Voyages of Samuel De Champlain — Volume 01

by Samuel de Champlain

CHAPTER IX.

RETURN FROM THE FALL TO TADOUSSAC.—TESTIMONY OF SEVERAL SAVAGES IN REGARD TO THE LENGTH AND COMMENCEMENT OF THE GREAT RIVER OF CANADA, NUMBER OF THE FALLS, AND THE LAKES WHICH IT TRAVERSES.

We set out from the fall on Friday, the fourth of June, [207] and returned the same day to the river of the Iroquois. On Sunday, the sixth of June, we set out from here, and came to anchor at the lake. On Monday following, we came to anchor at the Trois Rivières. The same day, we made some four leagues beyond the Trois Rivières. The following Tuesday we reached Quebec, and the next day the end of the island of Orleans, where the Indians, who were encamped on the mainland to the north, came to us. We questioned two or three Algonquins, in order to ascertain whether they would agree with those whom we had interrogated in regard to the extent and commencement of the River of Canada.

They said, indicating it by signs, that two or three leagues after passing the fall which we had seen, there is, on the northern shore, a river in their territory; that, continuing in the said great river, they pass a fall, where they carry their canoes; that they then pass five other falls comprising, from the first to the last, some nine or ten leagues, and that these falls are not hard to pass, as they drag their canoes in the most of them, except at two, where they carry them. After that, they enter a river which is a sort of lake, comprising some six or seven leagues; and then they pass five other falls, where they drag their canoes as before, except at two, where they carry them as at the first; and that, from the first to the last, there are some twenty or twenty-five leagues. Then they enter a lake some hundred and fifty leagues in length, and some four or five leagues from the entrance of this lake there is a river [208] extending northward to the Algonquins, and another towards the Iroquois, [209] where the said Algonquins and the Iroquois make war upon each other. And a little farther along, on the south shore of this lake, there is another river, [210] extending towards the Iroquois; then, arriving at the end of this lake, they come to another fall, where they carry their canoes; beyond this, they enter another very large lake, as long, perhaps, as the first. The latter they have visited but very little, they said, and have heard that, at the end of it, there is a sea of which they have not seen the end, nor heard that any one has, but that the water at the point to which they have gone is not salt, but that they are not able to judge of the water beyond, since they have not advanced any farther; that the course of the water is from the west towards the east, and that they do not know whether, beyond the lakes they have seen, there is another watercourse towards the west; that the sun sets on the right of this lake; that is, in my judgment, northwest more or less; and that, at the first lake, the water never freezes, which leads me to conclude that the weather there is moderate. [211] They said, moreover, that all the territory of the Algonquins is low land, containing but little wood; but that on the side of the Iroquois the land is mountainous, although very good and productive, and better than in any place they had seen. The Iroquois dwell some fifty or sixty leagues from this great lake. This is what they told me they had seen, which differs but very little from the statement of the former savages.

On the same day we went about three leagues, nearly to the Isle aux Coudres. On Thursday, the tenth of the month, we came within about a league and a half of Hare Island, on the north shore, where other Indians came to our barque, among whom was a young Algonquin who had travelled a great deal in the aforesaid great lake. We questioned him very particularly, as we had the other savages. He told us that, some two or three leagues beyond the fall we had seen, there is a river extending to the place where the Algonquins dwell, and that, proceeding up the great river, there are five falls, some eight or nine leagues from the first to the last, past three of which they carry their canoes, and in the other two drag them; that each one of these falls is, perhaps, a quarter of a league long. Then they enter a lake some fifteen leagues in extent, after which they pass five other falls, extending from the first to the last some twenty to twenty-five leagues, only two of which they pass in their canoes, while at the three others they drag them. After this, they enter a very large lake, some three hundred leagues in length. Proceeding some hundred leagues in this lake, they come to a very large island, beyond which the water is good; but that, upon going some hundred leagues farther, the water has become somewhat bad, and, upon reaching the end of the lake, it is perfectly salt. That there is a fall about a league wide, where a very large mass of water falls into said lake; that, when this fall is passed, one sees no more land on either side, but only a sea so large that they have never seen the end of it, nor heard that any one has; that the sun sets on the right of this lake, at the entrance to which there is a river extending towards the Algonquins, and another towards the Iroquois, by way of which they go to war; that the country of the Iroquois is somewhat mountainous, though very fertile, there being there a great amount of Indian corn and other products which they do not have in their own country. That the territory of the Algonquins is low and fertile.

I asked them whether they had knowledge of any mines. They told us that there was a nation called the good Iroquois, [212] who come to barter for the articles of merchandise which the French vessels furnish the Algonquins, who say that, towards the north, there is a mine of pure copper, some bracelets made from which they showed us, which they had obtained from the good Iroquois; [213] that, if we wished to go there, they would guide those who might be deputed for this object.

This is all that I have been able to ascertain from all parties, their statements differing but little from each other, except that the second ones who were interrogated said that they had never drunk salt water; whence it appears that they had not proceeded so far in said lake as the others. They differ, also, but little in respect to the distance, some making it shorter and others longer; so that, according to their statement, the distance from the fall where we had been to the salt sea, which is possibly the South Sea, is some four hundred leagues. It is not to be doubted, then, according to their statement, that this is none other than the South Sea, the sun setting where they say.

On Friday, the tenth of this month, [214] we returned to Tadoussac, where our vessel lay.

ENDNOTES:

207. As they were at Lake St Peter on the 29th of June, it is plain that
this should read July.

208. This river extending north from Lake Ontario is the river-like Bay of
Quinté.

209. The Oswego River.

210. The Genesee River, after which they come to Niagara Falls.

211. We, can easily recognize Lake Ontario, Lake Erie and Niagara Falls, although this account is exceedingly confused and inaccurate.

212. Reference is here made to the Hurons who were nearly related to the Iroquois. They were called by the French the good Iroquois in distinction from the Iroquois in the State of New York, with whom they were at war.

213. A specimen of pure copper was subsequently presented to Champlain.— Vol. II. p. 236: Vide a brochure on Prehistoric Copper Implements, by the editor, reprinted from the New England Historical and Genealogical Register for Jan. 1879; also reprinted in the Collections of Wis. Hist. Soc., Vol. VIII. 1880.

214. Friday, July 11th.