Narrative and Critical History of America, Vol. 4 (of 8): French Explorations and Settlements in North America and Those of the Portuguese, Dutch, and Swedes 1500-1700
History
Narrative and Critical History of America, Vol. 4 (of 8): French Explorations and Settlements in North America and Those of the Portuguese, Dutch, and Swedes 1500-1700
America -- Discovery and exploration; America -- History; United States -- History
On the 3d of September, 1607, the colonists, having assembled by
agreement at Canseau, embarked for France, and arrived at St. Malo
early in October. Champlain hastened to lay before De Monts the results
of his explorations, together with his maps and drawings. The zeal of
De Monts was rekindled by the recital, notwithstanding the losses he
had sustained and the disappointments he had encountered. Specimens
of grain, corn, wheat, rye, barley, and oats, together with two or
three braces of the beautiful brant goose, which had been bred from
the shell, were presented to the King as products of New France and
as an earnest of its future wealth. Henry IV. was not insensible to
the merits of the faithful De Monts, and he granted him a renewal of
his monopoly of the fur-trade, but only for a single year. With this
limitation of his privilege, stimulated by the futile hope of getting
it extended at its expiration, De Monts fitted out two vessels,—one to
be commanded by Pont Gravé, and devoted exclusively to the fur-trade,
while the other was to be employed in transporting men and material
for a settlement or plantation on the River St. Lawrence. Of this
expedition Champlain was constituted lieutenant-governor,—an office
which he subsequently continued to hold in New France, with little
interruption, till his death in 1635.
On the 13th of April, 1608, he left Honfleur, and arrived at Tadoussac
on the 3d of June. Here he found Pont Gravé, who had preceded him, in
serious trouble. A Basque fur-trader and whale-fisherman, who did not
choose to be restrained in his trade, had attacked him, killed one of
his men, severely wounded Pont Gravé himself, and taken possession
of his armament. The illegal character of this proceeding and its
utter disregard of the King’s commission clearly merited immediate
and severe punishment. While the Governor was greatly annoyed, he
did not, however, allow passion to warp his judgment or overcome the
dictates of reason. The punishment, so richly deserved, could not be
administered without the sacrifice of all his plans for the present
year. With a characteristic prudence he therefore decided, “in order
not to make a bad cause out of a just one,” to use his own expression,
upon a compromise, by referring the final settlement to the authorities
in France, with the assurance, in the mean time, that there should be
no further interference by either party with the other.
[Illustration: TADOUSSAC.
Champlain’s plan in the edition of 1613. Key: _A_, Round Mountain. _B_,
harbor. _C_, fresh-water brook. _D_, camp of natives coming to traffic.
_E_, peninsula. _F_, Point of all Devils. _G_, Saguenay River. _H_,
Point aux Alouettes. _I_, very rough mountain covered with firs and
beeches. _L_, the mill Bode. _M_, roadstead. _N_, pond. _O_, brook.
_P_, grass-land.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account