Voyages of Samuel De Champlain Volume II Part 2

17. Lescarbot writes this name Campseau; Champlain's orthography is Canceau; the English often write Canso, but more correctly Canseau. It has been derived from _Cansoke_, an Indian word, meaning _facing the frowning cliffs_.

18. The Cape and Island of Cape Breton appear to have taken their name from the fisherman of Brittany, who frequented that region as early as 1504 --_Vide Champlain's Voyages_, Paris 1632, p. 9.

Thevet sailed along the coast in 1556, and is quoted by Laverdiere, as follows: "In this land there is a province called Compestre de Berge, extending towards the south-east: in the eastern part of the same is the cape or promontory of Lorraine, called so by us; others have given it the came of the Cape of the Bretons, since the Bretons, the Bisayans, and Normans repair thither, and coast along on their way to Newfoundland to fish for codfish."

An inscription, "_tera que soy descuberta per pertonnes_," on an Old Portuguese map of 1520, declares it to be a country discovered by the Bretons. It is undoubtedly the oldest French name on any part of North America. On Gastaldo's map in Mattiolo's Italian translation of Ptolemy, 1548, the name of Breton is applied both to Nova Scotia and to the Island of Cape Breton.

19. Winthrop says that Mr. John Rose, who was cast away on Sable Island about 1633, "saw about eight hundred cattle, small and great, all red, and the largest he ever saw: and many foxes, wherof some perfect black."--_Whinthrop's Hist. New Eng._, Boston, 1853, Vol. I. p. 193.

Champlain doubtless obtained his information in regard to the cattle left upon Sable Island by the Portuguese from the from the report of Edward Haies on the voyage of Sir Humphrey Gilbert in 1583:

"Sablon lieth to the seaward of Cape Briton about twenty-five leagues, whither we were determined to goe vpon intelligence we had of a Portugal (during our abode in S. Johns) who was himselfe present, when the Portugals (aboue thirty yeeres past) did put in the same Island both Neat and Swine to breede, which were since exceedingly multiplied.

This seemed vnto vs very happy tidings, to haue in an Island lying so neere vnto the maine, which we intended to plant vpon. Such store of cattell, whereby we might at all times conueniently be relieued of victuall, and serued of store for breed."--_Edward Haies in Hakluyt's Voyages_, London, ed. 1810. Vol. III. p. 197.

20. "Loups marins," seals.

21. "The forty poor wretches whom he left on Sable Island found on the seash.o.r.e some wrecks of vessels, out of which they built barracks to s.h.i.+eld themselves from the severity of the weather. They were the remains of Spanish vessels, which had sailed to settle Cape Breton.

From these same s.h.i.+ps had come some sheep and cattle, which had multiplied on Sable Island; and this was for some time a resource for these poor exiles. Fish was their next food; and, when their clothes were worn out, they made new ones of seal-skin. At last, after a lapse of seven years, the king, having heard of their adventure, obliged Chedotel, the pilot, to go for them; but he found only twelve, the rest having died of their hards.h.i.+ps. His majesty desired to see those, who returned in the same guise as found by Chedotel, covered with seal-skin, with their hair and beard of a length and disorder that made them resemble the pretended river-G.o.ds, and so disfigured as to inspire horror. The king gave them fifty crowns apiece, and sent them home released from all process of law."--_Shea's Charlevoix_, New York, 1866, Vol. I. p. 244. See also _Sir William Alexander and American Colonization_, Prince Society, 1873, p. 174; _Murdoch's Nova Scotia_, Vol. I. p. 11; _Hakluyt_, Vol. II. pp. 679. 697.

22. This cape still bears the same name, and is the western point of the bay at the mouth of a river, likewise of the same name, in the county of Lunenberg, Nova Scotia. It is an abrupt cliff, rising up one hundred and fifty feet above the level of the sea. It could therefore be seen at a great distance, and appears to have been the first land sighted by them on the coast of La Cadie. A little north of Havre de Grace, in Normandy, the port from which De Monts and Champlain had sailed, is to be seen the high, commanding, rocky bluff, known as _Cap de la Heve_.

The place which they first sighted, similar at least in some respects, they evidently named after this bold and striking headland, which may, perhaps, have been the last object which they saw on leaving the sh.o.r.es of France. The word _Heve_ seems to have had a local meaning, as may be inferred from the following excerpt: "A name, in Lower Normandy, for cliffs hollowed out below, and where fishermen search for crabs."-- _Littre_. The harbor delineated on Champlain's local map is now called Palmerston Bay, and is at the mouth of Pet.i.t River. The lat.i.tude of this harbor is about 44 15'. De Laet's description is fuller than that of Champlain or Lescarbot.--_Vide Novus...o...b..s_, 1633, p. 51.

23. Liverpool, which for a long time bore the name of Port Rossignol; the lake at the head of the river, about ten miles long and two or three wide, the largest in Nova Scotia, still bears that appellation. The lat.i.tude is 44 2' 30".

24. "Lequel ils appelerent _Le Port du Mouton_, l'occasion d'un mouton qui s'estant nove revint bord, et fut mange de bonne guerre."-- _Histoire de la Nouvelle-France_, par Marc Lescarbot, Paris, 1612, Qvat. Liv. p. 449. It still bears the name of Port Mouton, and an island in the bay is called Mouton Island.

25. _Baye de Toutes-isles_. Lescarbot calls it "La Baye des Iles:" and Charlevoix, "Baye de toutes les Isles." It was the bay, or rather the waters, that stretch along the sh.o.r.es of Halifax County, between Owl's Head and Lis...o...b..River.

26. The confiscated provisions taken in the vessels of the Basque fur-traders and in that of Rossignol were, according to Lescarbot, found very useful. De Monts had given timely notice of his monopoly; and, whether it had reached them or not, they were doubtless wrong in law. Although De Monts treated them with gentleness, nevertheless it is not unlikely that a compromise would have been better policy than an entire confiscation of their property, as these Basques afterwards, on their return to France, gave him serious inconvenience. They were instrumental mainly in wresting from him his charter of La Cadie.

27. _Le Port du Cap Negre_. This port still bears the name of Negro Harbor. It is situated at the mouth of the Clyde, the small river referred to in the text.

28. Near Cape Sable Island, at what is now known as Barrington Harbor.

29. This is still called Cape Sable, and is the southern point of Sable Island, or, more properly, the cl.u.s.ter of rock, and islets that surround its southern extremity.

30. _Isle aux Cormorans_. It is difficult to distinguish with certainty the island here referred to, but it was probably Hope Island, as this lies directly in their way in crossing the bay, six leagues wide, which is now known as Townsend Bay. The bird here mentioned was the common cormorant. _Graculus carbo_, of a glossy greenish-black color, back and wings bronzy-gray; about three feet in length, and is common on our northern Atlantic coast: eminently gregarious, particularly in the breeding season, congregating in vast flocks. At the present time, it breeds in great numbers in Labrador and Newfoundland, and in the winter migrates as far south as the Middle States. They feed princ.i.p.ally upon fish, lay commonly two eggs, of a pale greenish color, overlaid with a white chalky substance.--_Vide Cones's Key to Nor. Am. Birds_. Boston, 1872. p. 302.

31. A cl.u.s.ter of islands now known as the Tousquet or Tusket Islands.

Further on, Champlain says they named them _Isles aux loups marins_.

Sea-Wolf Islands. About five leagues south of them is an island now called Seal Island. The four more which he saw a little further on were probably in Townsend Bay.

32. This is the Auk, family _Alcidae_, and must not be confounded with the penguin of the southern hemisphere, although it is described by the early navigators of the Northern Atlantic under that appellation. In Anthony Parkhurst's letter to Hakluyt, 1578, he says: "These birds are also called Penguins, and cannot flie, there is more meate in one of these then in a goose: the Frenchmen that fish neere the grand baie, do bring small store of flesh with them, but victuall themselves alwayes with these birds."--_Hakluyt_, London, ed. 1810, Vol. III. p. 172.

Edward Haies, in his report of the voyage of Sir Humphrey Gilbert in 1583, say's: "We had sight of an Island named Penguin, of a foule there breeding in abundance, almost incredible, which cannot flie, their wings not able to carry their body, being very large (not much lesse then a goose), and exceeding fat: which the Frenchmen use to take without difficulty upon that Island, and to barrell them up with salt."

_Idem_, p. 191.

The Auk is confined to the northern hemisphere, where it represents the penguins of the southern. Several species occur in the Northern Atlantic in almost incredible numbers: they are all marine, feed on fish and other animal substances exclusively, and lay from one to three eggs on the bare rocks. Those seen by Champlain and other early navigators were the Great Auk. _Alca impennis_, now nearly extinct. It was formerly found on the coast of New England, as is proved not only by the testimony of the primitive explorers, but by the remains found in sh.e.l.l-heaps. The latest discovery was of one found dead near St. Augustine, in Labrador, in 1870. A specimen of the Great Auk is preserved in the Cambridge Museum.--_Vide Coues's Key to North Am.

Birds_, Boston, 1872. p. 338.

33. The sea-wolf or _loup marin_ of Champlain is the marine mammiferous quadruped of the family Phocidae, known as the seal. Sea-wolf was a name applied to it by the early navigators.--_Vide Purchas's Pilgrims_, London, 1625. Vol. IV. p. 1385. Those here mentioned were the common seal, _Phoca vitulina_, which are still found on the coasts of Nova Scotia, vulgarly known as the harbor seal. They are thinly distributed as far south as Long Island Sound, but are found in great numbers in the waters of Labrador and Newfoundland, where they are taken for the oil obtained from them, and for the skins, which are used for various purposes in the arts.

34. The names given to these birds were such, doubtless, as were known to belong to birds similar in color, size, and figure in Europe. Some of them were probably misapplied. The name alone is not sufficient for identification.

35. This cape, near the entrance to Yarmouth, still bears the same name, from _fourchu_, forked. On a map of 1755, it is called Forked Cape, and near it is Fork Ledge and Forked Harbor.--_Memorials of English and French Commissaries_, London, 1755.

36. It still retains the name given to it by Champlain. It forms a part of the western limit of St. Mary's Bay, and a line drawn from it to the St. Croix, cutting the Grand Manan, would mark the entrance of the Bay of Fundy.

37. The Bay of Fundy was thus first named "Baye Francoise" by De Monts, and continued to be so called, as will appear by reference to the early maps, as that of De Laet, 1633; Charlevoix, 1744; Rouge, 1778. It first appears distinctly on the carte of Diego Homem of 1558, but without name. On Cabot's Mappe-Monde, in "Monuments de la Geographie," we find _rio fondo_, which may represent the Bay of Fundy, and may have suggested the name adopted by the English, which it still retains. Sir William Alexander's map, 1624, has Argal's Bay; Moll's map, 1712, has Fundi Bay; that of the English and French Commissaries, 1755, has Bay of Fundy, or Argal.

38. This strait, known by the name Pet.i.t Pa.s.sage, separates Long Island from Digby Neck.

39. A place called Little River, on Digby Neck.

40. Now known as Sandy Cove.

41. Lescarbot says of this iron mine, and of the silver mine above, that they were proved not to be abundant.

42. This was probably near Rossway.

43. This was clearly Smith Creek or Smelt River, which rises near Annapolis Basin, or the Port Royal Basin of the French.

44. He here doubtless refers to North Creek, at the north-eastern extremity of St. Mary's Bay.

45. Now Weymouth Harbor, on the south-eastern sh.o.r.e of St. Mary's Bay, at the mouth of Sissibou River, and directly opposite Sandy Cove, near the iron mine mentioned above.

46. The distance across the bay at this point, as here stated, is nearly accurate.

47. This is clearly a mistake; the true lat.i.tude at the Pet.i.t Pa.s.sage is 44 23'. It may here be remarked that Champlain's lat.i.tudes are very inaccurate, often varying more than half a degree; doubtless owing to the imperfection of the instruments which were employed in taking them.

48. They had been occupied in this exploration about three weeks, Lescarbot says a month, but this is an overstatement. By a careful examination of the text, it will appear that they departed from Port Mouton on the 19th of May, and that several days after their return, not less than nine, they were again in St. Mary's Bay, on the 16th of June. They had been absent, therefore, about twenty-one days. The lat.i.tude of Port Mouton, stated a little below to be 44, is in fact 43 57'.

49. This bay, still retaining its ancient appellation, was so named by Champlain on his first visit. "Ceste baye fut nommee la baye Saincte Marie."--_Champlain's Voyages_, 1632, Quebec ed., Vol. V. p. 716.

50. Nicholas Aubry, a young Parisian of good family, "vn certain homme d'eglise," as Lescarbot says, probably not long in holy orders, had undertaken this voyage with De Monts to gratify his desire to see the New World, though quite against the wishes of his friends, who had sent in vain to Honfleur to prevent his embarkation. After the search made by De Monts, with the sounding of trumpets and the discharge of cannon, they left St. Mary's Bay, having given up all expectation of his recovery. Some two weeks afterward, an expedition was Sent out to St. Mary's Bay, conducted by De Champdore, an experienced pilot, with a mineralogist, to search for silver and iron ore. While Some of the party were on a fis.h.i.+ng excursion, they rescued him, as stated in the text. The safe return of the young and too venturesome ecclesiastic gave great relief to De Monts, as Lescarbot says a Protestant was charged to have killed him, because they quarrelled sometimes about their religion.--_Vide Histoire de Nouvelle-France_, par Mare Lescarbot, Paris, 1612, Qvat. Liv. p. 453.

51. The partridge-berry, Mitch.e.l.la, a trailing evergreen, bearing scarlet berries, edible but nearly tasteless, which remain through the winter.

It is peculiar to America, and this is probably the first time it was noticed by any historical writer.

52. He was on the western side of Digby Neck, at its southern extremity, near the Pet.i.t Pa.s.sage on the sh.o.r.e of the Bay of Fundy.

CHAPTER III.

DESCRIPTION OF PORT ROYAL AND THE PECULIARITIES OF THE SAME.--ISLE HAUTE.-- PORT OF MINES.--BAYE FRANcOISE.-THE RIVER ST. JOHN, AND WHAT WE OBSERVED BETWEEN THE PORT OF MINES AND THE SAME.--THE ISLAND CALLED BY THE SAVAGES MANTHANE.--THE RIVER OF THE ETECHEMINS, AND SEVERAL FINE ISLANDS THERE.-- ST. CROIX ISLAND, AND OTHER NOTEWORTHY OBJECTS ON THIS COAST.