Narrative of a Voyage to the West Indies and Mexico Part 5

On the morrow, he obtained an interview with the French Amba.s.sador, to whom he gave a full account of his proceedings, and of all that had happened, complaining bitterly of his fort and himself having been taken fully two months after peace had been proclaimed; but shewing that his surrender had been solely from want of ammunition and provisions, relating the hardships endured, being obliged to seek for roots in the woods for his people's bare subsistence, etc.; all of which the amba.s.sador laid before the king of England, who "gave him good hope of the restoration of the colony, together with all peltry and other goods which had been seized."

Champlain remained nearly five weeks in London, preparing a report for the king of all that had occurred; the capitulation with General Kerk, and a map of all the country taken by the English and claimed by the French in virtue of first discovery; and waiting for news from France, but none arriving, the amba.s.sador allowed him to depart, giving him letters for the Cardinal (Richelieu), with the a.s.surance that the English government had promised to give up the colony, and all property captured. He accordingly left London on the 30th December, for "Larie"

(Rye), as being the nearest port to Dieppe, meeting on the road the elder De Caen, on his way to London, in the hope of recovering his peltries and other property.[27] Embarking the next day, he arrived safely at Dieppe.

[27] De Caen found means not only to disarm suspicion of his treachery and collusion with Michel, but contrived to obtain a sort of compensation for his exclusion from the company of the "Cent a.s.socies." On the 1st January, 1633, Cardinal Richelieu gave permission to the Sieur Guillaume De Caen to establish colonies on certain islands in the West Indies, with exclusive privileges for a term of years, "provided the said islands were not already inhabited by Christians, and that none but Roman Catholics should be allowed to settle there." I cannot find any further mention of De Caen and his enterprises.

After a few days repose at Dieppe and Rouen, Champlain proceeded to Paris, where he presented himself to the king, Cardinal Richelieu, and the "a.s.sociates" of the company, giving a full account of his proceedings, etc. Letters were despatched from the French government, to London, to demand rest.i.tution of the fort and settlement of Quebec, and the other places captured in Canada, and on the coast of Acadia.

Rest.i.tution of Quebec was promised by the king of England, but no mention made of Acadia. These promises were renewed from time to time, without any appearance even of performance, so that the company finding that "rest.i.tution" seemed as far off as ever, supplicated the king to send six ships of war, in company with four of their vessels, to the St. Lawrence, to resume possession of the colony according to agreement; and that if the English should not consent to give it up, that they "should be constrained by all just and legal methods,"

_i.e._, by force. The company proposed to pay the interest of the sum requisite for the equipment of the royal ships. This pet.i.tion was granted, and the Chevalier de Rasilly was appointed commander of the fleet; and the vessels were prepared for sailing, when the English government, taking umbrage at this extraordinary armament, remonstrated; and the French king, fully occupied with his Italian wars, put off all interference till they should be over; so that the armament was countermanded, the voyage abandoned, and matters remained for the present _in statu quo_.

Champlain has not left any relation of his subsequent proceedings. The account of his Voyages in New France, which in fact is his autobiography for twenty-seven eventful years of the most interesting period of his life, terminates in 1629-30. He subsequently added a short notice of the events which occurred in the colony, of which he was justly styled the father, during the year 1631; and in 1632, he published the whole narrative, with the addition of a "Treatise on Navigation and of the Duties of a good Mariner,"[28] and an abridgement of the Christian doctrine in the French and Huron languages. He appears to have been fully occupied during his stay in France, from the end of 1629 to 1632, with the preparation and publication of his voyages and discoveries, and with pleading the cause of his favourite colony, his own creation, which was in danger of being abandoned, some considering it as not worth preserving, having cost large sums, without having returned any adequate profit. However, he gained his point, and Canada was restored to France by the treaty of St. Germain in 1632.

[28] "Traite de la Marine et du Devoir d'un bon Marinier."

In 1633 the "Company of New France" resumed all its rights; and Champlain was again named Governor of the Colony of Quebec and all its dependencies, where affairs had gone on but badly during the English occupation, and his absence. The worthy Father Francois Du Creux, or "Creuxius," of the Society of Jesus, thus notices Champlain's arrival at Quebec: "To the incredible delight both of the French and natives, Champlain returned. On the 11th of June, at sunrise, a great explosion of bombards was heard, which threw the settlement into great agitation, lest an English ship, whose arrival at Tadoussac had been announced three days before, should have turned out to be an enemy or a pirate; and what if the peace between England and France should be at an end?

But persons sent to explore, brought back the news of Champlain's coming; then fear was changed to gratulation: all would now be well, and the proper administration of Canadian affairs would be restored to full activity by Champlain." The "father of the colony" brought with him ample supplies in men, arms, and munitions of all kinds, for the defence and support of the settlement; and, for its spiritual comfort, a reinforcement of Jesuits. He continued to govern the colony with his usual wisdom and goodness, endeavouring by all means in his power to promote Christianity among the Indians, and he succeeded in establishing a mission with the Hurons. Under his firm and equitable rule, the colony rapidly increased in numbers, wealth, and consequent importance; and at the time of his death some progress was made in the foundation of a college at Quebec.

Towards the end of the year 1635 Champlain died, after an illness of two months and a half, exhibiting during his malady the same firmness, piety, and solicitude for the colony, for which he had always been remarkable; "giving," says De Creux, "in the hour of death, such ill.u.s.trious evidence of virtue and courage that everyone was astonished. His remains were followed to the grave by the whole population with unfeigned grief."

From this notice of his career, it will be seen that Champlain was no ordinary man. Unintimidated by the repeated failures of preceding attempts, he followed up his plans with as much resolution as sagacity.

But for him Quebec would probably have never existed. Undeterred by the cabals and intrigues, lay and clerical, constantly going on in France; unmoved by the continual discords and quarrels of rival companies, he steered a straightforward course, avoiding giving umbrage to any, if not satisfying all. Trusting nothing to others that he could do himself, he penetrated, almost alone, to the unexplored countries of distant Indian tribes; exhibiting rare perseverance, energy, and courage, rebuking cruelty, encouraging the good, and omitting no opportunity of promulgating the truths of Christianity.

Notwithstanding a considerable dose of credulity,[29] he was endowed with rare penetration. His views were just, and no one knew better how to decide in difficulties, or to support them with more patience and constancy; no dangers daunted him, and he never lost sight of his object. His zeal for the interests of his country was ardent and disinterested. With a feeling heart he was always ready to succour the unfortunate, more careful of the welfare of others than of his own. A faithful narrator, an enterprising and active traveller; nothing escaped his attention and observation. He was a good geometrician and able navigator. The war to which he seems to have incited, or in which at least he joined, the Algonquins, Hurons, and other tribes against the Iroquois, can hardly be justified; but the result of his policy, if policy it was, proved favourable, in bringing to and confirming in his alliance the tribes more immediately surrounding the infant colony.

[29] In 1604 Champlain published a relation of his first voyage to Canada; in it he mentions a strange and frightful monster called "gougou," giving at the same time the names of his authorities. This story, which, in a great measure, gave rise to the accusation of credulity, was suppressed in the general relation of his voyages in 1632. The "dragon," the two legs of the camelion, and the no-legs of the bird of Paradise, the mode of hatching the same, etc., described in the present ma.n.u.script, show that, however he may have got over extreme credulity in later years, in his first voyages he had a strong belief in the marvellous--but that quality belonged in a degree to the age in which he lived.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PEARL FISHERY.]

BRIEF NARRATIVE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE THINGS THAT SAMUEL CHAMPLAIN OF BROUAGE, OBSERVED IN THE WESTERN INDIES;

DURING THE VOYAGE WHICH HE MADE TO THE SAME, IN THE YEARS ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED AND NINETY-NINE TO ONE THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED AND TWO,--AS FOLLOWS.

Having been employed in the army of the king, which was in Brittany, under Messieurs the Marechal d'Aumont de St. Luc,[30] and the Marechal de Brissac,[31] during some years in the quality of marechal de logis,[32] until his majesty, in the year one thousand five hundred and ninety-eight, had reduced the said country of Brittany to obedience,[33]

and dismissed his army; and finding myself by this means without any charge or employment, I resolved, in order not to remain idle, to find means of making a voyage to Spain, and, being there, to acquire and cultivate acquaintance, in order, by their favour and interposition, to arrange so as to be able to embark in one of the ships of the fleet, which the king of Spain sends every year to the western Indies; to the end, in so embarking, to be able at my return to make a true report to his majesty (Henry IV) of the particularities which could not be known to any Frenchman, for the reason that they have not free access there.

[30] Marechal d'Aumont. Jean d'Aumont, born in 1522, of an ancient and n.o.ble family, entered the career of arms very early, and distinguished himself by his bravery during the Piedmontese war. Henry III created him Knight of the Saint Esprit in 1578, and Marshal of France in the following year. D'Aumont signalized himself at the battle of Ivry. He was named governor of Poitou by Henry IV, and by his prudent conduct kept that province from rising for the League. The king sent him to Brittany to oppose the Duke de Mercoeur. He was killed by a musket-shot at the siege of Camper, on the 19th of August, 1595, aged seventy-three years.

[31] Marechal de Brissac. Charles, second Duke de Cosse Brissac, peer and marshal of France. He gave up Paris, of which he was governor, to Henry IV, on the 22nd March, 1594. He served in the war in Brittany till its close, and died at Brissac, in Anjou, in 1621.

[32] "Marechal de logis"--quarter-master.

[33] Reduction of Brittany. The greater part of Brittany held out for the League against the king (Henry IV), under the command of the Duke de Mercoeur, aided by the Spaniards under the Archduke Albert of Austria.

Philippe Emanuel de Lorraine, Duke de Mercoeur, was born at Nomeny, in 1558. Attached to the Duke of Guise, he was about to be arrested at the States of Blois in 1588, but the queen, Louise de Lorraine, his sister, gave him timely warning, and he escaped.

He then openly embraced the party of the League, withdrew to his government of Brittany, called in the aid of the Spaniards, and gave them possession of the port of Blavet in 1591. He made his submission to Henry IV in April, 1598, and was pardoned at the intercession of Gabrielle d'Estrees, lately created d.u.c.h.ess of Beaufort, who, however, previously stipulated that the duke should give his daughter, Francoise, one of the richest heiresses in France, in marriage to the son of Henry IV, Cesar, Duke de Vendome. In 1601 the Emperor Rodolph offered De Mercoeur the command of his army in Hungary against the Turks. He endeavoured with only fifteen thousand men to raise the siege of Chanicha, which Ibrahim Pacha had invested with sixty thousand. He was forced to retire, but his retreat pa.s.sed for one of the most skilful then known. Obliged in the following year to return to France, he died on the way, at Nuremberg, in 1602.

In order, then, to accomplish my design, I went to Blavet,[34] where at that time was a garrison of Spaniards, in which place I found an uncle of mine called "the Provencal captain," considered to be one of the good mariners of France, and who, in that year, had been engaged by the king of Spain as Pilot-General of his sea armies.

[34] Blavet, the last town held by the Spaniards in Brittany, was, together with all the places they possessed in Picardy, given up by the treaty of Vervins, in June 1598, and thus the whole province was submitted to the king's authority.

Blavet, or Port Louis, a fortified town with citadel and harbour in Brittany, department of the Morbihan, at the embouchure of the river Blavet; the town being ruined during the wars of the League, Louis XIII rebuilt it from the former materials, erected a fort, and gave it his name.

My said uncle having received the commands of Monsieur le Marechal de Brissac, to conduct the ships in which the Spaniards of the garrison of Blavet were embarked, in order to repa.s.s them to Spain, as it had been promised, I embarked with him, in a great ship of five hundred tons, named the "Saint Julian," which had been taken, and engaged for the said voyage; and having quitted Blavet in the beginning of the month of August, we arrived ten days afterwards near to Cape Finisterre, which we could not perceive on account of a great fog which arose from the sea, in consequence of which all our vessels were separated, and even our vessel-admiral (admirande), of the fleet was nearly lost, having touched upon a rock, and taken in much water, in which ship (and over the whole fleet) the General Soubriago commanded, having been sent by the king of Spain to Blavet for that purpose.

On the following day, the weather having cleared up, all our vessels rejoined, and we proceeded to the Isles of Bayona, in Galicia, in order to refit the admiral's ship which was much injured.

Having sojourned six days at these islands, we made sail, and three days after came in sight of Cape St. Vincent; having doubled the said cape, we proceeded to the port of Callix (Cadiz), which, having entered, the soldiers were disembarked; and after the landing, the French ships that had been engaged for the voyage, were dismissed, and sent back, each one to its port, excepting the said ship, the St.

Julian, which, having been observed by the General Soubriago to be a strong vessel, and a good sailer, was engaged by him for the service of the king of Spain: and thus the "Provencal captain," my uncle, remained still in it; and we sojourned at the port of Callix an entire month, during which I had the opportunity of examining that city.

Departing from the said Callix, we continued to St. Lucar de Barameda, which is at the entry of the river of Seville, where we remained three months, during which time I went to Seville, and took drawings of it, and of the other (St. Lucar de Barameda), which I have judged fitting to represent in the best manner that I could in the following.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ST LUC DE BARAMEDA.]

During the three months that we remained at St. Lucar de Barameda, there arrived a patache,[35] coming from Porto-rico, to inform the king of Spain that the army of England was at sea, with the design of taking the said Porto-rico: upon which advice, the said king of Spain, in order to succour it, had an armament prepared, of the number of twenty ships, and of two thousand men, soldiers, and mariners; among which ships, that named the St. Julian was retained, and my uncle was commanded to make the voyage in it, by which I received extreme joy, promising myself by this means to satisfy my desire: and for that purpose I readily resolved to go with him; but whatever diligence could be made to repair, victual, and equip the said ships, to enable them to put to sea, when at the point of departure, there arrived news by another patache, that it had been taken by the English; in consequence of which, the said voyage was broken off, to my great regret, to find myself thus frustrated in my hope.

[35] "Patache"--advice-boat.

Now, at the same time, the armament of the king of Spain, which was accustomed to go every year to the Indies, was getting ready at the said St. Lucar, where there arrived, by command of the king, a n.o.ble named Don Francisque Colombe, a knight of Malta, to be general of the said armament, who, seeing our vessel prepared and ready for service, and knowing, by the report which had been made to him, that it was strong and very good under sail for its burthen, resolved to make use of it, and take it at the ordinary freight, which is one crown per ton per month; so that I had occasion to rejoice seeing my hopes revive, and the more so that the Provencal captain, my uncle, having been retained by General Soubriago to serve elsewhere, and thus not able to make the voyage, committed to me the charge of the said ship, to have the care of it, which I accepted very willingly: and upon that we sought the said Seigneur, General Colombe, to know if he would have it for agreeable that I should make the voyage, which he freely granted, with evidence of being well pleased, promising me his favour and a.s.sistance, which he has not since denied me upon occasion.

The said armament set sail in the beginning of the month of January, in the year 1599, and the wind blowing always very fresh, in six days after we arrived in sight of the Canary Isles.

Leaving the said Canary Islands, we pa.s.sed by the Gulf of Las Damas, having the wind astern, so that in two months and six days after our departure from St. Lucar, we got sight of an island named La Deseade, which is the first island that pilots must necessarily recognise in going to all the other islands and ports of the Indies.

This island is round and tolerably high from the sea, and is seven leagues in circ.u.mference, full of wood and uninhabited, but there is good anchorage on the eastern side.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ISLAND OF GUADALOUPE.]

From the said isle we pa.s.sed to another island, called Guadaloupe, which is very mountainous and inhabited by savages;[36] in it there are numbers of good ports, in one of which, named Macou, we took in water, and as we landed we saw more than three hundred savages, who fled into the mountains at our approach, without it being in our power to overtake them, any one of them being more quick in running than any of our men who tried to follow them; seeing which, we returned to our ships after having taken in some water and refreshments, such as cabbages and fruits of pleasant taste.

[36] Guadaloupe. The first settlement in Guadaloupe was established by the French in 1635, by Messrs. Du Plissis and Olive.

This island is about twenty leagues in length and twelve in breadth, and its form is shown in the following figure.

After having remained two days in the aforesaid port of Macou, on the third we again put to sea, and pa.s.sed between islands called Las Virgines, which are in such quant.i.ty, that their number cannot be told for certain; but although there are more than eight hundred discovered, they are all desert and uninhabited; the land very high and full of wood, both of palms and ramasques,[37] which are common, like oaks or elms. There are a number of good ports and havens in the said isles.

[37] "Ramasques"--wide-spreading, branching, and bushy trees.

From these isles we sailed to the island of La Marguerite, where pearls are fished. In this island there is a good town, which is called by the same name, La Marguerite. The isle is very fertile in corn and fruits; every day more than three hundred canoes leave the harbour of the said town, which go about a league to sea to fish for pearls, in ten or twelve fathoms water. The said fishing is done by negroes, slaves of the king of Spain, who take a little basket under their arm, and with it plunge to the bottom of the sea, and fill it with ostrormes, which resemble oysters; then go up again into their canoes, and return to the port to discharge them, in a spot destined for that purpose, when the officers of the king of Spain receive them.

From this island we went to St. Juan de Porto-rico, which we found very desolate; both the town, as well as the castle or fortress, which is very strong; and the port also is very good, and sheltered from all winds, saving the north-east, which blows strait into the harbour.

The town is very mercantile; it had been, shortly before, pillaged by the English, who had left marks of their visit; most of the houses had been burnt, and there were not four persons to be found there, except some negroes, who told us that the merchants of the place had been for the greater part carried off prisoners by the English, and the others, who had been able to escape, had fled into the mountains, from whence they had not yet dared to come back, on account of the apprehension they had of the return of the English, who had loaded all the twelve ships, of which their armament was composed, with sugar, hides, gold, and silver: for we found still in the town quant.i.ties of sugar, hides, canifiste,[38] honey of cane,[39] and preserves of ginger, which the English could not take away. They carried off also fifty pieces of artillery of cast iron, which they took in the fortress, into which we went, and found all ruined, and the ramparts thrown down. There were some Indians who had retired there, and had begun to reconstruct the ramparts; the General inquired of them, how the place had been taken in so short a time? One of them, who spoke tolerably good Spanish, said, that neither the governor of the castle, nor the oldest men of the country thought that within two leagues there was any place of landing, according to the report which had been made by the pilots of the place, who had even a.s.sured them, that for more than six leagues from the said castle, there was no spot where an enemy could make a descent, which was the cause that the governor kept less on his guard, and in which he was much deceived, for at half a league from the castle, on the eastern side, there was a place where the English landed very conveniently, leaving their ships, which were of the burthen of two hundred, one hundred and fifty, and one hundred tons, in the offing, near the said spot, and took their time so well, that they arrived at night in the roads without being perceived, no one apprehending such a thing. They landed six hundred men, with the design of pillaging the town only, not thinking of making any greater effect, considering the castle to be stronger and better guarded. They brought with them three culverins, to batter the defences of the town, and found themselves at the point of daylight at the distance of a musket shot from it, to the great astonishment of the inhabitants.

[38] Canifiste, from "Caneficier," the name given in the Antilles to the ca.s.sia tree. Ca.s.sia fistula (Linn.)--the keleti of the Caribs, producing the ca.s.sia Nigra of commerce.