Voyages of Samuel De Champlain Volume I Part 20

On the same day we went about three leagues, nearly to the Isle aux Coudres. On Thursday, the tenth of the month, we came within about a league and a half of Hare Island, on the north sh.o.r.e, where other Indians came to our barque, among whom was a young Algonquin who had travelled a great deal in the aforesaid great lake. We questioned him very particularly, as we had the other savages. He told us that, some two or three leagues beyond the fall we had seen, there is a river extending to the place where the Algonquins dwell, and that, proceeding up the great river, there are five falls, some eight or nine leagues from the first to the last, past three of which they carry their canoes, and in the other two drag them; that each one of these falls is, perhaps, a quarter of a league long. Then they enter a lake some fifteen leagues in extent, after which they pa.s.s five other falls, extending from the first to the last some twenty to twenty-five leagues, only two of which they pa.s.s in their canoes, while at the three others they drag them. After this, they enter a very large lake, some three hundred leagues in length. Proceeding some hundred leagues in this lake, they come to a very large island, beyond which the water is good; but that, upon going some hundred leagues farther, the water has become somewhat bad, and, upon reaching the end of the lake, it is perfectly salt. That there is a fall about a league wide, where a very large ma.s.s of water falls into said lake; that, when this fall is pa.s.sed, one sees no more land on either side, but only a sea so large that they have never seen the end of it, nor heard that any one has; that the sun sets on the right of this lake, at the entrance to which there is a river extending towards the Algonquins, and another towards the Iroquois, by way of which they go to war; that the country of the Iroquois is somewhat mountainous, though very fertile, there being there a great amount of Indian corn and other products which they do not have in their own country. That the territory of the Algonquins is low and fertile.

I asked them whether they had knowledge of any mines. They told us that there was a nation called the good Iroquois, [212] who come to barter for the articles of merchandise which the French vessels furnish the Algonquins, who say that, towards the north, there is a mine of pure copper, some bracelets made from which they showed us, which they had obtained from the good Iroquois; [213] that, if we wished to go there, they would guide those who might be deputed for this object.

This is all that I have been able to ascertain from all parties, their statements differing but little from each other, except that the second ones who were interrogated said that they had never drunk salt water; whence it appears that they had not proceeded so far in said lake as the others. They differ, also, but little in respect to the distance, some making it shorter and others longer; so that, according to their statement, the distance from the fall where we had been to the salt sea, which is possibly the South Sea, is some four hundred leagues. It is not to be doubted, then, according to their statement, that this is none other than the South Sea, the sun setting where they say.

On Friday, the tenth of this month, [214] we returned to Tadoussac, where our vessel lay.

ENDNOTES:

207. As they were at Lake St Peter on the 29th of June, it is plain that this should read July.

208. This river extending north from Lake Ontario is the river-like Bay of Quinte.

209. The Oswego River.

210. The Genesee River, after which they come to Niagara Falls.

211. We, can easily recognize Lake Ontario, Lake Erie and Niagara Falls, although this account is exceedingly confused and inaccurate.

212. Reference is here made to the Hurons who were nearly related to the Iroquois. They were called by the French the good Iroquois in distinction from the Iroquois in the State of New York, with whom they were at war.

213. A specimen of pure copper was subsequently presented to Champlain.-- Vol. II. p. 236: _Vide_ a brochure on _Prehistoric Copper Implements_, by the editor, reprinted from the New England Historical and Genealogical Register for Jan. 1879; also reprinted in the Collections of Wis. Hist. Soc., Vol. VIII. 1880.

214. Friday, July 11th.

CHAPTER X.

VOYAGE FROM TADOUSSAC TO ISLE PERCeE.--DESCRIPTION OF MOLUES BAY, THE ISLAND OF BONAVENTURE, BAY OF CHALEUR: ALSO SEVERAL RIVERS, LAKES, AND COUNTRIES WHERE THERE ARE VARIOUS KINDS OF MINES.

At once, after arriving at Tadoussac, we embarked for Gaspe, about a hundred leagues distant. On the thirteenth day of the month, we met a troop of savages encamped on the south sh.o.r.e, nearly half way between Tadoussac and Gaspe. The name of the Sagamore who led them is Armouchides, who is regarded as one of the most intelligent and daring of the savages. He was going to Tadoussac to barter their arrows and orignac meat [215] for beavers and martens [216] with the Montagnais, Etechemins, and Algonquins.

On the 15th day of the month we arrived at Gaspe, situated on the northern sh.o.r.e of a bay, and about a league and a half from the entrance. This bay is some seven or eight leagues long, and four leagues broad at its entrance. There is a river there extending some thirty leagues inland.

[217] Then we saw another bay, called Molues Bay [218] some three leagues long and as many wide at its entrance. Thence we come to Isle Percee, [219]

a sort of rock, which is very high and steep on two sides, with a hole through which shallops and boats can pa.s.s at high tide. At low tide, you can go from the mainland to this island, which is only some four or five hundred feet distant. There is also another island, about a league southeast of Isle Percee, called the Island of Bonaventure, which is, perhaps, half a league long. Gaspe, Molues Bay, and Isle Percee are all places where dry and green fishing is carried on.

Beyond Isle Percee there is a bay, called _Baye de Chaleurs_, [220]

extending some eighty leagues west-southwest inland, and some fifteen leagues broad at its entrance. The Canadian savages say that some sixty leagues along the southern sh.o.r.e of the great River of Canada, there is a little river called Mantanne, extending some eighteen leagues inland, at the end of which they carry their canoes about a league by land, and come to the Baye de Chaleurs, [221] whence they go sometimes to Isle Percee.

They also go from this bay to Tregate [222] and Misamichy. [223]

Proceeding along this coast, you pa.s.s a large number of rivers, and reach a place where there is one called _Souricoua_, by way of which Sieur Prevert went to explore a copper mine. They go with their canoes up this river for two or three days, when they go overland some two or three leagues to the said mine, which is situated on the seash.o.r.e southward. At the entrance to the above-mentioned river there is an island [224] about a league out, from which island to Isle Percee is a distance of some sixty or seventy leagues.

Then, continuing along this coast, which runs towards the east, you come to a strait about two leagues broad and twenty-five long. [225] On the east side of it is an island named _St. Lawrence_, [226] on which is Cape Breton, and where a tribe of savages called the _Souriquois_ winter.

Pa.s.sing the strait of the Island of St. Lawrence, and coasting along the sh.o.r.e of La Cadie, you come to a bay [227] on which this copper mine is situated. Advancing still farther, you find a river [228] extending some sixty or eighty leagues inland, and nearly to the Lake of the Iroquois, along which the savages of the coast of La Cadie go to make war upon the latter.

One would accomplish a great good by discovering, on the coast of Florida, some pa.s.sage running near to the great lake before referred to, where the water is salt; not only on account of the navigation of vessels, which would not then be exposed to so great risks as in going by way of Canada, but also on account of the shortening of the distance by more than three hundred leagues. And it is certain that there are rivers on the coast of Florida, not yet discovered, extending into the interior, where the land is very good and fertile, and containing very good harbors. The country and coast of Florida may have a different temperature and be more productive in fruits and other things than that which I have seen; but there cannot be there any lands more level nor of a better quality than those we have seen.

The savages say that, in this great Baye de Chaleurs, there is a river extending some twenty leagues into the interior, at the extremity of which is a lake [229] some twenty leagues in extent, but with very little water; that it dries up in summer, when they find in it, a foot or foot and a half under ground, a kind of metal resembling the silver which I showed them, and that in another place, near this lake, there is a copper mine.

This is what I learned from these savages.

ENDNOTES:

215. _Orignac_. Moose.--_Vide antea_, note 179.

216. Martens, _martres_. This may include the pine-marten, _Mustela martes_, and the pecan or fisher, _Mustela Canadenfis_, both of which were found in large numbers in New France.

217. York River.

218. Molues Bay, _Baye des Molues_. Now known as Mal-Bay, from _morue_, codfish, a corruption from the old orthography _molue_ and _baie_, codfish bay, the name having been originally applied on account of the excellent fish of the neighborhood. The harbor of Mal-Bay is enclosed between two points, Point Peter on the north, and a high rocky promontory on the south, whose cliffs rise to the height of 666 feet.--_Vide Charts of the St. Lawrence by Captain H. W. Bayfield_.

219. _Isle Percee.--Vide_ Vol. II, note 290.

220. _Baye de Chaleurs_. This bay was so named by Jacques Cartier on account of the excessive heat, _chaleur_, experienced there on his first voyage in 1634.--_Vide Voyage de Jacques Cartier_, Mechelant, ed. Paris, 1865, p. 50. The depth of the bay is about ninety miles and its width at the entrance is about eighteen. It receives the Ristigouche and other rivers.

221. By a portage of about three leagues from the river Matane to the Matapedia, the Bay of Chaleur may be reached by water.

222. _Tregate_, Tracadie. By a very short portage Between Ba.s.s River and the Big Tracadie River, this place may be reached.

223. _Misamichy_, Miramichi. This is reached by a short portage from the Nepisiguit to the head waters of the Miramichi.

224. It is obvious from this description that the island above mentioned is Shediac Island, and the river was one of the several emptying into Shediac Bay, and named _Souricoua_, as by it the Indians went to the Souriquois or Micmacs in Nova Scotia.

225. The Strait of Canseau.

226. _St. Lawrence_. This island had then borne the name of the _Island of Cape Breton_ for a hundred years.

227. The Bay of Fundy.

228. The River St John by which they reached the St Lawrence, and through the River Richelieu the lake of the Iroquois. It was named Lake Champlain in 1609. _Vide_ Vol. II. p. 223.

229. By traversing the Ristigouche River, the Matapediac may be reached, the lake here designated.

CHAPTER XI.

RETURN FROM ISLE PERCeE TO TADOUSSAC.--DESCRIPTION OF THE COVES, HARBORS, RIVERS, ISLANDS, ROCKS, FALLS, BAYS, AND SHALLOWS ALONG THE NORTHERN Sh.o.r.e.

We set out from Isle Percee on the nineteenth of the month, on our return to Tadoussac. When we were some three leagues from Cape eveque [230]

encountered a tempest, which lasted two days, and obliged us to put into a large cove and wait for fair weather. The next day we set out from there and again encountered another tempest. Not wishing to put back, and thinking that we could make our way, we proceeded to the north sh.o.r.e on the 28th of July, and came to anchor in a cove which is very dangerous on account of its rocky banks. This cove is in lat.i.tude 51 deg. and some minutes. [231]

The next day we anch.o.r.ed near a river called St. Margaret, where the depth is some three fathoms at full tide, and a fathom and a half at low tide. It extends a considerable distance inland. So far as I observed the eastern sh.o.r.e inland, there is a waterfall some fifty or sixty fathoms in extent, flowing into this river; from this comes the greater part of the water composing it. At its mouth there is a sand-bank, where there is, perhaps, at low tide, half a fathom of water. All along the eastern sh.o.r.e there is moving sand; and here there is a point some half a league from the above mentioned river, [232] extending out half a league, and on the western sh.o.r.e there is a little island. This place is in lat.i.tude 50 deg. All these lands are very poor, and covered with firs. The country is somewhat high, but not so much so as that on the south side.

After going some three leagues, we pa.s.sed another river, [233] apparently very large, but the entrance is, for the most part, filled with rocks. Some eight leagues distant from there, is a point [234] extending out a league and a half, where there is only a fathom and a half of water. Some four leagues beyond this point, there is another, where there is water enough.

[235] All this coast is low and sandy.