Canada -- History -- Sources; Great Britain -- History -- Sources
During the above voyage M. de Monts worked away at his fort, which
he had placed at the foot of the island, opposite the end on which,
as we have said, he had lodged his cannon. This was well thought
on, in order to control the whole river both up stream and down.
But the trouble was that the said fort faced the north, and was
without any shelter, save the trees along the shore of the island,
which in the vicinity of the fort he had forbidden to be cut down.
And outside the said fort was the barracks for the Swiss, large and
spacious, and other small buildings like a suburb. Some had built
log-huts on the mainland near the stream. But inside the fort was
the dwelling of the said M. de Monts, built of fair sawn timber,
with the banner of France overhead. Elsewhere within the fort was
the magazine, wherein lay the safety and the life of each, built
likewise of fair timber, and covered with shingles. And opposite
the magazine were the lodgings and dwellings of MM. d'Orville,
Champlain, Champdoré, and other notable persons. Opposite the
quarters of the said M. de Monts was a covered gallery, to be used
either for sports or by the workmen in wet weather. And the whole
space between the said fort and the battery was taken up with
gardens, at which every man worked lightheartedly. Thus passed
the whole autumn; and it was not bad progress to have built their
houses and cleared the island before winter; while in these parts
pamphlets were being circulated under the name of Master William,
stuffed with all sorts of news, wherein among other things this
prognosticator said that M. de Monts was pulling out thorns in
Canada. And when all is well considered, it may truly be called
pulling out thorns to take in hand such enterprises, full of
toils and of continual danger, care, vexation and discomfort.
But virtue and the courage which overcomes all such obstacles
make these thorns to be but gilly-flowers and roses to those who
set themselves to these heroic deeds in order to win glory in
the memory of men, closing their eyes to the pleasures of those
weaklings who are good for nothing but to stay at home.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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