Grand
Bank off Newfoundland was a well-established occupation of Normans and
Bretons, the fur trade held out hope of great profit, and the spirit of
national emulation supplied a motive which was stronger still. Hence it
is not surprising that to De Chastes there at once succeeds De Monts.

As regards position they belonged to much the same class. Both were men
of standing, with enough capital and influence to organize an
expedition. In respect, however, of personality and circumstance there
were differences. By reason of advanced age De Chastes had been unable
to accompany his ships, whereas De Monts was in his prime and had
already made a voyage to the St Lawrence. Moreover, De Monts was a
Huguenot. A generation later no Huguenot could have expected to receive
a monopoly of the fur trade and a royal commission authorizing him to
establish settlements, but Henry IV, who had once been a Protestant,
could hardly treat his old co-religionists as Richelieu afterwards
treated them. The heresy of its founder was a source of weakness to the
first French colony in Acadia, yet through a Calvinist it came into
being.

Like De Chastes, De Monts had associates who joined with him to supply
the necessary funds, though in 1604 the investment was greater than on
any previous occasion, and a larger number were admitted to the
benefits of the monopoly. Not only did St Malo and Rouen secure
recognition, but La Rochelle and St Jean de Luz were given a chance to
participate. De Monts' company had a capital of 90,000 livres, divided
in shares--of which two-fifths were allotted to St Malo, two-fifths to
La Rochelle and St Jean de Luz conjointly, and the remainder to Rouen.
The personal investment of De Monts was somewhat more than a tenth of
the total, as he took a majority of the stock which fell to Rouen. Apart
from Sully's unfriendliness, the chief initial difficulty arose over
religion. The Parlement of Normandy refused to register De Monts'
commission on the ground that the conversion of the heathen could not
fitly be left to a heretic. This remonstrance was only withdrawn after
the king had undertaken to place the religious instruction of the
Indians in the charge of priests--a promise which did not prevent the
Protestant colonists from having their own pastor. The monopoly
contained wider privileges than before, including both Acadia and the St
Lawrence. At the same time, the obligation to colonize became more
exacting, since the minimum number of new settlers per annum was raised
from fifty to a hundred.

Champlain's own statement regarding the motive of De Monts' expedition
is that it lay in the desire 'to find a northerly route to China, in
order to facilitate commerce with the Orientals.' After reciting a list
of explorations which began with John Cabot and had continued at
intervals during the next century, he continues: 'So many voyages and
discoveries without results, and attended with so much hardship and
expense, have caused us French in late years to attempt a permanent
settlement in those lands which we call New France, in the hope of thus
realizing more easily this object; since the voyage in search of the
desired passage commences on the other side of the ocean and is made
along the coast of this region.'

A comparison of the words just quoted with the text of De Monts'
commission will serve to illustrate the strength of Champlain's
geographical instinct. The commission begins with a somewhat stereotyped
reference to the conversion of the heathen, after which it descants upon
commerce, colonies, and mines. The supplementary commission to De Monts
from Montmorency as Lord High Admiral adds a further consideration,
namely, that if Acadia is not occupied by the French it will be seized
upon by some other nation. Not a word of the route to the East occurs in
either commission, and De Monts is limited in the powers granted to a
region extending along the American seaboard from the fortieth parallel
to the forty-sixth, with as much of the interior 'as he is able to
explore and colonize.'

This shows that, while the objects of the expedition were commercial and
political, Champlain's imagination was kindled by the prospect of
finding the long-sought passage to China. To his mind a French colony in
America is a stepping-stone, a base of operations for the great quest.
De Monts himself doubtless sought honour, adventure, and profit--the
profit which might arise from possessing Acadia and controlling the fur
trade in 'the river of Canada.' Champlain remains the geographer, and
his chief contribution to the Acadian enterprise will be found in that
part of his _Voyages_ which describes his study of the coast-line
southward from Cape Breton to Malabar.

But whether considered from the standpoint of exploration or
settlement, the first chapter of French annals in Acadia is a fine
incident. Champlain has left the greatest fame, but he was not alone
during these years of peril and hardship. With him are grouped De
Monts, Poutrincourt, Lescarbot, Pontgravé, and Louis Hébert, all men of
capacity and enterprise, whose part in this valiant enterprise lent it a
dignity which it has never since lost. As yet no English colony had been
established in America. Under his commission De Monts could have
selected for the site of his settlement either New York or Providence or
Boston or Portland. The efforts of the French in America from 1604 to
1607 are signalized by the character of their leaders, the nature of
their opportunity, and the special causes which prevented them from
taking possession of Norumbega.[7]

    [Footnote 7: There appears in Verrazano's map of 1529 the word
    Aranbega, as attached to a small district on the Atlantic
    seaboard. Ten years later Norumbega has become a region which
    takes in the whole coast from Cape Breton to Florida. At
    intervals throughout the sixteenth century fables were told in
    Europe of its extraordinary wealth, and it was not till the time
    of Champlain that this myth was exposed. Champlain himself
    identifies 'the great river of Norumbega' with the Penobscot.]

De Monts lacked neither courage nor persistence. His battle against
heartbreaking disappointments shows him to have been a pioneer of high
order. And with him sailed in 1604 Jean de Biencourt, Seigneur de
Poutrincourt, whose ancestors had been illustrious in Picardy for five
hundred years. Champlain made a third, joining the expedition as
geographer rather than shipmaster. Lescarbot and Hébert came two years
later.

The company left Havre in two ships--on March 7, 1604, according to
Champlain, or just a month later, according to Lescarbot. Although De
Monts' commission gave him the usual privilege of impressing convicts,
the personnel of his band was far above the average. Champlain's
statement is that it comprised about one hundred and twenty artisans,
and there were also 'a large number of gentlemen, of whom not a few were
of noble birth.' Besides the excitement provided by icebergs, the
arguments of priest and pastor diversified the voyage, even to the point
of scandal. After crossing the Grand Bank in safety they were nearly
wrecked off Sable Island, but succeeded in reaching the Acadian coast on
May 8. From their landfall at Cap de la Hève they skirted the coast-line
to Port Mouton, confiscating <i>en route</i> a ship which was buying furs in
defiance of De Monts' monopoly.

Rabbits and other game were found in abundance at Port Mouton, but the
spot proved quite unfit for settlement, and on May 19 De Monts charged
Champlain with the task of exploring the coast in search of harbours.
Taking a barque of eight tons and a crew of ten men (together with
Ralleau, De Monts' secretary), Champlain set out upon this important
reconnaissance. Fish, game, good soil, good timber, minerals, and safe
anchorage were all objects of search. Skirting the south-western corner
of Nova Scotia, the little ship passed Cape Sable and the Tusquet
Islands, turned into the Bay of Fundy, and advanced to a point somewhat
beyond the north end of Long Island. Champlain gives at considerable
length the details of his first excursion along the Acadian seaboard. In
his zeal for discovery he caused those left at Port Mouton both
inconvenience and anxiety. Lescarbot says, with a touch of sharpness:
'Champlain was such a time away on this expedition that when
deliberating about their return [to France] they thought of leaving him
behind.' Champlain's own statement is that at Port Mouton 'Sieur de
Monts was awaiting us from day to day, thinking only of our long stay
and whether some accident had not befallen us.'

De Monts' position at Port Mouton was indeed difficult. By changing his
course in mid-ocean he had missed rendezvous with the larger of his two
ships, which under the command of Pontgravé looked for him in vain from
Canseau to the Bay of Islands. Meanwhile, at Port Mouton provisions were
running low, save for rabbits, which could not be expected to last for
ever. The more timid raised doubts and spoke of France, but De Monts and
Poutrincourt both said they would rather die than go back. In this mood
the party continued to hunt rabbits, to search the coast north-easterly
for Pontgravé, and to await Champlain's return. Their courage had its
reward. Pontgravé's ship was found, De Monts revictualled, Champlain
reappeared, and by the middle of June the little band of colonists was
ready to proceed.

As De Monts heads south-west from Port Mouton it is difficult to avoid
thoughts regarding the ultimate destiny of France in the New World. This
was the predestined moment. The Wars of Religion had ended in the
reunion of the realm under a strong and popular king. The French nation
was conscious of its greatness, and seemed ready for any undertaking
that promised honour or advantage. The Huguenots were a sect whose
members possessed Calvinistic firmness of will, together with a special
motive for emigrating. And, besides, the whole eastern coast of
America, within the temperate zone, was still to be had for the taking.
With such a magnificent opportunity, why was the result so meagre?

A complete answer to this query would lead us far afield, but the whole
history of New France bears witness to the fact that the cause of
failure is not to be found in the individual French emigrant. There have
never been more valiant or tenacious colonists than the peasants of
Normandy who cleared away the Laurentian wilderness and explored the
recesses of North America. France in the age of De Monts and Champlain
possessed adequate resources, if only her effort had been concentrated
on America, or if the Huguenots had not been prevented from founding
colonies, or if the crown had been less meddlesome, or if the quest of
beaver skins farther north had not diverted attention from Chesapeake
Bay and Manhattan Island. The best chance the French ever had to effect
a foothold in the middle portion of the Atlantic coast came to them in
1604, when, before any rivals had established themselves, De Monts was
at hand for the express purpose of founding a colony. It is quite
probable that even if he had landed on Manhattan Island, the European
preoccupations of France would have prevented Henry IV from supporting
a colony at that point with sufficient vigour to protect it from the
English. Yet the most striking aspect of De Monts' attempt in Acadia is
the failure to seize a chance which never came again to the French race.
In 1607 Champlain sailed away from Port Royal and the English founded
Jamestown. In 1608 Champlain founded Quebec, and thenceforth for over a
century the efforts of France were concentrated on the St Lawrence. When
at length she founded Louisbourg it was too late; by that time the
English grasp upon the coast could not be loosened.

Meanwhile De Monts, to whom the future was veiled, left Port Mouton and,
creeping from point to point, entered the Bay of Fundy--or, as Champlain
calls it, 'the great Baye Françoise, so named by Sieur de Monts.' The
month was June, but no time could be lost, for at this juncture the aim
of exploration was the discovery of a suitable site, and after the site
had been fixed the colonists needed what time remained before winter to
build their houses. Hence De Monts' first exploration of the Baye
Françoise was not exhaustive. He entered Annapolis Basin and glanced at
the spot which afterwards was to be Port Royal. He tried in vain to find
a copper-mine of which he had heard from Prevert of St Malo. He coasted
the Bay of St John, and on June 25 reached St Croix Island. 'Not finding
any more suitable place than this island,' says Champlain, the leaders
of the colony decided that it should be fortified: and thus was the
French flag unfurled in Acadia.

The arrangement of the settlement at St Croix was left to Champlain, who
gives us a drawing in explanation of his plan. The selection of an
island was mainly due to distrust of the Indians, with whom, however,
intercourse was necessary. The island lay close to the mouth of a river,
now also called the St Croix. As the choice of this spot proved most
unfortunate, it is well to remember the motives which prevailed at the
time. 'Vessels could pass up the river,' says Champlain, 'only at the
mercy of the cannon on this island, and we deemed the location most
advantageous, not only on account of its situation and good soil, but
also on account of the intercourse which we proposed with the savages of
these coasts and of the interior, as we should be in the midst of them.
We hoped to pacify them in course of time and put an end to the wars
which they carry on with one another, so as to derive service from them
in future and convert them to the Christian faith.'

De Monts' band was made up largely of artisans, who at once began with
vigour to erect dwellings. A mill and an oven were built; gardens were
laid out and many seeds planted therein. The mosquitoes proved
troublesome, but in other respects the colonists had good cause to be
pleased with their first Acadian summer. So far had construction work
advanced by the beginning of autumn that De Monts decided to send an
exploration party farther along the coast to the south-west. 'And,' says
Champlain, 'he entrusted me with this work, which I found very
agreeable.'

The date of departure from St Croix was September 2, so that no very
ambitious programme of discovery could be undertaken before bad weather
began. In a boat of eighteen tons, with twelve sailors and two Indian
guides, Champlain threaded the maze of islands which lies between
Passamaquoddy Bay and the mouth of the Penobscot. The most striking part
of the coast was Mount Desert, 'very high and notched in places, so that
there is the appearance to one at sea as of seven or eight mountains
extending along near each other.' To this island and the Isle au Haut
Champlain gave the names they have since borne. Thence advancing, with
his hand ever on the lead, he reached the mouth of the Penobscot,
despite those 'islands, rocks, shoals, banks, and breakers which are so
numerous on all sides that it is marvellous to behold.' Having satisfied
himself that the Penobscot was none other than the great river
Norumbega, referred to largely on hearsay by earlier geographers, he
followed it up almost to Bangor. On regaining the sea he endeavoured to
reach the mouth of the Kennebec, but when within a few miles of it was
driven back to St Croix by want of food. In closing the story of this
voyage, which had occupied a month, Champlain says with his usual
directness: 'The above is an exact statement of all I have observed
respecting not only the coasts and people, but also the river of
Norumbega; and there are none of the marvels there which some persons
have described. I am of opinion that this region is as disagreeable in
winter as that of our settlement, in which we were greatly deceived.'

[Illustration: COASTS EXPLORED BY CHAMPLAIN

1604-7]

Champlain was now to undergo his first winter in Acadia, and no part of
his life could have been more wretched than the ensuing eight months.
On October 6 the snow came. On December 3 cakes of ice began to appear
along the shore. The storehouse had no cellar, and all liquids froze
except sherry. 'Cider was served by the pound. We were obliged to use
very bad water and drink melted snow, as there were no springs or
brooks.' It was impossible to keep warm or to sleep soundly. The food
was salt meat and vegetables, which impaired the strength of every one
and brought on scurvy. It is unnecessary to cite here Champlain's
detailed and graphic description of this dreadful disease. The results
are enough. Before the spring came two-fifths of the colonists had died,
and of those who remained half were on the point of death. Not
unnaturally, 'all this produced discontent in Sieur de Monts and others
of the settlement.'

The survivors of the horrible winter at St Croix were not freed from
anxiety until June 15, 1605, when Pontgravé, six weeks late, arrived
with fresh stores. Had De Monts been faint-hearted, he doubtless would
have seized this opportunity to return to France. As it was, he set out
in search of a place more suitable than St Croix for the establishment
of his colony. On June 18, with a party which included twenty sailors
and several gentlemen, he and Champlain began a fresh voyage to the
south-west. Their destination was the country of the Armouchiquois, an
Algonquin tribe who then inhabited Massachusetts.

Champlain's story of his first voyage from Acadia to Cape Cod is given
with considerable fulness. The topography of the seaboard and its
natural history, the habits of the Indians and his adventures with them,
were all new subjects at the time, and he treats them so that they keep
their freshness. He is at no pains to conceal his low opinion of the
coast savages. Concerning the Acadian Micmacs he says little, but what
he does say is chiefly a comment upon the wretchedness of their life
during the winter. As he went farther south he found an improvement in
the food supply. At the mouth of the Saco he and De Monts saw well-kept
patches of Indian corn three feet high, although it was not yet
midsummer. Growing with the corn were beans, pumpkins, and squashes, all
in flower; and the cultivation of tobacco is also noted. Here the
savages formed a permanent settlement and lived within a palisade. Still
farther south, in the neighbourhood of Cape Cod, Champlain found maize
five and a half feet high, a considerable variety of squashes, tobacco,
and edible roots which tasted like artichokes.

But whether the coast Indians were Micmacs or Armouchiquois, whether
they were starving or well fed, Champlain tells us little in their
praise. Of the Armouchiquois he says:

    I cannot tell what government they have, but I think that in
    this respect they resemble their neighbours, who have none at
    all. They know not how to worship or pray; yet, like the other
    savages, they have some superstitions, which I shall describe in
    their place. As for weapons, they have only pikes, clubs, bows
    and arrows. It would seem from their appearance that they have a
    good disposition, better than those of the north, but they are
    all in fact of no great worth. Even a slight intercourse with
    them gives you at once a knowledge of them. They are great
    thieves, and if they cannot lay hold of any thing with their
    hands, they try to do so with their feet, as we have oftentimes
    learned by experience. I am of opinion that if they had any
    thing to exchange with us they would not give themselves to
    thieving. They bartered away to us their bows, arrows, and
    quivers for pins and buttons; and if they had had any thing else
    better they would have done the same with it. It is necessary to
    be on one's guard against this people and live in a state of
    distrust of them, yet without letting them perceive it.

This passage at least shows that Champlain sought to be just to the
savages of the Atlantic. Though he found them thieves, he is willing to
conjecture that they would not steal if they had anything to trade.

The thieving habits of the Cape Cod Indians led to a fight between them
and the French in which one Frenchman was killed, and Champlain narrowly
escaped death through the explosion of his own musket. At Cape Cod De
Monts turned back. Five of the six weeks allotted to the voyage were
over, and lack of food made it impossible to enter Long Island Sound.
Hence 'Sieur de Monts determined to return to the Island of St Croix in
order to find a place more favourable for our settlement, as we had not
been able to do on any of the coasts which he had explored during this
voyage.'

We now approach the picturesque episode of Port Royal. De Monts, having
regained St Croix at the beginning of August, lost no time in
transporting his people to the other side of the Bay of Fundy. The
consideration which weighed most with him in establishing his
headquarters was that of trade. Whatever his own preferences, he could
not forget that his partners in France expected a return on their
investment. Had he been in a position to found an agricultural colony,
the maize fields he had seen to the south-west might have proved
attractive. But he depended largely upon trade, and, as Champlain points
out, the savages of Massachusetts had nothing to sell. Hence it was
unwise to go too far from the peltries of the St Lawrence. To find a
climate less severe than that of Canada, without losing touch with the
fur trade, was De Monts' problem. No one could dream of wintering again
at St Croix, and in the absence of trade possibilities to the south
there seemed but one alternative--Port Royal.

In his notice of De Monts' cruise along the Bay of Fundy in June 1604,
Champlain says: 'Continuing two leagues farther on in the same
direction, we entered one of the finest harbours I had seen all along
these coasts, in which two thousand vessels might lie in security. The
entrance is 800 paces broad; then you enter a harbour two leagues long
and one broad, which I have named Port Royal.' Here Champlain is
describing Annapolis Basin, which clearly made a deep impression upon
the minds of the first Europeans who saw it. Most of all did it appeal
to the imagination of Poutrincourt, who had come to Acadia for the
purpose of discovering a spot where he could found his own colony. At
sight of Port Royal he had at once asked De Monts for the grant, and on
receiving it had returned to France, at the end of August 1604, to
recruit colonists. Thus he had escaped the horrible winter at St Croix,
but on account of lawsuits it had proved impossible for him to return to
Acadia in the following year. Hence the noble roadstead of Port Royal
was still unoccupied when De Monts, Champlain, and Pontgravé took the
people of St Croix thither in August 1605. Not only did the people go.
Even the framework of the houses was shipped across the bay and set up
in this haven of better hope.

The spot chosen for the settlement lay on the north side of the bay. It
had a good supply of water, and there was protection from the north-west
wind which had tortured the settlers at St Croix. 'After everything had
been arranged,' says Champlain, 'and the majority of the dwellings
built, Sieur de Monts determined to return to France, in order to
petition His Majesty to grant him all that might be necessary for his
undertaking.' Quite apart from securing fresh advantages, De Monts at
this time was sore pressed to defend his title against the traders who
were clamouring for a repeal of the monopoly. With him returned some of
the colonists whose ambition had been satisfied at St Croix. Champlain
remained, in the hope of making further explorations 'towards Florida.'
Pontgravé was left in command. The others numbered forty-three.

During the autumn they began to make gardens. 'I also,' says Champlain,
'for the sake of occupying my time made one, which was surrounded with
ditches full of water, in which I placed some fine trout, and into which
flowed three brooks of very fine running water, from which the greater
part of our settlement was supplied. I made also a little sluice-way
towards the shore, in order to draw off the water when I wished. This
spot was entirely surrounded by meadows, where I constructed a
summer-house, with some fine trees, as a resort for enjoying the fresh
air. I made there, also, a little reservoir for holding salt-water fish,
which we took out as we wanted them. I took especial pleasure in it and
planted there some seeds which turned out well. But much work had to be
laid out in preparation. We resorted often to this place as a pastime;
and it seemed as if the little birds round took pleasure in it, for they
gathered there in large numbers, warbling and chirping so pleasantly
that I think I have never heard the like.'

After a busy and cheerful autumn came a mild winter. The snow did not
fall till December 20, and there was much rain. Scurvy still caused
trouble; but though twelve died, the mortality was not so high as at St
Croix. Everything considered, Port Royal enjoyed good fortune--according
to the colonial standards of the period, when a winter death-rate of
twenty-six per cent was below the average.

At the beginning of March 1606 Pontgravé fitted out a barque of eighteen
tons in order to undertake 'a voyage of discovery along the coast of
Florida'; and on the 16th of the month a start was made. Favoured by
good weather, he and Champlain would have reached the Hudson three years
before the Dutch. But, short of drowning, every possible mischance
happened. They had hardly set out when a storm cast them ashore near
Grand Manan. Having repaired the damage they made for St Croix, where
fog and contrary winds held them back eight days. Then Pontgravé decided
to return to Port Royal 'to see in what condition our companions were
whom we had left there sick.' On their arrival Pontgravé himself was
taken ill, but soon re-embarked, though still unwell. Their second start
was followed by immediate disaster. Leaving the mouth of the harbour,
two leagues distant from Port Royal, they were carried out of the
channel by the tide and went aground. 'At the first blow of our boat
upon the rocks the rudder broke, a part of the keel and three or four
planks were smashed and some ribs stove in, which frightened us, for our
barque filled immediately; and all that we could do was to wait until
the sea fell, so that we might get ashore. . . . Our barque, all
shattered as she was, went to pieces at the return of the tide. But we,
most happy at having saved our lives, returned to our settlement with
our poor savages; and we praised God for having rescued us from this
shipwreck, from which we had not expected to escape so easily.'

This accident destroyed all hope of exploration to the southward until
word came from France. At the time of De Monts' departure the outlook
had been so doubtful that a provisional arrangement was made for the
return of the colonists to France should no ship arrive at Port Royal by
the middle of July. In this event Pontgravé was to take his people to
Cape Breton or Gaspé, where they would find trading ships homeward
bound. As neither De Monts nor Poutrincourt had arrived by the middle of
June, a new barque was built to replace the one which had been lost on
April 10. A month later Pontgravé carried out his part of the programme
by putting aboard all the inhabitants of Port Royal save two, who were
induced by promise of extra pay to remain in charge of the stores.

Thus sorrowfully the remnant of the colonists bade farewell to the
beautiful harbour and their new home. Four days later they were nearly
lost through the breaking of their rudder in the midst of a tempest.
Having been saved from wreck by the skill of their shipmaster,
Champdoré, they reached Cape Sable on July 24. Here grief became
rejoicing, for to their complete surprise they encountered Ralleau, De
Monts' secretary, coasting along in a shallop. The glad tidings he gave
them was that Poutrincourt with a ship of one hundred and twenty tons
had arrived. From Canseau the _Jonas_ had taken an outer course to Port
Royal, while Ralleau was keeping close to the shore in the hope of
intercepting Pontgravé. 'All this intelligence,' says Champlain, 'caused
us to turn back; and we arrived at Port Royal on the 25th of the month,
where we found the above-mentioned vessel and Sieur de Poutrincourt, and
were greatly delighted to see realized what we had given up in despair.'
Lescarbot, who arrived on board the _Jonas_, adds the following detail:
'M. de Poutrincourt ordered a tun of wine to be set upon end, one of
those which had been given him for his proper use, and gave leave to all
comers to drink freely as long as it lasted, so that there were some who
made gay dogs of themselves.'

Wine-bibbing, however, was not the chief activity of Port Royal.
Poutrincourt at once set men to work on the land, and while they were
sowing wheat, rye, and hemp he hastened preparations for an autumn
cruise 'along the coast of Florida.' On September 5 all was ready for
this voyage, which was to be Champlain's last opportunity of reaching
the lands beyond Cape Cod. Once more disappointment awaited him. 'It was
decided,' he says, 'to continue the voyage along the coast, which was
not a very well considered conclusion, since we lost much time in
passing over again the discoveries made by Sieur de Monts as far as the
harbour of Mallebarre. It would have been much better, in my opinion,
to cross from where we were directly to Mallebarre, the route being
already known, and then use our time in exploring as far as the fortieth
degree, or still farther south, revisiting upon our homeward voyage the
entire coast at pleasure.'

In the interest of geographical research and French colonization
Champlain was doubtless right. Unfortunately, Poutrincourt wished to
see for himself what De Monts and Champlain had already seen. It was
the more unfortunate that he held this view, as the boats were
victualled for over two months, and much could have been done by taking
a direct course to Cape Cod. Little time, however, was spent at the
Penobscot and Kennebec. Leaving St Croix on September 12, Poutrincourt
reached the Saco on the 21st. Here and at points farther south he found
ripe grapes, together with maize, pumpkins, squashes, and artichokes.
Gloucester Harbour pleased Champlain greatly. 'In this very pleasant
place we saw two hundred savages, and there are here a large number of
very fine walnut trees, cypresses, sassafras, oaks, ashes and
beeches. . . . There are likewise fine meadows capable of supporting
a large number of cattle.' So much was he charmed with this harbour
and its surroundings that he called it Le Beauport. After tarrying at
Gloucester two or three days Poutrincourt reached Cape Cod on October
2, and on the 20th he stood off Martha's Vineyard, his farthest point.

Champlain's chronicle of this voyage contains more detail regarding the
Indians than will be found in any other part of his Acadian narratives.
Chief among Poutrincourt's adventures was an encounter with the natives
of Cape Cod. Unlike the Micmacs, the Armouchiquois were 'not so much
hunters as good fishermen and tillers of the land.' Their numbers also
were greater; in fact, Champlain speaks of seeing five or six hundred
together. At first they did not interfere with Poutrincourt's movements,
even permitting him to roam their land with a body of arquebusiers.
After a fortnight, however, their suspicions began to become manifest,
and on October 15 four hundred savages set upon five Frenchmen who,
contrary to orders, had remained ashore. Four were killed, and although
a rescue party set out at once from the barque, the natives made their
escape.

    To pursue them was fruitless, for they are marvellously swift.
    All that we could do was to carry away the dead bodies and bury
    them near a cross which had been set up the day before, and
    then to go here and there to see if we could get sight of any of
    them. But it was time wasted, therefore we came back. Three
    hours afterwards they returned to us on the sea-shore. We
    discharged at them several shots from our little brass cannon,
    and when they heard the noise they crouched down on the ground
    to escape the fire. In mockery of us they pulled down the cross
    and disinterred the dead, which displeased us greatly and caused
    us to go for them a second time; but they fled, as they had done
    before. We set up again the cross and reinterred the dead, whom
    they had thrown here and there amid the heath, where they
    kindled a fire to burn them. We returned without any result, as
    we had done before, well aware that there was scarcely hope of
    avenging ourselves this time, and that we should have to renew
    the undertaking when it should please God.

With a desire for revenge was linked the practical consideration that
slaves would prove useful at Port Royal. A week later the French
returned to the same place, 'resolved to get possession of some savages
and, taking them to our settlement, put them to grinding corn at the
hand-mill, as punishment for the deadly assault which they had committed
on five or six of our company.' As relations were strained, it became
necessary to offer beads and gewgaws, with every show of good faith.
Champlain describes the plan in full. The shallop was to leave the
barque for shore, taking

    the most robust and strong men we had, each one having a chain
    of beads and a fathom of match on his arm; and there, while
    pretending to smoke with them (each one having an end of his
    match lighted so as not to excite suspicion, it being customary
    to have fire at the end of a cord in order to light the
    tobacco), coax them with pleasing words so as to draw them into
    the shallop; and if they should be unwilling to enter, each one
    approaching should choose his man and, putting the beads round
    his neck, should at the same time put the rope on him to draw
    him by force. But if they should be too boisterous and it should
    not be possible to succeed, they should be stabbed, the rope
    being firmly held; and if by chance any of them should get away,
    there should be men on land to charge upon them with swords.
    Meanwhile, the little cannon on our barque was to be kept ready
    to fire upon their companions in case they should come to assist
    them, under cover of which firearms the shallop could withdraw
    in security.

This plot, though carefully planned, fell far short of the success which
was anticipated. To catch a redskin with a noose required more skill
than was available. Accordingly, none were taken alive. Champlain says:
'We retired to our barque after having done all we could.' Lescarbot
adds: 'Six or seven of the savages were hacked and hewed in pieces, who
could not run so lightly in the water as on shore, and were caught as
they came out by those of our men who had landed.'

Having thus taken an eye for an eye, Poutrincourt began his homeward
voyage, and, after three or four escapes from shipwreck, reached Port
Royal on November 14.

Champlain was now about to spend his last winter in Acadia. Mindful of
former experiences, he determined to fight scurvy by encouraging
exercise among the colonists and procuring for them an improved diet. A
third desideratum was cheerfulness. All these purposes he served through
founding the _Ordre de Bon Temps_, which proved to be in every sense the
life of the settlement. Champlain himself briefly describes the
procedure followed, but a far more graphic account is given by
Lescarbot, whose diffuse and lively style is illustrated to perfection
in the following passage:

    To keep our table joyous and well provided, an order was
    established at the board of the said M. de Poutrincourt, which
    was called the Order of Good Cheer, originally proposed by
    Champlain. To this Order each man of the said table was
    appointed Chief Steward in his turn, which came round once a
    fortnight. Now, this person had the duty of taking care that we
    were all well and honourably provided for. This was so well
    carried out that though the epicures of Paris often tell us that
    we had no _Rue aux Ours_ over there, as a rule we made as good
    cheer as we could have in this same _Rue aux Ours_, and at less
    cost. For there was no one who, two days before his turn came,
    failed to go hunting or fishing, and to bring back some delicacy
    in addition to our ordinary fare. So well was this carried out
    that never at breakfast did we lack some savoury meat of flesh
    or fish, and still less at our midday or evening meals; for that
    was our chief banquet, at which the ruler of the feast or chief
    butler, whom the savages called Atoctegic, having had everything
    prepared by the cook, marched in, napkin on shoulder, wand of
    office in hand, and around his neck the collar of the Order,
    which was worth more than four crowns; after him all the members
    of the Order carrying each a dish. The same was repeated at
    dessert, though not always with so much pomp. And at night,
    before giving thanks to God, he handed over to his successor in
    the charge the collar of the Order, with a cup of wine, and they
    drank to each other. I have already said that we had abundance
    of game, such as ducks, bustards, grey and white geese,
    partridges, larks, and other birds; moreover moose, caribou,
    beaver, otter, bear, rabbits, wild-cats, racoons, and other
    animals such as the savages caught, whereof we made dishes well
    worth those of the cook-shop in the _Rue aux Ours_, and far
    more; for of all our meats none is so tender as moose-meat
    (whereof we also made excellent pasties) and nothing so delicate
    as beaver's tail. Yea, sometimes we had half a dozen sturgeon at
    once, which the savages brought us, part of which we bought, and
    allowed them to sell the remainder publicly and to barter it for
    bread, of which our men had abundance. As for the ordinary
    rations brought from France, they were distributed equally to
    great and small alike; and, as we have said, the wine was served
    in like manner.

The results of this régime were most gratifying. The deaths from scurvy
dropped to seven, which represented a great proportionate decrease. At
the same time, intercourse with the Indians was put on a good basis
thereby. 'At these proceedings,' says Lescarbot, 'we always had twenty
or thirty savages--men, women, girls, and children--who looked on at
our manner of service. Bread was given them gratis, as one would do
to the poor. But as for the Sagamos Membertou, and other chiefs who
came from time to time, they sat at table eating and drinking like
ourselves. And we were glad to see them, while, on the contrary, their
absence saddened us.'

These citations bring into view the writer who has most copiously
recorded the early annals of Acadia--Marc Lescarbot. He was a lawyer,
and at this date about forty years old. Having come to Port Royal less
as a colonist than as a guest of Poutrincourt, he had no investment at
stake. But contact with America kindled the enthusiasm of which he had a
large supply, and converted him into the historian of New France. His
story of the winter he passed at Port Royal is quite unlike other
narratives of colonial experience at this period. Champlain was a
geographer and preoccupied with exploration. The Jesuits were
missionaries and preoccupied with the conversion of the savages.
Lescarbot had a literary education, which Champlain lacked, and, unlike
the Jesuits, he approached life in America from the standpoint of a
layman. His prolixity often serves as a foil to the terseness of
Champlain, and suggests that he must have been a merciless talker. Yet,
though inclined to be garrulous, he was a good observer and had many
correct ideas--notably the belief that corn, wine, and cattle are a
better foundation for a colony than gold or silver mines. In temperament
he and Champlain were very dissimilar, and evidence of mutual coolness
may be found in their writings. These we shall consider at a later
stage. For the present it is enough to note that both men sat at
Poutrincourt's table and adorned the Order of Good Cheer.

Meanwhile De Monts was in France, striving with all the foes of the
monopoly. Thanks to the fur trade, his company had paid its way during
the first two years, despite the losses at St Croix. The third season
had been much less prosperous, and at the same moment when the Dutch and
the Basques[8] were breaking the monopoly by defiance, the hatters of
Paris were demanding that it should be withdrawn altogether. To this
alliance of a powerful guild with a majority of the traders, the company
of De Monts succumbed, and the news which Poutrincourt received when the
first ship came in 1607 was that the colony must be abandoned. As the
company itself was about to be dissolved, this consequence was
inevitable. Champlain in his matter-of-fact way states that De Monts
sent letters to Poutrincourt, 'by which he directed him to bring back
his company to France.' Lescarbot is much more outspoken. Referring to
the merits and struggles of De Monts, he exclaims:

    Yet I fear that in the end he may be forced to give it all up,
    to the great scandal and reproach of the French name, which by
    such conduct is made a laughingstock and a byword among the
    nations. For as though their wish was to oppose the conversion
    of these poor Western peoples, and the glory of God and of the
    King, we find a set of men full of avarice and envy, who would
    not draw a sword in the service of the King, nor suffer the
    slightest ill in the world for the honour of God, but who yet
    put obstacles in the way of our drawing any profit from the
    province, even in order to furnish what is indispensable to the
    foundation of such an enterprise; men who prefer to see the
    English and Dutch win possession of it rather than the French,
    and would fain have the name of God remain unknown in those
    quarters. And it is such godless people who are listened to, who
    are believed, and who win their suits. _O tempora, O mores!_

    [Footnote 8: Traders from the extreme south of France, whose
    chief port was St Jean de Luz. Though living on the confines of
    France and Spain, the Basques were of different racial origin
    from both Spaniards and French. While subject politically to
    France, their remoteness from the main ports of Normandy and
    Brittany kept them out of touch with the mariners of St Malo and
    Havre, save as collision arose between them in the St Lawrence.
    Among the Basques there were always interlopers, even when St
    Jean de Luz had been given a share in the monopoly. They are
    sometimes called Spaniards, from their close neighbourhood to
    the Pyrenees.]

On August 11, 1607, Port Royal was abandoned for the second time, and
its people, sailing by Cape Breton, reached Roscou in Brittany at the
end of September. The subsequent attempt of Poutrincourt and his family
to re-establish the colony at Port Royal belongs to the history of
Acadia rather than to the story of Champlain. But remembering the spirit
in which he and De Monts strove, one feels glad that Lescarbot spoke his
mind regarding the opponents who baffled their sincere and persistent
efforts.




CHAPTER III

CHAMPLAIN AT QUEBEC


    FROM the Island of Orleans to Quebec the distance is a league. I
    arrived there on the third of July, when I searched for a place
    suitable for our settlement, but I could find none more
    convenient or better than the point of Quebec, so called by the
    savages, which was covered with nut-trees. I at once employed a
    portion of our workmen in cutting them down, that we might
    construct our habitation there: one I set to sawing boards,
    another to making a cellar and digging ditches, another I sent
    to Tadoussac with the barque to get supplies. The first thing we
    made was the storehouse for keeping under cover our supplies,
    which was promptly accomplished through the zeal of all, and my
    attention to the work.

Thus opens Champlain's account of the place with which his name is
linked imperishably. He was the founder of Quebec and its preserver.
During his lifetime the results seemed pitifully small, but the task
once undertaken was never abandoned. By steadfastness he prevailed, and
at his death had created a colony which became the New France of Talon
and Frontenac, of La Salle and D'Iberville, of Brébeuf and Laval. If
Venice from amid her lagoons could exclaim, _Esto perpetua_, Quebec,
firm based upon her cliff, can say to the rest of Canada, _Attendite ad
petram unde excisi estis_--'Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn.'

Champlain's Quebec was very poor in everything but courage. The fact
that it was founded by the men who had just failed in Acadia gives proof
of this virtue. Immediately upon his return from Port Royal to France,
Champlain showed De Monts a map and plan which embodied the result of
his explorations during the last three years. They then took counsel
regarding the future, and with Champlain's encouragement De Monts
'resolved to continue his noble and meritorious undertaking,
notwithstanding the hardships and labours of the past.' It is
significant that once more Champlain names exploration as the
distinctive purpose of De Monts.

To expect a subsidy from the crown was futile, but Henry felt
compunction for his abrupt recall of the monopoly. The result was that
De Monts, in recognition of his losses, was given a further
monopoly--for the season of 1608 only. At the same time, he was
expressly relieved from the obligation to take out colonists. On this
basis De Monts found partners among the merchants of Rouen, and three
ships were fitted out--one for Acadia, the others for the St Lawrence.
Champlain, as lieutenant, was placed in charge of the Laurentian
expedition. With him went the experienced and invaluable Pontgravé.

Nearly seventy-five years had now passed since Jacques Cartier first
came to anchor at the foot of Cape Diamond. During this period no one
had challenged the title of France to the shores of the St Lawrence; in
fact, a country so desolate made no appeal to the French themselves.
Roberval's tragic experience at Cap Rouge had proved a warning. To the
average Frenchman of the sixteenth century Canada meant what it
afterwards meant to Sully and Voltaire. It was a tract of snow; a land
of barbarians, bears, and beavers.

The development of the fur trade into a staple industry changed this
point of view to a limited extent. The government, as we have seen,
considered it desirable that colonists should be established in New
France at the expense of traders. For the St Lawrence, however, the
first and only fruits of this enlightened policy had been Chauvin's
sixteen derelicts at Tadoussac.

The founding of Quebec represents private enterprise, and not an
expenditure of money by Henry IV for the sake of promoting colonization.
De Monts and Champlain were determined to give France a foothold in
America. The rights upon which the venture of 1608 was financed did not
run beyond the year. Thenceforth trade was to be free. It follows that
De Monts and his partners, in building a station at Quebec, did not rely
for their expenses upon any special favours from the crown. They placed
their reliance upon themselves, feeling confident of their power to hold
a fair share of the trade against all comers. For Champlain Quebec was a
fixed point on the way to the Orient. For De Monts it was a key to the
commerce of the great river. None of his rivals would begin the season
of 1609 with a permanent post in Canada. Thus part of the anticipated
profits for 1608 was invested to secure an advantage in the approaching
competition. The whole success of the plan depended upon the mutual
confidence of De Monts and Champlain, both of whom unselfishly sought
the advancement of French interests in America--De Monts, the courageous
capitalist and promoter; Champlain, the explorer whose discoveries were
sure to enlarge the area of trading operations.

Pontgravé sailed from Honfleur on April 5, 1608. Champlain followed
eight days later, reaching Tadoussac at the beginning of June. Here
trouble awaited him. The Basque traders, who always defied the monopoly,
had set upon Pontgravé with cannon and muskets, killing one man and
severely wounding two others, besides himself. Going ashore, Champlain
found Pontgravé very ill and the Basques in full possession. To fight
was to run the risk of ruining De Monts' whole enterprise, and as the
Basques were alarmed at what they had done, Darache, their captain,
signed an agreement that he would not molest Pontgravé or do anything
prejudicial to the rights of De Monts. This basis of compromise makes it
clear that Pontgravé was in charge of the season's trade, while
Champlain's personal concern was to found the settlement.

An unpleasant dispute was thus adjusted, but the incident had a still
more unpleasant sequel. Leaving Tadoussac on June 30, Champlain reached
Quebec in four days, and at once began to erect his storehouse. A few
days later he stood in grave peril of his life through conspiracy among
his own men.

The ringleader was a locksmith named Jean Duval, who had been at Port
Royal and narrowly escaped death from the arrows of the Cape Cod
Indians. Whether he framed his plot in collusion with the Basques is not
quite clear, but it seems unlikely that he should have gone so far as he
did without some encouragement. His plan was simply to kill Champlain
and deliver Quebec to the Basques in return for a rich reward, either
promised or expected. Some of the men he had no chance to corrupt, for
they were aboard the barques, guarding stores till a shelter could be
built. Working among the rest, Duval 'suborned four of the worst
characters, as he supposed, telling them a thousand falsehoods and
presenting to them prospects of acquiring riches.' The evidence
subsequently showed that Champlain was either to be strangled when
unarmed, or shot at night as he answered to a false alarm. The
conspirators made a mutual promise not to betray each other, on penalty
that the first who opened his mouth should be poniarded.

[Illustration: CHAMPLAIN'S DRAWING OF THE HABITATION OF QUEBEC

A Storehouse. B Pigeon-house. C Building for storing arms and housing
workmen. D Workmen's quarters. E Sun-dial. F Building containing forge
and artisans' quarters. G Outside galleries. H Champlain's private
quarters. I Main door with drawbridge. L Walk (10 feet wide) all around
the building. M Ditch surrounding the building. N Platforms for
artillery. O Champlain's garden. P Kitchen. Q Terrace in front of the
building on the river-bank. R The St Lawrence river.

From Laverdière's _Champlain_ in McGill University Library]

Out of this deadly danger Champlain escaped through the confession of a
vacillating spirit named Natel, who regretted his share in the plot,
but, once involved, had fears of the poniard. Finally he confessed to
Testu, the pilot, who immediately informed Champlain. Questioned as to
the motive, Natel replied that 'nothing had impelled them, except that
they had imagined that by giving up the place into the hands of the
Basques or Spaniards they might all become rich, and that they did not
want to go back to France.' Duval, with five others, was then seized and
taken to Tadoussac. Later in the summer Pontgravé brought the prisoners
back to Quebec, where evidence was taken before a court-martial
consisting of Champlain, Pontgravé, a captain, a surgeon, a first mate,
a second mate, and some sailors. The sentence condemned four to death,
of whom three were afterwards sent to France and put at the discretion
of De Monts. Duval was 'strangled and hung at Quebec, and his head was
put on the end of a pike, to be set in the most conspicuous place on our
fort, that he might serve as an example to those who remained, leading
them to deport themselves correctly in future, in the discharge of
their duty; and that the Spaniards and Basques, of whom there were
large numbers in the country, might not glory in the event.'

It will be seen from the recital of Duval's conspiracy that Champlain
was fortunate to escape the fate of Hudson and La Salle. While this
_cause célèbre_ was running its course to a tragic end, the still more
famous _habitation_ grew day by day under the hands of busy workmen. As
fruits of a crowded and exciting summer Champlain could point to a group
of three two-storeyed buildings. 'Each one,' he says, 'was three fathoms
long and two and a half wide. The storehouse was six fathoms long and
three wide, with a fine cellar six feet deep. I had a gallery made all
round our buildings, on the outside, at the second storey, which proved
very convenient. There were also ditches, fifteen feet wide and six
deep. On the outer side of the ditches I constructed several spurs,
which enclosed a part of the dwelling, at the points where we placed our
cannon. Before the habitation there is a place four fathoms wide and six
or seven long, looking out upon the river-bank. Surrounding the
habitation are very good gardens.'

Three dwellings of eighteen by fifteen feet each were a sufficiently
modest starting-point for continental ambitions, even when supplemented
by a storehouse of thirty-six feet by eighteen. In calling the gardens
very good Champlain must have been speaking with relation to the
circumstances, or else they were very small, for there is abundant
witness to the sufferings which Quebec in its first twenty years might
have escaped with the help of really abundant gardens. At St Croix and
Port Royal an attempt had been made to plant seeds, and at Quebec
Champlain doubtless renewed the effort, though with small practical
result. The point is important in its bearing on the nature of the
settlement. Quebec, despite such gardens as surrounded the _habitation_,
was by origin an outpost of the fur trade, with a small, floating, and
precarious population. Louis Hébert, the first real colonist, did not
come till 1617.

Lacking vegetables, Quebec fed itself in part from the river and the
forest. But almost all the food was brought from France. At times there
was game, though less than at Port Royal. The river supplied eels in
abundance, but when badly cooked they caused a fatal dysentery. The
first winter was a repetition of the horrors experienced at St Croix,
with even a higher death-rate. Scurvy began in February and lasted till
the end of April. Of the eighteen whom it attacked, ten died. Dysentery
claimed others. On June 5, 1609, word came that Pontgravé had arrived at
Tadoussac. Champlain's comment is eloquent in its brevity. 'This
intelligence gave me much satisfaction, as we entertained hopes of
assistance from him. Out of the twenty-eight at first forming our
company only eight remained, and half of these were ailing.'

The monopoly granted to De Monts had now reached its close, and trade
was open to all comers. From 1609 until 1613 this unrestricted
competition ran its course, with the result that a larger market was
created for beaver skins, while nothing was done to build up New France
as a colony. On the whole, the most notable feature of the period is the
establishment of close personal relations between Champlain and the
Indians. It was then that he became the champion of the Algonquins and
Hurons against the Iroquois League or Five Nations, inaugurating a
policy which was destined to have profound consequences.

The considerations which governed Champlain in his dealings with the
Indians lay quite outside the rights and wrongs of their tribal wars.
His business was to explore the continent on behalf of France, and
accordingly he took conditions as he found them. The Indians had souls
to be saved, but that was the business of the missionaries. In the state
of nature all savages were much like wild animals, and alliance with one
nation or another was a question which naturally settled itself upon the
basis of drainage basins. Lands within the Laurentian watershed were
inhabited mainly by Algonquins and Hurons, whose chief desire in life
was to protect themselves from the Iroquois and avenge past injuries.
The Five Nations dwelt far south from the Sault St Louis and did not
send their furs there for the annual barter. Champlain, ever in quest of
a route to the East, needed friends along the great rivers of the
wilderness. The way to secure them, and at the same time to widen the
trading area, was to fight for the savages of the St Lawrence and the
Ottawa against those of the Mohawk.

And Champlain was a good ally, as he proved in the forest wars of 1609
and 1615. With all their shortcomings, the Indians knew how to take the
measure of a man. The difference between a warrior and a trader was
especially clear to their untutored minds, they themselves being much
better fighters than men of commerce. Champlain, like others, suffered
from their caprice, but they respected his bravery and trusted his word.

In the next chapter we shall attempt to follow Champlain through the
wilderness, accompanied by its inhabitants, who were his guides and
friends. For the present we must pursue the fortunes of Quebec, whose
existence year by year hung upon the risk that court intrigue would
prevail against the determination of two brave men.

From 1608 till 1611 De Monts had two partners, named Collier and
Legendre, both citizens of Rouen. It was with the money of these three
that the post at Quebec had been built and equipped. Champlain was their
lieutenant and Pontgravé the commander of their trading ships. After
four years of experience Collier and Legendre found the results
unsatisfactory. 'They were unwilling,' says Champlain, 'to continue in
the association, as there was no commission forbidding others from going
to the new discoveries and trading with the inhabitants of the country.
Sieur de Monts, seeing this, bargained with them for what remained at
the settlement at Quebec, in consideration of a sum of money which he
gave them for their share.'

Thus the intrepid De Monts became sole proprietor of the _habitation_,
and whatever clustered round it, at the foot of Cape Diamond. But the
property was worthless if the fur trade could not be put on a stable
basis. Quebec during its first three years had been a disappointment
because, contrary to expectation, it gave its founders no advantage over
their competitors which equalled the cost of maintenance. De Monts was
still ready to assist Champlain in his explorations, but his resources,
never great, were steadily diminishing, and while trade continued
unprofitable there were no funds for exploration. Moreover, the
assassination of Henry IV in 1610 weakened De Monts at court. Whatever
Henry's shortcomings as a friend of Huguenots and colonial pioneers,
their chances had been better with him than they now were with Marie de
Médicis.[9] Champlain states that De Monts' engagements did not permit
him to prosecute his interests at court. Probably his engagements would
have been less pressing had he felt more sure of favour. In any event,
he made over to Champlain the whole conduct of such negotiations as were
called for by the unsatisfactory state of affairs on the St Lawrence.

    [Footnote 9: The second and surviving wife of Henry IV--an
    Italian by birth and in close sympathy with Spain. As regent for
    her son, Louis XIII, she did much to reverse the policy of Henry
    IV, both foreign and domestic.]

Champlain went to France. What follows is an illuminating comment upon
the conditions that prevailed under the Bourbon monarchy. As Champlain
saw things, the merchants who clamoured for freedom of trade were greedy
pot-hunters. 'All they want,' he says, 'is that men should expose
themselves to a thousand dangers to discover peoples and territories,
that they themselves may have the profit and others the hardship. It is
not reasonable that one should capture the lamb and another go off with
the fleece. If they had been willing to participate in our discoveries,
use their means and risk their persons, they would have given evidence
of their honour and nobleness, but, on the contrary, they show clearly
that they are impelled by pure malice that they may enjoy the fruit of
our labours equally with ourselves.' Against folk of this sort Champlain
felt he had to protect the national interests which were so dear to him
and De Monts. As things then went, there was only one way to secure
protection. At Fontainebleau a great noble was not habituated to render
help without receiving a consideration. But protection could be bought
by those who were able to pay for it.

The patron selected by Champlain was the Comte de Soissons, a Bourbon by
lineage and first cousin of Henry IV. His kinship to the boy-king gave
him, among other privileges, the power to exact from the regent gifts
and offices as the price of his support. Possessing this leverage,
Soissons caused himself to be appointed viceroy of Canada, with a
twelve-year monopoly of the fur trade above Quebec. The monopoly thus
re-established, its privileges could be sublet, Soissons receiving cash
for the rights he conceded to the merchants, and they taking their
chance to turn a profit out of the transaction.

Such at least was the theory; but before Soissons could turn his post
into a source of revenue he died. Casting about for a suitable
successor, Champlain selected another prince of the blood--Henri de
Bourbon, Prince de Condé, who duly became viceroy of Canada and holder
of the monopoly in succession to his uncle, the Comte de Soissons.

The part of Champlain in these transactions is very conspicuous, and
justly so. There was no advantage in being viceroy of Canada unless the
post produced a revenue, and before the viceroy could receive a revenue
some one was needed to organize the chief Laurentian traders into a
company strong enough to pay Soissons or Condé a substantial sum.
Champlain was convinced that the stability of trade (upon which, in
turn, exploration depended) could be secured only in this way. It was he
who memorialized President Jeannin[10]; enlisted the sympathy of the
king's almoner, Beaulieu; appealed to the royal council; proposed the
office of viceroy to Soissons; and began the endeavour to organize a new
trading company. Considering that early in 1612 he suffered a serious
fall from his horse, this record of activity is sufficiently creditable
for one twelvemonth. Meanwhile the Indians at Sault St Louis grieved at
his absence, and his enemies told them he was dead.

    [Footnote 10: One of the chief advisers of Marie de Médicis. In
    the early part of his career he was President of the Parlement
    of Dijon and an important member of the extreme Catholic party.
    After the retirement of the Duc de Sully (1611) he was placed in
    charge of the finances of France.]

[Illustration: HENRI DE BOURBON, PRINCE CONDÉ, VICEROY OF NEW FRANCE

From Laverdière's _Champlain_ in McGill University Library]

It was not until 1614 that the new programme in its entirety could be
carried out. This time the delay came, not from the court, but from the
merchants. Negotiations were in progress when the ships sailed for the
voyage of 1613, but Champlain could not remain to conclude them, as he
felt that he must keep faith with the Indians. However, on his return to
France that autumn, he resumed the effort, and by the spring of 1614 the
merchants of Rouen, St Malo, and La Rochelle had been brought to terms
among themselves as participants in a monopoly which was leased from the
viceroy. Condé received a thousand crowns a year, and the new company
also agreed to take out six families of colonists each season. In return
it was granted the monopoly for eleven years. De Monts was a member of
the company and Quebec became its headquarters in Canada. But the moving
spirit was Champlain, who was appointed lieutenant to the viceroy with a
salary and the right to levy for his own purposes four men from each
ship trading in the river.

Once more disappointment followed. Save for De Monts, Champlain's
company was not inspired by Champlain's patriotism. During the first
three years of its existence the obligation to colonize was wilfully
disregarded, while in the fourth year the treatment accorded Louis
Hébert shows that good faith counted for as little with the fur traders
when they acted in association as when they were engaged in cut-throat
competition.

Champlain excepted, Hébert was the most admirable of those who risked
death in the attempt to found a settlement at Quebec. He was not a
Norman peasant, but a Parisian apothecary. We have already seen that he
took part in the Acadian venture of De Monts and Poutrincourt. After the
capture of Port Royal by the English he returned to France (1613) and
reopened his shop. Three years later Champlain was authorized by the
company to offer him and his family favourable terms if they would
emigrate to Quebec, the consideration being two hundred crowns a year
for three years, besides maintenance. On this understanding Hébert sold
his house and shop, bought an equipment for the new home, and set off
with his family to embark at Honfleur. Here he found that Champlain's
shareholders were not prepared to stand by their agreement. The company
first beat him down from two hundred to one hundred crowns a year, and
then stipulated that he, his wife, his children, and his domestic should
serve it for the three years during which the grant was payable. Even
at the end of three years, when he found himself at liberty to till the
soil, he was bound to sell produce to the company at the prices
prevalent in France. The company was to have his perpetual service as a
chemist for nothing, and he must promise in writing to take no part in
the fur trade. Hébert had cut off his retreat and was forced to accept
these hard terms, but it is not strange that under such conditions
colonists should have been few. Sagard, the Récollet missionary, says
the company treated Hébert so badly because it wished to discourage
colonization. What it wanted was the benefit of the monopoly, without
the obligation of finding settlers who had to be brought over for
nothing.

A man of honour like Champlain could not have tricked Hébert into the
bad bargain he made, and their friendship survived the incident. But a
company which transacted its business in this fashion was not likely to
enjoy long life. Its chief asset was Champlain's friendship with the
Indians, especially after his long sojourn with them in 1615 and 1616.
Some years, particularly 1617, showed a large profit, but as time went
on friction arose between the Huguenots of La Rochelle and the
Catholics of Rouen. Then there were interlopers to be prosecuted, and
the quarrels of Condé with the government brought with them trouble to
the merchants whose monopoly depended on his grant. For three years
(1616-19) the viceroy of Canada languished in the Bastille. Shortly
after his release he sold his viceregal rights to the Duke of
Montmorency, Admiral of France. The price was 11,000 crowns.

In 1619 Champlain's company ventured to disagree with its founder, and,
as a consequence, another crisis arose in the affairs of New France. The
cause of dispute was the company's unwillingness to keep its promises
regarding colonization. Champlain protested. The company replied that
Pontgravé should be put in charge at Quebec. Champlain then said that
Pontgravé was his old friend, and he hoped they would always be friends,
but that he was at Quebec as the viceroy's representative, charged with
the duty of defending his interests. The leader of Champlain's opponents
among the shareholders was Boyer, a trader who had formerly given much
trouble to De Monts, but was now one of the associates. When in the
spring of 1619 Champlain attempted to sail for Quebec as usual, Boyer
prevented him from going aboard. There followed an appeal to the crown,
in which Champlain was fully sustained, and Boyer did penance by
offering a public apology before the Exchange at Rouen.

It was shortly after this incident that Condé abdicated in favour of
Montmorency. The admiral, like his predecessor, accepted a thousand
crowns a year and named Champlain as his lieutenant. He also instituted
an inquiry regarding the alleged neglect of the company to maintain the
post at Quebec. The investigation showed that abundant cause existed for
depriving the company of its monopoly, and in consequence the grant was
transferred, on similar terms, to William and Emery de Caën. Here
complications at once ensued. The De Caëns, who were natives of Rouen,
were also Huguenots, a fact that intensified the ill-feeling which had
already arisen on the St Lawrence between Catholic and heretic. The
dispute between the new beneficiaries and the company founded by
Champlain involved no change in the policy of the crown towards trade
and colonization. It was a quarrel of persons, which eventually reached
a settlement in 1622. The De Caëns then compromised by reorganizing the
company and giving their predecessors five-twelfths of the shares.

The recital of these intricate events will at least illustrate the
difficulties which beset Champlain in his endeavour to build up New
France. There were problems enough even had he received loyal support
from the crown and the company. With the English and Dutch in full
rivalry, he saw that an aggressive policy of expansion and settlement
became each year more imperative. Instead, he was called on to withstand
the cabals of self-seeking traders who shirked their obligations, and to
endure the apathy of a government which was preoccupied with palace
intrigues.

At Quebec itself the two bright spots were the convent of the
Récollets[11] and the little farm of Louis Hébert. The Récollets first
came to New France in 1615, and began at once by language study to
prepare for their work among the Montagnais and Hurons. It was a
stipulation of the viceroy that six of them should be supported by the
company, and in the absence of parish priests they ministered to the
ungodly hangers-on of the fur trade as well as to the Indians. Louis
Hébert and his admirable family were very dear to the Fathers. In 1617
all the buildings which had been erected at Quebec lay by the water's
edge. Hébert was the first to make a clearing on the heights. His first
domain covered less than ten acres, but it was well tilled. He built a
stone house, which was thirty-eight feet by nineteen. Besides making a
garden, he planted apple-trees and vines. He also managed to support
some cattle. When one considers what all this means in terms of food and
comfort, it may be guessed that the fur traders, wintering down below on
salt pork and smoked eels, must have felt much respect for the farmer in
his stone mansion on the cliff.

    [Footnote 11: The Récollets were a branch of the Franciscan
    order, noted for the austerity of their rule.]

We have from Champlain's own lips a valuable statement as to the
condition of things at Quebec in 1627, the year when Louis Hébert died.
'We were in all,' he says, 'sixty-five souls, including men, women, and
children.' Of the sixty-five only eighteen were adult males fit for hard
work, and this small number must be reduced to two or three if we
include only the tillers of the soil. Besides these, a few adventurous
spirits were away in the woods with the Indians, learning their language
and endeavouring to exploit the beaver trade; but twenty years after the
founding of Quebec the French in Canada, all told, numbered less than
one hundred.

Contrast with this the state of Virginia fifteen years after the
settlement of Jamestown. 'By 1622,' says John Fiske, 'the population of
Virginia was at least 4000, the tobacco fields were flourishing and
lucrative, durable houses had been built and made comfortable with
furniture brought from England, and the old squalor was everywhere
giving way to thrift. The area of colonization was pushed up the James
River as far as Richmond.'

This contrast is not to be interpreted to the personal disadvantage of
Champlain. The slow growth and poverty of Quebec were due to no fault of
his. It is rather the measure of his greatness that he was undaunted by
disappointment and unembittered by the pettiness of spirit which met him
at every turn. A memorial which he presented in 1618 to the Chamber of
Commerce at Paris discloses his dream of what might be: a city at Quebec
named Ludovica, a city equal in size to St Denis and filled with noble
buildings grouped round the Church of the Redeemer. Tributary to this
capital was a vast region watered by the St Lawrence and abounding 'in
rolling plains, beautiful forests, and rivers full of fish.' From
Ludovica the heathen were to be converted and a passage discovered to
the East. So important a trade route would be developed, that from the
tolls alone there would be revenue to construct great public works. Rich
mines and fat cornfields fill the background.

Such was the Quebec of Champlain's vision--if only France would see it
so! But in the Quebec of reality a few survivors saw the hunger of
winter yield to the starvation of spring. They lived on eels and roots
till June should bring the ships and food from home.




CHAPTER IV

CHAMPLAIN IN THE WILDERNESS


CHAMPLAIN'S journeyings with the Indians were the holiday of his life,
for at no other time was he so free to follow the bent of his genius.
First among the incentives which drew him to the wilderness was his
ambition to discover the pathway to China. In 1608 the St Lawrence had
not been explored beyond the Lachine Rapids, nor the Richelieu beyond
Chambly--while the Ottawa was known only by report. Beyond Lake St Louis
stretched a mysterious world, through the midst of which flowed the
Great River. For an explorer and a patriot the opportunity was
priceless. The acquisition of vast territory for the French crown, the
enlargement of the trade zone, the discovery of a route to Cathay, the
prospect of Arcadian joys and exciting adventures--beside such
promptings hardship and danger became negligible. And when exploring the
wilderness Champlain was in full command. Off the coast of Norumbega
his wishes, as geographer, had been subject to the special projects of
De Monts and Poutrincourt. At Fontainebleau he waited for weeks and
months in the antechambers of prelates or nobles. But when conducting an
expedition through the forest he was lord and master, a chieftain from
whose arquebus flew winged death.

The story of Champlain's expeditions along these great secluded
waterways, and across the portages of the forest, makes the most
agreeable page of his life both for writer and reader, since it is here
that he himself is most clearly in the foreground. At no point can his
narrative be thought dull, compact as it is and always in touch with
energetic action. But the details of fur trading at Tadoussac and the
Sault St Louis, or even of voyaging along the Acadian seaboard, are far
less absorbing than the tale of the canoe and the war party. Amid the
depths of the interior Champlain reaped his richest experiences as an
explorer. With the Indians for his allies and enemies he reached his
fullest stature as a leader.

It is not important to dwell upon the minor excursions which Champlain
made from his headquarters at Quebec into the country of the
Montagnais.[12] He saw little of the rocky northland which, with its
myriad lakes and splendid streams, sweeps from the St Lawrence to Hudson
Bay. Southward and westward lay his course to the cantons of the
Iroquois south of Lake Ontario and the villages of the Hurons north of
Lake Simcoe. Above all, the expeditions of 1609, 1613, and 1615 are the
central episodes of his work as an explorer, each marked by a distinct
motive and abounding with adventures. In 1609 he discovered Lake
Champlain and fought his first battle with the Iroquois. In 1613 he was
decoyed by a lying guide into a fruitless search for the North-West
Passage by the route of the Ottawa. In 1615 he discovered Lake Huron,
traversed what is now Central Ontario, and attacked the Iroquois in the
heart of their own country. These three journeys make the sum of
Champlain's achievements as a pioneer of the interior. For all three,
likewise, we have his own story, upon which all other versions are based
and from which they draw their most striking details.

    [Footnote 12: An Algonquin tribe dwelling to the north of the St
    Lawrence, for the most part between the Saguenay and the St
    Maurice.]

[Illustration: THE DISCOVERY OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN, 1609

From a drawing by J. D. Kelly in the Château de Ramezay, Montreal]

The discovery of Lake Champlain had its root in Champlain's promise to
the Algonquins that he would aid them in their strife with the Iroquois.
In turn this promise was based upon the policy of conciliating those
savage tribes from whom the French derived their supply of furs, and
with whom throughout the St Lawrence basin they most constantly came in
contact.

It was the year which followed the founding of Quebec. Of the
twenty-eight who entered upon the first winter eight only had survived,
and half of these were ailing. On June 5 relief came in the person of
Des Marais, who announced that his father-in-law, Pontgravé, was already
at Tadoussac. Champlain at once set out to meet him, and it was arranged
that Pontgravé should take charge of the settlement for the coming year,
while Champlain fulfilled his promise to aid the Algonquins in their war
with the Iroquois. The full plan required that Pontgravé should spend
the winter in Canada, while Champlain, after his summer campaign, was to
return to France with a report of his explorations.

The Indians had stated that the route to the land of the Iroquois was
easy, and Champlain's original design was to proceed in a shallop
capable of carrying twenty Frenchmen, Early in July he reached the
mouth of the Richelieu, but on arriving at Chambly he found it quite
impossible to pass the falls with his shallop. Either the expedition
must be abandoned or the plan be radically changed, with the consequence
of incurring much greater risks. To advance meant sending back the
shallop with its crew and stores, embarking in a canoe, and trusting
wholly to the good faith of the savages. The decision was not easy. 'I
was much troubled,' says Champlain. 'And it gave me especial
dissatisfaction to go back without seeing a very large lake, filled with
handsome islands and with large tracts of fine land bordering on the
lake, where their enemies lived, according to their representations.
After duly thinking over the matter I determined to go and fulfil my
promise and carry out my desire. Accordingly I embarked with the savages
in their canoes, taking with me two men, who went, cheerfully. After
making known my plan to Des Marais and others in the shallop, I
requested the former to return to our settlement with the rest of our
company, giving them the assurance that in a short time, by God's grace,
I would return to them.'

Having convinced himself, Champlain was next forced to convince the
Indians, whose first impulse was to abandon the campaign when they
found that they would be accompanied by only three of the Frenchmen.
Champlain's firmness, however, communicated itself to them, and on July
12 they set out from Chambly Basin to commence the portage. At the top
of the rapid a review of forces was held, and it proved that the Indians
numbered sixty men, equipped with twenty-four canoes. Advancing through
a beautifully wooded country, the little war-party encamped at a point
not far below the outlet of Lake Champlain, taking the precaution to
protect themselves by a rough fortification of tree trunks.

At this point Champlain introduces a graphic statement regarding the
methods which the Indians employ to guard against surprise. On three
sides they protect the camp by fallen trees, leaving the river-bank
without a barricade in order that they may take quickly to their canoes.
Then, as soon as the camp has been fortified, they send out nine picked
men in three canoes to reconnoitre for a distance of two or three
leagues. But before nightfall these scouts return, and then all lie down
to sleep, without leaving any pickets or sentries on duty. When
Champlain remonstrated with them for such gross carelessness, they
replied that they worked hard enough during the daytime. The normal
formation of an Indian war-party embraced three divisions--the scouts,
the main body, and the hunters, the last always remaining in the rear
and chasing their game in a direction from which they did not anticipate
the appearance of the enemy. Having arrived at a distance of two or
three days' march from their enemies, they united in a single party
(save for the scouts) and advanced stealthily by night. At this juncture
their food became baked Indian meal soaked in water. They hid by day and
made no fire, save that required to smoke their tobacco.

Thus does Champlain describe the savage as he is about to fall upon his
foe. He gives special prominence to the soothsayer, who on the eve of
battle enters into elaborate intercourse with the devil. Inside a wooden
hut the necromancer lies prostrate on the ground, motionless. Then he
springs to his feet and begins to torment himself, counterfeiting
strange tones to represent the speech of the devil, and carrying on
violent antics which leave him in a stream of perspiration. Outside the
hut the Indians sit round on their haunches like apes and fancy that
they can see fire proceeding from the roof, although the devil appears
to the soothsayer in the form of a stone. Finally, the chiefs, when they
have by these means learned that they will meet their enemy and kill a
sufficient number, arrange the order of battle. Sticks a foot long are
taken, one for each warrior, and these are laid out on a level place
five or six feet square. The leader then explains the order of battle,
after which the warriors substitute themselves for the sticks and go
through the manoeuvres till they can do them without confusion.

From this description of tactics we pass speedily to a story of real
war. Reaching Lake Champlain, the party skirted the western shore, with
fine views of the Green Mountains, on the summit of which Champlain
mistook white limestone for snow. On July 29, at Crown Point, the
Iroquois were encountered at about ten o'clock in the evening. Thus the
first real battle of French and Indians took place near that remarkable
spot where Lake Champlain and Lake George draw close together--the
Ticonderoga of Howe, the Carillon of Montcalm.

The Algonquins were in good courage, for, besides the muskets of the
three Frenchmen, they were inspired by a dream of Champlain that he had
seen the Iroquois drowning in a lake. As soon as the enemies saw each
other, both began to utter loud cries and make ready their weapons. The
Algonquins kept out on the water; the Iroquois went ashore and built a
barricade. When the Algonquins had made ready for battle

    they dispatched two canoes to the enemy to inquire if they
    wished to fight, to which the latter replied that they wished
    nothing else; but they said that at present there was not much
    light, and that it would be necessary to wait for day so as to
    be able to recognize each other; and that as soon as the sun
    rose they would offer us battle. This was agreed to by our side.
    Meanwhile the entire night was spent in dancing and singing, on
    both sides, with endless insults and other talk; as how little
    courage we had, how feeble a resistance we should make against
    their arms, and that when day came we should realize it to our
    ruin. Ours also were not slow in retorting, telling them that
    they would see such execution of arms as never before, together
    with an abundance of such talk as is not unusual in the siege of
    a town.

Care had been taken by the Algonquins that the presence of Champlain and
his two companions should come to the Iroquois as a complete surprise.
Each of the Frenchmen was in a separate canoe, convoyed by the
Montagnais. At daylight each put on light armour and, armed with an
arquebus, went ashore. Champlain was near enough the barricade to see
nearly two hundred Iroquois, 'stout and rugged in appearance. They came
at a slow pace towards us, with a dignity and assurance which greatly
impressed me, having three chiefs at their head.' Champlain, when urged
by his allies to make sure of killing the three chiefs, replied that he
would do his best, and that in any case he would show them his courage
and goodwill.

Then began the fight, which must be described in Champlain's own words,
for in all his writings there is no more famous passage.

    As soon as we had landed, they began to run for some two hundred
    paces towards their enemies, who stood firmly, not having as yet
    noticed my companions, who went into the woods with some
    savages. Our men began to call me with loud cries; and in order
    to give me a passage way they opened in two parts and put me at
    their head, where I marched some twenty paces in advance of the
    rest, until I was within about twenty paces of the enemy, who at
    once noticed me and, halting, gazed at me, as I did also at
    them. When I saw them make a move to fire at us, I rested my
    musket against my cheek and aimed directly at one of the three
    chiefs. With the same shot two fell to the ground; and one of
    their men was so wounded that he died some time after. I had
    loaded my musket with four balls. When our side saw this shot so
    favourable for them, they began to raise such loud cries that
    one could not have heard it thunder. Meanwhile the arrows flew
    on both sides. The Iroquois were greatly astonished that two men
    had been so quickly killed, although they were equipped with
    armour woven from cotton thread and with wood which was proof
    against their arrows. This caused great alarm among them. As I
    was loading again, one of my companions fired a shot from the
    woods, which astonished them anew to such a degree that, seeing
    their chiefs dead, they lost courage and took to flight,
    abandoning their camp and fort and fleeing into the woods,
    whither I pursued them, killing still more of them. Our savages
    also killed several of them and took ten or twelve prisoners.
    The remainder escaped with the wounded. Fifteen or sixteen were
    wounded on our side with arrow shots, but they were soon healed.

The spoils of victory included a large quantity of Indian corn, together
with a certain amount of meal, and also some of the native armour which
the Iroquois had thrown away in order to effect their escape. Then
followed a feast and the torture of one of the prisoners, whose
sufferings were mercifully concluded by a ball from Champlain's musket,
delivered in such wise that the unfortunate did not see the shot. Like
Montcalm and other French commanders of a later date, Champlain found it
impossible to curb wholly the passions of his savage allies. In this
case his remonstrances had the effect of gaining for the victim a _coup
de grâce_--which may be taken as a measure of Champlain's prestige. The
atrocious savagery practised before and after death is described in full
detail. Champlain concludes the lurid picture as follows: 'This is the
manner in which these people behave towards those whom they capture in
war, for whom it would be better to die fighting or to kill themselves
on the spur of the moment, as many do rather than fall into the hands of
their enemies.'

Beyond the point at which this battle was fought Champlain did not go.
At Ticonderoga he was within eighty miles of the site of Albany. Had he
continued, he would have reached the Hudson from the north in the same
summer the _Half Moon_[13] entered it from the mouth. But the Algonquins
were content with their victory, though they candidly stated that there
was an easy route from the south end of Lake George to 'a river flowing
into the sea on the Norumbega coast near that of Florida.' The return to
Quebec and Tadoussac was attended by no incident of moment. The
Montagnais, on parting with Champlain at Tadoussac, generously gave him
the head of an Iroquois and a pair of arms, with the request that they
be carried to the king of France. The Algonquins had already taken their
departure at Chambly, where, says Champlain, 'we separated with loud
protestations of mutual friendship. They asked me whether I would not
like to go into their country to assist them with continued fraternal
relations; and I promised that I would do so.'

    [Footnote 13: Henry Hudson, an English mariner with a Dutch
    crew, entered the mouth of the Hudson in a boat called the _Half
    Moon_ on September 4, 1609. As named by him, the river was
    called the 'Great North River of New Netherland.']

As a contribution to geographical knowledge the expedition of 1609
disclosed the existence of a noble lake, to which Champlain fitly gave
his own name. Its dimensions he considerably over-estimated, but in all
essential respects its situation was correctly described, while his
comments on the flora and fauna are very interesting. The garpike as he
saw it, with amplifications from the Indians as they had seen it, gave
him the subject for a good fish story. He was deeply impressed, too, by
the richness of the vegetation. His attack on the Iroquois was not soon
forgotten by that relentless foe, and prepared a store of trouble for
the colony he founded. But the future was closed to his view, and for
the moment his was the glorious experience of being the first to gaze
with European eyes upon a lake fairer and grander than his own France
could show.

Four years elapsed before Champlain was enabled to plunge once more into
the depths of the forest--this time only to meet with the severest
disappointment of his life. Much has been said already regarding his
ambition to discover a short route to Cathay. This was the great prize
for which he would have sacrificed everything save loyalty to the king
and duty to the church. For a moment he seemed on the point of gaining
it. Then the truth was brutally disclosed, and he found that he had been
wilfully deceived by an impostor.

It was a feature of Champlain's policy that from time to time French
youths should spend the winter with the Indians--hunting with them,
living in their settlements, exploring their country, and learning their
language. Of Frenchmen thus trained to woodcraft during Champlain's
lifetime the most notable were Étienne Brulé, Nicolas Vignau, Nicolas
Marsolet, and Jean Nicolet. Unfortunately the three first did not leave
an unclouded record. Brulé, after becoming a most accomplished guide,
turned traitor and aided the English in 1629. Champlain accuses Marsolet
of a like disloyalty.[14] Vignau, with more imagination, stands on the
roll of fame as a frank impostor.

    [Footnote 14: Marsolet's defence was that he acted under
    constraint.]

Champlain, as we have seen, spent the whole of 1612 in France, and it
was at this time that Vignau appeared in Paris with a tale which could
not but kindle excitement in the heart of an explorer. The basis of fact
was that Vignau had undoubtedly passed the preceding winter with the
Algonquins on the Ottawa. The fable which was built upon this fact can
best be told in Champlain's own words.

    He reported to me, on his return to Paris in 1612, that he had
    seen the North Sea; that the river of the Algonquins [the
    Ottawa] came from a lake which emptied into it; and that in
    seventeen days one could go from the Falls of St Louis to this
    sea and back again; that he had seen the wreck and débris of an
    English ship that had been wrecked, on board of which were
    eighty men who had escaped to the shore, and whom the savages
    killed because the English endeavoured to take from them by
    force their Indian corn and other necessaries of life; and that
    he had seen the scalps which these savages had flayed off,
    according to their custom, which they would show me, and that
    they would likewise give me an English boy whom they had kept
    for me. This intelligence greatly pleased me, for I thought that
    I had almost found that for which I had for a long time been
    searching.

Champlain makes it clear that he did not credit Vignau's tale with the
simple credulity of a man who has never been to sea. He caused Vignau to
swear to its truth at La Rochelle before two notaries. He stipulated
that Vignau should go with him over the whole route. Finally, as they
were on the point of sailing together for Canada in the spring of 1613,
he once more adjured Vignau in the presence of distinguished witnesses,
saying 'that if what he had previously said was not true, he must not
give me the trouble to undertake the journey, which involved many
dangers. Again he affirmed all that he had said, on peril of his life.'

After taking these multiplied precautions against deceit, Champlain left
the Sault St Louis on May 29, 1613, attended by four Frenchmen and one
Indian, with Vignau for guide. Ascending the Ottawa, they encountered
their first difficulties at the Long Sault, where Dollard forty-seven
years later was to lose his life so gloriously. Here the passage of the
rapids was both fatiguing and dangerous. Prevented by the density of the
wood from making a portage, they were forced to drag their canoes
through the water. In one of the eddies Champlain nearly lost his life,
and his hand was severely hurt by a sudden jerk of the rope. Having
mounted the rapids, he met with no very trying obstacle until he had
gone some distance past the Chaudière Falls. His reference to the course
of the Gatineau makes no sense, and Laverdière has had recourse to the
not improbable conjecture that the printer dropped out a whole line at
this point. Champlain also over-estimates considerably the height of the
Rideau Falls and is not very exact in his calculation of latitude.

The hardships of this journey were greatly and unnecessarily increased
by Vignau, whose only hope was to discourage his leader. In the end it
proved that 'our liar' (as Champlain repeatedly calls him) had hoped to
secure a reward for his alleged discovery, believing that no one would
follow him long, even if an attempt were made to confirm the accuracy of
his report. But Champlain, undeterred by portages and mosquitoes, kept
on. Some savages who joined him said that Vignau was a liar, and on
their advice Champlain left the Ottawa a short distance above the mouth
of the Madawaska. Holding westward at some distance from the south
shore, he advanced past Muskrat Lake, and after a hard march came out
again on the Ottawa at Lake Allumette.

This was the end of Champlain's route in 1613. From the Algonquins on
Allumette Island he learned that Vignau had wintered with them at the
time he swore he was discovering salt seas. Finally, the impostor
confessed his fraud and, falling on his knees, asked for mercy. The
Indians would gladly have killed him outright, but Champlain spared his
life, though how deeply he was moved can be seen from these words:
'Overcome with wrath I had him removed, being unable to endure him any
longer in my presence.' After his confession there was nothing for it
but to return by the same route. An astrolabe found some years ago near
Muskrat Lake may have been dropped from Champlain's luggage on the
journey westward, though he does not mention the loss.

Apart from disclosing the course of the Ottawa, the _Voyage_ of 1613 is
chiefly notable for its account of Indian customs--for example, the
mode of sepulture, the _tabagie_ or feast, and the superstition which
leads the Algonquins to throw pieces of tobacco into the cauldron of the
Chaudière Falls as a means of ensuring protection against their enemies.
Of the feast given him by Tessouät, an Algonquin chief, Champlain says:

    The next day all the guests came, each with his porringer and
    wooden spoon. They seated themselves without order or ceremony
    on the ground in the cabin of Tessouät, who distributed to them
    a kind of broth made of maize crushed between two stones,
    together with meat and fish which was cut into little pieces,
    the whole being boiled together without salt. They also had meat
    roasted on the coals and fish boiled apart, which he also
    distributed. In respect to myself, as I did not wish any of
    their chowder, which they prepare in a very dirty manner, I
    asked them for some fish and meat, that I might prepare it my
    own way, which they gave me. For drink we had fine, clear water.
    Tessouät, who gave the _tabagie_, entertained us without eating
    himself, according to their custom.

    The _tabagie_ being over, the young men, who are not present at
    the harangues and councils, and who during the _tabagie_ remain
    at the door of the cabins, withdrew, when all who remained began
    to fill their pipes, one and another offering me one. We then
    spent a full half-hour in this occupation, not a word being
    spoken, as is their custom.

But for the dexterous arrangement by which Champlain managed to cook his
own food, the _tabagie_ would have been more dangerous to health than
the portage. In any case, it was an ordeal that could not be avoided,
for feasting meant friendly intercourse, and only through friendly
intercourse could Champlain gain knowledge of that vast wilderness which
he must pierce before reaching his long-sought goal, the sea beyond
which lay China.

As for Vignau, his punishment was to make full confession before all the
French who had assembled at the Sault St Louis to traffic with the
Indians. When Champlain reached this rendezvous on June 17, he informed
the traders of all that had happened, including

    the malice of my liar, at which they were greatly amazed. I then
    begged them to assemble in order that in their presence, and
    that of the savages and his companions, he might make
    declaration of his maliciousness; which they gladly did. Being
    thus assembled, they summoned him and asked him why he had not
    shown me the sea of the north, as he had promised me at his
    departure. He replied that he had promised something impossible
    for him, since he had never seen the sea, and that the desire of
    making the journey had led him to say what he did, also that he
    did not suppose that I would undertake it; and he begged them to
    be pleased to pardon him, as he also begged me again,
    confessing that he had greatly offended, and if I would leave
    him in the country he would by his efforts repair the offence
    and see this sea, and bring back trustworthy intelligence
    concerning it the following year; and in view of certain
    considerations I pardoned him on this condition.

Vignau's public confession was followed by the annual barter with the
Indians, after which Champlain returned to France.

We come now to the _Voyage_ of 1615, which describes Champlain's longest
and most daring journey through the forest--an expedition that occupied
the whole period from July 9, 1615, to the last days of June 1616. Thus
for the first time he passed a winter with the Indians, enlarging
greatly thereby his knowledge of their customs and character. The
central incident of the expedition was an attack made by the Hurons and
their allies upon the stronghold of the Onondagas in the heart of the
Iroquois country. But while this war-party furnishes the chief
adventure, there is no page of Champlain's narrative which lacks its
tale of the marvellous. As a story of life in the woods, the _Voyage_ of
1615 stands first among all Champlain's writings.

As in 1609, there was a mutuality of interest between Champlain and the
Indians who traded at the Sault. His desire was to explore and theirs
was to fight. By compromise they disclosed to him the recesses of their
country and he aided them against the Iroquois. In 1615 the Hurons not
only reminded him of his repeated promises to aid them, but stated
flatly that without such aid they could no longer attend the annual
market, as their enemies were making the route too unsafe. On their side
they promised a war-party of more than two thousand men. A further proof
of friendship was afforded by their willingness to receive a missionary
in their midst--the Récollet, Father Joseph Le Caron.

Champlain's line of exploration in 1615-16 took the following course. He
first ascended the Ottawa to the mouth of the Mattawa. Thence journeying
overland by ponds and portages he entered Lake Nipissing, which he
skirted to the outlet. French River next took him to Georgian Bay, or,
as he calls it for geographical definition, the Lake of the Attigouautan
[Hurons]. His own name for this vast inland sea is the _Mer Douce_. That
he did not explore it with any degree of thoroughness is evident from
the terms of his narrative as well as from his statement that its
length, east and west, is four hundred leagues. What he saw of Lake
Huron was really the east shore of Georgian Bay, from the mouth of
French River to the bottom of Matchedash Bay. Here he entered the
country of the Hurons, which pleased him greatly in comparison with the
tract before traversed. 'It was very fine, the largest part being
cleared, and many hills and several rivers rendering the region
agreeable. I went to see their Indian corn, which was at that time
[early in August] far advanced for the season.'

Champlain's route through the district between Carmaron and Cahaigué can
best be followed in Father Jones's map of Huronia.[15] The points which
Champlain names are there indicated, in each case with as careful
identification of the locality as we are ever likely to get. For those
who are not specialists in the topography of Huronia it may suffice that
Champlain left Matchedash Bay not far from Penetanguishene, and thence
went to Carmaron at the very north of the peninsula. Returning, he
passed through some of the largest of the Huron villages, and after
sixteen days came out at Cahaigué, which was situated close to Lake
Simcoe and almost on the site of the modern Hawkestone. It was here that
most of the Huron warriors assembled for the great expedition against
the Onondagas. Setting out on their march, they first went a little to
the northward, where they were joined on the shores of Lake Couchiching
by another contingent. The party thus finally made up, Champlain's line
of advance first took him to Sturgeon Lake. Afterwards it pursued that
important waterway which is represented by the Otonabee river, Rice
Lake, and the river Trent. Hence the warriors entered Lake Ontario by
the Bay of Quinte.

    [Footnote 15: This map will be found in _The Jesuit Missions_ in
    this Series, and also in vol. xxxiv of _The Jesuit Relations_,
    ed. Thwaites.]

[Illustration: CHAMPLAIN'S ROUTE

1615-16]

This country between Lake Simcoe and the Bay of Quinte seems to have
pleased Champlain greatly. He saw it in September, when the temperature
was agreeable and when the vegetation of the forest could be enjoyed
without the torment inflicted by mosquitoes. 'It is certain,' he says,
'that all this region is very fine and pleasant. Along the banks it
seems as if the trees had been set out for ornament in most places, and
that all these tracts were in former times inhabited by savages who were
subsequently compelled to abandon them from fear of their enemies. Vines
and nut trees are here very numerous. Grapes mature, yet there is
always a very pungent tartness, which is felt remaining in the throat
when one eats them in large quantities, arising from defect of
cultivation. These localities are very pleasant when cleared up.'

From the Bay of Quinte the war-party skirted the east shore of Lake
Ontario, crossing the head of the St Lawrence, and thence following the
southern shore about fourteen leagues. At this point the Indians
concealed all their canoes and struck into the woods towards Lake
Oneida. Though made up chiefly of Hurons, the little army embraced
various allies, including a band of Algonquins. Whether from
over-confidence at having Champlain among them or from their natural
lack of discipline, the allies managed their attack very badly. On a
pond a few miles south of Oneida Lake lay the objective point of the
expedition--a palisaded stronghold of the Onondagas. At a short distance
from this fort eleven of the enemy were surprised and taken prisoners.
What followed was much less fortunate. Champlain does not state the
number of Frenchmen present, but as his drawing shows eleven musketeers,
we may infer that his own followers were distinctly more numerous than
at the battle on Lake Champlain.

The height of the palisade was thirty feet, and a system of gutters
supplied abundant water for use in extinguishing fire. Champlain's plan
of attack was to employ a _cavalier_, or protected scaffolding, which
should overtop the palisade and could be brought close against it.
From the top of this framework four or five musketeers were to deliver a
fusillade against the Iroquois within the fort, while the Hurons kindled
a fire at the foot of the palisade. Champlain's drawing shows the rest
of the musketeers engaged in creating a diversion at other points.

But everything miscarried. Though the _cavalier_ was constructed, the
allies threw aside the wooden shields which Champlain had caused to be
made as a defence against the arrows of the Iroquois while the fire was
being kindled. Only a small supply of wood had been collected, and even
this was so placed that the flames blew away from the palisade instead
of towards it. On the failure of this attempt to fire the fort all
semblance of discipline was thrown to the winds. 'There also rose such
disorder among them,' says Champlain, 'that one could not understand
another, which greatly troubled me. In vain did I shout in their ears
and remonstrate to my utmost with them as to the danger to which they
exposed themselves by their bad behaviour, but on account of the great
noise they made they heard nothing. Seeing that shouting would only
burst my head and that my remonstrances were useless for putting a stop
to the disorder, I did nothing more, but determined, together with my
men, to do what we could and fire upon such as we could see.'

The fight itself lasted only three hours, and the casualties of the
attacking party were inconsiderable, since but two of their chiefs and
fifteen warriors were wounded. In addition to their repulse, the Hurons
suffered a severe disappointment through the failure to join them of
five hundred allies who had given their solemn promise. Although
Champlain had received two severe wounds, one in the leg and another in
the knee, he urged a second and more concerted attack. But in vain. The
most the Hurons would promise was to wait four or five days for the
expected reinforcements. At the end of this time there was no sign of
the five hundred, and the return began. 'The only good point,' says
Champlain, 'that I have seen in their mode of warfare is that they make
their retreat very securely, placing all the wounded and aged in their
centre, being well armed on the wings and in the rear, and continuing
this order without interruption until they reach a place of security.'

Champlain himself suffered tortures during the retreat, partly from his
wounds, but even more from the mode of transportation. The Indian method
of removing the wounded was first to bind and pinion them 'in such a
manner that it is as impossible for them to move as for an infant in its
swaddling-clothes.' They were then carried in a kind of basket, 'crowded
up in a heap.' Doubtless as a mark of distinction, Champlain was carried
separately on the back of a savage. His wound was so severe that when
the retreat began he could not stand. But the transportation proved
worse than the wound. 'I never found myself in such a _gehenna_ as
during this time, for the pain which I suffered in consequence of the
wound in my knee was nothing in comparison with that which I endured
while I was carried bound and pinioned on the back of one of our
savages. So that I lost my patience, and as soon as I could sustain
myself got out of this prison, or rather _gehenna_.'

The enemy made no pursuit, but forced marches were kept up for
twenty-five or thirty leagues. The weather now grew cold, as it was past
the middle of autumn. The fight at the fort of the Onondagas had taken
place on October 10, and eight days later there was a snowstorm, with
hail and a strong wind. But, apart from extreme discomfort, the retreat
was successfully accomplished, and on the shore of Lake Ontario they
found the canoes intact.

It had been Champlain's purpose to spend the winter at Quebec, and when
the Hurons were about to leave the east end of Lake Ontario for their
own country he asked them for a canoe and an escort. Four Indians
volunteered for this service, but no canoe could be had, and in
consequence Champlain was forced reluctantly to accompany the Hurons.
With his usual patience he accepted the inevitable, which in this case
was only unpleasant because he was ill prepared for spending a winter
among the Indians. After a few days he perceived that their plan was to
keep him and his companions, partly as security for themselves and
partly that he might assist at their councils in planning better
safeguards against their enemies.

This enforced residence of Champlain among the Hurons during the winter
of 1615-16 has given us an excellent description of Indian customs. It
was also the means of composing a dangerous quarrel between the Hurons
and the Algonquins. Once committed to spending the winter among the
Indians, Champlain planned to make Huronia a point of departure for
still further explorations to the westward. Early in 1616 there seemed
to be a favourable opportunity to push forward in the direction of Lake
Superior. Then came this wretched brawl of Hurons and Algonquins, which
threatened to beget bitter hatred and war among tribes which hitherto
had both been friendly to the French. Accepting his duty, Champlain gave
up his journey to the far west and threw himself into the task of
restoring peace. But the measure of his disappointment is found in these
words:

    If ever there was one greatly disheartened, it was myself, since
    I had been waiting to see this year what during many preceding
    ones I had been seeking for with great toil and effort, through
    so many fatigues and risks of my life. But realizing that I
    could not help the matter, and that everything depended on the
    will of God, I comforted myself, resolving to see it in a short
    time. I had such sure information that I could not doubt the
    report of these people, who go to traffic with others dwelling
    in those northern regions, a great part of whom live in a place
    very abundant in the chase and where there are great numbers of
    large animals, the skins of several of which I saw, and which I
    concluded were buffaloes from their representation of their
    form. Fishing is also very abundant there. This journey requires
    forty days as well in returning as in going.

Thus Champlain almost had a chance to see the bison and the great plains
of the West. As it was, he did his immediate duty and restored the peace
of Huron and Algonquin. In partial compensation for the alluring journey
he relinquished, he had a better opportunity to study the Hurons in
their settlements and to investigate their relations with their
neighbours--the Tobacco Nation, the Neutral Nation, _les Cheveux
Relevés_, and the Race of Fire. Hence the _Voyage_ of 1615 not only
describes the physical aspects of Huronia, but contains intimate details
regarding the life of its people--their wigwams, their food, their
manner of cooking, their dress, their decorations, their marriage
customs, their medicine-men, their burials, their assemblies, their
agriculture, their amusements, and their mode of fishing. It is
Champlain's most ambitious piece of description, far less detailed than
the subsequent narratives of the Jesuits, but in comparison with them
gaining impact from being less diffuse.

It was on May 20, 1616, that Champlain left the Huron country, never
again to journey thither or to explore the recesses of the forest. Forty
days later he reached the Sault St Louis, and saw once more his old
friend Pontgravé. Thenceforward his life belongs not to the wilderness,
but to Quebec.




CHAPTER V

CHAMPLAIN'S LAST YEARS


WHEN Champlain reached the Sault St Louis on July 1, 1616, his career as
an explorer had ended. The nineteen years of life that still remained he
gave to Quebec and the duties of his lieutenancy.

By this time he had won the central position in his own domain. Question
might arise as to the terms upon which a monopoly of trade should be
granted, or as to the persons who should be its recipients. But whatever
company might control the trade, Champlain was the king's representative
in New France. When Boyer affronted him, the council had required that a
public apology should be offered. When Montmorency instituted the
investigation of 1620, it was Champlain's report which determined the
issue. Five years later, when the Duc de Ventadour became viceroy in
place of Montmorency, Champlain still remained lieutenant-general of
New France. Such were his character, services, and knowledge that his
tenure could not be questioned.

Notwithstanding this source of satisfaction, the post was difficult in
the extreme. The government continued to leave colonizing in the hands
of the traders, and the traders continued to shirk their obligations.
The Company of the De Caëns did a large business, but suffered more
severely than any of its predecessors from the strife of Catholic and
Huguenot. Those of the reformed religion even held their services in the
presence of the Indians, thus anticipating the scandals of Kikuyu.
Though the Duc de Ventadour gave orders that there should be no
psalm-singing after the outbound ships passed Newfoundland, this
provision seems not to have been effective. It was a difficult problem
for one like Champlain, who, while a loyal Catholic, had been working
all his life with Huguenot associates.

The period of the De Caëns was marked by the presence at Quebec of
Madame Champlain. The romance of Champlain's life does not, however,
revolve about his marriage. In 1610, at the age of forty-three, he
espoused Hélène Boullé, whose father was secretary of the King's Chamber
to Henry IV. As the bride was only twelve years old, the marriage
contract provided that she should remain two years longer with her
parents. She brought a dowry of six thousand livres, and simultaneously
Champlain made his will in her favour. Probably De Monts had some part
in arranging the marriage, for Nicholas Boullé was a Huguenot and De
Monts appears as a witness to the notarial documents. Subsequently,
Madame Champlain became an enthusiastic Catholic and ended her days as a
nun. She had no children, and was only once in Canada, residing
continuously at Quebec from 1620 to 1624. No mention whatever is made of
her in Champlain's writings, but he named St Helen's Island after her,
and appears to have been unwilling that she should enter a convent
during his lifetime.

One need feel little surprise that Madame Champlain should not care to
visit Canada a second time, for the buildings at Quebec had fallen into
disrepair, and more than once the supply of food ran very low. During
1625 Champlain remained in France with his wife, and therefore did not
witness the coming of the Jesuits to the colony. This event, which is a
landmark in the history of Quebec and New France, followed upon the
inability of the Récollets to cover the mission field with any degree
of completeness. Conscious that their resources were unequal to the
task, they invoked the aid of the Jesuits, and in this appeal were
strongly supported by Champlain. Once more the horizon seemed to
brighten, for the Jesuits had greater resources and influence than any
other order in the Roman Catholic Church, and their establishment at
Quebec meant much besides a mere increase in the population. The year
1626 saw Champlain again at his post, working hard to complete a new
factory which he had left unfinished, while the buildings of the Jesuit
establishment made good progress under the hand of workmen specially
brought from France. What still remained imperfect was the
fortification. The English had destroyed the French settlements at Mount
Desert and Port Royal. What was to hinder them from bombarding Quebec?

This danger soon clouded the mood of optimism that had been inspired by
the coming of the Jesuits. The De Caëns objected to any outlay on a
fort, and would not give Champlain the men he needed. In reply Champlain
sent the viceroy a report which was unfavourable to the company and its
methods. But even without this representation, the monopoly of the De
Caëns was doomed by reason of events which were taking place in France.

At the court of Louis XIII Richelieu had now gained an eminence and
power such as never before had been possessed by a minister of the
French crown. Gifted with imagination and covetous of national
greatness, he saw the most desirable portions of other continents in the
hands of the Spaniards, the Portuguese, the English, and the Dutch. The
prospect was not pleasing, and he cast about for a remedy.

For Hanotaux,[16] Richelieu is 'the true founder of our colonial
empire,' and La Roncière adds: 'Madagascar, Senegal, Guiana, the
Antilles, Acadia, and Canada--this, to be exact, was the colonial empire
for which we were indebted to Richelieu.' Regarding his breadth of
outlook there can be no doubt, and in his _Memoirs_ he left the
oft-quoted phrase: 'No realm is so well situated as France to be
mistress of the seas or so rich in all things needful.' Desiring to
strengthen maritime commerce and to hold distant possessions, he became
convinced that the English and the Dutch had adopted the right policy.
Strong trading companies--not weak ones--were what France needed.

    [Footnote 16: Gabriel Hanotaux, member of the French Academy, is
    the author of the most authoritative work on the life and times
    of Richelieu.]

Henry IV could have given the French a fair start, or even a lead, in
the race for colonies. He missed this great opportunity; partly because
he was preoccupied with the reorganization of France, and partly because
Sully, his minister, had no enthusiasm for colonial ventures. Twenty
years later the situation had changed. Richelieu, who was a man of wide
outlook, was also compelled by the activity of England and Holland to
give attention to the problem of a New France. The spirit of
colonization was in the air, and Richelieu, with his genius for ideas,
could not fail to see its importance or what would befall the laggards.
His misfortune was that he lacked certain definite qualifications which
a greater founder of colonies needed to possess. Marvellous in his grasp
of diplomatic situations and in his handling of men, he had no talent
whatever for the details of commerce. His fiscal régime, particularly
after France engaged in her duel with the House of Hapsburg, was
disorganized and intolerable. Nor did he recognize that, for the
French, the desire to emigrate required even greater encouragement than
the commercial instinct. He compelled his company to transport settlers,
but the number was not large, and he kindled no popular enthusiasm for
the cause of colonization. France had once led the crusade eastward.
Under proper guidance she might easily have contributed more than she
did to the exodus westward.

At any rate Richelieu, 'a man in the grand style, if ever man was,' had
decided that New France should no longer languish, and the Company of
One Hundred Associates was the result. In 1627 he abolished the office
of viceroy, deprived the De Caëns of their charter, and prepared to make
Canada a real colony. The basis of the plan was an association of one
hundred members, each subscribing three thousand livres. Richelieu's own
name heads the list of members, followed by those of the minister of
finance and the minister of marine. Most of the members resided in
Paris, though the seaboard and the eastern provinces were also
represented. Nobles, wealthy merchants, small traders, all figure in the
list, and twelve titles of nobility were distributed among the
shareholders to help in the enlistment of capital. The company received
a monopoly of trade for fifteen years, and promised to take out three
hundred colonists annually during the whole period covered by the grant.
It also received the St Lawrence valley in full ownership. One notable
provision of the charter was that only Roman Catholics should be sent to
New France, and the company was placed under special obligation to
maintain three priests in each settlement until the colony could support
its own clergy.

Champlain was now sixty years of age, and he had suffered much. Suddenly
there burst forth this spontaneous enthusiasm of Richelieu the
all-powerful. Was Champlain's dream of the great city of Ludovica to
come true after all?

Alas, like previous visions, it faded before the glare of harsh,
uncompromising facts. The year in which Richelieu founded his Company of
New France was also the year of a fierce Huguenot revolt. Calling on
England for aid, La Rochelle defied Paris, the king, and the cardinal.
Richelieu laid siege to the place. Guiton, the mayor, sat at his
council-board with a bare dagger before him to warn the faint-hearted.
The old Duchesse de Rohan starved with the populace. Salbert, the most
eloquent of Huguenot pastors, preached that martyrdom was better than
surrender. Meanwhile, Richelieu built his mole across the harbour, and
Buckingham wasted the English troops to which the citizens looked for
their salvation. Then the town yielded.

The fall of La Rochelle was a great personal triumph for Richelieu, but
the war with England brought disaster to the Company of New France. At
Dieppe there had lived for many years an Englishman named Jarvis, or
Gervase, Kirke, who with his five sons--David, Lewis, Thomas, John, and
James--knew much at first hand about the French merchant marine. Early
in the spring of 1628 Kirke (who had shortly before moved to London)
secured letters of marque and sent forth his sons to do what damage they
could to the French in the St Lawrence. Champlain had spent the winter
at Quebec and was, of course, expecting his usual supplies with the
opening of navigation. Instead came Lewis Kirke, sent from Tadoussac by
his brother David, to demand surrender.

Champlain made a reply which, though courteous, was sufficiently bold to
convince the Kirkes that Quebec could be best captured by starvation.
They therefore sailed down the St Lawrence to intercept the fleet from
France, confident that their better craft would overcome these 'sardines
of the sea.' The plan proved successful even beyond expectation, for
after a long cannonade they captured without material loss the whole
fleet which had been sent out by the Company of New France. Ships,
colonists, annual supplies, building materials--all fell into the hands
of the enterprising Kirkes, who then sailed for England with their
booty. Alike to Champlain and to the Hundred Associates it was a
crippling blow.

Thus, but for the war with England, Quebec would have seen its
population trebled in 1628. As it was, the situation became worse than
ever. Lewis Kirke had been careful to seize the cattle pastured at Cap
Tourmente and to destroy the crops. When winter came, there were eighty
mouths to feed on a scant diet of peas and maize, imperfectly ground,
with a reserve supply of twelve hundred eels. Towards spring anything
was welcome, and the roots of Solomon's seal were esteemed a feast.
Champlain even gave serious thought to a raid upon the Mohawks, three
hundred miles away, in the hope that food could be brought back from
their granaries. Finally, on the 19th of July 1629, Lewis Kirke returned
with a second summons to surrender. This time only one answer was
possible, for to the survivors at Quebec the English came less in the
guise of foes than as human beings who could save them from starvation.
Champlain and his people received honourable treatment, and were
promised a passage to France. The family Hébert, however, decided to
remain.

We need not dwell upon the emotions with which Champlain saw the French
flag pulled down at Quebec. Doubtless it seemed the disastrous end of
his life-work, but he was a good soldier and enjoyed also the comforts
of religion. A further consolation was soon found in the discovery that
Quebec might yet be reclaimed. Ten weeks before Champlain surrendered,
the two countries were again at peace, and the Treaty of Suza embodied a
provision that captures made after the treaty was signed should be
mutually restored. This intelligence reached Champlain when he landed in
England on the homeward voyage. It is characteristic of the man, that
before going on to France he posted from Dover to London, and urged the
French ambassador that he should insistently claim Quebec.

As a result of the war Canada and Acadia were both in the possession of
England. On the other hand, the dowry of Henrietta Maria was still, for
the most part, in the treasury of France. When one remembers that 1628
saw Charles I driven by his necessities to concede the Petition of
Right, it will be readily seen that he desired the payment of his wife's
dowry. Hence Richelieu, whose talents in diplomacy were above praise,
had substantial reason to expect that Canada and Acadia would be
restored. The negotiations dragged on for more than two years, and were
complicated by disputes growing out of the captures made under letter of
marque. When all was settled by the Treaty of St Germain-en-Laye (March
1632) Quebec and Port Royal became once more French--to the profound
discontent of the Kirkes and Sir William Alexander,[17] but with such
joy on the part of Champlain as only patriots can know who have given a
lifelong service to their country.

    [Footnote 17: Alexander had received grants from the British
    crown in 1621 and 1625 which covered the whole coast from St
    Croix Island to the St Lawrence.]

Having regained Canada, Richelieu was forced to decide what he would do
with it. In certain important respects the situation had changed since
1627, when he founded the Company of New France. Then Gustavus Adolphus
and the Swedes were not a factor in the dire strife which was convulsing
Europe.[18] In 1632 the political problems of Western and Central Europe
had assumed an aspect quite different from that which they had worn five
years earlier. More and more France was drawn into the actual conflict
of the Thirty Years' War, impelled by a sense of new and unparalleled
opportunity to weaken the House of Hapsburg. This, in turn, meant the
preoccupation of Richelieu with European affairs, and a heavy drain
upon the resources of France in order to meet the cost of her more
ambitious foreign policy. Thus the duel with Austria, as it progressed
during the last decade of the cardinal's life, meant a fresh check to
those colonial prospects which seemed so bright in 1627.

    [Footnote 18: At this period the largest interest in European
    politics was the rivalry between France and the House of
    Hapsburg, which held the thrones of Spain and Austria. This
    rivalry led France to take an active part in the Thirty Years'
    War, even though her allies in that struggle were Protestants.
    Between 1627, when the Company of New France was founded, and
    1632, when Canada was restored to France, the Swedes under
    Gustavus Adolphus had won a series of brilliant victories over
    the Catholic and Hapsburg forces in Germany. After the death of
    Gustavus Adolphus in 1632, Richelieu attacked the Emperor
    Ferdinand II in great force, thereby conquering Alsace.]

Richelieu's first step in resuming possession of Canada was to compose
matters between the De Caëns and the Company of New France. Emery de
Caën and his associates were given the trading rights for 1632 and
79,000 livres as compensation for their losses through the revocation of
the monopoly. Dating from the spring of 1633, the Company of New France
was to be placed in full possession of Canada, subject to specific
obligations regarding missions and colonists. Conformably with this
programme, Emery de Caën appeared at Quebec on July 5, 1632, with
credentials empowering him to receive possession from Lewis and Thomas
Kirke, the representatives of England. With De Caën came Paul Le Jeune
and two other Jesuits, a vanguard of the missionary band which was to
convert the savages. 'We cast anchor,' says Le Jeune, 'in front of the
fort which the English held; we saw at the foot of this fort the poor
settlement of Quebec all in ashes. The English, who came to this country
to plunder and not to build up, not only burned a greater part of the
detached buildings which Father Charles Lalemant had erected, but also
all of that poor settlement of which nothing is now to be seen but the
ruins of its stone walls.'

The season of 1632 thus belonged to De Caën, whose function was merely
to tie up loose ends and prepare for the establishment of the new
regime. The central incident of the recession was the return of
Champlain himself--an old man who had said a last farewell to France and
now came, as the king's lieutenant, to end his days in the land of his
labours and his hopes. If ever the oft-quoted last lines of Tennyson's
_Ulysses_ could fitly be claimed by a writer on behalf of his hero, they
apply to Champlain as he sailed from the harbour of Dieppe on March 23,
1633.

                        Come, my friends,
    'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
    Push off, and sitting well in order smite
    The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
    To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
    Of all the western stars until I die.

    Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'
    We are not now that strength which in old days
    Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
    One equal temper of heroic hearts,
    Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
    To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

It was Champlain's reward that he saw Quebec once more under the
fleur-de-lis, and was welcomed by the Indians with genuine emotion. The
rhetorical gifts of the red man were among his chief endowments, and all
that eloquence could lavish was poured forth in honour of Champlain at
the council of the Hurons, who had come to Quebec for barter at the
moment of his return. The description of this council is one of the most
graphic passages in Le Jeune's _Relations_. A captain of the Hurons
first arose and explained the purpose of the gathering. 'When this
speech was finished all the Savages, as a sign of their approval, drew
from the depths of their stomachs this aspiration, <i>ho, ho, ho</i>, raising
the last syllable very high.' Thereupon the captain began another speech
of friendship, alliance, and welcome to Champlain, followed by gifts.
Then the same captain made a third speech, which was followed by
Champlain's reply--a harangue well adapted to the occasion. But the
climax was reached in the concluding orations of two more Huron chiefs.
'They vied with each other in trying to honour Sieur de Champlain and
the French, and in testifying their affection for us. One of them said
that when the French were absent the earth was no longer the earth, the
river was no longer the river, the sky was no longer the sky; but upon
the return of Sieur de Champlain everything was as before: the earth was
again the earth, the river was again the river, and the sky was again
the sky.'

Thus welcomed by the savages, Champlain resumed his arduous task. He was
establishing Quebec anew and under conditions quite unlike those which
had existed in 1608. The most notable difference was that the Jesuits
were now at hand to aid in the upbuilding of Canada. The Quebec of De
Monts and De Caën had been a trading-post, despite the efforts of the
Récollets and Jesuits to render it the headquarters of a mission.
Undoubtedly there existed from the outset a desire to convert the
Indians, but as a source of strength to the colony this disposition
effected little until the return of the Jesuits in 1632.

With the re-establishment of the Jesuit mission the last days of
Champlain are inseparably allied. A severe experience had proved that
the colonizing zeal of the crown was fitful and uncertain. Private
initiative was needed to supplement the official programme, and of such
initiative the supply seemed scanty. The fur traders notoriously shirked
their obligations to enlarge the colony, and after 1632 the Huguenots,
who had a distinct motive for emigrating, were forbidden by Richelieu to
settle in Canada. There remained the enthusiasm of the Jesuits and the
piety of those in France who supplied the funds for their work among the
Montagnais, the Hurons, and the Iroquois. As the strongest order in the
Roman Catholic Church, the Jesuits possessed resources which enabled
them to maintain an active establishment in Canada. Through them Quebec
became religious, and their influence permeated the whole colony as its
population increased and the zone of occupation grew wider. Le Jeune,
Lalemant, Brébeuf, and Jogues are among the outstanding names of the
restored New France.

During the last two years of his life Champlain lived patriarchally at
Quebec, administering the public affairs of the colony and lending its
religious impulses the strength of his support and example. Always a man
of serious mind, his piety was confirmed by the reflections of advancing
age and his daily contact with the missionaries. In his household there
was a service of prayer three times daily, together with reading at
supper from the lives of the saints. In pursuance of a vow, he built a
chapel named Notre Dame de la Recouvrance, which records the gratitude
he felt for the restoration of Quebec to France. He was, in short, the
ideal layman--serving his king loyally in all business of state, and
demeaning himself as a pilgrim who is about to set forth for the City of
God.

It is not to be inferred from the prominence of Champlain's religious
interests that he neglected his public duties, which continued to be
many and exacting. One of his problems was to prevent the English from
trading in the St Lawrence contrary to treaty; another was to discourage
the Hurons from selling their furs to the Dutch on the Hudson. The
success of the mission, which he had deeply at heart, implied the
maintenance of peace among the Indians who were friendly to the French.
He sought also to police the region of the Great Lakes by a band of
French soldiers, and his last letter to Richelieu (dated August 15,
1635) contains an earnest appeal for a hundred and twenty men, to whom
should be assigned the duty of marshalling the Indian allies against the
English and Dutch, as well as of preserving order throughout the
forest. The erection of a fort at Three Rivers in 1634 was due to his
desire that the annual barter should take place at a point above
Quebec. A commission which he issued in the same year to Jean Nicolet to
explore the country of the Wisconsins, shows that his consuming zeal for
exploration remained with him to the end.

It was permitted Champlain to die in harness. He remained to the last
lieutenant of the king in Canada. At the beginning of October 1635 he
was stricken with paralysis, and passed away on Christmas Day of the
same year. We do not possess the oration which Father Paul Le Jeune
delivered at his funeral, but there remains from Le Jeune's pen an
appreciation of his character in terms which to Champlain himself would
have seemed the highest praise.

    On the twenty-fifth of December, the day of the birth of our
    Saviour upon earth, Monsieur de Champlain, our Governor, was
    reborn in Heaven; at least we can say that his death was full of
    blessings. I am sure that God has shown him this favour in
    consideration of the benefits he has procured for New France,
    where we hope some day God will be loved and served by our
    French, and known and adored by our Savages. Truly he had led a
    life of great justice, equity, and perfect loyalty to his King
    and towards the Gentlemen of the Company. But at his death he
    crowned his virtues with sentiments of piety so lofty that he
    astonished us all. What tears he shed! how ardent became his
    zeal for the service of God! how great was his love for the
    families here!--saying that they must be vigorously assisted for
    the good of the Country, and made comfortable in every possible
    way in these early stages, and that he would do it if God gave
    him health. He was not taken unawares in the account which he
    had to render unto God, for he had long ago prepared a general
    Confession of his whole life, which he made with great
    contrition to Father Lalemant, whom he honoured with his
    friendship. The Father comforted him throughout his sickness,
    which lasted two months and a half, and did not leave him until
    his death. He had a very honourable burial, the funeral
    procession being formed of the people, the soldiers, the
    captains, and the churchmen. Father Lalemant officiated at this
    burial, and I was charged with the funeral oration, for which I
    did not lack material. Those whom he left behind have reason to
    be well satisfied with him; for, though he died out of France,
    his name will not therefor be any less glorious to posterity.




CHAPTER VI

CHAMPLAIN'S WRITINGS AND CHARACTER


THERE are some things that speak for themselves. In attempting to
understand Champlain's character, we are first met by the fact that he
pursued unflinchingly his appointed task. For thirty-two years he
persevered, amid every kind of hardship, danger, and discouragement, in
the effort to build up New France. He had personal ambitions as an
explorer, which were kept in strict subordination to his duty to the
king. He possessed concentration of aim without fanaticism. His signal
unselfishness was adorned by a patience which equalled that of
Marlborough. Inspired by large ideals, he did not scorn imperfect means.

Thus there are certain large aspects of Champlain's character that stand
forth in the high light of deed, and do not depend for their effect
either upon his own words or those of others. But when once we have paid
tribute to the fine, positive qualities which are implied by his
accomplishment, we must hasten to recognize the extraordinary value of
his writings as an index to his mind and soul. His narrative is not an
epic of disaster. It is a plain and even statement of great dangers
calmly met and treated as a matter of course. Largely it is a record of
achievement. At points where it is a record of failure Champlain accepts
the inevitable gracefully and conforms his emotions to the will of God.
The _Voyages_ reveal a strong man 'well four-squared to the blows of
fortune.' They also illustrate the virtue of muscular Christianity.

At a time which, like ours, is becoming sated with cleverness, it is a
delight to read the unvarnished story of Champlain. In saying that the
adjective is ever the enemy of the noun, Voltaire could not have
levelled the shaft at him, for few writers have been more sparing in
their use of adjectives or other glowing words. His love of the sea and
of the forest was profound, but he is never emotional in his
expressions. Yet with all his soberness and steadiness he possessed
imagination. In its strength and depth his enthusiasm for colonization
proves this, even if we omit his picture of the fancied Ludovica. But
as a man of action rather than of letters he instinctively omits
verbiage. In some respects we suffer from Champlain's directness of
mind, for on much that he saw he could have lingered with profit. But
very special inducements are needed to draw him from his plain tale into
a digression. Such inducements occur at times when he is writing of the
Indians, for he recognized that Europe was eager to hear in full detail
of their traits and customs. Thus set passages of description, inserted
with a sparing hand, seemed to him a proper element of the text, but
anything like conscious embellishment of the narrative he
avoids--probably more through mere naturalness than conscious
self-repression.

From Marco Polo to Scott's _Journal_ the literature of geographical
discovery abounds with classics, and standards of comparison suggest
themselves in abundance to the critic of Champlain's _Voyages_. Most
naturally, of course, one turns to the records of American exploration
in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries—-to Ramusio, Oviedo, Peter
Martyr, Hakluyt, and Purchas. No age can show a more wonderful galaxy of
pioneers than that which extends from Columbus to La Salle, and among
the great explorers of this era Champlain takes his place by virtue
alike of his deeds and writings. In fact, he belongs to the small and
distinguished class of those who have recorded their own discoveries in
a suitable and authentic narrative, for in few cases have geographical
results of equal moment been described by the discoverer himself.

Among the many writings which are available for comparison and contrast
one turns, singularly yet inevitably, to Lescarbot. The singularity of a
comparison between Champlain and Lescarbot is that Lescarbot was not a
geographer. At the same time, he is the only writer of importance whose
trail crosses that of Champlain, and some light is thrown on Champlain's
personality by a juxtaposition of texts. That is to say, both were in
Acadia at the same time, sat together at Poutrincourt's table, gazed on
the same forests and clearings, met the same Indians, and had a like
opportunity of considering the colonial problems which were thrust upon
the French in the reign of Henry IV.

It would be hard to find narratives more dissimilar,--and the contrast
is not wholly to the advantage of Champlain. Or rather, there are times
when his Doric simplicity of style seems jejune beside the flowing
periods and picturesque details of Lescarbot. No better illustration of
this difference in style, arising from fundamental difference in
temperament, can be found than the description which each gives of the
_Ordre de Bon Temps_. To Champlain belongs the credit of inventing this
pleasant means of promoting health and banishing ennui, but all he tells
of it is this: 'By the rules of the Order a chain was put, with some
little ceremony, on the neck of one of our company, commissioning him
for the day to go a-hunting. The next day it was conferred upon another,
and thus in succession. All exerted themselves to the utmost to see who
would do the best and bring home the finest game. We found this a very
good arrangement, as did also the savages who were with us.'

Such is the limit of the information which we receive from Champlain
regarding the _Ordre de Bon Temps_, his own invention and the life of
the company. It is reserved for Lescarbot to give us the picture which
no one can forget--the Atoctegic, or ruler of the feast, leading the
procession to dinner 'napkin on shoulder, wand of office in hand, and
around his neck the collar of the Order, which was worth more than four
crowns; after him all the members of the Order, carrying each a dish.'
Around stand the savages, twenty or thirty of them, 'men, women, girls,
and children,' all waiting for scraps of food. At the table with the
French themselves sits the Sagamos Membertou and the other Indian
chiefs, gladdening the company by their presence. And the food!--'ducks,
bustards, grey and white geese, partridges, larks, and other birds;
moreover moose, caribou, beaver, otter, bear, rabbits, wild-cats,
racoons, and other animals,' the whole culminating in the
tenderness of moose meat and the delicacy of beaver's tail. Such are the
items which Champlain omits and Lescarbot includes. So it is throughout
their respective narratives--Champlain ever gaining force through
compactness, and Lescarbot constantly illuminating with his gaiety or
shrewdness matters which but for him would never have reached us.

This difference of temperament and outlook, which is so plainly
reflected on the printed page, also had its effect upon the personal
relations of the two men. It was not that Lescarbot scandalized
Champlain by his religious views, for though liberal-minded, Lescarbot
was not a heretic, and Champlain knew how to live harmoniously even with
Huguenots. The cause of the coolness which came to exist between them
must be sought rather in fundamental contrasts of character. To
Champlain, Lescarbot doubtless seemed a mere hanger-on or protegé of
Poutrincourt, with undue levity of disposition and a needless flow of
conversation. To Lescarbot, Champlain may well have seemed deficient in
literary attainments, and so preoccupied with the concerns of geography
as to be an uncongenial companion. To whatever cause conjecture may
trace it, they did not become friends, although such lack of sympathy as
existed shows itself only in an occasional pin-prick, traceable
particularly in the later editions of their writings. For us it is the
more needful to lay stress upon the merits of Lescarbot, because he
tends to be eclipsed by the greater reputation of Champlain, and also
because his style is sometimes so diffuse as to create prejudice. But at
his best he is admirable, and without him we should know much less than
we do about that Acadian experience which holds such a striking place in
the career of Champlain.

The popular estimate of French character dwells overmuch upon the levity
or gaiety which undoubtedly marks the Gallic race. France could not
have accomplished her great work for the world without stability of
purpose and seriousness of mood. Nowhere in French biography are these
qualities more plainly illustrated than by the acts of Champlain. The
doggedness with which he clung to his patriotic and unselfish task is
the most conspicuous fact in his life. Coupled therewith is his
fortitude, both physical and moral. In times of crisis the conscript
sets his teeth and dies without a murmur. But Champlain enlisted as a
volunteer for a campaign which was to go on unceasingly till his last
day. How incessant were its dangers can be made out in full detail from
the text of the _Voyages_. We may omit the perils of the North Atlantic,
though what they were can be seen from Champlain's description of his
outward voyage in the spring of 1611. The remaining dangers will
suffice. Scurvy, which often claimed a death-roll of from forty to
eighty per cent in a single winter; famine such as that which followed
the failure of ships from home to arrive at the opening of navigation;
the storms which drove the frail shallop on the rocks and shoals of
Norumbega; the risk of mutiny; the chances of war, whether against the
Indians or the English; the rapids of the wilderness as they threatened
the overloaded canoe on its swift descent; the possible treachery of
Indian guides--such is a partial catalogue of the death-snares which
surrounded the pathway of an explorer like Champlain. Every one of these
dangers is brought before us by his own narrative in a manner which does
credit to his modesty no less than to his fortitude. Without
embellishment or self-glorification, he recites in a few lines
hairbreadth escapes which a writer of less steadfast soul would have
amplified into a thrilling tale of heroism. None the less, to the
discriminating reader Champlain's _Voyages_ are an Odyssey.

Bound up with habitual fortitude is the motive from which it springs. In
Champlain's case patriotism and piety were the groundwork of a
conspicuous and long-tested courage. The patriotism which exacted such
sacrifices was not one which sought to define itself even in the form of
a justifiable digression from the recital of events. But we may be sure
that Champlain at the time he left Port Royal had made up his mind that
the Spaniards, the English, and the Dutch were not to parcel out the
seaboard of North America to the exclusion of the French. As for the
religious basis of his fortitude, we do not need Le Jeune's story of
his death-bed or the record of his friendship with men of religion. His
narrative abounds throughout with simple and natural expressions of
piety, not the less impressive because they are free from trace of the
theological intolerance which envenomed French life in his age. And not
only did Champlain's trust in the Lord fortify his soul against fear,
but religion imposed upon him a degree of self-restraint which was not
common among explorers of the seventeenth century. It is far from
fanciful to see in this one of the chief causes of his hold upon the
Indians. To them he was more than a useful ally in war time. They
respected his sense of honour, and long after his death remembered the
temperance which marked his conduct when he lived in their villages.

As a writer, Champlain enjoyed the advantage of possessing a fresh,
unhackneyed subject. The only exception to this statement is furnished
by his early book on the West Indies and Mexico, where he was going over
ground already trodden by the Spaniards. His other writings relate to a
sphere of exploration and settlement which he made his own, and of which
he well merited to be the chronicler.

Running through the _Voyages_ is the double interest of discovery and
colonization, constantly blending and reacting upon each other, but
still remaining matters of separate concern. It is obvious that in the
mind of the narrator discovery is always the more engaging theme.
Champlain is indeed the historian of St Croix, Port Royal, and Quebec,
but only incidentally or from chance. By temper he was the explorer,
that is, the man of action, willing to record the broad results, but
without the instinct which led Lescarbot to set down the minutiae of
life in a small, rough settlement. There is one side of Champlain's
activity as a colonizer which we must lament that he has not
described--namely, his efforts to interest the nobles and prelates of
the French court in the upbuilding of Canada. A diary of his life at
Paris and Fontainebleau would be among the choicest documents of the
early colonial era. But Champlain was too blunt and loyal to set down
the story of his relations with the great, and for this portion of his
life we must rely upon letters, reports, and memoranda, which are so
formal as to lack the atmosphere of that painful but valiant experience.

Excluding the brief notices of life at St Croix, Port Royal, and
Quebec, Champlain's _Voyages_ present a story of discovery by sea and
discovery by land. In other words, the four years of Acadian adventure
relate to discoveries made along the seaboard, while the remaining
narratives, including the _Des Sauvages_ of 1604, relate to the basin of
the St Lawrence. Mariner though he was by early training, Champlain
achieved his chief success as an explorer by land, in the region of the
Great Lakes. Bad fortune prevented him from pursuing his course past
Martha's Vineyard to the mouth of the Hudson and Chesapeake Bay. It was
no small achievement to accomplish what he did on the coast of
Norumbega, but his most distinctive discoveries were those which he made
in the wilderness, leading up to his fine experience of 1615-16 among
the Hurons.

To single out Champlain's chief literary triumph, it was he who
introduced the Algonquin, the Huron, and the Iroquois to the delighted
attention of France. Ever since the days of Cartier the French had known
that savages inhabited the banks of the St Lawrence, but Champlain is
the pioneer in that great body of literature on the North American
Indian, which thenceforth continued without interruption in France to
the _René_ and _Atala_ of Chateaubriand. Above all other subjects, the
Indians are Champlain's chief theme.

To some extent the account of Indian life which is given in the
_Voyages_ suffers by comparison with the _Relations_ of the Jesuits. The
Fathers, by reason of their long residence among the Indians,
undoubtedly came to possess a more intimate knowledge of their character
and customs than it was possible for Champlain to acquire during the
time he spent among them. On the other hand, the Jesuits were so
preoccupied with the progress of the mission that they tended to view
the life of the savages too exclusively from one angle. Furthermore, the
volume of their description is so great as to overwhelm all readers who
are not specially interested in the mission or the details of Indian
custom. Champlain wrote with sufficient knowledge to bring out salient
traits in high relief, while his descriptive passages are sufficiently
terse to come within the range of those who are not specialists. When we
remember the perpetual interest which, for more than three hundred
years, Europe has felt in the North American Indian, the _Voyages_ of
Champlain are seen in their true perspective. For he, with fresh eyes,
saw the red man in his wigwam, at his council, and on the war-path;
watched his stoic courage under torture and his inhuman cruelty in the
hour of vengeance. Tales of the wilderness, the canoe, the portage, and
the ambush have never ceased to fascinate the imagination of Europe.
Champlain's narrative may be plain and unadorned, but, with such a
groundwork, the imagination of every reader could supply details at
will.

In all essential respects Champlain seems to have been a good observer
and an accurate chronicler. It is true that his writings are not free
from error involving facts of distance, altitude, and chronology. But
such slips as have crept into his text do not constitute a serious
blemish or tend to impugn the good faith of his statements on matters
where there is no other source of information. Everything considered,
his substantial accuracy is much more striking than his partial
inaccuracy. In fact, no one of his high character and disinterested zeal
could write with any other purpose than to describe truly what he had
seen and done. The seal of probity is set upon Champlain's writings no
less than upon the record of his dealings with his employers and the
king. Unselfish as to money or fame, he sought to create New France.

In national progress much depends on the auspices under which the nation
was founded and the tradition which it represents. Thus England, and all
the English world, has an imperishable tradition in the deeds and
character of Alfred the Great; thus Canada has had from the outset of
the present stage in her development a great possession in the equal
self-sacrifice of Montcalm and Wolfe. On the other hand, the nation is
doomed to suffer which bases its traditions of greatness upon such acts
as the seizure of Silesia by Frederick or Bismarck's manipulation of the
Ems telegram.

For Canada Champlain is not alone a heroic explorer of the seventeenth
century, but the founder of Quebec; and it is a rich part of our
heritage that he founded New France in the spirit of unselfishness, of
loyalty, and of faith.




BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE


_Original Text_

THE best edition of Champlain's own works, in the original text, is that
of Laverdière--_OEuvres de Champlain, publiées sous le Patronage de
l'Université Laval. Par l'Abbé C.-H. Laverdière, M.A. Seconde Edition. 6
tomes, 4to. Québec: Imprimé au Séminaire par Geo. E. Desbarats_, 1870.


The list of Champlain's writings includes:

1. The _Bref Discours_, describing his trip to the West Indies.

2. The _Des Sauvages_, describing his first voyage to the St Lawrence.

3. The _Voyages_ of 1613, covering the years 1604-13 inclusive.

4. The _Voyages_ of 1619, covering the years 1615-18 inclusive.

5. The _Voyages_ of 1632, which represent a re-editing of the early
voyages from 1603 forward, and continue the narrative from 1618 to 1629.

6. A general treatise on the duties of the mariner.


_English Translations_

1. The _Bref Discours_, in a translation by Alice Wilmere, was published
by the Hakluyt Society in 1859.

2. The _Des Sauvages_ (1604) was translated in _Purchas His Pilgrimes_
(1625).

3. The _Voyages_ of 1604-18 inclusive were translated by C. P. Otis for
the Prince Society of Boston, in three volumes, 1878-82, with the Rev.
E. F. Slafter as editor. This is a fine work, but not easily accessible
in its original form. Fortunately, Professor Otis's translation has been
reprinted, with an introduction and notes by Professor W. L. Grant, in
the _Original Narratives of Early American History_ (Scribners, 1907).
The passages quoted in the present volume are taken from Otis's
translation, with occasional changes.

4. The _Voyages_ of 1604-16 inclusive have also been well translated by
Annie Nettleton Bourne, with an introduction and notes by Professor E.
G. Bourne (A. S. Barnes and Co., 1906). This translation follows the
edition of 1632, and also gives the translation of _Des Sauvages_ which
appears in Purchas.


_General Literature_

The career of Champlain is treated in many historical works, of which
the following are a few: Parkman, _Pioneers of France in the New
World_; Dionne, _Samuel de Champlain_ (in the 'Makers of Canada'
series); Biggar, _Early Trading Companies of New France_; Slafter,
_Champlain_ (in Winsor's _Narrative and Critical History of America_,
vol. iv, part i, chap, iii); Salone, _La Colonisation de la
Nouvelle-France_; Sulte, _Histoire des Canadiens-Français_; Ferland,
_Cours d'Histoire du Canada_; Garneau, _Histoire du Canada_, fifth
edition, edited by the author's grandson, Hector Garneau.


_Portrait_

Unfortunately, there is no authentic portrait of Champlain. That
ascribed to Moncornet is undoubtedly spurious, as has been proved by V.
H. Paltsits in _Acadiensis_, vol. iv, pp. 306-11.




INDEX


Acadia, 22-3;
  the first French colony in, 24, 34-7, 40-8, 52-5;
  abandoned, 56-8.

Alexander, Sir William, his interest in Acadia, 127 and note.

Algonquins, the, 68-9, 86-7, 101-2, 113-14;
  their expedition against the Iroquois, 87-96.

America, early opinions regarding, 13.

Armouchiquois, the, 38, 39-40, 49-52.


Basques, the, 56 n.;
  defy French trading monopoly at Tadoussac, 63, 64.

Boyer, his public apology to Champlain, 78-9.

Brulé, Étienne, explorer and interpreter, 97-8.


Caën, Emery de, represents France in the restoration of Quebec, 129.

Caën, William and Emery de,
  granted a monopoly in New France 79-80, 117, 119-120;
  deprived of their charter, 122;
  monopoly restored, 129-30.

Cartier, Jacques, 61.

Champdoré, with Champlain at Port Royal, 46.

Champlain, Samuel de,
  his birth and parentage, 2-3;
  serves in the Wars of the League, 6-8;
  his voyage to the West Indies and Mexico, 8-10;
  his first voyage to the St Lawrence, 11-12, 16, 19-21;
  with De Monts' expedition to Acadia, 23, 26-43;
  his work at Port Royal, 43-6;
  with Poutrincourt's exploring expedition, 47-52;
  founds the Order of Good Cheer at Port Royal, 52-4;
  his second voyage to the St Lawrence and the founding of Quebec,
      59-68, 81, 82-3, 123;
  a conspiracy to kill him, 64-5; his habitation, 66-7;
  his Indian policy, 68-70, 87, 97, 104-5;
  organizes a trading company in France and secures a monopoly, becoming
      lieutenant-general of New France, 71-5;
  his difficulties with his company, 77-80;
  his expedition with the Algonquins against the Iroquois, 87-96, 101-2;
  his marriage, 117-18;
  is grossly deceived by Nicolas Vignau, 98-104;
  wounded in expedition with the Hurons against the Onondagas, 104-12;
  winters with the Hurons, 112-15, 146, 148-50;
  his work as king's lieutenant in Quebec, 116-17, 119, 134;
  captured and taken to London, 124-6, 127;
  his reception on his return to Quebec, 130-1;
  his last years and death, 133-6;
  his writings and character, 84-5, 137-51, 152-3;
  a comparison with Lescarbot, 55-7, 140-3;
  his patriotism, 12, 62, 78, 84;
  his strong geographical instinct, 9-10, 20, 26-7, 29, 55, 139-40, 148;
  his ambition to discover a westerly route to the East, 26, 62, 69, 84,
      97, 103;
  his explorations, 21, 30, 35-6, 38-40, 41, 44, 47-9, 84-6, 96, 99-101,
      105-8.

Champlain, Madame, 117-18.

Champlain's Company,
  its charter, 74-5;
  its treatment of Louis Hébert and failure to encourage colonization,
      76-8;
  deprived of its monopoly, 79.

Chastes, Aymar de, 24;
  sends Champlain on his first voyage to the St Lawrence, 11-12, 16, 19,
      20-1.

Chauvin, Pierre, secures monopoly of the fur trade in the St Lawrence,
      16, 18-19, 62.

Coligny, Admiral de, his interest in New France, 14.

Colombo, Don Francisco, and Champlain, 8.

Company of One Hundred Associates, founding of the, 122-3, 129;
  disaster befalls it, 124, 125.

Condé, Prince de, viceroy of Canada, 73-4, 75, 78.


Duval, Jean,
  his plot to kill Champlain, 64;
  suffers death, 65.


France,
  and the Wars of the League, 6-8;
  her colonization policy, 10-11, 15, 17, 18, 25, 28, 61-2, 117, 121,
      132;
  and trading monopolies in New France, 19 and note, 26-7, 56-57, 79,
      80;
  her magnificent opportunity of colonial expansion, 31-3;
  the Huguenot revolt at La Rochelle, 123-4;
  war with Britain, 124-6;
  her rivalry with the House of Hapsburg, 121, 128 and note;
  her colonial policy retarded by her ambitious foreign policy, 127-9.


Georgian Bay, Champlain at, 105-6.

Gosnold, Bartholomew, an English navigator, 13, 16.

Great Britain,
  her colonization policy, 14-15;
  founds a colony in America, 16-17, 33, 82;
  her capture of New France, 124-7.


Hébert, Louis,
  in Acadia, 28, 29;
  scurvily treated by Champlain's Company, 76-7;
  his farm in Quebec, 67, 80-1.

Henry IV, 7, 8;
  his interest in colonial expansion, 10-11, 17, 18, 24, 25, 60, 121;
  assassinated, 71.

Holland, her interest in America, 14-16, 17.

Hudson, Henry, explorer, 17, 66, 95 n.

Huguenots, the, forbidden to settle in New France, 133.

Hurons, the, 68-9, 113-14;
  their expedition against the Onondagas, 104-12;
  their welcome to Champlain on his return to Quebec, 130-1.


Indians,
  their tactics when on a war expedition, 89-92;
  when retreating, 110-11;
  some customs of, 95, 102;
  missions to, 132-3, 134.

Iroquois,
  and Champlain, 68-9;
  their battle with the Algonquins, 91-5, 97;
  with the Hurons, 108-10.


James I, and colonization, 16, 17.

Jeannin, President, and Champlain, 74.

Jesuits, established at Quebec, 118-19, 129, 132, 133, 149.


Kirke, Jarvis or Gervase, and his sons, their expedition against New
      France, 124-6, 127.

Kirke, Lewis,
  his capture of Quebec, 124-6;
  restores it to France, 129.

Kirke, Thomas, 124;
  with his brother represents England in the restoration of Quebec, 129.


Lake Champlain, discovery of, 86, 91, 96-7.

Lalemant, Father Charles, at Quebec, 129, 133, 136.

La Roche, his colony on Sable Island, 18.

La Rochelle, revolt of, 123-4.

Le Caron, Father Joseph, among the Hurons, 105.

Le Jeune, Father Paul,
  his arrival at Quebec, 129, 131, 133;
  his appreciation of Champlain, 135-6.

Lescarbot, Marc, 28, 29, 55-6;
  quoted on De Monts' colony in Acadia, 30, 47, 52, 52-4, 57-8;
  a comparison with Champlain, 55, 140-3.


Marais, Des, with Champlain in New France, 87, 88.

Marsolet, Nicolas, a guide and interpreter, 97-8.

Micmacs, the, 38.

Montagnais, the, 86 n., 93, 96.

Montmorency, Duke of, 26-7;
  viceroy of Canada, 78, 79, 80.

Monts, Sieur de, 16, 24;
  his trading company and monopoly, 22 n., 25-7, 28, 29, 56-7, 60-1, 68;
  his colonizing expedition to Acadia, 23, 28-43;
  equips Champlain's expedition to the St Lawrence, 60-1, 62-3, 70-2;
  member of Champlain's Company, 75.


New France, 23;
  and the trading companies, 19 and note;
  explorations in, 21, 23, 84;
  religious strife in, 117;
  the Huguenots forbidden to settle in, 117, 123, 133;
  surrendered to Britain, 126;
  restored to France, 127;
  progress in retarded by the Thirty Years' War, 128-9.

Nicolet, Jean, an explorer and interpreter, 98, 135.

Norumbega, what it comprised, 28 n., 36.


Onondagas, the, 104, 108-10.


Pontgravé, Sieur du,
  his voyages to New France, 20 and note; with De Monts' expedition to
      Acadia, 28, 31, 37, 42;
  left in command at Port Royal, 43-6;
  with Champlain in the St Lawrence, 61, 63, 65, 68, 87.

Port Mouton, De Monts' expedition at, 29-31.

Port Royal,
  the French colony at, 34, 40-6, 47;
  Order of Good Cheer founded, 52-4;
  colony abandoned, but re-established, 56-8;
  captured by the British, 76.

Poutrincourt, Seigneur de, with De Monts in Acadia, 28-9, 31, 41-2;
  his colonizing expedition to Port Royal, 46-56, 58.

Prevert, a mariner of St Malo, 20, 34.


Quebec, 59-60, 62, 81;
  Champlain reaches, 64, 66-7;
  hard times in, 67-8, 83, 87;
  two bright spots, 80-1;
  captured by the Kirkes, 124-6;
  restored to France, 127.


Raleigh, Sir Walter, his colony in America, 14, 16.

Ralleau, with Champlain in Acadia, 30, 46.

Récollets, the, in New France, 80, 119.

Richelieu, Cardinal,
  his energetic colonial policy, 120-3, 129, 133;
  succumbs to European interests, 124, 127-8 n.


Sagard, Gabriel, a Récollet missionary, 77.

St Croix, the French colony at, 34-5, 37.

St Germain-en-Laye, treaty of, 127.

St Lawrence, the, 22, 61-2;
  Champlain's explorations of, 21, 84.

Soissons, Comte de, and Champlain, 73.

Spain, her early conquests in America, 8, 12-13.

Sully, Duc de, opposes French colonization, 17, 25, 61, 121.

Suza, treaty of, 126.


Tessouät, an Algonquin chief, 102.

Thirty Years' War, its effect on New France, 128 and note.

Three Rivers, erection of fort at, 134.


Ventadour, Duc de, viceroy of New France, 116, 117.

Vignau, Nicolas, 97;
  deceives Champlain with a story of the North Sea, 98-101;
  his punishment, 103-4.


Wars of the League, the, 6-8.




_THE CHRONICLES OF CANADA_

Edited by George M. Wrong and H. H. Langton
of the University of Toronto

A series of thirty-two freshly-written narratives for popular reading,
designed to set forth, in historic continuity, the principal events
and movements in Canada, from the Norse Voyages to the Railway
Builders.


PART I. THE FIRST EUROPEAN VISITORS

    1. _The Dawn of Canadian History_
        A Chronicle of Aboriginal Canada
                        BY STEPHEN LEACOCK

    2. _The Mariner of St Malo_
        A Chronicle of the Voyages of Jacques Cartier
                        BY STEPHEN LEACOCK


PART II. THE RISE OF NEW FRANCE

    3. _The Founder of New France_
        A Chronicle of Champlain
                        BY CHARLES W. COLBY

    4. _The Jesuit Missions_
        A Chronicle of the Cross in the Wilderness
                        BY THOMAS GUTHRIE MARQUIS

    5. _The Seigneurs of Old Canada_
        A Chronicle of New-World Feudalism
                        BY WILLIAM BENNETT MUNRO

    6. _The Great Intendant_
        A Chronicle of Jean Talon
                        BY THOMAS CHAPAIS

    7. _The Fighting Governor_
        A Chronicle of Frontenac
                        BY CHARLES W. COLBY


PART III. THE ENGLISH INVASION

    8. _The Great Fortress_
        A Chronicle of Louisbourg
                        BY WILLIAM WOOD

    9. _The Acadian Exiles_
        A Chronicle of the Land of Evangeline
                        BY ARTHUR G. DOUGHTY

   10. _The Passing of New France_
        A Chronicle of Montcalm
                        BY WILLIAM WOOD

   11. _The Winning of Canada_
        A Chronicle of Wolfe
                        BY WILLIAM WOOD


PART IV. THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH CANADA

   12. _The Father of British Canada_
        A Chronicle of Carleton
                        BY WILLIAM WOOD

   13. _The United Empire Loyalists_
        A Chronicle of the Great Migration
                        BY W. STEWART WALLACE

   14. _The War with the United States_
        A Chronicle of 1812
                        BY WILLIAM WOOD


PART V. THE RED MAN IN CANADA

   15. _The War Chief of the Ottawas_
        A Chronicle of the Pontiac War
                        BY THOMAS GUTHRIE MARQUIS

   16. _The War Chief of the Six Nations_
        A Chronicle of Joseph Brant
                        BY LOUIS AUBREY WOOD

   17. _Tecumseh_
        A Chronicle of the last Great Leader of his People
                        BY ETHEL T. RAYMOND


PART VI. PIONEERS OF THE NORTH AND WEST

   18. _The 'Adventurers of England' on Hudson Bay_
        A Chronicle of the Fur Trade in the North
                        BY AGNES C. LAUT

   19. _Pathfinders of the Great Plains_
        A Chronicle of La Vérendrye and his Sons
                        BY LAWRENCE J. BURPEE

   20. _Adventurers of the Far North_
        A Chronicle of the Arctic Seas
                        BY STEPHEN LEACOCK

   21. _The Red River Colony_
        A Chronicle of the Beginnings of Manitoba
                        BY LOUIS AUBREY WOOD

   22. _Pioneers of the Pacific Coast_
        A Chronicle of Sea Rovers and Fur Hunters
                        BY AGNES C. LAUT

   23. _The Cariboo Trail_
        A Chronicle of the Gold-fields of British Columbia
                        BY AGNES C. LAUT


PART VII. THE STRUGGLE FOR POLITICAL FREEDOM

   24. _The Family Compact_
        A Chronicle of the Rebellion in Upper Canada
                        BY W. STEWART WALLACE

   25. _The Patriotes of '37_
        A Chronicle of the Rebellion in Lower Canada
                        BY ALFRED D. DECELLES

   26. _The Tribune of Nova Scotia_
        A Chronicle of Joseph Howe
                        BY WILLIAM LAWSON GRANT

   27. _The Winning of Popular Government_
        A Chronicle of the Union of 1841
                        BY ARCHIBALD MACMECHAN


PART VIII. THE GROWTH OF NATIONALITY

   28. _The Fathers of Confederation_
       A Chronicle of the Birth of the Dominion
                        BY A. H. U. COLQUHOUN

   29. _The Day of Sir John Macdonald_
       A Chronicle of the Early Years of the Dominion
                        BY SIR JOSEPH POPE

   30. _The Day of Sir Wilfrid Laurier_
       A Chronicle of Our Own Times
                        BY OSCAR D. SKELTON


PART IX. NATIONAL HIGHWAYS

   31. _All Afloat_
       A Chronicle of Craft and Waterways
                        BY WILLIAM WOOD

   32. _The Railway Builders_
       A Chronicle of Overland Highways
                        BY OSCAR D. SKELTON


Published by

Glasgow, Brook & Company

TORONTO, CANADA




Transcriber's Notes:


Inconsistencies in the accenting of words retained (Québec, Quebec;
régime, regime). In the case of "Quebec", the accented version comes
from part of the French title of a book while the non-accented version
is used within English text.

Footnote 8, original spelling of "Pyrenees" retained. Accented version
would be "Pyrénées". (their close neighbourhood to the Pyrenees.)

Index entry under Brulé, "Etienne" changed to "Étienne" to conform with
spelling in rest of text.




[End of _The Founder of New France: A Chronicle of Champlain_
by Charles W. Colby]