Voyages of Samuel De Champlain — Volume 01

by Samuel de Champlain

CHAPTER VI.

OF THE POINT ST. CROIX AND THE RIVER BATISCAN.—OF THE RIVERS, ROCKS, ISLANDS, LANDS, TREES, FRUITS, VINES, AND FINE COUNTRY BETWEEN QUEBEC AND THE TROIS RIVIÈRES.

On Monday, the 23d of this month, we set out from Quebec, where the river begins to widen, sometimes to the extent of a league, then a league and a half or two leagues at most. The country grows finer and finer; it is everywhere low, without rocks for the most part. The northern shore is covered with rocks and sand-banks; it is necessary to go along the southern one about half a league from the shore. There are some small rivers, not navigable, except for the canoes of the savages, and in which there are a great many falls. We came to anchor at St. Croix, fifteen leagues distant from Quebec; a low point rising up on both sides. [155] The country is fine and level, the soil being the best that I had seen, with extensive woods, containing, however, but little fir and cypress. There are found there in large numbers vines, pears, hazel-nuts, cherries, red and green currants, and certain little radishes of the size of a small nut, resembling truffles in taste, which are very good when roasted or boiled. All this soil is black, without any rocks, excepting that there a large quantity of slate. The soil is very soft, and, if well cultivated, would be very productive.

On the north shore there is a river called Batiscan, [156] extending a great distance into the interior, along which the Algonquins sometimes come. On the same shore there is another river, [157] three leagues below St. Croix, which was as far as Jacques Cartier went up the river at the time of his explorations. [158] The above-mentioned river is pleasant, extending a considerable distance inland. All this northern shore is very even and pleasing.

On Wednesday, [159] the 24th, we set out from St. Croix, where we had stayed over a tide and a half in order to proceed the next day by daylight, for this is a peculiar place on account of the great number of rocks in the river, which is almost entirely dry at low tide; but at half-flood one can begin to advance without difficulty, although it is necessary to keep a good watch, lead in hand. The tide rises here nearly three fathoms and a half.

The farther we advanced, the finer the country became. After going some five leagues and a half, we came to anchor on the northern shore. On the Wednesday following, we set out from this place, where the country is flatter than the preceding and heavily wooded, as at St. Croix. We passed near a small island covered with vines, and came to anchor on the southern shore, near a little elevation, upon ascending which we found a level country. There is another small island three leagues from St. Croix, near the southern shore. [160] We set out on the following Thursday from this elevation, and passed by a little island near the northern shore. Here I landed at six or more small rivers, up two of which boats can go for a considerable distance. Another is some three hundred feet broad, with some islands at its mouth. It extends far into the interior, and is the deepest of all. [161] These rivers are very pleasant, their shores being covered with trees which resemble nut-trees, and have the same odor; but, as I saw no fruit, I am inclined to doubt. The savages told me that they bear fruit like our own.

Advancing still farther, we came to an island called St. Éloi; [162] also another little island very near the northern shore. We passed between this island and the northern shore, the distance from one to the other being some hundred and fifty feet; that from the same island to the southern shore, a league and a half. We passed also near a river large enough for canoes. All the northern shore is very good, and one can sail along there without obstruction; but he should keep the lead in hand in order to avoid certain points. All this shore along which we coasted consists of shifting sands, but a short distance in the interior the land is good.

The Friday following, we set out from this island, and continued to coast along the northern shore very near the land, which is low and abundant in trees of good quality as far as the Trois Rivières. Here the temperature begins to be somewhat different from that of St. Croix, since the trees are more forward here than in any other place that I had yet seen. From the Trois Rivières to St. Croix the distance is fifteen leagues. In this river [163] there are six islands, three of which are very small, the others being from five to six hundred feet long, very pleasant, and fertile so far as their small extent goes. There is one of these in the centre of the above-mentioned river, confronting the River of Canada, and commanding a view of the others, which are distant from the land from four to five hundred feet on both sides. It is high on the southern side, but lower somewhat on the northern. This would be, in my judgment, a favorable place in which to make a settlement, and it could be easily fortified, for its situation is strong of itself, and it is near a large lake which is only some four leagues distant. This river extends close to the River Saguenay, according to the report of the savages, who go nearly a hundred leagues northward, pass numerous falls, go overland some five or six leagues, enter a lake from which principally the Saguenay has its source, and thence go to Tadoussac. [164] I think, likewise, that the settlement of the Trois Rivières would be a boon for the freedom of some tribes, who dare not come this way in consequence of their enemies, the Iroquois, who occupy the entire borders of the River of Canada; but, if it were settled, these Iroquois and other savages could be made friendly, or, at least, under the protection of this settlement, these savages would come freely without fear or danger, the Trois Rivières being a place of passage. All the land that I saw on the northern shore is sandy. We ascended this river for about a league, not being able to proceed farther on account of the strong current. We continued on in a skiff, for the sake of observation, but had not gone more than a league when we encountered a very narrow fall, about twelve feet wide, on account of which we could not go farther. All the country that I saw on the borders of this river becomes constantly more mountainous, and contains a great many firs and cypresses, but few trees of other kinds.

ENDNOTES:

155. The Point of St. Croix, where they anchored, must have been what is now known as Point Platon. Champlain's distances are rough estimates, made under very unfavorable circumstances, and far from accurate. Point Platon is about thirty-five miles from Quebec.

156. Champlain does not mention the rivers precisely in their order. On his map of 1612, he has Contrée de Bassquan on the west of Trois Rivières. The river Batiscan empties into the St. Lawrence about four miles west of the St. Anne—Vide Atlas Maritime, by Bellin, 1764; Atlas of the Dominion of Canada, 1875.

157. River Jacques Cartier, which is in fact about five miles east of Point Platon.

158. Jacques Cartier did, in fact, ascend the St. Lawrence as far as Hochelaga, or Montreal. The Abbé Laverdière suggests that Champlain had not at this time seen the reports of Cartier. Had he seen them he would hardly have made this statement. Pont Gravé had been here several times, and may have been Champlain's incorrect informant. Vide Laverdière in loco.

159. Read Tuesday.

160. Richelieu Island, so called by the French, as early as 1635, nearly opposite Dechambeau Point.—Vide Laurie's Chart. It was called St Croix up to 1633. Laverdière in loco The Indians called it Ka ouapassiniskakhi.—Jésuit Relations, 1635, p. 13.

161. This river is now known as the Sainte Anne. Champlain says they named it Rivière Saincte Marie—Vide Quebec ed. Tome III. p. 175; Vol. II. p 201 of this work.

162. An inconsiderable island near Batiscan, not laid down on the charts.

163. The St. Maurice, anciently known as Trois Rivièrs, because two islands in its mouth divide it into three channels. Its Indian name, according to Père Le Jeune, was Metaberoutin. It appears to be the same river mentioned by Cartier in his second voyage, which he explored and reported as shallow and of no importance. He found in it four small islands, which may afterward have been subdivided into six. He named it La Riuiere die Fouez.—Brief Récit, par Jacques Cartier, D'Avezac ed. p. 28. Vide Relations des Jésuites, 1635, p. 13.

164. An eastern branch of the St Maurice River rises in a small lake, from which Lake St. John, which is an affluent of the Saguenay, may be reached by a land portage of not more than five or six leagues.