Part 8

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.

'The 14th of _July_ we sailed out of the East North-east End of the Lake _de Fonte_, and passed a Lake I named the _Estricho de Ronquillo_, thirty-four Leagues long, two or three Leagues broad, twenty, twenty-six and twenty-eight Fathom of Water; we passed this Streight in ten Hours, having a stout Gale of Wind, and a whole Ebb. As we sailed more Easterly the Country grew very sensibly worse.'

What follows, 'as it is in the North and South Parts of _America_,' appears to me an additional Comment.

_De Fonte_ mentions, as he went more Easterly the Country grew worse; from which it may be supposed he found the Alteration to begin when he was come to the Eastern Part of the Lake, and more so, as he passed the Streights of _Ronquillo_.

Where the Streight of _Ronquillo_ terminated _de Fonte_ makes no mention; gives us no Account of the Soundings or Tides; but his Silence here, and the preceding Circumstances, sufficiently prove that he thought himself then in some Branch of the _Atlantick Ocean_. And it is to be observed there is the same affected Silence here as to the Part he was come into, as when he had left the Western Ocean and entered the North-east Part of the _South Sea_ to pass up to _Los Reys_.

'The 17th we came to an _Indian_ Town, and the _Indians_ told our Interpreter Mons. _Parmentiers_, that a little Way from us lay a great Ship, where there never had been one before.'

The _Indian_ telling the Interpreter _Parmentiers_, which expresses a Kind of Acquaintance made between them, and _de Fonte_'s passing out of the Lake into the Sea, coming to a Town, and _Parmentiers_ knowing the Language, is an Evidence of _Parmentiers_' having been there before. And we may suppose, that from the Time they left the River _Parmentiers_, _de Fonte_ had been on the Inquiry, it being now Time to expect the People from _Boston_; and what the _Indian_ told him was in pursuance of such Inquiry.

'We sailed to them, and found only one Man advanced in Years, and a Youth; the Man was the greatest Man in the Mechanical Parts of the Mathematicks, I had ever met with; my second Mate was an _Englishman_, an excellent Seaman, as was my Gunner, who had been taken Prisoners at _Campechy_, as well as the Master's Son; they told me the Ship was of _New England_, from a Town called _Boston_. The Owner and the whole Ship's Company came on board the thirtieth; and the Navigator of the Ship, Captain _Shapley_, told me, his Owner was a fine Gentleman, and _Major General_ of the largest Colony in _New England_, called the _Maltechusets_; so I received him like a Gentleman, and told him my Commission was to make a Prize of any People seeking a North-west or West Passage into the _South Sea_; but I would look on them as Merchants trading with the Natives for Bevers, Otters and other Furs and Skins, and so for a small Present of Provisions I had no need on, I gave him my Diamond Ring, which cost me twelve Hundred Pieces of Eight (which the modest Gentleman received with difficulty) and having given the brave Navigator _Captain Shapley_, for his fine Charts and Journals, a Thousand Pieces of Eight, and the Owner of the Ship, _Seimor Gibbons_, a quarter Cask of good _Peruan_ Wine, and the ten Seamen, each twenty Pieces of Eight, the sixth of _August_, with as much Wind as we could fly before and a Current, we arrived at the first Fall of the River _Parmentiers_.'

_De Fonte_ makes no Delay, but immediately proceeds as the Case required; finds an old Man aboard, the Man (as being a great Mechanick might be very useful on such an Expedition) and a Youth, might venture to stay, their Age would plead as to any Severity that might be intended by _de Fonte_; and through the Fear of which Severity the others retired into the Woods, where they could manage without being sensible of those Difficulties which _Europeans_ apprehend. To leave the Ship without any one aboard, _de Fonte_ could of Course have taken her as being deserted; and by their Retirement into the Woods, his Pursuit of them there would have alarmed the _Indians_, and more especially if he had attempted any Severity, it might have been fatal to him and his Company, from the Resistance they might have met with, not only from the _Boston_ People, but the _Indians_ assisting them, as they would have considered it as an Insult, an Exercise of Power which they would apprehend he had no Right to use in those Parts, as to a People who were trading with them, and been the Occasion that the _Spaniards_ would have been no more received as Friends in those Parts.

_De Fonte_ had particularly provided himself with some _Englishmen_, who, by a friendly Converse with the People from _Boston_, might endeavour to learn their Secrets, and prepare them the better by what they would be instructed to tell them to come to a Compliance with the Admiral's Intentions. The Result of this Affair _de Fonte_ only mentions; but they would not have staid away so long, would have returned sooner aboard, had they only left the Ship on Account of Trade. Trade was only a secondary Object, the Discovery was the principal, and they would not have staid in one Place, at this Season, had they not been necessitated through a Fear of _de Fonte_ so to do. It may be supposed the _Englishmen_ who were with _de Fonte_, two of whom were from _Campechy_, and the other become Catholick, as he was married to the Master's Daughter, they would not act either with much Sincerity or Truth as to their own Countrymen, but managed with the old Man to bring the Owner, Navigator, and rest of the Crew aboard.

On their return the Navigator of the Ship was the first who waited on the Admiral, and he calls him Captain _Shapley_, his Name _Nicholas Shapley_, who was famous as a Navigator, for his Knowledge in the Mathematicks and other Branches of Science, that the common People supposed he dealt in the Magick Art, and had the Name given him of _Old Nick_, not by the People of _Boston_, but by a Set of Libertines as they termed them, and who had separated from the People of _Boston_, and gone to live by themselves at _Piscatua_, where he was settled at a Place called _Kittery_, in the Province of _Main_; the Name of _Kittery_ given by his Brother _Alexander Shapley_, to a Tract of Land he had settled on there; and they write the Name _Shapley_ exactly in the Manner in which it is wrote in the Letter. The Brother _Alexander_ was a Cotemporary at _Oxford_ with Captain _James_, who went on Discovery, and his Acquaintance. The Descendants of _Alexander_, a genteel People, were not many Years since living at _Kittery_; but _Nicholas Shapley_ retired to _New London_, where he had a Son that was living in the Year one Thousand seven Hundred and fifty-two, a Fisherman. The Family at _Kittery_ were very shy as to giving any Information as to what they knew in this Affair, upon an Application by the Author of these Observations, or looking into _Alexander_'s Papers, as an officious Person had got beforehand, and discouraged them from giving any Gratification of this Sort, under Pretence, if their Papers were seen, it might give some Insight into a Lawsuit depending between the Branches of the Family, or expected to be commenced; and that there was a great Reward for the Discovery of a North-west Passage, which, if the Account was attained from them they would be intitled to a Part, which by this Means they would be deprived of. Jealousies of this Kind raised by a pretended, at least an ignorant Friend, against the Application of a Stranger, who assured them he was superior to any Trick of that Sort, and would give them any Satisfaction in his Power as they should propose, occasioned a Disappointment. The Son of Captain _Nicholas_, upon an Application made by the Author likewise, had nothing but his Father's Sea Chest, in which, there were once a great many Papers, and which his Mother, the Wife of Captain _Nicholas_, made a great Account of; but the Son being an illiterate Man, had made Use of them in the Family as waste Paper. I have mentioned him as illiterate, but he was a well meaning Man, and he had heard his Mother talk something about such an Affair; but I shall not lay a Stress upon the Account he gave, as he may be supposed prompted by the earnest Manner of the Inquiry to give grateful Answers, in Expectation of a Reward. The Number of Settlers in all _Piscatua_, the Province of _Main_ included, did not at that Time exceed four Hundred People, but is now become a well settled Country; yet there was amongst the antient People about _Kittery_, a Tradition of Captain _Nicholas_ having been on such a Voyage, and as to which, on proper Application to Persons who have Influence, and will make due Inquiry, it appears to me the Publick will receive a farther Satisfaction than they may at present expect. A considerable Merchant who lived at _Falmouth_ in _Piscatua_, a Man of Character, no Way biassed for or against a North-west Passage, but as he is since dead, I may take the Liberty to say, married a Daughter of his late Excellency Governor _Weymouth_, mentioned an Anecdote respecting his Father, who was a very antient Man: That when the Dispute was between the late Governor _Dobbs_ and Captain _Middleton_, he said, Why do they make such a Fuzz about this Affair, our _Old Nick_ (meaning Captain _Shapley_) was through there? And this antient Gentleman had been an Intimate of Captain _Shapley_'s.

Early in the Year before this Voyage Major General _Gibbons_ went with others over to _Piscatua_, to have a Conference about Church Matters; and Mr. _Alexander Shapley_ was one on the Part of the Settlers in _Piscatua_, and who had but returned from _England_ the Fall before. At this Meeting, probably, they fixed on the Time and Manner of executing the Design, which they had before concerted. This whole Affair was concerted in an obscure Part, the Affair not known to the People of _Boston_, as it was more to the Purpose of those who undertook it to keep it a Secret; and probably Major _Gibbons_ was more inclined it should be so, as he had before met with two Disappointments. The Characters of the Persons were such, as by whom it is very reasonable to suppose such an Expedition might be undertaken. Mr. _Alexander Shapley_ was a Merchant, a lively, active, enterprising Man; sufficient to this Purpose hath been said of his Brother: And we may add to the Character of Major General _Gibbons_, it was said of him, that he was much of a Gentleman, a brave, social and friendly Man, had the latter End of the Year 1639 a Commission to be Captain of the Fort, was one of the Council, also concerned in Church Matters, as appears from Records. But during the Time that this Voyage was making, that worthy Pastor of _Boston_ and great Antiquarian Mr. _Prince_, who, from a generous Disposition to get at the Truth, used extraordinary Industry in this Affair, by searching the Records in the old Church there in the Year 1752, could not find his Hand set to any Thing, or any Matters relating to Major General _Gibbons_, tho' he found Papers signed by him frequently before, and other Transactions in which he is mentioned to be concerned, also after the Time of this Voyage, and the only Objection that he could find was, that the Wife of Major General _Gibbons_ must have had a seven Months Child, if he went on such Voyage, as it was a Custom in the Church of _Boston_, at that Time, that the Child should be brought to be baptized the _Sunday_ after it was born; and by the Register it appears that this was the Case, according to the Time that it must be supposed he returned.

The Name was _Edward Gibbons_; and _Seimor_ is a Mistake of the Translator, not observing that as _de Fonte_ respectfully stiles _Shapley_ Captain, he would not mention the Owner by his Christian Name only, a fine Gentleman and a Major General, but stiles him agreeable thereto after the _Spanish_ Manner _Sennor_; and this Mistake of the Translator, as to the Name, and not observing that the _Major General_ and the Owner were one and the same Person, shews that the Translator and Editors knew nothing of the Persons mentioned.

What is said of the largest Colony in _New England_, called the _Maltechusets_: The Dominions of _New England_ consisted, at that Time, of the Colonies of _Plymouth_, _Massachusets_, and _Connecticut_, of which _Massachusets_ was the largest, as _New Hampshire_, _Piscatua_, and the Province of _Main_, were under its Jurisdiction: And it is a little remarkable that the Admiral should call it the _Maltechusets_; he apprehended it a Mistake, though so exact as to the Names _Shapley_ and _Gibbons_; seems to have given the Alteration agreeable to his own Ideas, and that it must have Reference to _Malta_.

The old Man told them the Ship was of _New England_, from the Town called _Boston_, which was the only Place where they could fit out properly or conveniently, the Part where _Shapley_ lived consisting only of a few scattered Houses, and as it was very frequent from _Boston_ to make Voyages to the Northward, their true Design for further Discoveries might remain a Secret to all but themselves.