Part 3

It was on the 3rd of July, 1608, that Champlain first arrived at Quebec; the remainder of the season and the winter were fully occupied with the necessary works of lodging the people, apportioning and clearing land, getting supplies of firing, etc., and exploring the country in the more immediate neighbourhood. On the 18th of May in the next year, Champlain proceeded to examine the river above the new settlement. At the little island of St. Eloy, near the river St. Marie, he fell in with a body of two or three hundred Indians, "Algenquins and Ochotiquens," who were on their way to Quebec to beg his assistance (which they reminded him he had promised ten moons before to the son of their chief) against the Iroquois, with whom they were at deadly feud. Champlain promised his aid, and returned with them to the settlement, where they remained for five or six days feasting and rejoicing. From thence he wrote to Du Pont Grave, who was at Tadoussac, begging him to join him as soon as possible; and so soon as he arrived Champlain again left Quebec with the Indians, and on the 1st of June arrived at Saint Croix with a boat furnished with all things necessary for the expedition. From thence he continued to the Iroquois river, but finding that he could not pass the first rapid with his boat, as the natives had assured him, he resolved to pursue the journey in the canoes of the Indians. The greater part of his men refused to follow him, but, resolved to fulfil his promise, and desirous of visiting a great lake and beautiful country in the enemy's territory, which had been described to him by his allies, he determined on proceeding, with only two of his men, who volunteered to accompany him.

On the 2nd of July, the expedition left the rapids and ascended the Iroquois river to the lake above mentioned, where they were met by some two hundred of the enemy; a battle ensued, in which Champlain, at one shot of his arquebuss loaded with four balls, killed two of their chiefs and wounded another, which equally astonished both his friends and the enemies, who seeing their chiefs fall, fled, abandoning the field of battle and their village to the victors, who, after making good cheer, singing, and dancing, set out on their return with some ten or twelve prisoners.

Champlain gave his name to the lake on whose borders the action was fought, which it still retains.

On the way back, his Indian allies began tormenting one of their prisoners with the usual refinements of cruelty; which considerably disgusted Champlain, whom they requested "to do as they did." He angrily refused, but offered to put the poor wretch out of misery by shooting him at once with his arquebuss. Seeing that he was irritated, they told him he might do so, "and," says he naively, "so I did, without his seeing anything."

They soon arrived at Quebec, where he gave them "bread and peas and paternosters," to ornament the skulls of their enemies, as rejoicing on their return. The next day Champlain went with them in their canoes to Tadoussac, in order to witness their ceremonies; and does not omit to mention how the women stripped themselves stark naked, and threw themselves into the water to meet the canoes, taking the enemies' heads to hang round their necks as precious ornaments. His Indian friends also made him a present of some of their weapons and one of the heads "to show to his king," which to please them he promised.

From this first battle Champlain seems to have imbibed a taste for fighting the Iroquois (though why he mixed in the quarrel at all he does not explain), as in 1610 he again started from Quebec, with a boat and some of his people for the mouth of the Iroquois river, to join about four hundred Algenquins and others in another attack on their mortal enemies. They found the Iroquois intrenched in a "fort" or stockade, and after a sharp fight, in which Champlain was wounded by an arrow in the ear and neck, and one of his men in the arms, they stormed the "fort," assisted by the men whom he had left in the boat, but who, hearing the firing, thought it shame to remain idle while their comrades were fighting. On leaving the Algenquins, they insisted on his taking one of their young men with him as hostage for a young French lad whom he left with them, at his own desire, to learn their language, etc.

While Champlain was thus busily occupied, Mons. de Monts, who was then governor of Pons, in Saintonge, having remained at Paris to settle some private affairs, was again attacked and worried by the complaints of his former opponents, "the Bretons, Basques, and Normans," and, they again getting the ear of persons in power, De Monts was for the second time deprived of his privilege, and this time without any compensation. He wrote an account of the whole business to Champlain, who immediately returned to France, and, after having informed De Monts of his labours at Quebec, made a full report of all to the king, who received both him and it with much satisfaction.

De Monts endeavoured by every possible means to obtain a third commission, but his enemies were too powerful, and so managed matters that all his attempts and labour were in vain. Nevertheless, being extremely desirous of settling in the new country, he resolved, with or without commission, to continue his establishment there, and explore the country inland on the upper part of the St. Laurence; and for the better execution of the project he again equipped two ships, in conjunction with a company formed under the auspices of Father Coton (confessor to Henry IV) and of Madame de Guercheville, and which had obtained certain privileges for the establishment of a Jesuit mission in New France.[18] The vessels being ready, Champlain and Du Pont Grave embarked with labourers and artisans of all kinds, and arriving at Tadoussac and Quebec, found all things in good and flourishing condition.

[18] The Jesuits did not send a mission until the next year, 1611. Madame de Guercheville was the wife of M. de Liancour, "premier ecuyer" to the king, and governor of Paris: she was one of the most ardent supporters of the Jesuits, as the following trait will shew: "When the expedition of M. de Biencour, son of M. de Poitrincourt, was preparing at Dieppe in 1611, the Jesuits sent two of their company, the fathers Biart and Remond Masse, to join it, and proceed to establish a mission in Canada. On their arrival at Dieppe, the Sieurs du Querne and Jourdain, Protestants and members of the Company of New France, would not allow them to embark, treating them with disdain and contumely. At which Madame de Guercheville was so indignant that, aided by the influence of Father Coton, she managed to force the recusant Protestants to quit the company, with an indemnity of four thousand livres for their shares."--Asselini, MS. Chronicle, 1682.

In 1611, in the early spring, Champlain started from Quebec in order to meet the Indians with the young Frenchman, and give back the hostages left at the settlement; but not finding them, he continued to explore the country as far as Mont Royal, or Montreal. Shortly after the natives arrived, and after exchanging presents, he took leave of them, trusting another lad to their care, with particular instructions as to the observations he was to make while with them. He returned to Quebec in June, and finding matters proceeding regularly he sailed for France, arriving at La Rochelle on the 11th of August.

On the 5th of March of the next year (1612), Champlain again embarked at Honfleur for Quebec, arriving on the 7th of May, and finding all who had wintered there in health and prospering. The winter had been so mild that the river had not been frozen, "the trees also began to reclothe themselves with leaves, and the fields to be enameled with flowers."

On the 23rd, he left Quebec for the Sault St. Louis with two canoes, having with him only four men, one of whom was a certain Nicolas Vignan, "the most impudent liar that had been seen for a long time," as will presently appear. One of Champlain's cherished projects was to endeavour to penetrate to the Arctic Sea by means of some of the rivers tributary to the St. Lawrence, which, by the account of the natives, had their sources in great lakes, from which other streams flowed towards the north.

This man Vignan had formerly wintered with the natives, and had been sent on journeys of exploration by Champlain on various occasions. He had returned to Paris, where, in the commencement of the present year (1612), he had assured Champlain that he had seen the Northern Sea; that the Algenquin river issued from a lake, which by another river discharged itself into the said sea, and that in seventeen days he might go to it from Sault St. Louis. He added that he had seen the wreck of an English ship which had been lost on the coast, and that eighty men had escaped to land, where they had all been killed by the savages. He had been shown their heads, which had been skinned (scalped) according to their custom; and the Indians wished to present them to Champlain, with a young English boy whom they had preserved.

"This news," says Champlain, "rejoiced me greatly, thinking I had found near me that which I had sought far off; so I conjured him to tell me the truth, that I might inform the king. If his relation was false he would put a rope round his neck, while if what he said was true he would assuredly be well recompensed. He assured me of the truth of his statement with more oaths than ever, and to play his part better, he gave me an account of the country, which, he said, he had made as well as he could." All these details, the assurance of the man, and the air of simplicity which Champlain thought he perceived in him, combined with a knowledge of the voyage which the English had made to Labrador near that time, where they had wintered about the 63 deg. of latitude and 250 deg. of longitude, and had actually lost some vessels, induced him to give credence to the man's story, and make a report of it to the Chancellor. He also presented him to the Marechal de Brissac and other high personages, who strongly recommended Champlain to look after the matter in person. Upon this advice he procured a passage for Vignan, in a vessel belonging to a Sieur Georges of La Rochelle, who, asking him why he was going out, etc., was also told by Vignan that he was going to show the Northern Ocean, which he had seen, to Champlain, and made a formal declaration to that effect before a notary of the town.

On taking leave of his companions before quitting Quebec, as before mentioned, Champlain again told Vignan that if his tale was not exactly true he had better not attempt the journey, as he would incur much risk; when Vignan again declared, on peril of his life, that all that he had averred was true.

On Monday, 27th May, Champlain accordingly left the island of Ste. Helene on the expedition to discover the Northern Ocean, with four French and one Indian. The route that he followed is not clearly indicated; it is presumed that he ascended the Chaudiere river to a lake, where he landed on an island, which he named Isle Sainte Croix. On the 6th of June he left this island, in company with a number of the natives who had joined him. About ten leagues further they arrived at some rapids, where the Indians purposed to leave their canoes, when a great dispute arose between them and Vignan, who declared there was no danger in passing them. The Indians told him he must be tired of life, and advised Champlain not to believe him, "for he spoke not the truth." Champlain followed the advice of the natives, and well it was for him, as Vignan sought all kinds of difficulties, either to get rid of, or to disgust him with the enterprise, as he afterwards confessed. Continuing his journey he fell in with a tribe of Indians, who wondered much how he had surmounted the dangers and difficulties of the rapids and the route, "saying he and his people must have fallen from the clouds," and wishing to know what his object was. Champlain told him that he had come to help them in their wars, and for that purpose he wished to proceed further on to visit and arrange with some other chiefs, which rejoiced them greatly; so that they gave him two canoes to carry him on to the village of a great chief named "Tessouat," about eight leagues distant. This chief received him very well, though much astonished to see him, saying "he thought it was a dream, and could not believe what he beheld!"

On the following day a great council was held in the wigwam of Tessouat, with a preliminary feast, which gave Champlain occasion to protest against the Indian "cuisine," "because they cooked so dirtily." He asked them for fish and flesh, that he might prepare his dinner after his own fashion, "and for drink," says he, "we had fine clear water."

After much smoking and talking about his intentions of helping them to make war on their enemies, the Indians promised him four canoes, which gave him great joy; "forgetting all my past troubles in the hope of beholding that much desired sea"; but he had rejoiced rather too soon, as his interpreter shortly after hastened to tell him that the Indians had again consulted together, and had come to the conclusion that if he undertook the desired journey, then both he and they would die, so would not give the four canoes; but that if he would defer the expedition to the next year, they would go with him.

Champlain, very much grieved at this change, sought the chiefs, and told them boldly, that he "had hitherto considered them as men, and truthful, but that now they showed themselves to be children, and lying!" and that if four canoes were too many, to give two, and four of their people only. The Indians again represented the difficulties of the way, of the rapids, and the hostility of the people on the route, and said that it was for fear of losing him that they refused: to which he replied, that he had a man with him, "showing them my impostor," who had already been through the country, and had met with neither the difficulties nor hostility that they mentioned. It seems that Vignan had wintered with this very Tessouat and his tribe, so that he had fallen into a trap; and the old chief turning to him, said, "Nicolas, is it true that you have said that you had been to the Nibericini?" Vignan was a long time before answering, but at length said, "Yes, I have been;" on which the Indians rushed at him with loud outcries, "as if they would eat him up or tear him to pieces"; and Tessouat exclaimed, that he was an impudent liar, well knowing that every night he had slept at his side with his (Tessouat's) children, and rose every morning with him, so that if he had been with those people, it must have been during his sleep. "Let him be made to name the chiefs whom he had seen, and describe the rivers, the rapids, the lakes, and the country that he had passed," said the chief. Still Vignan affirmed anew, with many oaths, the truth of all that he had before said, and swore that he would proceed if the savages would give the canoes.

After some anxious private consideration of the probabilities and doubts, Champlain again called Vignan, and told him that the time was passed for dissimulation, and that now he must speak the truth, and he would forget the past; but that if he went further and found the statement false, he would assuredly have him hung or strangled; whereupon Vignan threw himself on his knees, and confessed that all that he had said in France and since was false; that he had never seen the Northern Sea, or been beyond the village of Tessouat, and had invented the whole story in order to return to Canada. Champlain, enraged, ordered him never to appear before him again, and immediately informed the Indians of the imposture; they proposed that Vignan should be left to them, and they would take care that he should tell no more lies, which Champlain declined. Finding his hopes thus frustrated and his journey at an end, on the 10th of June he took leave of Tessouat, and set out on his return, during which he met with nothing remarkable, save a false alarm of an attack of the enemy, and witnessing the offerings of the savages to the spirit of the Chaudiere rapid. He arrived at the Sault St. Louis on the 17th, accompanied by certain of his Indian friends, with whom he made an agreement that they should not trade without his permission. He made Vignan again confess his lies in presence of his countrymen; and, on his promising that he would retrieve his fault by making a journey to the Northern Ocean and bring back news of it in the following year, Champlain pardoned him. He then proceeded to Tadoussac, and, having nothing further to do that year in the country, sailed for France on the 8th of August, and in due time arrived at St. Malo.

I have dwelt somewhat at length on this episode of Vignan's imposture, as it preeminently shows the enterprising, persevering, and resolute character of Champlain, combined with a generous and forgiving disposition. Few at that time would have blamed him for inflicting summary justice on the liar who had so deceived him, or have condemned him had he left Vignan to the tender mercies of Tessouat and his tribe. The condition of pardon is also characteristic,--condemnation to perform the journey pretended to have been made, thus turning the imposture to some advantage.

On his arrival in France, Champlain found the affairs of the new company in great disorder, from the detention of its chief protector, Monseigneur le Prince de Conde, who had been created Viceroy of Canada, "and this," says he, "made me judge that the envious would not delay to vomit their poison, and that they would now do that which before they dared not; for the head being sick, the members cannot be healthy." After strange and scandalous intrigues which led to lawsuits, and consequently to greater confusion, the associates of the company began to perceive that, with all these cabals, the colony would be ruined and the company broken up, unless they sent aid in men and materials to continue the buildings and clearance of land.

Monsieur de Monts, always desirous to forward the interests of his favorite settlement, drew up articles by which the company should be obliged to furnish men, warlike stores, and provisions sufficient for two years, while the new lands were being cleared and cultivated; these articles were approved and laid before the Royal Council. "But," says Champlain, "I know not by what chance, all went off in smoke, and God did not permit the said articles to be accomplished."

During this time (in 1615) Champlain was at Honfleur, preparing for another voyage, when a certain Boyer, one of the company, "as malicious as he was litigious," attempted by chicane to deprive him of the post of lieutenant for Monsieur le Prince, which had been granted to him by letters patent, dated 15th October, 1612. "But all that did not touch me; having served as I had done, they could neither take away my charge, nor the appointments to which they had voluntarily obliged themselves when I had arranged their association." This attempt to deprive him of his well-earned honours, seems to have served as a lesson to Champlain not to engage himself in any way in the service of, or take share in, any of the companies which were purely formed for prosecuting the colonization and trade of New France, until the monopoly of the whole intercourse was centred in a society, formed subsequently in 1627, under the auspices and especial favour of the _de facto_ sovereign of France, Cardinal Richelieu. As lieutenant of the viceroys, he maintained a neutral position, powerful enough to control hostility, without subjecting himself to the influence of the cabals which perpetually divided the parties, Jesuits, Recollets, merchants, etc., who struggled for the chief power in the various associations.

On the 24th of April, 1615, Champlain left Honfleur with four missionaries (Jesuits) on board his vessel, and arrived without accident at Tadoussac on the 25th May. He proceeded immediately to the Sault St. Louis, when his first care was to arrange a treaty with the friendly Indians to assist them in their wars, on condition of their facilitating his enterprises of discovery, and with the view of advancing the progress of Christianity among them. By helping them to slay their enemies, he hoped to induce them to worship his God!

The Indians were to furnish two thousand five hundred warriors; and Champlain was to take as many men as he could, and besides, to give his allies some instruction in discipline, etc., which they received with great satisfaction, but, as by and by will be seen, by which they profited little.