Part 2

Having done the things of greatest urgency, and grey-bearded father Winter being come, they needs must keep indoors, and live every man under his own roof-tree. During this time our friends had three special discomforts in this island, to wit, want of wood (for that on the said island had been used for the buildings), want of fresh water, and the night watch for fear of a surprise from the Indians who were encamped at the foot of the said island, or from some other enemy; for such is the evil disposition and fury of many Christians, that one must be more on one's guard against them than against the infidel. This it grieveth me to say; would indeed that I were a liar herein, and that I had no cause to speak it. Thus when water or wood was required they were constrained to cross the river, which on either side is more than three times as broad as the Seine at Paris. This was both painful and tedious; so that very often one had to bespeak the boat a day in advance before being able to get the use of it. On top of this came cold and snow and frost so hard that the cider froze in the casks, and each man was given his portion by weight. As for wine, it was only given out on certain days of the week. Some lazy fellows drank melted snow without troubling to cross the river. In short, unknown diseases broke out, like those which Captain Jacques Cartier has already described for us, of which for fear of vain repetition I shall therefore not give an account. No remedy could be found.

4. THE ANCIENT MARINER (1631).

=Source.=--_The Strange and Dangerous Voyage of Captain Thomas James to Hudson Bay, 1631-2_: which is believed to be the source of much of Coleridge's _Ancient Mariner_. Reprinted by the Hakluyt Society, 1894.

[Nov.] I lay ashore till the 17, all which time our miseries did increase. It did snow and freeze most extremely. At which time, we looking from the shore towards the ship, she did look like a piece of ice in the fashion of a ship, or a ship resembling a piece of ice. The snow was all frozen about her....

The three-and-twentieth, the ice did increase extraordinarily, and the snow lay on the water in flakes as it did fall; much ice withal drove by us, yet nothing hard all this while. In the evening, after the watch was set, a great piece came athwart our hawse, and four more followed after him, the least of them a quarter of a mile broad; which, in the dark, did very much astonish us, thinking it would have carried us out of the harbour upon the shoals Easter Point, which was full of rocks. It was newly congealed, a matter of two inches thick, and we broke thorough it, the cable and anchor enduring an incredible stress, sometimes stopping the whole ice....

[May.] The second, it did snow and blow, and was so cold that we were fain to keep house all day. This unexpected cold at this time of the year did so vex our sick men that they grew worse and worse. We cannot now take them out of their beds but they would swound, and we had much ado to fetch life in them.

The third, those that were able went aboard betimes to heave out the ice. The snow was now melted in many places upon the land, and stood in plashes. And now there came some cranes and geese to it.

The fourth, while the rest wrought aboard, I and the surgeon went with a couple of pieces to see if we could kill any of these fowl for our sick men; but never did I see such wild-fowl: they would not endure to see anything move....

[July.] ... We were continually till the 22 so pestered and tormented with ice that it would seem incredible to relate it. Sometimes we were so blinded with fog that we could not see about us; and, being now become wilful in our endeavours, we should so strike against the ice that the forepart of the ship would crack again, and make our cook and others to run up all amazed and think the ship had been beaten all to pieces. Indeed we did hourly strike such unavoidable blows that we did leave the hatches open; and, 20 times in a day, the men would run down into the hold to see if she were bulged.

Sometimes, when we had made her fast in the night to a great piece of ice, we should have such violent storms that our fastening would break, and then the storm would beat us from piece to piece most fearfully; other-while, we should be fast enclosed amongst great ice as high as our poop.

5. TWO ENGLISH EXPLORERS MEET IN HUDSON BAY (1631).

=Source.=--_The North-West Fox_, Captain Luke Fox's account of his voyage. Reprinted by the Hakluyt Society, 1894.

[30 Aug.] I was well entertained and feasted by Captain James with variety of such cheer as his sea provisions could afford, with some partridges; we dined betwixt decks, for the great cabin was not big enough to receive ourselves and followers; during which time the ship ... threw in so much water as we could not have wanted sauce if we had had roast mutton.

Whereat I began to ponder whether it were better for his company to be impounded amongst ice, where they might be kept from putrefaction by the piercing air; or in open sea, to be kept sweet by being thus daily pickled. However, they were to be pitied, the ship taking her liquor as kindly as ourselves, for her nose was no sooner out of the pitcher but her neb, like the duck's, was in it again. The gentleman could discourse of Art (as observations, calculations and the like), and shewed me many instruments, so that I did perceive him to be a practitioner in the mathematics; but, when I found that he was no seaman, I did blame those very much who had counselled him to make choice of that ship for a voyage of such importance....

And (being demanded) I did not think much for his keeping out his flag; for my ambition was [not so] ethereal, and my thoughts not so airy, so to set my sight towards the sky, but when I either called to God or made celestial observation. To this was replied that he was going to the Emperor of Japan with letters from his Majesty; and that, if it were a ship of his Majesty's of 40 pieces of ordnance, he could not strike his flag. "Keep it up then," quoth I, "but you are out of the way to Japan, for this is not it." He would have persuaded me to take harbour to winter in, telling me that Sir Thomas Button took harbour the 14 of this instant. Quoth I, "He is no precedent for me. I must parallel my poverty with poor Hudson's, who took no harbour before the first of November; and that then I durst not take harbour until the midst of the same; besides, I was not come to do so much as another man, but more than any, as I had already done...."

We parted not until the next morning's dawning, and this 17 hours was the worst spent of any time of my discovery. My men told me his men gave them some tobacco, a thing good for nothing.

6. THE BIRTHDAY OF MONTREAL (1642).

=Source.=--_The Jesuits in North America_, by Francis Parkman, 1867--not itself an original contemporary source, but based mainly on a MS. _Histoire de Montreal_, by Dollier de Casson.

In many of its aspects, this enterprise of Montreal belonged to the time of the first Crusades....

On the seventeenth of May, 1642, Maisonneuve's little flotilla--a pinnace, a flat-bottomed craft moved by sails, and two row-boats--approached Montreal; and all on board raised in unison a hymn of praise. Montmagny was with them, to deliver the island, in behalf of the Company of the Hundred Associates, to Maisonneuve, representative of the Associates of Montreal. And here, too, was Father Vimont, Superior of the missions; for the Jesuits had been prudently invited to accept the spiritual charge of the young colony. On the following day, they glided along the green and solitary shores now thronged with the life of a busy city, and landed on the spot which Champlain, thirty-one years before, had chosen as the fit site of a settlement. It was a tongue or triangle of land, formed by the junction of a rivulet with the St. Lawrence, and known afterwards as Point Callière. The rivulet was bordered by a meadow, and beyond rose the forest with its vanguard of scattered trees. Early spring flowers were blooming in the young grass, and birds of varied plumage flitted among the boughs.

Maisonneuve sprang ashore, and fell on his knees. His followers imitated his example; and all joined their voices in enthusiastic songs of thanksgiving. Tents, baggage, arms and stores were landed. An altar was raised on a pleasant spot near at hand; and Mademoiselle Mance, with Madame de la Peltrie, aided by her servant, Charlotte Barré, decorated it with a taste which was the admiration of the beholders. Now all the company gathered before the shrine. Here stood Vimont, in the rich vestments of his office. Here were the two ladies, with their servant; Montmagny, no very willing spectator; and Maisonneuve, a war-like figure, erect and tall, his men clustering around him--soldiers, sailors, artisans, and labourers--all alike soldiers at need. They kneeled in reverent silence as the Host was raised aloft; and when the rite was over, the priest turned and addressed them:

"You are a grain of mustard-seed, that shall rise and grow till its branches overshadow the earth. You are few, but your work is the work of God. His smile is on you, and your children shall fill the land."

The afternoon waned; the sun sank behind the western forest, and twilight came on. Fire-flies were twinkling over the darkened meadow. They caught them, tied them with threads into shining festoons, and hung them before the altar, where the Host remained exposed. Then they pitched their tents, lighted their bivouac fires, stationed their guards, and lay down to rest. Such was the birth-night of Montreal.

7. GOVERNOR FRONTENAC LEADS THE WAR-DANCE (1690).

=Source.=--F. Parkman's _Count Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV_. (1877). The foot-note appended gives the words of the original French authorities.

Having painted, greased and befeathered themselves, the Indians mustered for the grand council which always preceded the opening of the market. The Ottawa orator spoke of nothing but trade, and, with a regretful memory of the cheapness of English goods, begged that the French would sell them at the same rate. The Huron touched upon politics and war, declaring that he and his people had come to visit their old father and listen to his voice, being well assured that he would never abandon them, as others had done, nor fool away his time, like Denonville, in shameful negotiations for peace; and he exhorted Frontenac to fight, not the English only, but the Iroquois also, till they were brought to reason. "If this is not done," he said, "my father and I shall both perish; but, come what may, we will perish together." "I answered," writes Frontenac, "that I would fight the Iroquois till they came to beg for peace, and that I would grant them no peace that did not include all my children, both white and red, for I was the father of both alike."

Now ensued a curious scene. Frontenac took a hatchet, brandished it in the air and sang the war-song. The principal Frenchmen present followed his example. The Christian Iroquois of the two neighbouring missions rose and joined them, and so also did the Hurons and the Algonquins of Lake Nipissing, stamping and screeching like a troop of madmen; while the Governor led the dance, whooping like the rest. His predecessor would have perished rather than play such a part in such company; but the punctilious old courtier was himself half Indian at heart, as much at home in a wigwam as in the halls of princes. Another man would have lost respect in Indian eyes by such a performance. In Frontenac, it roused his audience to enthusiasm. They snatched the proffered hatchet and promised war to the death.

Then came a solemn war-feast. Two oxen and six large dogs had been chopped to pieces for the occasion, and boiled with a quantity of prunes. Two barrels of wine with abundant tobacco were also served out to the guests, who devoured the meal in a species of frenzy.

["Je leur mis moy-mesme la hache à la main en chantant la chanson de guerre pour m'accomoder à leurs façons de faire." _Frontenac au Ministre_, 9 et 12 Nov. 1690.

"Monsieur de Frontenac commença la chanson de guerre, la hache à la main; les principaux chefs des François se joignant à luy avec de pareilles armes la chantèrent ensemble. Les Iroquois du Saut et de la Montagne, les Hurons et les Nipisiriniens donnèrent encore le branle: l'on eut dit, Monsieur, que ces acteurs étoient des possedez par les gestes et les contorsions qu'ils faisoient. Les _Sassakouez_, ou les cris et les hurlemens que Mr. de Frontenac étoit obligé de faire pour se conformer à leur manière, augmentoit encore la fureur bachique." _La Potherie_, iii. 97.]

8. MADELAINE DE VERCHÈRES (1696).

=Source.=--Narrative of the Heroic Deeds of Mlle. Marie-Madelaine de Verchères, aged fourteen years, against the Iroquois, on the 22nd October, in the year 1696, at eight o'clock in the morning,[1] quoted in Mr. E. Richard's _Supplement to the Report on Canadian Archives_, 1899.

I was five arpents away from the fort of Verchères, belonging to Sieur de Verchères, my father, who was then at Kebek by order of M. le Chevalier de Callières, Governor of Montreal, my mother being also in Montreal. I heard several shots without knowing at whom they were fired. I soon saw that the Iroquois were firing at our settlers, who lived about a league and a half from the fort. One of our servants called out to me:

"Fly, mademoiselle, fly! the Iroquois are upon us!"

I turned instantly and saw some forty-five Iroquois running towards me, and already within pistol shot. Determined rather to die than fall into their hands, I sought safety in flight. I ran towards the fort, commending myself to the Blessed Virgin....

Meantime my pursuers, seeing that they were too far off to take me alive before I could enter the fort, and knowing they were near enough to shoot me, stood still in order to discharge their guns at me. I was under fire for quite a time, at any rate I found the time quite long enough! Forty-five bullets whistling past my ears made the time seem long and the distance from the fort interminable, though I was so near. When within hearing of the fort, I cried out: "To arms! to arms!"

I hoped that some one would come out to help me, but it was a vain hope. There were but two soldiers in the fort, and these were so overcome by fear that they had sought safety by concealing themselves in the redoubt. Having reached the gates at last, I found there two women lamenting for the loss of their husbands, who had just been killed. I made them enter the fort, and closed the gates myself. I then began to consider how I might save myself and the little party with me, from the hands of the savages. I examined the fort, and found that several of the stakes had fallen, leaving gaps through which it would be easy for the enemy to enter. I gave orders to have the stakes replaced, and heedless of my sex and tender age, I hesitated not to seize one end of the heavy stake and urge my companions to give a hand in raising it. I found by experience that, when God gives us strength, nothing is impossible.

The breaches having been repaired, I betook myself to the redoubt, which served as a guard-house and armoury. I there found two soldiers, one of them lying down and the other holding a burning fuse. I said to the latter:

"What are you going to do with that fuse?"

"I want to set fire to the powder," said he, "and blow up the fort."

"You are a miserable wretch," I said, adding, "Begone, I command you!"

I spoke so firmly that he obeyed forthwith. Thereupon putting aside my hood and donning a soldier's casque, I seized a musket and said to my little brothers:

"Let us fight to the death for our country and for our holy religion. Remember what our father has so often told you, that gentlemen are born but to shed their blood for the service of God and the king!"

Stirred up by my words, my brothers and the two soldiers kept up a steady fire on the foe. I caused the cannon to be fired, not only to strike terror into the Iroquois and show them that we were well able to defend ourselves, since we had a cannon, but also to warn our own soldiers, who were away hunting, to take refuge in some other fort.

But alas! what sufferings have to be endured in these awful extremities of distress! Despite the thunder of our guns, I heard unceasingly the cries and lamentations of some unfortunates who had just lost a husband, a brother, a child or a parent. I deemed it prudent, while the firing was still kept up, to represent to the grief-stricken women that their shrieks exposed us to danger, for they could not fail to be heard by the enemy, notwithstanding the noise of the guns and the cannon. I ordered them to be silent and thus avoid giving the impression that we were helpless and hopeless.

While I was speaking thus, I caught sight of a canoe on the river, opposite the fort. It was Sieur Pierre Fontaine with his family, who were about to land at the spot where I had just barely escaped from the Iroquois, the latter being still visible on every hand. The family must fall into the hands of the savages if not promptly succoured.

I asked the two soldiers to go to the landing-place, only five arpents away, and protect the family. But seeing by their silence, that they had but little heart for the work, I ordered our servant, Laviolette, to stand sentry at the gate of the fort and keep it open, while I would myself go to the bank of the river, carrying a musket in my hand and wearing my soldier's casque. I left orders on setting out, that if I was killed, they were to shut the gates and continue to defend the fort sturdily. I set out with the heaven-sent thought that the enemy, who were looking on, would imagine that it was a ruse on my part to induce them to approach the fort, in order that our people might make a sortie upon them.

This was precisely what happened, and thus was I enabled to save poor Pierre Fontaine, with his wife and children. When all were landed, I made them march before me as far as the fort, within sight of the enemy. By putting a bold face upon it, I made the Iroquois think there was more danger for them than for us.

They did not know that the whole garrison, and only inhabitants of the fort of Verchères, were my two brothers aged 12 years, our servant, two soldiers, an old man of eighty, and some women and children.

Strengthened by the new recruits from Pierre Fontaine's canoe, I gave orders to continue firing at the enemy. Meantime the sun went down, and a fierce north-easter accompanied by snow and hail ushered in a night of awful severity. The enemy kept us closely invested, and instead of being deterred by the dreadful weather, led me to judge by their movements that they purposed assaulting the fort under cover of the darkness.

I gathered all my troops--six persons--together, and spoke to them thus: "God has saved us to-day from the hands of our enemies, but we must be careful not to be caught in their snares to-night. For my part, I want to show you that I am not afraid. I undertake the fort for my share, with an old man of eighty, and a soldier who has never fired a gun. And you, Pierre Fontaine, with La Bonté and Galhet (our two soldiers), will go to the redoubt, with the women and children, as it is the strongest place. If I am taken, never surrender, even though I should be burnt and cut to pieces before your eyes. You have nothing to fear in the redoubt, if you only make some show of fighting."

Thereupon I posted my two young brothers on two of the bastions, the _youth_ of 80 on a third bastion, and myself took charge of the fourth. Each one acted his part to the life. Despite the whistling of the north-east wind, which is a fearful wind in Canada at this season, and in spite of the snow and hail, the cry of "All's well" was heard at close intervals, echoing and re-echoing from the fort to the redoubt and from the redoubt to the fort.

One would have fancied, to hear us, that the fort was crowded with warriors. And in truth the Iroquois, with all their astuteness and skill in warfare, were completely deceived, as they afterwards avowed to M. de Callières. They told him they had held a council with a view to assaulting the fort during the night, but that the increasing vigilance of the guard had prevented them from accomplishing their design, especially in view of their losses of the previous day (under the fire maintained by myself and my two brothers)....

On the eighth day (for we were eight days in continual alarms, under the eyes of our enemies and exposed to their fury and savage attacks), on the eighth day, I say, M. de la Monnerie, a lieutenant detached from the force under M. de Callières, reached the fort during the night with forty men.... So soon as I saw the officer in command I saluted him, saying:

"Sir, you are welcome, I surrender my arms to you."

"Mademoiselle," he answered, with a courtly air, "they are in good hands."

"Better than you think," I replied.

He inspected the fort and found it in a most satisfactory condition, with a sentry on each bastion. I said to him:

"Sir, kindly relieve my sentries, so that they may take a little rest, for we have not left our posts for the last eight days."

9. THE FRENCH CANADIANS (1737).

=Source.=--A Memoir transmitted to the French Ministry, probably by Gilles Hocquart, intendant of New France: quoted in _Documents relating to the Seigniorial Tenure in Canada_, edited by W. B. Munro. Toronto, 1908.

La colonie de la Nouvelle-France peut comprendre environ 40,000 personnes de tout âge et de tout sexe, sur lesquelles il se trouve dix mille hommes en estat de porter les armes. Les Canadiens sont naturellement grands, bien faits, d'un tempérament vigoureux. Comme les arts n'y sont point gênés par des maîtrises, et que dans les commencements de l'établissement de la colonie les ouvriers étoient rares, la nécessité les a rendus industrieux de génération en génération. Les habitans des campagnes manient tous adroitement la hache. Ils font eux-mêmes la pluspart des outils et ustensiles de labourage, bâtissent leurs maisons, leurs granges. Plusieurs sont tisserans, font de grosses toiles et des étoffes qu'ils appellent droguet, dont ils se servent pour se vêtir eux et leur famille.

Ils aiment les distinctions et les caresses, se piquant de bravoure, sont extrêmement sensibles aux mépris et aux moindres punitions: ils sont intéressés, vindicatifs, sont sujets à l'ivrognerie, font un grand usage de l'eau-de-vie, [et] passent pour n'être pas véridiques.