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Voyages 2 - Chapter 1
| Voyages 2 - Chapter 2
| Voyages 2 - Chapter 3 |
Voyages 2 - Chapter
4 | Voyages 2 -
Chapter 5 |
Voyages 2 - Chapter 6 |
Voyages 2 - Chapter
7 | Voyages 2 -
Chapter 8 |
Voyages 2 - Chapter 9 |
Voyages 2 - Chapter
10 | Voyages 2
- Chapter 11 |
Voyages 2 - Chapter 12 |
Voyages 2 -
Chapter 13 | Voyages 2 -
Chapter 14 | Voyages 2 -
Chapter 15 | Voyages 2 -
Chapter 16 | Voyages 2 -
Chapter 17 | Voyages 2 -
Chapter 18 | Voyages 2 -
Chapter 19 | Voyages 2 -
Chapter 20 | Voyages 2 -
Chapter 21 | Voyages 2 -
Chapter 22 | Voyages 2 -
Chapter 23 | Voyages 2 -
Chapter 24 | Voyages 2 -
Chapter 25 | Voyages 2 -
Chapter 26 | Voyages 2 -
Chapter 27 | Voyages 2 -
Chapter 28
Original translation from
the French by Charles Pomeroy Otis, Ph.D. Republished by
the Prince Society, Boston: 1878.
MEMOIR OF
SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN
Volume II
1604-1610
THE VOYAGES OF SIEUR DE
CHAMPLAIN,
Of Saintonge, Captain in ordinary to the King in the
Marine.
OR,
A MOST FAITHFUL JOURNAL OF OBSERVATIONS
made in the exploration of New France, describing not
only the countries, coasts, rivers, ports, and harbors,
with their latitudes and the various deflections of the
Magnetic Needle, but likewise the religious belief of
the inhabitants, their superstitions, mode of life and
warfare; furnished with numerous illustrations.
Together with two geographical maps: the first for the
purposes of navigation, adapted to the compass as used
by mariners, which deflects to the north-east; the other
in its true meridian, with longitudes and latitudes, to
which is added the Voyage to the Strait north of
Labrador, from the 53d to the 63d degree of latitude,
discovered in 1612 by the English when they were
searching for a northerly course to China.
PARIS.
JEAN BERJON,
Rue St. Jean de Beauvais, at the Flying Horse, and at
his store in the Palace, at the gallery of the
Prisoners.
MDCXIII.
WITH AUTHORITY OF THE KING.
TO THE KING.
Sire,
Your Majesty has doubtless full knowledge of the
discoveries made in your service in New France, called
Canada, through the descriptions, given by certain
Captains and Pilots, of the voyages and discoveries made
there during the past eighty years. These, however,
present nothing so honorable to your Kingdom, or so
profitable to the service of your Majesty and your
subjects, as will, I doubt not, the maps of the coasts,
harbors, rivers, and the situation of the places
described in this little treatise, which I make bold to
address to your Majesty, and which is entitled a Journal
of Voyages and Discoveries, which I have made in
connection with Sieur de Monts, your Lieutenant in New
France. This I do, feeling myself urged by a just sense
of the honor I have received during the last ten years
in commissions, not only, Sire, from your Majesty, but
also from the late king, Henry the Great, of happy
memory, who commissioned me to make the most exact
researches and explorations in my power. This I have
done, and added, moreover, the maps contained in this
little book, where I have set forth in particular the
dangers to which one would be liable. The subjects of
your Majesty, whom you may be pleased hereafter to
employ for the preservation of what has been discovered,
will be able to avoid those dangers through the
knowledge afforded by the maps contained in this
treatise, which will serve as an example in your kingdom
for increasing the glory of your Majesty, the welfare of
your subjects, and for the honor of the very humble
service, for which, to the happy prolongation of your
days, is indebted,
SIRE,
Your most humble, most obedient,
and most faithful servant and subject,
CHAMPLAIN
TO THE QUEEN REGENT,
MOTHER OF THE KING.
MADAME,
Of all the most useful and excellent arts, that of
navigation has always seemed to me to occupy the first
place. For the more hazardous it is, and the more
numerous 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 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 from my early age has won my love, 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 part of America, especially of New France,
where I have always desired to see the Lily flourish,
and also the only religion, catholic, apostolic, and
Roman. This I trust now to accomplish with the help of
God, assisted by the favor of your Majesty, whom I most
humbly entreat to continue to sustain us, in order that
all may succeed to the honor of God, the welfare of
France, and the splendor of your reign, for the grandeur
and prosperity of which I will pray God to attend you
always with a thousand blessings, and will remain,
MADAME,
Your most humble, most obedient,
and most faithful servant and subject,
CHAMPLAIN.
EXTRACT FROM THE LICENSE.
By letters patent of the KING, given at Paris the ninth
of January, 1613, and in the third year of our reign, by
the King in his Council, PERREAU, and sealed with the
simple yellow seal, it is permitted to JEAN BERJON,
printer and bookseller in this city of Paris, to print,
or have printed by whomsoever it may seem good to him, a
book entitled _The Voyages of Samuel de Champlain of
Saintonge, Captain in ordinary for the King in the
Marine, &c._, for the time and limit of six entire
consecutive years, from the day when this book shall
have been printed up to the said time of six years. By
the same letters, in like manner all printers, merchant
booksellers, and any others whatever, are forbidden to
print or have printed, to sell or distribute said book
during the aforesaid time, without the special consent
of said BERJON, or of him to whom he shall give
permission, on pain of confiscation of so many of said
books as shall be found, and a discretionary fine, as is
more fully set forth in the aforesaid letters.
VOYAGES OF SIEUR DE CHAMPLAIN.
VOYAGE IN THE YEAR 1604.
CHAPTER I.
THE BENEFITS OF COMMERCE
HAVE INDUCED SEVERAL PRINCES TO SEEK AN EASIER ROUTE FOR
TRAFFIC WITH THE PEOPLE OF THE EAST.--SEVERAL
UNSUCCESSFUL VOYAGES.--DETERMINATION OF THE FRENCH FOR
THIS PURPOSE.--UNDERTAKING OF SIEUR DE MONTS: HIS
COMMISSION AND ITS REVOCATION.--NEW COMMISSION TO SIEUR
DE MONTS TO ENABLE HIM TO CONTINUE HIS UNDERTAKING.
The inclinations of men differ according to their varied
dispositions; and each one in his calling has his
particular end in view. Some aim at gain, some at glory,
some at the public weal. The greater number are engaged
in trade, and especially that which is transacted on the
sea. Hence arise the principal support of the people,
the opulence and honor of states. This is what raised
ancient Rome to the sovereignty and mastery over the
entire world, and the Venetians to a grandeur equal to
that of powerful kings. It has in all times caused
maritime towns to abound in riches, among which
Alexandria and Tyre are distinguished, and numerous
others, which fill up the regions of the interior with
the objects of beauty and rarity obtained from foreign
nations. For this reason, many princes have striven to
find a northerly route to China, in order to facilitate
commerce with the Orientals, in the belief that this
route would be shorter and less dangerous.
In the year 1496, the king of England commissioned John
Cabot and his son Sebastian to engage in this search.
[1] About the same time, Don Emanuel, king of Portugal,
despatched on the same errand Gaspar Cortereal, who
returned without attaining his object. Resuming his
journeys the year after, he died in the undertaking; as
did also his brother Michel, who was prosecuting it
perseveringly. [2] In the years 1534 and 1535, Jacques
Cartier received a like commission from King Francis I.,
but was arrested in his course. [3] Six years after,
Sieur de Roberval, having renewed it, sent Jean Alfonse
of Saintonge farther northward along the coast of
Labrador; [4] but he returned as wise as the others. In
the years 1576, 1577, and 1578, Sir Martin Frobisher, an
Englishman, made three voyages along the northern
coasts. Seven years later, Humphrey Gilbert, also an
Englishman, set out with five ships, but suffered
shipwreck on Sable Island, where three of his vessels
were lost. In the same and two following years, John
Davis, an Englishman, made three voyages for the same
object; penetrating to the 72d degree, as far as a
strait which is called at the present day by his name.
After him, Captain Georges made also a voyage in 1590,
but in consequence of the ice was compelled to return
without having made any discovery. [5] The Hollanders,
on their part, had no more precise knowledge in the
direction of Nova Zembla.
So many voyages and discoveries without result, and
attended with so much hardship and expense, have caused
us French in late years to attempt a permanent
settlement in those lands which we call New France, [6]
in the hope of thus realizing more easily this object;
since the voyage in search of the desired passage
commences on the other side of the ocean, and is made
along the coast of this region. [7] These considerations
had induced the Marquis de la Roche, in 1598, to take a
commission from the king for making a settlement in the
above region. With this object, he landed men and
supplies on Sable Island; [8] but, as the conditions
which had been accorded to him by his Majesty were not
fulfilled, he was obliged to abandon his undertaking,
and leave his men there. A year after, Captain Chauvin
accepted another commission to transport Settlers to the
same region; [9] but, as this was shortly after revoked,
he prosecuted the matter no farther.
After the above, [10] notwithstanding all these
accidents and disappointments, Sieur de Monts desired to
attempt what had been given up in despair, and requested
a commission for this purpose of his Majesty, being
satisfied that the previous enterprises had failed
because the undertakers of them had not received
assistance, who had not succeeded, in one nor even two
years' time, in making the acquaintance of the regions
and people there, nor in finding harbors adapted for a
settlement. He proposed to his Majesty a means for
covering these expenses, without drawing any thing from
the royal revenues; viz., by granting to him the
monopoly of the fur-trade in this land. This having been
granted to him, he made great and excessive outlays, and
carried out with him a large number of men of various
vocations. Upon his arrival, he caused the necessary
number of habitations for his followers to be
constructed. This expenditure he continued for three
consecutive years, after which, in consequence of the
jealousy and annoyance of certain Basque merchants,
together with some from Brittany, the monopoly which had
been granted to him was revoked by the Council to the
great injury and loss of Sieur de Monts, who, in
consequence of this revocation, was compelled to abandon
his entire undertaking, sacrificing his labors and the
outfit for his settlement.
But since a report had been made to the king on the
fertility of the soil by him, and by me on the
feasibility of discovering the passage to China, [11]
without the inconveniences of the ice of the north or
the heats of the torrid zone, through which our sailors
pass twice in going and twice in returning, with
inconceivable hardships and risks, his Majesty directed
Sieur de Monts to make a new outfit, and send men to
continue what he had commenced. This he did. And, in
view of the uncertainty of his commission, [12] he chose
a new spot for his settlement, in order to deprive
jealous persons of any such distrust as they had
previously conceived. He was also influenced by the hope
of greater advantages in case of settling in the
interior, where the people are civilized, and where it
is easier to plant the Christian faith and establish
such order as is necessary for the protection of a
country, than along the sea-shore, where the savages
generally dwell. From this course, he believed the king
would derive an inestimable profit; for it is easy to
suppose that Europeans will seek out this advantage
rather than those of a jealous and intractable
disposition to be found on the shores, and the barbarous
tribes. [13]
ENDNOTES:
1. The first commission was granted by Henry VII. of
England to John Cabot and his three sons, Lewis,
Sebastian, and Sancius, March 5, 1496.-- _Rymer's
Foedera_, Vol. XII. p. 595. The first voyage, however,
was made in 1497. The second commission was granted to
John Cabot alone, in 1498.--_Vide Hakluyt_, 1600,
London, ed. 1810, Vol. III. pp. 25-31.
2. Cortereal made two voyages under the patronage of
Emmanuel, King of Portugal, the first in 1500, the
second in 1501. In the latter year, he sailed with two
ships from Lisbon, and explored six hundred miles or
more on our northern coast. The vessel in which he
sailed was lost; and he perished, together with fifty
natives whom he had captured. The other vessel returned,
and reported the incidents of the expedition. The next
year, Michael Cortereal, the brother of Gaspar, obtained
a commission, and went in search of his brother; but he
did not return, and no tidings were ever heard of him.
3. Jacques Cartier made three voyages in 1534, 1535, and
1540, respectively, in which he effected very important
discoveries; and Charlevoix justly remarks that
Cartier's Memoirs long served as a guide to those who
after him navigated the gulf and river of St. Lawrence.
For Cartier's commission, see _Hazard's State Papers_,
Vol. I. p. 19.
4. Roberval's voyage was made in 1542, and is reported
by Jean Alfonse.-- _Vide Hakluyt_, 1600, London, ed.
1810, Vol. III. p. 291. On an old map, drawn about the
middle of the sixteenth century, Roberval is represented
in a full-length portrait, clad in mail, with sword and
spear, at the head of a band of armed soldiers,
penetrating into the wilds of Canada, near the
head-waters of the Saguenay. The name, "Monsr. de
Roberual," is inserted near his feet,--_Vide Monuments
de la Géographie_, XIX., par M. Jomard, Paris.
5. For the narrative of the voyages of Frobisher,
Gilbert, and Davis, _vide Hakluyt_, Vol. III. Of the
fleet of five vessels commanded by Sir Humphrey Gilbert,
in 1583, the Ralegh put back to England, on account of
sickness on board; the Golden Hinde returned safely to
port; the _Swallow_ was left at Newfoundland, to bring
home the sick; the _Delight_ was lost near Sable Island;
and the _Squirrel_ went down on its way to England, some
days after leaving Sable Island. Thus two only were
lost, while a third was left.
There must have been some error in regard to the voyage
of Captain Georges. There is no printed account of a
voyage at that time by any one of this name. There are
two theories on which this statement may be explained.
There may have been a voyage by a Captain Georges,
which, for some unknown reason, was never reported; or,
what is more likely, Champlain may refer to the voyage
of Captain George Weymouth, undertaken in 1602 for the
East Ind. Company, which was defeated by the icebergs
which he encountered, and the mutiny of his men. It was
not uncommon to omit part of a name at that period. Of
Pont Gravé, the last name is frequently omitted by
Champlain and by Lescarbot. The report of Weymouth's
voyage was not printed till after Champlain wrote; and
he might easily have mistaken the date.
6. The name of New France, _Novus Francisca_, appears on
a map in Ptolemy published at Basle in 1530.
7. The controlling object of the numerous voyages to the
north-east coast of America had hitherto been to
discover a shorter course to India. In this respect, as
Champlain states above, they had all proved failures. He
here intimates that the settlements of the French on
this coast were intended to facilitate this design. It
is obvious that a colonial establishment would offer
great advantages as a base in prosecuting searches for
this desired passage to Cathay.
8. For some account of this disastrous expedition, see
_Memoir_, Vol. I.
9. _Vide Memoir_, Vol. I.
10. It will be observed that Champlain does not mention
the expedition sent out by Commander de Chastes,
probably because its object was exploration, and not
actual settlement.--_Vide_ an account of De Chastes in
the _Memoir_, Vol. I.
11. In Champlain's report of the voyage of 1603, after
obtaining what information he could from the natives
relating to the St. Lawrence and the chain of lakes, he
says they informed him that the last lake in the chain
was salt, and he therefore believed it to be the South
Sea. He doubtless enlarged verbally before the king upon
the feasibility of a passage to China in this way.
12. The commission here referred to was doubtless the
one renewed to him in 1608, after he had made his
searches on the shores of New England and Nova Scotia,
and after the commission or charter of 1603 had been
revoked.
Champlain is here stating the advantages of a settlement
in the interior, on the shores of the St. Lawrence,
rather than on the Atlantic coast.
13. In this chapter,
Champlain speaks of events stretching through several
years; but in the next he confines himself to the
occurrences of 1603, when De Monts obtained his charter.
Sources/Notes:
Samuel de Champlain.
1567-1635. "Voyages of Samuel de Champlain"
Edited by Edmund F. Slafter, (Boston: Prince Society
1878)
Samuel de Champlain image:
Warwick Stevens Carpenter. The Summer Paradise in
History. Albany: General Passenger Department, The
Delaware and Hudson Company. 1914. Courtesy of John and
Barbara Gallagher.
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