173. That is to say like the Hurons.
174. The Nation Neutre was called by the Hurons Attisandaronk or Attihouandaron. Vide Relation des Jésuites, 1641, p. 72; Dictonaire de la Langue Huronne, par Sagard, a Paris, 1632. Champlain places them, on his map of 1632, south of Lake Erie. His knowledge of that lake, obtained from the savages, was very meagre as the map itself shows. The Neutres are placed by early writers on the west of Lake Ontario and north of Lake Erie Vide Laverdière in loco, Quebec ed., p. 546; also, Indian Migration in Ohio, by C. C. Baldwin, p. 4. They are placed far to the south of Lake Erie by Nicholas Sanson. Vide Cartes de l'Amerique, 1657.
175. The Cheveux Relevés are represented by Champlain as dwelling west of the Petuns, and were probably not far from the most southern limit of the Georgian Bay. Strangely enough Nicholas Sanson places them on a large island that separates the Georgian Bay from Lake Huron. Vide Cartes de l'Amerique par N. Sanson, 1657.
176. Atsistaehronons, ou Nation du Feu. Their Algonquin name was Mascoutins or Maskoutens, with several other orthographies. The significance of their name is given by Sagard as follows: Ils sont errans, sinon que quelques villages d'entr'eux fement des bleds d'Inde, et font la guerre à vne autre Nation, nommée Assitagueronon, qui veut dire gens de feu: car en langue Huronne Assista signifie du feu, et Eronon, signifie Nation. Le Grand Voyage du Pays des Hurons, par Gabriel Sagard, a Paris, 1632, p. 78. Vide Relation des Jésuites, 1641, p 72; Discovery and Exploration of the Mississippi Valley, by John Gilmary Shea, p. 13; Indian Migration in Ohio, by C. C. Baldwin, pp 9, 10; Discovery of the Northwest by John Nicolet, by C. W. Butterfield, p. 63; L'Amerique en Plusieurs Cartes, par N. Sanson, 1657.
177. Pisierinii, the Nipissings. This relates to those Nipissings who had accompanied Champlain on the expedition against the Iroquois, and who were passing the winter among the Hurons. He had expected that they would accompany him on explorations on the north of them. But arriving at their encampment, on his return from the Petuns and Cheveux Relevés, he learned from them of the quarrel that had arisen between the Algonquins and the Hurons.
178. Attigouantans, the principal tribe of the Hurons.
179. Colliers de pourceline. These necklaces were composed of shells, pierced and strung like beads. They were of a violet color, and were esteemed of great value. The branches were strings of white shells, and were more common and less valuable. An engraved representation may be seen in Histoire de L'Amérique Septentrionale, par De la Potherie, Paris, 1722, Tom. I. p. 334. For a full description of these necklaces and their significance and use in their councils, vide Charlevoix's Letters, London, 1763, p 132.
180. Buffles, buffaloes. The American Bison, Bos Americanus. The skins seen by Champlain in the possession of the savages seem to indicate that the range of the buffalo was probably further east at that period than at the present time, its eastern limit being now about the Red River, which flows into Lake Winnipeg. The limit of its northern range is generally stated to be at latitude 60 degrees, but it is sometimes found as far north as 63 degrees or 64 degrees. Vide Dr. Shea's interesting account of the buffalo in Discovery and Exploration of Mississippi Valley, p. 18. The range of the Musk Ox is still farther north, rarely south of latitude 67 degrees. His home is in the Barren Grounds, west of Hudson Bay, and on the islands on the north of the American Continent, where he subsists largely on lichens and the meagre herbage of that frosty region.
181. Champlain is here speaking of the whole country of New France.
182. This sentence in the original is unfinished and defective. Au costé vers le Nort, icelle grande riuiere terant à l'Occident, etc. In the ed. 1632, the reading is Au costé vers le nort d'icelle grande riuiere tirant au suroust, etc. The tranlation is according to the ed. of 1632. Vide Quebec ed., p. 941.