The Makers of Canada: Champlain Part 1

The Makers of Canada: Champlain.

by N. E. Dionne.

INTRODUCTION

In undertaking to write a biography of Samuel Champlain, the founder of Quebec and the father of New France, our only design is to make somewhat better known the dominant characteristics of the life and achievements of a man whose memory is becoming more cherished as the years roll on.

Every one will admire Champlain's disinterested actions, his courage, his loyalty, his charity, and all those n.o.ble and magnificent qualities which are rarely found united in one individual in so prominent a degree. We cannot overpraise that self-abnegation which enabled him to bear without complaint the ingrat.i.tude of many of his interpreters, and the servants of the merchants; nor can we overlook, either, the charity which he exercised towards the aborigines and new settlers; the protection which he afforded them under trying circ.u.mstances, or his zeal in promoting the honour and glory of G.o.d, and his respect for the Recollet and Jesuit fathers who honoured him with their cordial friendship. His wisdom is evidenced in such a practical fact as his choice of Quebec as the capital of New France, despite the rival claims of Montreal and Three Rivers, and his numerous writings reveal him to us as a keen and sagacious observer, a man of science and a skilful and intrepid mariner. As a cosmographer, Champlain added yet another laurel to his crown, for he excelled all his predecessors, both by the ample volume of his descriptions and by the logical arrangement of the geographical data which he supplied. The impetus which he gave to cartographical science can scarcely be overestimated.

Naturalist, mariner, geographer, such was Samuel Champlain, and to a degree remarkable for the age in which he lived. It is, perhaps, unnecessary to dwell upon the morality of the virtuous founder. The testimony of the Hurons, who, twenty years after his death, still pointed to the life of Champlain as a model of all Christian virtues, is sufficient, and it is certain that no governor under the old regime presented a more brilliant example of faith, piety, uprightness, or soundness of judgment. A brief outline of the character of Champlain has been given in order that the plan of this biography may be better understood. Let us now glance at his career more in detail.

Before becoming the founder of colonies, Champlain entered the French army, where he devoted himself to the religion of his ancestors. This was the first important step in his long and eventful career. A martial life, however, does not appear to have held out the same inducements as that of a mariner. An opportunity was presented which enabled him to gratify his tastes, when the Spanish government sent out an armada to encounter the English in the Gulf of Mexico. Champlain was given the command of a ship in this expedition, but his experience during the war served rather as an occasion to develop his genius as a mariner and cosmographer, than to add to his renown as a warrior.

G.o.d, who in His providence disposes of the lives of men according to His divine wisdom, directed the steps of Champlain towards the sh.o.r.es of the future New France. If the mother country had not completely forgotten this land of ours, discovered by one of her greatest captains, she had, at least, neglected it. The honour of bringing the king's attention to this vast country, which was French by the right of discovery, was reserved for the modest son of Brouage.

While Pierre du Gua, Sieur de Monts, was wasting his years and expending large sums of money in his fruitless efforts to colonize the island of Ste. Croix and Port Royal, Champlain's voyage to Acadia and his discovery of the New England coast were practically useful, and in consequence Champlain endeavoured to a.s.sure de Monts that his own efforts would be more advantageously directed to the sh.o.r.es of the St.

Lawrence, for here it was obvious that the development of the country must commence.

Champlain's next step was to found Quebec. With this act began our colonial history, the foundation of a Canadian people with its long line of heroic characters distinguished by their simplicity and by their adherence to the faith of their fathers. Quebec was founded, but nothing more was accomplished at the moment owing to the lack of means. The trials of Champlain now commenced. Day by day he had to contend against his own countrymen. The attractions of fur trading were too great for the merchants to induce them to settle down and develop the country around them, and they were unwilling to fulfil their promises or to act in accordance with the terms of their patents.

During the next twenty years Champlain crossed the ocean eighteen times.

Each voyage was made in the interest of the colony, and he sought by every means in his power, by prayers and pet.i.tions, to obtain the control of the commerce of the country so as to make it beneficial to all. In spite of his extraordinary exertions and the force of his will, he foresaw the fatal issue of his labours.

The settlers were few in number, bread and provisions were scarce, and the condition of the infant colony was truly deplorable. At this distressing period a British fleet arrived in the harbour of Quebec.

What was to be done? The rude fortress of St. Louis could not withstand the a.s.sault of an armed fleet, even if it were well defended. But Champlain had no ammunition, and he, therefore, adopted the only course open to him of capitulating and handing over the keys of the fort to the commander, Kirke. Champlain then left Quebec and returned to France.

Bitter was this journey to him, for it was like pa.s.sing into exile to see the familiar heights of Quebec fade into the distance, the city of his foundation and the country of his adoption.

We have an idea of his sorrow during the three years that England maintained supremacy in Canada, for he says that the days were as long as months. During his enforced sojourn in France, Champlain exerted all his energies to revive interest in the abandoned colony. His plan was to recover the country by all means. Finally success crowned his efforts, and the treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye gave back to France the young settlement. Champlain recrossed the sea and planted the lily banner of France upon the heights of Cape Diamond.

In the year 1635 Champlain was taken ill, and died on Christmas Day, after having devoted forty years of his life to the promotion of the religion and commercial interests of the land of his ancestors, but he bequeathed to the Canadian people the priceless heritage of Quebec, and the memory of a pure and honest heart.

Before Champlain's death, however, Quebec had commenced to develop. On the Beauport coast might be seen the residences of many of the settlers who arrived from the province of Perche in 1634. On the sh.o.r.es of the river Lairet, the Jesuits had built a convent, where the young Indians received instruction; and agriculture had received some attention.

Robert Giffard had established a colony at Beauport which formed the nucleus of a population in this section of the country. Near Fort St.

Louis the steeple of Notre Dame de la Recouvrance gave witness that Champlain had fulfilled his promise to build a church at Quebec if the country was restored to her ancient masters.

The colony was now entering upon an era of prosperity, and that harmony and happiness which Champlain had longed for in his life, and which occupied his thoughts even in death, were destined to be realized.

N.E.D.

CHAPTER I

CHAMPLAIN'S FIRST VOYAGE TO AMERICA

Samuel Champlain, the issue of the marriage of Antoine Champlain and Marguerite Le Roy, was born at Brouage, now Hiers Brouage, a small village in the province of Saintonge, France, in the year 1570, or according to the _Biographie Saintongeoise_ in 1567. His parents belonged to the Catholic religion, as their first names would seem to indicate.

When quite young Samuel Champlain was entrusted to the care of the parish priest, who imparted to him the elements of education and instilled his mind with religious principles. His youth appears to have glided quietly away, spent for the most part with his family, and in a.s.sisting his father, who was a mariner, in his wanderings upon the sea.

The knowledge thus obtained was of great service to him, for after a while he became not only conversant with the life of a mariner, but also with the science of geography and of astronomy. When Samuel Champlain was about twenty years of age, he tendered his services to Marshal d'Aumont, one of the chief commanders of the Catholic army in its expedition against the Huguenots.

When the League had done its work and the army was disbanded in 1598, Champlain returned to Brouage, and sought a favourable opportunity to advance his fortune in a manner more agreeable, if possible, to his tastes, and more compatible with his abilities. In the meantime Champlain did not remain idle, for he resolved to find the means of making a voyage to Spain in order "to acquire and cultivate acquaintance, and make a true report to His Majesty (Henry IV) of the particularities which could not be known to any Frenchmen, for the reason that they have not free access there." He left Blavet at the beginning of the month of August, and ten days after he arrived near Cape Finisterre. Having remained for six days at the Isle of Bayona, in Galicia, he proceeded towards San Lucar de Barameda, which is at the mouth of the river Seville, where he remained for three months. During this time he went to Seville and made surveys of the place. While Champlain was at Seville, a _patache_, or advice boat, arrived from Porto Rico bearing a communication addressed to the king of Spain, informing him that a portion of the English army had put out to sea with the intention of attacking Porto Rico.

The king fitted out twenty ships to oppose the English, one of which, the _Saint Julien_, was commanded by Provencal, Champlain's uncle.

Champlain proposed to join the expedition under his uncle, but Provencal was ordered elsewhere, and General Soubriago offered the command of the _Saint Julien_ to Champlain, which he gladly accepted.

The armada set sail in the beginning of January, 1599, and within six days, favoured by a fresh breeze, the vessels sighted the Canary Islands. Two months and six days later the armada drew near to the island called La Desirade, which is the first island approached in this pa.s.sage to the Indies. The ships anch.o.r.ed for the first time at Nacou, which is one of the finest ports of the Guadeloupe. After having pa.s.sed Marguerite Island and the Virgins, Champlain proceeded to San Juan de Porto Rico,[1] where he found that both the town and the castle or fortress had been abandoned, and that the merchants had either made their escape or had been taken prisoners. The English army had left the town and had taken the Spanish governor with them, as he had surrendered on the condition that his life should be spared.

On leaving Porto Rico the general divided the galleons into three squadrons, and retained four vessels under his own command. Three were sent to Porto Bello, and three, including Champlain's vessel, to New Spain. Champlain arrived at Saint Jean de Luz eight days afterwards, although the place is fully four hundred leagues from Porto Rico. This fortress bore the name of San Juan d'Ulloa. Fifteen days afterwards we find Champlain setting sail for Mexico, situated at a distance of over one hundred leagues from San Juan.

Champlain was evidently very much interested in this country, and his description is that of an enthusiast: "It is impossible to see or desire a more beautiful country than this kingdom of New Spain, which is three hundred leagues in length, and two hundred in breadth.... The whole of this country is ornamented with very fine rivers and streams ... the land is very fertile, producing corn twice in the year ... the trees are never devoid of fruit and are always green." The voyage to Mexico occupied a month, and Champlain gave an animated description of the city of Mexico, of its superb palaces, temples, houses and buildings, and well laid streets, as well as of the surrounding country.

After leaving Mexico, Champlain returned to San Juan de Luz, and from there sailed in a _patache_ to Porto Bello, "the most pitiful and evil residence in the world." The harbour, however, was good, and well fortified. From Porto Bello to Panama, which is on the sea, the distance is only seventeen leagues, and it is interesting to read Champlain's description:--

"One may judge that if the four leagues of land which there are from Panama to this river were cut through, one might pa.s.s from the South Sea to the ocean on the other side, and thus shorten the route by more than fifteen hundred leagues; and from Panama to the Straits of Magellan would be an island, and from Panama to the New-found-lands would be another island, so that the whole of America would be in two islands."

It is thus seen that the idea of connecting the Atlantic ocean with the Pacific by cutting through the Isthmus of Panama is not a modern one, as it was promulgated by Champlain over three hundred years ago.

At this time Spain was in great need of a good transportation service at the isthmus. The treasures of Peru were sent to Europe by the Panama route to Porto Bello, from where the ships sailed to the old continent.

The route between the Pacific coast and the Gulf of Mexico was exceedingly bad. Sometimes the merchants forwarded European goods to Panama, having them transported to Chagres. Here they were landed in boats and conveyed to Cruces. From Cruces to Panama mules were employed for the remainder of the journey. It was, however, the route taken by travellers visiting Peru, Chili, New Granada, Venezuela, and other Spanish possessions on the Pacific coast. The most regular connection between the two oceans was from Fort Acapulco to Vera Cruz, through Mexico. If Spain had adopted a better line of communication with her western territories in the New World she might have derived vast treasure from that source. In the year 1551 Lopez de Gomara, the author of a "History of Indies," a work written with care and displaying considerable erudition, proposed to unite the two oceans by means of ca.n.a.ls at three different points, Chagres, Nicaragua and Tehuantepec.

Gomara's proposals were not acted upon, and the honour of carrying out the project was reserved for France. Ferdinand de Lesseps, who succeeded in connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, was the man who, after the lapse of centuries, seriously interested his fellow-countrymen in boring the Isthmus of Panama.

Champlain returned to San Juan de Luz, where he remained for fifteen days, and he then proceeded to Havana, the rendezvous of the army and of the fleet. Eighteen days later he embarked in a vessel bound for Cartagena, where there was a good port, sheltered from all winds. Upon his return to Havana Champlain met his general and spent four months in collecting valuable information relating to the interesting island of Cuba. From Havana he proceeded past the Bahama channel, approached Bermuda Island, Terceira, one of the Azores, and sighted Cape St.

Vincent, where he captured two armed English vessels, which were taken to Seville.

Champlain returned to France in March, 1601, having been absent on his first voyage for a period of two years and two months, during which time he collected much valuable information. He also published a small volume containing plans, maps and engravings, fairly well executed for the time, and now exceedingly scarce. The ma.n.u.script of this volume is still preserved; it covers one hundred and fifteen pages with sixty-two drawings, coloured and surrounded with blue and yellow lines. It appears to have been written between the years 1601 and 1603.[2]

The first voyage of Champlain across the Atlantic, though important from a military standpoint, did not suffice to satisfy the ambition of a man whose thoughts were bent upon discovery and colonization. Champlain was a navigator by instinct, and in his writings he gave to nautical science the first place.

"Of all the most useful and excellent arts," he writes, "that of navigation has always seemed to me to occupy the first place. For the more hazardous it is, the greater the perils and losses by which it is attended, so much the more is it esteemed and exalted above all others, being wholly unsuited to the timid and irresolute. By this art we obtain a knowledge of different countries, regions and realms. By it we attract and bring to our own land all kinds of riches; by it the idolatry of Paganism is overthrown and Christianity proclaimed throughout all the regions of the earth. This is the art which won my love in my early years and induced me to expose myself almost all my life to the impetuous waves of the ocean, and led me to explore the coasts of a portion of America, especially those of New France, where I have always desired to see the lily flourish, together with the only religion, Catholic, Apostolic and Roman."

After his return to France in the year 1601, Champlain received a pension, together with the appointment of geographer to the king. Pierre de Chauvin, Sieur de Tontuit, who had unsuccessfully endeavoured to establish a settlement at Tadousac, died at this time, while Champlain was residing in Paris. Here he had the good fortune to meet Aymar de Chastes, governor of the town and chateau of Dieppe, under whose orders he had served during the latter years of the war with the League.

De Chastes, who had resolved to undertake the colonization of Canada, obtained a commission from the king, and formed a company, composed of several gentlemen and the princ.i.p.al merchants of Rouen. Francois Grave, Sieur du Pont, who had already accompanied Chauvin to Tadousac, was chosen to return there and to examine the Sault St. Louis and the country beyond.

"Going from time to time to see the Sieur de Chastes," writes Champlain, "judging that I might serve him in his design, he did me the honour to communicate something of it to me, and asked me if it would be agreeable to me to make the voyage, to examine the country, and to see what those engaged in the undertaking should do. I told him that I was very much his servant, but that I could not give myself license to undertake the voyage without the commands of the king, to whom I was bound, as well by birth as by the pension with which His Majesty honoured me to enable me to maintain myself near his person, but that, if it should please him to speak to the king about it, and give me his commands, that it should be very agreeable to me, which he promised and did, and received the king's orders for me to make the voyage and make a faithful report thereof; and for that purpose M. de Gesvres, secretary of his commandments, sent me with a letter to the said Du Pont-Grave, desiring him to take me in his ship and enable me to see and examine what could be done in the country, giving me every possible a.s.sistance."

"_Me voila expedie_," says Champlain, "I leave Paris and take pa.s.sage on Pont-Grave's ship in the year 1603, the 15th of the month of March." The voyage was favourable for the first fifteen days, but on the 30th a heavy storm arose, "more thunder than wind," which lasted until April 16th. On May 6th the vessel approached Newfoundland, and arrived at Tadousac[3] on the 24th. Here they met with about one hundred Indians, under the command of Anadabijou, who were rejoicing on account of their recent victory over the Iroquois. The chief made a long harangue, speaking slowly. He congratulated himself upon his friendship with the French nation, and stated that he was happy to learn that the king was anxious to send some of his subjects to reside in the country and to a.s.sist them in their wars. Champlain was also informed that the Etchemins, the Algonquins, and the Montagnais, to the number of about one thousand, had lately been engaged in warfare with the Iroquois, whom they had vanquished with the loss of one hundred men.

On June 9th following, Champlain witnessed the spectacle of a grand feast given by the Indians in commemoration of their victory. The celebration consisted of dances, songs, speeches and games. Tessouat, the _sagamo_ of the Ottawas, was the chief captain, and took a prominent part in the demonstration.

After a long description of these public festivities, Champlain gives ample details of the manners and customs of the Indians, especially of their superst.i.tions. The Indians believed that a G.o.d existed who was the creator of all things, but they had a curious manner of explaining the creation of man. "When G.o.d had made everything," they said, "He took a quant.i.ty of arrows and fixed them in the earth, whence came men and women, who have increased ever since." The _sagamo_ said they believed in the existence of a G.o.d, a son, a mother and a sun; that G.o.d was the greatest of the four; that the son and the sun were both good; that the mother was a lesser person, and so was the father, who was less bad.

The Indians were convinced that their deity had held communication with their ancestors. One day five Indians ran towards the setting sun where they met G.o.d, who asked them, "Where are you going?" "We are going to seek our life," they replied. Then G.o.d said, "You will find it here."

But they did not hear the divine word, and went away. Then G.o.d took a stone and touched two of them, and they were immediately turned into stones. Addressing the three other Indians, G.o.d asked the same question, "Where are you going?" and He was given the same answer. "Do not go further," said the divine voice, "you will find your life here." Seeing nothing, however, they continued their journey. Then G.o.d took two sticks and touched two of them, and they were at once turned into sticks. The fifth Indian, however, paused, and G.o.d gave him some meat, which he ate, and he afterwards returned to his countrymen.

These Indian tribes had their jugglers, whom they called _pilotois_, from the Basques, or _autmoins_, which means a magician. These jugglers exercised great sway over the Indians, who would not hesitate to kill a Frenchman if the jugglers decided that it was necessary.