Voyages of Samuel De Champlain — Volume 01

by Samuel de Champlain

Sufficiently assured of the character of the enemy, Champlain hastened to put the unfinished fort in as good condition as possible, appointing to every man in the little garrison his post, so that all might be ready for duty at a moment's warning. On the afternoon of the next day a small sail came into the bay, evidently a stranger, directing its course not through the usual channel, but towards the little River St. Charles. It was too insignificant to cause any alarm. Champlain, however, sent a detachment of arquebusiers to receive it. It proved to be English, and contained the six Basque fishermen already referred to, charged by Kirke with despatches for Champlain. They had met the armed barque returning to Tadoussac, and had taken off and brought up with them the woman and little girl who had been captured the day before at Cape Tourmente.

The despatch, written two days before, and bearing date July 8th, 1628, was a courteous invitation to surrender Quebec into the hands of the English, assigning several natural and cogent reasons why it would be for the interest of all parties for them to do so. Under different circumstances, the reasoning might have had weight; but this English admiral had clearly conceived a very inadequate idea of the character of Champlain, if he supposed he would surrender his post, or even take it into consideration, while the enemy demanding it and his means of enforcing it were at a distance of at least a hundred miles. Champlain submitted the letter to Pont Gravé and the other gentlemen of the colony, and we concluded, he adds, that if the English had a desire to see us nearer, they must come to us, and not threaten us from so great a distance.

Champlain returned an answer declining the demand, couched in language of respectful and dignified politeness. It is easy, however, to detect a tinge of sarcasm running through it, so delicate as not to be offensive, and yet sufficiently obvious to convey a serene indifference on the part of the French commander as to what the English might think it best to do in the sequel. The tone of the reply, the air of confidence pervading it, led Kirke to believe that the French were in a far better condition to resist than they really were. The English admiral thought it prudent to withdraw. He destroyed all the French fishing vessels and boats at Tadoussac, and proceeded down the gulf, to do the same along the coast.

We have already alluded, in the preceding pages, to De Roquemont, the French admiral, who had been charged by the Company of the Hundred Associates to convoy a fleet of transports to Canada. Wholly ignorant of the importance of an earlier arrival at Quebec, he appears to have moved leisurely, and was now, with his whole fleet, lying at anchor in the Bay of Gaspé. Hearing that Kirke was in the gulf, he very unwisely prepared to give him battle, and moved out of the bay for that purpose. On the 18th of July the two armaments met. Kirke had six armed vessels under his command, while De Roquemont had but four. The conflict was unequal. The English vessels were unencumbered and much heavier than those of the French. De Roquemont [99] was soon overpowered and compelled to surrender his whole fleet of twenty-two vessels, with a hundred and thirty-five pieces of ordnance, together with supplies and colonists for Quebec, were all taken. Kirke returned to England laden with the rich spoils of his conquest, having practically accomplished, if not what he had intended, nevertheless that which satisfied the avarice of the London merchants under whose auspices the expedition had sailed. The capture of Quebec had from the beginning been the objective purpose of Sir William Alexander. The taking of this fleet and the cutting off their supplies was an important step in this undertaking. The conquest was thereby assured, though not completed.

Champlain, having despatched his reply to Kirke, naturally supposed he would soon appear before Quebec to carry out his threat. He awaited this event with great anxiety. About ten days after the messengers had departed, a young Frenchman, named Desdames, arrived in a small boat, having been sent by De Roquemont, the admiral of the new company, to inform Champlain that he was then at Gaspé with a large fleet, bringing colonists, arms, stores, and provisions for the settlement. Desdames also stated that De Roquemont intended to attack the English, and that on his way he had heard the report of cannon, which led him to believe that a conflict had already taken place. Champlain heard nothing more from the lower St. Lawrence until the next May, when an Indian from Tadoussac brought the story of De Roquemont's defeat.

In the mean time, Champlain resorted to every expedient to provide subsistence for his famishing colony. Even at the time when the surrender was demanded by the English, they were on daily rations of seven ounces each. The means of obtaining food were exceedingly slender. Fishing could not be prosecuted to any extent, for the want of nets, lines, and hooks. Of gunpowder they had less than fifty pounds, and a possible attack by treacherous savages rendered it inexpedient to expend it in hunting game. Moreover, they had no salt for curing or preserving the flesh of such wild animals as they chanced to take. The few acres cultivated by the missionaries and the Hébert family, and the small gardens about the settlement, could yield but little towards sustaining nearly a hundred persons for the full term of ten months, the shortest period in which they could reasonably expect supplies from France. A system of the utmost economy was instituted. A few eels were purchased by exchange of beaver-skins from the Indians. Pease were reduced to flour first by mortars and later by hand-mills constructed for the purpose, and made into a soup to add flavor to other less palatable food. Thus economising their resources, the winter finally wore away, but when the spring came, their scanty means were entirely exhausted. Henceforth their sole reliance was upon the few fish that could be taken from the river, and the edible roots gathered day by day from the fields and forests. An attempt was made to quarter some of the men upon the friendly Indians, but with little success. Near the last of June, thirty of the colony, men, women, and children, unwilling to remain longer at Quebec, were despatched to Gaspé, twenty of them to reside there with the Indians, the others to seek a passage to France by some of the foreign fishing-vessels on the coast. This detachment was conducted by Eustache Boullé, the brother-in-law of Champlain. The remnant of the little colony, disheartened by the gloomy prospect before them and exhausted by hunger, continued to drag out a miserable existence, gathering sustenance for the wants of each day, without knowing what was to supply the demands of the next.

On the 19th of July, 1629, three English vessels were seen from the fort at Quebec, distant not more than three miles, approaching under full sail. [100] Their purpose could not be mistaken. Champlain called a council, in which it was decided at once to surrender, but only on good terms; otherwise, to resist to their utmost with such slender means as they had. The little garrison of sixteen men, all his available force, hastened to their posts. A flag of truce soon brought a summons from the brothers, Lewis and Thomas Kirke, couched in courteous language, asking the surrender of the fort and settlement, and promising such honorable and reasonable terms as Champlain himself might dictate.

To this letter Champlain [101] replied that he had not, in his present circumstances, the power of resisting their demand, and that on the morrow he would communicate the conditions on which he would deliver up the settlement; but, in the mean time, he must request them to retire beyond cannon-shot, and not attempt to land. On the evening of the same day the articles of capitulation were delivered, which were finally, with very little variation, agreed to by both parties.

The whole establishment at Quebec, with all the movable property belonging to it, was to be surrendered into the hands of the English. The colonists were to be transported to France, nevertheless, by the way of England. The officers were permitted to leave with their arms, clothes, and the peltries belonging to them as personal property. The soldiers were allowed their clothes and a beaver-robe each; the missionaries, their robes and books. This agreement was subsequently ratified at Tadoussac by David Kirke, the admiral of the fleet, on the 19th of August, 1629.

On the 20th of July, Lewis Kirke, vice-admiral, at the head of two hundred armed men, [102] took formal possession of Quebec, in the name of Charles I., the king of England. The English flag was hoisted over the Fort of St. Louis. Drums beat and cannon were discharged in token of the accomplished victory.