There ought to be in that region the same sort of Climate in every respect as that of our France, from the fact, as we pointed out, of its similar situation, and this is actually the case. Moreover, there is no reason why the soil should not be equally fertile, if the cultivation of the plains were long continued upon the uplands, and if it were not for the dense shades of the almost unbroken forests. [564] For the subsoil of the whole country is very rich, as trees of immense size and height readily demonstrate. That the surface-soil is also endued with great fertility is shown by the pleasing luxuriance of the vegetation over all the plains.
Gens ea distinctis lingua & sede multis populis continetur, nulla vsquam consiliorum aut fortunarum communione deuinctis: nulla nec lege, nec arte; nullo nisi piscatus, & venatus vitæ subsidio instructis: vix vlla Numinis cogitatione, aut salutis cura informatis: ad omne opus ignauis: stupidis ad artes, quæ ingenio aut memoria nitantur: in summa, belluinis pænè hominibus constat ea natio. Populus cum longinquo propinquóve populo vix habet commercium, nisi quod bello inferendo, aut defendendo potest interuenire. Immo, neque idem populus, eadem loci regione, ac tugurioram vicinitate iunctus, fermè vnquam coire solet, nisi vt de armis, aduersùm communes hostes capita conferat. Exterarum verò nationum Francicam vnam ferè suos in portus admittunt, Fibrinis, atque huiusmodi pellibus suis distrahendis, necessariáque veste, ac supellectile permutandis.
The people comprise many tribes diverse in language and situation, united by no mutual purposes or interests; possessing neither laws nor arts, and knowing no other means of gaining a livelihood than by fishing and hunting; having almost no conception of Deity or concern for salvation; indolent in every occupation, and dull in those pursuits which depend upon talent or memory. On the whole, the race consists of men who are hardly above the beasts. One tribe hardly ever has intercourse with another, either distant or near, except such as may arise in the prosecution of offensive or defensive warfare. Even the members of the same tribe, united by a common location and the vicinity of their dwellings, are seldom accustomed to meet together, except to take measures concerning war against a common enemy. Of foreign nations, the French are almost the only people whom they admit to their harbors, for the sake of disposing of their Beaver skins and other peltries, in exchange for necessary clothing and utensils.
Hanc noui orbis partem ex Francis nauarchis primi explorarunt Britones, anno quarto post millesimum [202] quingentesimum; de qua vbi renunciauerant, eius repetendæ nauigationis, vel comites, vel æmulatores habuerunt deinceps frequentissimè, tum Normannos, turn cæteros Gallici Oceani accolas. Vndeuicesimo pòst anno, Ioannes Verazanus [565] Florentinus, vicesimo item, ac tricesimo quarto Iacobus Quartierus Gallus, Brito, cum imperio missi ab Francisco Primo, Gallorum Rege, ipsius auspiciis occupatam regionem illam, eius posterorumque Regum iurisdictioni vindicarunt, cuius possessionem, per interualla sussectæ aliæ atque aliæ Francorum expeditiones, in hanc vsque diem Gallorum Regibus asserere perseuerarunt. De nostris verò missi quoque sunt anno superiore, qui Henrici Quarti auctoritate populos, Francico nomini amicitia & Societate iunctos, ac reliquos etiam Canadios, Euangelij tanto sanctiore fœdere, Christo regum regi deuincirent. Quo de negotio antè quàm instituamus dicere, præter ea quæ generatim complexi sumus, necesse est de loco ac gente sigillatim quædam capita enucleatiùs explicemus.
Among French navigators, the Bretons first explored this part of the new world in 1504;[49] and after they brought back reports of it, they had in subsequent voyages thither, many companions or rivals,—not only the Normans, but also other dwellers on the Sea-coast of France. In the nineteenth and also in the twentieth year thereafter, John Verazano, [565] a Florentine; and, in the thirty-fourth year thereafter, Jacques Quartier, a Frenchman of Brittany, were sent as commanders by Francis I., King of France; and, by the occupation of this region under his authority, brought it under the jurisdiction of that King, and also of his successors. Various French expeditions, sent out at intervals, continue to this day to maintain that possession for the Kings of France. Some of our brethren were also sent last year in order, by the authority of Henry IV., to unite the tribes joined in friendship and Alliance with the French, and also the remaining Canadians, by the far holier tie of the Gospel, to Christ, the king of kings. Before we begin to speak concerning this undertaking, we must, in addition to our general description, explain more fully some matters concerning the country and people.
Nova Francia Gallis adeuntibus gemino littore patet; altero, quod angusta fronte Oceano nostro, & Orienti obtenditur: altero, quod productiore tractu ad Floridæ vsque confinia Austro obiacet. Istud latus portubus, atque ostiis fluminum frequens est, quibus commodè penetrari possit in regionis mediterranea, & hàc ferè Galli terras illas ineunt: illud verò, Franciæ nostræ obiectum littus, quoniam oppositu ingentis insulæ, quam Nouam Terram appellant, importuosum pænè est, ea regione nostrates non subeunt. Eius [204] orbis vastissimã planitiem ingentissimi aluei, aquis copiosissimum flumen irrigat, directo limite ab vltimo pænè occasu ad ortum, quoad angusto freto ad insulam Terræ [566] Nouæ, ipsiúsque insulæ oppositu, eius ostia in Austrinum littus inflectantur. Ei fluuio gentile nomen est Sacqué, Sanctum Laurentium Galli appellarunt; cuius caput ampliùs quingentis inde leucis indigenæ ab lacu in trecentas patente leucas repetunt. In hunc amnium principem alij amnes nobiles ab Aquilone influunt, nempe Saguenaiüm, Tergeminus amnis, seu tres amnes, simul coëuntes, Algomequium, & cæteri non pauci. Saguenaij quingentarum, Tergemini quadringentarum leucarum nauigatio longè porrigitur in Boream. E montibus, ad ripam Austrinam Saquéi amnis, transuersi feruntur in Meridianum Oceani littus alij quoque fluuij celebres; vnde populis, atque illius tractus regionibus plerisque gentilia ducta sunt nomina; sed eorum nonnullis sui moris appellationes Franci posteà indiderunt. Fluuij autem sunt hi ad Austrum conuersi, Sanctus Ioannes, Pentegoëtius, Quinibequius, Choüacoetius, Norembega, quem postremum amnem Champlænius eumdem ac Pentegoetium esse contendit. Populi trans Saquéum, Sanctúmve-Laurentium, versùs Aquilonem, non procul illius ostiis, sunt Canadij & Excomminquij: longè verò ab his, eadem Boreali ripa, versùs occasum, è regione Floridæ, incolunt Algomeguij, atque Ochasteguij. Cis Sanctum-Laurentium, in Australi ora degunt item Canadij, ad ipsum magni amnis flexum, ab Euro in Austrum declinãtis. Post eos ad Occasum [206] vergũt Souriquij, Acadiæ regionis incolæ: deinde ad Pentegoetium, seu Norembegam fluuium, Pentegoetij: [567] ad horum dextram, Occasum spectantium, circa Quebecum arcem, Montagnetij: post Pentegoetios recto tractu Eteminquij, ad amnem Quinibequium: inde Almochiquij ad flumen Choüacoetium, latissimis campis diffusi: denique inter Floridam, & Sacquéum magnum amnem, Iroquij campestribus, montosisque locis latissimè habitant. Reliquos Nouæ Franciæ populos multos, præsertim trans magnum Sacquéum amnem, Aquilonares, Galli nostrates non nisi ex auditione norunt. Ex notis autem, amicos, ac pæne Socios habent Souriquios, Eteminquios, Montagnetios, Almochiquios, Algomequios, & Ochasteguios: istis capitales hostes Iroquios, hostili quoque in se animo experiuntur, eo maximè nomine, quòd Iroquiis Galli cum ipsorum hostibus bellum intulerint. Horum quidem populorum soli agriculturam, inscienter tamen, exercent Almochiquij, Iroquij, & Ochasteguij, miliumque Indicum, & fabam Brasilicam ferunt.
New France presents to the French, as they approach it, two coasts, one which borders with a narrow frontage upon our Ocean to the East; and another far longer, which extends Southward to the confines of Florida. The former side abounds in bays and estuaries, by which one may readily penetrate into the interior; by these routes the French usually enter these regions; but, since the other coast, lying opposite our France, is rendered almost inaccessible by the intervention of a great island which they call Newfoundland, our people do not approach in that direction. The immense plain in that quarter is watered by a river of vast size and mighty volume, its course directly eastward from almost the farthest west, until, by reason of the narrow strait at the island of Newfoundland [566] and the opposition of the island itself, its mouth is broadly curved towards the Southern coast. The native name of that river is Sacqué;[50] the French have called it St. Lawrence; its source the natives seek more than 500 leagues distant, in a lake 300 leagues in width. Into this main stream other noble rivers flow from the North, such as the Saguenay,[51] the Three Rivers,[52]—or three rivers flowing together,—the Algomequi,[53] and many others. These rivers are open for navigation far Northward—the Saguenay five hundred leagues, the Three Rivers four hundred leagues, From the mountains[54] upon the Southern bank of the Sacqué River other notable streams flow across to the Southern coast of the Ocean, and from these the native names for most of the tribes and districts of that region are derived; but upon some of them the French afterward conferred names after their own fashion. The rivers flowing Southward are the St. John, Pentegoët, Quinibequi, Choüacoet,[11] and Norembega, which last stream Champlain[55] asserts to be the same as the Pentegoët. The tribes across the Sacqué or St. Lawrence, towards the North, not far from its mouth, are the Canadis[56] and Excomminquis;[10] but at a distance from these, on the same Northern shore, toward the west, in the direction of Florida, dwell the Algomeguis[57] and the Ochasteguis.[58] Across the St Lawrence, on the Southern bank, the Canadi live also, directly at the bend of the great river, which turns from the East towards the South.[59] Beyond them, toward the West, lie the Souriquois, inhabitants of the country of Acadia;[60] thence, toward the Pentegoët or Norembega River, the Pentegoëts;[6] [567] to their right, looking Westward, about the fortress at Quebec,[59] the Montagnais; beyond the Pentegoëts; directly toward the Quinibequi River, the Eteminquis; then the Almochiquois, at the Choüacoet River, scattered over a very extensive region; finally, between Florida and the great Sacqué River, the Iroquois inhabit enormous tracts of both level and mountainous country. Many of the remaining tribes of New France, especially those of the North, across the great Sacqué River, our French countrymen know only from hearsay. Among those whom they know, however, they have secured as friends, and almost as allies, the Souriquois, Eteminquis, Montagnais, Almochiquois, Algomequois, and Ochasteguis. The Iroquois, who are deadly enemies of these tribes, prove hostile to the French also, mainly because the latter have waged war against them, in company with their enemies. Certain of these tribes—the Almochiquois, Iroquois, and Ochasteguis—practice agriculture, though unskillfully, and plant Indian corn and the Brazilian bean.[61]
Promontoria celebria Franciam Nouam ineuntibus Meridiano littore occurrunt, Britonicum, ad ipsa ostia magni amnis, hoc est Sancti Laurentij; ab hoc deinde Heuæum, Arietinum, Sabulosum, Bifidum, Sanctus Ludouicus, Album, Sancta Helena. Eamdem oram à Promontorio Britonico legentibus obuij fiunt portus, Campsæus, Sesambræus, Regius, Pulcher. Mediterranea verò per Sacquéum amnem, & Canadiæ fines subire volentibus, præteruehenda sunt, Britonicum, ad ostia eiusdem fluuij; Sanctus-Laurentius; Episcopium, [208] [568] Chatæum, & alia nonnulla promontoria: Tadoussacus denique portus ad Saguenaij fluminis ostia Sacqéum ineuntis.
Numerous headlands meet those who approach New France by the Southern coast: Breton, at the very mouth of the great river St. Lawrence; next in order, La Hève, Mouton, Sable, Fourchu, St. Louis, Blanc, Ste. Hélène.[62] Those who coast along the same shore from Cape Breton meet the harbors called Campseau, Sesambre, Port Royal, and Beaubassin.[63] But those who wish to journey inland, beyond the borders of Canada, by way of the Sacqué river, must pass Cape Breton, at the mouth of the St. Lawrence; Cap de l'Evêque, [568] Cap Chat,[64] and some other headlands,—finally reaching Tadoussac bay, at the mouth of the Saguenay river, where it enters the Sacqué.
Porrò in tam immenso terrarum ambitu, frequentibus expeditionibus, annis ampliùs centum, Franci domicilia omnino quinque constituerunt, quorum primum posuit Iacobus Quartierus posteriore sua nauigatione, non ad Sanctæ Crucis, quæ nunc est, importuosas angustias, & cautes: sed in iis pænè vestigiis vbi nunc est Quebecum, Sancta Cruce quindenis leucis citerius. Altertum Petrus du Gas, dominus de Monts, anno quarto supra millesimum sexcentesimum erexit, in angusta insula, inter Eteminquios, in Australi propemodum littore: cui domicilio ac insulæ nomen Sancta Crux indidit. Idem eodem anno, in quasi peninsula, oræ Acadicæ, ad Regium Portum, eiusdem nominis exiguam arcem fossa & aggere munitam exstruxit. Portus Regius, & portui cognominis arx, sunt in ea, quam Franciam Baïam vocant, centum quinquaginta leucis à Campsæo promontorio, leucas octo intra continentem. Baïa scilicet Francis, sicut Hispanis, est amplior terræ sinus ad oram maris, aut fluminis maioris, angulato orbiculatóve recessu, influenti aquæ ad interiora continentis præbens aditum. In extremo Francico Sinu portus est octingentorum passuum ostio peruius, duas leucas longus, vnam latus, duûm millium capax maiorum nauium, cui ab nobilitate Regius Portus nomen à Champlænio Franco est inditum. Tertiam sedem quarto pòst anno condidit dominus de [569] Monts ad Quebecium cornu, in [210] Australi ripa Sacquéi amnis, è regione Aurelianæ insulæ, in Montagnetiorum solo; quam arcem Champlænius, qui operi præfuit, Quebecum à soli nomine appellauit, & eodem pænè loco Sanctam Crucem Iacobi Quartieri arcem olim conditam fuisse obseruauit. Quinti & vltimi Francici domicilij fundamenta Patres nostri iaciebant, ad ostium amnis Pentegoetij, cùm ab irrumpentibus Anglis opere prohibiti, atque in captiuitatem contra fas, & ius gentium abducti sunt. Iis ad hunc modum præmissis capitibus, quæ alioqui moratura erant institutam rerum narrationem, ad susceptam à Patribus nostris Canadicam expeditionem stylum conferamus.