The Founder of New France : A Chronicle of ChamplainColby, Charles W. (Charles William)
History
The Founder of New France : A Chronicle of Champlain
Colby, Charles W. (Charles William)
Canada -- History -- To 1763 (New France); Champlain, Samuel de, 1574-1635
Beyond the point at which this battle was fought Champlain did not go.
At Ticonderoga he was within eighty miles of the site of Albany. Had he
continued, he would have reached the Hudson from the north in the same
summer the Half Moon [Footnote: Henry Hudson, an English mariner with
a Dutch crew, entered the mouth of the Hudson in a boat called the Half
Moon on September 4, 1609. As named by him, the river was called the
'Great North River of New Netherland.'] entered it from the mouth. But
the Algonquins were content with their victory, though they candidly
stated that there was an easy route from the south end of Lake George
to 'a river flowing into the sea on the Norumbega coast near that of
Florida.' The return to Quebec and Tadoussac was attended by no incident
of moment. The Montagnais, on parting with Champlain at Tadoussac,
generously gave him the head of an Iroquois and a pair of arms, with the
request that they be carried to the king of France. The Algonquins had
already taken their departure at Chambly, where, says Champlain, 'we
separated with loud protestations of mutual friendship. They asked me
whether I would not like to go into their country to assist them with
continued fraternal relations; and I promised that I would do so.'
As a contribution to geographical knowledge the expedition of 1609
disclosed the existence of a noble lake, to which Champlain fitly gave
his own name. Its dimensions he considerably over-estimated, but in
all essential respects its situation was correctly described, while his
comments on the flora and fauna are very interesting. The garpike as he
saw it, with amplifications from the Indians as they had seen it, gave
him the subject for a good fish story. He was deeply impressed, too, by
the richness of the vegetation. His attack on the Iroquois was not soon
forgotten by that relentless foe, and prepared a store of trouble for
the colony he founded. But the future was closed to his view, and for
the moment his was the glorious experience of being the first to gaze
with European eyes upon a lake fairer and grander than his own France
could show.
Four years elapsed before Champlain was enabled to plunge once more
into the depths of the forest--this time only to meet with the severest
disappointment of his life. Much has been said already regarding his
ambition to discover a short route to Cathay. This was the great prize
for which he would have sacrificed everything save loyalty to the king
and duty to the church. For a moment he seemed on the point of gaining
it. Then the truth was brutally disclosed, and he found that he had been
wilfully deceived by an impostor.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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