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.
* * * * *
CHAMPLAIN’S DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING MAP.
QUINIBEQUY.
_The figures indicate fathoms of water_.
_A_. The course of the river.
_B_. Two islands at the entrance of the river. _C_. Two very dangerous rocks in the river. _D_. Islets and rocks along the coast.
_E_. Shoals where at full tide vessels of sixty tons’ burden may run aground.
_F_. Place where the savages encamp when they come to fish. _G_. Sandy shoals along the coast.
_H_. Pond of fresh water.
_I_. Brook where shallops can enter at half tide. _L_. Islands to the number of four just within the mouth of the river.
* * * * *
On Friday, the 1st of July, we set out from one of the islands at the mouth of the river, where there is a very good harbor for vessels of a hundred or a hundred and fifty tons. This day we made some twenty-five leagues between Bedabedec Point and many islands and rocks, which we observed as far as the river Quinibequy, at the mouth of which is a very high island, which we called the Tortoise. [107] Between the latter and the main land there are some scattering rocks, which are covered at full tide, although the sea is then seen to break over them. [108] Tortoise Island and the river lie south-south-east and north-north-west. As you enter, there are two medium-sized islands forming the entrance, one on one side, the other on the other; [109] and some three hundred paces farther in are two rocks, where there is no wood, but some little grass. We anchored three hundred paces from the entrance in five and six fathoms of water. While in this place, we were overtaken by fogs, on account of which we resolved to enter, in order to see the upper part of the river and the savages who live there; and we set out for this purpose on the 5th of the month. Having made some leagues, our barque came near being lost on a rock which we grazed in passing. [110] Further on, we met two canoes which had come to hunt birds, which for the most part are moulting at this season, and cannot fly. We addressed these savages by aid of our own, who went to them with his wife, who made them understand the reason of our coming. We made friends with them and with the savages of this river, who served us as guides. Proceeding farther, in order to see their captain, named Manthoumermer, we passed, after we had gone seven or eight leagues, by some islands, straits, and brooks, which extend along the river, where we saw some fine meadows. After we had coasted along an island [111] some four leagues in length, they conducted us to where their chief was [112] with twenty-five or thirty savages, who, as soon as we had anchored, came to us in a canoe, separated a short distance from ten others, in which were those who accompanied him. Coming near our barque, he made an harangue, in which he expressed the pleasure it gave him to see us, and said that he desired to form an alliance with us and to make peace with his enemies through our mediation. He said that, on the next day, he would send to two other captains of savages, who were in the interior, one called Marchin, and the other Sasinou, chief of the river Quinibequy. Sieur de Monts gave them some cakes and peas, with which they were greatly pleased. The next day they guided us down the river another way than that by which we had come, in order to go to a lake; and, passing by some islands, they left, each one of them, an arrow near a cape [113] where all the savages pass, and they believe that if they should not do this some misfortune would befall them, according to the persuasions of the devil. They live in such superstitions, and practise many others of the same sort. Beyond this cape we passed a very narrow waterfall, but only with great difficulty; for, although we had a favorable and fresh wind, and trimmed our sails to receive it as well as possible, in order to see whether we could not pass it in that way, we were obliged to attach a hawser to some trees on shore and all pull on it. In this way, by means of our arms together with the help of the wind, which was favorable to us, we succeeded in passing it. The savages accompanying us carried their canoes by land, being unable to row them. After going over this fall, we saw some fine meadows. I was greatly surprised by this fall, since as we descended with the tide we found it in our favor, but contrary to us when we came to the fall. But, after we had passed it, it descended as before, which gave us great Satisfaction. [114] Pursuing our route, we came to the lake, [115] which is from three to four leagues in length. Here are some islands, and two rivers enter it, the Quinibequy coming from the north north-east, and the other from the north-west, whence were to come Marchin and Sasinou. Having awaited them all this day, and as they did not come, we resolved to improve our time. We weighed anchor accordingly, and there accompanied us two savages from this lake to serve as guides. The same day we anchored at the mouth of the river, where we caught a large number of excellent fish of various sorts. Meanwhile, our savages went hunting, but did not return. The route by which we descended this river is much safer and better than that by which we had gone. Tortoise Island before the mouth of this river is in latitude [116] 44°; and 19° 12′ of the deflection of the magnetic needle. They go by this river across the country to Quebec some fifty leagues, making only one portage of two leagues. After the portage, you enter another little stream which flows into the great river St. Lawrence [117]. This river Quinibequy is very dangerous for vessels half a league from its mouth, on account of the small amount of water, great tides, rocks and shoals outside as well as within. But it has a good channel, if it were well marked out. The land, so far as I have seen it along the shores of the river, is very poor, for there are only rocks on all sides. There are a great many small oaks, and very little arable land. Fish abound here, as in the other rivers which I have mentioned. The people live like those in the neighborhood of our settlement; and they told us that the savages, who plant the Indian corn, dwelt very far in the interior, and that they had given up planting it on the coasts on account of the war they had with others, who came and took it away. This is what I have been able to learn about this region, which I think is no better than the others.
On the 8th of the month, we set out from the mouth of this river, not being able to do so sooner on account of the fogs. We made that day some four leagues, and passed a bay [118], where there are a great many islands. From here large mountains [119] are seen to the west, in which is the dwelling-place of a savage captain called Aneda, who encamps near the river Quinibequy. I was satisfied from this name that it was one of his tribe that had discovered the plant called Aneda, [120] which Jacques Cartier said was so powerful against the malady called scurvy, of which we have already spoken, which harassed his company as well as our own, when they wintered in Canada. The savages have no knowledge at all of this plant, and are not aware of its existence, although the above-mentioned savage has the same name. The following day we made eight leagues. [121] As we passed along the coast, we perceived two columns of smoke which some savages made to attract our attention. We went and anchored in the direction of them behind a small island near the main land, [122] where we saw more than eighty savages running along the shore to see us, dancing and giving expression to their joy. Sieur de Monts sent two men together with our savage to visit them. After they had spoken some time with them, and assured them of our friendship, we left with them one of our number, and they delivered to us one of their companions as a hostage. Meanwhile, Sieur de Monts visited an island, which is very beautiful in view of what it produces; for it has fine oaks and nut-trees, the soil cleared up, and many vineyards bearing beautiful grapes in their season, which were the first we had seen on all these coasts from the Cap de la Hève. We named it Isle de Bacchus [123]. It being full tide, we weighed anchor and entered a little river, which we could not sooner do; for there is a bar, there being at low tide only half a fathom of water, at full tide a fathom and a half, and at the highest water two fathoms. On the other side of the bar there are three, four, five, and six fathoms. When we had anchored, a large number of savages came to the bank of the river, and began to dance. Their captain at the time, whom they called Honemechin [124], was not with them. He arrived about two or three hours later with two canoes, when he came sweeping entirely round our barque. Our savage could understand only a few words, as the language of the Almouchiquois [125] (for that is the name of this nation) differs entirely from that of the Souriquois and Etechemins. These people gave signs of being greatly pleased. Their chief had a good figure, was young and agile. We sent some articles of merchandise on shore to barter with them; but they had nothing but their robes to give in exchange, for they preserve only such furs as they need for their garments. Sieur de Monts ordered some provisions to be given to their chief, with which he was greatly pleased, and came several times to the side of our boat to see us. These savages shave off the hair far up on the head, and wear what remains very long, which they comb and twist behind in various ways very neatly, intertwined with feathers which they attach to the head. They paint their faces black and red, like the other savages which we have seen. They are an agile people, with well-formed bodies. Their weapons are pikes, clubs, bows and arrows, at the end of which some attach the tail of a fish called the signoc, others bones, while the arrows of others are entirely of wood. They till and cultivate the soil, something which we have not hitherto observed. In the place of ploughs, they use an instrument of very hard wood, shaped like a spade. This river is called by the inhabitants of the country Choüacoet. [126]
The next day Sieur de Monts and I landed to observe their tillage on the bank of the river. We saw their Indian corn, which they raise in gardens. Planting three or four kernels in one place, they then heap up about it a quantity of earth with shells of the signoc before mentioned. Then three feet distant they plant as much more, and thus in succession. With this corn they put in each hill three or four Brazilian beans, [127] which are of different colors. When they grow up, they interlace with the corn, which reaches to the height of from five to six feet; and they keep the ground very free from weeds. We saw there many squashes,[128] and pumpkins, [129] and tobacco, which they likewise cultivate. [130]
* * * * *
CHAMPLAIN’S EXPLANATION OF THE ACCOMPANYING MAP.
CHOUACOIT R.
_The figures indicate fathoms of water_.
_A_. The river.
_B_. Place where they have their fortress. _C_. Cabins in the open fields, near which they cultivate the land and plant Indian corn.
_D_. Extensive tract of land which is sandy, but covered with grass. _E_. Another place where they have their dwellings all together after they have planted their corn.
_F_. Marshes with good pasturage.
_G_. Spring of fresh water.
_H_. A large point of land all cleared up except some fruit trees and wild vines.
_I_. Little island at the entrance of the river. _L_. Another islet.
_M_. Two islands under shelter of which vessels can anchor with good bottom.
_N_. A point of land cleared up where Marchin came to us. _O_. Four islands.
_P_. Little brook dry at low tide.
_Q_. Shoals along the coast.
_R_. Roadsted where vessels can anchor while waiting for the tide.
NOTES. Of the two islands in the northern part of the bay, the larger, marked _M_, is Stratton Island, nearly half a mile long, and a mile and a half from Prout’s Neck, which lies north of it. A quarter of a mile from Stratton is Bluff Island, a small island north-west of it. Of the four islands at the southern end of the bay, the most eastern is Wood Island, on which the United States maintain a light. The next on the west, two hundred and fifty yards distant, is Negro Island. The third still further west is Stage Island. The fourth, quarter of a mile west of the last named, is Basket Island. The neck or peninsula, south-west of the islands, is now called the POOL, much resorted to as a watering-place in the summer. The island near the mouth of the river is Ram Island, and that directly north of it is Eagle Island. From the mouth of the River to Prout’s Neck, marked, is one of the finest beaches in New England, extending about six nautical miles. Its Southern extremity is known as Ferry, the northern Scarborough, and midway between them is Old Orchard Beach, the latter a popular resort in the summer months of persons from distant parts of the United States and Canada.
* * * * *
The Indian corn which we saw was at that time about two feet high, some of it as high as three. The beans were beginning to flower, as also the pumpkins and squashes. They plant their corn in May, and gather it in September. We saw also a great many nuts, which are small and have several divisions. There were as yet none on the trees, but we found plenty under them, from the preceding year. We saw also many grape-vines, on which there was a remarkably fine berry, from which we made some very good verjuice. We had heretofore seen grapes only on the Island of Bacchus, distant nearly two leagues from this river. Their permanent abode, the tillage, and the fine trees led us to conclude that the air here is milder and better than that where we passed the winter, and at the other places we visited on the coast. But I cannot believe that there is not here a considerable degree of cold, although it is in latitude 43° 45′. [131] The forests in the interior are very thin, although abounding in oaks, beeches, ashes, and elms; in wet places there are many willows. The savages dwell permanently in this place, and have a large cabin surrounded by palisades made of rather large trees placed by the side of each other, in which they take refuge when their enemies make war upon them. [132] They cover their cabins with oak bark. This place is very pleasant, and as agreeable as any to be seen. The river is very abundant in fish, and is bordered by meadows. At the mouth there is a small island adapted for the construction of a good fortress, where one could be in security.
On Sunday, [133] the 12th of the month, we set out from the river Choüacoet. After coasting along some six or seven leagues, a contrary wind arose, which obliged us to anchor and go ashore, [134] where we saw two meadows, each a league in length and half a league in breadth. We saw there two savages, whom at first we took to be the great birds called bustards, to be found in this country; who, as soon as they caught sight of us, took flight into the woods, and were not seen again. From Choüacoet to this place, where we saw some little birds, which sing like blackbirds, and are black excepting the ends of the wings, which are orange-colored, [135] there is a large number of grape-vines and nut-trees. This coast is sandy, for the most part, all the way from Quinibequy. This day we returned two or three leagues towards Choüacoet, as far as a cape which we called Island Harbor, [136] favorable for vessels of a hundred tons, about which are three islands. Heading north-east a quarter north, one can enter another harbor [137] near this place, to which there is no approach, although there are islands, except the one where you enter. At the entrance there are some dangerous reefs. There are in these islands so many red currants that one sees for the most part nothing else, [138] and an infinite number of pigeons, [139] of which we took a great quantity. This Island Harbor [140] is in latitude 43° 25′.
On the 15th of the month we made twelve leagues. Coasting along, we perceived a smoke on the shore, which we approached as near as possible, but saw no savage, which led us to believe that they had fled. The sun set, and we could find no harbor for that night, since the coast was flat and sandy. Keeping off, and heading south, in order to find an anchorage, after proceeding about two leagues, we observed a cape [141] on the main land south a quarter south-east of us, some six leagues distant. Two leagues to the east we saw three or four rather high islands, [142] and on the west a large bay. The coast of this bay, reaching as far as the cape, extends inland from where we were perhaps four leagues. It has a breadth of two leagues from north to south, and three at its entrance. [143] Not observing any place favorable for putting in, [144] we resolved to go to the cape above mentioned with short sail, which occupied a portion of the night. Approaching to where there were sixteen fathoms of water, we anchored until daybreak.
On the next day we went to the above-mentioned cape, where there are three islands [145] near the main land, full of wood of different kinds, as at Choüacoet and all along the coast; and still another flat one, where there are breakers, and which extends a little farther out to Sea than the others, on which there is no wood at all. We named this place Island Cape, [146] near which we saw a canoe containing five or six savages, who came out near our barque, and then went back and danced on the beach. Sieur de Monts sent me on shore to observe them, and to give each one of them a knife and some biscuit, which caused them to dance again better than before. This over, I made them understand, as well as I could, that I desired them to show me the course of the shore. After I had drawn with a crayon the bay, [147] and the Island Cape, where we were, with the same crayon they drew the outline of another bay, [148] which they represented as very large; here they placed six pebbles at equal distances apart, giving me to understand by this that these signs represented as many chiefs and tribes. [149] Then they drew within the first mentioned bay a river which we had passed, which has shoals and is very long. [150] We found in this place a great many vines, the green grapes on which were a little larger than peas, also many nut-trees, the nuts on which were no larger than musket-balls. The savages told us that all those inhabiting this country cultivated the land and sowed seeds like the others, whom we had before seen. The latitude of this place is 43° and some minutes. [151] Sailing half a league farther, we observed several savages on a rocky point, [152] who ran along the shore, dancing as they went, to their companions to inform them of our coming. After pointing out to us the direction of their abode, they made a signal with smoke to show us the place of their settlement. We anchored near a little island, [153] and sent our canoe with knives and cakes for the savages. From the large number of those we saw, we concluded that these places were better inhabited than the others we had seen.
After a stay of some two hours for the sake of observing those people, whose canoes are made of birch bark, like those of the Canadians, Souriquois, and Etechemins, we weighed anchor and set sail with a promise of fine weather. Continuing our course to the west-south-west we saw numerous islands on one side and the other. Having sailed seven or eight leagues, we anchored near an island, [154] whence we observed many smokes along the shore, and many savages running up to see us. Sieur de Monts sent two or three men in a canoe to them, to whom he gave some knives and paternosters to present to them; with which they were greatly pleased, and danced several times in acknowledgment. We could not ascertain the name of their chief, as we did not know their language. All along the shore there is a great deal of land cleared up and planted with Indian corn. The country is very pleasant and agreeable, and there is no lack of fine trees. The canoes of those who live there are made of a single piece, and are very liable to turn over if one is not skilful in managing them. We had not before seen any of this kind. They are made in the following manner. After cutting down, at a cost of much labor and time, the largest and tallest tree they can find, by means of stone hatchets (for they have no others except some few which they received from the Savages on the coasts of La Cadie, [155] them in exchange for furs), they remove the bark, and round off the tree except on one side, where they apply fire gradually along its entire length; and sometimes they put red-hot pebble-stones on top. When the fire is too fierce, they extinguish it with a little water, not entirely, but so that the edge of the boat may not be burnt. It being hollowed out as much as they wish, they scrape it all over with stones, which they use instead of knives. These stones resemble our musket flints.
On the next day, the 17th of the month, we weighed anchor to go to a cape we had seen the day before, which seemed to lie on our south south-west. This day we were able to make only five leagues, and we passed by some islands [156] covered with wood. I observed in the bay all that the savages had described to me at Island Cape. As we continued our course, large numbers came to us in canoes from the islands and main land. We anchored a league from a cape, which we named St. Louis, [157] where we noticed smoke in several places. While in the act of going there, our barque grounded on a rock, where we were in great danger, for, if we had not speedily got it off, it would have overturned in the sea, since the tide was falling all around, and there were five or six fathoms of water. But God preserved us, and we anchored near the above-named cape, when there come to us fifteen or sixteen canoes of savages. In some of them there were fifteen or sixteen, who began to manifest great signs of joy, and made various harangues, which we could not in the least understand. Sieur de Monts sent three or four men on shore in our canoe, not only to get water, but to see their chief, whose name was Honabetha. The latter had a number of knives and other trifles, which Sieur de Monts gave him, when he came alongside to see us, together with some of his companions, who were present both along the shore and in their canoes. We received the chief very cordially, and made him welcome; who, after remaining some time, went back. Those whom we had sent to them brought us some little squashes as big as the fist, which we ate as a salad, like cucumbers, and which we found very good. They brought also some purslane, [158] which grows in large quantities among the Indian corn, and of which they make no more account than of weeds. We saw here a great many little houses, scattered over the fields where they plant their Indian corn.
There is, moreover, in this bay a very broad river, which we named River du Guast. [159] It stretches, as it seemed to me, towards the Iroquois, a nation in open warfare with the Montagnais, who live on the great river St. Lawrence.
ENDNOTES:
107. _Isle de la Tortue_, commonly known as Seguin Island, high and rocky, with precipitous shores. It is nearly equidistant from Wood, Pond, and Salter’s Islands at the mouth of the Kennebec, and about one mile and three quarters from each. The United States light upon it is 180 feet above the level of the sea. It may be seen at the distance of twenty miles.
108. Ellingwood Rock, Seguin Ledges, and White Ledge.
109. Pond Island on the west, and Stage Island on the east: the two rocks referred to in the same sentence are now called the Sugar Loaves.
110. This was apparently in the upper part of Back River, where it is exceedingly narrow. The minute and circumstantial description of the mouth of the Kennebec, and the positive statement in the text that they entered the river so described, and the conformity of the description to that laid down on our Coast Survey Charts, as well as on Champlain’s local map, all render it certain that they entered the mouth of the Kennebec proper; and having entered, they must have passed on a flood-tide into and through Back River, which in some places is so narrow that their little barque could hardly fall to be grazed in passing. Having reached Hockomock Bay, they passed down through the lower Hell Gate, rounded the southern point of West Port or Jerremisquam Island, sailing up its eastern shore until they reached the harbor of Wiscasset; then down the western side, turning Hockomock Point, threading the narrow passage of the Sasanoa River through the upper Hell Gate, entering the Sagadahoc, passing the Chops, and finally through the Neck, into Merrymeeting Bay. The narrowness of the channel and the want of water at low tide in Back River would seem at first blush to throw a doubt over the possibility of Champlain’s passing through this tidal passage. But it has at least seven feet of water at high tide. His little barque, of fifteen tons, without any cargo, would not draw more than four feet at most, and would pass through without any difficulty, incommoded only by the narrowness of the channel to which Champlain refers. With the same barque, they passed over the bar at Nauset, or Mallebarre, where Champlain distinctly says there were only four feet of water.–_Vide postea_, p. 81.
111. West Port, or Jerremisquam Island.
112. This was Wiscasset Harbor, as farther on it will be seen that from this point they started down the river, taking another way than that by which they had come.
113. Hockomock Point, a rocky precipitous bluff.
114. The movement of the waters about this “narrow waterfall” has been a puzzle from the days of Champlain to the present time. The phenomena have not changed. Having consulted the United States Coast Pilot and likewise several persons who have navigated these waters and have a personal knowledge of the “fall,” the following is, we think, a satisfactory explanation. The stream in which the fall occurs is called the Sasanoa, and is a tidal current flowing from the Kennebec, opposite the city of Bath, to the Sheepscot. It was up this tidal passage that Champlain was sailing from the waters of the Sheepscot to the Kennebec, and the “narrow waterfall” was what is now called the upper Hell Gate, which is only fifty yards wide, hemmed in by walls of rock on both sides. Above it the Sasanoa expands into a broad bay. When the tide from the Kennebec has filled this bay, the water rushes through this narrow gate with a velocity Sometimes of thirteen miles an hour. There is properly no fall in the bed of the stream, but the appearance of a fall is occasioned by the pent-up waters of the bay above rushing through this narrow outlet, having accumulated faster than they could be drained off. At half ebb, on a spring tide, a wall of water from six inches to a foot stretches across the stream, and the roar of the flood boiling over the rocks at the Gate can be heard two miles below. The tide continues to flow up the Sasanoa from the Sheepscot not only on the flood, but for some time on the ebb, as the waters in the upper part of the Sheepscot and its bays, in returning, naturally force themselves up this passage until they are sufficiently drained off to turn the current in the Sasanoa in the other direction. Champlain, sailing from the Sheepscot up the Sasanoa, arrived at the Gate probably just as the tide was beginning to turn, and when there was comparatively only a slight fall, but yet enough to make it necessary to force their little barque up through the Gate by means of hawsers as described in the text. After getting a short distance from the narrows, he would be on the water ebbing back into the Kennebec, and would be still moving with the tide, as he had been until he reached the fall.
115. Merrymeeting Bay, so called from the meeting in this bay of the two rivers mentioned in the text a little below, viz., the Kennebec and the Androscoggin.
116. The latitude of Seguin, here called Tortoise Island, is 43° 42′ 25″.
117. The head-waters of the Kennebec, as well as those of the Penobscot, approach very near to the Chaudière, which flows into the St. Lawrence near Quebec.
118. Casco Bay, which stretches from Cape Small Point to Cape Elizabeth. It has within it a hundred and thirty-six islands. They anchored and passed the night somewhere within the limits of this bay, but did not attempt its exploration.
119. These were the White Mountains in New Hampshire, towering above the sea 6,225 feet. They are about sixty miles distant from Casco Bay, and were observed by all the early voyagers as they sailed along the coast of Maine. They are referred to on Ribero’s Map of 1529 by the Spanish word _montañas_, and were evidently seen by Estevan Gomez in 1525, whose discoveries are delineated by this map. They will also be found on the Mappe-Monde of about the middle of the sixteenth century, and on Sebastian Cabot’s map, 1544, both included in the “Monuments de la Géographie” of Jomard, and they are also indicated on numerous other early maps.
120. This conjecture is not sustained by any evidence beyond the similarity of the names. There are numerous idle opinions as to the kind of plant which was so efficacious a remedy for the scurvy, but they are utterly without foundation. There does not appear to be any means of determining what the healing plant was.
121. The four leagues of the previous day added to the eight of this bring them from the Kennebec to Saco Bay.
122. The small island “proche de la grande terre” was Stratton Island: they anchored on the northern side and nearly east of Bluff Island, which is a quarter of a mile distant. The Indians came down to welcome them from the promontory long known as Black Point, now called Prout’s Neck. Compare Champlain’s local map and the United States Coast Survey Charts.
123. Champlain’s narrative, together with his sketch or drawing, illustrating the mouth of the Saco and its environs, compared with the United States Coast Survey Charts, renders it certain that this was Richmond Island. Lescarbot describes it as a ‘great island, about half a league in compass, at the entrance of the bay of the said place of Choüacoet It is about a mile long, and eight hundred yards in its greatest width.–_Coast Pilot_. It received its present name at a very early period. It was granted under the title of “a small island, called Richmond,” by the Council for New England to Walter Bagnall, Dec. 2, 1631.–_Vide Calendar of Eng. State Papers_, Col. 1574-1660, p. 137. Concerning the death of Bagnall on this island a short time before the above grant was made, _vide Winthrop’s Hist. New Eng._, ed. 1853, Vol. I. pp. 75, 118.
124. Lescarbot calls him Olmechin.–_Histoire de la Nouvelle France_, par M. Lescarbot, Paris, 1612, p. 558.
125. They had hoped that the wife of Panounias, their Indian guide, who was said to have been born among the Almouchiquois, would be able to interpret their language, but in this they appear to have been disappointed.–_Vide antea_, p. 55.
126. From the Indian word, M’-foo-ah-koo-et, or, as the French pronounced it, _Choüacoet_, which had been the name, applied by the aborigines to this locality we know not how long, is derived the name Saco, now given to the river and city in the same vicinity. The orthography given to the original word is various, as Sawocotuck, Sowocatuck, Sawakquatook, Sockhigones, and Choüacost. The variations in this, as in other Indian words, may have arisen from a misapprehension of the sound given by the aborigines, or from ignorance, on the part of writers, of the proper method of representing sounds, joined to an utter indifference to a matter which seemed to them of trifling importance.
127. _Febues du Brésil_. This is the well-known trailing or bush-bean of New England, _Phaseolus vulgaris_, called the “Brazilian bean” because it resembled a bean known in France at that time under that name. It is sometimes called the kidney-bean. It is indigenous to America.
128. _Citrouilles_, the common summer squash, _Cucurbita polymorpha_, as may be seen by reference to Champlain’s map of 1612, where its form is delineated over the inscription, _la forme des sitroules_. It is indigenous to America. Our word squash is derived from the Indian _askutasquash_ or _isquoutersquash_. “In summer, when their corne is spent, Isquoutersquashes is their best bread, a fruit like the young Pumpion.”–_Wood’s New England Prospect_, 1634, Prince Society ed., p. 76. “_Askutasquash_, their Vine aples, which the _English_ from them call _Squashes_, about the bignesse of Apples, of severall colours, a sweet, light, wholesome refreshing.”–_Roger Williams, Key_, 1643, Narragansett Club ed., p. 125.
129. _Courges_, the pumpkin, _Cucurbita maxima_, indigenous to America. As the pumpkin and likewise the squash were vegetables hitherto unknown to Champlain, there was no French word by which he could accurately identify them. The names given to them were such as he thought would describe them to his countrymen more nearly than any others. Had he been a botanist, he would probably have given them new names.
130. _Petum_. Tobacco, _Nicotiana rustica_, sometimes called wild tobacco. It was a smaller and more hardy species than the _Nicotiana tabacum_, now cultivated in warmer climates, but had the same qualities though inferior in strength and aroma. It was found in cultivation by the Indians all along our coast and in Canada. Cartier observed it growing in Canada in 1535. Of it he says: “There groweth also a certain kind of herbe, whereof in Sommer they make a great prouision for all the yeere, making great account of it, and onely men vse of it, and first they cause it to be dried in the Sunne, then weare it about their neckes wrapped in a little beasts skinne made like a little bagge, with a hollow peece of stone or wood like a pipe; then when they please they make pouder of it, and then put it in one of the ends of the said Cornet or pipe, and laying a cole of fire vpon it, at the other ende sucke so long, that they fill their bodies full of smoke, till that it commeth out of their mouth and nostrils, euen as out of the Tonnell of a chimney. They say that this doth keepe them warme and in health: they neuer goe without some of it about them. We ourselues haue tryed the same smoke, and hauing put it in our mouthes, it seemed almost as hot as Pepper.”–_Jacques Cartier, 2 Voyage_, 1535; _Hakluyt_, London, ed. 1810, Vol. III. p. 276.
We may here remark that the esculents found in cultivation at Saco, beans, squashes, pumpkins, and corn, as well as the tobacco, are all American tropical or subtropical plants, and must have been transmitted from tribe to tribe, from more southern climates. The Indian traditions would seem to indicate this. “They have a tradition,” says Roger Williams, “that the Crow brought them at first an _Indian_ Graine of Corne in one Eare, and an _Indian_ or _French_ Beane in another, from the Great God _Kautantouwit’s_ field in the Southwest from whence they hold came all their Corne and Beanes.”– _Key to the Language of America_, London, 1643, Narragansett Club ed., p. 144.
Seventy years before Champlain, Jacques Cartier had found nearly the same vegetables cultivated by the Indians in the valley of the St. Lawrence. He says: “They digge their grounds with certaine peeces of wood, as bigge as halfe a sword, on which ground groweth their corne, which they call Ossici; it is as bigge as our small peason…. They haue also great store of Muske-milions. Pompions, Gourds, Cucumbers, Peason, and Beanes of euery colour, yet differing from ours.”–_Hakluyt_, Vol. II. p. 276. For a full history of these plants, the reader is referred to the History of Plants, a learned and elaborate work now in press, by Charles Pickering, M.D. of Boston.
131. The latitude of Wood Island at the mouth of the Saco, where they were at anchor, is 43° 27′ 23″.
132. The site of this Indian fortification was a rocky bluff on the western side of the river, now owned by Mr. John Ward, where from time to time Indian relics have been found. The island at the mouth of the river, which Champlain speaks of as a suitable location for a fortress, is Ram Island, and is low and rocky, and about a hundred and fifty yards in length.
133. For Sunday read Tuesday.–_Vide Shurtless’s Calendar_.
134. This landing was probably near Wells Neck, and the meadows which they saw were the salt marshes of Wells.
135. The Red-wing Blackbird, _Ageloeus phoeniceus_, of lustrous black, with the bend of the wing red. They are still abundant in the same locality, and indeed across the whole continent to the Pacific Ocean.–_Vide Cones’s Key_, Boston, 1872, p. 156; _Baird’s Report_, Washington, 1858, Part II. p. 526.
136. _Le Port aux Isles_. This Island Harbor is the present Cape Porpoise Harbor.
137. This harbor is Goose Fair Bay, from one to two miles north-east of Cape Porpoise, in the middle of which are two large ledges, “the dangerous reefs” to which Champlain refers.
138. This was the common red currant of the gardens, _Ribes rubrum_, which is a native of America. The fetid currant, _Ribes prostratum_, is also indigenous to this country. It has a pale red fruit, which gives forth a very disagreeable odor. Josselyn refers to the currant both in his Voyages and in his Rarities. Tuckerman found it growing wild in the White Mountains.
139. The passenger pigeon, _Ectopistes migratorius_, formerly numerous in New England. Commonly known as the wild pigeon. Wood says they fly in flocks of millions of millions.–_New England Prospect_, 1634; Prince Society ed., p. 31.
140. Champlain’s latitude is less inaccurate than usual. It is not possible to determine the exact point at which he took it. But the latitude of Cape Porpoise, according to the Coast Survey Charts, is 43° 21′ 43″.
141. Cape Anne.
142. The point at which Champlain first saw Cape Anne, and “isles assez hautes,” the Isles of Shoals, was east of Little Boar’s Head, and three miles from the shore. Nine years afterward, Captain John Smith visited these islands, and denominated them on his map of New England Smith’s Isles. They began at a very early date to be called the Isles of Shoals. “Smith’s Isles are a heape together, none neere them, against Accominticus.”–_Smith’s Description of New England_. Rouge’s map, 1778, has Isles of Shoals, _ou des Ecoles_. For a full description and history of these islands, the reader is referred to “The Isles of Shoals,” by John S. Jenness, New York, 1875.
143. Champlain has not been felicitous in his description of this bay. He probably means to say that from the point where he then was, off Little Boar’s Head, to the point where it extends farthest into the land, or to the west, it appeared to be about twelve miles, and that the depth of the bay appeared to be six miles, and eight at the point of greatest depth. As he did not explore the bay, it is obvious that he intended to speak of it only as measured by the eye. No name has been assigned to this expanse of water on our maps. It washes the coast of Hampton, Salisbury, Newburyport, Ipswich, and Annisquam. It might well be called Merrimac Bay, aster the name of the important river that empties its waters into it, midway between its northern and southern extremities.
144. It is to be observed that, starting from Cape Porpoise Harbor on the morning of the 15th of July, they sailed twelve leagues before the sail of the night commenced. This would bring them, allowing for the sinuosities of the shore, to a point between Little Boar’s Head and the Isles of Shoals. In this distance, they had passed the sandy shores of Wells Beach and York Beach in Maine, and Foss’s Beach and Rye Beach in New Hampshire, and still saw the white Sands of Hampton and Salisbury Beaches stretching far into the bay on their right. The excellent harbor of Portsmouth, land-locked by numerous islands, had been passed unobserved. A sail of eighteen nautical miles brought them to their anchorage at the extreme point of Cape Anne.
145. Straitsmouth, Thatcher, and Milk island. They were named by Captain John Smith the “Three Turks’ Heads,” in memory of the three Turks’ heads cut off by him at the siege of Caniza, by which he acquired from Sigismundus, prince of Transylvania, their effigies in his shield for his arms.–_The true Travels, Adventures, and Observations of Captaine John Smith_, London, 1629.
146. What Champlain here calls “le Cap aux Isles,” Island Cape, is Cape Anne, called Cape Tragabigzanda by Captain John Smith, the name of his mistress, to whom he was given when a prisoner among the Turks. The name was changed by Prince Charles, afterward Charles I., to Cape Anne, in honor of his mother, who was Anne of Denmark.–_Vide Description of New England_ by Capt. John Smith, London, 1616.
147. This was the bay west of a line drawn from Little Boar’s Head to Cape Anne, which may well be called Merrimac Bay.
148. Massachusetts Bay.
149. It is interesting to observe the agreement of the sign-writing of this savage on the point of Cape Anne with the statement of the historian Gookin, who in 1656 was superintendent of Indian affairs in Massachusetts, and who wrote in 1674. He says: “Their chief sachem held dominion over many other petty governours; as those of Weechagaskas, Neponsitt, Punkapaog, Nonantam, Nashaway, and some of the Nipmuck people, as far as Pokomtacuke, as the old men of Massachusetts affirmed.” Here we have the six tribes, represented by the pebbles, recorded seventy years later as a tradition handed down by the old men of the tribe. Champlain remarks further on, “I observed in the bay all that the savages had described to me at Island Cape.”
150. This was the Merrimac with its shoals at the mouth, which they had passed without observing, having sailed from the offing near Little Boar’s Head directly to the head of Cape Anne, during the darkness of the previous night.
151. The latitude of the Straitsmouth Island Light on the extreme point of Cape Anne is 42° 39′ 43″. A little east of it, where they probably anchored, there are now sixteen fathoms of water.
152. Emmerson’s Point, forming the eastern extremity of Cape Anne, twenty or twenty-five feet high, fringed with a wall of bare rocks on the sea.
153. Thatcher’s Island, near the point just mentioned. It is nearly half a mile long and three hundred and fifty yards wide, and about fifty feet high.
154. It is not possible to determine with absolute certainty the place of this anchorage. But as Champlain describes, at the end of this chapter, what must have been Charles River coming from the country of the Iroquois or the west, most likely as seen from his anchorage, there can be little doubt that he anchored in Boston Harbor, near the western limit of Noddle’s Island, now known as East Boston.
155. The fishermen and fur-traders had visited these coasts from a very early period.–_Vide antea_, note 18. From them they obtained the axe, a most important implement in their rude mode of life, and it was occasionally found in use among tribes far in the interior.
_La Cadie_. Carelessness or indifference in regard to the orthography of names was general in the time of Champlain. The volumes written in the vain attempt to settle the proper method of spelling the name of Shakespeare, are the fruit of this indifference. La Cadie did not escape this treatment. Champlain writes it Arcadie, Accadie, La Cadie, Acadie, and L’Acadie; while Lescarbot uniformly, as far as we have observed, La Cadie. We have also seen it written L’Arcadie and L’Accadie, and in some, if not in all the preceding forms, with a Latin termination in _ia_. It is deemed important to secure uniformity, and to follow the French form in the translation of a French work rather than the Latin. In this work, it is rendered LA CADIE in all cases except in quotations. The history of the name favors this form rather than any other. The commission or charter given to De Monts by Henry IV. in 1603, a state paper or legal document, drawn, we may suppose, with more than usual care, has La Cadie, and repeats it four times without variation. It is a name of Indian origin, as may be inferred by its appearing in composition in such words as Passamacadie, Subenacadie, and Tracadie, plainly derived from the language spoken by the Souriquois and Etechemins. Fifty-five years before it was introduced into De Monts’s commission, it appeared written _Larcadia_ in Gastaldo’s map of “Terra Nova del Bacalaos,” in the Italian translation of Ptolemy’s Geography, by Pietro Andrea Mattiolo, printed at Venice in 1548. The colophon bears date October, 1547. This rare work is in the possession of Henry C. Murphy, LL.D., to whom we are indebted for a very beautiful copy of the map. It appeared again in 1561 on the map of Ruscelli, which was borrowed, as well as the whole map, from the above work.–_Vide Ruscelli’s map in Dr. Kohl’s Documentary History of Maine_, Maine Hist. Soc., Portland, 1869, p. 233. On this map, Larcadia stands on the coast of Maine, in the midst of the vast territory included in De Monts’s grant, between the degrees of forty and forty-six north latitude. It will be observed, if we take away the Latin termination, that the pronunciation of this word as it first appeared in 1547, would not differ in _sound_ from La Cadie. It seems, therefore, very clear that the name of the territory stretching along the coast of Maine, we know not how far north or south, as it was caught from the lips of the natives at some time anterior 1547, was best represented by La Cadie, as pronounced by the French. Whether De Monts had obtained the name of his American domain from those who had recently visited the coast and had caught its sound from the natives, or whether he had taken it from this ancient map, we must remain uninformed. Several writers have ventured to interpret the word, and give us its original meaning. The following definitions have been offered: 1. The land of dogs; 2. Our village; 3. The fish called pollock; 4. Place; 5. Abundance. We do not undertake to decide between the disagreeing doctors. But it is obvious to remark that a rich field lies open ready for a noble harvest for any young scholar who has a genius for philology, and who is prepared to make a life work of the study and elucidation of the original languages of North America. The laurels in this field are still to be gathered.
156. The islands in Boston Bay.
157. This attempt to land was in Marshfield near the mouth of South River. Not succeeding, they sailed forward a league, and anchored at Brant Point, which they named the Cape of St. Louis.
158. This purslane, _Portulaca oleracea_, still grows vigorously among the Indian corn in New England, and is regarded with no more interest now than in 1605. It is a tropical plant, and was introduced by the Indians probably by accident with the seeds of tobacco or other plants.
159. Here at the end of the chapter Champlain seems to be reminded that he had omitted to mention the river of which he had learned, and had probably seen in the bay. This was Charles River. From the western side of Noddle’s Island, or East Boston, where they were probably at anchor, it appeared at its confluence with the Mystic River to come from the west, or the country of the Iroquois. By reference to Champlain’s large map of 1612, this river will be clearly identified as Charles River, in connection with Boston Bay and its numerous islands. On that map it is represented as a long river flowing from the west. This description of the river by Champlain was probably from personal observation. Had he obtained his information from the Indians, they would not have told him that it was broad or that it came from the west, for such are not the facts; but they would have represented to him that it was small, winding in its course, and that it came from the south. We infer, therefore, that he not only saw it himself, but probably from the deck of the little French barque, as it was riding at anchor in our harbor near East Boston, where Charles River, augmented by the tide, flows into the harbor from the west, in a strong, broad, deep current. They named it in honor of Pierre du Guast, Sieur de Monts, the commander of this expedition. Champlain writes the name “du Gas;” De Laet has “de Gua;” while Charlevoix writes “du Guast.” This latter orthography generally prevails.
CHAPTER VIII.
CONTINUATION OF THE DISCOVERIES ALONG THE COAST OF THE ALMOUCHIQUOIS, AND WHAT WE OBSERVED IN DETAIL.
The next day we doubled Cap St. Louis, [160] so named by Sieur de Monts, a land rather low, and in latitude 42° 45′. [161] The same day we sailed two leagues along a sandy coast, as we passed along which we saw a great many cabins and gardens. The wind being contrary, we entered a little bay to await a time favorable for proceeding. There came to us two or three canoes, which had just been fishing for cod and other fish, which are found there in large numbers. These they catch with hooks made of a piece of wood, to which they attach a bone in the shape of a spear, and fasten it very securely. The whole has a fang-shape, and the line attached to it is made out of the bark of a tree. They gave me one of their hooks, which I took as a curiosity. In it the bone was fastened on by hemp, like that in France, as it seemed to me, and they told me that they gathered this plant without being obliged to cultivate it; and indicated that it grew to the height of four or five feet. [162] This canoe went back on shore to give notice to their fellow inhabitants, who caused columns of smoke to arise on our account We saw eighteen or twenty savages, who came to the shore and began to dance. Our canoe landed in order to give them some bagatelles, at which they were greatly pleased. Some of them came to us and begged us to go to their river. We weighed anchor to do so, but were unable to enter on account of the small amount of water, it being low tide, and were accordingly obliged to anchor at the mouth. I went ashore, where I saw many others, who received us very cordially. I made also an examination of the river, but saw only an arm of water extending a short distance inland, where the land is only in part cleared up. Running into this is merely a brook not deep enough for boats except at full tide. The circuit of the bay is about a league. On one side of the entrance to this bay there is a point which is almost an island, covered with wood, principally pines, and adjoins sand-banks, which are very extensive. On the other side, the land is high. There are two islets in this bay, which are not seen until one has entered, and around which it is almost entirely dry at low tide. This place is very conspicuous from the sea, for the coast is very low, excepting the cape at the entrance to the bay. We named it the Port du Cap St. Louis, [163] distant two leagues from the above cape, and ten from the Island Cape. It is in about the same latitude as Cap St. Louis.
* * * * *
CHAMPLAIN’S EXPLANATION OF THE ACCOMPANYING MAP.
PORT ST. LOUIS.
_The figures indicate fathoms of water_.
_A_. Indicates the place where vessels lie. _B_. The channel.
_C_. Two islands. [Note: Clark’s Island is now the sole representative of the two figured by Champlain in 1605. The action of the waves has either united the two, or swept one of them away. It was named after Clark, the master’s mate of the “May Flower,” who was the first to step on shore, when the party of Pilgrims, sent out from Cape Cod Harbor to Select a habitation, landed on this island, and passed the night of the 9th of December, O. S. 1620. _Vide_ Morton’s Memorial, 1669, Plymouth Ed. 1826. p. 35: Young’s Chronicles, p. 160; Bradford’s His. Plym. Plantation, p. 87. This delineation removes all doubt as to the missing island in Plymouth Harbor, and shows the incorrectness of the theory as to its being Saquish Head, suggested in a note in Young’s Chronicles, p. 64. _Vide_ also Mourt’s Relation, Dexter’s ed., note 197.]
_D_. Sandy downs. [Note: Saquish Neck] _E_. Shoals.
_F_. Cabins where the savages till the ground. _G_. Place where we beached our barque.
_H_. Land having the appearance of an island, covered with wood and adjoining the sandy downs. [Note: Saquish Head, which seems to have been somewhat changed since the time of Champlain. Compare Coast Survey Chart of Plymouth Harbor, 1857.] _I_. A high promontory which may be seen four or five leagues at sea. [Note: Manomet Bluff.]
* * * * *
On the 19th of the month, we set out from this place. Coasting along in a southerly direction, we sailed four or five leagues, and passed near a rock on a level with the surface of the water. As we continued our course, we saw some land which seemed to us to be islands, but as we came nearer we found it to be the main land, lying to the north-north-west of us, and that it was the cape of a large bay, [164] containing more than eighteen or nineteen leagues in circuit, into which we had run so far that we had to wear off on the other tack in order to double the cape which we had seen. The latter we named Cap Blanc, [165] since it contained sands and downs which had a white appearance. A favorable wind was of great assistance to us here, for otherwise we should have been in danger of being driven upon the coast. This bay is very safe, provided the land be not approached nearer than a good league, there being no islands nor rocks except that just mentioned, which is near a river that extends some distance inland, which we named St. Suzanne du Cap Blanc, [166] whence across to Cap St. Louis the distance is ten leagues. Cap Blanc is a point of sand, which bends around towards the south some six leagues. This coast is rather high, and consists of sand, which is very conspicuous as one comes from the Sea. At a distance of some fifteen or eighteen leagues from land, the depth of the water is thirty, forty, and fifty fathoms, but only ten on nearing the shore, which is unobstructed. There is a large extent of open country along the shore before reaching the woods, which are very attractive and beautiful. We anchored off the coast, and saw some savages, towards whom four of our company proceeded. Making their way upon a sand-bank, they observed something like a bay, and cabins bordering it on all sides. When they were about a league and a half from us, there came to them a savage dancing all over, as they expressed it. He had come down from the high shore, but turned about shortly after to inform his fellow inhabitants of our arrival.
The next day, the 20th of the month, we went to the place which our men had seen, and which we found a very dangerous harbor in consequence of the shoals and banks, where we saw breakers in all directions. It was almost low tide when we entered, and there were only four feet of water in the northern passage; at high tide, there are two fathoms. After we had entered, we found the place very spacious, being perhaps three or four leagues in circuit, entirely surrounded by little houses, around each one of which there was as much land as the occupant needed for his support. A small river enters here, which is very pretty, and in which at low tide there are some three and a half feet of water. There are also two or three brooks bordered by meadows. It would be a very fine place, if the harbor were good. I took the altitude, and found the latitude 42°, and the deflection of the magnetic needle 18° 40′. Many savages, men and women, visited us, and ran up on all sides dancing. We named this place Port de Mallebarre. [167]
* * * * *
CHAMPLAIN’S EXPLANATION OF THE ACCOMPANYING MAP.
MALLEBARRE.
_The figures indicate fathoms of water_.
_A_. The two entrances to the harbor. _B_. Sandy downs where the savages killed a sailor belonging to the barque of Sieur de Monts.
_C_. Places in the harbor where the barque of Sieur de Monts was. _D_. Spring on the shore of the harbor.
_E_. A river flowing into the harbor. _F_. A brook.
_G_. A small river where quantities of fish are caught. _H_. Sandy downs with low shrubs and many vines. _I_. Island at the point of the downs.
_L_. Houses and dwelling-places of the savages that till the land. _M_. Shoals and sand-banks at the entrance and inside of the harbor. _O_. Sandy downs.
_P_. Sea-coast,
_q_. Barque of Sieur de Poutrincourt when he visited the place two years after Sieur de Monts.
_R_. Landing of the party of Sieur de Poutrincourt.
NOTES. A comparison of this map with the Coast Survey Charts will show very great changes in this harbor since the days of Champlain. Not only has the mouth of the bay receded towards the south, but this recession appears to have left entirely dry much of the area which was flooded in 1605. Under reference _q_, on the above map, it is intimated that De Poutrincourt’s visit was two years after that of De Monts. It was more than one, and was the second year after, but not, strictly speaking, “two years after.”
* * * * *
The next day, the 21st of the month, Sieur de Monts determined to go and see their habitation. Nine or ten of us accompanied him with our arms; the rest remained to guard the barque. We went about a league along the coast. Before reaching their cabins, we entered a field planted with Indian corn in the manner before described. The corn was in flower, and five and a half feet high. There was some less advanced, which they plant later. We saw many Brazilian beans, and many squashes of various sizes, very good for eating; some tobacco, and roots which they cultivate, the latter having the taste of an artichoke. The woods are filled with oaks, nut-trees, and beautiful cypresses, [168] which are of a reddish color and have a very pleasant odor. There were also several fields entirely uncultivated, the land being allowed to remain fallow. When they wish to plant it, they set fire to the weeds, and then work it over with their wooden spades. Their cabins are round, and covered with heavy thatch made of reeds. In the roof there is an opening of about a foot and a half, whence the smoke from the fire passes out. We asked them if they had their permanent abode in this place, and whether there was much snow. But we were unable to ascertain this fully from them, not understanding their language, although they made an attempt to inform us by signs, by taking some sand in their hands. Spreading it out over the ground, and indicating that it was of the color of our collars, and that it reached the depth of a foot. Others made signs that there was less, and gave us to understand also that the harbor never froze; but we were unable to ascertain whether the snow lasted long. I conclude, however, that this region is of moderate temperature, and the winter not severe. While we were there, there was a north-cast storm, which lasted four days; the sky being so overcast that the sun hardly shone at all. It was very cold, and we were obliged to put on our great-coats, which we had entirely left off. Yet I think the cold was accidental, as it is often experienced elsewhere out of season.
On the 23d of July, four or five seamen having gone on shore with some kettles to get fresh water, which was to be found in one of the sand-banks a short distance from our barque, some of the savages, coveting them, watched the time when our men went to the spring, and then seized one out of the hands of a sailor, who was the first to dip, and who had no weapons. One of his companions, starting to run after him, soon returned, as he could not catch him, since he ran much faster than himself. The other savages, of whom there were a large number, seeing our sailors running to our barque, and at the same time shouting to us to fire at them, took to flight. At the time there were some of them in our barque, who threw themselves into the sea, only one of whom we were able to seize. Those on the land who had taken to flight, seeing them swimming, returned straight to the sailor from whom they had taken away the kettle, hurled several arrows at him from behind, and brought him down. Seeing this, they ran at once to him, and despatched him with their knives. Meanwhile, haste was made to go on shore, and muskets were fired from our barque: mine, bursting in my hands, came near killing me. The savages, hearing this discharge of fire-arms, took to flight, and with redoubled speed when they saw that we had landed, for they were afraid when they saw us running after them. There was no likelihood of our catching them, for they are as swift as horses. We brought in the murdered man, and he was buried some hours later. Meanwhile, we kept the prisoner bound by the feet and hands on board of our barque, fearing that he might escape. But Sieur de Monts resolved to let him go, being persuaded that he was not to blame, and that he had no previous knowledge of what had transpired, as also those who, at the time, were in and about our barque. Some hours later there came some savages to us, to excuse themselves, indicating by signs and demonstrations that it was not they who had committed this malicious act, but others farther off in the interior. We did not wish to harm them, although it was in our power to avenge ourselves.
All these savages from the Island Cape wear neither robes nor furs, except very rarely: moreover, their robes are made of grasses and hemp, scarcely covering the body, and coming down only to their thighs. They have only the sexual parts concealed with a small piece of leather; so likewise the women, with whom it comes down a little lower behind than with the men, all the rest of the body being naked. Whenever the women came to see us, they wore robes which were open in front. The men cut off the hair on the top of the head like those at the river Choüacoet. I saw, among other things, a girl with her hair very neatly dressed, with a skin colored red, and bordered on the upper part with little shell-beads. A part of her hair hung down behind, the rest being braided in various ways. These people paint the face red, black, and yellow. They have scarcely any beard, and tear it out as fast as it grows. Their bodies are well-proportioned. I cannot tell what government they have, but I think that in this respect they resemble their neighbors, who have none at all. They know not how to worship or pray; yet, like the other savages, they have some superstitions, which I shall describe in their place. As for weapons, they have only pikes, clubs, bows and arrows. It would seem from their appearance that they have a good disposition, better than those of the north, but they are all in fact of no great worth. Even a slight intercourse with them gives you at once a knowledge of them. They are great thieves and, if they cannot lay hold of any thing with their hands, they try to do so with their feet, as we have oftentimes learned by experience. I am of opinion that, if they had any thing to exchange with us, they would not give themselves to thieving. They bartered away to us their bows, arrows, and quivers, for pins and buttons; and if they had had any thing else better they would have done the same with it. It is necessary to be on one’s guard against this people, and live in a state of distrust of them, yet without letting them perceive it. They gave us a large quantity of tobacco, which they dry and then reduce to powder. [169] When they eat Indian corn, they boil it in earthen pots, which they make in a way different from ours. [170]. They bray it also in wooden mortars and reduce it to flour, of which they then make cakes, like the Indians of Peru.
In this place and along the whole coast from Quinibequy, there are a great many _siguenocs_, [171] which is a fish with a shell on its back like the tortoise, yet different, there being in the middle a row of little prickles, of the color of a dead leaf, like the rest of the fish. At the end of this shell, there is another still smaller, bordered by very sharp points. The length of the tail-varies according to their size. With the end of it, these people point their arrows, and it contains also a row of prickles like the large shell in which are the eyes. There are eight small feet like those of the crab, and two behind longer and flatter, which they use in swimming. There are also in front two other very small ones with which they eat. When walking, all the feet are concealed excepting the two hindermost which are slightly visible. Under the small shell there are membranes which swell up, and beat like the throat of a frog, and rest upon each other like the folds of a waistcoat. The largest specimen of this fish that I saw was a foot broad, and a foot and a half long.
We saw also a sea-bird [172] with a black beak, the upper part slightly aquiline, four inches long and in the form of a lancet; namely, the lower part representing the handle and the upper the blade, which is thin, sharp on both sides, and shorter by a third than the other, which circumference is a matter of astonishment to many persons, who cannot comprehend how it is possible for this bird to eat with such a beak. It is of the size of a pigeon, the wings being very long in proportion to the body, the tail short, as also the legs, which are red; the feet being small and flat. The plumage on the upper part is gray-brown, and on the under part pure white. They go always in flocks along the sea-shore, like the pigeons with us.
The savages, along all these coasts where we have been, say that other birds, which are very large, come along when their corn is ripe. They imitated for us their cry, which resembles that of the turkey. They showed us their feathers in several places, with which they feather their arrows, and which they put on their heads for decoration; and also a kind of hair which they have under the throat like those we have in France, and they say that a red crest falls over upon the beak. According to their description, they are as large as a bustard, which is a kind of goose, having the neck longer and twice as large as those with us. All these indications led us to conclude that they were turkeys. [173] We should have been very glad to see some of these birds, as well as their feathers, for the sake of greater certainty. Before seeing their feathers, and the little bunch of hair which they have under the throat, and hearing their cry imitated, I should have thought that they were certain birds like turkeys, which are found in some places in Peru, along the sea-shore, eating carrion and other dead things like crows. But these are not so large; nor do they have so long a bill, or a cry like that of real turkeys; nor are they good to eat like those which the Indians say come in flocks in summer, and at the beginning of winter go away to warmer countries, their natural dwelling-place.
ENDNOTES:
160. It will be observed that, after doubling this cape, they sailed two leagues, and then entered Plymouth Harbor, and consequently this cape must have been what is now known as Brant Point.
161. The latitude is 42° 5′.
162. This was plainly our Indian hemp, _Asclepias incarnata_. “The fibres of the bark are strong, and capable of being wrought into a fine soft thread; but it is very difficult to separate the bark from the stalk. It is said to have been used by the Indians for bow-strings.”–_Vide Cutler in Memoirs of the American Academy_, Vol. I. p. 424. It is the Swamp Milkweed of Gray, and grows in wet grounds. One variety is common in New England. The Pilgrims found at Plymouth “an excellent strong kind of Flaxe and Hempe”–_Vide Mourt’s Relation_, Dexter’s ed. p. 62.
163. _Port du Cap St. Louis_. From the plain, the map in his edition of 1613, drawing of this Harbor left by Champlain, and also that of the edition of 1632, it is plain that the “Port du Cap St. Louis” is Plymouth Harbor, where anchored the “Mayflower” a little more than fifteen years later than this, freighted with the first permanent English colony established in New England, commonly known as the Pilgrims. The Indian name of the harbor, according to Captain John Smith, who visited it in 1614. was Accomack. He gave it, by direction of Prince Charles, the name of Plymouth. More recent investigations point to this harbor as the one visited by Martin Pring in 1603.– _Vide Paper by the Rev Benj. F. De Costa, before the New England His. Gen. Society_, Nov. 7, 1877, New England His. and Gen. Register, Vol. XXXII. p. 79.
The interview of the French with the natives was brief, but courteous and friendly on both sides. The English visits were interrupted by more or less hostility. “When Pring was about ready to leave, the Indians became hostile and set the woods on fire, and he saw it burn ‘for a mile space.'”–_De Costa_. A skirmish of some seriousness occurred with Smith’s party. “After much kindnesse upon a small occasion, wee fought also with fortie or fiftie of those: though some were hurt, and some slaine, yet within an hour after they became friends.”–_Smith’s New England_, Boston, ed. 1865, p. 45.
164. Cape Cod Bay.
165. They named it “le Cap Blanc,” the White Cape, from its white appearance, while Bartholomew Gosnold, three years before, had named it Cape Cod from the multitude of codfish near its shores. Captain John Smith called it Cape James. All the early navigators who passed along our Atlantic coast seem to have seen the headland of Cape Cod. It is well defined on Juan de la Cosa’s map of 1500, although no name is given to it. On Ribero’s map of 1529 it is called _C. de arenas_. On the map of Nic. Vallard de Dieppe of 1543, it is called _C. de Croix_.
166. Wellfleet Harbor. It may be observed that a little farther back Champlain says that, having sailed along in a southerly direction four or five leagues, they were at a place where there was a “rock on a level with the surface of the water,” and that they saw lying north-north-west of them Cap Blanc, that is, Cape Cod; he now says that the “rock” is near a river, which they named St. Suzanne du Cap Blanc, and that from it to Cap St. Louis the distance is ten leagues. Now, as the distance across to Brant Point, or Cap St. Louis, from Wellfleet Harbor, is ten leagues, and as Cap Blanc or Cape Cod is north-northwest of it, it is plain that Wellfleet Harbor or Herring River, which flows into it, was the river which they named St. Suzanne du Cap Blanc, and that the “rock on a level with the water” was one of the several to be found near the entrance of Wellfleet Bay. It may have been the noted Bay Rock or Blue Rock.
167. _Port de Mallebarre_, Nauset Harbor, in latitude 41° 48′. By comparing Champlain’s map of the harbor, it will be seen that important changes have taken place since 1605. The entrance has receded a mile or more towards the south, and this has apparently changed its interior channel, and the whole form of the bay. The name itself has drifted away with the sands, and feebly clings to the extremity of Monomoy Point at the heel of the Cape.
168. Not strictly a cypress, but rather a juniper, the Savin, or red cedar, _Juniparus Virginiana_, a tree of exclusively American origin; and consequently it could not be truly characterized by any name then known to Champlain.
169. The method of preparing tobacco here for smoking was probably not different from that of the Indian tribes in Canada. Among the Huron antiquities in the Museum at the University Laval are pipes which were found already filled with tobacco, so prepared as to resemble our fine-cut tobacco.–_Vide Laverdière in loco_.
170. The following description of the Indian pottery, and the method of its manufacture by their women, as quoted by Laverdière from Sagard’s History of Canada, who wrote in 1636, will be interesting to the antiquary, and will illustrate what Champlain means by “a way different from ours:”–
“They are skilful in making good earthen pots, which they harden very well on the hearth, and which are so strong that they do not, like our own, break over the fire when having no water in them. But they cannot sustain dampness nor cold water so long as our own, since they become brittle and break at the least shock given them; otherwise they last very well. The savages make them by taking some earth of the right kind, which they clean and knead well in their hands, mixing with it, on what principle I know not, a small quantity of grease. Then making the mass into the shape of a ball, they make an indentation in the middle of it with the fist, which they make continually larger by striking repeatedly on the outside with a little wooden paddle as much as is necessary to complete it. These vessels are of different sizes, without feet or handles, completely round like a ball, excepting the mouth, which projects a little.”
171. This crustacean, _Limulus polyphemus_, is still seen on the strands of New England. They are found in great abundance in more southern waters: on the shores of Long Island and New Jersey, they are collected in boat-loads and made useful for fertilizing purposes. Champlain has left a drawing of it on his large map. It is vulgarly known as the king-crab, or horse-foot; to the latter it bears a striking similarity. This very accurate description of Champlain was copied by De Laet into his elaborate work “Novvs Orbis,” published in 1633, accompanied by an excellent wood-engraving. This species is peculiar to our Atlantic waters, and naturally at that time attracted the attention of Europeans, who had not seen it before.
172. The Black skimmer or Cut-water, _Rhynchops nigra_. It appears to be distinct from, but closely related to, the Terns. This bird is here described with general accuracy. According to Dr. Coues, it belongs more particularly to the South Atlantic and Gulf States, where it is very abundant; it is frequent in the Middle States, and only occasionally seen in New England. The wings are exceedingly long; they fly in close flocks, moving simultaneously. They seem to feed as they skim low over the water, the under-mandible grazing or cutting the surface, and thus taking in their food.–_Vide Coues’s Key to North American Birds_, Boston, 1872, p. 324.
Whether Champlain saw this bird as a “stray” on the shores of Cape Cod, or whether it has since ceased to come in large numbers as far north as formerly, offers an interesting inquiry for the ornithologists. Specimens may be seen in the Museum of the Boston Society of Natural History.
173. Champlain was clearly correct in his conclusion. The wild Turkey, _Meleagris gallopavo_, was not uncommon in New England at that period. Wood and Josselyn and Higginson, all speak of it fully:–
“Of these, sometimes there will be forty, threescore and a hundred of a flocke; sometimes more, and sometimes lesse; their feeding is Acornes, Hawes, and Berries; some of them get a haunt to frequent our _English_ corne: In winter, when the snow covers the ground, they resort to the Sea shore to look for Shrimps, and such small Fishes at low tides. Such as love Turkie hunting, most follow it in winter after a new-falne Snow, when hee may followe them by their tracts; some have killed ten or a dozen in half a day; if they can be found towards an evening and watched where they peirch, if one come about ten or eleven of the clock, he may shoote as often as he will, they will sit, unlesse they be slenderly wounded. These Turkies remaine all the yeare long, the price of a good Turkey cocke is foure shillings; and he is well worth it for he may be in weight forty pound: a Hen, two shillings.”–_Wood’s New England Prospect_, 1634, Prince Society ed., Boston, p. 32.
“The _Turkie_, who is blacker than ours; I haue heard several credible persons affirm, they haue seen _Turkie Cocks_ that have weighed forty, yea sixty pound; but out of my personal experimental knowledge I can assure you, that I haue eaten my share of a _Turkie Cock_, that when he was pull’d and garbidg’d, weighed thirty [9] pound; and I haue also seen threescore broods of young _Turkies_ on the side of a marsh, sunning themselves in a morning betimes, but this was thirty years since, the _English_ and the _Indians_ having now destroyed the breed, so that ’tis very rare to meet with a wild _Turkie_ in the Woods: But some of the _English_ bring up great store of the wild kind, which remain about their Houses as tame as ours in _England_.”–_New England’s Rarities_, by John Josselyn, Gent., London, 1672, Tuckerman’s ed., pp. 41, 42.
“Here are likewise abundance of Turkies often killed in the Woods, farre greater then our English Turkies, and exceeding fat, sweet, and fleshy, for here they haue aboundance of feeding all the yeere long, as Strawberriees, in Summer at places are full of them and all manner of Berries and Fruits.”–_New England Plantation_, by Francis Higginson, London, 1630. _Vide_ also _Bradford’s Hist. Plym. Plantation_, 1646, Deane’s ed., Boston, 1856. p. 105.
It appears to be the opinion among recent ornithologists that the species of turkey, thus early found in New England, was the _Meleagris Americana_, long since extirpated, and not identical with our domesticated bird. Our domestic turkey is supposed to have originated in the West Indies or in Mexico, and to have been transplanted as tamed to other parts of this continent, and to Europe, and named by Linnaeus. _Meleagris gallopavo_.–_Vide Report on the Zoology of Pacific Railroad Routes_, by Baird, Washington, 1858. Vol. IX. Part II. pp. 613-618; _Coues’s Key_, Boston, 1872, pp. 231, 232.
CHAPTER IX.
RETURN FROM THE DISCOVERIES ALONG THE COAST OF THE ALMOUCHIQUOIS.
We had spent more than five weeks in going over three degrees of latitude, and our voyage was limited to six, since we had not taken provisions for a longer time. In consequence of fogs and storms, we had not been able to go farther than Mallebarre, where we waited several days for fair weather, in order to sail. Finding ourselves accordingly pressed by the scantiness of provisions, Sieur de Monts determined to return to the Island of St. Croix, in order to find another place more favorable for our settlement, as we had not been able to do on any of the coasts which we had explored on this voyage.
Accordingly, on the 25th of July, we set out from this harbor, in order to make observations elsewhere. In going out, we came near being lost on the bar at the entrance, from the mistake of our pilots, Cramolet and Champdoré, masters of the barque, who had imperfectly marked out the entrance of the channel on the southern side, where we were to go. Having escaped this danger, we headed north-east [174] for six leagues, until we reached Cap Blanc, sailing on from there to Island Cape, a distance of fifteen leagues, with the same wind. Then we headed east-north-east sixteen leagues, as far as Choüacoet, where we saw the savage chief, Marchin, [175] whom we had expected to see at the Lake Quinibequy. He had the reputation of being one of the valiant ones of his people. He had a fine appearance: all his motions were dignified, savage as he was. Sieur de Monts gave him many presents, with which he was greatly pleased; and, in return, Marchin gave him a young Etechemin boy, whom he had captured in war, and whom we took away with us; and thus we set out, mutually good friends. We headed north-east a quarter east for fifteen leagues, as far as Quinibequy, where we arrived on the 29th of the month, and where we were expecting to find a savage, named Sasinou, of whom I spoke before. Thinking that he would come, we waited some time for him, in order to recover from him an Etechemin young man and girl, whom he was holding as prisoners. While waiting, there came to us a captain called Anassou, who trafficked a little in furs, and with whom we made an alliance. He told us that there was a ship, ten leagues off the harbor, which was engaged in fishing, and that those on her had killed five savages of this river, under cover of friendship. From his description of the men on the vessel, we concluded that they were English, and we named the island where they were La Nef; [176] for, at a distance, it had the appearance of a ship. Finding that the above-mentioned Sasinou did not come, we headed east-south-east, [176-1/2] for twenty leagues, to Isle Haute, where we anchored for the night.
On the next day, the 1st of August, we sailed east some twenty leagues to Cap Corneille, [177] where we spent the night. On the 2d of the month, we sailed north-east seven leagues to the mouth of the river St. Croix, on the western shore. Having anchored between the two first islands, [178] Sieur de Monts embarked in a canoe, at a distance of six leagues from the settlement of St. Croix, where we arrived the next day with our barque. We found there Sieur des Antons of St. Malo, who had come in one of the vessels of Sieur de Monts, to bring provisions and also other supplies for those who were to winter in this country.
ENDNOTES:
174. Champlain is in error as to the longitude of Mallebarre, or Nauset harbor, from which they took their departure on the 25th of July, 1605. This port is about 38′ east of Island Cape, or Cape Anne, and about 16′ east of the western point of Cap Blanc, or Cape Cod; and, to reach their destination, they must have sailed north-west, and not north-east, as he erroneously states.
175. They had failed to meet him at the lake in the Kennebec; namely, Merrymeeting Bay.–_Vide antea_, p. 60.
176. The island which they thus named _La Nef_, the Ship, was Monhegan, about twenty-five nautical miles east from the mouth of the Kennebec, a mile and a third long, with an elevation at its highest point of a hundred and forty feet above the level of the sea, and in latitude 43º 45′ 52″. Champlain’s conjecture as to the nationality of the ship was correct. It was the “Archangel,” commanded by the celebrated explorer, Captain George Weymouth, who under the patronage of the Earl of Southampton came to explore our Atlantic coast in the spring of 1605, for the purpose of selecting a site for an English colony. He anchored near Monhegan on the 28th of May, N. S.; and, after spending nearly a month in reconnoitring the islands and mainland in the vicinity, and capturing five of the natives, he took his departure for England on the 26th of June. On the 5th of July, just 9 days after Weymouth left the coast, De Monts and Champlain entered with their little barque the mouth of the Kennebec. They do not appear to have seen at that time any of the natives at or about the mouth of the river; and it is not unlikely that, on account of the seizure and, as they supposed, the murder of their comrades by Weymouth, they had retired farther up the river for greater safety. On the return, however, of the French from Cape Cod, on the 29th of July, Anassou gave them, as stated in the text, a friendly reception, and related the story of the seizure of his friends.
To prevent the interference of other nations, it was the policy of Weymouth and his patron not to disclose the locality of the region he had explored; and consequently Rosier, the narrator of the voyage, so skilfully withheld whatever might clearly identify the place, and couched his descriptions in such indefinite language, that there has been and is now a great diversity of opinion on the subject among local historians. It was the opinion of the Rev. Thomas Prince that Weymouth explored the Kennebec, or Sagadahoc, and with him coincide Mr. John McKeen and the Rev. Dr. Ballard, of Brunswick. The Rev. Dr. Belknap, after satisfactory examinations, decided that it was the Penobscot; and he is followed by Mr. William Willis, late President of the Maine Historical Society. Mr. George Prince, of Bath, has published an elaborate paper to prove that it was St. George’s River; and Mr. David Cushman, of Warren, coincides in this view. Other writers, not entering into the discussion at length, accept one or another of the theories above mentioned. It does not fall within the purview of our present purpose to enter upon the discussion of this subject. But the statement in the text, not referred to by any of the above-mentioned writers, “that those on her had killed five savages _of this river,” que ceux de dedans avoient tué cinq sauuages d’icelle rivière_, can hardly fail to have weight in the decision of this interesting question.
The chief Anassou reported that they were “killed,” a natural inference under the circumstances; but in fact they were carefully concealed in the hold of the ship, and three of them, having been transported to England and introduced into his family, imparted much important information to Sir Ferdinando Gorges, whose distinguished career was afterward so intimately connected with the progress of American colonization. For the discussion touching the river explored by Weymouth, _vide Prince’s Annals_, 1736, _in loco; Belknap’s American Biography_, 1794, Vol. II., art. Weymouth; _Remarks on the Voyage of George Waymouth_, by John McKeen, Col. Me. His. Society, Vol. V. p. 309; _Comments on Waymouth’s Voyage_, by William Willis, idem, p. 344; _Voyage of Captain George Weymouth_, by George Prince, Col. Me. His. Soc., Vol. VI. p. 293; _Weymouth’s Voyage_, by David Cushman, _idem_, p. 369; _George Weymouth and the Kennebec_, by the Rev. Edward Ballard, D. D., Memorial Volume of the Popham Celebration, Portland, 1863, p. 301.
176-1/2. _We headed east south-east_. It is possible that, on leaving the mouth of the Kennebec, they sailed for a short distance to the south-east; but the general course was to the north-east.
177. _Cap Corneille_, or Crow Cape, was apparently the point of land advancing out between Machias and Little Machias Bays, including perhaps Cross Island. De Monts and his party probably anchored and passed the night in Machias Bay. The position of Cap Corneille may be satisfactorily fixed by its distance and direction from the Grand Manan, as seen on Champlain’s map of 1612, to which the reader is referred.
178. This anchorage was between Campobello and Moose Island, on which is situated the town of Eastport.
CHAPTER X.
THE DWELLING-PLACE ON THE ISLAND OF ST. CROIX TRANSFERRED TO PORT ROYAL, AND THE REASON WHY.
Sieur De Monts determined to change his location, and make another settlement, in order to avoid the severe cold and the bad winter which we had had in the Island of St. Croix. As we had not, up to that time, found any suitable harbor, and, in view of the short time we had for building houses in which to establish ourselves, we fitted out two barques, and loaded them with the frame-work taken from the houses of St. Croix, in order to transport it to Port Royal, twenty-five leagues distant, where we thought the climate was much more temperate and agreeable. Pont Gravé and I set out for that place; and, having arrived, we looked for a site favorable for our residence, under shelter from the north-west wind, which we dreaded, having been very much harassed by it.
After searching carefully in all directions, we found no place more suitable and better situated than one slightly elevated, about which there are some marshes and good springs of water. This place is opposite the island at the mouth of the river Equille. [179] To the north of us about a league, there is a range of mountains, [180] extending nearly ten leagues in a north-east and south-west direction. The whole country is filled with thick forests, as I mentioned above, except at a point a league and a half up the river, where there are some oaks, although scattering, and many wild vines, which one could easily remove and put the soil under cultivation, notwithstanding it is light and sandy. We had almost resolved to build there; but the consideration that we should have been too far up the harbor and river led us to change our mind.
Recognizing accordingly the site of our habitation as a good one, we began to clear up the ground, which was full of trees, and to erect houses as soon as possible. Each one was busy in this work. After every thing had been arranged, and the majority of the dwellings built, Sieur de Monts determined to return to France, in order to petition his Majesty to grant him all that might be necessary for his undertaking. He had desired to leave Sieur d’Orville to command in this place in his absence. But the climatic malady, _mal de la terre_, with which he was afflicted would not allow him to gratify the wish of Sieur de Monts. On this account, a conference was held with Pont Gravé on the subject, to whom this charge was offered, which he was happy to accept; and he finished what little of the habitation remained to be built. I, at the same time, hoping to have an opportunity to make some new explorations towards Florida, determined to stay there also, of which Sieur de Monts approved.
ENDNOTES:
179. In the original, Champlain has written the name of this river in this particular instance _Guille_, probably an abbreviation for _Anguille_, the French name of the fish which we call the eel. Lescarbot says the “river was named _L’Equille_ because the first fish taken therein was an _equille_.”–Vide antea, note 57.
180. The elevation of this range varies from six hundred to seven hundred feet.
CHAPTER XI
WHAT TOOK PLACE AFTER THE DEPARTURE OF SIEUR DE MONTS, UNTIL, NO TIDINGS OF WHAT HE HAD PROMISED BEING RECEIVED, WE DEPARTED FROM PORT ROYAL TO RETURN TO FRANCE.
As soon as Sieur de Monts had departed, a portion of the forty or forty-five who remained began to make gardens. I, also, for the sake of occupying my time, made one, which was surrounded with ditches full of water, in which I placed some fine trout, and into which flowed three brooks of very fine running water, from which the greater part of our settlement was supplied. I made also a little sluice-way towards the shore, in order to draw off the water when I wished. This spot was entirely surrounded by meadows, where I constructed a summer-house, with some fine trees, as a resort for enjoying the fresh air. I made there, also, a little reservoir for holding salt-water fish, which we took out as we wanted them. I took especial pleasure in it, and planted there some seeds which turned out well. But much work had to be laid out in preparation. We resorted often to this place as a pastime; and it seemed as if the little birds round about took pleasure in it, for they gathered there in large numbers, warbling and chirping so pleasantly that I think I never heard the like.
The plan of the settlement was ten fathoms long and eight wide, making the distance round thirty-six. On the eastern side is a store-house, occupying the width of it, and a very fine cellar from five to six feet deep. On the northern side are the quarters of Sieur de Monts, handsomely finished. About the back yard are the dwellings of the workmen. At a corner of the western side is a platform, where four cannon were placed; and at the other corner, towards the east, is a palisade shaped like a platform, as can be seen from the accompanying illustration.
* * * * *
CHAMPLAIN’S EXPLANATION OF THE ACCOMPANYING MAP.
L’ABITASION DU PORT ROYAL.
_The figures indicate fathoms of water_.
_A_. Dwelling of the artisans.
_B_. Platform where the cannon were placed. _C_. The store-house.
_D_. Dwelling of Sieur de Pont Gravé and Champlain. _E_. The blacksmith’s shop.
_F_. Palisade of pickets.
_G_. The bakery.
_H_. The kitchen.
_O_. Small house where the equipment of our barques was stored. This Sieur de Poutrincourt afterwards had rebuilt, and Sieur Boulay dwelt there when Sieur de Pont Gravé returned to France. _P_. Gate to our habitation.
_Q_. The Cemetery.
_R_. The River.
NOTES. The habitation of Port Royal was on the present site of the hamlet of Lower Granville in Nova Scotia. _I_. Points to the garden-plots. _K_. Takes the place of _Q_, which is wanting on the map, and marks the place of the cemetery, where may be seen the crucifix, the death’s-head, and cross-bones. _L_. Takes the place of _R_, which is wanting, to indicate the river. _M_. Indicates the moat on the north side of the dwelling. _N_. Probably indicates the dwelling of the gentlemen, De Monts and others.
* * * * *
Some days after the buildings were completed, I went to the river St. John to find the savage named Secondon, the same that conducted Prevert’s party to the copper mine, which I had already gone in search of with Sieur de Monts, when we were at the Port of Mines, though without success. [181] Having found him, I begged him to go there with us, which he very readily consented to do, and proceeded to show it to us. We found there some little pieces of copper of the thickness of a sou, and others still thicker imbedded in grayish and red rocks. The miner accompanying us, whose name was Master Jacques, a native of Sclavonia, a man very skilful in searching for minerals, made the entire circuit of the hills to see if he could find any gangue, [182] but without success. Yet he found, some steps from where we had taken the pieces of copper before mentioned, something like a mine, which, however, was far from being one. He said that, from the appearance of the soil, it might prove to be good, if it were worked; and that it was not probable that there could be pure copper on the surface of the earth, without there being a large quantity of it underneath. The truth is that, if the water did not cover the mines twice a day, and if they did not lie in such hard rocks, something might be expected from them.
After making this observation, we returned to our settlement, where we found some of our company sick with the _mal de la terre_, but not so seriously as at the Island of St. Croix; although, out of our number of forty-five, twelve died, including the miner, and five were sick, who recovered the following spring. Our surgeon, named Des Champs, from Honfleur, skilful in his profession, opened some of the bodies, to see whether he might be more successful in discovering the cause of the maladies that our surgeons had been the year before. He found the parts of the body affected in the same manner as those opened at the Island of St. Croix, but could discover no means of curing them, any more than the other surgeons.
On the 20th of December, it began to snow, and some ice passed along before our Settlement. The winter was not so sharp as the year before, nor the snow so deep, or of so long duration. Among other incidents, the wind was so violent on the 20th of February, 1605, [183] that it blew over a large number of trees, roots and all, and broke off many others. It was a remarkable sight. The rains were very frequent; which was the cause of the mild winter in comparison with the past one, although it is only twenty-five leagues from Port Royal to St. Croix.
On the first day of March, Pont Gravé ordered a barque of seventeen or eighteen tons to be fitted up, which was ready, on the 15th, in order to go on a voyage of discovery along the coast of Florida. [184] With this view, we set out on the 16th following, but were obliged to put in at an island to the south of Manan, having gone that day eighteen leagues. We anchored in a sandy cove, exposed to the sea and the south wind. [185] The latter increased, during the night, to such an impetuosity that we could not stand by our anchor, and were compelled, without choice, to go ashore, at the mercy of God and the waves. The latter were so heavy and furious that while we were attaching the buoy to the anchor, so as to cut the cable at the hawse-hole, it did not give us time, but broke straightway of itself. The wind and the sea cast us as the wave receded upon a little rock, and we awaited only the moment to see our barque break up, and to save ourselves, if possible, upon its fragments. In these desperate straits, after we had received several waves, there came one so large and fortunate for us that it carried us over the rock, and threw us on to a little sandy beach, which insured us for this time from shipwreck.
The barque being on shore, we began at once to unload what there was in her, in order to ascertain where the damage was, which was not so great as we expected. She was speedily repaired by the diligence of Champdoré, her master. Having been put in order, she was reloaded; and we waited for fair weather and until the fury of the sea should abate, which was not until the end of four days, namely, the 21st of March, when we set out from this miserable place, and proceeded to Port aux Coquilles, [186] seven or eight leagues distant. The latter is at the mouth of the river St. Croix, where there was a large quantity of snow. We stayed there until the 29th of the month, in consequence of the fogs and contrary winds, which are usual at this season, when Pont Gravé determined to put back to Port Royal, to see in what condition our companions were, whom we had left there sick. Having arrived there, Pont Gravé was attacked with illness, which delayed us until the 8th of April.
On the 9th of the month he embarked, although still indisposed, from his desire to see the coast of Florida, and in the belief that a change of air would restore his health. The same day we anchored and passed the night at the mouth of the harbor, two leagues distant from our settlement.
The next morning before day, Champdoré came to ask Pont Gravé if he wished to have the anchor raised, who replied in the affirmative, if he deemed the weather favorable for setting out. Upon this, Champdoré had the anchor raised at once, and the sail spread to the wind, which was north-north-east, according to his report. The weather was thick and rainy, and the air full of fog, with indications of foul rather than fair weather.
While going out of the mouth of the harbor, [187] we were suddenly carried by the tide out of the passage, and, before perceiving them, were driven upon the rocks on the east-north-east coast. [188] Pont Gravé and I, who were asleep, were awaked by hearing the sailors shouting and exclaiming, “We are lost!” which brought me quickly to my feet, to see what was the matter. Pont Gravé was still ill, which prevented him from rising as quickly as he wished. I was scarcely on deck, when the barque was thrown upon the coast; and the wind, which was north, drove us upon a point. We unfurled the mainsail, turned it to the wind, and hauled it up as high as we could, that it might drive us up as far as possible on the rocks, for fear that the reflux of the sea, which fortunately was falling, would draw us in, when it would have been impossible to save ourselves. At the first blow of our boat upon the rocks, the rudder broke, a part of the keel and three or four planks were smashed, and some ribs stove in, which frightened us, for our barque filled immediately; and all that we could do was to wait until the sea fell, so that we might get ashore. For, otherwise, we were in danger of our lives, in consequence of the swell, which was very high and furious about us. The sea having fallen, we went on shore amid the storm, when the barque was speedily unloaded, and we saved a large portion of the provisions in her, with the help of the savage, Captain Secondon and his companions, who came to us with their canoes, to carry to our habitation what we had saved from our barque, which, all shattered as she was, went to pieces at the return of the tide. But we, most happy at having saved our lives, returned to our settlement with our poor savages, who stayed there a large part of the winter; and we praised God for having rescued us from this shipwreck, from which we had not expected to escape so easily.
The loss of our barque caused us great regret, since we found ourselves, through want of a vessel, deprived of the prospect of being able to