Voyages of Samuel De Champlain Volume I Part 13

In completing this memoir, the reader can hardly fail to be impressed, not to say disappointed, by the fact that results apparently insignificant should thus far have followed a life of able, honest, unselfish, heroic labor. The colony was still small in numbers, the acres subdued and brought into cultivation were few, and the aggregate yearly products were meagre.

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

ENDNOTES:

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

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

119. _Vide Doc.u.ments inedits sur Samuel de Champlain_, par etienne Charavay, archiviste-paleographe, Paris, 1875.

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

ANNOTATIONES POSTSCRIPTAE

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

PONT GRAVe. The whole career of this distinguished merchant was closely a.s.sociated with Canadian trade. He was in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in the interest of Chauvin, in 1599. He commanded the expedition sent out by De Chaste in 1603, when Champlain made his first exploration of the River St.

Lawrence. He was intrusted with the chief management of the trade carried on with the Indians by the various companies and viceroys under Champlain's lieutenancy until the removal of the colony by the English, when his active life was closed by the infirmities of age. He was always a warm and trusted friend of Champlain, who sought his counsel on all occasions of importance.

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

of Charente Inferieure_, La Roch.e.l.le, July 17, 1875.

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

PLYMOUTH HARBOR. This note will modify our remarks on p. 78, Vol. II.

Champlain entered this harbor on the 18th of July, 1605, and, lingering but a single day, sailed out of it on the 19th. He named it _Port St. Louis_, or _Port du Cap St. Louis_.--_Vide antea_, pp. 53, 54; Vol. II., pp. 76-78.

As the fruit of his brief stay in the harbor of Plymouth, he made an outline sketch of the bay which preserves most of its important features.

He delineates what is now called on our Coast Survey maps _Long Beach_ and _Duxbury Beach_. At the southern extremity of the latter is the headland known as the _Gurnet_. Within the bay he figures two islands, of which he speaks also in the text. These two islands are mentioned in Mourt's Relation, printed in 1622.--_Vide Dexter's ed._ p. 60. They are also figured on an old map of the date of 1616, found by J. R. Brodhead in the Royal Archives at the Hague; likewise on a map by Lucini, without date, but, as it has Boston on it, it must have been executed after 1630. These maps may be found in _Doc. His. of the State of New York_, Vol. I.; _Doc.u.ments relating to the Colonial His. of the State of New York_, Vol.

I., p. 13. The reader will find these islands likewise indicated on the map of William Wood, ent.i.tled _The South part of New-England, as it is Planted this yeare, 1634_.--_Vide New England Prospect_, Prince Society ed. They appear also on Blaskowitz's "Plan of Plimouth," 1774.--_Vide Changes in the Harbor of Plymouth_, by Prof. Henry Mitch.e.l.l, Chief of Physical Hydrography, U. S. Coast Survey, Report of 1876, Appendix No. 9. In the collections of the Ma.s.s. Historical Society for 1793, Vol. II., in an article ent.i.tled _A Topographical Description of Duxborough_, but without the author's name, the writer speaks of two pleasant islands within the harbor, and adds that Saquish was joined to the Gurnet by a narrow piece of land, but for several years the water had made its way across and _insulated_ it.

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

MOUNT DESERT. This island was discovered on the fifth day of September, 1604. Champlain having been comissioned by Sieur De Monts, the Patentee of La Cadie, to make discoveries on the coast southwest of the Saint Croix, left the mouth of that river in a small barque of seventeen or eighteen tons, with twelve sailors and two savages as guides, and anch.o.r.ed the same evening, apparently near Bar Harbor. While here, they explored Frenchman's Bay as far on the north as the Narrows, where Champlain says the distance across to the mainland is not more than a hundred paces. The next day, on the sixth of the month, they sailed two leagues, and came to Otter Creek Cove, which extends up into the island a mile or more, nestling between the spurs of Newport Mountain on the east and Green Mountain on the west.

Champlain says this cove is "at the foot of the mountains," which clearly identifies it, as it is the only one in the neighborhood answering to this description. In this cove they discovered several savages, who had come there to hunt beavers and to fish. On a visit to Otter Cove Cliffs in June, 1880, we were told by an old fisherman ninety years of age, living on the borders of this cove, and the statement was confirmed by several others, that on the creek at the head of the cove, there was, within his memory, a well-known beaver dam.

The Indians whose acquaintance Champlain made at this place conducted him among the islands, to the mouth of the Pen.o.bscot, and finally up the river, to the site of the present city of Bangor. It was on this visit, on the fifth of September, 1604, that Champlain gave the island the name of _Monts-deserts_. The French generally gave to places names that were significant. In this instance they did not depart from their usual custom.

The summits of most of the mountains on this island, then as now, were only rocks, being dest.i.tute of trees, and this led Champlain to give its significant name, which, in plain English, means the island of the desert, waste, or uncultivatable mountains. If we follow the a.n.a.logy of the language, either French or English, it should be p.r.o.nounced with the accent on the penult, Mount Desert, and not on the last syllable, as we sometimes hear it. This principle cannot be violated without giving to the word a meaning which, in this connection, would be obviously inappropriate and absurd.

CARTE DE LA NOUVELLE FRANCE, 1632. As the map of 1632 has often been referred to in this work, we have introduced into this volume a heliotype copy. The original was published in the year of its date, but it had been completed before Champlain left Quebec in 1629. The reader will bear in mind that it was made from Champlain's personal explorations, and from such other information as could be obtained from the meagre sources which existed at that early period, and not from any accurate or scientific surveys. The information which he obtained from others was derived from more or less doubtful sources, coming as it did from fishermen, fur-traders, and the native inhabitants. The two former undoubtedly constructed, from time to time, rude maps of the coast for their own use.

From these Champlain probably obtained valuable hints, and he was thus able to supplement his own knowledge of the regions with which he was least familiar on the Atlantic coast and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Beyond the limits of his personal explorations on the west, his information was wholly derived from the savages. No European had penetrated into those regions, if we except his servant, etienne Brule, whose descriptions could have been of very little service. The deficiencies of Champlain's map are here accordingly most apparent. Rivers and lakes farther west than the Georgian Bay, and south of it, are sometimes laid down where none exist, and, again, where they do exist, none are portrayed. The outline of Lake Huron, for ill.u.s.tration, was entirely misconceived. A river-like line only of water represents Lake Erie, while Lake Michigan does not appear at all.

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

It will be observed that there is no recognition on the map of any English settlement within the limits of New England. In 1629, when the _Carte de la Nouvelle France_ was completed, an English colony had been planted at Plymouth, Ma.s.s., nine years, and another at Piscataqua, or Portsmouth, N.

H., six years. The Rev. William Blaxton had been for several years in occupation of the peninsula of Shawmut, or Boston. Salem had also been settled one or two years. These last two may not, it is true, have come to Champlain's knowledge. But none of these settlements are laid down on the map. The reason of these omissions is obvious. The whole territory from at least the 40th degree of north lat.i.tude, stretching indefinitely to the north, was claimed by the French. As possession was, at that day, the most potent argument for the justice of a territorial claim, the recognition, on a French map, of these English settlements, would have been an indiscretion which the wise and prudent Champlain would not be likely to commit.

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

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

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

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

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

A third portrait of Champlain may be found in L'Histoire de France, par M.

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

PREFACE TO THE TRANSLATION.

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

1. _Des Sauuages, ou, Voyage de Samuel Champlain, de Brouage, faict en la France Nouuelle, l'an mil six cens trois. A Paris, chez Claude de Monstr'oeil, tenant sa boutique en la Cour du Palais, au nom de Jesus.

1604. Auec privilege du Roy_. 12mo. 4 preliminary leaves. Text 36 leaves.

The t.i.tle-page contains also a sub-t.i.tle, enumerating in detail the subjects treated of in the work. Another copy with slight verbal changes has no date on the t.i.tle-page, but in both the "privilege" is dated November 15, 1603. The copies which we have used are in the Library of Harvard College, and in that of Mrs. John Carter Brown, of Providence, R.

I.

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

The next publication appeared in 1613, with the following t.i.tle:--

2. _Les Voyages du Sieur de Champlain Xaintongeois, Capitaine ordinaire pour le Roy, en la marine. Divisez en deux livres. ou, journal tres-fidele des observations faites es descouuertures de la Nouuelle France: tant en la description des terres, costes, riuieres, ports, haures, leurs hauteurs, & plusieurs delinaisons de la guide-aymant; qu'en la creance des peuples, leur superslition, facon de viure & de guerroyer: enrichi de quant.i.te de figures, A Paris, chez Jean Berjon, rue S. Jean de Beauuais, au Cheual volant, & en sa boutique au Palais, la gallerie des prisonniers.

M.DC.XIII. Avec privilege dv Roy_. 4to. 10 preliminary leaves. Text, 325 pages; table 5 pp. One large folding map. One small map. 22 plates. The t.i.tle-page contains, in addition, a sub-t.i.tle in regard to the two maps.

The above-mentioned volume contains, also, the Fourth Voyage, bound in at the end, with the following t.i.tle:--

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

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

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

3. _Voyages et Descovvertures faites en la Novvelle France, depuis l'annee 1615. iusques la fin de l'annee 1618. Par le Sieur de Champlain, Cappitaine ordinaire pour le Roy en la Mer du Ponant. Seconde Edition. A Paris, chez Clavde Collet, au Palais, en la gallerie des Prisonniers.

M.D.C.XXVII. Avec privilege dv Roy_. 12mo. 8 preliminary leaves. Text 158 leaves, 6 plates. The t.i.tle-page contains, in addition, a sub-t.i.tle, giving an outline of the contents. The edition of 1627, belonging to the Library of Harvard College, contains likewise an illuminated t.i.tle-page, which we here give in heliotype. As this illuminated t.i.tle-page bears the date of 1619, it was probably that of the original edition of that date.

The next and last publication of Champlain was issued in 1632, with the following t.i.tle:--

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

There is also a long sub-t.i.tle, with a statement that the volume contains what occurred in New France in 1631. The volume is dedicated to Cardinal Richelieu. 4to. 16 preliminary pages. Text 308 pages. 6 plates, which are the same as those in the edition of 1619. "Seconde Partie," 310 pages. One large general map; table explanatory of map, 8 pages. "Traitte de la Marine," 54 pages. 2 plates. "Doctrine Chrestienne" and "L'Oraison Dominicale," 20 pages. Another copy gives the name of Sevestre as publisher, and another that of Pierre Le Mvr.