Voyages of Samuel De Champlain — Volume 02Champlain, Samuel de
History
Voyages of Samuel De Champlain — Volume 02
Champlain, Samuel de
America -- Discovery and exploration -- French; Indians of North America -- Canada; New France -- Discovery and exploration
On the 24th of May, we perceived a small barque [247] of six or seven tons'
burthen, which we sent men to reconnoitre; and it was found to be a young
man from St. Malo, named Chevalier, who brought letters from Sieur de Monts
to Sieur de Poutrincourt, by which he directed him to bring back his
company to France. [248] He also announced to us the birth of Monseigneur,
the Duke of Orleans, to our delight, in honor of which event we made
bonfires and chanted the _Te Deum_. [249]
Between the beginning and the 20th of June, some thirty or forty savages
assembled in this place in order to make war upon the Almouchiquois, and
revenge the death of Panounias, who was interred by the savages according
to their custom, who gave afterwards a quantity of peltry to a brother of
his.[250] The presents being made, all of them set out from this place on
the 29th of June for Choüacoet, which is the country of the Almouchiquois,
to engage in the war.
Some days after the arrival of the above Chevalier, Sieur de Poutrincourt
sent him to the rivers St. John [251] and St. Croix [252] to trade for
furs. But he did not permit him to go without men to bring back the barque,
since some had reported that he desired to return to France with the vessel
in which he had come, and leave us in our settlement. Lescarbot was one of
those who accompanied him, who up to this time had not left Port Royal.
This is the farthest he went, only fourteen or fifteen leagues beyond Port
Royal.
While awaiting the return of Chevalier, Sieur de Poutrincourt went to the
head of Baye Françoise in a shallop with seven or eight men. Leaving the
harbor and heading northeast a quarter east for some twenty-five leagues
along the coast, we arrived at a cape where Sieur de Poutrincourt desired
to ascend a cliff more than thirty fathoms high, in doing which he came
near losing his life. For, having reached the top of the rock which is very
narrow, and which he had ascended with much difficulty, the summit trembled
beneath him. The reason was that, in course of time, moss had gathered
there four or five feet in thickness, and, not being solid, trembled when
one was on top of it, and very often when one stepped on a stone three or
four others fell down. Accordingly, having gone up with difficulty, he
experienced still greater in coming down, although some sailors, men very
dexterous in climbing, carried him a hawser, a rope of medium size, by
means of which he descended, This place was named Cap de Poutrincourt,
[253] and is in latitude 45° 40'.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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