CHAPTER I.
DEPARTURE FROM FRANCE TO RETURN TO NEW FRANCE, AND OCCURRENCES UNTIL OUR ARRIVAL AT THE SETTLEMENT.
The weather having become favorable, I embarked at Honfleur with a number of artisans on the 7th of the month of March. [357] But, encountering bad weather in the Channel, we were obliged to put in on the English coast at a place called Porlan, [358] in the roadstead of which we stayed some days, when we weighed anchor for the Isle d'Huy, [359] near the English coast, since we found the roadstead of Porlan very bad. When near this island, so dense a fog arose, that we were obliged to put in at the Hougue. [360]
Ever since the departure from Honfleur, I had been afflicted with a very severe illness, which took away my hopes of being able to make the voyage; so that I embarked in a boat to return to Havre in France, to be treated there, being very ill on board the vessel. My expectation was, on recovering my health, to embark again in another vessel, which had not yet left Honfleur, in which Des Marais, son-in-law of Pont Gravé, was to embark; but I had myself carried, still very ill, to Honfleur, where the vessel on which I had set out put in on the 15th of March, for some ballast, which it needed in order to be properly trimmed. Here it remained until the 8th of April. During this time, I recovered in a great degree; and, though still feeble and weak, I nevertheless embarked again.
We set out anew on the 18th of April, arriving at the Grand Bank on the 19th, and fighting the Islands of St. Pierre on the 22nd. [361] When off Menthane, we met a vessel from St. Malo, on which was a young man, who, while drinking to the health of Pont Gravé, lost control of himself and was thrown into the Sea by the motion of the vessel and drowned, it being impossible to render him assistance on account of the violence of the wind.
On the 26th of the month, we arrived at Tadoussac, where there were vessels which had arrived on the 18th, a thing which had not been seen for more than sixty years, as the old mariners said who sail regularly to this country. [362] This was owing to the mild winter and the small amount of ice, which did not prevent the entrance of these vessels. We learned from a young nobleman, named Sieur du Parc, who had spent the winter at our settlement, that all his companions were in good health, only a few having been ill, and they but slightly. He also informed us that there had been scarcely any winter, and that they had usually had fresh meat the entire season, and that their hardest task had been to keep up good cheer.
This winter shows how those undertaking in future such enterprises ought to proceed, it being very difficult to make a new settlement without labor; and without encountering adverse fortune the first year, as has been the case in all our first settlements. But, in fact, by avoiding salt food and using fresh meat, the health is as good here as in France.
The savages had been waiting from day to day for us to go to the war with them. When they learned that Pont Gravé and I had arrived together, they rejoiced greatly, and came to speak with us.
I went on shore to assure them that we would go with them, in conformity with the promises they had made me, namely, that upon our return from the war they would show me the Trois Rivières, and take me to a sea so large that the end of it cannot be seen, whence we should return by way of the Saguenay to Tadoussac. I asked them if they still had this intention, to which they replied that they had, but that it could not be carried out before the next year, which pleased me. But I had promised the Algonquins and Ochateguins that I would assist them also in their wars, they having promised to show me their country, the great lake, some copper mines, and other things, which they had indicated to me. I accordingly had two strings to my bow, so that, in case one should break, the other might hold.
On the 28th of the month, I set out from Tadoussac for Quebec, where I found Captain Pierre, [363] who commanded there, and all his companions in good health. There was also a savage captain with them, named Batiscan, with some of his companions, who were awaiting us, and who were greatly pleased at my arrival, singing and dancing the entire evening. I provided a banquet for them, which gratified them very much. They had a good meal, for which they were very thankful, and invited me with seven others to an entertainment of theirs, not a small mark of respect with them. We each one carried a porringer, according to custom, and brought it home full of meat, which we gave to whomsoever we pleased.
Some days after I had set out from Tadoussac, the Montagnais arrived at Quebec, to the number of sixty able-bodied men, en route for the war. They tarried here some days, enjoying themselves, and not omitting to ply me frequently with questions, to assure themselves that I would not fail in my promises to them. I assured them, and again made promises to them, asking them if they had found me breaking my word in the past. They were greatly pleased when I renewed my promises to them.
They said to me: "Here are numerous Basques and Mistigoches" (this is the name they give to the Normans and people of St. Malo), "who say they will go to the war with us. What do you think of it? Do they speak the truth?" I answered no, and that I knew very well what they really meant; that they said this only to get possession of their commodities. They replied to me: "You have spoken the truth. They are women, and want to make war only upon our beavers." They went on talking still farther in a facetious mood, and in regard to the manner and order of going to the war.
They determined to set out, and await me at the Trois Rivières, thirty leagues above Quebec, where I had promised to join them, together with four barques loaded with merchandise, in order to traffic in peltries, among others with the Ochateguins, who were to await me at the mouth of the river of the Iroquois, as they had promised the year before, and to bring there as many as four hundred men to go to the war.