[15] Jean Bourdon was of the Province of Quebec; he was well known to the Jesuits and trusted by them. He subsequently accompanied Father Jacques on an embassy to Governor Dongan, the Governor of the Province of New York.
In Shea's Charlevoix, Vol. III, pp. 39, 40, it is stated that Père Dablon attempted to penetrate to the northern ocean by ascending the Saguenay. Early in June, two months after they set out, they found themselves at the head of the Nekauba river, 300 miles from Lake St. John. Warned of the approach of the Iroquois, they dared not proceed farther. In the New York Historical Documents (p. 97) there is an account of Dablon from the time of his arrival in Canada in 1655. He was immediately sent missionary to Onondaga, where he continued with a brief interval until 1658. In 1661 he set out overland for Hudson's Bay, but succeeded only in reaching the head waters of the Nekauba, 300 miles from Lac St. Jean.
[16] The beaver, amphibious and intelligent, had for centuries a considerable place in commerce: and also a celebrity of its own as the familiar synonym for the common covering of a man's head, and here the animal becomes historic. By royal proclamation in 1638, Charles I., of England, prohibited the use of any material in the manufacture of hats "except beaver stuff or beaver wool." This proclamation was the death-warrant of beavers innumerable, sacrificed to the demands of the trade.
[17] Also known to-day as the Stone Indians.
[18] The material for the two last chapters has been derived chiefly from a pamphlet entitled "French Villainy in Hudson's Bay"; Radisson's own narrative, and the "Journal" of Gillam, the elder, supplied to Dongan. Radisson's narrative, divided into two parts, is written in a clear, legible character, and evinces that its author was a person of some education. The first part is in English, and was long the property of Samuel Pepys. Some years after Pepys' death, the manuscript was purchased for a trifle by Rawlinson, the bibliophile. The second part, recounting the voyages to Hudson's Bay in 1682-84, is half in French and half in English; it is now in the Bodleian library.
[19] As an example of the absurd legends current some years later, and perpetuated, I am sorry to say, to a later day, it would be hard to match this, from La Potherie:
"He (Preston) promised to Godey, one of his domestics, to create him perpetual secretary of the Embassy, providing he engaged Radisson in his party. Godey, the better to succeed, promised Radisson his daughter in marriage, whom he (Radisson) espoused." (La Potherie, Vol. I, p. 145.) Godey was aide-de-camp to Preston; he may have had a daughter, but Radisson certainly did not espouse her, inasmuch as he was already married to Sir John Kirke's daughter, who was still living.
[20] This is M. de la Barre's quaint fashion of spelling Dongan.
[21] Our Frenchmen have seen quite recently from Port Nelson some Indians who were known to have traded several years ago at Montreal. The posts at the head of the Bay Abbitibi and Nemisco can be reached through the woods and seas; our Frenchmen are acquainted with the road. But in regard to the posts occupied by the English in the River Bourbon or Port Nelson it is impossible to hold any posts below them and convey merchandise thither except by sea. Some pretend that it is feasible to go thence overland; but the river to reach that quarter remains yet to be discovered, and when discovered could only admit the conveyance of a few men and not of any merchandise. In regard to Hudson's Bay, should the King not think proper for enforcing the reasons his Majesty has for opposing the usurpation of the English on his lands, by the just titles proving his Majesty's possession long before the English had any knowledge of the country, nothing is to be done but to find means to support the Company of the said Bay, formed in Canada, by the privilege his Majesty has been pleased this year to grant to all his subjects of New France; and to furnish them for some years with a few vessels of 120 tons, well armed and equipped. I hope with this aid our Canadians will support this business, which will otherwise perish of itself; whilst the English merchants, more powerful than our Canadians, will with good ships continue their trade, whereby they will enrich themselves at the expense of the Colony and the King's revenue.—Despatch of Denonville, 12th November, 1685.
[22] Iberville declares that he split his head into fragments.