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CHAMPLAIN'S EXPLANATION OF THE ACCOMPANYING MAP.
PORT FORTUNÉ.
The figures indicate fathoms of water.
A. Pond of salt water. [Note: This is now called Oyster Pond.]
B. Cabins of the savages and the lands they cultivate.
C. Meadows where there are two little brooks.
C. Meadows on the island, that are covered at every tide. [Note: The
letter C appears twice in the index, but both are wanting on the
map. The former seems to point to the meadows on the upper left-hand
corner: the other should probably take the place of the O on the
western part of the island above F.]
D. Small mountain ranges on the island, that are covered with trees,
vines, and plum-trees. [Note: This range of hills is a marked feature
of the island.]
E. Pond of fresh water, where there is plenty of game. [Note: This pond
is still distinguished for its game, and is leased by gentlemen in
Boston and held as a preserve.]
F. A kind of meadow on the island. [Note: This is known as Morris Island;
but the strait on the north of it has been filled up, and the island
is now a part of the main land.]
G. An island covered with wood in a great arm of the sea. [Note: This
island has been entirely obliterated, and the neck on the north has
likewise been swept away, and the bay now extends several leagues
farther north. The destruction of the island was completed in 1851, in
the gale that swept away Minot's Light. In 1847, it had an area of
thirteen acres and an elevation of twenty feet.—Vide Harbor
Com. Report, 1873.]
H. A sort of pond of salt water, where there are many shell-fish, and,
among others, quantities of oysters. [Note: This is now called the
Mill Pond.]
I. Sandy downs on a narrow tongue of land.
L. Arm of the sea.
M. Roadstead before the harbor where we anchored. [Note: Chatham Roads,
or Old Stage Harbor.]
N. Entrance to the harbor.
O. The harbor and place where our barque was.
P. The cross we planted.
Q. Little brook.
R. Mountain which is seen at a great distance. [Note: A moderate
elevation, by no means a mountain in our sense of the word.]
S. Sea-shore.
T. Little river.
V. Way we went in their country among their dwellings: it is indicated by
small dots. [Note: The circuit here indicated is about four or five
miles. Another path is indicated in the same manner on the extreme
northern end of the map, which shows that their excursions had been
extensive.]
X. Banks and shoals.
Y. Small mountain seen in the interior. [Note: This is now called the
Great Chatham Hill, and is a conspicuous landmark.]
Z. Small brooks.
9. Spot near the cross where the savages killed our men. [Note: This is a
creek up which the tide sets. The other brook figured on the map a
little south of the cross has been artificially filled up, but the
marshes which it drained are still to be seen. These landmarks enable
us to fix upon the locality of the cross within a few feet.]
* * * * *
We saw in this place some five to six hundred savages, all naked except their sexual parts, which they cover with a small piece of doe or seal-skin. The women are also naked, and, like the men, cover theirs with skins or leaves. They wear their hair carefully combed and twisted in various ways, both men and women, after the manner of the savages of Choüacoet. [220] Their bodies are well-proportioned, and their skin olive-colored. They adorn themselves with feathers, beads of shell, and other gewgaws, which they arrange very neatly in embroidery work. As weapons, they have bows, arrows, and clubs. They are not so much great hunters as good fishermen and tillers of the land.
In regard to their police, government, and belief, we have been unable to form a judgment; but I suppose that they are not different in this respect from our savages, the Souriquois and Canadians, who worship neither the moon nor the sun, nor any thing else, and pray no more than the beasts. [221] There are, however, among them some persons, who, as they say, are in concert with the devil, in whom they have great faith. They tell them all that is to happen to them, but in so doing lie for the most part. Sometimes they succeed in hitting the mark very well, and tell them things similar to those which actually happen to them. For this reason, they have faith in them, as if they were prophets; while they are only impostors who delude them, as the Egyptians and Bohemians do the simple villagers. They have chiefs, whom they obey in matters of war, but not otherwise, and who engage in labor, and hold no higher rank than their companions. Each one has only so much land as he needs for his support.
Their dwellings are separate from each other, according to the land which each one occupies. They are large, of a circular shape, and covered with thatch made of grasses or the husks of Indian corn. [222] They are furnished only with a bed or two, raised a foot from the ground, made of a number of little pieces of wood pressed against each other, on which they arrange a reed mat, after the Spanish style, which is a kind of matting two or three fingers thick: on these they sleep. [223] They have a great many fleas in summer, even in the fields. One day as we went out walking, we were beset by so many of them that we were obliged to change our clothes.
All the harbors, bays, and coasts from Choüacoet are filled with every variety of fish, like those which we have before our habitation, and in such abundance that I can confidently assert that there was not a day or night when we did not see and hear pass by our barque more than a thousand porpoises, which were chasing the smaller fry. There are also many shell-fish of various sorts, principally oysters. Game birds are very plenty.