Samuel de Champlain

“ When a man or a woman dies, they dig a pit, in which they put all their property, as kettles, furs, axes, bows, arrows, robes, and other things. Then they place the body in the pit and cover it with earth, putting, on top many large pieces of wood, and another piece upright, painted red on the upper part. They believe in the immortality of the soul, and say that they shall be happy in other lands with their relatives and friends who are dead. ”

“ The land, so far as I have seen it along the shores of the river, is very poor, for there are only rocks on all sides. There are a great many small oaks, and very little arable land. Fish abound here, as in the other rivers which I have mentioned. The people live like those in the neighborhood of our settlement; and they told us that the savages, who plant the Indian corn, dwelt very far in the interior, and that they had given up planting it on the coasts on account of the war they had with others, who came and took it away. ”

“ On the 21st of the month there was a violent wind, which broke the irons of our rudder between Long Island and Cape Fourchu, and reduced us to such extremities that we were at a loss what to do. For the fury of the sea did not permit us to land, since the breakers ran mountain high along the coast, so that we resolved to perish in the sea rather than to land, hoping that the wind and tempest would abate, so that, with the wind astern, we might go ashore on some sandy beach. ”

“ Running into this is merely a brook not deep enough for boats except at full tide. The circuit of the bay is about a league. On one side of the entrance to this bay there is a point which is almost an island, covered with wood, principally pines, and adjoins sand-banks, which are very extensive. On the other side, the land is high. There are two islets in this bay, which are not seen until one has entered, and around which it is almost entirely dry at low tide. This place is very conspicuous from the sea, for the coast is very low, excepting the cape at the entrance to the bay. ”

“ The harpooner, watching his time, throws his harpoon at the whale, which enters him well forward. As soon as he finds himself wounded, the whale goes down. And if by chance turning about, as he does sometimes, his tail strikes the shallop, it breaks it like glass. This is the only risk they run of being killed in harpooning. As soon as they have thrown the harpoon into him, they let the hawser run until the whale reaches the bottom. But sometimes he does not go straight to the bottom, when he drags the shallop eight or nine leagues or more, going as swiftly as a horse. ”

“ The sea having fallen, we went on shore amid the storm, when the barque was speedily unloaded, and we saved a large portion of the provisions in her, with the help of the savage, Captain Secondon and his companions, who came to us with their canoes, to carry to our habitation what we had saved from our barque, which, all shattered as she was, went to pieces at the return of the tide. But we, most happy at having saved our lives, returned to our settlement with our poor savages, who stayed there a large part of the winter ”

“ After hearing them, I replied that, if they desired, I should be very glad to return to our settlement, to gratify them still more; and that they might conclude that I had no other purpose than to engage in the war, since we carried with us nothing but arms, and not merchandise for barter, as they had been given to understand; and that my only desire was to fulfill what I had promised them; and that, if I had known of any who had made evil reports to them, I should regard them as enemies more than they did themselves. ”

“ I directed the men in our barque to approach near the savages, and hold their arms in readiness to do their duty in case they noticed any movement of these people against us. ”

“ All these savages from the Island Cape wear neither robes nor furs, except very rarely: moreover, their robes are made of grasses and hemp, scarcely covering the body, and coming down only to their thighs. They have only the sexual parts concealed with a small piece of leather; so likewise the women, with whom it comes down a little lower behind than with the men, all the rest of the body being naked. Whenever the women came to see us, they wore robes which were open in front. The men cut off the hair on the top of the head like those at the river Choüacoet. ”

“ As each one thought by himself what might be done for our preservation, a sailor said that a quantity of cordage attached to the stern of our barque, and dragging in the water, might serve in some measure to steer our vessel. But this was of no avail; and we saw that, unless God should aid us by other means, this would not preserve us from shipwreck. As we were thinking what could be done for our safety, Champdoré, who had been again handcuffed, said to some of us that, if Pont Gravé desired it, he would find means to steer our barque. ”

“ All this bay has a circuit of perhaps twenty leagues, with a little river at its head, which is very sluggish and contains but little water. There are many other little brooks, and some places where there are good harbors at high tide, which rises here five fathoms. In one of these harbors three or four leagues north of Cap de Poutrincourt, we found a very old cross all covered with moss and almost all rotten, a plain indication that before this there had been Christians there. All of this country is covered with dense forests, and with some exceptions is not very attractive. ”

“ The Auk is confined to the northern hemisphere, where it represents the penguins of the southern. Several species occur in the Northern Atlantic in almost incredible numbers: they are all marine, feed on fish and other animal substances exclusively, and lay from one to three eggs on the bare rocks. Those seen by Champlain and other early navigators were the Great Auk. Alca impennis, now nearly extinct. It was formerly found on the coast of New England, as is proved not only by the testimony of the primitive explorers, but by the remains found in shell-heaps. ”

“ It is half a league broad in places, and a quarter of a league at its mouth, where the current is so strong that at three-quarters flood-tide in the river it is still running out. All the land that I have seen consists only of mountains and rocky promontories, for the most part covered with fir and birch, a very unattractive country on both sides of the river. In a word, it is mere wastes, uninhabited by either animals or birds ”

“ Cap Blanc is a point of sand, which bends around towards the south some six leagues. This coast is rather high, and consists of sand, which is very conspicuous as one comes from the Sea. At a distance of some fifteen or eighteen leagues from land, the depth of the water is thirty, forty, and fifty fathoms, but only ten on nearing the shore, which is unobstructed. There is a large extent of open country along the shore before reaching the woods, which are very attractive and beautiful. We anchored off the coast, and saw some savages, towards whom four of our company proceeded. ”

“ This winter shows how those undertaking in future such enterprises ought to proceed, it being very difficult to make a new settlement without labor; and without encountering adverse fortune the first year, as has been the case in all our first settlements. But, in fact, by avoiding salt food and using fresh meat, the health is as good here as in France.
The savages had been waiting from day to day for us to go to the war with them. When they learned that Pont Gravé and I had arrived together, they rejoiced greatly, and came to speak with us. ”

“ Some Algonquin savages, who were guarding them, made some of them spit it out, when they threw it into the water. This is the manner in which these people behave towards those whom they capture in war, for whom it would be better to die fighting, or to kill themselves on the spur of the moment, as many do, rather than fall into the hands of their enemies. After this execution, we set out on our return with the rest of the prisoners, who kept singing as they went along, with no better hopes for the future than he had had who was so wretchedly treated. ”

“ The commander of the shallop was the savage named Ouagimou, who was on terms of friendship with Bessabez, chief of the river Norumbegue, of whom he asked the body of Panounias, [243] who had been killed. The latter granted it to him, begging him to tell his friends that he was very sorry for his death, and assuring him that it was without his knowledge that he had been killed, and that, inasmuch as it was not his fault, he begged him to tell them that he desired they might continue to live as friends. ”

“ Here they station a man on the look-out. They are aided in catching sight of a whale both by his size and the water he spouts through his blow-holes, which is more than a puncheon at a time, and two lances high. ”

“ They are also provided with many halberds of the length of a short pike, whose iron is six inches broad; others are from a foot and a half to two feet long, and very sharp. Each shallop has a harpooner, the most agile and adroit man they have, whose pay is next highest to that of the masters, his position being the most dangerous one. This shallop being outside of the port, the men look in all quarters for a whale, tacking about in all directions. But, if they see nothing, they return to the shore, and ascend the highest point they can find, and from which they can get the most extensive view. ”

“ I directed our interpreter to say to our savages that they should cause Bessabez, Cabahis, and their companions to understand that Sieur de Monts had sent me to them to see them, and also their country, and that he desired to preserve friendship with them and to reconcile them with their enemies, the Souriquois and Canadians, and moreover that he desired to inhabit their country and show them how to cultivate it, in order that they might not continue to lead so miserable a life as they were doing, and some other words on the same subject. ”

“ These rogues counterfeit also their voice, so that it is heavy and clear, and speak in a language unknown to the other savages. And, when they represent it as broken, the savages think that the devil is speaking, and telling them what is to happen in their war, and what they must do.
But all these scapegraces, who play the soothsayer, out of a hundred words, do not speak two that are true, and impose upon these poor people. There are enough like them in the world, who take food from the mouths of the people by their impostures, as these worthies do. ”

“ In this place were a number of savages who had come for traffic in furs, several of whom came to our vessel with their canoes, which are from eight to nine paces long, and about a pace or pace and a half broad in the middle, growing narrower towards the two ends. They are very apt to turn over, in case one does not understand managing them, and are made of birch bark, strengthened on the inside by little ribs of white cedar, very neatly arranged; they are so light that a man can easily carry one. Each can carry a weight equal to that of a pipe. ”

“ After we had passed the fall, which was attended with difficulty, all the savages, who had gone by land over a good path and level country, although there are a great many trees, re-embarked in their canoes. My men went also by land; but I went in a canoe. The savages made a review of all their followers, finding that there were twenty-four canoes, with sixty men. After the review was completed, we continued our course to an island, [340] three leagues long, filled with the finest pines I had ever seen. Here they went hunting, and captured some wild animals. ”

“ We sent some articles of merchandise on shore to barter with them; but they had nothing but their robes to give in exchange, for they preserve only such furs as they need for their garments. Sieur de Monts ordered some provisions to be given to their chief, with which he was greatly pleased, and came several times to the side of our boat to see us. These savages shave off the hair far up on the head, and wear what remains very long, which they comb and twist behind in various ways very neatly, intertwined with feathers which they attach to the head. ”

“ The intercourse of the French with the natives of Cape Cod was, on the whole, less satisfactory than that with the northern tribes along the shores of Maine, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. With the latter they had no hostile conflicts whatever, although the Indians were sufficiently implacable and revengeful towards their enemies. Those inhabiting the peninsula of Cape Cod, and as far north as Cape Anne, were more suspicious, and had apparently less clear conceptions of personal rights, especially the rights of property. ”

“ The savages who dwell here are few in number. During the winter, in the deepest snows, they hunt elks and other animals, on which they live most of the time. And, unless the snow is deep, they scarcely get rewarded for their pains, since they cannot capture any thing except by a very great effort, which is the reason for their enduring and suffering much. When they do not hunt, they live on a shell-fish, called the cockle. They clothe themselves in winter with good furs of beaver and elk. ”

“ There is also a great abundance of fish, of many varieties: among others, one called by the savages of the country Chaousarou [343] which varies in length, the largest being, as the people told me, eight or ten feet long. I saw some five feet long, which were as large as my thigh; the head being as big as my two fists, with a snout two feet and a half long, and a double row of very sharp and dangerous teeth. Its body is, in shape, much like that of a pike; but it is armed with scales so strong that a poniard could not pierce them. Its color is silver-gray. ”