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Voyages of Samuel de Champlain, Vol. 1

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Transcriber's Notes:

The footnotes in the main portion of the original text, which are lengthy
and numerous, have been converted to endnotes that appear at the end of
each chapter. Their numeration is the same as in the original.

The original spelling remains unaltered, with the following exceptions:

1. This text was originally printed with tall-s. They have been replaced
here with ordinary 's.'

2. Some quotations from the 17th-century French reproduce manuscript
abbreviation marks (macrons over vowels). These represent 'n' or 'm' and
have been expanded.

3. In the transcription of some words of the Algonquian languages, the
original text of this edition uses a character that resembles an
infinity sign. This is taken from the old system that the Jesuits used
to record these languages, and represents a long, nasalized, unrounded
'o'. It is here represented with an '8'.




CHAMPLAIN'S VOYAGES.

[Illustration: Champlain (Samuel De) d'apres un portrait grave par
Moncornet]

VOYAGES OF SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN.

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH

By CHARLES POMEROY OTIS, Ph.D.

WITH HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS, and a MEMOIR

By the REV. EDMUND F. SLAFTER, A.M.

VOL. I. 1567-1635

FIVE ILLUSTRATIONS.

Editor: The REV EDMUND F SLAFTER, A.M.




PREFACE

The labors and achievements of the navigators and explorers, who visited
our coasts between the last years of the fifteenth and the early years of
the seventeenth centuries, were naturally enough not fully appreciated by
their contemporaries, nor were their relations to the future growth of
European interests and races on this continent comprehended in the age in
which they lived. Numberless events in which they were actors, and personal
characteristics which might have illustrated and enriched their history,
were therefore never placed upon record. In intimate connection with the
career of Cabot, Cartier, Roberval, Ribaut, Laudonnière, Gosnold, Pring,
and Smith, there were vast domains of personal incident and interesting
fact over which the waves of oblivion have passed forever. Nor has
Champlain been more fortunate than the rest. In studying his life and
character, we are constantly finding ourselves longing to know much where
we are permitted to know but little. His early years, the processes of his
education, his home virtues, his filial affection and duty, his social and
domestic habits and mode of life, we know imperfectly; gathering only a few
rays of light here and there in numerous directions, as we follow him along
his lengthened career. The reader will therefore fail to find very much
that he might well desire to know, and that I should have been but too
happy to embody in this work. In the positive absence of knowledge, this
want could only be supplied from the field of pure imagination. To draw
from this source would have been alien both to my judgment and to my taste.

But the essential and important events of Champlain's public career are
happily embalmed in imperishable records. To gather these up and weave them
into an impartial and truthful narrative has been the simple purpose of my
present attempt. If I have succeeded in marshalling the authentic deeds and
purposes of his life into a complete whole, giving to each undertaking and
event its true value and importance, so that the historian may more easily
comprehend the fulness of that life which Champlain consecrated to the
progress of geographical knowledge, to the aggrandizement of France, and to
the dissemination of the Christian faith in the church of which he was a
member, I shall feel that my aim has been fully achieved.

The annotations which accompany Dr. Otis's faithful and scholarly
translation are intended to give to the reader such information as he may
need for a full understanding of the text, and which he could not otherwise
obtain without the inconvenience of troublesome, and, in many instances, of
difficult and perplexing investigations. The sources of my information are
so fully given in connection with the notes that no further reference to
them in this place is required.

In the progress of the work, I have found myself under great obligations to
numerous friends for the loan of rare books, and for valuable suggestions
and assistance. The readiness with which historical scholars and the
custodians of our great depositories of learning have responded to my
inquiries, and the cordiality and courtesy with which they have uniformly
proffered their assistance, have awakened my deepest gratitude. I take this
opportunity to tender my cordial thanks to those who have thus obliged and
aided me. And, while I cannot spread the names of all upon these pages, I
hasten to mention, first of all, my friend, Dr. Otis, with whom I have been
so closely associated, and whose courteous manner and kindly suggestions
have rendered my task always an agreeable one. I desire, likewise, to
mention Mr. George Lamb, of Boston, who has gratuitously executed and
contributed a map, illustrating the explorations of Champlain; Mr. Justin
Winsor, of the Library of Harvard College; Mr. Charles A. Cutter, of the
Boston Athenaeum; Mr. John Ward Dean, of the Library of the New England
Historic Genealogical Society; Mrs. John Carter Brown, of Providence,
R. I.; Miss S. E. Dorr, of Boston; Monsieur L. Delisle, Directeur Général
de la Bibliothèque Nationale, of Paris; M. Meschinet De Richemond,
Archiviste de la Charente Inférieure, La Rochelle, France; the Hon. Charles
H. Bell, of Exeter, N. H.; Francis Parkman, LL.D., of Boston; the Abbé H.
R. Casgrain, of Rivière Ouelle, Canada; John G. Shea, LL.D., of New York;
Mr. James M. LeMoine, of Quebec; and Mr. George Prince, of Bath, Maine.

I take this occasion to state for the information of the members of the
Prince Society, that some important facts contained in the Memoir had not
been received when the text and notes of the second volume were ready for
the press, and, to prevent any delay in the completion of the whole work,
Vol. II. was issued before Vol. I., as will appear by the dates on their
respective title-pages.

E. F. S.

BOSTON, 14 ARLINGTON STREET, November 10, 1880.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE
MEMOIR OF SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN
ANNOTATIONES POSTSCRIPTAE
PREFACE TO THE TRANSLATION
DEDICATION TO THE ADMIRAL, CHARLES DE MONTMORENCY
EXTRACT FROM THE LICENSE OF THE KING
THE SAVAGES, OR VOYAGE OF SIEUR DE CHAMPLAIN, 1603
CHAMPLAIN'S EXPLANATION OF THE CARTE DE LA NOVVELLE FRANCE, 1632
THE PRINCE SOCIETY, ITS CONSTITUTION AND MEMBERS

ILLUSTRATIONS.

ENGRAVED PORTRAIT OF CHAMPLAIN ON WOOD, AFTER THE ENGRAVING OF
MONCORNET BY E. RONJAT, _heliotype_.
MAP ILLUSTRATING THE EXPLORATIONS OF CHAMPLAIN, _heliotype_.
ENGRAVED PORTRAIT OF CHAMPLAIN, AFTER A PAINTING BY TH. HAMEL FROM AN
ENGRAVING OF MONCORNET, _steel_.
ILLUMINATED TITLE-PAGE OF THE VOYAGE OF 1615 ET 1618, _heliotype_.
CARTE DE LA NOVVELLE FRANCE, 1632, _heliotype_.

INDEX




MEMOIR OF SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN.


CHAPTER I.

PARENTAGE--BIRTH--HOME AT BROUAGE--ITS SITUATION--A MILITARY STATION--ITS
SALT WORKS--HIS EDUCATION--EARLY LOVE OF THE SEA--QUARTER-MASTER IN
BRITTANY--CATHOLICS AND HUGUENOTS--CATHERINE DE MEDICIS--THE LEAGUE--DUKE
DE MERCOEUR--MARSHAL D'AUMONT--DE SAINT LUC--MARSHAL DE BRISSAC--PEACE OF
VERVINS


Champlain was descended from an ancestry whose names are not recorded among
the renowned families of France. He was the son of Antoine de Champlain, a
captain in the marine, and his wife Marguerite LeRoy. They lived in the
little village of Brouage, in the ancient province of Saintonge. Of their
son Samuel, no contemporaneous record is known to exist indicating either
the day or year of his birth. The period at which we find him engaged in
active and responsible duties, such as are usually assigned to mature
manhood, leads to the conjecture that he was born about the year 1567. Of
his youth little is known. The forces that contributed to the formation of
his character are mostly to be inferred from the abode of his early years,
the occupations of those by whom he was surrounded, and the temper and
spirit of the times in which he lived.

Brouage is situated in a low, marshy region, on the southern bank of an
inlet or arm of the sea, on the southwestern shores of France, opposite to
that part of the Island of Oleron where it is separated from the mainland
only by a narrow channel. Although this little town can boast a great
antiquity, it never at any time had a large population. It is mentioned by
local historians as early as the middle of the eleventh century. It was a
seigniory of the family of Pons. The village was founded by Jacques de
Pons, after whose proper name it was for a time called Jacopolis, but soon
resumed its ancient appellation of Brouage.

An old chronicler of the sixteenth century informs us that in his time it
was a port of great importance, and the theatre of a large foreign
commerce. Its harbor, capable of receiving large ships, was excellent,
regarded, indeed, as the finest in the kingdom of France. [1] It was a
favorite idea of Charles VIII. to have at all times several war-ships in
this harbor, ready against any sudden invasion of this part of the coast.

At the period of Champlain's boyhood, the village of Brouage had two
absorbing interests. First, it had then recently become a military post of
importance; and second, it was the centre of a large manufacture of salt.
To these two interests, the whole population gave their thoughts, their
energy, and their enterprise.

In the reign of Charles IX., a short time before or perhaps a little after
the birth of Champlain, the town was fortified, and distinguished Italian
engineers were employed to design and execute the work. [2] To prevent a
sudden attack, it was surrounded by a capacious moat. At the four angles
formed by the moat were elevated structures of earth and wood planted upon
piles, with bastions and projecting angles, and the usual devices of
military architecture for the attainment of strength and facility of
defence. [3]

During the civil wars, stretching over nearly forty years of the last half
of the sixteenth century, with only brief and fitful periods of peace, this
little fortified town was a post ardently coveted by both of the contending
parties. Situated on the same coast, and only a few miles from Rochelle,
the stronghold of the Huguenots, it was obviously exceedingly important to
them that it should be in their possession, both as the key to the commerce
of the surrounding country and from the very great annoyance which an enemy
holding it could offer to them in numberless ways. Notwithstanding its
strong defences, it was nevertheless taken and retaken several times during
the struggles of that period. It was surrendered to the Huguenots in 1570,
but was immediately restored on the peace that presently followed. The king
of Navarre [4] took it by strategy in 1576, placed a strong garrison in it,
repaired and strengthened its fortifications; but the next year it was
forced to surrender to the royal army commanded by the duke of Mayenne. [5]
In 1585, the Huguenots made another attempt to gain possession of the town.
The Prince of Condé encamped with a strong force on the road leading to
Marennes, the only avenue to Brouage by land, while the inhabitants of
Rochelle co-operated by sending down a fleet which completely blocked up
the harbor. [6] While the siege was in successful progress, the prince
unwisely drew off a part of his command for the relief of the castle of
Angiers; [7] and a month later the siege was abandoned and the Huguenot
forces were badly cut to pieces by de Saint Luc, [8] the military governor
of Brouage, who pursued them in their retreat.

The next year, 1586, the town was again threatened by the Prince of Condé,
who, having collected another army, was met by De Saint Luc near the island
of Oleron, who sallied forth from Brouage with a strong force; and a
conflict ensued, lasting the whole day, with equal loss on both sides, but
with no decisive results.

Thus until 1589, when the King of Navarre, the leader of the Huguenots,
entered into a truce with Henry III., from Champlain's birth through the
whole period of his youth and until he entered upon his manhood, the little
town within whose walls he was reared was the fitful scene of war and
peace, of alarm and conflict.

But in the intervals, when the waves of civil strife settled into the calm
of a temporary peace, the citizens returned with alacrity to their usual
employment, the manufacture of salt, which was the absorbing article of
commerce in their port.

This manufacture was carried on more extensively in Saintonge than in any
other part of France. The salt was obtained by subjecting water drawn from
the ocean to solar evaporation. The low marsh-lands which were very
extensive about Brouage, on the south towards Marennes and on the north
towards Rochefort, were eminently adapted to this purpose. The whole of
this vast region was cut up into salt basins, generally in the form of
parallelograms, excavated at different depths, the earth and rubbish
scooped out and thrown on the sides, forming a platform or path leading
from basin to basin, the whole presenting to the eye the appearance of a
vast chess-board. The argillaceous earth at the bottom of the pans was made
hard to prevent the escape of the water by percolation. This was done in
the larger ones by leading horses over the surface, until, says an old
chronicler, the basins "would hold water as if they were brass." The water
was introduced from the sea, through sluices and sieves of pierced planks,
passing over broad surfaces in shallow currents, furnishing an opportunity
for evaporation from the moment it left the ocean until it found its way
into the numerous salt-basins covering the whole expanse of the marshy
plains. The water once in the basins, the process of evaporation was
carried on by the sun and the wind, assisted by the workmen, who agitated
the water to hasten the process. The first formation of salt was on the
surface, having a white, creamy appearance, exhaling an agreeable perfume,
resembling that of violets. This was the finest and most delicate salt,
while that precipitated, or falling to the bottom of the basin, was of a
darker hue.

When the crystallization was completed, the salt was gathered up, drained,
and piled in conical heaps on the platforms or paths along the sides of the
basins. At the height of the season, which began in May and ended in
September, when the whole marsh region was covered with countless white
cones of salt, it presented an interesting picture, not unlike the tented
camp of a vast army.

The salt was carried from the marshes on pack-horses, equipped each with a
white canvas bag, led by boys either to the quay, where large vessels were
lying, or to small barques which could be brought at high tide, by natural
or artificial inlets, into the very heart of the marsh-fields.

When the period for removing the salt came, no time was to be lost, as a
sudden fall of rain might destroy in an hour the products of a month. A
small quantity only could be transported at a time, and consequently great
numbers of animals were employed, which were made to hasten over the
sinuous and angulated paths at their highest speed. On reaching the ships,
the burden was taken by men stationed for the purpose, the boys mounted in
haste, and galloped back for another.

The scene presented in the labyrinth of an extensive salt-marsh was lively
and entertaining. The picturesque dress of the workmen, with their clean
white frocks and linen tights; the horses in great numbers mantled in their
showy salt-bags, winding their way on the narrow platforms, moving in all
directions, turning now to the right hand and now to the left, doubling
almost numberless angles, here advancing and again retreating, often going
two leagues to make the distance of one, maintaining order in apparent
confusion, altogether presented to the distant observer the aspect of a
grand equestrian masquerade.

The extent of the works and the labor and capital invested in them were
doubtless large for that period. A contemporary of Champlain informs us
that the wood employed in the construction of the works, in the form of
gigantic sluices, bridges, beam-partitions, and sieves, was so vast in
quantity that, if it were destroyed, the forests of Guienne would not
suffice to replace it. He also adds that no one who had seen the salt works
of Saintonge would estimate the expense of forming them less than that of
building the city of Paris itself.

The port of Brouage was the busy mart from which the salt of Saintonge was
distributed not only along the coast of France, but in London and Antwerp,
and we know not what other markets on the continent of Europe. [9]

The early years of Champlain were of necessity intimately associated with
the stirring scenes thus presented in this prosperous little seaport. As we
know that he was a careful observer, endowed by nature with an active
temperament and an unusual degree of practical sense we are sure that no
event escaped his attention, and that no mystery was permitted to go
unsolved. The military and commercial enterprise of the place brought him
into daily contact with men of the highest character in their departments.
The salt-factors of Brouage were persons of experience and activity, who
knew their business, its methods, and the markets at home and abroad. The
fortress was commanded by distinguished officers of the French army, and
was a rendezvous of the young nobility; like other similar places, a
training-school for military command. In this association, whether near or
remote, young Champlain, with his eagle eye and quick ear, was receiving
lessons and influences which were daily shaping his unfolding capacities,
and gradually compacting and crystallizing them into the firmness and
strength of character which he so largely displayed in after years. His
education, such as it was, was of course obtained during this period. He
has himself given us no intimation of its character or extent. A careful
examination of his numerous writings will, however, render it obvious that
it was limited and rudimentary, scarcely extending beyond the fundamental
branches which were then regarded as necessary in the ordinary transactions
of business. As the result of instruction or association with educated men,
he attained to a good general knowledge of the French language, but was
never nicely accurate or eminently skilful in its use. He evidently gave
some attention in his early years to the study and practice of drawing.
While the specimens of his work that have come down to us are marked by
grave defects, he appears nevertheless to have acquired facility and some
skill in the art, which he made exceedingly useful in the illustration of
his discoveries in the new world.

During Champlain's youth and the earlier years of his manhood, he appears
to have been engaged in practical navigation. In his address to the Queen
[10] he says, "this is the art which in my early years won my love, and has
induced me to expose myself almost all my life to the impetuous waves of
the ocean." That he began the practice of navigation at an early period may
likewise be inferred from the fact that in 1599 he was put in command of a
large French ship of 500 tons, which had been chartered by the Spanish
authorities for a voyage to the West Indies, of which we shall speak more
particularly in the sequel. It is obvious that he could not have been
intrusted with a command so difficult and of so great responsibility
without practical experience in navigation; and, as it will appear
hereafter that he was in the army several years during the civil war,
probably from 1592 to 1598, his experience in navigation must have been
obtained anterior to that, in the years of his youth and early manhood.

Brouage offered an excellent opportunity for such an employment. Its port
was open to the commerce of foreign nations, and a large number of vessels,
as we have already seen, was employed in the yearly distribution of the
salt of Saintonge, not only in the seaport towns of France, but in England
and on the Continent. In these coasting expeditions, Champlain was
acquiring skill in navigation which was to be of very great service to him
in his future career, and likewise gathering up rich stores of experience,
coming in contact with a great variety of men, observing their manners and
customs, and quickening and strengthening his natural taste for travel and
adventure. It is not unlikely that he was, at least during some of these
years, employed in the national marine, which was fully employed in
guarding the coast against foreign invasion, and in restraining the power
of the Huguenots, who were firmly seated at Rochelle with a sufficient
naval force to give annoyance to their enemies along the whole western
coast of France.

In 1592, or soon after that date, Champlain was appointed quarter-master in
the royal army in Brittany, discharging the office several years, until, by
the peace of Vervins, in 1598, the authority of Henry IV. was firmly
established throughout the kingdom. This war in Brittany constituted the
closing scene of that mighty struggle which had been agitating the nation,
wasting its resources and its best blood for more than half a century. It
began in its incipient stages as far back as a decade following 1530, when
the preaching of Calvin in the Kingdom of Navarre began to make known his
transcendent power. The new faith, which was making rapid strides in other
countries, easily awakened the warm heart and active temperament of the
French. The principle of private judgment which lies at the foundation of
Protestant teaching, its spontaneity as opposed to a faith imposed by
authority, commended it especially to the learned and thoughtful, while the
same principle awakened the quick and impulsive nature of the masses. The
effort to put down the movement by the extermination of those engaged in
it, proved not only unsuccessful, but recoiled, as usual in such cases,
upon the hand that struck the blow. Confiscations, imprisonments, and the
stake daily increased the number of those which these severe measures were
intended to diminish. It was impossible to mark its progress. When at
intervals all was calm and placid on the surface, at the same time, down
beneath, where the eye of the detective could not penetrate, in the closet
of the scholar and at the fireside of the artisan and the peasant, the new
gospel, silently and without observation, was spreading like an
all-pervading leaven. [11]

In 1562, the repressed forces of the Huguenots could no longer be
restrained, and, bursting forth, assumed the form of organized civil war.
With the exception of temporary lulls, originating in policy or exhaustion,
there was no cessation of arms until 1598. Although it is usually and
perhaps best described as a religious war, the struggle was not altogether
between the Catholic and the Huguenot or Protestant. There were many other
elements that came in to give their coloring to the contest, and especially
to determine the course and policy of individuals.

The ultra-Catholic desired to maintain the old faith with all its ancient
prestige and power, and to crush out and exclude every other. With this
party were found the court, certain ambitious and powerful families, and
nearly all the officials of the church. In close alliance with it were the
Roman Pontiff, the King of Spain, and the Catholic princes of Germany.

The Huguenots desired what is commonly known as liberty of conscience;
or, in other words, freedom to worship God according to their own views
of the truth, without interference or restriction. And in close alliance
with them were the Queen of England and the Protestant princes of
Germany.

Personal motives, irrespective of principle, united many persons and
families with either of these great parties which seemed most likely to
subserve their private ambitions. The feudal system was nearly extinct in
form, but its spirit was still alive. The nobles who had long held sway in
some of the provinces of France desired to hold them as distinct and
separate governments, and to transmit them as an inheritance to their
children. This motive often determined their political association.

During the most of the period of this long civil war, Catherine de Médicis
[12] was either regent or in the exercise of a controlling influence in the
government of France. She was a woman of commanding person and
extraordinary ability, skilful in intrigue, without conscience and without
personal religion. She hesitated at no crime, however black, if through it
she could attain the objects of her ambition. Neither of her three sons,
Francis, Charles, and Henry, who came successively to the throne, left any
legal heir to succeed him. The succession became, therefore, at an early
period, a question of great interest. If not the potent cause, it was
nevertheless intimately connected with most of the bloodshed of that bloody
period.

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