Voyages of Samuel De Champlain Volume I Part 7

63. _Lake George_. The Jesuit Father, Isaac Jogues, having been summoned in 1646 to visit the Mohawks, to attend to the formalities of ratifying a treaty of peace which had been concluded with them, pa.s.sing by canoe up the Richelieu, through Lake Champlain, and arriving at the end of Lake George on the 29th of May, the eve of Corpus Christi, a festival celebrated by the Roman Church on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, in honor of the Holy Eucharist or the Lord's Supper, named this lake LAC DU SAINT SACREMENT. The following is from the Jesuit Relation of 1646 by Pere Hierosme Lalemant. Ils arriuerent la veille du S. Sacrement au bout du lac qui est ioint au grand lac de Champlain. Les Iroquois le nomment Andiatarocte, comme qui diroit, l ou le lac se ferme. Le Pere le nomma le lac du S. Sacrement--_Relations des Jesuites_, Quebec ed.

Vol. II. 1646, p. 15.

Two important facts are here made perfectly plain; viz. that the original Indian name of the lake was _Andtatarocte_, and that the French named it Lac du Saint Sacrement because they arrived on its sh.o.r.es on the eve of the festival celebrated in honor of the Eucharist or the Lord's Supper. Notwithstanding this very plain statement, it has been affirmed without any historical foundation whatever, that the original Indian name of this lake was _Horican_, and that the Jesuit missionaries, having selected it for the typical purification of baptism on account of its limpid waters, named it _Lac du Saint Sacrement_. This perversion of history originated in the extraordinary declaration of Mr. James Fenimore Cooper, in his novel ent.i.tled "The Last of the Mohicans," in which these two erroneous statements are given as veritable history. This new discovery by Cooper was heralded by the public journals, scholars were deceived, and the bold imposition was so successful that it was even introduced into a meritorious poem in which the Horican of the ancient tribes and the baptismal waters of the limpid lake are handled with skill and effect. Twenty-five years after the writing of his novel, Mr. Cooper's conscience began seriously to trouble him, and he publicly confessed, in a preface to "The Last of the Mohicans," that the name Horican had been first applied to the lake by himself, and without any historical authority. He is silent as to the reason he had a.s.signed for the French name of the lake, which was probably an a.s.sumption growing out of his ignorance of its meaning--_Vide The Last of The Mohicans_, by J. Fenimore Cooper, Gregory's ed., New York, 1864, pp ix-x and 12.

64. "There are certain general customs which mark the California Indians, as, the non-use of torture on prisoners of war," &c.--_Vide The Tribes of California_, by Stephen Powers, in _Contributions to North American Ethnology_, Vol. III. p. 15. _Tribes of Washington and Oregon_, by George Gibbs, _idem_, Vol. I. p. 192.

65. "It has been erroneously a.s.serted that the practice of scalping did not prevail among the Indians before the advent of Europeans. In 1535, Carrier saw five scalps at Quebec, dried and stretched on hoops. In 1564, Laudonniere saw them among the Indians of Florida. The Algonquins of New England and Nova Scotia were accustomed to cut off and carry away the head, which they afterwards scalped. Those of Canada, it seems, sometimes scalped the dead bodies on the field. The Algonquin practice of carrying off heads as trophies is mentioned by Lalemant, Roger Williams, Lescarbot, and Champlain."--_Vide Pioneers of France in the New World_, by Francis Parkman, Boston, 1874, p. 322. The practice of the tribes on the Pacific coast is different "In war they do not take scalps, but decapitate the slain and bring in the heads as trophies."--_Contributions to Am. Ethnology_, by Stephen Powers, Washington, 1877, Vol. III. pp. 21, 221. _Vide_ Vol. I. p. 192. The Yuki are an exception. Vol. III. p. 129.

66. For an account of the sufferings of Brebeuf, Lalemant, and Jogues, see _History of Catholic Missions_, by John Gilmary Shea, pp. 188, 189, 217.

67. He was gentleman in ordinary to the king's chamber. "Gentil-homme ordinaire de nostre Chambre."--_Vide Commission du Roy au Sieur de Monts, Histoire de la Nouvelle France_, par Marc Lescarbot, Paris, 1612, p. 432.

68. Called by the Indians _chaousarou_. For a full account of this crustacean _vide_ Vol. II. note 343.

69. The mouth of the Richelieu was the usual place of meeting. In 1603, the allied tribes were there when Champlain ascended the St Lawrence. They had a fort, which he describes.--_Vide postea_, p 243.

70. Champlain's description does not enable us to identify the place of this battle with exactness. It will be observed, if we refer to his text, that, leaving the island of St Ignace, and going half a league, crossing the river, they landed, when they were plainly on the mainland near the mouth of the Richelieu. They then went half a league, and finding themselves outrun by their Indian guides and lost, they called to two savages, whom they saw going through the woods, to guide them.

Going a _short distance_, they were met by a messenger from the scene of conflict, to urge them to hasten forwards. Then, after going less than an eighth of a league, they were within the sound of the voices of the combatants at the fort These distances are estimated without measurement, and, of course, are inexact: but, putting the distances mentioned altogether, the journey through the woods to the fort was apparently a little more than two miles. Had they followed the course of the river, the distance would probably have been somewhat more: perhaps nearly three miles. Champlain does not positively say that the fort was on the Richelieu, but the whole narrative leaves no doubt that such was the fact. This river was the avenue through which the Iroquois were accustomed to come, and they would naturally encamp here where they could choose their own ground, and where their enemies were sure to approach them. If we refer to Champlain's ill.u.s.tration of _Fort des Iroquois_, Vol. II. p. 241, we shall observe that the river is pictured as comparatively narrow, which could hardly be a true representation if it were intended for the St. Lawrence. The escaping Iroquois are represented as swimming towards the right, which was probably in the direction of their homes on the south, the natural course of their retreat. The shallop of Des Prairies, who arrived late, is on the left of the fort, at the exact point where he would naturally disembark if he came up the Richelieu from the St. Lawrence. From a study of the whole narrative, together with the map, we infer that the fort was on the western bank of the Richelieu, between two and three miles from its mouth. We are confident that its location cannot be more definitely fixed.

71. For a full account of the Indian treatment of prisoners, _vide antea_, pp. 94,95. Also Vol. II. pp. 224-227, 244-246.

72. _Vide Contrat de mariage de Samuel de Champlain, Oeuvres de Champlain_, Quebec ed. Vol. VI., _Pieces Fustificatives_, p. 33.

Among the early marriages not uncommon at that period, the following are examples. Cesar, the son of Henry IV., was espoused by public ceremonies to the daughter of the Duke de Mercoeur in 1598. The bridegroom was four years old and the bride-elect had just entered her sixth year. The great Conde, by the urgency of his avaricious father, was unwillingly married at the age of twenty, to Claire Clemence de Maille Breze, the niece of Cardinal Richelieu, when she was but thirteen years of age.

CHAPTER VII.

THE FUR-TRADE AT MONTREAL.--COMPEt.i.tION AT THE RENDEZVOUS.--NO EXPLORATIONS.--CHAMPLAIN RETURNS TO FRANCE.--REORGANIZATION OF THE COMPANY.--COUNT DE SOISSONS, HIS DEATH.--PRINCE DE CONDe.--CHAMPLAIN'S RETURN TO NEW FRANCE AND TRADE WITH THE INDIANS.--EXPLORATION AND DE VIGNAN, THE FALSE GUIDE.--INDIAN CEREMONY AT CHAUDIeRE FALLS.

Champlain lost no time in hastening to Quebec, where he found Du Parc, whom he had left in charge, and the colony in excellent health. The paramount and immediate object which now engaged his attention was to secure for the present season the fur-trade of the Indians. This furnished the chief pecuniary support of De Monts's company, and was absolutely necessary to its existence. He soon, therefore, took his departure for the Falls of St.

Louis, situated a short distance above Montreal, and now better known as La Chine Rapids. In the preceding year, this place had been agreed upon as a rendezvous by the friendly tribes. But, as they had not arrived, Champlain proceeded to make a thorough exploration on both sides of the St. Lawrence, extending his journeys more than twenty miles through the forests and along the sh.o.r.es of the river, for the purpose of selecting a proper site for a trading-house, with doubtless an ultimate purpose of making it a permanent settlement. After a full survey, he finally fixed upon a point of land which he named _La Place Royale_, situated within the present city of Montreal, on the eastern side of the little brook Pierre, where it flows into the St. Lawrence, at Point Calliere. On the banks of this small stream there were found evidences that the land to the extent of sixty acres had at some former period been cleared up and cultivated by the savages, but more recently had been entirely abandoned on account of the wars, as he learned from his Indian guides, in which they were incessantly engaged.

Near the spot which had thus been selected for a future settlement, Champlain discovered a deposit of excellent clay, and, by way of experiment, had a quant.i.ty of it manufactured into bricks, of which he made a wall on the brink of the river, to test their power of resisting the frosts and the floods. Gardens were also made and feeds sown, to prove the quality of the soil. A weary month pa.s.sed slowly away, with scarcely an incident to break the monotony, except the drowning of two Indians, who had unwisely attempted to pa.s.s the rapids in a bark canoe overloaded with heron, which they had taken on an island above. In the mean time, Champlain had been followed to his rendezvous by a herd of adventurers from the maritime towns of France, who, stimulated by the freedom of trade, had flocked after him in numbers out of all proportion to the amount of furs which they could hope to obtain from the wandering bands of savages that might chance to visit the St. Lawrence. The river was lined with these voracious cormorants, anxiously watching the coming of the savages, all impatient and eager to secure as large a share as possible of the uncertain and meagre booty for which they had crossed the Atlantic. Fifteen or twenty barques were moored along the sh.o.r.e, all seeking the best opportunity for the display of the worthless trinkets for which they had avariciously hoped to obtain a valuable cargo of furs.

A long line of canoes was at length seen far in the distance. It was a fleet of two hundred Hurons, who had swept down the rapids, and were now approaching slowly and in a dignified and impressive order. On coming near, they set up a simultaneous shout, the token of savage greeting, which made the welkin ring. This salute was answered by a hundred French arquebuses from barque and boat and sh.o.r.e. The unexpected mult.i.tude of the French, the newness of the firearms to most of them, filled the savages with dismay.

They concealed their fear as well and as long as possible. They deliberately built their cabins on the sh.o.r.e, but soon threw up a barricade, then called a council at midnight, and finally, under pretence of a beaver-hunt, suddenly removed above the rapids, where they knew the French barques could not come. When they were thus in a place of safety, they confessed to Champlain that they had faith in him, which they confirmed by valuable gifts of furs, but none whatever in the grasping herd that had followed him to the rendezvous. The trade, meagre in the aggregate, divided among so many, had proved a loss to all. It was soon completed, and the savages departed to their homes. Subsequently, thirty-eight canoes, with eighty or a hundred Algonquin warriors, came to the rendezvous. They brought, however, but a small quant.i.ty of furs, which added little to the lucrative character of the summer's trade.

The reader will bear in mind that Champlain was not here merely as the superintendent and responsible agent of a trading expedition. This was a subordinate purpose, and the result of circ.u.mstances which his princ.i.p.al did not choose, but into which he had been unwillingly forced. It was necessary not to overlook this interest in the present exigency, nevertheless De Monts was sustained by an ulterior purpose of a far higher and n.o.bler character. He still entertained the hope that he should yet secure a royal charter under which his aspirations for colonial enterprise should have full scope, and that his ambition would be finally crowned with the success which he had so long coveted, and for which he had so a.s.siduously labored. Champlain, who had been for many years the geographer of the king, who had carefully reported, as he advanced into unexplored regions, his surveys of the rivers, harbors, and lakes, and had given faithful descriptions of the native inhabitants, knowledge absolutely necessary as a preliminary step in laying the foundation of a French empire in America, did not for a moment lose sight of this ulterior purpose. Amid the commercial operations to which for the time being he was obliged to devote his chief attention, he tried in vain to induce the Indians to conduct an exploring party up the St. Maurice, and thus reach the headwaters of the Saguenay, a journey which had been planned two years before. They had excellent excuses to offer, and the undertaking was necessarily deferred for the present. He, however, obtained much valuable information from them in conversations, in regard to the source of the St.

Lawrence, the topography of the country which they inhabited, and even drawings were executed by them to ill.u.s.trate to him other regions which they had personally visited.

On the 18th of July, Champlain left the rendezvous, and arrived at Quebec on the evening of the next day. Having ordered all necessary repairs at the settlement, and, not unmindful of its adornment, planted rose-bushes about it, and taking specimens of oak timber to exhibit in France, he left for Tadoussac, and finally for France on the 11th of August, and arrived at Roch.e.l.le on the 16th of September, 1611.

Immediately on his arrival, Champlain repaired to the city of Pons, in Saintonge, of which De Monts was governor, and laid before him the Situation of his affairs at Quebec. De Monts still clung to the hope of obtaining a royal commission for the exclusive right of trade, but his a.s.sociates were wholly disheartened by the compet.i.tion and consequent losses of the last year, and had the sagacity to see that there was no hope of a remedy in the future. They accordingly declined to continue further expenditures. De Monts purchased their interest in the establishment at Quebec, and, notwithstanding the obstacles which had been and were still to be encountered, was brave enough to believe that he could stem the tide unaided and alone. He hastened to Paris to secure the much coveted commission from the king. Important business, however, soon called him in another direction, and the whole matter was placed in the hands of Champlain, with the understanding that important modifications were to be introduced into the const.i.tution and management of the company.

The burden thus unexpectedly laid upon Champlain was not a light one. His experience and personal knowledge led him to appreciate more fully than any one else the difficulties that environed the enterprise of planting a colony in New France. He saw very clearly that a royal commission merely, with whatever exclusive rights it conferred; would in itself be ineffectual and powerless in the present complications. It was obvious to him that the administration must be adapted to the state of affairs that had gradually grown up at Quebec, and that it must be sustained by powerful personal influence.

Champlain proceeded, therefore, to draw up certain rules and regulations which he deemed necessary for the management of the colony and the protection of its interests. The leading characteristics of the plan were, first, an a.s.sociation of which all who desired to carry on trade in New France might become members, sharing equally in its advantages and its burdens, its profits and its losses: and, secondly, that it should be presided over by a viceroy of high position and commanding influence. De Monts, who had thus far been at the head of the undertaking, was a gentleman of great respectability, zeal, and honesty, but his name did not, as society was const.i.tuted at that time in France, carry with it any controlling weight with the merchants or others whose views were adverse to his own. He was unable to carry out any plans which involved expense, either for the exploration of the country or for the enlargement and growth of the colony. It was necessary, in the opinion of Champlain, to place at the head of the company a man of such exalted official and social position that his opinions would be listened to with respect and his wishes obeyed with alacrity.

He submitted his plan to De Monts and likewise to President Jeannin, [73] a man venerable with age, distinguished for his wisdom and probity, and at this time having under his control the finances of the kingdom. They both p.r.o.nounced it excellent and urged its execution.

Having thus obtained the cordial and intelligent a.s.sent of the highest authority to his scheme, his next step was to secure a viceroy whose exalted name and standing should conform to the requirements of his plan.

This was an object somewhat difficult to attain. It was not easy to find a n.o.bleman who possessed all the qualities desired. After careful consideration, however, the Count de Soissons [74] was thought to unite better than any other the characteristics which the office required.

Champlain, therefore, laid before the Count, through a member of the king's council, a detailed exhibition of his plan and a map of New France executed by himself. He soon after received an intimation from this n.o.bleman of his willingness to accept the office, if he should be appointed. A pet.i.tion was sent by Champlain to the king and his council, and the appointment was made on the 8th of October, 1612, and on the 15th of the same month the Count issued a commission appointing Champlain his lieutenant.

Before this commission had been published in the ports and the maritime towns of France, as required by law, and before a month had elapsed, unhappily the death of the Count de Soissons suddenly occurred at his Chateau de Blandy. Henry de Bourbon, the Prince de Conde, [75] was hastily appointed his successor, and a new commission was issued to Champlain on the 22d of November of the same year.

The appointment of this prince carried with it the weight of high position and influence, though hardly the character which would have been most desirable under the circ.u.mstances. He was, however, a potent safeguard against the final success, though not indeed of the attempt on the part of enemies, to break up the company, or to interfere with its plans. No sooner had the publication of the commission been undertaken, than the merchants, who had schemes of trade in New France, put forth a powerful opposition.

The Parliamentary Court at Rouen even forbade its publication in that city, and the merchants of St. Malo renewed their opposition, which had before been set forth, on the flimsy ground that Jacques Cartier, the discoverer of New France, was a native of their munic.i.p.ality, and therefore they had rights prior and superior to all others.

After much delay and several journeys by Champlain to Rouen, these difficulties were overcome. There was, indeed, no solid ground of opposition, as none were debarred from engaging in the enterprise who were willing to share in the burdens as well as the profits.

These delays prevented the complete organization of the company contemplated by Champlain's new plan, but it was nevertheless necessary for him to make the voyage to Quebec the present season, in order to keep up the continuity of his operations there, and to renew his friendly relations with the Indians, who had been greatly disappointed at not seeing him the preceding year. Four vessels, therefore, were authorized to sail under the commission of the viceroy, each of which was to furnish four men for the service of Champlain in explorations and in aid of the Indians in their wars, if it should be necessary.

He accordingly left Honfleur in a vessel belonging to his old friend Pont Grave, on the 6th of March, 1613, and arrived at Tadoussac on the 29th of April. On the 7th of May he reached Quebec, where he found the little colony in excellent condition, the winter having been exceedingly mild, and agreeable, the river not having been frozen in the severest weather. He repaired at once to the trading rendezvous at Montreal, then commonly known as the Falls of St. Louis. He learned from a trading barque that had preceded him, that a small band of Algonquins had already been there on their return from a raid upon the Iroquois. They had, however, departed to their homes to celebrate a feast, at which the torture of two captives whom they had taken from the Iroquois was to form the chief element in the entertainment. A few days later, three Algonquin canoes arrived from the interior with furs, which were purchased by the French. From them they learned that the ill treatment of the previous year, and their disappointment at not having seen Champlain there as they had expected, had led the Indians to abandon the idea of again coming to the rendezvous, and that large numbers of them had gone on their usual summer's expedition against the Iroquois.

Under these circ.u.mstances, Champlain resolved, in making his explorations, to visit personally the Indians who had been accustomed to come to the Falls of St. Louis, to a.s.sure them of kind treatment in the future, to renew his alliance with them against their enemies, and, if possible, to induce them to come to the rendezvous, where there was a large quant.i.ty of French goods awaiting them.

It will be remembered that an ulterior purpose of the French, in making a settlement in North America, was to enable them better to explore the interior and discover an avenue by water to the Pacific Ocean. This shorter pa.s.sage to Cathay, or the land of spicery, had been the day-dream of all the great navigators in this direction for more than a hundred years.

Whoever should discover it would confer a boon of untold commercial value upon his country, and crown himself with imperishable honor. Champlain had been inspired by this dream from the first day that he set his foot upon the soil of New France. Every indication that pointed in this direction he watched with care and seized upon with avidity. In 1611, a young man in the colony, Nicholas de Vignan, had been allowed, after the trading season had closed, to accompany the Algonquins to their distant homes, and pa.s.s the winter with them. This was one of the methods which had before been successfully resorted to for obtaining important information. De Vignan returned to Quebec in the spring of 1612, and the same year to France.

Having heard apparently something of Hudson's discovery and its accompanying disaster, he made it the basis of a story drawn wholly from his own imagination, but which he well knew must make a strong impression upon Champlain and all others interested in new discoveries. He stated that, during his abode with the Indians, he had made an excursion into the forests of the north, and that he had actually discovered a sea of salt water; that the river Ottawa had its source in a lake from which another river flowed into the sea in question; that he had seen on its sh.o.r.es the wreck of an English ship, from which eighty men had been taken and slain by the savages; and that they had among them an English boy, whom they were keeping to present to him.

As was expected, this story made a strong impression upon the mind of Champlain. The priceless object for which he had been in search so many years seemed now within his grasp. The simplicity and directness of the narrative, and the want of any apparent motive for deception, were a strong guaranty of its truth. But, to make a.s.surance doubly sure, Vignan was cross-examined and tested in various ways, and finally, before leaving France, was made to certify to the truth of his statement in the presence of two notaries at Roch.e.l.le. Champlain laid the story before the Chancellor de Sillery, the President Jeannin, the old Marshal de Brissac, and others, who a.s.sured him that it was a question of so great importance, that he ought at once to test the truth of the narrative by a personal exploration.

He resolved, therefore, to make this one of the objects of his summer's excursion.

With two bark canoes, laden with provisions, arms, and a few trifles as presents for the savages, an Indian guide, four Frenchmen, one of whom was the mendacious Vignan, Champlain left the rendezvous at Montreal on the 27th of May. After getting over the Lachine Rapids, they crossed Lake St.

Louis and the Two Mountains, and, pa.s.sing up the Ottawa, now expanding into a broad lake and again contracting into narrows, whence its pent-up waters swept over precipices and boulders in furious, foaming currents, they at length, after incredible labor, reached the island Allumette, a distance of not less than two hundred and twenty-five miles. In no expedition which Champlain had thus far undertaken had he encountered obstacles so formidable. The falls and rapids in the river were numerous and difficult to pa.s.s. Sometimes a portage was impossible on account of the denseness of the forests, in which case they were compelled to drag their canoes by ropes, wading along the edge of the water, or clinging to the precipitous banks of the river as best they could. When a portage could not be avoided, it was necessary to carry their armor, provisions, clothing, and canoes through the forests, over precipices, and sometimes over stretches of territory where some tornado had prostrated the huge pines in tangled confusion, through which a pathway was almost impossible. [76] To lighten their burdens, nearly every thing was abandoned but their canoes. Fish and wild-fowl were an uncertain reliance for food, and sometimes they toiled on for twenty-four hours with scarcely any thing to appease their craving appet.i.tes.

Overcome with fatigue and oppressed by hunger, they at length arrived at Allumette Island, the abode of the chief Tessouat, by whom they were cordially entertained. Nothing but the hope of reaching the north sea could have sustained them amid the perils and sufferings through which they had pa.s.sed in reaching this inhospitable region. The Indians had chosen this retreat not from choice, but chiefly on account of its great inaccessibility to their enemies. They were astonished to see Champlain and his company, and facetiously suggested that it must be a dream, or that these new-comers had fallen from the clouds. After the usual ceremonies of feasting and smoking, Champlain was permitted to lay before Tessouat and his chiefs the object of his journey. When he informed them that he was in search of a salt sea far to the north of them, which had been actually seen two years before by one of his companions, he learned to his disappointment and mortification that the whole story of Vignan was a sheer fabrication.

The miscreant had indeed pa.s.sed a winter on the very spot where they then were, but had never been a league further north. The Indians themselves had no knowledge of the north sea, and were highly enraged at the baseness of Vignan's falsehood, and craved the opportunity of despatching him at once.

They jeered at him, calling him a liar, and even the children took up the refrain, vociferating vigorously and heaping maledictions upon his head.

Indignant as he was, Champlain had too much philosophy in his composition to commit an indiscretion at such a moment as this. He accordingly restrained the Savages and his own anger, bore his insult and disappointment with exemplary patience, giving up all hope of seeing the salt sea in this direction, as he humorously added, "except in imagination."

Before leaving Allumette Island on his return, Champlain invited Tessouat to send a trading expedition to the Falls of St. Louis, where he would find an ample opportunity for an exchange of commodities. The invitation was readily accepted, and information was at once sent out to the neighboring chiefs, requesting them to join in the enterprise. The savages soon began to a.s.semble, and when Champlain left, he was accompanied by forty canoes well laden with furs; others joined them at different points on the way, and on reaching Montreal the number had swollen to eighty.

An incident occurred on their journey down the river worthy of record. When the fleet of savage fur-traders had arrived at the foot of the Chaudiere Falls, not a hundred rods distant from the site of the present city of Ottawa, having completed the portage, they all a.s.sembled on the sh.o.r.e, before relaunching their canoes, to engage in a ceremony which they never omitted when pa.s.sing this spot. A wooden plate of suitable dimensions was pa.s.sed round, into which each of the savages cast a small piece of tobacco.

The plate was then placed on the ground, in the midst of the company, and all danced around it, singing at the same time. An address was then made by one of the chiefs, setting forth the great importance of this time-honored custom, particularly as a safeguard and protection against their enemies.

Then, taking the plate, the speaker cast its contents into the boiling cauldron at the base of the falls, the act being accompanied by a loud shout from the a.s.sembled mult.i.tude. This fall, named the _Chaudiere_, or cauldron, by Champlain, formed in fact the limit above which the Iroquois rarely if ever went in hostile pursuit of the Algonquins. The region above was exceedingly difficult of approach, and from which it was still more difficult, in case of an attack, to retreat. But the Iroquois often lingered here in ambush, and fell upon the unsuspecting inhabitants of the upper Ottawa as they came down the river. It was, therefore, a place of great danger; and the Indians, enslaved by their fears and superst.i.tions, did not believe it possible to make a prosperous journey, without observing, as they pa.s.sed, the ceremonies above described.

On reaching Montreal, three additional ships had arrived from France with a license to carry on trade from the Prince de Conde, the viceroy, making seven in all in port. The trade with the Indians for the furs brought in the eighty canoes, which had come with Champlain to Montreal, was soon despatched. Vignan was pardoned on the solemn promise, a condition offered by himself, that he would make a journey to the north sea and bring back a true report, having made a most humble confession of his offence in the presence of the whole colony and the Indians, who were purposely a.s.sembled to receive it. This public and formal administration of reproof was well adapted to produce a powerful effect upon the mind of the culprit, and clearly indicates the moderation and wisdom, so uniformly characteristic of Champlain's administration.

The business of the season having been completed, Champlain returned to France, arriving at St. Malo on the 26th of August, 1613. Before leaving, however, he arranged to send back with the Algonquins who had come from Isle Allumette two of his young men to pa.s.s the winter, for the purpose, as on former occasions, of learning the language and obtaining the information which comes only from an intimate and prolonged a.s.sociation.

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