Voyages of Samuel De Champlain — Volume 03

by Samuel de Champlain

ENDNOTES:

78. Champlain's first voyage was made in 1603, and this journal was published in 1619. It was therefore fully fifteen years since his explorations began.

79. Vide Histoire du Canada, par Sagard, Trois ed., pp 27, 28. The reader is likewise referred to the Memoir of Champlain, Vol. I. pp 122-124.

80. Bernard du Verger, a man of exalted virtue—Laverdière.

81. Robert Ubaldim was nuncio at this time. Vide Laverdière in loco.

82. Denis Jamay. Sagard writes this name Jamet.

83. Jean d'Olbeau. Vide Histoire du Canada, par Gabriel Sagard, Paris, 1636, Tross ed., Vol. I. p. 28.

84. Pacifique du Plessis was a lay-brother, although the title of Father is
given to him by several early writers. Vide citations by Laverdière in
loco, Quebec ed., Vol. IV. p. 7.

85. Read April 24. It is obvious from the context that it could not be
August. Sagard says le 24 d'Auril. Vide Histoire du Canada, Trois
ed., Vol. I. p 36.

86. The Recollect Father Joseph le Caron.

87. Vide Laverdière in loco.

88. Father Denis Jamay.

89. Jean d'Olbeau and Pacifique du Plessis.

90. This refers to the volume bearing date 1613, but which may not have
been actually issued from the press till 1614.

91. Our views of the war policy of Champlain are stated at some length in
Vol I. pp 189-193.

92. Laverdière thinks it probable that Champlain left the Falls of St Louis on the 23d of June, and that the Holy Mass was celebrated on the Rivière des Prairies on the 24th, the festival of St John the Baptist.

93. This interpreter was undoubtedly Etienne Brûlé. It was a clearly defined policy of Champlain to send suitable young men among the savages, particularly to learn their language, and subsequently to act as interpreters. Brûlé is supposed to have been of this class.

94. The Lake of Two Mountains.

95. The River Ottawa, which Champlain had explored in 1613, as far as Allumet Island, where a tribe of the Algonquins resided, called later Kichesipinni. Vide Relation des Jésuites, 1640, p 34.

96. This is an over-estimate.

97. Champlain here again, Vide note 90, refers to the issue bearing date
1613. It is not unlikely that while it bears the imprint of 1613, it
did not actually issue from the press till 1614.

98. The lake or expansion of the Ottawa on the southern side of Allumet
Island was called the Lake of the Algonquins, as Allumet Island was
oftentimes called the Island of the Algonquins.

99. The River Ottawa.

100. Père Vimont calls this tribe Kotakoutouemi. Relation des Jésuites, 1640, p. 34. Père Rogueneau gives Outaoukotouemiouek, and remarks that their language is a mixture of Algonquin and Montagnais. Vide Relation des Jésuites, 1650. p. 34; also Laverdière in loco.

101. Blues, blueberries. The Canada blueberry. Vaccinium Canadense.
Under the term blues several varieties may have been included.
Charlevoix describes and figures this fruit under the name Bluet du
Canada. Vide Description des Plantes Principales de l'Amérique
Septentrionale, in Histoire de la Nouvelle France, Paris. 1744,
Tom. IV. pp. 371, 372; also Vol. I: p 303, note 75, of this work.

102. At its junction with the Mattawan, the Ottawa's course is from the north. What is known as its east branch rises 150 miles north of the city of Ottawa. Extending towards the west in a winding course for the distance of about 300 miles, it turns towards the southeast, and a few miles before it joins the Mattawan its course is directly south. From its northeastern source by a short portage is reached the river Chomouchouan, an affluent of Lake St. John and the Saguenay.

103. Mattawa is 197 miles from Ottawa. We have no means of giving the latitude with entire accuracy, but it is about 46° 20'.

104. Lac du Talon and Lac la Tortue.

105. Nipissings, or Nipissirini. Champlain writes Nipisierinii.

106. On the 26th of July, The distance from the junction of the Ottawa and the Mattawan to Lake Nipissing is about thirty-two miles. If lieues were translated miles, it would be a not very incorrect estimate.

107. Vide the representations here referred to.

108. Lake Nipissing, whose dimensions are over-stated.

109. Sturgeon River.

110. Père Vimont gives the names of these tribes as follows,—Timiscimi, Outimagami, Ouachegami, Mitchitamou, Outurbi, Kiristinon. Vide Relation des Jésuites. 1640. p. 34.

111. French River.

112. Blues. Vide antea, note 101.

113. This significant name is given with reference to their mode of dressing their hair.

114. Blueberries, Vaccinium Canadense.

115. De cuir beullu, for cuir bouilli, literally "boiled leather."

116. The shields of the savages of this region may have been made of the hide of the buffalo, although the range of this animal was far to the northwest of them. Champlain saw undoubtedly among the Hurons skins of the buffalo. Vide postea, note 180.

117. Lake Huron is here referred to.

118. The greatest length of Lake Huron on a curvilinear line, between the discharge of St Mary's Strait and the outlet, is about 240 miles; its length due north and south is 186 miles, and its extreme breadth about 220 miles. Bouchette.

119. Coasting along the eastern shore of the Georgian Bay, when they arrived at Matchedash Bay they crossed it in a southwesterly course and entered the country of the Attigouautans, or, as they are sometimes called, the Attignaouentans. Relation des Jésuites, 1640, p. 78. They were a principal tribe of the Hurons, living within the limits of the present county of Simcoe. It is to be regretted that the Jesuit Fathers did not accompany their relations with local maps by which we could fix, at least approximately, the Indian towns which they visited, and with which they were so familiar. For a description of the Hurons and of their country, the origin of the name and other interesting particulars, vide Pere Hierosine Lalemant, Relation des Jésuites, 1639, Quebec ed. p. 50.

120. Sitrouilles for citrouilles. Vide Vol II. p. 64, note 128.

121. Herbe au soleil. The sunflower of Northeast America, Helianthus multiflorus. This species is found from Quebec to the Saskatchewan, a tributary of Lake Winnipeg. Vide Chronological History of Plants, by Charles Pickering, M.D., Boston, 1879. p. 914. Charlevoix, in the description of his journey through Canada in 1720, says: "The Soleil is a plant very common in the fields of the savages, and which grows seven or eight feet high. Its flower, which is very large, is in the shape of the marigold, and the seed grows in the same manner. The savages, by boiling it, draw out an oil, with which they grease their hair." Letters to the Dutchess of Lesdiguieres, London, 1763, p. 95.

122. Vignes Probably the frost grape, Vitis cordifolia.

123. Prunes. The Canada plum, Prunus Americana.

124. Framboises. The wild red raspberry, Rubus strigosus.

125. Fraises. The wild strawberry, Fragaria Virginiana. Vide
Pickering Chro. Hist. Plants, p. 771.

126. Petites pommes sauuages. Probably the American crab-apple, Pyrus
coronaria.

127. Noix This may include the butternut and some varieties of the
walnut. Vide Vol. I. p. 264.

128. Doubtless the May-apple, Podophyllum peltatum. In the wilds of Simcoe this fruit may have seemed tolerable from the absence of others more desirable. Gray says, "It is slightly acid, mawkish, eaten by pigs and boys." Cf. Florula Bostioniensis, by Jacob Bigelow, M.D. Boston, 1824, pp. 215, 216.

129. Les Chesnes, ormeaux, & heslres. For oaks see Vol I. p. 264. Elms, plainly the white elm, Ulmus Americana, so called in contradistinction to the red or slippery elm, Ulmus fulva. The savages sometimes used the bark of the slippery elm in the construction of their canoes when the white birch could not be obtained. Vide Charlevoix's Letters, 1763, p. 94. For the beech, see Vol. I. p. 264.

130. Perdrix. Canada Grouse, Tetrao Canadensis, sometimes called the Spruce Partridge, differing from the partridge of New England, which is the Ruffed Grouse, Bonasa umbellus. This latter species is, however, found likewise in Canada.

131. Lapins. The American hare, Lepus Americanus.

132. Cerises petites. Reference is evidently here made to the wild red cherry, Prunus Pennsylvanica, which is the smallest of all the native species. Cf. Vol. I. p. 264.

133. Merises. The wild black cherry, Prunus serotina.

134. The Carantouanais. Vide Carte de la Nouvelle France, 1632, also Vol. I. p. 304. This tribe was probably situated on the upper waters of the Susquehanna, and consequently south of the Five Nations, although we said inadvertently in Vol. I. p. 128 that they were on the west of them. General John S. Clark thinks their village was at Waverly, near the border of Pennsylvania In Vol. I. p. 143. in the 13th line from the top, we should have said the Carantouanais instead of Entouhonorons.

135. The Entouhonorons were a part, it appears, of the Five Nations. Champlain says they unite with the Iroquois in making war against all the other tribes except the Neutral Nation. Lake Ontario is called Lac des Entouhonorons, and Champlain adds that their country is near the River St. Lawrence, the passage of which they forbid to all other tribes. Vide Vol. I. pp. 303, 304. He thus appears to apply the name Iroquois to the eastern portion of the Five Nations, particularly those whom he had attacked on Lake Champlain; and the Huron name, Entouhonorons, to the western portion. The subdivisions, by which they were distinguished at a later period, were probably not then known, at least not to Champlain.

136. Flamens. The Dutch were at this time on the Hudson, qengaged in the fur trade with the savages. Vide History of the State of New York by John Romeyn Brodhead, New York, 1853. pp. 38-65. History of New Netherland or New York under the Dutch, by E. B. O'Callaghan, New York, 1846, pp. 67-77.

137. Their enemies were the Iroquois.

138. Chouontouaroüon, another name for Entouhoronon.

139. Lake Couchiching, a small sheet of water into which pass by a small
outlet the waters of Lake Simcoe.

140. Lake Simcoe. Laverdière says the Indian name of this lake was
Ouentaronk, and that it was likewise called Lac aux Claies.

141. Étienne Brûlé. Vide postea, p. 208.

142. Dans ces lacs. From Lake Chouchiching, coasting along the northeastern shore of Lake Simcoe, they would make five or six leagues in reaching a point nearest to Sturgeon Lake.

143. Undoubtedly Sturgeon Lake.

144. From their entrance of Sturgeon Lake to the point where they reached Lake Ontario, at the eastern limit of Amherst Island, the distance is, in its winding and circuitous course, not far from Champlain's estimate, viz. sixty-four leagues. That part of the river above Rice Lake is the Otonabee; that below is known as the Trent.

145. Gruës The white crane, Grus Americanus Adult plumage pure white Coues's Key to North American Birds, Boston, 1872, p 271 Charlevoix says, "We have cranes of two colors, some white and others gris de lin," that is a purple or lilac color. This latter species is the brown crane, Grus Canadensis. "Plumage plumbeous gray." Coues. Vide Charlevoix's Letters, London. 1763, p 83.

146. The latitude of the eastern end of Amherst Island is about 44° 11'.

147. This traverse, it may be presumed, was made by coasting along the shore, as was the custom of the savages with their light canoes.

148. It appears that, after making by estimate about fourteen leagues in their bark canoes, and four by land along the shore, they struck inland. Guided merely by the distances given in the text, it is not possible to determine with exactness at what point they left the lake. This arises from the fact that we are not sure at what point the measurement began, and the estimated distances are given, moreover, with very liberal margins. But the eighteen leagues in all would take them not very far from Little Salmon River, whether the estimate were made from the eastern end of Amherst Island or Simcoe Island, or any place in that immediate neighborhood. The natural features of the country, for four leagues along the coast north of Little Salmon River, answer well to the description given in the text. The chestnut and wild grape are still found there. Vide MS. Letters of the Rev. James Cross, D.D., LL.D., and of S.Z. Smith, Esq., of Mexico, New York.

149. Lake Ontario, or Lake of the Entouhonorons, is about a hundred and eighty miles long, and about fifty-five miles in its extreme width.

150. The river here crossed was plainly Oneida River, flowing from Oneida Lake into Lake Ontario. The lake is identified by the islands in it. Oneida Lake is the only one in this region which contains any islands whatever, and consequently the river flowing from it must be that now known as Oneida River.

151. For the probable site of this fort, see Vol. I. p. 130, note 83.

152. They were of the tribe called Carantouanais. Vide antea, note 134.

153. This was in the month of October.

154. Et après auoir trauersé le bout du lac de laditte isle. From this form of expression this island would seem to have been visited before. But no particular island is mentioned on their former traverse of the lake. It is impossible to fix with certainty upon the island referred to. It may have been Simcoe or Wolf Island, or some other.

155. Probably Cataraqui Creek. Vide Vol. I. p. 136.

156. Perhaps Loughborough Lake, or the system of lakes of which this is a part.

157. Cygnes, swans. Probably the Trumpeter Swan, Cygnus buccinator. They were especially found in Sagard's time about Lake Nipissing. "Mais pour des Cignes, qu'ils appellent Horhev, il y en a principalement vers les Epicerinys." Vide Le Grand Voyage av Pays des Hurons par Fr. Gabriel Sagard, Paris, 1632, p. 303.

158. Gruës blanches. Vide antea, n. 145.

159. Houstardes. Vide antea, note 32.

160. Mauuis, Song-Thrush. Doubtless the Robin, Turdus migratorius.

161. Allouettes, larks. Probably the Brown Lark, Anthus ludovicianus. Found everywhere in North America.

162. Beccassines. Probably the American Snipe, Gallinago Wilsonii.

163. Oyes, geese. The common Wild Goose, Branta Canadensis, or it may include all the species taken collectively. For the several species found in Canada, vide antea, note 32.

164. Les loups. The American Wolf, Lupus occidentalis.

165. The thirty-eight days during which they were there would include the whole period from the time they began to make their preparations on the 28th of October on the shores of Lake Ontario till they began their homeward journey on the 4th of December. Vide antea, p. 137; postea, p. 143.

166. The author here refers to the chief D'Arontal, whose guest he was. Vide antea, 137. Cf. also Quebec ed. 1632, p. 928.

167. Trainees de bois, a kind of sledge. The Indian's sledge was made of two pieces of board, which, with his stone axe and perhaps with the aid of fire, he patiently manufactured from the trunks of trees. The boards were each about six inches wide and six or seven feet long, curved upward at the forward end and bound together by cross pieces. The sides were bordered with strips of wood, which served as brackets, to which was fastened the strap that bound the baggage upon the sledge. The load was dragged by a rope or strap of leather passing round the breast of the savage and attached to the end of the sledge. The sledge was so narrow that it could be drawn easily and without impediment wherever the savage could thread his way through the pathless forests.

The journey from their encampment northeast of Kingston on Lake Ontario to the capital of the Hurons was not less in a straight line than a hundred and sixty miles. Without a pathway, in the heart of winter, through water and melting snow, with their heavy burdens, the hardship and exhaustion can hardly be exaggerated.

168. Namely at Cahiagué. In the issue of 1632, Champlain says they arrived on the 23d day of the month. Vide Quebec ed, p. 929. Leaving on the 4th and travelling nineteen days, as stated above, they would arrive on the 23d December.

169. Probably the 4th of January.

170. Father Joseph Le Caron had remained at Carhagouha, during the absence
of the war party in their attack upon the Iroquois, where Champlain
probably arrived on the 5th of January.

171. In the issue of 1632, the arrival of Champlain and Le Caron is stated
to have occurred on the 17th of January. This harmonizes with the
correction of dates in notes 169, 170.

The Huron name of the Petuns was Tionnontateronons, or Khionontateronons, or Quieunontateronons. Of them Vimont says, "Les Khionontateronons, qu'on appelle la nation du Petun, pour l'abondance qu'il y a de cette herbe, sont eloignez du pays des Hurons, dont ils parlent la langue, enuiron douze ou quinze lieues tirant à l'Occident." Vide Relation des Jésuites, 1640, p. 95; His. Du Canada, Vol. I. p. 209. Sagard.

For some account of the subsequent history of the Nation de Petun, vide Indian Migration in Ohio, by C. C. Baldwin, 1879, p. 2.

172. It was of great importance to the Indians to select a site for their villages where suitable wood was accessible, both for fortifying them with palisades and for fuel in the winter. It could not be brought a great distance for either of these purposes. Hence when the wood in the vicinity became exhausted they were compelled to remove and build anew.

173. That is to say like the Hurons.

174. The Nation Neutre was called by the Hurons Attisandaronk or Attihouandaron. Vide Relation des Jésuites, 1641, p. 72; Dictonaire de la Langue Huronne, par Sagard, a Paris, 1632. Champlain places them, on his map of 1632, south of Lake Erie. His knowledge of that lake, obtained from the savages, was very meagre as the map itself shows. The Neutres are placed by early writers on the west of Lake Ontario and north of Lake Erie Vide Laverdière in loco, Quebec ed., p. 546; also, Indian Migration in Ohio, by C. C. Baldwin, p. 4. They are placed far to the south of Lake Erie by Nicholas Sanson. Vide Cartes de l'Amerique, 1657.

175. The Cheveux Relevés are represented by Champlain as dwelling west of the Petuns, and were probably not far from the most southern limit of the Georgian Bay. Strangely enough Nicholas Sanson places them on a large island that separates the Georgian Bay from Lake Huron. Vide Cartes de l'Amerique par N. Sanson, 1657.

176. Atsistaehronons, ou Nation du Feu. Their Algonquin name was Mascoutins or Maskoutens, with several other orthographies. The significance of their name is given by Sagard as follows: Ils sont errans, sinon que quelques villages d'entr'eux fement des bleds d'Inde, et font la guerre à vne autre Nation, nommée Assitagueronon, qui veut dire gens de feu: car en langue Huronne Assista signifie du feu, et Eronon, signifie Nation. Le Grand Voyage du Pays des Hurons, par Gabriel Sagard, a Paris, 1632, p. 78. Vide Relation des Jésuites, 1641, p 72; Discovery and Exploration of the Mississippi Valley, by John Gilmary Shea, p. 13; Indian Migration in Ohio, by C. C. Baldwin, pp 9, 10; Discovery of the Northwest by John Nicolet, by C. W. Butterfield, p. 63; L'Amerique en Plusieurs Cartes, par N. Sanson, 1657.

177. Pisierinii, the Nipissings. This relates to those Nipissings who had accompanied Champlain on the expedition against the Iroquois, and who were passing the winter among the Hurons. He had expected that they would accompany him on explorations on the north of them. But arriving at their encampment, on his return from the Petuns and Cheveux Relevés, he learned from them of the quarrel that had arisen between the Algonquins and the Hurons.

178. Attigouantans, the principal tribe of the Hurons.

179. Colliers de pourceline. These necklaces were composed of shells, pierced and strung like beads. They were of a violet color, and were esteemed of great value. The branches were strings of white shells, and were more common and less valuable. An engraved representation may be seen in Histoire de L'Amérique Septentrionale, par De la Potherie, Paris, 1722, Tom. I. p. 334. For a full description of these necklaces and their significance and use in their councils, vide Charlevoix's Letters, London, 1763, p 132.

180. Buffles, buffaloes. The American Bison, Bos Americanus. The skins seen by Champlain in the possession of the savages seem to indicate that the range of the buffalo was probably further east at that period than at the present time, its eastern limit being now about the Red River, which flows into Lake Winnipeg. The limit of its northern range is generally stated to be at latitude 60 degrees, but it is sometimes found as far north as 63 degrees or 64 degrees. Vide Dr. Shea's interesting account of the buffalo in Discovery and Exploration of Mississippi Valley, p. 18. The range of the Musk Ox is still farther north, rarely south of latitude 67 degrees. His home is in the Barren Grounds, west of Hudson Bay, and on the islands on the north of the American Continent, where he subsists largely on lichens and the meagre herbage of that frosty region.

181. Champlain is here speaking of the whole country of New France.

182. This sentence in the original is unfinished and defective. Au costé vers le Nort, icelle grande riuiere terant à l'Occident, etc. In the ed. 1632, the reading is Au costé vers le nort d'icelle grande riuiere tirant au suroust, etc. The tranlation is according to the ed. of 1632. Vide Quebec ed., p. 941.

183. Champlain here gives the four species of the cervus family under names then known to him, viz, the moose, wapiti or elk, caribou, and the common deer.

184. Fouines, a quadruped known as the minx or mink, Mustela vison.

185. Martes, weasels, Mustela vulgaris.

186. The country on the north, &c. Having described the country along the
coast of the St Lawrence and the lakes he now refers to the country
still further north even to the southern borders of Hudson's Bay.
Vide small map.

187. Almouchiquois, so in the French for Almouchiquois. All the tribes at
and south of Chouacoet, or the mouth of the Saco River, were
denominated Almouchiquois by the French. Vide Vol II p 63, et
passim.

188. The country of the Attigouantans, sometimes written Attigouautans, the principal tribe of the Hurons, used by Champlain as including the whole, with whom the French were in close alliance, was from east to west not more than about twelve leagues. There must have been some error by which the author is made to say that it was two hundred and thirty leagues. Laverdière suggests that in the manuscript it might have been 23, or 20 to 30, and that the printer made it 230.

189. The author plainly means that the country of the Hurons was nearly surrounded by the Mer Douce; that is to say, by Lake Huron and the waters connected with it, viz., the River Severn, Lake Couchiching, and Lake Simcoe. As to the population, compare The Jesuits in North America, by Francis Parkman, LL.D., note p. xxv.

190. Vide antea, note 172, for the reason of these removals.

191. Febues du Brésil. This was undoubtedly the common trailing bean, Pliaseolus vulgaris, probably called the Brazilian bean, because it resembled a bean known under that name. It was found in cultivation in New England as mentioned by Champlain and the early English settlers. Bradford discoursing of the Indians, His. Plymouth Plantation, p. 83, speaks of "their beans of various collours." It is possible that the name, febues du Brésil, was given to it on account of its red color, as was that of the Brazil-wood, from the Portuguese word braza, a burning coal.

192. Vide antea, note 101.

193. Sitrouelles, or citrouilles, the common summer squash, Cucurbita polymorpha. Vide Vol. II. note 128. For figure D, vide p. 116.

194. The coloring matter appears to have been derived from the root of the bedstraw, Galium tinctorum. Peter Kalm, a pupil of Linnæus, who travelled in Canada in 1749, says, "The roots of this plant are employed by the Indians in dyeing the quills of the American porcupines red, which they put into several pieces of their work, and air, sun, or water seldom change this color." Travels into North America, London, 1771, Vol. III. pp. 14-15.

195. Père Joseph Le Caron, who had passed the winter among the Hurons.

196. Mardi-gras, Shrove-Tuesday, or flesh Tuesday, the last day of the Carnival, the day before Ash Wednesday, the first day in Lent.

197. Vide Vol. I. pp. 236-238.

198. This must have been on the 20th of May.

199. Jean d'Olbeau and the lay brother Pacifique du Plessis.

200. Joseph le Caron, who accompanied Champlain to France.