Voyages of Samuel De Champlain — Volume 02

by Samuel de Champlain

ENDNOTES:

240. Lescarbot, the author of a History of New France often referred to in our notes, published a volume entitled "LES MUSES DE LA NOUVELLE FRANCE," in which may be found the play entitled LE THEATRE DE NEPTUNE, which he composed to celebrate the return of this expedition.

241. The mill is represented on Champlain's map of Port Royal as situated on the stream which he calls Rivière du Moulin, the River of the Mill. This is Allen River; and the site of the mill was a short distance south-east of the "point where corn had been planted," which was on the spot now occupied by the village of Annapolis.

242. Vide antea, note 212. see also the map of Port Royal, where the road
is delineated, p. 24.

243. This Indian Panounias and his wife had accompanied De Monts in 1605,
on his expedition to Cape Cod.—Vide antea, p. 55.

244. Now the Annapolis River.

245. The conceit of this novel order was a happy one, as it served to dispel the gloom of a long winter in the forests of La Cadie, as well as to improve the quality and variety of their diet. The noblesse, or gentlemen of the party, were fifteen, who served in turn and for a single day as caterer or steward, the turn of each recurring once in fifteen days. It was their duty to add to the ordinary fare such delicate fish or game as could be captured or secured by each for his particular day. They always had some delicacy at breakfast; but the dinner was the great banquet, when the most imposing ceremony was observed.

246. Champlain does not inform us how many of Poutrincourt's party were killed in the affray at Chatham. He mentions one as killed on the spot. He speaks of carrying away the "dead bodies" for burial. He also says they made a "deadly assault" upon "five or six of our company;" and another appears to have died of his wounds after their return to Port Royal, as stated in the text.

247. Une petite barque. The French barque was a small vessel or large boat, rigged with two masts; and those employed by De Monts along our coast varied from six to eighteen tons burden, and must not be confounded with our modern bark, which is generally much larger.

The vaisseau, often mentioned by Champlain, included all large vessels, those used for fishing, the fur-trade, and the transportation of men and supplies for the colony.

The chaloupe was a row-boat of convenient size for penetrating shallow places, was dragged behind the barque in the explorations of our coast, and used for minor investigations of rivers and estuaries.

The patache, an advice-boat, is rarely used by Champlain, and then in the place of the shallop.

248. It seems that young Chevalier had come out in the "Jonas," the same ship that had brought out Poutrincourt, Lescarbot, and others, the year before. It had stopped at Canseau to fish for cod. It brought the unwelcome news that the company of De Monts had been broken up; that the Hollanders, conducted by a "French traitor named La Jeunesse," had destroyed the fur-trading establishments on the St. Lawrence, which rendered it impracticable to sustain, as heretofore, the expenses of the company. The monopoly of the fur-trade, granted to De Monts for ten years, had been rescinded by the King's Council. "We were very sad," says Lescarbot, "to see so fine and holy an undertaking broken off, and that so many labors and perils endured had resulted in nothing: and that the hope of establishing there the name of God and the Catholic Faith had disappeared. Notwithstanding, after M. de Poutrincourt had a long while mused hereupon, he said that, although he should have none to come with him, except his family, he would not forsake the enterprise."—His. Nou. France, par M. Lescarbot. Paris, 1612. pp. 591-2.

249. On the 16th of April, 1607, was born the second son of Henry IV. by Marie de Medicis, who received the title, Le Duc d'Orléans. In France, public rejoicings were universal. On the 22d of the month, he was invested with the insignia of the Order of St. Michael and the Holy Ghost with great pomp, on which occasion a banquet was given by the King in the great hall at Fontainebleau, and in the evening the park was illuminated by bonfires and a pyrotechnic display, which was witnessed by a vast concourse of people. The young prince was baptized privately by the Cardinal de Gondy, but the state ceremonies of his christening were delayed, and appear never to have taken place: he died in the fifth year of his age, never having received any Christian name.—Vide the Life of Marie de Medicis, by Miss Pardoe, London, 1852, Vol. I. p. 416; Memoirs of the Duke of Sully, Lennox, trans., Phila., 1817, Vol. IV. p. 140. In New France, the little colony at Port Royal attested their loyalty by suitable manifestations of joy. "As the day declined," Says Lescarbot, "we made bonfires to celebrate the birth of Monseigneur le Duc d'Orléans, and caused our cannon and falconets to thunder forth again, accompanied with plenty of musket-shots, having before for this purpose chanted a Te Deum." —Vide His. Nou. France, Paris, 1612, p.594.

250. Lescarbot says that about four hundred set out for the war against the Almouchiquois, at Choüacoet, or Saco. The savages were nearly two months in assembling themselves together. Mabretou had sent out his two sons, Actaudin and Actaudinech, to summon them to come to Port Royal as a rendezvous. They came from the river St. John, and from the region of Gaspé. Their purpose was accomplished, as will appear in the sequel.

251. At St. John, they visited the cabin of Secondon, the Sagamore, with whom they bartered for some furs. Lescarbot, who was in the expedition, says, "The town of Ouïgoudy was a great enclosure upon a hill, compassed about with high and small trees, tied one against another; and within it many cabins, great and small, one of which was as large as a market-hall, wherein many households resided." In the cabin of Secondon. they saw some eighty or a hundred savages, all nearly naked. They were celebrating a feast which they call Tabagie. Their chief made his warriors pass in review before his guests.—Vide His. Nou. France, par M. Lescarbot. Paris, 1612. p. 598.

252. They found sack at St. Croix that had been left there by De Monts's colony three years before, of which they drank. Casks were still lying in the deserted court-yard: and others had been used as fuel by mariners, who had chanced to come there.

253. De Laet's map has C. de Poutrincourt; the map of the English and
French Commissaries, C. Fendu or split Cape. Halliburton has Split
Cape, so likewise has the Admiralty map of 1860.

It is situated at the entrance of the Basin of Mines, and about eight miles southwest of Parrsborough. The point of this cape is in latitude 45° 20'.

254. Vide antea, p. 26.

255. The author is here speaking of the country about the Basin of Mines. The river at the head of the bay is the Shubenacadie. It is not easy to determine where the moss-covered cross was found. The distance from Cap de Poutrincourt is indefinite, and the direction could not have been exactly north. There is too much uncertainty to warrant even a conjecture as to its locality.

256. The port aux Mines is Advocate's Harbor.—Vide antea, p. 26, and note 67.

257. Niganis is a small Bay in the Island of Cape Breton, south of Cape North: by De Laet called Ninganis; English, and French Commissaries, Niganishe; modern maps, Niganish.

258. The 3d of July was doubtless an error of the printer for the 30th, as appears from the later date in the preceding paragraph, and the statement of Lescarbot, that he left on the 30th of July. He says they had one large barque, two small ones, and a shallop. One of the small ones was sent before, while the other two followed on the 30th; and he adds that Poutrincourt remained eleven days longer to await the ripening of their grain, which agrees with Champlain's subsequent statement, that he left with Poutrincourt on the 11th of August.—Vide His. Nou. France, 1612, p. 603.

259. The "Jonas."—Vide antea, p. 146.

260. Vide antea, note 258.

261. The implacable character of the American Indian is well illustrated in this skirmish which took place at Saco. The old chief Mabretou, whose life had been prolonged through several generations, had inspired his allies to revenge, and had been present at the conflict. The Indian Panounias had been killed in an affray, the particular cause of which is not stated. To avenge his death, many lives were lost on both sides. The two chiefs of Saco were slain, and in turn the author of their death perished by the hand of their friends. Lescarbot informs us that Champdoré, under Poutrincourt, subsequently visited Saco, and concluded a formal peace between the belligerent parties, emphasizing its importance by impressive forms, and ceremonies.