Voyages of Samuel De Champlain Volume II Part 15

Plantation_, p. 82. Squanto taught the English how to "set it, and after how to dress and tend it"--_Idem_, p. 100.

"The women," says Roger Williams, "set or plant, weede and hill, and gather and barne all the corne and Fruites of the field," and of drying the corn, he adds, "which they doe carefully upon heapes and Mats many dayes, they barne it up, covering it up with Mats at night, and opening when the Sun is hot"

The following are testimonies as to the use made by the natives of the Indian corn as food:--

"They brought with them in a thing like a Bow-case, which the princ.i.p.all of them had about his wast, a little of their Corne powdered to Powder, which put to a little water they eate."--_Mourts Relation_, London, 1622, Dexter's ed., p. 88.

"Giving us a kinde of bread called by them _Maizium_."--_Idem_, p. 101.

"They seldome or never make bread of their _Indian_ corne, but seeth it whole like beanes, eating three or four cornes with a mouthfull of fish or flesh, sometimes eating meate first and cornes after, filling chinckes with their broth."--_Wood's New Eng. Prospect_, London, 1634.

Prince Society's ed., pp. 75, 76.

"Nonkekich. _Parch'd meal_, which is a readie very wholesome, food, which they eate with a little water hot or cold: ... With _spoonfull_ of this _meale_ and a spoonfull of water from the _Brooke_, have I made many a good dinner and supper."--_Roger Williams's Key_, London, 1643, Trumbull's ed., pp. 39, 40.

"Their food is generally boiled maize, or Indian corn, mixed with kidney beans or Sometimes without.... Also they mix with the said pottage several sorts of roots, as Jerusalem artichokes, and ground nuts, and other roots, and pompions, and squashes, and also several sorts of nuts or masts, as oak-acorns, chesnuts, walnuts: These husked and dried, and powdered, they thicken their pottage therewith."-- _Historical Collections of the Indians_, by Daniel Gookin, 1674, Boston, 1792. p. 10.

220. The character of the Indian dress, as here described, does not differ widely from that of a later period.--_Vide Mourt's Relation_, 1622, Dexter's ed., p. 135: _Roger Williams's Key_, 1643, Trumbull's ed., p. 143, _et seq.; History of New England_, by Edward Johnson, 1654, Poole's ed., pp. 224, 225.

Champlain's observations were made in the autumn before the approach of the winter frosts.

Thomas Morton, writing in 1632, says that the mantle which the women "use to cover their nakednesse with is much longer then that which the men use; for as the men have one Deeres skinn, the women haue two soed together at the full length, and it is so lardge that it trailes after them, like a great Ladies trane, and in time," he sportively adds, "I thinke they may have their Pages to beare them up."--_New Eng.

Canaan_, 1632, in Force's Tracts, Vol. II, p. 23.

221. This conclusion harmonizes with the opinion of Thomas Morton, who says that the natives of New England are "_sine fide, sine lege, et sine rege_, and that they have no worship nor religion at all."--_New Eng.

Canaan_, 1632, in Force's Tracts, Vol. II. p. 21.

Winslow was at first of the same opinion, but afterward saw cause for changing his mind.--_Vide Winslow's Relation_, 1624, in Young's Chronicles, P 355. See also _Roger Williams's Key_, Trumbull's ed., p. 159.

222. "Their houses, or wigwams," says Gookin, "are built with small poles fixed in the ground, bent and fastened together with barks of trees, oval or arborwise on the top. The best sort of their houses are covered very neatly, tight, and warm with the bark of trees, stripped from their bodies at such seasons when the sap is up; and made into great flakes with pressures of weighty timbers, when they are green; and so becoming dry, they will retain a form suitable for the use they prepare them for. The meaner sort of wigwams are covered with mats they make of a kind of bulrush, which are also indifferent tight and warm, but not so good as the former."--_Vide Historical Collections_, 1674, Boston, 1792, p. 9.

223. The construction of the Indian couch, or bed, at a much later period may be seen by the following excerpts: "So we desired to goe to rest: he layd us on the bed with himselfe and his wife, they at one end and we at the other, it being only plancks layd a foot from the ground, and a thin mat upon them."--_Mourt's Relation_, London. 1622, Dexter's ed., pp. 107, 108. "In their wigwams, they make a kind of couch or mattresses, firm and strong, raised about a foot high from the earth; first covered with boards that they split out of trees; and upon the boards they spread mats generally, and sometimes bear skins and deer skins. These are large enough for three or four persons to lodge upon: and one may either draw nearer or keep at a more distance from the heat of the fire, as they please; for their mattresses are six or eight feet broad."--_Gookin's Historical Collections_, 1674, Boston, 1792, p. 10.

224. This exploration appears to have extended about as far as Point Gammon, where, being "near the land," their Indian guide left them, as stated in the text.

225. On the map of Port Fortune, or Chatham, the course of one of these excursions is marked by a dotted line, to which the reader is referred.--_Vide_ notes on the map of Port Fortune.

226. _Port Fortune_, perhaps here used, to signify the port of chance or hazard; referring particularly to the dangers they encountered in pa.s.sing round Monomoy to reach it. The lat.i.tude of Stage Harbor in Chatham is 41 40'. The distance from Mallebarre or Nauset to Port Fortune, or Stage Harbor, by water round the Southern point of Monomoy is at the present time about nine leagues. The distance may possibly have been greater in 1606, or Champlain may have increased the distance by giving a wide berth to Monomoy in pa.s.sing round it.

CHAPTER XV.

THE INCLEMENCY OF THE WEATHER NOT PERMITTING US AT THAT TIME TO CONTINUE OUR DISCOVERIES, WE RESOLVED TO RETURN TO OUR SETTLEMENT. WHAT HAPPENED TO US UNTIL WE REACHED IT.

After having gone some six or seven leagues, we sighted an island, which we named La Soupconneuse, [227] because in the distance we had several times thought it was not an island. Then the wind became contrary, which caused us to put back to the place whence we had set out, where we stayed two or three days, no savage during this time presenting himself to us.

On the 20th, we set out anew and coasted along to the south-west nearly twelve leagues, [228] where we pa.s.sed near a river which is small and difficult of access in consequence of the shoals and rocks at its mouth, and which I called after my own name. [229] This coast is, so far as we saw, low and sandy. The wind again grew contrary and very strong, which caused us to put out to sea, as we were unable to advance on one tack or the other; it, however, finally abated a little and grew favorable. But all we could do was to return again to Port Fortune, where the coast, though low, is fine and good, yet difficult of access, there being no harbors, many reefs, and shallow water for the distance of nearly two leagues from land. The most that we found was seven or eight fathoms in some channels, which, however, continued only a cable's length, when there were suddenly only two or three fathoms; but one should not trust the water who has not well examined the depth with the lead in hand.

Some hours after we had returned to port, a son of Pont Grave, named Robert, lost a hand in firing a musket, which burst in several pieces, but without injuring any one near him.

Seeing now the wind continuing contrary, and being unable to put to sea, we resolved meanwhile to get possession of some savages of this place, and, taking them to our settlement, put them to grinding corn at the hand-mill, as punishment for the deadly a.s.sault which they had committed on five or six of our company. But it was very difficult to do this when we were armed, since, if we went to them prepared to fight, they would turn and flee into the woods, where they were not to be caught. It was necessary, accordingly, to have recourse to artifice, and this is what we planned: when they should come to seek friendship with us, to coax them by showing them beads and other gewgaws, and a.s.sure them repeatedly of our good faith; then to take the shallop well armed, and conduct on sh.o.r.e the most robust and strong men we had, each one having a chain of beads and a fathom of match on his arm; [230] and there, while pretending to smoke with them (each one having an end of his match lighted so as not to excite suspicion, it being customary to have fire at the end of a cord in order to light the tobacco), coax them with pleasing words so as to draw them into the shallop; and, if they should be unwilling to enter, each one approaching should choose his man, and, putting the beads about his neck, should at the same time put the rope on him to draw him by force. But, if they should be too boisterous, and it should not be possible to succeed, they should be stabbed, the rope being firmly held; and, if by chance any of them should get away, there should be men on land to charge upon them with swords.

Meanwhile, the little cannon on our barque were to be kept ready to fire upon their companions in case they should come to a.s.sist them, under cover of which firearms the shallop could withdraw in security. The plan above-mentioned was well carried out as it had been arranged.

Some days after these events had transpired, there came savages by threes and fours to the sh.o.r.e, making signs to us to go to them. But we saw their main body in ambuscade under a hillock behind some bushes, and I suppose that they were only desirous of beguiling us into the shallop in order to discharge a shower of arrows upon us, and then take to flight.

Nevertheless, Sieur de Poutrincourt did not hesitate to go to them with ten of us, well equipped and determined to fight them, if occasion offered. We landed at a place beyond their ambuscade, as we thought, and where they could not surprise us. There three or four of us went ash.o.r.e together with Sieur de Poutrincourt: the others did not leave the shallop, in order to protect it and be ready for an emergency. We ascended a knoll and went about the woods to see if we could not discover more plainly the ambuscade.

When they saw us going so unconcernedly to them, they left and went to other places, which we could not see, and of the four savages we saw only two, who went away very slowly. As they withdrew, they made signs to us to take our shallop to another place, thinking that it was not favorable for the carrying out of their plan. And, when we also saw that they had no desire to come to us, we re-embarked and went to the place they indicated, which was the second ambuscade they had made, in their endeavor to draw us unarmed to themselves by signs of friendship. But this we were not permitted to do at that time, yet we approached very near them without seeing this ambuscade, which we supposed was not far off. As our shallop approached the sh.o.r.e, they took to flight, as also those in ambush, after whom we fired some musket-shots, since we saw that their intention was only to deceive us by flattery, in which they were disappointed; for we recognized clearly what their purpose was, which had only mischief in view.

We retired to our barque after having done all we could.

On the same day, Sieur de Poutrincourt resolved to return to our settlement on account of four or five sick and wounded men, whose wounds were growing worse through lack of salves, of which our surgeon, by a great mistake on his part, had brought but a small provision, to the detriment of the sick and our own discomfort, as the stench from their wounds was so great, in a little vessel like our own, that one could scarcely endure it. Moreover, we were afraid that they would generate disease. Also we had provisions only for going eight or ten days farther, however much economy might be practised; and we knew not whether the return would last as long as the advance, which was nearly two months.

At any rate, our resolution being formed, we withdrew, but with the satisfaction that G.o.d had not left unpunished the misdeeds of these barbarians. [231] We advanced no farther than to lat.i.tude 41 30', which was only half a degree farther than Sieur de Monts had gone on his voyage of discovery. We set out accordingly from this harbor. [232]

On the next day, we anch.o.r.ed near Mallebarre, where we remained until the 28th of the month, when we set sail. On that day the air was very cold, and there was a little snow. We took a direct course for Norumbegue or Isle Haute. Heading east-north-east, we were two days at sea without seeing land, being kept back by bad weather. On the following night, we sighted the islands, which are between Quinibequy and Norumbegue. [233]

The wind was so strong that we were obliged, to put to sea until daybreak; but we went so far from land, although we used very little sail, that we could not see it again until the next day, when we saw Isle Haute, of which we were abreast.

On the last day of October, between the Island of Monts Deserts and Cap Corneille, [234] our rudder broke in several pieces, without our knowing the reason. Each one expressed his opinion about it. On the following night, with a fresh breeze, we came among a large number of islands and rocks, whither the wind drove us; and we resolved to take refuge, if possible, on the first land we should find.

We were for some time at the mercy of the wind and sea, with only the foresail set. But the worst of it was that the night was dark, and we did not know where we were going; for our barque could not be steered at all, although we did all that was possible, holding in our hands the sheets of the foresail, which sometimes enabled us to steer it a little. We kept continually sounding, to see if it were possible to find a bottom for anchoring, and to prepare ourselves for what might happen. But we found none. Finally, as we were going faster than we wished, it was recommended to put an oar astern together with some men, so as to steer to an island which we saw, in order to shelter ourselves from the wind. Two other oars also were put over the sides in the after part of the barque, to a.s.sist those who were steering, in order to make the vessel bear up on one tack and the other. This device served us so well, that we headed where we wished, and ran in behind the point of the island we had seen, anchoring in twenty-one fathoms of water until daybreak, when we proposed to reconnoitre our position and seek for a place to make another rudder. The wind abated.

At daybreak, we found ourselves near the Isles Rangees, [235] entirely surrounded by breakers, and we praised G.o.d for having preserved us so wonderfully amid so many perils.

On the 1st of November, we went to a place which we deemed favorable for beaching our vessel and repairing our helm. On this day, I landed, and saw some ice two inches thick, it having frozen perhaps eight or ten days before. I observed also that the temperature of the place differed very much from that of Mallebarre and Port Fortune; for the leaves of the trees were not yet dead, and had not begun to fall when we set out, while here they had all fallen, and it was much colder than at Port Fortune.

On the next day, as we were beaching our barque, a canoe came containing Etechemin savages, who told the savage Secondon in our barque that Iouaniscou, with his companions, had killed some other savages, and carried off some women as prisoners, whom they had executed near the Island of Monts Deserts.

On the 9th of the month, we set out from near Cap Corneille, and anch.o.r.ed the same day in the little pa.s.sage [236] of Sainte Croix River.

On the morning of the next day, we landed our savage with some supplies which we gave him. He was well pleased and satisfied at having made this voyage with us, and took away with him some heads of the savages that had been killed at Port Fortune. [237] The same day we anch.o.r.ed in a very pretty cove [238] on the south of the Island of Manan.

On the 12th of the month, we made sail; and, when under way, the shallop, which we were towing astern, struck against our barque so violently and roughly that it made an opening and stove in her upper works, and again in the recoil broke the iron fastenings of our rudder. At first, we thought that the first blow had stove in some planks in the lower part, which would have sunk us; for the wind was so high that all we could do was to carry our foresail. But finding that the damage was slight, and that there was no danger, we managed with ropes to repair the rudder as well as we could, so as to serve us to the end of our voyage. This was not until the 14th of November, when, at the entrance to Port Royal, we came near being lost on a point; but G.o.d delivered us from this danger as well as from many others to which we had been exposed. [239]

ENDNOTES:

227. _La Soupconneuse_, the doubtful, Martha's Vineyard. Champlain and Poutrincourt, in the little French barque, lying low on the water, creeping along the sh.o.r.e from Chatham to Point Gammon, could hardly fail to be doubtful whether Martha's Vineyard were an island or a part of the main land. Lescarbot, speaking of it, says, _et fut appelee l'Ile Douteuse_.

228. Nearly twelve leagues in a southwesterly direction from their anchorage at Stage Harbor in Chatham would bring them to n.o.bska Point, at the entrance of the Vineyard Sound. This was the limit of Champlain's explorations towards the south.

229. "Called after my own name." viz. _Riviere de Champlain_.--_Vide_ map, 1612. This river appears to be a tidal pa.s.sage connecting the Vineyard Sound and Buzzard's Bay, having Nouamesset and Uncatena Islands on the south-west, and n.o.bska Point, Wood's Boll, and Long Neck on the north-east. On our Coast Survey Charts, it is called Hadley River. Its length is nearly two miles, in a winding course. The mouth of this pa.s.sage is full of boulders, and in a receding tide the current is rough and boisterous, and would answer well to the description in the text, as no other river does on the coast from Chatham to Wood's Holl. On the small French barque, elevated but a little above the surface of the water, its source in Buzzard's Bay could not be discovered, especially if they pa.s.sed round n.o.bska Point, under the lee of which they probably obtained a view of the "shoals, and rocks"

which they saw at the mouth of the river.

230. _A fathom of match on his arm_. This was a rope, made of the tow of hemp or flax, loosely twisted, and prepared to retain the fire, so that, when once lighted, it would burn till the whole was consumed. It was employed in connection with the match-lock, the arm then in common use. The wheel-lock followed in order of time, which was discharged by means of a notched wheel of steel, so arranged that its friction, when in motion, threw sparks of fire into the pan that contained the powder. The snaphance was a slight improvement upon the wheel-lock.

The flint-lock followed, now half a century since superseded by the percussion lock and cap.

231. They did not capture any of the Indians, to be reduced to a species of slavery, as they intended; but, as will appear further on, inhumanly butchered several of them, which would seem to have been an act of revenge rather than of punishment. The intercourse of the French with the natives of Cape Cod was, on the whole, less satisfactory than that with the northern tribes along the sh.o.r.es of Maine, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. With the latter they had no hostile conflicts whatever, although the Indians were sufficiently implacable and revengeful towards their enemies. Those inhabiting the peninsula of Cape Cod, and as far north as Cape Anne, were more suspicious, and had apparently less clear conceptions of personal rights, especially the rights of property. Might and right were to them identical. Whatever they desired, they thought they had a right to have, if they had the power or wit to obtain it. The French came in contact with only two of the many subordinate tribes that were in possession of the peninsula; viz., the Monomoyicks at Chatham, and the Nausets at Eastham. The conflict in both instances grew out of an attempt on the part of the natives to commit a petty theft. But it is quite possible that the invasion of their territory by strangers, an unpardonable offence among civilized people, may have created a feeling of hostility that found a partial gratification in stealing their property; and, had not this occasion offered, the stifled feeling of hostility may have broken out in some other form. In general, they were not subsequently unfriendly in their intercourse with the English. The Nausets were, however, the same that sent a shower of arrows upon the Pilgrims in 1620, at the place called by them the "First Encounter," and not more than three miles from the spot where the same tribe, in 1605, had attacked the French, and Slain one of De Monts's men. It must, however, be said that, beside the invasion of their country, the Pilgrims had, some days before, rifled the granaries of the natives dwelling a few miles north of the Nausets, and taken away without leave a generous quant.i.ty of their winter's supply of corn; and this may have inspired them with a desire to be rid of visitors who helped themselves to their provisions, the fruit of their summer's toil, their dependence for the winter already upon them, with so little ceremony and such unscrupulous selfishness; for such it must have appeared to the Nausets in their savage and unenlightened state. It is to be regretted that these excellent men, the Pilgrims, did not more fully comprehend the moral character of their conduct in this instance. They lost at the outset a golden opportunity for impressing upon the minds of the natives the great practical principle enunciated by our Lord, the foundation of all good neighborhood, [Greek: Panta oun osa an thelaete ina poiosin hymin hoi anthropoi, houto kai hymeis poieite autois. Matth]. vii 12.--_Vide Bradford's Hist. Plym.

Plantation_, pp. 82, 83; _Mourt's Relation_, London, 1622, Dexter's ed., pp. 21, 22, 30, 31, 55.

232. The lat.i.tude of n.o.bska Point, the most southern limit of their voyage, is 41 31', while the lat.i.tude of Nauset Harbor, the southern limit of that of De Monts on the previous year, 1605, is 41 49'. They consequently advanced but 18', or eighteen nautical miles, further south than they did the year before. Had they commenced this year's explorations where those of the preceding terminated, as Champlain had advised, they might have explored the whole coast as far as Long Island Sound. _Vide antea_, pp. 109, 110.