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Voyages of Samuel de Champlain, Vol. 1

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71. For a full account of the Indian treatment of prisoners, _vide antea_,
pp. 94,95. Also Vol. II. pp. 224-227, 244-246.

72. _Vide Contrat de mariage de Samuel de Champlain, Oeuvres de Champlain_,
Quebec ed. Vol. VI., _Pièces Fustificatives_, p. 33.

Among the early marriages not uncommon at that period, the following
are examples. César, the son of Henry IV., was espoused by public
ceremonies to the daughter of the Duke de Mercoeur in 1598. The
bridegroom was four years old and the bride-elect had just entered her
sixth year. The great Condé, by the urgency of his avaricious father,
was unwillingly married at the age of twenty, to Claire Clemence de
Maillé Brézé, the niece of Cardinal Richelieu, when she was but
thirteen years of age.




CHAPTER VII.

THE FUR-TRADE AT MONTREAL.--COMPETITION AT THE RENDEZVOUS.--NO
EXPLORATIONS.--CHAMPLAIN RETURNS TO FRANCE.--REORGANIZATION OF THE
COMPANY.--COUNT DE SOISSONS, HIS DEATH.--PRINCE DE CONDÉ.--CHAMPLAIN'S
RETURN TO NEW FRANCE AND TRADE WITH THE INDIANS.--EXPLORATION AND DE
VIGNAN, THE FALSE GUIDE.--INDIAN CEREMONY AT CHAUDIÈRE FALLS.

Champlain lost no time in hastening to Quebec, where he found Du Parc, whom
he had left in charge, and the colony in excellent health. The paramount
and immediate object which now engaged his attention was to secure for the
present season the fur-trade of the Indians. This furnished the chief
pecuniary support of De Monts's company, and was absolutely necessary to
its existence. He soon, therefore, took his departure for the Falls of St.
Louis, situated a short distance above Montreal, and now better known as La
Chine Rapids. In the preceding year, this place had been agreed upon as a
rendezvous by the friendly tribes. But, as they had not arrived, Champlain
proceeded to make a thorough exploration on both sides of the St. Lawrence,
extending his journeys more than twenty miles through the forests and along
the shores of the river, for the purpose of selecting a proper site for a
trading-house, with doubtless an ultimate purpose of making it a permanent
settlement. After a full survey, he finally fixed upon a point of land
which he named _La Place Royale_, situated within the present city of
Montreal, on the eastern side of the little brook Pierre, where it flows
into the St. Lawrence, at Point à Callière. On the banks of this small
stream there were found evidences that the land to the extent of sixty
acres had at some former period been cleared up and cultivated by the
savages, but more recently had been entirely abandoned on account of the
wars, as he learned from his Indian guides, in which they were incessantly
engaged.

Near the spot which had thus been selected for a future settlement,
Champlain discovered a deposit of excellent clay, and, by way of
experiment, had a quantity of it manufactured into bricks, of which he made
a wall on the brink of the river, to test their power of resisting the
frosts and the floods. Gardens were also made and feeds sown, to prove the
quality of the soil. A weary month passed slowly away, with scarcely an
incident to break the monotony, except the drowning of two Indians, who had
unwisely attempted to pass the rapids in a bark canoe overloaded with
heron, which they had taken on an island above. In the mean time, Champlain
had been followed to his rendezvous by a herd of adventurers from the
maritime towns of France, who, stimulated by the freedom of trade, had
flocked after him in numbers out of all proportion to the amount of furs
which they could hope to obtain from the wandering bands of savages that
might chance to visit the St. Lawrence. The river was lined with these
voracious cormorants, anxiously watching the coming of the savages, all
impatient and eager to secure as large a share as possible of the uncertain
and meagre booty for which they had crossed the Atlantic. Fifteen or twenty
barques were moored along the shore, all seeking the best opportunity for
the display of the worthless trinkets for which they had avariciously hoped
to obtain a valuable cargo of furs.

A long line of canoes was at length seen far in the distance. It was a
fleet of two hundred Hurons, who had swept down the rapids, and were now
approaching slowly and in a dignified and impressive order. On coming near,
they set up a simultaneous shout, the token of savage greeting, which made
the welkin ring. This salute was answered by a hundred French arquebuses
from barque and boat and shore. The unexpected multitude of the French, the
newness of the firearms to most of them, filled the savages with dismay.
They concealed their fear as well and as long as possible. They
deliberately built their cabins on the shore, but soon threw up a
barricade, then called a council at midnight, and finally, under pretence
of a beaver-hunt, suddenly removed above the rapids, where they knew the
French barques could not come. When they were thus in a place of safety,
they confessed to Champlain that they had faith in him, which they
confirmed by valuable gifts of furs, but none whatever in the grasping herd
that had followed him to the rendezvous. The trade, meagre in the
aggregate, divided among so many, had proved a loss to all. It was soon
completed, and the savages departed to their homes. Subsequently,
thirty-eight canoes, with eighty or a hundred Algonquin warriors, came to
the rendezvous. They brought, however, but a small quantity of furs, which
added little to the lucrative character of the summer's trade.

The reader will bear in mind that Champlain was not here merely as the
superintendent and responsible agent of a trading expedition. This was a
subordinate purpose, and the result of circumstances which his principal
did not choose, but into which he had been unwillingly forced. It was
necessary not to overlook this interest in the present exigency,
nevertheless De Monts was sustained by an ulterior purpose of a far higher
and nobler character. He still entertained the hope that he should yet
secure a royal charter under which his aspirations for colonial enterprise
should have full scope, and that his ambition would be finally crowned with
the success which he had so long coveted, and for which he had so
assiduously labored. Champlain, who had been for many years the geographer
of the king, who had carefully reported, as he advanced into unexplored
regions, his surveys of the rivers, harbors, and lakes, and had given
faithful descriptions of the native inhabitants, knowledge absolutely
necessary as a preliminary step in laying the foundation of a French empire
in America, did not for a moment lose sight of this ulterior purpose. Amid
the commercial operations to which for the time being he was obliged to
devote his chief attention, he tried in vain to induce the Indians to
conduct an exploring party up the St. Maurice, and thus reach the
headwaters of the Saguenay, a journey which had been planned two years
before. They had excellent excuses to offer, and the undertaking was
necessarily deferred for the present. He, however, obtained much valuable
information from them in conversations, in regard to the source of the St.
Lawrence, the topography of the country which they inhabited, and even
drawings were executed by them to illustrate to him other regions which
they had personally visited.

On the 18th of July, Champlain left the rendezvous, and arrived at Quebec
on the evening of the next day. Having ordered all necessary repairs at the
settlement, and, not unmindful of its adornment, planted rose-bushes about
it, and taking specimens of oak timber to exhibit in France, he left for
Tadoussac, and finally for France on the 11th of August, and arrived at
Rochelle on the 16th of September, 1611.

Immediately on his arrival, Champlain repaired to the city of Pons, in
Saintonge, of which De Monts was governor, and laid before him the
Situation of his affairs at Quebec. De Monts still clung to the hope of
obtaining a royal commission for the exclusive right of trade, but his
associates were wholly disheartened by the competition and consequent
losses of the last year, and had the sagacity to see that there was no hope
of a remedy in the future. They accordingly declined to continue further
expenditures. De Monts purchased their interest in the establishment at
Quebec, and, notwithstanding the obstacles which had been and were still to
be encountered, was brave enough to believe that he could stem the tide
unaided and alone. He hastened to Paris to secure the much coveted
commission from the king. Important business, however, soon called him in
another direction, and the whole matter was placed in the hands of
Champlain, with the understanding that important modifications were to be
introduced into the constitution and management of the company.

The burden thus unexpectedly laid upon Champlain was not a light one. His
experience and personal knowledge led him to appreciate more fully than any
one else the difficulties that environed the enterprise of planting a
colony in New France. He saw very clearly that a royal commission merely,
with whatever exclusive rights it conferred; would in itself be ineffectual
and powerless in the present complications. It was obvious to him that the
administration must be adapted to the state of affairs that had gradually
grown up at Quebec, and that it must be sustained by powerful personal
influence.

Champlain proceeded, therefore, to draw up certain rules and regulations
which he deemed necessary for the management of the colony and the
protection of its interests. The leading characteristics of the plan were,
first, an association of which all who desired to carry on trade in New
France might become members, sharing equally in its advantages and its
burdens, its profits and its losses: and, secondly, that it should be
presided over by a viceroy of high position and commanding influence. De
Monts, who had thus far been at the head of the undertaking, was a
gentleman of great respectability, zeal, and honesty, but his name did not,
as society was constituted at that time in France, carry with it any
controlling weight with the merchants or others whose views were adverse to
his own. He was unable to carry out any plans which involved expense,
either for the exploration of the country or for the enlargement and growth
of the colony. It was necessary, in the opinion of Champlain, to place at
the head of the company a man of such exalted official and social position
that his opinions would be listened to with respect and his wishes obeyed
with alacrity.

He submitted his plan to De Monts and likewise to President Jeannin, [73] a
man venerable with age, distinguished for his wisdom and probity, and at
this time having under his control the finances of the kingdom. They both
pronounced it excellent and urged its execution.

Having thus obtained the cordial and intelligent assent of the highest
authority to his scheme, his next step was to secure a viceroy whose
exalted name and standing should conform to the requirements of his plan.
This was an object somewhat difficult to attain. It was not easy to find a
nobleman who possessed all the qualities desired. After careful
consideration, however, the Count de Soissons [74] was thought to unite
better than any other the characteristics which the office required.
Champlain, therefore, laid before the Count, through a member of the king's
council, a detailed exhibition of his plan and a map of New France executed
by himself. He soon after received an intimation from this nobleman of his
willingness to accept the office, if he should be appointed. A petition was
sent by Champlain to the king and his council, and the appointment was made
on the 8th of October, 1612, and on the 15th of the same month the Count
issued a commission appointing Champlain his lieutenant.

Before this commission had been published in the ports and the maritime
towns of France, as required by law, and before a month had elapsed,
unhappily the death of the Count de Soissons suddenly occurred at his
Château de Blandy. Henry de Bourbon, the Prince de Condé, [75] was hastily
appointed his successor, and a new commission was issued to Champlain on
the 22d of November of the same year.

The appointment of this prince carried with it the weight of high position
and influence, though hardly the character which would have been most
desirable under the circumstances. He was, however, a potent safeguard
against the final success, though not indeed of the attempt on the part of
enemies, to break up the company, or to interfere with its plans. No sooner
had the publication of the commission been undertaken, than the merchants,
who had schemes of trade in New France, put forth a powerful opposition.
The Parliamentary Court at Rouen even forbade its publication in that city,
and the merchants of St. Malo renewed their opposition, which had before
been set forth, on the flimsy ground that Jacques Cartier, the discoverer
of New France, was a native of their municipality, and therefore they had
rights prior and superior to all others.

After much delay and several journeys by Champlain to Rouen, these
difficulties were overcome. There was, indeed, no solid ground of
opposition, as none were debarred from engaging in the enterprise who were
willing to share in the burdens as well as the profits.

These delays prevented the complete organization of the company
contemplated by Champlain's new plan, but it was nevertheless necessary for
him to make the voyage to Quebec the present season, in order to keep up
the continuity of his operations there, and to renew his friendly relations
with the Indians, who had been greatly disappointed at not seeing him the
preceding year. Four vessels, therefore, were authorized to sail under the
commission of the viceroy, each of which was to furnish four men for the
service of Champlain in explorations and in aid of the Indians in their
wars, if it should be necessary.

He accordingly left Honfleur in a vessel belonging to his old friend Pont
Gravé, on the 6th of March, 1613, and arrived at Tadoussac on the 29th of
April. On the 7th of May he reached Quebec, where he found the little
colony in excellent condition, the winter having been exceedingly mild, and
agreeable, the river not having been frozen in the severest weather. He
repaired at once to the trading rendezvous at Montreal, then commonly known
as the Falls of St. Louis. He learned from a trading barque that had
preceded him, that a small band of Algonquins had already been there on
their return from a raid upon the Iroquois. They had, however, departed to
their homes to celebrate a feast, at which the torture of two captives whom
they had taken from the Iroquois was to form the chief element in the
entertainment. A few days later, three Algonquin canoes arrived from the
interior with furs, which were purchased by the French. From them they
learned that the ill treatment of the previous year, and their
disappointment at not having seen Champlain there as they had expected, had
led the Indians to abandon the idea of again coming to the rendezvous, and
that large numbers of them had gone on their usual summer's expedition
against the Iroquois.

Under these circumstances, Champlain resolved, in making his explorations,
to visit personally the Indians who had been accustomed to come to the
Falls of St. Louis, to assure them of kind treatment in the future, to
renew his alliance with them against their enemies, and, if possible, to
induce them to come to the rendezvous, where there was a large quantity of
French goods awaiting them.

It will be remembered that an ulterior purpose of the French, in making a
settlement in North America, was to enable them better to explore the
interior and discover an avenue by water to the Pacific Ocean. This shorter
passage to Cathay, or the land of spicery, had been the day-dream of all
the great navigators in this direction for more than a hundred years.
Whoever should discover it would confer a boon of untold commercial value
upon his country, and crown himself with imperishable honor. Champlain had
been inspired by this dream from the first day that he set his foot upon
the soil of New France. Every indication that pointed in this direction he
watched with care and seized upon with avidity. In 1611, a young man in the
colony, Nicholas de Vignan, had been allowed, after the trading season had
closed, to accompany the Algonquins to their distant homes, and pass the
winter with them. This was one of the methods which had before been
successfully resorted to for obtaining important information. De Vignan
returned to Quebec in the spring of 1612, and the same year to France.
Having heard apparently something of Hudson's discovery and its
accompanying disaster, he made it the basis of a story drawn wholly from
his own imagination, but which he well knew must make a strong impression
upon Champlain and all others interested in new discoveries. He stated
that, during his abode with the Indians, he had made an excursion into the
forests of the north, and that he had actually discovered a sea of salt
water; that the river Ottawa had its source in a lake from which another
river flowed into the sea in question; that he had seen on its shores the
wreck of an English ship, from which eighty men had been taken and slain by
the savages; and that they had among them an English boy, whom they were
keeping to present to him.

As was expected, this story made a strong impression upon the mind of
Champlain. The priceless object for which he had been in search so many
years seemed now within his grasp. The simplicity and directness of the
narrative, and the want of any apparent motive for deception, were a strong
guaranty of its truth. But, to make assurance doubly sure, Vignan was
cross-examined and tested in various ways, and finally, before leaving
France, was made to certify to the truth of his statement in the presence
of two notaries at Rochelle. Champlain laid the story before the Chancellor
de Sillery, the President Jeannin, the old Marshal de Brissac, and others,
who assured him that it was a question of so great importance, that he
ought at once to test the truth of the narrative by a personal exploration.
He resolved, therefore, to make this one of the objects of his summer's
excursion.

With two bark canoes, laden with provisions, arms, and a few trifles as
presents for the savages, an Indian guide, four Frenchmen, one of whom was
the mendacious Vignan, Champlain left the rendezvous at Montreal on the
27th of May. After getting over the Lachine Rapids, they crossed Lake St.
Louis and the Two Mountains, and, passing up the Ottawa, now expanding into
a broad lake and again contracting into narrows, whence its pent-up waters
swept over precipices and boulders in furious, foaming currents, they at
length, after incredible labor, reached the island Allumette, a distance of
not less than two hundred and twenty-five miles. In no expedition which
Champlain had thus far undertaken had he encountered obstacles so
formidable. The falls and rapids in the river were numerous and difficult
to pass. Sometimes a portage was impossible on account of the denseness of
the forests, in which case they were compelled to drag their canoes by
ropes, wading along the edge of the water, or clinging to the precipitous
banks of the river as best they could. When a portage could not be avoided,
it was necessary to carry their armor, provisions, clothing, and canoes
through the forests, over precipices, and sometimes over stretches of
territory where some tornado had prostrated the huge pines in tangled
confusion, through which a pathway was almost impossible. [76] To lighten
their burdens, nearly every thing was abandoned but their canoes. Fish and
wild-fowl were an uncertain reliance for food, and sometimes they toiled on
for twenty-four hours with scarcely any thing to appease their craving
appetites.

Overcome with fatigue and oppressed by hunger, they at length arrived at
Allumette Island, the abode of the chief Tessoüat, by whom they were
cordially entertained. Nothing but the hope of reaching the north sea could
have sustained them amid the perils and sufferings through which they had
passed in reaching this inhospitable region. The Indians had chosen this
retreat not from choice, but chiefly on account of its great
inaccessibility to their enemies. They were astonished to see Champlain and
his company, and facetiously suggested that it must be a dream, or that
these new-comers had fallen from the clouds. After the usual ceremonies of
feasting and smoking, Champlain was permitted to lay before Tessoüat and
his chiefs the object of his journey. When he informed them that he was in
search of a salt sea far to the north of them, which had been actually seen
two years before by one of his companions, he learned to his disappointment
and mortification that the whole story of Vignan was a sheer fabrication.
The miscreant had indeed passed a winter on the very spot where they then
were, but had never been a league further north. The Indians themselves had
no knowledge of the north sea, and were highly enraged at the baseness of
Vignan's falsehood, and craved the opportunity of despatching him at once.
They jeered at him, calling him a liar, and even the children took up the
refrain, vociferating vigorously and heaping maledictions upon his head.

Indignant as he was, Champlain had too much philosophy in his composition
to commit an indiscretion at such a moment as this. He accordingly
restrained the Savages and his own anger, bore his insult and
disappointment with exemplary patience, giving up all hope of seeing the
salt sea in this direction, as he humorously added, "except in
imagination."

Before leaving Allumette Island on his return, Champlain invited Tessoüat
to send a trading expedition to the Falls of St. Louis, where he would find
an ample opportunity for an exchange of commodities. The invitation was
readily accepted, and information was at once sent out to the neighboring
chiefs, requesting them to join in the enterprise. The savages soon began
to assemble, and when Champlain left, he was accompanied by forty canoes
well laden with furs; others joined them at different points on the way,
and on reaching Montreal the number had swollen to eighty.

An incident occurred on their journey down the river worthy of record. When
the fleet of savage fur-traders had arrived at the foot of the Chaudière
Falls, not a hundred rods distant from the site of the present city of
Ottawa, having completed the portage, they all assembled on the shore,
before relaunching their canoes, to engage in a ceremony which they never
omitted when passing this spot. A wooden plate of suitable dimensions was
passed round, into which each of the savages cast a small piece of tobacco.
The plate was then placed on the ground, in the midst of the company, and
all danced around it, singing at the same time. An address was then made by
one of the chiefs, setting forth the great importance of this time-honored
custom, particularly as a safeguard and protection against their enemies.
Then, taking the plate, the speaker cast its contents into the boiling
cauldron at the base of the falls, the act being accompanied by a loud
shout from the assembled multitude. This fall, named the _Chaudière_, or
cauldron, by Champlain, formed in fact the limit above which the Iroquois
rarely if ever went in hostile pursuit of the Algonquins. The region above
was exceedingly difficult of approach, and from which it was still more
difficult, in case of an attack, to retreat. But the Iroquois often
lingered here in ambush, and fell upon the unsuspecting inhabitants of the
upper Ottawa as they came down the river. It was, therefore, a place of
great danger; and the Indians, enslaved by their fears and superstitions,
did not believe it possible to make a prosperous journey, without
observing, as they passed, the ceremonies above described.

On reaching Montreal, three additional ships had arrived from France with a
license to carry on trade from the Prince de Condé, the viceroy, making
seven in all in port. The trade with the Indians for the furs brought in
the eighty canoes, which had come with Champlain to Montreal, was soon
despatched. Vignan was pardoned on the solemn promise, a condition offered
by himself, that he would make a journey to the north sea and bring back a
true report, having made a most humble confession of his offence in the
presence of the whole colony and the Indians, who were purposely assembled
to receive it. This public and formal administration of reproof was well
adapted to produce a powerful effect upon the mind of the culprit, and
clearly indicates the moderation and wisdom, so uniformly characteristic of
Champlain's administration.

The business of the season having been completed, Champlain returned to
France, arriving at St. Malo on the 26th of August, 1613. Before leaving,
however, he arranged to send back with the Algonquins who had come from
Isle Allumette two of his young men to pass the winter, for the purpose, as
on former occasions, of learning the language and obtaining the information
which comes only from an intimate and prolonged association.

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