Raspberries framboises. The American raspberry, Rubis strigosus.
Currants, red, green, and blue, groizelles rouges, vertes and bleues. The first mentioned is undoubtedly the red currant of our gardens. Ribes rubrum. The second may have been the unripe fruit of the former. The third doubtless the black currant, Ribes nigrum, which grows throughout Canada.—Vide Chronological History of Plants, Pickering. p. 871; also Vol. II. note 138.
Orignas, so written in the original text. This is, I think, the earliest mention of this animal under this Algonquin name. It was written, by the French, sometimes orignac, orignat, and orignal.—Vide Jesuit Relations, 1635, p. 16; 1636, p. 11, et passim; Sagard, Hist. du Canada, 1636, p. 749; Description de l'Amerique, par Denys. 1672, p. 27. Orignac was used interchangeably with élan, the name of the elk of northern Europe, regarded by some as the same spccies.—Vide Mammals, by Spenser F. Baird. But the orignac of Champlain was the moose. Alce Americanus, peculiar to the northern latitudes of America. Moose is derived from the Indian word moosoa. This animal is the largest of the Cervus family. The males are said to attain the weight of eleven or twelve hundred pounds. Its horns sometimes weigh fifty or sixty pounds. It is exceedingly shy and difficult to capture.
Stags, cerfs. This is undoubtedly a reference to the caribou, Cervus tarandus. Sagard (1636) calls it Caribou ou asne Sauuages, caribou or wilde ass.—Hist. du Canada, p. 750. La Hontan, 1686, says harts and caribous are killed both in summer and winter after the same manner with the elks (mooses), excepting that the caribous, which are a kind of wild asses, make an easy escape when the snow is hard by virtue of their broad feet (Voyages, p. 59). There are two varieties, the Cervus tarandus arcticus and the Cervus tarandus sylvestris. The latter is that here referred to and the larger and finer animal, and is still found in the forests of Canada.
Hinds, biches, the female of cerfs, and does, dains, the female of daim, the fallow deer. These may refer to the females of the two preceding species, or to additional species as the common red deer, Cervus Virginianus, and some other species or variety. La Hontan in the passage cited above speaks of three, the elk which we have shown to be the moose, the well-known caribou, and the hart, which was undoubtedly the common red deer of this region, Cervus Virginianus. I learn from Mr. J. M. LeMoine of Quebec, that the Wapiti, Elaphus Canadensis was found in the valley of the St. Lawrence a hundred and forty years ago, several horns and bones having been dug up in the forest, especially in the Ottawa district. It is now extinct here, but is still found in the neighborhood of Lake Winnipeg and further west. Cartier, in 1535, speaks of dains and cerfs, doubtless referring to different species.—Vide Brief Récit, D'Avezac ed. p. 31 verso.
Bears. ours. The American black bear, Ursus Americanus. The grisly
bear. Ursus ferox, was found on the Island of Anticosti.—Vide
Hist. du Canada, par Sagard, 1636, pp. 148, 750. La Hontan's
Voyages. 1687, p. 66.
Porcupines. porcs-espics. The Canada porcupine, Hystrix pilosus. A nocturnal rodent quadruped, armed with barbed quills, his chief defence when attacked by other animals.
Hares, lapins. The American hare, Lepus Americanus.
Foxes, reynards. Of the fox. Canis vulpes, there are several species in Canada. The most common is of a carroty red color, Vulpes fulvus. The American cross fox. Canis decussatus, and the black or silver fox. Canis argentatus, are varieties that may have been found there at that period, but are now rarely if ever seen.
Beavers, castors. The American beaver, Castor Americanus. The fur
of the beaver was of all others the most important in the commerce of
New France.