69. The mouth of the Richelieu was the usual place of meeting. In 1603, the allied tribes were there when Champlain ascended the St Lawrence. They had a fort, which he describes.—Vide postea, p 243.
70. Champlain's description does not enable us to identify the place of this battle with exactness. It will be observed, if we refer to his text, that, leaving the island of St Ignace, and going half a league, crossing the river, they landed, when they were plainly on the mainland near the mouth of the Richelieu. They then went half a league, and finding themselves outrun by their Indian guides and lost, they called to two savages, whom they saw going through the woods, to guide them. Going a short distance, they were met by a messenger from the scene of conflict, to urge them to hasten forwards. Then, after going less than an eighth of a league, they were within the sound of the voices of the combatants at the fort. These distances are estimated without measurement, and, of course, are inexact: but, putting the distances mentioned altogether, the journey through the woods to the fort was apparently a little more than two miles. Had they followed the course of the river, the distance would probably have been somewhat more: perhaps nearly three miles. Champlain does not positively say that the fort was on the Richelieu, but the whole narrative leaves no doubt that such was the fact. This river was the avenue through which the Iroquois were accustomed to come, and they would naturally encamp here where they could choose their own ground, and where their enemies were sure to approach them. If we refer to Champlain's illustration of Fort des Iroquois, Vol. II. p. 241, we shall observe that the river is pictured as comparatively narrow, which could hardly be a true representation if it were intended for the St. Lawrence. The escaping Iroquois are represented as swimming towards the right, which was probably in the direction of their homes on the south, the natural course of their retreat. The shallop of Des Prairies, who arrived late, is on the left of the fort, at the exact point where he would naturally disembark if he came up the Richelieu from the St. Lawrence. From a study of the whole narrative, together with the map, we infer that the fort was on the western bank of the Richelieu, between two and three miles from its mouth. We are confident that its location cannot be more definitely fixed.
71. For a full account of the Indian treatment of prisoners, vide antea,
pp. 94,95. Also Vol. II. pp. 224-227, 244-246.
72. Vide Contrat de mariage de Samuel de Champlain, Oeuvres de Champlain,
Quebec ed. Vol. VI., Pièces Fustificatives, p. 33.
Among the early marriages not uncommon at that period, the following are examples. César, the son of Henry IV., was espoused by public ceremonies to the daughter of the Duke de Mercoeur in 1598. The bridegroom was four years old and the bride-elect had just entered her sixth year. The great Condé, by the urgency of his avaricious father, was unwillingly married at the age of twenty, to Claire Clemence de Maillé Brézé, the niece of Cardinal Richelieu, when she was but thirteen years of age.
CHAPTER VII.
THE FUR-TRADE AT MONTREAL.—COMPETITION AT THE RENDEZVOUS.—NO EXPLORATIONS.—CHAMPLAIN RETURNS TO FRANCE.—REORGANIZATION OF THE COMPANY.—COUNT DE SOISSONS, HIS DEATH.—PRINCE DE CONDÉ.—CHAMPLAIN'S RETURN TO NEW FRANCE AND TRADE WITH THE INDIANS.—EXPLORATION AND DE VIGNAN, THE FALSE GUIDE.—INDIAN CEREMONY AT CHAUDIÈRE FALLS.
Champlain lost no time in hastening to Quebec, where he found Du Parc, whom he had left in charge, and the colony in excellent health. The paramount and immediate object which now engaged his attention was to secure for the present season the fur-trade of the Indians. This furnished the chief pecuniary support of De Monts's company, and was absolutely necessary to its existence. He soon, therefore, took his departure for the Falls of St. Louis, situated a short distance above Montreal, and now better known as La Chine Rapids. In the preceding year, this place had been agreed upon as a rendezvous by the friendly tribes. But, as they had not arrived, Champlain proceeded to make a thorough exploration on both sides of the St. Lawrence, extending his journeys more than twenty miles through the forests and along the shores of the river, for the purpose of selecting a proper site for a trading-house, with doubtless an ultimate purpose of making it a permanent settlement. After a full survey, he finally fixed upon a point of land which he named La Place Royale, situated within the present city of Montreal, on the eastern side of the little brook Pierre, where it flows into the St. Lawrence, at Point à Callière. On the banks of this small stream there were found evidences that the land to the extent of sixty acres had at some former period been cleared up and cultivated by the savages, but more recently had been entirely abandoned on account of the wars, as he learned from his Indian guides, in which they were incessantly engaged.
Near the spot which had thus been selected for a future settlement, Champlain discovered a deposit of excellent clay, and, by way of experiment, had a quantity of it manufactured into bricks, of which he made a wall on the brink of the river, to test their power of resisting the frosts and the floods. Gardens were also made and seeds sown, to prove the quality of the soil. A weary month passed slowly away, with scarcely an incident to break the monotony, except the drowning of two Indians, who had unwisely attempted to pass the rapids in a bark canoe overloaded with heron, which they had taken on an island above. In the mean time, Champlain had been followed to his rendezvous by a herd of adventurers from the maritime towns of France, who, stimulated by the freedom of trade, had flocked after him in numbers out of all proportion to the amount of furs which they could hope to obtain from the wandering bands of savages that might chance to visit the St. Lawrence. The river was lined with these voracious cormorants, anxiously watching the coming of the savages, all impatient and eager to secure as large a share as possible of the uncertain and meagre booty for which they had crossed the Atlantic. Fifteen or twenty barques were moored along the shore, all seeking the best opportunity for the display of the worthless trinkets for which they had avariciously hoped to obtain a valuable cargo of furs.
A long line of canoes was at length seen far in the distance. It was a fleet of two hundred Hurons, who had swept down the rapids, and were now approaching slowly and in a dignified and impressive order. On coming near, they set up a simultaneous shout, the token of savage greeting, which made the welkin ring. This salute was answered by a hundred French arquebuses from barque and boat and shore. The unexpected multitude of the French, the newness of the firearms to most of them, filled the savages with dismay. They concealed their fear as well and as long as possible. They deliberately built their cabins on the shore, but soon threw up a barricade, then called a council at midnight, and finally, under pretence of a beaver-hunt, suddenly removed above the rapids, where they knew the French barques could not come. When they were thus in a place of safety, they confessed to Champlain that they had faith in him, which they confirmed by valuable gifts of furs, but none whatever in the grasping herd that had followed him to the rendezvous. The trade, meagre in the aggregate, divided among so many, had proved a loss to all. It was soon completed, and the savages departed to their homes. Subsequently, thirty-eight canoes, with eighty or a hundred Algonquin warriors, came to the rendezvous. They brought, however, but a small quantity of furs, which added little to the lucrative character of the summer's trade.