Voyages of Samuel De Champlain Volume II Part 25

The weather having become favorable, I embarked at Honfleur with a number of artisans on the 7th of the month of March. [357] But, encountering bad weather in the Channel, we were obliged to put in on the English coast at a place called Porlan, [358] in the roadstead of which we stayed some days, when we weighed anchor for the Isle d'Huy, [359] near the English coast, since we found the roadstead of Porlan very bad. When near this island, so dense a fog arose, that we were obliged to put in at the Hougue. [360]

Ever since the departure from Honfleur, I had been afflicted with a very severe illness, which took away my hopes of being able to make the voyage; so that I embarked in a boat to return to Havre in France, to be treated there, being very ill on board the vessel. My expectation was, on recovering my health, to embark again in another vessel, which had not yet left Honfleur, in which Des Marais, son-in-law of Pont Grave, was to embark; but I had myself carried, still very ill, to Honfleur, where the vessel on which I had set out put in on the 15th of March, for some ballast, which it needed in order to be properly trimmed. Here it remained until the 8th of April. During this time, I recovered in a great degree; and, though still feeble and weak, I nevertheless embarked again.

We set out anew on the 18th of April, arriving at the Grand Bank on the 19th, and fighting the Islands of St. Pierre on the 22nd. [361] When off Menthane, we met a vessel from St. Malo, on which was a young man, who, while drinking to the health of Pont Grave, lost control of himself and was thrown into the Sea by the motion of the vessel and drowned, it being impossible to render him a.s.sistance on account of the violence of the wind.

On the 26th of the month, we arrived at Tadoussac, where there were vessels which had arrived on the 18th, a thing which had not been seen for more than sixty years, as the old mariners said who sail regularly to this country. [362] This was owing to the mild winter and the small amount of ice, which did not prevent the entrance of these vessels. We learned from a young n.o.bleman, named Sieur du Parc, who had spent the winter at our settlement, that all his companions were in good health, only a few having been ill, and they but slightly. He also informed us that there had been scarcely any winter, and that they had usually had fresh meat the entire season, and that their hardest task had been to keep up good cheer.

This winter shows how those undertaking in future such enterprises ought to proceed, it being very difficult to make a new settlement without labor; and without encountering adverse fortune the first year, as has been the case in all our first settlements. But, in fact, by avoiding salt food and using fresh meat, the health is as good here as in France.

The savages had been waiting from day to day for us to go to the war with them. When they learned that Pont Grave and I had arrived together, they rejoiced greatly, and came to speak with us.

I went on sh.o.r.e to a.s.sure them that we would go with them, in conformity with the promises they had made me, namely, that upon our return from the war they would show me the Trois Rivieres, and take me to a sea so large that the end of it cannot be seen, whence we should return by way of the Saguenay to Tadoussac. I asked them if they still had this intention, to which they replied that they had, but that it could not be carried out before the next year, which pleased me. But I had promised the Algonquins and Ochateguins that I would a.s.sist them also in their wars, they having promised to show me their country, the great lake, some copper mines, and other things, which they had indicated to me. I accordingly had two strings to my bow, so that, in case one should break, the other might hold.

On the 28th of the month, I set out from Tadoussac for Quebec, where I found Captain Pierre, [363] who commanded there, and all his companions in good health. There was also a savage captain with them, named Batiscan, with some of his companions, who were awaiting us, and who were greatly pleased at my arrival, singing and dancing the entire evening. I provided a banquet for them, which gratified them very much. They had a good meal, for which they were very thankful, and invited me with seven others to an entertainment of theirs, not a small mark of respect with them. We each one carried a porringer, according to custom, and brought it home full of meat, which we gave to whomsoever we pleased.

Some days after I had set out from Tadoussac, the Montagnais arrived at Quebec, to the number of sixty able-bodied men, en route for the war. They tarried here some days, enjoying themselves, and not omitting to ply me frequently with questions, to a.s.sure themselves that I would not fail in my promises to them. I a.s.sured them, and again made promises to them, asking them if they had found me breaking my word in the past. They were greatly pleased when I renewed my promises to them.

They said to me: "Here are numerous Basques and Mistigoches" (this is the name they give to the Normans and people of St. Malo), "who say they will go to the war with us. What do you think of it? Do they speak the truth?"

I answered no, and that I knew very well what they really meant; that they said this only to get possession of their commodities. They replied to me: "You have spoken the truth. They are women, and want to make war only upon our beavers." They went on talking still farther in a facetious mood, and in regard to the manner and order of going to the war.

They determined to set out, and await me at the Trois Rivieres, thirty leagues above Quebec, where I had promised to join them, together with four barques loaded with merchandise, in order to traffic in peltries, among others with the Ochateguins, who were to await me at the mouth of the river of the Iroquois, as they had promised the year before, and to bring there as many as four hundred men to go to the war.

ENDNOTES:

357. In the t.i.tle above, Champlain calls this his SECOND VOYAGE, by which he means doubtless to say that this is the second voyage which he had undertaken as lieutenant. The first and second voyages, of 1603 and of 1604, were not made under his direction.

358. Portland in Dorsetshire, England.

359. _Isle d'Huy_. This plainly refers to the Isle of Wight. On Ortelius's carte of 1603. it is spelled Vigt: and the orthography, obtained probably through the ear and not the eye, might easily have been mistaken by Champlain.

360. _La Hougue_. There are two small islands laid down on the carte of Ortelius. 1603, under the name _Les Hougueaux_, and a hamlet nearby called Hougo, which is that, doubtless, to which Chaimplain here refers.

361. Comparing this statement with the context, it will be clear that the pa.s.sage should read the 8th, and not the 18th of April. The "Islands of St. Pierre," _Isles S. Pierre_, includes the Island of St. Peter and the cl.u.s.ter surrounding it.

362. M. Ferland infers from this statement that the Basques, Normans, and Bretons had been accustomed for the last sixty years, from the last voyage of Roberval in 1549, to extend their fishing and fur-trading voyages as far as Tadoussac.--_Vide Cours d'Hist. du Canada_, as cited by Laverdiere.

363. Captain Pierre Chavin, of Dieppe. _Vide antea_, p. 227.

CHAPTER II.

DEPARTURE FROM QUEBEC TO a.s.sIST OUR ALLIED SAVAGES IN THEIR WAR AGAINST THE IROQUOIS, THEIR ENEMIES; AND ALL THAT TRANSPIRED UNTIL OUR RETURN TO THE SETTLEMENT.

I set out from Quebec on the 14th of June, to meet the Montagnais, Algonquins, and Ochateguins, who were to be at the mouth of the river of the Iroquois. When I was eight leagues from Quebec, I met a canoe, containing two savages, one an Algonquin, and the other a Montagnais, who entreated me to advance as rapidly as possible, saying that the Algonquins and Ochateguins would in two days be at the rendezvous, to the number of two hundred, with two hundred others to come a little later, together with Yroquet, one of their chiefs. They asked me if I was satisfied with the coming of these savages. I told them I could not be displeased at it, since they had kept their word. They came on board my barque, where I gave them a good entertainment. Shortly after conferring with them about many matters concerning their wars, the Algonquin savage, one of their chiefs, drew from a sack a piece of copper a foot long, which he gave me. This was very handsome and quite pure. He gave me to understand that there were large quant.i.ties where he had taken this, which was on the bank of a river, near a great lake. He said that they gathered it in lumps, and, having melted it, spread it in sheets, smoothing it with stones. I was very glad of this present, although of small value. [364]

Arriving at Trois Rivieres, I found all the Montagnais awaiting me, and the four barques as I stated above, which had gone to trade with them.

The savages were delighted to see me, and I went on sh.o.r.e to speak with them. They entreated me, together with my companions, to embark on their canoes and no others, when we went to the war, saying that they were our old friends. This I promised them, telling them that I desired to set out at once, since the wind was favorable; and that my barque was not so swift as their canoes, for which reason I desired to go on in advance. They earnestly entreated me to wait until the morning of the next day, when we would all go together, adding that they would not go faster than I should.

Finally, to satisfy them, I promised to do this, at which they were greatly pleased.

On the following day, we all set out together, and continued our route until the morning of the next day, the 19th of the month, when we arrived at an island [365] off the river of the Iroquois, and waited for the Algonquins, who were to be there the same day. While the Montagnais were felling trees to clear a place for dancing, and for arranging themselves for the arrival of the Algonquins, an Algonquin canoe was suddenly seen coming in haste, to bring word that the Algonquins had fallen in with a hundred Iroquois, who were strongly barricaded, and that it would be difficult to conquer them, unless they should come speedily, together with the Matigoches, as they call us.

The alarm at once sounded among them, and each one got into his canoe with his arms. They were quickly in readiness, but with confusion; for they were so precipitous that, instead of making haste, they hindered one another.

They came to our barque and the others, begging me, together with my companions, to go with them in their canoes, and they were so urgent that I embarked with four others. I requested our pilot, La Routte, to stay in the barque, and send me some four or five more of my companions, if the other barques would send some shallops with men to aid us; for none of the barques were inclined to go with the savages, except Captain Thibaut, who, having a barque there, went with me. The savages cried out to those who remained, saying that they were woman-hearted, and that all they could do was to make war upon their peltry.

Meanwhile, after going some half a league, all the savages crossing the river landed, and, leaving their canoes, took their bucklers, bows, arrows, clubs, and swords, which they attach to the end of large sticks, and proceeded to make their way in the woods, so fast that we soon lost sight of them, they leaving us, five in number, without guides. This displeased us; but, keeping their tracks constantly in sight, we followed them, although we were often deceived. We went through dense woods, and over swamps and marshes, with the water always up to our knees, greatly enc.u.mbered by a pike-man's corselet, with which each one was armed. We were also tormented in a grievous and unheard-of manner by quant.i.ties of mosquitoes, which were so thick that they scarcely permitted us to draw breath. After going about half a league under these circ.u.mstances, and no longer knowing where we were, we perceived two savages pa.s.sing through the woods, to whom we called and told them to stay with us, and guide us to the whereabouts of the Iroquois, otherwise we could not go there, and should get lost in the woods. They stayed to guide us. After proceeding a short distance, we saw a savage coming in haste to us, to induce us to advance as rapidly as possible, giving me to understand that the Algonquins and Montagnais had tried to force the barricade of the Iroquois but had been repulsed, that some of the best men of the Montagnais had been killed in the attempt, and several wounded, and that they had retired to wait for us, in whom was their only hope. We had not gone an eighth of a league with this savage, who was an Algonquin captain, before we heard the yells and cries on both sides, as they jeered at each other, and were skirmishing slightly while awaiting us. As soon as the savages perceived us, they began to shout, so that one could not have heard it thunder. I gave orders to my companions to follow me steadily, and not to leave me on any account. I approached the barricade of the enemy, in order to reconnoitre it. It was constructed of large trees placed one upon an other, and of a circular shape, the usual form of their fortifications. All the Montagnais and Algonquins approached likewise the barricade. Then we commenced firing numerous musket-shots through the brush-wood, since we could not see them, as they could us. I was wounded while firing my first shot at the side of their barricade by an arrow, which pierced the end of my ear and entered my neck. I seized the arrow, and tore it from my neck. The end of it was armed with a very sharp stone. One of my companions also was wounded at the same time in the arm by an arrow, which I tore out for him. Yet my wound did not prevent me from doing my duty: our savages also, on their part, as well as the enemy, did their duty, so that you could see the arrows fly on all sides as thick as hail. The Iroquois were astonished at the noise of our muskets, and especially that the b.a.l.l.s penetrated better than their arrows. They were so frightened at the effect produced that, seeing several, of their companions fall wounded and dead, they threw themselves on the ground whenever they heard a discharge, supposing that the shots were sure. We scarcely ever missed firing two or three b.a.l.l.s at one shot, resting our muskets most of the time on the side of their barricade. But, seeing that our ammunition began to fail, I said to all the savages that it was necessary to break down their barricades and capture them by storm; and that, in order to accomplish this, they must take their shields, cover themselves with them, and thus approach so near as to be able to fasten stout ropes to the posts that supported the barricades, and pull them down by main strength, in that way making an opening large enough to permit them to enter the fort. I told them that we would meanwhile, by our musketry-fire, keep off the enemy, as they endeavored to prevent them from accomplishing this; also that a number of them should get behind some large trees, which were near the barricade, in order to throw them down upon the enemy, and that others should protect these with their shields, in order to keep the enemy from injuring them. All this they did very promptly. And, as they were about finishing the work, the barques, distant a league and a half, hearing the reports of our muskets, knew that we were engaged in conflict; and a young man from St. Malo, full of courage, Des Prairies by name, who like the rest had come with his barque to engage in peltry traffic, said to his companions that it was a great shame to let me fight in this way with the savages without coming to my a.s.sistance; that for his part he had too high a sense of honor to permit him to do so, and that he did not wish to expose himself to this reproach; Accordingly, he determined to come to me in a shallop with some of his companions, together with some of mine whom he took with him. Immediately upon his arrival, he went towards the fort of the Iroquois, situated on the bank of the river. Here he landed, and came to find me. Upon seeing him, I ordered our savages who were breaking down the fortress to stop, so that the new-comers might have their share of the sport. I requested Sieur des Prairies and his companions to fire some salvos of musketry, before our savages should carry by storm the enemy, as they had decided to do. This they did, each one firing several shots, in which all did their duty well. After they had fired enough, I addressed myself to our savages, urging them to finish the work. Straightway, they approached the barricade, as they had previously done, while we on the flank were to fire at those who should endeavor to keep them from breaking it down. They behaved so well and bravely that, with the help of our muskets, they made an opening, which, however, was difficult to go through, as there was still left a portion as high as a man, there being also branches of trees there which had been beaten down, forming a serious obstacle. But, when I saw that the entrance was quite practicable, I gave orders not to fire any more, which they obeyed. At the same instant, some twenty or thirty, both of savages and of our own men, entered, sword in hand, without finding much resistance. Immediately, all who were unharmed took to flight. But they did not proceed far; for they were brought down by those around the barricade, and those who escaped were drowned in the river. We captured some fifteen prisoners, the rest being killed by musket-shots, arrows, and the sword. When the fight was over, there came another shallop, containing some of my companions. This although behind time, was yet in season for the booty, which, however, was not of much account. There were only robes of beaver-skin, and dead bodies, covered with blood, which the savages would not take the trouble to plunder, laughing at those in the last shallop, who did so; for the others did not engage in such low business. This, then, is the victory obtained by G.o.d's grace, for gaining which they gave us much praise.

CHAMPLAIN'S EXPLANATION OF THE ACCOMPANYING MAP.

FORT DES IROQUOIS.

_A_. The fort of the Iroquois.

_B_. The Iroquois throwing themselves into the river to escape the pursuit of the Montagnais and Algonquins who followed for the purpose of killing them.

_D_. Sieur de Champlain and five of his men.

_E_. The savages friendly to us.

_F_. Sieur des Prairies of St. Malo with his comrades.

_G_. Shallop of Sieur des Prairies.

_H_. Great trees cut down for the purpose of destroying the fort of the Iroquois.

The savages scalped the dead, and took the heads as a trophy of victory, according to their custom. They returned with fifty wounded Montagnais and Algonquins and three dead, singing and leading their prisoners with them.

They attached to sticks in the prows of their canoes the heads and a dead body cut into quarters, to eat in revenge, as they said. In this way, they went to our barques off the River of the Iroquois.

My companions and I embarked in a shallop, where I had my wound dressed by the surgeon, De Boyer, of Rouen, who likewise had come here for the purpose of traffic. The savages spent all this day in dancing and singing.

The next day, Sieur de Pont Grave arrived with another shallop, loaded with merchandise. Moreover, there was also a barque containing Captain Pierre, which he had left behind, it being able to come only with difficulty, as it was rather heavy and a poor sailer.

The same day there was some trading in peltry, but the other barques carried off the better part of the booty. It was doing them a great favor to search out a strange people for them, that they might afterwards carry off the profit without any risk or danger.

That day, I asked the savages for an Iroquois prisoner which they had, and they gave him to me. What I did for him was not a little; for I saved him from many tortures which he must have suffered in company with his fellow-prisoners, whole nails they tore out, also cutting off their fingers, and burning them in several places. They put to death on the same day two or three, and, in order to increase their torture, treated them in the following manner.

They took the prisoners to the border of the water, and fastened them perfectly upright to a stake. Then each came with a torch of birch bark, and burned them, now in this place, now in that. The poor wretches, feeling the fire, raised so loud a cry that it was something frightful to hear; and frightful indeed are the cruelties which these barbarians practise towards each other. After making them suffer greatly in this manner and burning them with the above-mentioned bark, taking some water, they threw it on their bodies to increase their suffering. Then they applied the fire anew, so that the skin fell from their bodies, they continuing to utter loud cries and exclamations, and dancing until the poor wretches fell dead on the spot.

As soon as a body fell to the ground dead, they struck it violent blows with sticks, when they cut off the arms, legs, and other parts; and he was not regarded by them as manly, who did not cut off a piece of the flesh, and give it to the dogs. Such are the courtesies prisoners receive. But still they endure all the tortures inflicted upon them with such constancy that the spectator is astonished.

As to the other prisoners, which remained in possession of the Algonquins and Montagnais, it was left to their wives and daughters to put them to death with their own hands; and, in such a matter, they do not show themselves less inhuman than the men, but even surpa.s.s them by far in cruelty; for they devise by their cunning more cruel punishments, in which they take pleasure, putting an end to their lives by the most extreme pains.

The next day there arrived the Captain Yroquet, also another Ochateguin, with some eighty men, who regretted greatly not having been present at the defeat. Among all these tribes there were present nearly two hundred men, who had never before seen Christians, for whom they conceived a great admiration.

We were some three days together on an island off the river of the Iroquois, when each tribe returned to its own country.

I had a young lad, who had already spent two winters at Quebec, and who was desirous of going with the Algonquins to learn their language. Pont Grave and I concluded that, if he entertained this desire, it would be better to send him to this place than elsewhere, that he might ascertain the nature of their country, see the great lake, observe the rivers and tribes there, and also explore the mines and objects of special interest in the localities occupied by these tribes, in order that he might inform us upon his return, of the facts of the case. We asked him if it was his desire to go, for I did not wish to force him. But he answered the question at once by consenting to the journey with great pleasure.