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Voyages of Samuel de Champlain, Vol. 2

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I directed our interpreter to say to our savages that they should cause
Bessabez, Cabahis, and their companions to understand that Sieur de Monts
had sent me to them to see them, and also their country, and that he
desired to preserve friendship with them and to reconcile them with their
enemies, the Souriquois and Canadians, and moreover that he desired to
inhabit their country and show them how to cultivate it, in order that they
might not continue to lead so miserable a life as they were doing, and some
other words on the same subject. This our savages interpreted to them, at
which they signified their great satisfaction, saying that no greater good
could come to them than to have our friendship, and that they desired to
live in peace with their enemies, and that we should dwell in their land,
in order that they might in future more than ever before engage in hunting
beavers, and give us a part of them in return for our providing them with
things which they wanted. After he had finished his discourse, I presented
them with hatchets, paternosters, caps, knives, and other little
knick-knacks, when we separated from each other. All the rest of this day
and the following night, until break of day, they did nothing but dance,
sing, and make merry, after which we traded for a certain number of
beavers. Then each party returned, Bessabez with his companions on the one
side, and we on the other, highly pleased at having made the acquaintance
of this people.

The 17th of the month I took the altitude, [100] and found the latitude 45°
25'. This done, we set out for another river called Quinibequy, distant
from this place thirty-five leagues, and nearly twenty from Bedabedec. This
nation of savages of Quinibequy are called Etechemins, as well as those of
Norumbegue.

The 18th of the month we passed near a small river where Cabahis was, who
came with us in our barque some twelve leagues; and having asked him whence
came the river Norumbegue, he told me that it passes the fall which I
mentioned above, and that one journeying some distance on it enters a lake
by way of which they come to the river of St. Croix, by going some distance
over land, and then entering the river of the Etechemins. Moreover, another
river enters the lake, along which they proceed some days, and afterwards
enter another lake and pass through the midst of it. Reaching the end of
it, they make again a land journey of some distance, and then enter another
little river, which has its mouth a league from Quebec, which is on the
great river St. Lawrence. [101] All these people of Norumbegue are very
swarthy, dressed in beaver-skins and other furs, like the Canadian and
Souriquois savages, and they have the same mode of life.

The 20th of the month we sailed along the western coast, and passed the
mountains of Bedabedec, [102] when we anchored. The same day we explored
the entrance to the river, where large vessels can approach; but there are
inside some reefs, to avoid which one must advance with sounding lead in
hand. Our Savages left us, as they did not wish to go to Quinibequy, for
the savages of that place are great enemies to them. We sailed some eight
leagues along the western coast to an island [103] ten leagues distant from
Quinibequy, where we were obliged to put in on account of bad weather and
contrary wind. At one point in our course, we passed a large number of
islands and breakers extending some leagues out to sea, and very dangerous.
And in view of the bad weather, which was so unfavorable to us, we did not
sail more than three or four leagues farther. All these islands and coasts
are covered with extensive woods, of the same sort as that which I have
reported above as existing on the other coasts. And in consideration of the
small quantity of provisions which we had, we resolved to return to our
settlement and wait until the following year, when we hoped to return and
explore more extensively. We accordingly set out on our return on the 23d
of September, and arrived at our settlement on the 2d of October following.

The above is an exact statement of all that I have observed respecting not
only the coasts and people, but also the river of Norumbegue; 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. [104]

ENDNOTES:

92. The natives called this island Pemetiq. _Isle que les Saunages
appellent Pemetiq.--Vide Relation de la Nouvelle-France_, par F. Biard.
1616. Relations des Jésuites, Quebec ed. 1858. p. 44. When the attempt
was made in 1613 to plant a colony there on the Marchioness de
Guercheville, the settlement was named St. Sauveur. This island was
also by the English called Mount Mansell. But the name given to it by
Champlain has prevailed, and still adheres to it.

The description here given of the barrenness of the island clearly
suggests the origin of the name. Desert should therefore be pronounced
with the accent on the first syllable. The latitude of the most
northern limit of the island is 44° 24'.

93. Penobscot. The name of this river has been variously written Pentagoet,
Pentagwet, Pemptegoet, Pentagovett, Penobskeag, Penaubsket, and in
various other ways. The English began early to write it Penobscot. It
is a word of Indian origin, and different meanings have been assigned
to it by those who have undertaken to interpret the language from which
it is derived.

94. The Abbé Laverdière is of the opinion that the river Norumbegue was
identical with the Bay of Fundy. His only authority is Jean Alfonse,
the chief pilot of Roberval in 1541-42. Alfonse says; "Beyond the cape
of Noroveregue descends the river of the said Noroveregue, which is
about twenty-five leagues from the cape. The said river is more than
forty leagues broad at its mouth, and extends this width inward well
thirty or forty leagues, and is all full of islands which enter ten or
twelve leagues into the sea, and it is very dangerous with rocks and
reefs." If the cape of Norumbegue is the present Cape Sable, as it is
supposed to be, by coasting along the shores of Nova Scotia from that
cape in a north-westerly direction a little more than twenty leagues,
we shall reach St. Mary's Bay, which may be regarded as the beginning
of the Bay of Fundy, and from that point in a straight line to the
mouth of the Penobscot the distance is more than forty leagues, which
was the breadth of the Norumbegue at its mouth, according to the
statement of Alfonse. The Abbé Laverdière is not quite correct in
saying that the river Norumbegue is the same as the Bay of Fundy. It
includes, according to Alfonse, who is not altogether consistent with
himself, not only the Bay of Fundy, but likewise the Penobscot River
and the bay of the same name, with its numerous islands. Alfonse left a
drawing or map of this region in his Cosmography, which Laverdière had
not probably seen, on which the Bay of Fundy and the Penobscot are
correctly laid down, and the latter is designated the "_Rivière de
Norvebergue_." It is therefore obvious, if this map can be relied upon,
that the river of Norumbegue was identical, not with the Bay of Fundy,
but with the Penobscot, in the opinion of Alfonse, in common with the
"plusieurs pilottes et historiens" referred to by Champlain.--_Vide
copy of the Chart from the MS. Cosmography of Juan Alfonse_ in
Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, in Mr. Murphy's Voyage of Verrazzano,
New York, 1875.

95. An indefinite region about Rockland and Camden, on the western bank of
the Penobscot near its mouth, appears to have been the domain of the
Indian chief, Bessabez, and was denominated Bedabedec. The Camden Hills
were called the mountains of Bedabedec, and Owl's Head was called
Bedabedec Point.

96. Isle Haute, _high island_, which name it still retains. Champlain wrote
it on his map, 1632, "Isle Haulte." It has been anglicized by some into
Isle Holt. It is nearly six miles long, and has an average width of
over two miles, and is the highest land in its vicinity, reaching at
its highest point four hundred feet above the level of the sea.

97. Camden Hills or Mountains. They are five or six in number, from 900 to
1,500 feet high, and maybe seen, it is said, twenty leagues at sea. The
more prominent are Mt. Batty, Mt. Pleasant, and Mt. Hosmer, or Ragged
Mountain. They are Sometimes called the Megunticook Range. Colonel
Benjamin Church denominates them "Mathebestuck's Hills,"--_Vide
Church's History of King Philip's War_, Newport, 1772, p. 143. Captain
John Smith calls them the mountains of Penobscot, "against whose feet
doth beat the sea." which, he adds, "you may well see sixteen or
eighteen leagues from their situation."

98. This narrow place in the river is just above Castine, where Cape
Jellison stretches out towards the east, at the head of the bay, and at
the mouth of the river. At the extremity of the cape is Fort Point, so
called from Fort Pownall, erected there in 1759, a step rocky elevation
of about eighty feet in height. Before the erection of the fort by
Governor Pownall, it was called Wafaumkeag Point.--_Vide Pownall's
Journal_, Col. Me. His. Soc., Vol. V. p. 385. The "rock" alluded to by
Champlain is Fort Point Ledge, bare at half tide, south-east by east
from the Point, and distant over half a mile. Champlain's distances
here are somewhat overestimated.

99. The terminus of this exploration of the Penobscot was near the present
site of the city of Bangor. The small river near the mouth of which
they anchored was the Kenduskeag. The falls which Champlain visited
with the Indians in a canoe are those a short distance above the
city. The sentence, a few lines back, beginning "But excepting this
fall" is complicated, and not quite logical, but the author evidently
means to describe the river from its mouth to the place of their
anchorage at Bangor.

100. The interview with the Indians on the 16th, and the taking of the
altitude on the 17th, must have occurred before the party left their
anchorage at Bangor with the purpose, but which they did not
accomplish that year, of visiting the Kennebec. This may be inferred
from Champlain's statement that the Kennebec was thirty-five leagues
distant from the place where they then were, and nearly twenty leagues
distant from Bedabedec. Consequently, they were fifteen leagues above
Bedabedec, which was situated near the mouth of the river. The
latitude, which they obtained from their observations, was far from
correct: it should be 44° 46'.

101. The Indian chief Cabahis here points out two trails, the one leading
to the French habitation just established on the Island of St. Croix,
the other to Quebec; by the former, passing up the Penobscot from the
present site of Bangor, entering the Matawamkeag, keeping to the east
in their light bark canoes to Lake Boscanhegan, and from there passing
by land to the stream then known as the river of the Etechemins, now
called the Scoudic or St. Croix. The expression "by which they come to
the river of St. Croix" is explanatory: it has no reference to the
name of the river, but means simply that the trail leads to the river
in which was the island of St. Croix. This river had not then been
named St. Croix, but had been called by them the river of the
Etechemins.--_Vide antea_, p. 31.

The other trail led up the north branch of the Penobscot, passing
through Lake Pemadumcook, and then on through Lake Chefuncook, finally
reaching the source of this stream which is near that of the
Chaudière, which latter flows into the St. Lawrence, near Quebec. It
would seem from the text that Champlain supposed that the Penobscot
flowed from a lake into which streams flowed from both the objective
points, viz. St. Croix and Quebec: but this was a mistake not at all
unnatural, as he had never been over the ground, and obtained his
information from the Indians, whose language he imperfectly
understood.

102. Bedabedec is an Indian word, signifying cape of the waters, and was
plainly the point known as Owl's Head. It gave name to the Camden
Mountains also. _Vide antea_, note 95.

103. Mosquito and Metinic Islands are each about ten leagues east of the
Kennebec. As the party went but four leagues further, the voyage must
have terminated in Muscongus Bay.

104. An idle story had been circulated, and even found a place on the pages
of sober history, that on the Penobscot, or Norumbegue, as it was then
called, there existed a fair town, a populous city, with the
accessories of luxury and wealth. Champlain here takes pains to show,
in the fullest manner, that this story was a baseless dream of fancy,
and utterly without foundation. Of it Lescarbot naïvely says, "If this
beautiful town hath ever existed in nature, I would fain know who hath
pulled it down, for there are now only a few scattered wigwams made of
poles covered with the bark of trees and the skins of wild beasts."
There is no evidence, and no probability, that this river had been
navigated by Europeans anterior to this exploration of Champlain. The
existence of the bay and the river had been noted long before. They
are indicated on the map of Ribero in 1529. Rio de Gamas and Rio
Grande appear on early maps as names of this river, but are soon
displaced for Norumbega, a name which was sometimes extended to a wide
range of territory on both sides of the Penobscot. On the Mappe-Monde
of 1543-47, issued by the late M. Jomard, it is denominated
Auorobagra, evidently intended for Norumbega. Thevet, who visited it,
or sailed along its mouth in 1556, speaks of it as Norumbegue. It is
alleged that the aborigines called it Agguncia. According to Jean
Alfonse, it was discovered by the Portuguese and Spaniards.--_Vide
His. de la N. France_, par M. Lescarbot, Paris, 1612, Qvat. Liv.
p. 495. The orthography of this name is various among early writers,
but Norumbegue is adopted by the most approved modern authors.




CHAPTER VI.

OF THE MAL DE LA TERRE, A VERY DESPERATE MALADY.--HOW THE SAVAGES, MEN AND
WOMEN, SPEND THEIR TIME IN WINTER.--AND ALL THAT OCCURRED AT THE SETTLEMENT
WHILE WE WERE PASSING THE WINTER.

When we arrived at the Island of St. Croix, each one had finished his place
of abode. Winter came upon us sooner than we expected, and prevented us
from doing many things which we had proposed. Nevertheless, Sieur de Monts
did not fail to have some gardens made on the island. Many began to clear
up the ground, each his own. I also did so with mine, which was very large,
where I planted a quantity of foods, as also did the others who had any,
and they came up very well. But since the island was all sandy, every thing
dried up almost as soon as the Sun shone upon it, and we had no water for
irrigation except from the rain, which was infrequent.

Sieur de Monts caused also clearings to be made on the main land for making
gardens, and at the falls three leagues from our Settlement he had work
done and some wheat sown, which came up very well and ripened. Around our
habitation there is, at low tide, a large number of shell-fish, such as
cockles, muscles, sea-urchins, and Sea-snails, which were very acceptable
to all.

The snows began on the 6th of October. On the 3d of December, we saw ice
pass which came from some frozen river. The cold was sharp, more severe
than in France, and of much longer duration; and it scarcely rained at all
the entire winter. I suppose that is owing to the north and north-west
winds passing over high mountains always covered with snow. The latter was
from three to four feet deep up to the end of the month of April; lasting
much longer, I suppose, than it would if the country were cultivated.

During the winter, many of our company were attacked by a certain malady
called the _mal de la terre_; otherwise scurvy, as I have since heard from
learned men. There were produced, in the mouths of those who had it, great
pieces of superfluous and drivelling flesh (causing extensive
putrefaction), which got the upper hand to such an extent that scarcely
anything but liquid could be taken. Their teeth became very loose, and
could be pulled out with the fingers without its causing them pain. The
superfluous flesh was often cut out, which caused them to eject much blood
through the mouth. Afterwards, a violent pain seized their arms and legs,
which remained swollen and very hard, all spotted as if with flea-bites;
and they could not walk on account of the contraction of the muscles, so
that they were almost without strength, and suffered intolerable pains.
They experienced pain also in the loins, stomach, and bowels, had a very
bad cough, and short breath. In a word, they were in such a condition that
the majority of them could not rise nor move, and could not even be raised
up on their feet without falling down in a swoon. So that out of
seventy-nine, who composed our party, thirty-five died, and more than
twenty were on the point of death. The majority of those who remained well
also complained of slight pains and short breath. We were unable to find
any remedy for these maladies. A _post mortem_ examination of several was
made to investigate the cause of their disease.

In the case of many, the interior parts were found mortified such as the
lungs, which were so changed that no natural fluid could be perceived in
them. The spleen was serous and swollen. The liver was _legueux?_ and
spotted, without its natural color. The _vena cava_, superior and inferior,
was filled with thick coagulated and black blood. The gall was tainted.
Nevertheless, many arteries, in the middle as well as lower bowels, were
found in very good condition. In the case of some, incisions with a razor
were made on the thighs where they had purple spots, whence there issued a
very black clotted blood. This is what was observed on the bodies of those
infected with this malady.[105]

Our surgeons could not help suffering themselves in the same manner as the
rest. Those who continued sick were healed by spring, which commences in
this country in May.[106] That led us to believe that the change of season
restored their health rather than the remedies prescribed.

During this winter, all our liquors froze, except the Spanish wine. Cider
was dispensed by the pound. The cause of this loss was that there were no
cellars to our storehouse, and that the air which entered by the cracks was
sharper than that outside. We were obliged to use very bad water, and drink
melted snow, as there were no springs nor brooks; for it was not possible
to go to the main land in consequence of the great pieces of ice drifted by
the tide, which varies three fathoms between low and high water. Work on
the hand-mill was very fatiguing, since the most of us, having slept
poorly, and suffering from insufficiency of fuel, which we could not obtain
on account of the ice, had scarcely any strength, and also because we ate
only salt meat and vegetables during the winter, which produce bad blood.
The latter circumstance was, in my opinion, a partial cause of these
dreadful maladies. All this produced discontent in Sieur de Monts and
others of the settlement.

It would be very difficult to ascertain the character of this region
without spending a winter in it; for, on arriving here in summer, every
thing is very agreeable, in consequence of the woods, fine country, and the
many varieties of good fish which are found there. There are six months of
winter in this country.

The savages who dwell here are few in number. During the winter, in the
deepest snows, they hunt elks and other animals, on which they live most of
the time. And, unless the snow is deep, they scarcely get rewarded for
their pains, since they cannot capture any thing except by a very great
effort, which is the reason for their enduring and suffering much. When
they do not hunt, they live on a shell-fish, called the cockle. They clothe
themselves in winter with good furs of beaver and elk. The women make all
the garments, but not so exactly but that you can see the flesh under the
arm-pits, because they have not ingenuity enough to fit them better. When
they go a hunting, they use a kind of show-shoe twice as large as those
hereabouts, which they attach to the soles of their feet, and walk thus
over the show without sinking in, the women and children as well as the
men. They search for the track of animals, which, having found, they
follow until they get sight of the creature, when they shoot at it with
their bows, or kill it by means of daggers attached to the end of a short
pike, which is very easily done, as the animals cannot walk on the snow
without sinking in. Then the women and children come up, erect a hut, and
they give themselves to feasting. Afterwards, they return in search of
other animals, and thus they pass the winter. In the month of March
following, some savages came and gave us a portion of their game in
exchange for bread and other things which we gave them. This is the mode of
life in winter of these people, which seems to me a very miserable one.

We looked for our vessels at the end of April; but, as this passed without
their arriving, all began to have an ill-boding, fearing that some accident
had befallen them. For this reason, on the 15th of May, Sieur de Monts
decided to have a barque of fifteen tons and another of seven fitted up, so
that we might go at the end of the month of June to Gaspé in quest of
vessels in which to return to France, in case our own should not meanwhile
arrive. But God helped us better than we hoped; for, on the 15th of June
ensuing, while on guard about 11 o'clock at night, Pont Gravé, captain of
one of the vessels of Sieur de Monts, arriving in a shallop, informed us
that his ship was anchored six leagues from our settlement, and he was
welcomed amid the great joy of all.

The next day the vessel arrived, and anchored near our habitation. Pont
Gravé informed us that a vessel from St. Malo, called the St. Estienne,
was following him, bringing us provisions and supplies.

On the 17th of the month, Sieur de Monts decided to go in quest of a place
better adapted for an abode, and with a better temperature than our own.
With this view, he had the barque made ready, in which he had purposed to
go to Gaspé.

ENDNOTES:

105. _Mal de la terre_. Champlain had bitter experiences of this disease in
Quebec during the winter of 1608-9, when he was still ignorant of its
character; and it was not till several years later that he learned
that it was the old malady called _scurbut_, from the Sclavonic
_scorb_. Latinized into _scorbuticus_. Lescarbot speaks of this
disease as little understood in his time, but as known to Hippocrates.
He quotes Olaus Magnus, who describes it as it appeared among the
nations of the north, who called it _sorbet_, [Greek: kachexia], from
[Greek: kakos], bad, and [Greek: exis], a habit. This undoubtedly
expresses the true cause of this disease, now familiarly known as the
scurvy. It follows exposure to damp, cold, and impure atmosphere,
accompanied by the long-continued use of the same kind of food,
particularly of salt meats, with bad water. All of these conditions
existed at the Island of St. Croix. Champlain's description of the
disease is remarkably accurate.

106. This passage might be read, "which is in this country in May:" _lequel
commence en ces pays là est en May_. As Laverdière suggests, it looks
as if Champlain wrote it first _commence_, and then, thinking that the
winter he had experienced might have been exceptional, substituted
_est_, omitting to erase _commence_, so that the sentence, as it
stands, is faulty, containing two verbs instead of one, and being
susceptible of a double sense.




CHAPTER VII.

DISCOVERY OF THE COAST OF THE ALMOUCHIQUOIS AS FAR AS THE FORTY-SECOND
DEGREE OF LATITUDE, AND DETAILS OF THIS VOYAGE.


On the 18th of June, 1605, Sieur de Monts set out from the Island of
St. Croix with some gentlemen, twenty sailors, and a savage named
Panounias, together with his wife, whom he was unwilling to leave behind.
These we took, in order to serve us as guides to the country of the
Almouchiquois, in the hope of exploring and learning more particularly by
their aid what the character of this country was, especially since she was
a native of it.

Coasting, along inside of Manan, an island three leagues from the main
land, we came to the Ranges on the seaward side, at one of which we
anchored, where there was a large number of crows, of which our men
captured a great many, and we called it the Isle aux Corneilles. Thence we
went to the Island of Monts Déserts, at the entrance of the river
Norumbegue, as I have before stated, and sailed five or six leagues among
many islands. Here there came to us three savages in a canoe from Bedabedec
Point, where their captain was; and, after we had had some conversation
with them, they returned the same day.

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