Having obtained from the Indians some valuable information as to the source of the Penobscot, and observed their mode of life, which did not differ from that which they had seen still further east, Champlain departed on the 20th of September, directing his course towards the Kennebec. But, encountering bad weather, he found it necessary to take shelter under the lee of the island of Monhegan.
After sailing three or four leagues farther, finding that his provisions would not warrant the continuance of the voyage, he determined, on the 23d of September, to return to the settlement at Saint Croix, or what is now known as De Monts's Island, where they arrived on the 2d day of October, 1604.
De Monts's Island, having an area of not more than six or seven acres, is situated in the river Saint Croix, midway between its opposite shores, directly upon the dividing line between the townships of Calais and Robinston in the State of Maine. At the northern end of the island, the buildings of the settlement were clustered together in the form of a quadrangle with an open court in the centre. First came the magazine and lodgings of the soldiers, then the mansion of the governor, De Monts, surmounted by the colors of France. Houses for Champlain and the other gentlemen, [38] for the curé, the artisans and workmen, filled up and completed the quadrangle. Below the houses, gardens were laid out for the several gentlemen, and at the southern extremity of the island cannon were mounted for protection against a sudden assault.
In the ample forests of Maine or New Brunswick, rich in oak and maple and pine, abounding in deer, partridge, and other wild game, watered by crystal fountains springing from every acre of the soil, we naturally picture for our colonists a winter of robust health, physical comfort, and social enjoyment. The little island which they had chosen was indeed a charming spot in a summer's day, but we can hardly comprehend in what view it could have been regarded as suitable for a colonial plantation. In space it was wholly inadequate; it was destitute of wood and fresh water, and its soil was sandy and unproductive. In fixing the location of their settlement and in the construction of their houses, it is obvious that they had entirely misapprehended the character of the climate. While the latitude was nearly the same, the temperature was far more rigorous than that of the sunny France which they had left. The snow began to fall on the 6th of October. On the 3d of December the ice was seen floating on the surface of the water. As the season advanced, and the tide came and went, huge floes of ice, day after day, swept by the island, rendering it impracticable to navigate the river or pass over to the mainland. They were therefore imprisoned in their own home. Thus cut off from the game with which the neighboring forests abounded, they were compelled to subsist almost exclusively upon salted meats. Nearly all the forest trees on the island had been used in the construction of their houses, and they had consequently but a meagre supply of fuel to resist the chilling winds and penetrating frosts. For fresh water, their only reliance was upon melted snow and ice. Their store-house had not been furnished with a cellar, and the frost left nothing untouched; even cider was dispensed in solid blocks. To crown the gloom and wretchedness of their situation, the colony was visited with disease of a virulent and fatal character. As the malady was beyond the knowledge, so it baffled the skill of the surgeons. They called it mal de la terre. Of the seventy-nine persons, composing the whole number of the colony, thirty-five died, and twenty others were brought to the verge of the grave. In May, having been liberated from the baleful influence of their winter prison and revived by the genial warmth of the vernal sun and by the fresh meats obtained from the savages, the disease abated, and the survivors gradually regained their strength.
Disheartened by the bitter experiences of the winter, the governor, having fully determined to abandon his present establishment, ordered two boats to be constructed, one of fifteen and the other of seven tons, in which to transport his colony to Gaspé, in case he received no supplies from France, with the hope of obtaining a passage home in some of the fishing vessels on that coast. But from this disagreeable alternative he was happily relieved. On the 15th of June, 1605, Pont Gravé arrived, to the great joy of the little colony, with all needed supplies. The purpose of returning to France was at once abandoned, and, as no time was to be lost, on the 18th of the same month, De Monts, Champlain, several gentlemen, twenty sailors, two Indians, Panounias and his wife, set sail for the purpose of discovering a more eligible site for his colony somewhere on the shores of the present New England. Passing slowly along the coast, with which Champlain was already familiar, and consequently without extensive explorations, they at length reached the waters of the Kennebec, [39] where the survey of the previous year had terminated and that of the present was about to begin.
On the 5th of July, they entered the Kennebec, and, bearing to the right, passed through Back River, [40] grazing their barque on the rocks in the narrow channel, and then sweeping down round the southern point of Jerremisquam Island, or Westport, they ascended along its eastern shores till they came near the present site of Wiscasset, from whence they returned on the western side of the island, through Monseag Bay, and threading the narrow passage between Arrowsick and Woolwich, called the Upper Hell-gate, and again entering the Kennebec, they finally reached Merrymeeting Bay. Lingering here but a short time, they returned through the Sagadahock, or lower Kennebec, to the mouth of the river.
This exploration did not yield to the voyagers any very interesting or important results. Several friendly interviews were held with the savages at different points along the route. Near the head waters of the Sheepscot, probably in Wiscasset Bay, they had an interview, an interesting and joyous meeting, with the chief Manthomerme and twenty-five or thirty followers, with whom they exchanged tokens of friendship. Along the shores of the Sheepscot their attention was attracted by several pleasant streams and fine expanses of meadow; but the soil observed on this expedition generally, and especially on the Sagadahock, [41] or lower Kennebec, was rough and barren, and offered, in the judgment of De Monts and Champlain, no eligible site for a new settlement.
Proceeding, therefore, on their voyage, they struck directly across Casco
Bay, not attempting, in their ignorance, to enter the fine harbor of
Portland.
On the 9th of July, they made the bay that stretches from Cape Elizabeth to Fletcher's Neck, and anchored under the lee of Stratton Island, directly in sight of Old Orchard Beach, now a famous watering place during the summer months.
The savages having seen the little French barque approaching in the distance, had built fires to attract its attention, and came down upon the shore at Prout's Neck, formerly known as Black Point, in large numbers, indicating their friendliness by lively demonstrations of joy. From this anchorage, while awaiting the influx of the tide to enable them to pass over the bar and enter a river which they saw flowing into the bay, De Monts paid a visit to Richmond's Island, about four miles distant, which he was greatly delighted, as he found it richly studded with oak and hickory, whose bending branches were wreathed with luxuriant grapevines loaded with green clusters of unripe fruit. In honor of the god of wine, they gave to the island the classic name of Bacchus. [42] At full tide they passed over the bar and cast anchor within the channel of the Saco.