[31] (p. [105]).—Cf. vol. [i.], p. [261]; and Sagard's Canada, pp. 271-273, for descriptions of the vapor-bath as a therapeutic agent, among the North American aborigines.
[32] (p. [105]).—Maurault (Hist. Abenakis, p. 15) says that the Abenakis "were not wont to show their discontent or hatred by oaths or blasphemies. The same thing may still be noticed among them. They have the greatest horror of imprecations and blasphemies; and there are no words in their language to express these, so often uttered by Canadians." Cf. Schoolcraft (Ind. Tribes, vol. vi., p. 682): "The Algonquin language has no words for the expression of oaths; an Algonquin can neither swear nor blaspheme."
[33] (p. [107]).—Pierre Antoine, surnamed Pastedechouan (Patetchounon, or Atetkouanon); a young Montagnais or Canadian, who was taken to France (1620) by the Récollet missionaries, and there baptized and educated. Sagard says that "he became proficient in Latin and French; and, on his return to Quebec [1625], the missionaries were obliged to send him back to his relatives for a time, that he might regain his native language, which he had almost forgotten." Captured by Admiral Kirk in 1628, he refused to serve as an interpreter, and soon after escaped. See an account of this youth in Sagard's Canada, pp. 865, 936-938; cf. Creuxius's Hist. Canad., p. 110; Shea's Le Clercq, vol. i., pp. 235, 273, 294-296.
[34] (p. [111]).—Guillaume Guillemot, sieur Duplessis-Bochart (sometimes written Duplessis-Querbodo); the lieutenant of Emery de Caen, upon the latter's return in 1632, and afterwards admiral of the fleet, under Champlain. In 1634, he transported Robert Giffard's colony to Beauport; and, in the same year, he took an active part in the foundation of Three Rivers. He seems to have been a prominent and influential member of the Quebec colony, for nearly twenty years, though but few details of his life are known. In November, 1651, he was appointed governor of Three Rivers (his salary being 5,250 livres per annum), in which position he remained until Aug. 19, 1652, when he was slain by the Iroquois, while endeavoring to repel their attack upon his post. Charlevoix mentions him as "a good officer and a worthy man;" and Mother Mary of the Incarnation writes of him as "a very brave and honorable gentleman." See Sulte's account of him, Chron. trifluv., pp. 126, 136, 137; and Can.-Français, vol. ii., p. 45; also Ferland's Cours d' Histoire, vol. i., p. 406.
[35] (p. [113]).—Nicolas Marsolet (Marsollet), born at Rouen, 1587; he seems to have come to Canada with Champlain (about 1608, according to Sulte; but 1613, according to Tanguay), and was long an interpreter for the Montagnais and Algonkin tribes. Champlain says (Laverdière's ed., pp. 1229, 1249-1263) that, when Kirk captured Quebec, Marsolet, with several other Frenchmen, deserted to the English; and that it was through Marsolet's trickery that he himself was not allowed by Kirk to take with him to France the three Indian girls who had been presented to him some time before. Marsolet, however, afterwards asserted that the English forced him to remain with them. He married Marie La Barbide, probably about 1636; and their daughter Marie, born in the following year, is mentioned in the Journal des Jésuites, under date of 1647. In 1646-47, Marsolet figures as a leader of the habitants in their quarrels with the Hundred Associates. April 16 of the latter year, he obtained from the company the fief of St. Aignan, with a half-league frontage on the St. Lawrence, and a depth of two leagues; but in 1669 he sold it to Michel Pelletier. In 1672, Marsolet obtained from Talon another grant, nearly as large as the former, on the Grande Rivière du Chêne, apparently in the present Lotbinière county; this fief was known as Prairies Marsolet. He died May 15, 1677.—Sulte's Can.-Français, vols. ii.-v.; and Ferland's Cours d'Histoire, vol. i., p. 234. Sulte calls him "the little king of Tadoussac;" during most of his life, he was engaged in trade at that port. Many of his descendants now live in the vicinity of Three Rivers.
[36] (p. [115]).—Alien word: Maurault, speaking of the alliance between the English and the Mohicans (1621), says of the latter that "many of them had learned to speak English passably." He adds: "All the savages of New England showed great aptitude for learning the English language, and gradually introduced many English words into their own. The Abenakis showed the same aptitude for that language. But it was not the same with the French; these savages knew only a few words of that language, which they pronounced almost unintelligibly, although a great many of them spoke English quite readily."—Hist. Abenakis, pp. vii.-ix., 39.
[37] (p. [115]).—Sagamo: cf. vol. i., note 16. This word appears, in varying forms, in many Algonkin dialects. The Abenaki word, according to Kidder, is "sogmo,"—o being a nasal vowel; Vetromile writes it "saghem," or "sangman," and defines it as "over the whole world." Maillard gives the Micmac word as "chakman." The Lenâpe word was "sakima;" the Algonkin is "okima," as given by Cuoq.
Schoolcraft relates (Ind. Tribes, vol. vi., p. 202) a legend current among the Ottawas, concerning "Sagima, a renowned personage, to whom they attribute the origin of their tribe."
[38] (p. [117]).—See Cuoq's "Grammaire de la langue algonquine," in Canad. Roy. Soc. Proc., vol. ix., sect. 1, p. 85; and vol. x., sect. 1, p. 41. Cf. Pilling's Bibliog. Algon. Lang., pp. 6-9.
[39] (p. [127]).—Raquettes: snowshoes. This word is very old; its earlier forms were rachete or rasquete. It is derived by Littré (through Low Latin racha) from the Arabic rāha, "palm of the hand;" by Menage and others, from Latin reticulata, "netted." In either case, its present use is traceable to certain ball-games. The earliest of these was that called by the French "paume" (from Latin palma), in which the ball was struck with the palm of the hand; it was exceedingly popular in the countries of Western Europe, and was common at least as early as the thirteenth century, afterwards becoming known as "tennis" (a word of uncertain derivation). Of historic interest, in this connection, is the serment du jeu paume (oath of the tennis court), a name given to that session of the Third Estate at Versailles, June 20, 1789, at which the deputies swore not to adjourn till they had given a constitution to France.