Now this river must of necessity be the Norumbegue; for, having coasted along past it as far as the 41° of latitude, we have found no other on the parallel above mentioned, except that of the Quinibequy, which is almost in the same latitude, but not of great extent. Moreover, there cannot be in any other place a river extending far into the interior of the country, since the great river St. Lawrence washes the coast of La Cadie and Norumbegue, and the distance from one to the other by land is not more than forty-five leagues, or sixty at the widest point, as can be seen on my geographical map.
Now I will drop this discussion to return to the savages who had conducted me to the falls of the river Norumbegue, who went to notify Bessabez, their chief, and other savages, who in turn proceeded to another little river to inform their own, named Cabahis, and give him notice of our arrival.
The 16th of the month there came to us some thirty savages on assurances given them by those who had served us as guides. There came also to us the same day the above named Bessabez with six canoes. As soon as the savages who were on land saw him coming, they all began to sing, dance, and jump, until he had landed. Afterwards, they all seated themselves in a circle on the ground, as is their custom, when they wish to celebrate a festivity, or an harangue is to be made. Cabahis, the other chief, arrived also a little later with twenty or thirty of his companions, who withdrew one side and enjoyed greatly seeing us, as it was the first time they had seen Christians. A little while after, I went on shore with two of my companions and two of our savages who served as interpreters. I directed the men in our barque to approach near the savages, and hold their arms in readiness to do their duty in case they noticed any movement of these people against us. Bessabez, seeing us on land, bade us sit down, and began to smoke with his companions, as they usually do before an address. They presented us with venison and game.
I directed our interpreter to say to our savages that they should cause Bessabez, Cabahis, and their companions to understand that Sieur de Monts had sent me to them to see them, and also their country, and that he desired to preserve friendship with them and to reconcile them with their enemies, the Souriquois and Canadians, and moreover that he desired to inhabit their country and show them how to cultivate it, in order that they might not continue to lead so miserable a life as they were doing, and some other words on the same subject. This our savages interpreted to them, at which they signified their great satisfaction, saying that no greater good could come to them than to have our friendship, and that they desired to live in peace with their enemies, and that we should dwell in their land, in order that they might in future more than ever before engage in hunting beavers, and give us a part of them in return for our providing them with things which they wanted. After he had finished his discourse, I presented them with hatchets, paternosters, caps, knives, and other little knick-knacks, when we separated from each other. All the rest of this day and the following night, until break of day, they did nothing but dance, sing, and make merry, after which we traded for a certain number of beavers. Then each party returned, Bessabez with his companions on the one side, and we on the other, highly pleased at having made the acquaintance of this people.
The 17th of the month I took the altitude, [100] and found the latitude 45° 25'. This done, we set out for another river called Quinibequy, distant from this place thirty-five leagues, and nearly twenty from Bedabedec. This nation of savages of Quinibequy are called Etechemins, as well as those of Norumbegue.
The 18th of the month we passed near a small river where Cabahis was, who came with us in our barque some twelve leagues; and having asked him whence came the river Norumbegue, he told me that it passes the fall which I mentioned above, and that one journeying some distance on it enters a lake by way of which they come to the river of St. Croix, by going some distance over land, and then entering the river of the Etechemins. Moreover, another river enters the lake, along which they proceed some days, and afterwards enter another lake and pass through the midst of it. Reaching the end of it, they make again a land journey of some distance, and then enter another little river, which has its mouth a league from Quebec, which is on the great river St. Lawrence. [101] All these people of Norumbegue are very swarthy, dressed in beaver-skins and other furs, like the Canadian and Souriquois savages, and they have the same mode of life.
The 20th of the month we sailed along the western coast, and passed the mountains of Bedabedec, [102] when we anchored. The same day we explored the entrance to the river, where large vessels can approach; but there are inside some reefs, to avoid which one must advance with sounding lead in hand. Our savages left us, as they did not wish to go to Quinibequy, for the savages of that place are great enemies to them. We sailed some eight leagues along the western coast to an island [103] ten leagues distant from Quinibequy, where we were obliged to put in on account of bad weather and contrary wind. At one point in our course, we passed a large number of islands and breakers extending some leagues out to sea, and very dangerous. And in view of the bad weather, which was so unfavorable to us, we did not sail more than three or four leagues farther. All these islands and coasts are covered with extensive woods, of the same sort as that which I have reported above as existing on the other coasts. And in consideration of the small quantity of provisions which we had, we resolved to return to our settlement and wait until the following year, when we hoped to return and explore more extensively. We accordingly set out on our return on the 23d of September, and arrived at our settlement on the 2d of October following.
The above is an exact statement of all that I have observed respecting not only the coasts and people, but also the river of Norumbegue; and there are none of the marvels there which some persons have described. I am of opinion that this region is as disagreeable in winter as that of our settlement, in which we were greatly deceived. [104]
ENDNOTES:
92. The natives called this island Pemetiq. Isle que les Saunages appellent Pemetiq.—Vide Relation de la Nouvelle-France, par F. Biard. 1616. Relations des Jésuites, Quebec ed. 1858. p. 44. When the attempt was made in 1613 to plant a colony there by the Marchioness de Guercheville, the settlement was named St. Sauveur. This island was also by the English called Mount Mansell. But the name given to it by Champlain has prevailed, and still adheres to it.