The great probability of a North West Passage / deduced from observations on the letter of Admiral de Fonte

by Unknown

The Ships being secure in a good Harbour, and the Command left with Ronquillo, the Admiral proceeds to the River Parmentiers, so named in Honour of Mons. Parmentiers, whom he stiles his Comrade, and commends his Industry and Judgment in the Survey of such River, and the Parts adjacent. From his being stiled his Comrade, he was in no Command, as he could not have a Commission without having been bred in the Service, and a Native of Spain. Therefore being a Person immediately necessary for to have on this Occasion, he is introduced under the Character of a Friend and Companion. Mr. Gage mentions, Chap. xv. of his new Survey of the West Indies, one Thomas Rocalono, a Frenchman, a Prior of the Cloister of Cemitlan, who, with himself, was the only Stranger in that Country, by which he means in that Part where he was; and it implies there being others in other Parts, which falsifies the Assertion that no Frenchman was ever admitted in Peru.

The Countries of Quivira and Anian were represented, at that Time, to be barren or desolate; as is also evident from the Description of the Inhabitants eating raw Flesh, drinking Blood, and in all Respects suitable to the Character of the Eskemaux Indians, who by Choice, not Necessity, make Use of such Diet when out a hunting or travelling, which expresses those Parts to be very inhospitable, and where the Indians only frequent at certain Seasons, in Pursuit of the wild Game, and for fishing. And Cibola is represented as a Country which hath a Cultivation, where the Indians constantly live, and seem a different People from those of Quivira and Anian. This is agreeable to the Accounts given at that Time, which is sufficient to shew that the Jesuits could not expect that they should be able, or would undertake to pass through such a Country as Quivira and Anian in Pursuit of their Discoveries to Northward; therefore must have taken some Opportunity of being conveyed there, which could only be by some Persons who had been on these Coasts, and had, through Necessity, Interest, or Curiosity, passed up these Waters, and surveyed the adjacent Country in Pursuit of something which might turn out to their private Emolument: Nor were such Attempts unprecedented, even on our Parts, though the Hazards were much greater. The private Trade carried on by the People from Boston, in Hudson's Bay, before there was a Grant to the Company; which Trading might not have come to the Knowledge of the People in England, or been known to the Publick for a Series of Years, had it not been for an Accident which happened to Captain Gillam, who thereupon made a Discovery of this Trade. Nor is there the least Improbability but that Parmentiers had, on some Occasion, introduced himself into these Parts, had invited the Jesuits to a Mission there, who, on other Missions, had undertaken what hath been much more hazardous, and succeeded. There were sufficient Motives for that Undertaking; the Northern Bounds were then unknown, so that they could not affirm America to be Continent, nor certainly to be an Island distinguished from the old World. This is the Account Mr. Gage gives us, Chap. xiii. and mentioning that he will not write, as many do, by Relation and Hearsay, but by more sure Intelligence, Insight and Experience. He says Quivira is seated on the most Western Part of America, just over against Tartary; from whence, being not much distant, some suppose that the Inhabitants came into this new World. The West Side of America, if it be not Continent with Tartary, it yet disjoined by a small Streight. Here then was a sufficient Matter to encourage a Mission of this Sort, and to keep a Progress to the Eastward, or in America, with the Discoveries that were going on by the Missionars sent to Japan; and there was a Propriety in this being done, as the Coasts of both were supposed to be at no great Distance from each other: And this was expresly the Purpose of their Mission, as it is said they had been to Latitude 66, and made curious Observations, on which Account they were with Bernarda. As Parmentiers went to the Eastward with de Fonte, who must have had a different Motive from them for coming into those Parts, he must have had his own private Emolument in view, his better Success in which depended on his Secrecy, as he thereby prevented others from interfering; which Consideration would prevail with him, as with all Traders, superior to any Satisfaction the Publick might have from his Informations; and as Trade would be carried on most successfully where the Inhabitants were more numerous, we find he had found his Way to Eastward, apparently the most populous, as the Jesuits had gone to the Northward and Westward, principally as most consistent with their Plan; tho' Conosset was where the Jesuits had been first introduced, where their courteous Behaviour and Management of the Natives, would be of Advantage to Parmentiers. In searching for the most popular and inhabited Part of the Country, he would become acquainted with the Geography of those Parts necessarily, Depths of Water, Shoals, Tides, which his own Preservation, and the better conducting of himself would naturally lead him to observe; but there might be a more particular Reason for his Observation of the River Parmentiers, and of all the Parts about it; and therefore he had been so exact as to the Falls, which were the Obstruction of the Ship Navigation through to the Eastern Sea, that lay beyond the Streights of Ronquillo, for his own private Advantage; by opening a new and extensive Trade, he would have greatly promoted it if he had found this Communication practicable for Ships of Burthen.

The People that Captain Tchirikow met with on the Coast is no Objection to the Character given of those within Land in this Letter, as it is from Experience known that the Eskemaux, who are along the Coast of the Labrador, are cruel and thievish; but that Indians of a different Disposition live within Land.

As to Parmentiers being the general Interpreter for all, he is not said to be so. He would, for the Benefit it would be to him in his Trade, endeavour to learn the Language, and would of course acquire something of it unavoidably, as he frequented amongst the Indians: And it must be observed, though there are many different Nations, and there is a Difference in Dialect, yet there is a Language which all those Nations will understand, called the Council Language.

That Voyages had been made to these Parts more than once is evident, as the Jesuits staid there two Years, therefore did not return with the same Opportunity by which they came there, but another; and it is probable that there had been a Voyage prior to that, which had encouraged them to undertake this Mission.

In what Manner de Fonte proceeded, the Boats and Number of Persons he had with him, the Translator hath omitted. It is mentioned, that de Fonte sailed from the rest of his Ships; the River Parmentiers hath Falls of thirty-two Feet perpendicular Height from its Source to where it issues into Lake de Fonte; so again, on the South Side Lake Belle on board our Ships; and had it been with his Ship, his Inference that there was no North-west Passage would have been unjust, as his meeting with this Ship the Vessel from Boston, would have effectually proved the contrary.

'We passed eight Falls, in all 32 Foot, perpendicular from its Source out of Lake Belle; it falls into the large Lake I named Lake de Fonte, at which Place we arrived the 6th of July. This Lake is 160 Leagues long, and 60 broad; the Length is East North East, and West South West, to twenty or thirty, in some Places sixty Fathom deep; the Lake abounds with excellent Cod and Ling, very large and well fed; there are several very large Islands, and ten small ones; they are covered with shrubby Woods; the Moss grows six or seven Foot long, with which the Moose, a very large Sort of Deer, are fat with in the Winter, and other lesser Deer, as Fallow, &c. There are Abundance of wild Cherries, Strawberries, Hurtleberries, and wild Currants; and also of wild Fowls, Heath Cocks and Hens; likewise Partridges and Turkeys; and Sea Fowl in great Plenty. On the South Side the Lake is a very large fruitful Island, had a great many Inhabitants, and very excellent Timber, as Oaks, Ashes, Elm and Fir Trees, very large and tall.'

We here again see the Form of the Letter, de Fonte expressing himself, as in the first Part of the Letter, I named Parmentiers, my industrious; and there are other Instances.

The River Parmentiers, which is the Communication by which the Waters of Lake Belle are conveyed into the Lake de Fonte, so named we may suppose not in Compliment to himself, which would be absurd, but of his Family, as the Expression is, I named Lake de Fonte, though it almost deserves the Name of a Mediterranean Sea; but from having a superior Water near it, with which it communicated, de Fonte calls it a Lake. It is not a casual naming of Places, or Waters, as Hudson's Bay, given to that great Mediterranean Sea, and continued, but the Names of the Waters he passed through, would be given with Exactness and Propriety. In the Lake de Fonte there was a great Depth of Water, also Banks, as there is said to be in some Parts twenty or thirty Fathom Water, as is also evident from the Cod and Ling there, and which instance it to be a Salt Water Lake. It was the Season when these Fish come to the Northward to spawn. The shrubby Wood on the Islands, the Moss for the Subsistence of the Deer hanging on the Trees, the wild Cherries and other Fruits ripening at that Season of the Year, are all corresponding Tokens of his being advanced to the North-east Part of America, is agreeable in all the above Respects to the Country Northward and Westward in Canada, about the River St. Lawrence, to the interior Parts of the Country of Labrador, in Lat. 56; but as you proceed further to Northward, the high rocky Mountains, which in this Part are only confined to the Coast, then extend more inland, increase in their Height, and in Lat. 59° and 60°, the whole Country, as far as Baffin's Bay, seems to consist only of Ridges of barren Mountains, interspersed with Waters; and the Progress of the Productions, as to Trees and Plants, gradually decreases from a more flourishing to an inferior Sort, as you proceed to Northward; in Lat. 59, on the Western Side of Hudson's Bay to the Northward of Seal River, there is no Wood, only Grass and a small Shrub of about a Foot in Heighth, which continues, as far as it is known to Westward, and a thin Soil, with a hard rocky Stone just below the Surface, and very frequently there are large Ponds of standing Water.

De Fonte seems to have made a Stop at the Island at the South of Lake de Fonte, to take Refreshment, and make Inquiry as to the Boston Ship, it being out of his Course, or on any other Account to go there.