The Founder of New France: A Chronicle of Champlain
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Charles W. Colby >> The Founder of New France: A Chronicle of Champlain
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The voyage of 1603 added nothing material to what had
been made known by Jacques Cartier and the fur traders
about Canada. Champlain ascended the St Lawrence to the
Sault St Louis [Footnote: Now called the Lachine Rapids.
An extremely important point in the history of New France,
since it marked the head of ship navigation on the St
Lawrence. Constantly mentioned in the writings of
Champlain's period.] and made two side excursions--one
taking him rather less than forty miles up the Saguenay
and the other up the Richelieu to the rapid at St Ours.
He also visited Gaspe, passed the Isle Percee, had his
first glimpse of the Baie des Chaleurs, and returned to
Havre with a good cargo of furs. On the whole, it was a
profitable and satisfactory voyage. Though it added little
to geographical knowledge, it confirmed the belief that
money could be made in the fur trade, and the word brought
back concerning the Great Lakes of the interior was more
distinct than had before been reported. The one misfortune
of the expedition was that its author, De Chastes, did
not live to see its success. He had died less than a
month before his ships reached Havre.
CHAPTER II
CHAMPLAIN IN ACADIA
[Footnote: This word (Acadia) has sometimes been traced
to the Micmac akade, which, appended to place-names,
signifies an abundance of something. More probably,
however, it is a corruption of Arcadia. The Acadia of De
Monts' grant in 1604 extended from the parallel of 40
degrees to that of 46 degrees north latitude, but in the
light of actual occupation the term can hardly be made
to embrace more than the coast from Cape Breton to
Penobscot Bay.]
The early settlements of the French in America were
divided into two zones by the Gulf of St Lawrence.
Considered from the standpoint of colonization, this
great body of water has a double aspect. In the main it
was a vestibule to the vast region which extended westward
from Gaspe to Lake Michigan and thence to the Mississippi.
But while a highway it was also a barrier, cutting off
Acadia from the main route that led to the heart of the
interior. Port Royal, on the Bay of Fundy, was one centre
and Quebec another. Between them stretched either an
impenetrable wilderness or an inland sea. Hence Acadia
remained separate from the Laurentian valley, which was
the heart of Canada--although Acadia and Canada combined
to form New France. Of these two sister districts Canada
was the more secure. The fate of Acadia shows how much
less vulnerable to English attack were Quebec, Three
Rivers, and Montreal than the seaboard settlements of
Port Royal, Grand Pre, and Louisbourg.
It is a striking fact that Champlain had helped to found
Port Royal before he founded Quebec. He was not the
pioneer of Acadian colonization: De Monts deserves the
praise of turning the first sod. But Champlain was a
leading figure in the hard fight at St Croix and Port
Royal; he it was who first charted in any detail the
Atlantic seaboard from Cape Breton to Cape Cod; and his
narrative joins with that of Lescarbot to preserve the
story of the episode.
Although unprosperous, the first attempt of the French
to colonize Acadia is among the bright deeds of their
colonial history. While the death of De Chastes was most
inopportune, the future of the French race in America
did not hinge upon any one man. In 1603 fishing on the
Grand Bank off Newfoundland was a well-established
occupation of Normans and Bretons, the fur trade held
out hope of great profit, and the spirit of national
emulation supplied a motive which was stronger still.
Hence it is not surprising that to De Chastes there at
once succeeds De Monts.
As regards position they belonged to much the same class.
Both were men of standing, with enough capital and
influence to organize an expedition. In respect, however,
of personality and circumstance there were differences.
By reason of advanced age De Chastes had been unable to
accompany his ships, whereas De Monts was in his prime
and had already made a voyage to the St Lawrence. Moreover,
De Monts was a Huguenot. A generation later no Huguenot
could have expected to receive a monopoly of the fur
trade and a royal commission authorizing him to establish
settlements, but Henry IV, who had once been a Protestant,
could hardly treat his old co-religionists as Richelieu
afterwards treated them. The heresy of its founder was
a source of weakness to the first French colony in Acadia,
yet through a Calvinist it came into being.
Like De Chastes, De Monts had associates who joined with
him to supply the necessary funds, though in 1604. the
investment was greater than on any previous occasion,
and a larger number were admitted to the benefits of the
monopoly. Not only did St Malo and Rouen secure recognition,
but La Rochelle and St Jean de Luz were given a chance
to participate. De Monts' company had a capital of 90,000
livres, divided in shares--of which two-fifths were
allotted to St Malo, two-fifths to La Rochelle and St
Jean de Luz conjointly, and the remainder to Rouen. The
personal investment of De Monts was somewhat more than
a tenth of the total, as he took a majority of the stock
which fell to Rouen. Apart from Sully's unfriendliness,
the chief initial difficulty arose over religion. The
Parlement of Normandy refused to register De Monts'
commission on the ground that the conversion of the
heathen could not fitly be left to a heretic. This
remonstrance was only withdrawn after the king had
undertaken to place the religious instruction of the
Indians in the charge of priests--a promise which did
not prevent the Protestant colonists from having their
own pastor. The monopoly contained wider privileges than
before, including both Acadia and the St Lawrence. At
the same time, the obligation to colonize became more
exacting, since the minimum number of new settlers per
annum was raised from fifty to a hundred.
Champlain's own statement regarding the motive of De
Monts' expedition is that it lay in the desire 'to find
a northerly route to China, in order to facilitate commerce
with the Orientals.' After reciting a list of explorations
which began with John Cabot and had continued at intervals
during the next century, he continues: 'So many voyages
and discoveries without results, 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, 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.'
A comparison of the words just quoted with the text of
De Monts' commission will serve to illustrate the strength
of Champlain's geographical instinct. The commission
begins with a somewhat stereotyped reference to the
conversion of the heathen, after which it descants upon
commerce, colonies, and mines. The supplementary commission
to De Monts from Montmorency as Lord High Admiral adds
a further consideration, namely, that if Acadia is not
occupied by the French it will be seized upon by some
other nation. Not a word of the route to the East occurs
in either commission, and De Monts is limited in the
powers granted to a region extending along the American
seaboard from the fortieth parallel to the forty-sixth,
with as much of the interior 'as he is able to explore
and colonize.'
This shows that, while the objects of the expedition were
commercial and political, Champlain's imagination was
kindled by the prospect of finding the long-sought passage
to China. To his mind a French colony in America is a
stepping-stone, a base of operations for the great quest.
De Monts himself doubtless sought honour, adventure, and
profit--the profit which might arise from possessing
Acadia and controlling the fur trade in 'the river of
Canada.' Champlain remains the geographer, and his chief
contribution to the Acadian enterprise will be found in
that part of his Voyages which describes his study of
the coast-line southward from Cape Breton to Malabar.
But whether considered from the standpoint of exploration
or settlement, the first chapter of French annals in
Acadia is a fine incident. Champlain has left the greatest
fame, but he was not alone during these years of peril
and hardship. With him are grouped De Monts, Poutrincourt,
Lescarbot, Pontgrave, and Louis Hebert, all men of capacity
and enterprise, whose part in this valiant enterprise
lent it a dignity which it has never since lost. As yet
no English colony had been established in America. Under
his commission De Monts could have selected for the site
of his settlement either New York or Providence or Boston
or Portland. The efforts of the French in America from
1604. to 1607 are signalized by the character of their
leaders, the nature of their opportunity, and the special
causes which prevented them from taking possession of
Norumbega.
[Footnote: There appears in Verrazano's map of 1529 the
word Aranbega, as attached to a small district on the
Atlantic seaboard. Ten years later Norumbega has become
a region which takes in the whole coast from Cape Breton
to Florida. At intervals throughout the sixteenth century
fables were told in Europe of its extraordinary wealth,
and it was not till the time of Champlain that this myth
was exposed. Champlain himself identifies 'the great
river of Norumbega' with the Penobscot.]
De Monts lacked neither courage nor persistence. His
battle against heartbreaking disappointments shows him
to have been a pioneer of high order. And with him sailed
in 1604 Jean de Biencourt, Seigneur de Poutrincourt,
whose ancestors had been illustrious in Picardy for five
hundred years. Champlain made a third, joining the
expedition as geographer rather than shipmaster. Lescarbot
and Hebert came two years later.
The company left Havre in two ships--on March 7, 1604,
according to Champlain, or just a month later, according
to Lescarbot. Although De Monts' commission gave him the
usual privilege of impressing convicts, the personnel of
his band was far above the average. Champlain's statement
is that it comprised about one hundred and twenty artisans,
and there were also 'a large number of gentlemen, of whom
not a few were of noble birth.' Besides the excitement
provided by icebergs, the arguments of priest and pastor
diversified the voyage, even to the point of scandal.
After crossing the Grand Bank in safety they were nearly
wrecked off Sable Island, but succeeded in reaching the
Acadian coast on May 8. From their landfall at Cap de la
Heve they skirted the coast-line to Port Mouton,
confiscating en route a ship which was buying furs in
defiance of De Monts' monopoly.
Rabbits and other game were found in abundance at Port
Mouton, but the spot proved quite unfit for settlement,
and on May 19 De Monts charged Champlain with the task
of exploring the coast in search of harbours. Taking a
barque of eight tons and a crew of ten men (together with
Ralleau, De Monts' secretary), Champlain set out upon
this important reconnaissance. Fish, game, good soil,
good timber, minerals, and safe anchorage were all objects
of search. Skirting the south-western corner of Nova
Scotia, the little ship passed Cape Sable and the Tusquet
Islands, turned into the Bay of Fundy, and advanced to
a point somewhat beyond the north end of Long Island.
Champlain gives at considerable length the details of
his first excursion along the Acadian seaboard. In his
zeal for discovery he caused those left at Port Mouton
both inconvenience and anxiety. Lescarbot says, with a
touch of sharpness: 'Champlain was such a time away on
this expedition that when deliberating about their return
[to France] they thought of leaving him behind.' Champlain's
own statement is that at Port Mouton 'Sieur de Monts was
awaiting us from day to day, thinking only of our long
stay and whether some accident had not befallen us.'
De Monts' position at Port Mouton was indeed difficult.
By changing his course in mid-ocean he had missed rendezvous
with the larger of his two ships, which under the command
of Pontgrave looked for him in vain from Canseau to the
Bay of Islands. Meanwhile, at Port Mouton provisions were
running low, save for rabbits, which could not be expected
to last for ever. The more timid raised doubts and spoke
of France, but De Monts and Poutrincourt both said they
would rather die than go back. In this mood the party
continued to hunt rabbits, to search the coast
north-easterly for Pontgrave, and to await Champlain's
return. Their courage had its reward. Pontgrave's ship
was found, De Monts revictualled, Champlain reappeared,
and by the middle of June the little band of Colonists
was ready to proceed.
As De Monts heads south-west from Port Mouton it is
difficult to avoid thoughts regarding the ultimate destiny
of France in the New World. This was the predestined
moment. The Wars of Religion had ended in the reunion of
the realm under a strong and popular king. The French
nation was conscious of its greatness, and seemed ready
for any undertaking that promised honour or advantage.
The Huguenots were a sect whose members possessed
Calvinistic firmness of will, together with a special
motive for emigrating. And, besides, the whole eastern
coast of America, within the temperate zone, was still
to be had for the taking. With such a magnificent
opportunity, why was the result so meagre?
A complete answer to this query would lead us far afield,
but the whole history of New France bears witness to the
fact that the cause of failure is not to be found in the
individual French emigrant. There have never been more
valiant or tenacious colonists than the peasants of
Normandy who cleared away the Laurentian wilderness and
explored the recesses of North America. France in the
age of De Monts and Champlain possessed adequate resources,
if only her effort had been concentrated on America, or
if the Huguenots had not been prevented from founding
colonies, or if the crown had been less meddlesome, or
if the quest of beaver skins farther north had not diverted
attention from Chesapeake Bay and Manhattan Island. The
best chance the French ever had to effect a foothold in
the middle portion of the Atlantic coast came to them in
1604, when, before any rivals had established themselves,
De Monts was at hand for the express purpose of founding
a colony. It is quite probable that even if he had landed
on Manhattan Island, the European preoccupations of France
would have prevented Henry IV from supporting a colony
at that point with sufficient vigour to protect it from
the English. Yet the most striking aspect of De Monts'
attempt in Acadia is the failure to seize a chance which
never came again to the French race. In 1607 Champlain
sailed away from Port Royal and the English founded
Jamestown. In 1608 Champlain founded Quebec, and thenceforth
for over a century the efforts of France were concentrated
on the St Lawrence. When at length she founded Louisbourg
it was too late; by that time the English grasp upon the
coast could not be loosened.
Meanwhile De Monts, to whom the future was veiled, left
Port Mouton and, creeping from point to point, entered
the Bay of Fundy--or, as Champlain calls it, 'the great
Baye Francoise, so named by Sieur de Monts.' The month
was June, but no time could be lost, for at this juncture
the aim of exploration was the discovery of a suitable
site, and after the site had been fixed the colonists
needed what time remained before winter to build their
houses. Hence De Monts' first exploration of the Baye
Francoise was not exhaustive. He entered Annapolis Basin
and glanced at the spot which afterwards was to be Port
Royal. He tried in vain to find a copper-mine of which
he had heard from Prevert of St Malo. He coasted the Bay
of St John, and on June 25 reached St Croix Island. 'Not
finding any more suitable place than this island,' says
Champlain, the leaders of the colony decided that it
should be fortified: and thus was the French flag unfurled
in Acadia.
The arrangement of the settlement at St Croix was left
to Champlain, who gives us a drawing in explanation of
his plan. The selection of an island was mainly due to
distrust of the Indians, with whom, however, intercourse
was necessary. The island lay close to the mouth of a
river, now also called the St Croix. As the choice of
this spot proved most unfortunate, it is well to remember
the motives which prevailed at the time. 'Vessels could
pass up the river,' says Champlain, 'only at the mercy
of the cannon on this island, and we deemed the location
most advantageous, not only on account of its situation
and good soil, but also on account of the intercourse
which we proposed with the savages of these coasts and
of the interior, as we should be in the midst of them.
We hoped to pacify them in course of time and put an end
to the wars which they carry on with one another, so as
to derive service from them in future and convert them
to the Christian faith.'
De Monts' band was made up largely of artisans, who at
once began with vigour to erect dwellings. A mill and an
oven were built; gardens were laid out and many seeds
planted therein. The mosquitoes proved troublesome, but
in other respects the colonists had good cause to be
pleased with their first Acadian summer. So far had
construction work advanced by the beginning of autumn
that De Monts decided to send an exploration party farther
along the coast to the south-west. 'And,' says Champlain,
'he entrusted me with this work, which I found very
agreeable.'
The date of departure from St Croix was September 2, so
that no very ambitious programme of discovery could be
undertaken before bad weather began. In a boat of eighteen
tons, with twelve sailors and two Indian guides, Champlain
threaded the maze of islands which lies between
Passamaquoddy Bay and the mouth of the Penobscot. The
most striking part of the coast was Mount Desert, 'very
high and notched in places, so that there is the appearance
to one at sea as of seven or eight mountains extending
along near each other.' To this island and the Isle au
Haut Champlain gave the names they have since borne.
Thence advancing, with his hand ever on the lead, he
reached the mouth of the Penobscot, despite those 'islands,
rocks, shoals, banks, and breakers which are so numerous
on all sides that it is marvellous to behold.' Having
satisfied himself that the Penobscot was none other than
the great river Norumbega, referred to largely on hearsay
by earlier geographers, he followed it up almost to
Bangor. On regaining the sea he endeavoured to reach the
mouth of the Kennebec, but when within a few miles of it
was driven back to St Croix by want of food. In closing
the story of this voyage, which had occupied a month,
Champlain says with his usual directness: 'The above is
an exact statement of all I have observed respecting not
only the coasts and people, but also the river of Norumbega;
and there are none of the marvels there which some persons
have described. I am of opinion that this region is as
disagreeable in winter as that of our settlement, in
which we were greatly deceived.'
Champlain was now to undergo his first winter in Acadia,
and no part of his life could have been more wretched
than the ensuing eight months. On October 6 the snow
came. On December 3 cakes of ice began to appear along
the shore. The storehouse had no cellar, and all liquids
froze except sherry. 'Cider was served by the pound. We
were obliged to use very bad water and drink melted snow,
as there were no springs or brooks.' It was impossible
to keep warm or to sleep soundly. The food was salt meat
and vegetables, which impaired the strength of every one
and brought on scurvy. It is unnecessary to cite here
Champlain's detailed and graphic description of this
dreadful disease. The results are enough. Before the
spring came two-fifths of the colonists had died, and of
those who remained half were on the point of death. Not
unnaturally, 'all this produced discontent in Sieur de
Monts and others of the settlement.'
The survivors of the horrible winter at St Croix were
not freed from anxiety until June 15, 1605, when Pontgrave,
six weeks late, arrived with fresh stores. Had De Monts
been faint-hearted, he doubtless would have seized this
opportunity to return to France. As it was, he set out
in search of a place more suitable than St Croix for the
establishment of his colony, On June 18, with a party
which included twenty sailors and several gentlemen, he
and Champlain began a fresh voyage to the south-west.
Their destination was the country of the Armouchiquois,
an Algonquin tribe who then inhabited Massachusetts.
Champlain's story of his first voyage from Acadia to Cape
Cod is given with considerable fulness. The topography
of the seaboard and its natural history, the habits of
the Indians and his adventures with them, were all new
subjects at the time, and he treats them so that they
keep their freshness. He is at no pains to conceal his
low opinion of the coast savages. Concerning the Acadian
Micmacs he says little, but what he does say is chiefly
a comment upon the wretchedness of their life during the
winter. As he went farther south he found an improvement
in the food supply. At the mouth of the Saco he and De
Monts saw well-kept patches of Indian corn three feet
high, although it was not yet midsummer. Growing with
the corn were beans, pumpkins, and squashes, all in
flower; and the cultivation of tobacco is also noted.
Here the savages formed a permanent settlement and lived
within a palisade. Still farther south, in the neighbourhood
of Cape Cod, Champlain found maize five and a half feet
high, a considerable variety of squashes, tobacco, and
edible roots which tasted like artichokes.
But whether the coast Indians were Micmacs or Armouchiquois,
whether they were starving or well fed, Champlain tells
us little in their praise. Of the Armouchiquois he says:
I cannot tell what government they have, but I think
that in this respect they resemble their neighbours,
who have none at all. They know not how to worship or
pray; yet, like the other savages, they have some
superstitions, which I shall describe in their place.
As for weapons, they have only pikes, clubs, bows and
arrows. It would seem from their appearance that they
have a good disposition, better than those of the
north, but they are all in fact of no great worth.
Even a slight intercourse with them gives you at once
a knowledge of them. They are great thieves, and if
they cannot lay hold of any thing with their hands,
they try to do so with their feet, as we have oftentimes
learned by experience. I am of opinion that if they
had any thing to exchange with us they would not give
themselves to thieving. They bartered away to us their
bows, arrows, and quivers for pins and buttons; and
if they had had any thing else better they would have
done the same with it. It is necessary to be on one's
guard against this people and live in a state of
distrust of them, yet without letting them perceive it.
This passage at least shows that Champlain sought to be
just to the savages of the Atlantic. Though he found them
thieves, he is willing to conjecture that they would not
steal if they had anything to trade.
The thieving habits of the Cape Cod Indians led to a
fight between them and the French in which one Frenchman
was killed, and Champlain narrowly escaped death through
the explosion of his own musket. At Cape Cod De Monts
turned back. Five of the six weeks allotted to the voyage
were over, and lack of food made it impossible to enter
Long Island Sound. Hence 'Sieur de Monts determined to
return to the Island of St Croix in order to find a place
more favourable for our settlement, as we had not been
able to do on any of the coasts which he had explored
during this voyage.'
We now approach the picturesque episode of Port Royal.
De Monts, having regained St Croix at the beginning of
August, lost no time in transporting his people to the
other side of the Bay of Fundy. The consideration which
weighed most with him in establishing his headquarters
was that of trade. Whatever his own preferences, he could
not forget that his partners in France expected a return
on their investment. Had he been in a position to found
an agricultural colony, the maize fields he had seen to
the south-west might have proved attractive. But he
depended largely upon trade, and, as Champlain points
out, the savages of Massachusetts had nothing to sell.
Hence it was unwise to go too far from the peltries of
the St Lawrence. To find a climate less severe than that
of Canada, without losing touch with the fur trade, was
De Monts' problem. No one could dream of wintering again
at St Croix, and in the absence of trade possibilities
to the south there seemed but one alternative--Port Royal.
In his notice of De Monts' cruise along the Bay of Fundy
in June 1604, Champlain says: 'Continuing two leagues
farther on in the same direction, we entered one of the
finest harbours I had seen all along these coasts, in
which two thousand vessels might lie in security. The
entrance is 800 paces broad; then you enter a harbour
two leagues long and one broad, which I have named Port
Royal.' Here Champlain is describing Annapolis Basin,
which clearly made a deep impression upon the minds of
the first Europeans who saw it. Most of all did it appeal
to the imagination of Poutrincourt, who had come to Acadia
for the purpose of discovering a spot where he could
found his own colony. At sight of Port Royal he had at
once asked De Monts for the grant, and on receiving it
had returned to France, at the end of August 1604, to
recruit colonists. Thus he had escaped the horrible winter
at St Croix, but on account of lawsuits it had proved
impossible for him to return to Acadia in the following
year. Hence the noble roadstead of Port Royal was still
unoccupied when De Monts, Champlain, and Pontgrave took
the people of St Croix thither in August 1605. Not only
did the people go. Even the framework of the houses was
shipped across the bay and set up in this haven of better
hope.
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