On the 11th of May, the sounding lead was cast, and bottom was found at 80 fathoms; a sign that they were upon the Codfish Banks. There they stopped to obtain fresh food, either fish or birds, which are abundant upon these Banks, as I have described fully in my History of New France. [_In the same book ch. 7._] When the Banks were passed, after having encountered several contrary winds, at last they landed in the neighborhood of Pemptegoet, (the place that our Geographers designate by the name Norembega);[15] and the Sieur caused Mass to be said upon an Island, which he called Ascension, because they arrived there upon that day. Thence they came to Sainte Croix,[16] the first settlement of our French upon this coast, where the Sieur had prayers offered for the dead who had been buried there since the first voyage made by sieur de Monts, in the year 1603. Then they went up the river Sainte Croix, where they found such a great number of Herrings at every tide, that they had enough to feed a whole city. During the other seasons there are other kinds of fish, but at that time it was the Herring season. [_Funeral ceremonies._] Also there are trees there of [9] indescribable beauty, height, and grandeur. Upon this same coast, before reaching Port Royal, they saw the funeral ceremonies over the corpse of a savage who had died in the land of the Etechemins. The body was resting upon a plank supported by four stakes and covered with skins. The next day, a great crowd of men arrived, who performed their customary dances around the corpse. One of the old men held a long pole, upon which were dangling three of their enemies' heads; others carried other trophies of their victories; and thus they continued to sing and dance for two or three hours, chanting the praises of the dead instead of the _Libera_ of Christians. [_Matachiaz are necklaces, scarfs and bracelets._] Afterwards each one made him a gift of some kind, such as skins, kettles, peas, hatchets, knives, arrows, _Matachiaz_,[17] and articles of apparel. When all these ceremonies were finished, they carried him for burial to an isolated island, far from the mainland. And, leaving there, the Sieur sailed for Port Royal, the place of his residence. RELIGION.