,.ii, :ii» J>- THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES GIFT OF Mrs. William B. Ilunro SlVi j>^ rrt: . . - 1 EDITED BY GEORGE fl. WRONG, M.A. PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN THE INiVERSITY UP TORCNTO THE EARLY TRADING COMPANIES OF NEW FRANCE Toronto : the librarian of the University of Toronto. ^Toronto : William Briggs, Wesley Buildings, Richmond St. W. ILOIlDon : P. S. King & Son, Orchard House, 2 and 4 Great Smith St., Victoria St., Westminster, S. W. JSOStOn : The Boston Book Company, Freeman Place Chapel, WARWICK BROS. & RUTTEB, Printers and Bookbinders, TORONTO. THE EARLY TRADING COMPANIES OF NEW FRANCE A CONTRIBUTION TO THE HISTORY OF COMMERCE AND DISCOYERY IN NORTH AMERICA BY H. P. BIQGAR, B.A., B. LITT. (OXON.) MACKENZIE FELLOW IN POLITICAL SCIENCE IN THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO 1901 Edition limited to 600 copies No. /; f Entered aooording to Act of the Parliament of Canada in the office of the Minister of Agriculture by the Librarian of the University of Toronto in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and one. PREFACE The substance of the following pages was presented to the Board of Historical Studies of the University of Oxford in Hilary- Term, 1899, in supplication for the degree of Bachelor of Letters. Having successfully served this purpose, the thesis is now pre- sented to the public in an enlarged and somewhat improved form in the hope that the new results which it embodies may not be without interest to those who desire to study the beginnings of trade and commerce in New France. I am by no means so sanguine as to hope that the conclusions here set forth are necessarily final or indeed in every case valid. Since, however, their correctness or incorrectness can only be made clear by an examination of the foundations on which they rest, I have taken pains to state in all cases what my authorities are. The Appendix at the end of the work will be of use in further making clear on what foundations particular statements are based. In preparing this essay I have had the kind assistance of many persons. To the authorities of the Bihliotheque Nationale at Paris my best thanks are due for the extreme courtesy with which they have always received my numerous demands. M. G. Servois and his able staff at the Archives Rationales, M. M. Chev- rier of the French Foreign Office, and M. Victor Tantet of the French Colonial Office have also afforded me every facility in consulting their respective stores of documents. During my re- '^o/ci.5 VI PREFACE searches at Rouen, M. Charles de Beaurepaire, the archivist of the Department of the Seine-Inf^rieure most kindly placed his great knowledge of Norman affairs continually at my disposition. To M. le Vicomte de Came I am indebted for his generous com- munication to me of the results of his researches on La Roche, who is connected with his family, while several documents relat- ing to Champlain were kindly brought to my notice by M. Th. Courtaux of Paris. My best thanks are also due to my friend Mr. E. G. Knoblauch of London for some tiring researches carried out for me at the British Museum. More particularly, however, I must thank Mr. H. A. L. Fisher of New College, Oxford, for his continuous criticisms of my work, and Professor W. J. Ashley of Harvard University for some valu- able hints and suggestions. Mr. S. V. Blake of London has been good enough to read a considerable portion ot my manuscript, while Professor G. M. Wrong of the University of Toronto has not only read the whole of it very carefully, but he and Mr. H. H. Langton, the general editor of the University of Toronto Studies, have been at the immense labour during my absence abroad of re- vising the entire work for the press. If, indeed, the results of my researches have been put before the public in anything like a readable form, it is mainly due to the labours of these two gentlemen. To the Burrows Brothers Company of Cleveland, Ohio, my thanks are due for permission to copy, with some slight altera- tions and additions, the accompanying map from their edition of "The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents." H. P. B. Paris : December, 1900. TABLE OF CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION. PAGE Brief description of earlj'^ expeditions to the regions of the St. Lawrence . . 1 to 5 CHAPTER I. The Discovery and Occupation of the St. Lawrence Valley. Cartier's first voyage, 1534 6 " second " 1535 7 Reports at Hochelaga of the Kingdom of Saguenay 8 Winter in Canada and return home . . 10 Interest in France at Cartier's discov^eries 10 Renewed efforts in 1540 after four j^ears' delay 11 Spies upon the designs of France ] 2 Cartier sets out on his third voyage, 1541 . . 13 His second winter on the banks of the St. Lawrence 13 Cartier disobeys Roberval and returns to France 13 Roberval spends the winter in New France 15 Failure of his expedition and return to France 16 Summary of results 17 CHAPTER IL The Birth and Growth of Trade and Commerce, 1497-1597. Early voj'ages to the Newfoundland fishing-banks 18 Henry VII's grant of a monopoly to Bristol traders 19 Early French effort on the Banks .... 19 The extent of the French fishing industry . . . 19 Cartier and the fishing industry 20 Roberval and the fishing industry 22 Late arrival of Basque fishermen in the St. Lawrence 23 Early French fishing companies 23 Statistics of the industry at end of 16th century 24 The methods of the fishing industry 25 The fishing seasons 26 Whale fishing 26 Other varieties of fish 28 The fishing-trade prepared the way for the fur-trade 28 Early barter with the Indians for furs 29 Gradual extension of the fur-trade up the St. Lawrence 32 vii viii TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Importance of the fur trade at the end of the 16th century 33 Cartier's nephews secure in 1588 a monopoh- of the trade 33 Revocation of this monopoly 34 , Absence of the colonizing spirit from France 35 Foreigners encroaching on French claims in the St. Lawrence 36 CHAPTER III. The Two Attempts of La Roche and the First Fcr-Trade Monopoly. The career of La Roche 38 His attempt to colonize Sable Island 40 His failure 41 Criticism of the attempt 41 Pierre Chauvin secures monopoh" of the fur-trade on condition of colonizing 42 Attempts by rivals to get the monopoly revoked 43 The monopolj', granted for ten years, withdrawn at end of three 44 Unauthorized traders on the coasts south of the St. La^v^ence ... 44 Union of St. Malo and Rouen traders under the monopolj- 45 Chauvin dying is succeeded b}' Chaste, who is aided b}" Champlain 46 Dupont-Grave and Champlain in New France 47 Death of Chaste 48 End of his monopoly 49 CHAPTER IV. The Two Monopolies of Monts, 1604-1608. Monts takes up Chaste's colonizing work 51 Opposition to his monopoly 52 Terms of the new articles of association 53 Settlement of Ste. Croix 54 Difficulty of enforcing the monopoly 54 Conditions at Ste. Croix . 55 Commercial difficulties 56 The winter at Ste. Croix ... 58 Removal from Ste. Croix to Port Royal 59 The summer's trade 60 Difficulties in securing fresh colonists 60 Poutrincourt at Port Roj'al 61 Interlopers in the fur-trade 62 Sudden withdrawal of the Co.'s monopoly 63 Retirement from Port Royal 64 The cod-fishing during this year 65 Monts transfers his interest to the St. Lawrence trade and secures uncon- ditional monopoly for one jear 65 Champlain erects factory at Quebec, 1608 60 His plans in New France 67 End of the first period of monopoly C8 TABLE OF CONTENTS ix CHAPTER V. The Freedom of Trade, 1609-1613. PAOE Conditions in the spring of 1609 69 Champlain promises to aid the Montagnais against the Iroquois .... 69 iSketch of relations of Indian tribes in New France 70 The French obliged by trade situation to take part with weaker tribes. ... 71 Champlain joins Hurons and Montagnais in successful expedition against the Iroquois 72 Condition of trade of New France .... 7,3 Difficulty of continuing the factory at Quebec 74 Traders in the St. Lawrence uncontrolled 75 The new arrivals secure the advantage in trading with the Indians 76 Poutrincourt trading in Bay of Fundy 77 The Jesuits purchase shares in ves.sels and go out to Port Royal 78 Scarcity at Port Royal 79 Early arrival in 1612 of traders in the St. Lawrence 79 Unsatisfactory conditions of trade 80 New trading posts on the Bay of Fundy 82 Review of progress made during the three years of open trade 82 Champlain and his allies secure support at court 85 The Comte de Soissons becomes Viceroy and new monopoly secured 86 On Soisson's death Conde succeeds. His career 87 Champlain's Co. to have monopoh' of trade west of Quebec 88 Indians hold aloof from trade 88 Champlain goes far up the Ottawa, is imposed upon by guide, but opens up trade 90 Disputes with Jesuits at Port Royal 91 The English attack Port Royal 91 Narrow district in which open trade permitted 93 CHAPTER VI. Champlain's Company, 1614-1620. The lower St. Lawrence included in Conde's monopoly 94 The Co. includes only Rouen and St. Malo merchants 94 Factory at Quebec transferred to new Co 95 Activity of English and Dutch traders on Atlantic coast hampers French trade 95 La Rochelle merchants in the St. Lawrence 96 Conde's quarrel with the Court 97 Champlain before the States-General of 1614 98 The trade outlook in New France in 1615 . 98 Champlain spends winter of 1615-16 among the Hurons and concludes treaties 99 The summer of 1616 at Quebec 101 1* X TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE The state of trade in the Bay of Fundy 101 Imprisonment of Conde in France 103 Disputes concerning the viceroyship of New France .... 103 First colonists (Hebert family) at Quebec in 1617 104 Extensive barter with the Indians in 1617 106 Themines succeeds Conde as Viceroy. Trade disputes 107 Champlain's vigilance for the Company's interests . 108 Domestic affairs in New France. Murder by Indians 109 Efforts to pi omote colonization. Narrow policy of the Company 112 Champlain's disputes with the directors of the Company 110 Conde reinstated as Viceroy, but soon retires in favor of Montmorency. ... 113 The Company's monopoly cancelled (1620) on Champlain's report of the state of things at Quebec .. 113 CHAPTER VII. The Caens Company and its Union with Champlain's, 1621-1627. Monopoly of the fur trade for eleven years granted to the Caens 115 Both the old Co. and the Caens send out vessels in 1621 116 Rivalries of the two Co.'s in New France 116 Decision that both Co.'s may trade for the season 1 17 Difficulties in the colony 118 The English in New England 119 Fusion of the two rival Co. 's 119 The trade of 1622 and 1623 120 Sir William Alexander and the founding of Nova Scotia 121 Treaty of peace with the Iroquois . 123 The RecoUets seek help from the Jesuits 124 The Due de Ventadour succeeds Montmorency as Viceroy . 125 Disputes between the Huguenots and Catholics 126 Stagnation at Quebec. Champlain's renewed zeal . 126 Dealings with the Indians 128 Trade on the Atlantic Coast 128 Rupture of the peace with the Iroquois 129 Dutch and English settlements interfere with French trade 130 Gloomy prospects at Quebec .... 130 Courage and energy of Champlain 131 CHAPTER VIII. The Company of New France, 1627-1629. Richelieu's rise to power in France 133 Proposals for organizing the Company of New France 134 The Chevalier de Razilly the father of the undertaking 135 Revocation of monopoly of United Co. and suppression of office of Vicero}'. 135 Articles of the Company of New France 136 TABLE OF CONTENTS xi PAGE The first fleet despatched in 1628 137 Causes of dispute between France and England 138 Jarvis Kirke prepares an expedition to the St. Lawrence in the service of England 139 Champlain refuses to surrender Quebec to Kirke 140 Kirke captures the fleet of the Co. of New France 140 Establishment by Alexander of the Baronets of Nova Scotia 141 Union between Alexander's interests and Kirke's 143 The new Co. sends two fleets against New France 143 David Kirke before Quebec 144 Surrender of Quebec July 20, 1627 145 The Co. of New France causes heavy losses to the English 145 Champlain carried a prisoner to England 147 Decision of Charles I to restore New France to France 148 CHAPTER IX. New France Under the Scottish and English Company, 1629-1632. Dispute about furs seized by English at Quebec 150 French press for restoration of New France 150 The Co. of New France prepares for renewed operations 151 The French on the Bay of Fundy and in Cape Breton 153 The English and Scottish Co. trading in New France 153 Affairs in Newfoundland 154 Caen's claims for furs brought from Quebec 155 Negotiations for peace 155 The demands of Charles 1 156 Delay in the negotiations 156 The Scottish and English Co., through this delay, have another season in New France 157 The Co. of New France able to carry on very little trade 158 Continued negotiations for peace 159 Repeated delays 159 Progress of the negotiations 161 Treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye, signed March 20th, 1632 162 Discontent in England at the terms of the treaty 163 The English evacuate Quebec 164 The Co. of New France take over the posts in Acadia 165 The entry of the Co. of New France into possession concludes the period of the early trading companies of New France 165 APPENDIX : THE SOURCES. Introduction 171-174 The Sources. Part I : Official. Chronolo'Mcal list of the official sources from 1510 to 16.33 175-197 XI 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS The Sources. Part II : Narrative. PARE Verrazano . 208 Carlis' Letter 209 John Rut 209 Cartier's Voyages 210 Pierre Crigiion 220 Roberval's Voyage 221 Jean Mallart 221 Jean Alfonse 222 Anthony Parkhurst's Letter 226 Carlyle's Discourse 227 Gilbert's Voyage 228 Jacques Noel 230 Andre Thevet 2.31 Richard Hakluyt 242 Richard Fisher 246 Silvester Wyet. 247 Charles Leigh 248 Bertrand's Letter -. 250 Marc Lescarbot 251 Ennemond Masse .... 260 Father Biard 261 Lallemant's Letters 270 Daniel and Malapart 271 Champlain 274 Gabriel Sagard 281 1/6 Jeune's Relation 286 P^re Le Tac 287 Le Clercq's History 290 The Sources. Part III : Anonymous. The Factum 292 La Plainly de la Nouvdle France 294 Au Roy sur la NouveJU France 295 Index 297 Map cm New France at end of volume INTRODUCTION The object of this essay is to trace the birth and growth of trade and commerce down to the year 1632 in that portion of North America subsequently called New France. France was associated so long and so intimately with the valley of the St. Lawrence that the visits of Spanish, Portuguese and even English explorers before Cartier are sometimes forgotten. A brief account of attempts on the part of the other European powers to occupy this region will form a fitting prelude to the history of its first occupation by the French. In considering the achievements and failures alike of these early voyagers we must remember that they had in mind nothing that corresponds to the modern map of North America. Between Europe and Asia they expected to find only a few scattered islands. Not only was America as a continent unknown, the very possibility of its existence had not been dreamed of. Columbus tried to reach China by a direct route across the Atlantic, and when on the twelfth of October, 1492, he landed on the island of Guanahani he entertained no suspicion of having stumbled upon the threshold of a new and vast continent. Presumino: that he had arrived at the outskirts of China, his proposed goal, he referred the names learned from natives to places in Cathay mentioned by Marco Polo. Yet Columbus did not reach the mainland either on his first voyage or on his second in the following year. The first Europeans to do so, since the adventurous voyages of the Northmen five centuries earlier, were the crew of an English vessel from Bristol. John Cabot, a Venetian, was sent out by Henry the Seventh in the summer of 1497 with orders to find and discover "any islands or countries whether of Gentiles or Infidels which before this time were unknown to all Christians." Cabot made a landfall probably on the shores of Labrador or [1] 2 INTRODUCTION Newfoundland. After following the coast to the north, perhaps as far as Cape Chudley, he is supposed to have turned and proceeded south until he reached the latitude of Cape Race in Newfoundland. Early in the following spring, before Columbus left Spain on his third voyage, in the course of which he too at last sighted the mainland, Cabot had again set sail from England. Coasting the shores of Newfoundland and Labrador as far north as on the preceding voyage, he is believed to have extended his explorations to the south as far as the Carolinas. Cabot was thus the first European since the Northmen to reach the mainland of America, and he was also the first to pass, without suspicion of its existence, before the mouth of the great waterway of the St Lawrence. Whether in deference to the protest of the Spanish ambassador at the English Court, or on account of the saving proclivities of the then occupant of the English throne, or for some other reason, English exploration in these regions ceased for a quarter of a century. It was the Portuguese who next hovered about the mouth of the St. Lawrence. Two years after Cabot's last voyage Caspar Corte-Real, under a commission from his sovereign the King of Portugal, explored the eastern coast of Newfoundland. In the following year he set sail again with three vessels and passing north beyond Newfoundland examined the coast of Labrador, At some unknown point he sent back two of his vessels which safely reached Portugal in the autumn, but the third vessel, in which he remained, was never seen again. An expedition in search of him under his brother Miguel was equally unfortunate, and two only of the three vessels which composed it reached port, having accomplished nothing of importance. Thus Portugal, like England, explored the region about Newfoundland without lifting the veil which hung before the portals of the St. Lawrence. From 1502 until 1529 nothing was done to advance discovery in the north. Spain indeed, from her centre in the Spanish Main, steadily extended her influence and in 1520 a caravel from Hayti made its way as far as the point afterwards called Cape Charles, near the 37th parallel of latitude. While the Spaniards INTRODUCTION 3 were thus cominf^ northward, the Portuguese were once more astir. In the year 1520 a fresh Portuguese expedition visited the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Alvares Fagundes of Vianna, after following the Portuguese fishing fleet which yearly visited the Banks, sailed into the Gulf by its southern entrance. After coasting the western side of Newfoundland as far north as the Straits of Belle Isle he turned westward along the northern or Labrador shore of the Gulf. When the Gulf began to narrow he crossed over to the southern side, and sailed out again by Gaspe and the Acadian peninsula. On his return he received a grant of these lands, yet he seems to have made no iurther attempt to explore them. Thus the Portuguese, like the English before them, had passed by the entrance of the great water-way of the St. Lawrence without discovering it. A second and third English and a first Spanish expe- dition, which were sent out at this time, proved equally uusuccessf ul. They had however a new aim in view. Gradually in the course of these years, by reason of the numerous exploring expeditions which visited its coasts, the outline of America was becoming more definitely understood. Spanish and Portuguese explorations had made known the eastern coast of South America as far as the river La Plata, and since the voyages of Balboa, Cordova, Grijalva, and Pineda had shown the continuity of this southern land with the peninsula of Florida, people began to suspect that from the Baccalaos or Cod-fish land in the north to the river La Plata in the south there stretched, not an archipelago, but one long unbroken line of coast. The return of the expedition of Magellan in 1522 proved that this was the coast-line, not of Asia, but of some hitherto unknown continent extending across the ocean mid-way between Asia and Europe. Magellan's expedition, which set out in the year 1519, not only discovered the straits to which his name is given, but passing through them crossed the southern Pacific Ocean and came home by way of Java, India and the Cape of Good Hope. Then at length some idea of the real significance of Columbus's discovery began to dawn upon men's minds. The chief interest still centred however not in this new world but in the gold and spices of the 4 INTRODUCTION East. The Portuguese had discovered a route to the East round Africa, and now the Spaniards had found another round South America. It remained only to iind one shorter still, either to the north of l^lurope or else to the north of this new continent called America. The search for a north-eastern passage was not attempted until some years later. That for a north-west passage began in 1525 and during the succeeding decade one Spanish, two English, and two French expeditions were equipped for the purpose of finding it. The French attempts led to the discovery of the St. Lawrence. The Spanish expedition was sent out in 1524, when Stephen Gomez, who had sailed with Magellan, was directed by the Emperor Charles the Fifth to find a passage in the north which should serve better than the one discovered by Magellan in the south. The northern passage would be nearer to Spain and it would also enable vessels to avoid a double journey through the tropics. Following the Spanish fishing fleet to the Banks, Gomez, like Fagundes, passed on into the Gulf by the southern entrance, but whether like the Portuguese he went no farther than the island of Anticosti we do not know. In any case he seems to have missed the river. On issuing from the Gulf Gomez coasted the Atlantic shore southwards to a point somewhere near Cape May. Thus he almost reached the latitude which had been already attained by vessels coming north from the Spanish Main, and in fact in the following year the intervening bit of coast was explored by a Spanish vessel the crew of which set up crosses to mark the Spanish claim. Explorers of this nationality had now virtually visited the whole coast from Florida to Gasp6, but still both the river St. Lawrence and the north-west passage remained undiscovered. The two attempts made by English vessels to find the north- west passage had no results of importance. In 1527 two ships were sent out, apparently with this object in view, but one went down in a storm off Newfoundland and the other returned home in October after having paid a visit to the coast of Cape Breton. A fresh expedition some nine years later was equally fruitless. After some time had been spent at Cape Breton and INTRODUCTION 5 Newfoundland, provisions ran so short that the ship's company were on the point of eating one another when the arrival of a French fishing vessel saved their lives. Although the French fishing smacks had been voyaging yearly to the Banks since the beginning of the century, the sovereigns of France had been too much occupied in Italy to take part in western discovery. But about the end of the first quarter of the century there came a change. The expedition of Magellan having made clear the extent of the new land, the ambition of Francis the First was aroused. In the year when the Spaniard Stephen Gomez followed the coast from Gaspe to Cape May, Giovanni da Verrazano, a Florentine in the service of Francis the First, coasted northward from the Carolinas to Cape Breton. He was nearing the mouth of the St. Lawrence when his provisions ran short, and he was obliged to sail for home. Francis was then too fully occupied in his struggle with the Emperor Charles the Fifth to turn his attention to the western continent, and the battle of Pavia in the following year 1525 put an end for some time to any hope of further French activity. Nothing was done for a period of nine years. But in 1534 Francis was again enabled by cessation of hostilities and by the funds left him by his mother to despatch a fresh expedition in search of a north- west passage. None indeed was discovered, but Jacques Cartier, in the name of the King his master, took possession of the valley of the St. Lawrence. Except for the brief space of three years, from 1629 to 1632, this possession was henceforth undisputed until 1759. CHAPTER I THE DISCOVERY AND OCCUPATION OF THE ST. LAWKENCE VALLEY. Notwithstanding that English, Portuguese and Spanish ex- plorers had frequently passed before the mouth of the St. Lawrence, the existence of the river remained unsuspected by Europeans until the third decade of the sixteenth century. The energy and boldness of a Breton sailor of St. Malo drew back at length the veil. Jacques Cartier, who probably had already made numerous fishing expeditions to Newfoundland, set sail from St. Malo in the spring of 1534 with two vessels manned by crews drawn from the fishing boats which yearly visited the Banks. His orders were to refit in Newfoundland and then to sail on westward with the object of discovering a north-west passage to the East.i After an uneventful voyage of three weeks across the Atlantic they made for the fishing harbour of St. Catherine in Newfoundland, where during ten days of bad weather they remained to refit. With fairer weather, they sailed to the harbour of Brest in the Straits of Belle Isle and took on board wood and fresh water. On Monday the fifteenth of June the two little vessels set out for the unknown west. Curiously enough they followed the southern instead of the northern shore of the Straits, and instead of being led towards Anticosti and the Saguenay they continued along the western coast of Newfound- land as far as Cape Ray. Crossing from here to the Magdalen group, they sailed thence to Prince Edward Island. Ignorant that it was an island they followed its coast northward and entered the Bale de Chaleur which they took to be the north- west passage they were in search of.2 Examination of this bay 1 Michelant et Rame, Voyage de Jaques Cartier au Canada en 1534, 2® partie : Documents Inedits, pp. 3-5. Paris, 1865. 2 Michelant et Ram^, Relation Originale du Voyage de Jacques Cartier au Canada en 1534 (Paris 1867), pp. 27 et seq.: " Le Cap de ladite terredu Su nomm^ Cap d'Esperance, pour I'espoir que abuions d'y trouues passaige.". k laquelle heure eusraes congnoissance du font de ladite baye, dont fusmes dollans et masriz." [6] OCCUPATION OF THE ST. LAWRENCE VALLEY 7 proved that they were wrong and they continued their route round the peninsula of Gaspe. The river now lay directly in front of them. Unfortunately, as soon as they caught sight of the northern shore of the Gulf, they sailed thither, and on reach- in.o' it turned eastwards, so missing the river and bein^ led back to the Straits of Belle Isle whence they had set out. To them, therefore, the Gulf appeared to be a great land-locked bay ; this indeed must also have been the impression of the Portuguese Fagundes who, some fourteen years before, had made a similar circuit, though from the southern entrance and in the contrary direction. Cartier however had not only set up crosses to mark the French claims but also brought home twoIndians,who were soon able to learn sufficient French to be of service in explaining to some extent the principal geographical features of these new regions. Of the reception met with by Cartier and his company on their return to France we know nothing. His report, however, and the statements of the savages seem to have made a favour- able impression, for in the spring of 1535 he was again under way, and this time with three vessels, of which the largest was the Grand Hermine of one hundred and twenty tons. The ships were separated on the voyage out, and it was not until the twenty-sixth of June that they came together again, at the Baie des Chateaux in Newfoundland, which had been agreed upon as the place of meeting. When the vessels had been overhauled and wood and water were taken on board, they made their way through the Straits of Belle Isle towards the most westerly point reached in their former expedition. Opposite the island of Anti- costi their two Indian guides informed them that they were now approaching the mouth of a great river, " which became narrower the further it went even unto Canada and continued so far west- wards that they had never heard of any man who had reached the head of it."l After carefully examining the wdiole of the 1 D'Avezac, Bref Ricit et Succincte Narration de la Navigation faite par le Capi- taine Jacques Cartier aux lies de Canada, etc., (Paris, 1863), p. 9 b: " Et nous ont lesdictz Sauuaiges certifEe estre le chemin et commencement du grant Silenne de Hochelaga et chemin de Canada : lequel alloit tousiours en estroissent iusques k Canada, puis que 1' on trouve I'aue doulce qui va si loing que iamais homrae n'auroit est^ iusques au bout qu'ilz eussent ouy." 8 OCCUPATION OF THE ST. LAWRENCE VALLEY northern shore of the Gulf to make sure that there was no pas- sage, they headed the vessels into the river " to go towards Canada."! On reaching the river Saguenay, where they made a short stay, they were informed by their guides that it led to a country and kingdom of the same name. Continuing their journey westwards, they arrived at the Island of Orleans near which was situated the Indian village of Stadacona. In a small harbour up the river St. Charles, which enters the St. Lawrence at this point, Cartier laid up the two larger vessels for the winter, while with fifty sailors in the Hemerillon he set off up stream to see what possibility there was of reaching the Southern Sea. Half way to the rapids of Lachine the channel they had chosen became too shallow for the sailing ship. In two of their boats however they safely reached the Indian village of Hochelaga where the rapids of Lachine checked further progress westward. The natives of the place informed them that " after passing three more such falls of water, a man might sail for the space of three months along that river and yet not reach the end."^ It seemed therefore that for the present at least they must abandon all thought of reaching the Southern Sea by this route. However, Cartier, before he left Hochelaga,unexpectedly receiv- ed information of another nature, to which he was by no means indifferent. Although the principal object of both his expeditions was to find a north-west passage to the East, yet the hope of finding gold had never been wholly absent.^ Nothing of the kind had been met with on the first voyage, but now at Hoche- laga he was told of the existence in these regions of a country as rich as the Mexico discovered by the Spaniards to the south. When he and his companions had gone to the top of Mount Royal 1 Ihid. p. 11 : "Nous appareillasmes du diet liable le pi'eniier iour de septembre pour aller vers Canada." " Ibid. p. 27 : " Et nous fut diet et monstre par signes par nosdictz trois hom- mes du pais qu'il y avoit trois telz saulx d'aue audict fleuve .... puis nous monstroient par signes que lesdiz saulx passez Ton pouuoit nauiguer plus de trois lunes par ledict fleuve." 3 Biblioth. Nat. Ms. Fr. 15628 fol. 213 verso no. 618 : " Et par la conduite de Jacques Cartier faire le voyage de ce royaume es terres neufues pour descouvrir certaines ysles et pays ou Ton dit qu'il se doibt trouver grant quantity d'or et autres riches choses," etc. OCCUPATIOX OF THE ST. LAWRENCE VALLEY 9 to see as far as possible over the land to the west, and were in despair at the evident impossibility of reaching the Southern Sea on this voyage, their Indian guides pointed towards the river Ottawa which enters the St. Lawrence a short distance off. "We thought it to be the river," says the narrator, " which flows past the Kingdom of Saguenay, and without any sign being made or question asked of them, they seized the chain of the Captain's whistle, which was of silver, and the dagger-handle of one of our sailors, of a yellow copper-gilt like gold, and gave us to under- stand that such objects came from up the said river."i The inhabitants of this country, of which they had heard the name when at the mouth of the Saguenay, were, it appeared, a very savage people who waged continual war against their neighbours. This was all the information that could be obtained at Hoche- laga. When the boats had returned to Stadacona where the winter was passed, Cartier at once began to question the lord of the village, Donacona, about this rich kingdom of Saguenay. As far as Cartier could understand, Donacona had been there him- self and knew the place well. In that land were to be found, said Donacona, not only great quantities of gold and silver, but also rubies and other precious jewels. The people were not savages, but were white like the French and wore woollen clothes, and the towns were large and very populous. Although it was possible to go there by the river Saguenay which, as they had been informed, flowed past the country, the better way was by the river St. Lawrence as far as Hochelaga and then by the Ottawa river, as the Indians of Hochelaga had explained. To the south indeed was another country where no ice or snow ever came and where grew in abundance oranges, almonds, dates, and other choice fruits. Here also the people went about clothed like the French, but the southern country contained, as far as Dona- cona knew, no gold. Cartier, therefore, like a true son of the sixteenth century, directed all his attention to the rich northern kingdom of Saguenay, for it seemed that the good fortune of a Cortez was to be repeated in his own case.2 1 D' Avezac, o-p. cit. , p. 27 b. Ibid. pp. 33 b et seq. 10 OCCUPATION OF THE ST. LAWRENCE VALLEY After a severe winter, during which many of his company died of scurvy, Cartier, in the spring of 1536, was at length able to fit out two of his vessels in preparation for the return voyage. The better to convince King Francis of the truth about the kingdom of Saguenay he seized Donacona and eleven of his people, that they might personally repeat to the King what they had already told Cartier himself. On Saturday, the sixth of May, the two vessels set sail from Stadacona and passing down the river and through the Gulf entered the Atlantic by the passage to the south of Newfoundland, the existence of which Cartier had suspected on the first voyage. After refitting and taking in water at the island of St. Pierre, they continued their voyage across the Atlantic and reached St. Malo in safety on the six- teenth of July, just two months and ten days after leaving Stadacona. 1 The news of the discovery of the great river must have created considerable interest in France, and though there seemed now slight hope of reaching the Southern Sea by this route, except perhaps after a long and tedious journey in small boats, yet the discovery of a rich country similar to that found by the Span- iards in the south was of a nature to remove any serious disap- pointment. Francis the First however was now too fully occupied in wars at home to send an armed expedition abroad, even with good prospects of gain. So, for a period of four years, the project- ed conquest of the kingdom of Saguenay remained in abeyance- During this time interest in the new world was not allowed to flag. To add to the excitement created in Europe by the news of the discovery and conquest of another rich country in the south called Peru, the savages brought home by Cartier continued to tell of lands in the north where people lived only on water, of others where the inhabitants had but one leg, of the land of the Picquemyans, whoever they might be, and of other countries besides the kingdom of Saguenay where gold was to be found in abundance.'-^ But the years passed and nothing: was done. Car- tier began to find the maintenance of his twelve Indian guides 1 Ibid. pp. 41 b e< seq. 2 Ibid. pp. 40 b et seq. OCCUPATION OF THE ST. LAWRENCE VALLEY 11 a severe drain upon his modest resources. On applying to the Court for some relief, the King, in September 1538, sent him fifty crowns, with doubtless a word of encouragement. i In the following March three of the Indians were baptized, and it appears that about this time or shortly afterwards several of them died.'-^ During the period of waiting Cartier enjoyed considerable honour in his native town of St. Malo and in 1540, twelve months before he again set forth, we hear of him entertaining a distinguished visitor from Ireland, who was on his way to Paris.3 In consequence of the armistice at Nice in 1538 and of the meeting of the sovereigns at Aigues Mortes shortly afterwards, Francis the First was once more at leisure to pay some attention to Cartier and his surviving Indians. After considerable deliberation it was decided to send out a large armed expedition to penetrate to the kingdom of Saguenay and, if possible, to effect its conquest as Cortez and Pizarro had effected that of Mexico and Peru. On the seventeenth of October 1540 the first step was taken when Cartier was appointed master-pilot of the fleet which was to convey the expedition. He had full control of the ships, the crews, and the navigation generally.^ The command of the soldiers, who were to form the principal part of the expedition, was in the following January given to Jean Fran9ois de la Roque, Seigneur de Roberval, who had gained experience serving under La Marck during the late wars in France and Italy.5 By the efibrts of these two leaders, Cartier and Roberval, and with the aid of funds supplied by the King,6 a fleet of five ships was 1 Paris, Biblioth. Nat. Ms. Latin, vol. 17059, no. 202. 2 Archives Municipales de St. Malo, Serie GG. 6 ; printed in Collection de Manuscrits Belatifs a la Nouvelle France i 29-30. Quebec 1883. 3 Gairdner and Brodie, Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII, xv 246 and 328. London 1896. * Lescarbot, Histoire de laXouvelle France, pp. 411-416. Paris 1612. 5 Harrisse, Notes pour servir a V Histoire, a la Bibliographie et a la Carto- graphie de la Nouvelle France, pp. 243-253. Paris 1872. Biblioth. Nat.. Pieces Originales, voL 2523 No. 56459 nos. 11-13 ; Ibid. Collect. Clairambault, vol. 134 fol. 1891 no. 5. 6 Lescarbot, op. cit. p. 410 ; Michelant et Rame, Voyage de Jaqties Cartier (1865) 2« partie, p. 25. 12 OCCUPATION OF THE ST. LAWRENCE VALLEY got ready in the spring of 1541 though deficiencies in the ranks had to be made up by taking out convicts. l As severe penalties were then imposed for light offences, these recruits were not necessarily of very bad character. All haste was being made with the preparations, with a view to setting sail about the middle of April.2 When reports of the expedition got abroad, the Spanish Gov- ernment sent a spy to France to learn for what region the force was intended. He reported that the vessels were being sent to people a land called Canada where a fort was to be built. The Cardinal Archbishop of Seville however in a letter to a member of the Council of the Indies stated the true aim of the French. " Their motive is," said he, " that they think that land to be rich in gold and silver and they hope to do as we have done. But in my opinion they are mistaken, for the whole coast down as far as Florida offers no riches except the fishing. Consequently they will waste their efforts and return with the loss of most of their people and nearly all they have taken with them."^ According to an English report the ships and men were being sent " to seek the trade of spicerey by a shorter way than the Portingalles use." ^ Unfortunately the forecast of the Archbishop proved only too correct. The necessary preparations had been almost completed, the levies of prisoners, the small droves of cattle, the goats and the pigs had been already taken on board, when Roberval, after bid- 1 Archives Nationales, U 754, vol. 53 verso et seq. ; Ibid. K 1232 ; Archives de la Gironde, B 31 fol. 101 ; in Harrisse, op. cit. pp. 258 et seq : Archives de la Seine Inferieure, S^rie G, No. 961 ; Joiion des Longrais, Jacques Cartier, pp. 27-36. Paris 1888. 2 Buckingham Smith, Coleccion de Varios Documentos para la Historia de la Florida y Tierras Adyacentes, i 107 et seq. Londres 1857. 3 Find. p. 111. Translations of both documents vf'iW be found in a paper by I'Abb^ Verreau entitled Jacques Cartier : Questions de Calendrier Civil et EccUsi- astique, in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Canada, vol. viii, pp. 143 et seq. Montreal, 1891. 4 Gairdner and Brodie, op. cit. xvi 234 (London 1898; : " Francis sends ships and 500 or 600 footmen to seek the trade of spicerey by a shorter way than the Portingalles use, i.e. by the Mare Glasearum. Their pilot Jacques Cartier thinks it will be navigable for three months in the year." OCCUPATION OF THE ST. LAWRENCE VALLEY 13 ding adieu to his sovereign, at length reached St. Malo. He found the ships in the roadstead ready to weigh anchor. Unfortunately he had ordered some artillery which had not yet arrived, and unwilling to leave without it, he determined to fit out a fresh vessel at Honfleur, whither he believed it to have been sent. Cartier however was to sail at once in charge of the fleet now ready. Indeed orders to this effect arrived from the King and no further delay was possible. When therefore Roberval had taken muster and view of the gentlemen, soldiers and mariners chosen for the voyage, he gave orders to Cartier to " depart and goe before and to governe all things as if he had bene there in person. And these things thus dispatched, the winde comming faire, the foresayd five ships set sayle together well furnished and victualled for two yeere, the 23rd of May 154)l."l After a stormy passage of three months, during the latter part of which they were obliged to feed the animals on cider, they reached Newfoundland. Here they refitted the ships and took on board wood and fresh water. As there was no sign of Roberval, Cartier ordered the fleet to get under way once more, and piloting it safely up the St. Lawrence he landed his large company at a spot a few miles above Stadacona, the point where he himself had spent the winter some six years before. The situation now chosen w^as a pleasant one and at this season the climate was agreeable. Nor were signs wanting of mineral wealth. Close at hand they discovered a mine of iron ore, while near the water's edge they came across " leaves of fine gold as thicke as a man's nayle." Further on they picked up " Diamants the most faire pollished and excellently cut that it is possible for a man to see : when the Sunne shineth upon them, they glister as it were sparkles of fire."2 In order that the King might know of this discovery and of the good prospects for the success of the expedition, Cartier in September sent back his nephew and his brother-in-law to show his Majesty what they had found and to inform him that Roberval had not yet arrived. After their departure, it was deemed advisable to make Hakluyt, Principall Navigations, iii 233. London, 1600. Ihid. p. 234. 14 OCCUPATION OF THE ST. LAWRENCE VALLEY an examination of the rapids above Hochelaga, so that during the winter preparations might be made for transporting the expedition past them in the spring. For this purpose Cartier and several others made their way up the St. Lawrence in two small boats. No mention is now made of Hochelaga, which seems shortly before to have been burned by a hostile tribe of Indians, the Iroquois. From the Indians close at hand however the French learned that though there were only two more such rapids to pass, yet the river was not navigable all the way to Saguenay. Evidently an overland march must be counted upon. With this intelligence Cartier and his men again returned to their fort where they received the ominous information that the neighbouring savages had ceased all intercourse with the French. It appeared that they were concerting measures against the new- comers. Alarmed at this intelligence, Cartier at once gave directions for everything to be put in order to resist attack.^ What troubles did arise or what attacks were made we do not know, for at this point the story of Cartier's second winter on the banks of the St. Lawrence comes suddenly to an end. We do not hear of him again until after a lapse of six months. He vas then on his way back to France whence Roberval had just set forth. We left Roberval at St. Malo watching the departure of Oartier's fleet. He seems to have proceeded at once to Honfleur as he intended, but owing to shortness of funds and difficulties with owners of vessels it was the end of August before suitable ships had been secured and the artillery placed on board. He then deemed it too late in the season to set sail and passed the autumn and winter at various Breton ports, occasionally darting out to rob English merchantmen on their way home from Spain.2 It ^as indeed not until the middle of April 1542 that he finally set sail from LaRochelle with two hundred persons, mostly male- factors, on board his three ships. After a voyage of two months, they reached the harbour of St. John's in Newfoundland. One 1 Ibid. pp. 235-236. 2 J. Kaiilek, Correspondance Politique de MM. de Castillon et de Marillac, 1537-1542, p. 390. Paris, 1885. OCCUPATION OF THE ST. LAWRENCE VALLEY 15 morning, while refitting here, they were greatly surprised to see Cartier's fleet enter the harbour. It appears that after prepara- tions had been made to resist the savages the difficulties with them came to a head. Since Cartier did not deem his company strong enough to oppose them, he had decided to set sail for France. Now that he had unexpectedly run across Roberval, he made haste to show him some of the supposed diamonds and also a quantity of the supposed gold quartz. On the following Sun- day the quartz was tried in a furnace and pronounced good. Highly delighted with this result, Roberval ordered the two fleets to return to the St. Lawrence. This Cartier and his people refused to do, and like Pinzon, in the first voyage of Columbus, " mooved as it seemeth with ambition because they would have all the glory of the discoverie of those partes themselves, stole privily away the next night and departed home for Bretaigne."! Roberval, greatly put out at this breach of discipline, against which under the circumstances no remedy was possible, towards the end of June set sail up the St. Lawrence and at a point four leagues beyond the Island of Orleans landed his company and their effects, as Cartier had landed his in the previous year. Whether he occupied the buildings left vacant by Cartier cannot be made out with certainty from the meagre details preserved to us. August and September were busy months, spent in discharg- ing the vessels and making preparations for the winter. Two of the ships were sent home to report to King Francis what had been done and to bring out fresh stores in the followino- summer. Sanneterre, one of the commanders, was enjoined to inquire how his Majesty liked the diamonds which, as Roberval expressed it, he had ordered Cartier to carry back with him to Franca^ During the long winter the company suffered much from cold, famine, and their twin-brother, scurvy. By the ravages of this disease fifty persons were carried off and doubtless more were invalided. With men taken from the gaols and fed on scanty fare, it could not be expected that matters would always go 1 Hakluyt, op. cit. iii 240. 2 lUd. p. 241 . 16 OCCUPATION OF THE ST. LAWRENCE VALLEY smoothly. One Michael Gaillon was hanged for theft ; John of Nantes was placed in irons for some slight misdemeanour, while for other offences not a few were whipped, women as well as men. As the weather grew warmer and spring appeared the return of Sanneterre was eagerly expected. In January the King had given orders for the two vessels to return to the St. Lawrence with provisions,! but at the beginning of June they had not arrived. Roberval decided that he could wait no longer. The summer was the only period for action and too much of it must not be wasted in idleness. On the fifth of June therefore seventy men were embarked in eight small boats to make their way to the kingdom of Saguenay. This was all of the force available, for in consequence of the departure of the two vessels for home in the previous autumn and the ravages of the scurvy during the winter only thirty persons besides were left under Royeze to guard the fort, and some of these were women. The amount of provisions at the fort was small, owing both to the non-arrival of fresh stores and also to the heavy draft on the provisions for supplying the boats. Royeze accordingly was ordered to sail for home at the end of three weeks in case no help came before that date.2 In the meantime the eight boats set oflf up the St. Lawrence in the direction of the rapids above Hochelaga. Before reaching that point one upset and the whole of the crew were drowned. The boat which brought the news of this catastrophe to the fort carried back a small supply of corn and fresh orders from Rober- val to delay their departure for three weeks longer. At this point, unfortunately, as in the case of Cartier's second winter on the St. Lawrence, our sources of information break off suddenly, and the adventures of Roberval and his men in their search for the kingdom of Saguenay remain a mystery. It should seem however that after proceeding for a considerable distance and finding their efforts unsuccessful, they returned to the fort, where they found the much-needed provisions which Sanneterre and 1 Harrisse, op, cit. pp. 272-3. 2 Hakluyt, op. cit. iii 24L OCCUPATION OF THE ST. LAWRENCE VALLEY 17 Cartier l had after loDg delay succeeded in bringing into the St. Lawrence. Roberval, whose services were required in the wars at home, at once set sail, and in the course of the autumn the remainder of the ill-fated expedition returned to France. Sanneterre, who brought Roberval home, was sent to meet the others on their arnval with orders to pay off the soldiers and after selling tbe vessels, artillery and war material to divide the proceeds among those whom he thought entitled to some recom- pense. 2 Such was the result of the first attempt on the part of the Trench to establish a foothold in the valley of the St. Lawrence. Armed expeditions, as the Archbishop of Seville had foretold, were doomed to failure in the north. The semi- civilized gold- producing countries of the south were a rich prey to bands of conquering adventurers, but it was the fortune or misfortune of the French to enter upon a region of very different character. Commerce, trade and manual labour were necessary before the riches of the St. Lawrence valley could be developed. The mines of i\Iexico and Peru have long ceased to yield remuneratively their precious metals, but the fisheries of the Banks of New- foundland still oiler profitable returns. In the following chapter we shall trace the birth and growth of this great fishing industry which in turn became the mother of the fur- trade, itself the foundation and corner-stone of all attempts made by the mother country to colonize New France. 1 Michelant et Kame, op. <:it. 2*^ partie, p. 29: " Et pour huict mois qu'il a este a retourner querir le diet Robertval au diet Canada," etc. 2 Harrisse, op. cit. pp. ilQ^ll. CHAPTER II. THE BIRTH AND GROWTH OF TRADE AND COMMERCE 1497-1597. Before the discovery of America, Europe received its cod, as to some extent it still does, from the fishing-grounds about Ice- land. To this region fleets of considerable size went every spring from the principal ports of England, France and Spain. Columbus himself is reported to have made a voyage thither before his famous one across the Atlantic.''^ It was not Columbus, however but John Cabot and the Corte-Reals who first made known to Europe the existence of rich fishing-grounds in the west. On the return of Cabot from his first voyage in the year 1497 an Italian envoy in England wrote home to Milan that the sea in those parts had been found so full of fish that the sailors caught them by merely lowering a basket with a stone in it and hauling it up again. It was afiirmed indeed that so many fish could be brought from this new fishing-ground that henceforth no more fleets would go to Iceland.2 The Corte-Reals also, by their voyages m 1500,1501 and 1502, contributed intelligence of the riches of these waters, and in 1506 a tax was laid on the cod brought thence to Portuofal.s 1 For this trade to Iceland, vid. Prowse, History of Newfoundland, chapter ii, appendix 1, pp. 24-28. London, 1895. Cf. also Loti, Pecheur d'Islande. Paris 1886. 2 Despatch of Raimondo di Soncino to the Duke of Milan dated 18th of December, 1497, in Markham, Journal of Christopher Columlm-s, etc. (London, Hakluyt Society, 1893) p. 204: "They affirm that the sea is full of fish, which are not onlj' taken with a net but also with a basket, a stone being fastened to it to keep it in the water . . , they say they took so man}' fish tliat this kingdom will no longer have need of Iceland, from which country there is an immense trade in the fish they call stock-fish." It was Sebastian Cabot who said the " fyshes somtymes stayed his sh3'ppes." Ibid. p. 210. 3 Letter of Pasqualigo in Paesi Novamenti Retrovati, (Vicentia 1507) cap. cxxvi : "Hanno grandissima copia de salmoni : Arenge: Stochafis e simil pessi "; Ramusio, Navigationi et Viaggi, vol. iii, fol. 417, Venetia 1556 ; Kunstmann, Die Entdeckung Americas, p. 69, Munich 1859. According to Peschel, Geschichte des Zeitalters der Entdeckungen (Stuttgart 1877), p. 262, note 3, a company was formed at this time in Portugal for colonizing Newfoundland. 18 TRADE AND COMMERCE 1497-1597 19 In the spring of 1501 Henry the Seventh granted Letters patent to some merchants of Bristol and to three Portuguese for trade in the new land. They were given a monopoly for ten years with permission to enter one vessel duty free for the space of four years.i It is not clear what products they expected to import, but it would appear that cod-fish formed part of the cargo.2 In the following year fresh Letters patent were issued, but whether the object in view was fish or even furs is no clearer than in the former case.^ In 1506 we hear of some French fishermen on the Banks, and two years later one Thomas Aubert brought thither for the first time the fishermen of Dieppe."* They gave glowing accounts of the riches of the new grounds and doubtless many others were soon induced to imitate their example. Thus in the year 151 0, in which some vessels from Dahouet in Brittany were also on the Banks.s fishermen from England, Portugal and France were engaged in this trade. Though notices are scanty and only occur at rare intervals, it appears on the whole clfear that from the principal western ports of these countries fleets of considerable size made their way thither each spring. In 1527 as many as fifty Portuguese, French and English vessels were on the Banks.^ Nor was cod the only fish sought. Cabot's tale about the basket evidently referred to this fish, but in course of time other fish such as turbot and sturgeon were taken, and some vessels 1 Biddle, Memoir of Sebastian Cahot, appendix D. Philadelphia 1831. 2 Excerpta Historica, pp. 126 et seq. London 1831. Rymer, Foedera, vol. xiii, pp. 37 et seq. London, 1712. Cf. Harrisse, John Cahot the Discoverer of North America and Sebastien his son, 8yllabus no. xix, pp. 397-398. London 1896. 4 Ramusio, op. cif. iii 424 ; Estancelin, Rechervhes sur les Navigateurs JVor- mands, p. 43. Rouen 1832 ; cf. also fSagard, Histoire du Canada, i 90-91. Paris 1865. 5 La Borderie, Mdanges d'Histoire et d' Archeologie Bretonnes, ii 153-156. Rennes, 1858. Also printed in Annates de Bretagne, ix 435, Rennes 1893. Cf. ibid, p. 175, et seq which may or may not refer to an earlier trade. In 1511 Juan de Agramonte was to get his two pilots in Brittany. Navarrete, Coleccion de los Viages y Descubrimientos, iii 122 et seq. Madrid 1829. Herrera, Historia, General de los Hechos, etc., Dec. ii, Lib. v, Cap. iii, p. 145, Madrid 1601. Cf. Coleccion de Documntos Ineditos de Ultramar, tomo iv (Madrid 1888) pp. 57-60. 20 TRADE AND COMMERCE 1497-1597 began to devote themselves to hunting walrus on the islands at the mouth of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, while others caught whales which were then plentiful in those waters. Fagundes after his exploration of the Gulf in 1521 appears to have engaged in the cod-ii«hing.l Two years later a Captain Coo managed after a lively struggle to get possession of a French vessel of Rouen which turned out to be on her way home from Newfound- land laden with fish.2 In the same year there were five vessels from the single town of La Rochelle on the Banks.^ Not only had the French fleet reached a considerable size* but the amount of English capital also invested in these fisheries was now so large that in the summer of 1522 Fitz- William, the Vice-Admiral, deemed it advisable to send several men-of-war to the mouth of the English Channel to protect the returning fleet from French privateers.^ When John Rut of Bristol entered the harbour of St. John's in Newfoundland one day in August 1527, he found " eleven sail of Normans and one Brittaine and two Portugal barques and all a-fishing."6 Four years later the Barbara of St. Brieuc in Brittany was plundered at Ramsgate of her cargo of " fysshe of the New-founde Island. "7 Cartier was much hampered in the preparations for his first voyage, in 1534, by several owners of fishing vessels at St. Male 1 Harrisse, The Discovert/ of North America, p. 184. London 1892, 2 Brewer, Letters and Papers of the reign of Henry VIII, iv, Part i, no. 83. The difficulty in taking her is made clear by a bill for £6 18s. for healing sixteen men "burnt at the taking of the Newfoundland ship." 3 G. Musset, Les Rochelais a Terre Neuve 1500-1550, in the Bulletin de Geographic Historique et Descriptive, Paris, 1892, p. 254. 4 Cf. T. Malvezin, Histoire du Commerce de Bordeaux, ii 165 (Bordeaux 1892) : " Le mouvement de la peche a Terre-Neuve .... occupait de 1520 a 1530 le nombre de soixante k quatre-vingts navires fran^ais principalement de Nor- mandie et de Bretagne." 5 Brewer, op. cit. iii Part ii no. 2459: — " It would be too great a loss that the ships ordered westward should not be sent before the coming home of the New found Island's fleet." Cf. also no. 2458. 6 Purchas His Pilgrimes, The Third Part, p. 809. London 1625. Also printed in Brewer, op. cit. iv Part ii Appendix no. 113. Cf. also Herrera, op. cit., Dec. iii, Lib. x, cap. 9, p. 369. 7 Gairdner, Letters and Papers of the lieign of Henry VIII, vol. v, no. 627 (1) p. 285. TRADE AND COMMERCE 1497-1597 21 who, evidently in fear of losing the season's trade, either hid their men or used intimidation to prevent them from offering him their services.^ When during this first voyage the ships' boats were exploring the Straits of Belle Isle they came upon a large fishing vessel from La Rochelle which was looking for the harbour of Brest on the Labrador side of the Straits where Cartier's own vessels then lay.2 Cartier himself before taking charge of such an important expedition had no doubt already visited Newfoundland many times as a fishing captain, and his crews were certainly old Banks fishermen. ^ He notes with satis- faction that the good fishing continues even as far as the regions which he explored in 1534. * One day near Cape Royal they took more than one hundred cod in the space of an hour. ^ When pass- ing along the north shore of the Gulf on the way home they saw smoke rising from a headland, upon which were a number of savages. Some of these at once put off to the ship and " came as freely on board as if they had been Frenchmen." They said they were on their way home from the Straits of Belle Isle whence a number of ships, well laden with fish, had just sailed for Europe. ^ Cartier, when on his way home from his second voyage in the 1 Michelant et Rame, op. cit., 2^ partie, p. 4. The statement here made before they left home that they were to "passer le destroict de la baye des Chasteaulx " certainlj' shows that these places were already familiar to the fisher- men of St. Malo. Cartier was similarly hampered in 1535 and in 1541 : Ibid. p. 17 e.t seq. ; Joiion des Longrais, op. cit. p. 22. Michelant et Rame, Relation Originale, etc., p. 11. Michelant et Rame, oj). cit., p. 47: " Et nous arrivez audit navire, assem- blasmes tous les cappitaines, pillottes, mestres et compagnons pour avoyi- I'oppinion et aduys de ce qu'il estoit bon de faire ; et apr^s avoir I'ung apres I'aultre dit que conscidere les grans ventz . . . . et aussi que les tormentes commenroyent en icelluy temps en la Terre neufve," etc. 4 Ibid. p. 9 : "et 1^ se faict grant pescherie," etc. 5 Ibid. p. 15 : "A deux lieux de cap Royal y a . . . la plus grande pescherie de grosses molues qui soit possible ; desquelles mollues en prynmes plus d'un cent en moins d'un heure." 6 Ibid. pp. 48-49 : " auquel lieu vismes des f unices que les gens de ladite terre faisoient sur ledit cap . . . et eulx voyans que n'y aprochions, viendrent avec deux barques enuyron douze homes, lesquels vindrent aussi franchement k bort de noz nauyres comme s'ilz eussent este Fran9oys. Ilz nous firent entendre qu'ilz venoyent de la grant baye . . . et que les navyres estoient appareillez de la dite baye, tous chargez de poisson." 22 TRADE ATSTD COMMERCE 1497-1597 summer of 1536, after wintering in the St. Lawrence, met several French fishing vessels near the island of St. Pierre, where he stopped to take on board wood and fresh water, i In the same year a French vessel was seized on the eastern coast of Newfound- land by two English ships which had run short of stores. 2 From the town of La Rochelle alone eight vessels went to the Banks in 1537, while in 1541 the number had increased to thirteen. 3 The fleet of five vessels which Cartier piloted up the St. Lawrence in that year was composed entirely of fishing vessels engaged in the Newfoundland trade, and doubtless many of those which the Spanish spy found in the harbours of St. Malo, Morlaix, Quimper, Harfleur, Honfleur and Dieppe, getting ready to sail the same spring, were also destined for the Banks. ^ When Roberval reached St. John's, Newfoundland, in June of the following year he found seventeen vessels in the harbour, three more than Rut had found on an August day fifteen years before. Roberval was detained there until the end of the month in settling a dispute between his own countrymen and some Portuguese fishermen.^ It has been stated that at this time the French Newfoundland fleet amounted in all to nearly sixty sail and we know that in January and February of the years 1543, 1544 and 1545 ships left almost every day for the Banks from Kouen, Havre, Dieppe and Honfleur.6 It was apparently in the 1 D'Avezac, op. cit., p. 46: "Nous feusmes esdictes ysles sainct Pierre ou trouuasmes plusieurs nauires tant de France que de Bretaigne," etc. 2 Hakluyt, op. cit. iii 131. 3 Musset, op. cit., pp. 256 et seq. 4 Buckingham Smith, op. cit., p. 107, et seq. The spy found two vessels at Croisie, thirteen at St. Malo, two at Morlaix, two at Quimper, two at Honfleur, two at Harfleur, while from Dieppe fourteen had already set sail and four more were preparing. 5 Hakluyt, op. cit., iii 241; P. Garcie, in Le Grand Routtier (Poictiers 1542), 10 pages from the end : "II est tout certain et notoire que mariniers vont es terres neufves," etc. 6 Gosselin, Documents A^ithentiques et Inedits stir la Marine Normande, p. 13, Rouen 1876. Cf. also Harrisse, Notes pour servir, etc., p. 273, where in a docu- ment dated January 1543 we read : " Nous commandons et enjoignons .... k tous maistres, pillottes et mariniers nos subjects tirans et faisans le routte des terres neufves quilz ayent k vous accompaigner et assister," etc.; and Biblioth. Nat. Ms. fr. 676 fol. 183 verso : " Le Cap de Chinchete est aupres de la pescherie St. Christofle.'^ TRADE AND COMMERCE ] 497-1597 23 autumn of 1544 that, according to Thevet, Roberval's niece was rescued from her desert island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence by a Breton fishing vessel, i In 1545 Newfoundland cod is put down as one of the regular articles of export from France into Eng- land.2 Although we find one reference to Spaniards as early as the year 1527, the Basques, who made a specialty of whale fishing, did not begin to frequent the St. Lawrence until the close of the first half of the century. The first Basque seems to have gone out in a French vessel and upon his favourable report numbers of his countrymen flocked thither direct from the Bay of Biscay. This founder of the Basque fishing visited the St. Lawrence twenty-eight times during the thirty-four years between 1545 and 1579.3 At St. Malo in the spring of 1560 there were twenty-five ships about to sail for Newfoundland and at Cancale five more were ready to join them.* The next year, from the little towns of Jumieges and Vatteville and from La Bouille, a small place on 1 Thevet, Cosmographie Universelle, Tome ii, Livre xxiii, chap, v, fol. 1020, Paris 1575. Cf, Biblioth. Nat. MS. fr. 1382 (dated 1545), fol. 40 : " En terre neufve a de bons portz et hables, Meilleurs deurope et fort belles rivieres Grant pescherie," etc. This MS. is really only a rhyming version of the Voyages Avantureux of Jean Alfonse, cf. appendix : Jean Alfonse. 2^Biblioth. Nat. MS. fr. 3881, fol. 18 verso et seq., printed by Funck-Brentano in his edition of the Traictede VQ^conomie Politique de Montchritien, annex p. 379, Paris, 1889. For the year 1548 vid. Lefevre-Pontalis, Correspoiulance Politique d'Odet de Sdve (1546-1549) Nos. 419, 434, 479, 481, and 491, Paris, 1888. Cf. also La Revue de Bretagne et de VendAe for November 1880, pp. 376-379. 3 C. Fernandez Duro, Area de Noe (Madrid 1881), pp. 313 et seq., cited by Prowse, Hist, of Newfoundland, p. 44. Stevenson, Calendar of Foreign State Papers, 1561-62 (London 1866), p. 336 : " Chamberlain alleged another reason to prove that the country (Spain) was not destitute of shipping that the}' have found a trade unto the New Found land for fish which they did not previously occupy so much." Cf. also Francisque-Michel, Histoire du Commerce et de la Navigation a Bordeaux ii 337 et seq. Bordeaux, 1871. An English Statute of 1548 in regard to the trade will be found in Hakluyt, op. cit., iii 131. 4 Stevenson, Calendar of Foreign State Papers 1560-61, p. 76. London, 1865. 24 TRADE AND COMMERCE 1497-1597 the Seine below Rouen, thirty ships sailed to the Banks.l Haw- kins, when on his way from the Spanish Main in 1565, met a couple of French ships on the Banks and had of them enough fish to keep him plentifully supplied during the rest of the voyage. 2 Two years later in 1567 the Portuguese attempted to found a colony or a fishing settlement on Sable Island.^ A large com- pany was formed at Rouen in 1570 for sending out vessels to the Banks.* We have exceptionally definite information regarding the number of fishing vessels on the Banks in 1578. Anthony Parkhurst, who pointed out that accurate statistics were difiicult to obtain since the number of vessels varied from year to year, reported that in the four years during which he had made voyages thither the English fleet had only increased from thirty to fifty sail because many still went to Iceland. About one hundred Spanish vessels arrived every year besides the twenty or thirty from Biscay. The latter went on into the Gulf for the whale fishing.^ The Portuguese numbered about as many as the English, but of French and Bretons the number was one hundred and fifty sail although as a rule their vessels were smaller than those of the other nations.^ In 1586 Thevet put the whole number of vessels, Spanish, French, English and Dutch, at about three hundred sail.7 Five and twenty years later Montchretien stated that the French alone then amounted 1 Gosselin, op. cit., p. 13. Breard, Documents Rdatifs a la Marine Nor- mande,Tp. 50. Rouen 1889. Cf also Stevenson, Calendar of Foreign State Papers 1563, pp. 234, 236 and 427. London 1867. 2 Hakluyt, op. cit., iii 521. 3 Jean Alfonce, Voyages Avuntureux, p. 28. Poictiers 1559. Hakluyt, op. cit., iii 155 : "when the Portugals (about thirty yeeres past) did put into the same Island of Sablon both Meat and Swine to breede." Cf. also R. Lemon, Calendar of Domestic State Papers 15S1-1590, no. 36 p. 38, London 1865. 4 Breard, op. cit. , pp. 50 et seq. 5 Cf. Hakluyt, Discourse on Westeme Planting, in Collections of the Maine Historical Society, 2nd Series, vol. ii (Cambridge, Mass., 1877), p. 48 : "one or twoo hundreth Spanishe and Portingale shipps" etc. 6 Letter of Anthony Parkhurst in Hakluyt, Principall Navigations, iii 132 et seq Cf. R. Lemon, Calendar of Domestic State Papers 1547-SO, p. 554 no. 20. London 1856. 7 Biblioth. Nat., MS. fr. 15452 fol. 145. TRADE AND COMMERCE 1497-1597 25 to double that number 1. Thus at the close of the sixteenth century the fishing trade of Newfoundland had reached very- considerable proportions, and though in some years, that of the Spanish Armada for instance, the number declined somewhat, yet on the whole a large fleet of fishing vessels sailed yearly to the Banks from the principal countries of Europe. In process of time the fishing trade had undergone division into several sections, of each of which it will be well to give a description. In the first place the cod fishing was divided into the green and the dry fishing. " The green," says Lescarbot, "are fished at sea on the Banks. Fifteen or twenty sailors have each a line of from forty to fifty yards in length, at the end of which is a large baited hook and a sinker three pounds in weight to carry it down. By means of this they fish for the cod, which are so greedy that no sooner is the bait down than they are caught, any where at least where the fishing is good. When the cod have been hauled on board they are prepared on benches in the form of narrow tables which run along the sides of the vessels. One man cuts off the heads and throws them overboard ; another cuts the fish open and takes out its entrails, passing it on to the next who removes the greater part of the bones. This done, they put it in the salting barrel for four and twenty hours when at length it is pressed ; and in this way they work continuously (not even stopping on Sunday) for the space of about three months, with sails down until the cargo is complete 2." Such was, and is still, the deep-sea fishing as carried on over the whole of the Banks from the coast of New England up as far as New- foundland itself. For the dry fishing, which, as we shall see, was probably the connecting link between the fishing trade and the earliest fur-trade, the process was diff'erent. " For the dry cod," says the same author, " the fishermen go ashore. There are 1 Moiitchretien, Traicte de VCEconomie Politique, edition of Funck-Brentano, pp. 231 et seq. Paris, 1889. Cf. also Joiion des Longrais, op. cit., pp. 188 et seq.; Breard, op. cit. pp. 59 et seq. and pp. 73 et seq.; Green, Calendar of Domestic State Papers 1591-94, pp. 36, 231, 248, 265 and 451, London 1867. 2 Lescarbot op. cit. (ed. of 1609) pp. 823 et seq. Cf. Kipling, Captains Coura- geous {hondon 1897), a work of fiction with some descriptions true to life. 26 TRADE AXD COMMERCE 1497-1597 harbours in great numbers both in Newfoundland and at Cape Breton where the ships remain at anchor for three months, At daybreak the sailors row out to sea and fill their boat with cod, which takes until about one or two o'clock in the afternoon. They then return to the harbour and throw the fish on a plat- form built at the water's edge. Here on a large table they are prepared as by the deep-sea fishermen. When the fish has been salted they are dried on rocks exposed to the wind or on the pebbles of the beach. At the end of six hours they are turned, and this is done several times until they are quite dry. They are then pressed. To dry them well, however, the weather must not be fogijy or they will rot, nor too hot or they will perspire, but the temperature must be moderate with plenty of wind." ^ From the liver of the cod a valuable oil was and still is obtained. In the old days this was secured merely by tossing that portion of the fish into barrels which stood exposed in the sun. There was no fishing at night nor, according to Lescarbot, during the winter, but an English writer asserts that at the close of the sixteenth century the French fishermen made a winter voyage as well as a summer one and that when the Englishmen were going out in April they often met Frenchmen on their way home.2 As a rule however all the fleets went out in April and came back in August. The profit varied from thirty to as high as fifty per cent. The vessels rarely exceeded one hundred and fifty tons although there was one, the Jehan from La Rochelle, of two hundred tons.3 The whale fishing was principally in the hands of the Basques who had gained their experience in the Bay of Biscay before the 1 Ibid. pp. 832 et seq. Cf. also Thevet, op. cit. Tome ii, iv. xxiii, Chap. v. R. Whitbourne, A Discoume and Discovery of Xewfo%indland (London 1622), p. 11 : " the Banke, where the French use to fish Winter and Summer, usually making two voj'ages every year thither," Cf. also Ihid. p. 97 ; Hakluyt, Dis- course on West erne Planting, p. 83 : "the Frenchemen, whoe, settinge furthe in Janiiar}', broughte their banke fishe to Roan in greate quantitie by the ende of May and afterwarde returned .... againe to the fisshinge and are looked for at home towardes the fifte of November." 3 Br^ard, op. cit, pp. 52 et seq. Musset, op. cit. p. 261. Cf. also Btdletin et Mimoires de la Sociiti Archiologique d^Ille-et-Vilaine, Tome iv, pp. 298 et seq. Rennes 1866. Malvezin, op. cit., ii 167. TRADE AXD COMMERCE 1497-1597 27 whaling grounds of the St. Lawrence were known.l The centre of the trade was a harbour formed by a small river which enters the St. Lawrence just below the Saguenay, though some of the vessels also used the port of Tadoussac.2 As soon as an anchorage had been found in one of these ports, the boats were sent off with a skilled harpooner in charge of each. If no whale were sighted a man was landed upon some neighbouring pro- montory from which he could announce the appearance of the expected prey. When an arrival had been signalled to the boats, these at once made chase, but on coming to close quarters approached cautiously. One of the boats advanced as close as possible until the harpooner, who stood ready in the bow, threw his weapon with great force. The animal feeling himself thus rudely pierced sank at once. If either his tail struck the boat or he started away rapidly the danger to its occupants was great. The line attached to the harpoon was paid out as fast as possible but in case of a tangle or if the progress of the animal was too rapid, it was necessary to cut it quickly with an axe. After the whale had reached the bottom he usually returned slowly to the surface where he was generally attacked in such lively fashion that he again made his way below, this time much weakened from loss of blood. When, some minutes after, he once more re- appeared,he was soon killed outright. If many whales were about, the dead animal was simply anchored and left where he had been killed ; otherwise he was towed ashore, cut up into pieces and the blubber boiled into oil in huge caldrons. Often as many as four hundred barrels were obtained from one whale but the quantity of oil of course varied according to the size of the animal.'^ Walruses were at this time also plentiful in the Gulf, especially at the southern entrance to the Atlantic near Brion's 2 A. Navagero, Voyage en France en 1528, in the Relations des Ambassadetirs V^nitienn, par N. Tommaseo (Paris, 1838), Tome i p. 13 : "A Bayonne et k Saint Jean-de-Luz on peche tous les ans quelque baleine," etc. 2 Laverdiere, (Euvres de Champlain, Tome ii (Quebec 1870), p. 55 : " Un pen plus haut il y a une riviere qui va quelque peu dans les terres ; c'est le lieu oil les Basques font la pesche des ballaines." Cf. also Ibid, iii 140. 3 Laverdiere, op, cit. iii 226-228. Lescarbot, op. cit. (edition of 1866) iii 800-802. Cf. also the engraving in Thevet, op. cit. ii 1017. 28 TRADE AND COMMERCE 1497-1597 Island. Towards the close of the sixteenth century many Eng- lish vessels engaged in this trade.l Besides the fat and the skin of the walrus other parts were then thought valuable, and a physician of Bristol, who prescribed for his patients the teeth of this animal ground fine, found it " as soveraigne against poyson as any Unicornes liorne."^ Cod, walrus and whale formed the bulk of the fishing industry; but other fish were also taken in smaller quantity. One man for instance saw a shoal of mackerel which covered a space " three times as large as the Markets at Paris."^ With such riches to tempt them, it is not surprising that the fishermen of Europe continued to flock to the Banks in ever increasing numbers. "In fact," says Lescarbot at the close of the century, " such a quantity go there every year that one cannot imagine whence comes such a host "■* The connecting link between this great fishing industry and the fur-trade with the savages is not easy to discover. It ap- pears however that the fishermen who brought home the dry cod were the first to barter with the savages. On account of the necessities of this trade most of the vessels spent the whole three months during which it was carried on in one or other of the numerous bays and harbours of the coasts of Newfoundland and Cape Breton. Vessels having their own platforms were led naturally to return year after year to the same spot, especially if the fishing in the neighbourhood was good. Friendly inter- course with the natives must soon have followed and in time also an exchange of European goods for furs, — the only article of any value that the savages possessed. At first no doubt the barter was carried on in a haphazard way by a few masters or sailors desirous of improving the season's returns.^ As the fisher- 1 Hakluyt, Principall Navigations, iii 189-201. Ibid. p. 191. 3 Lescarbot, op. cit. (edition of 1866) iii 803 : "Car en plusieurs endroits j'en ay veu des troupes serr(3es qui occupoient trois fois plus de place que les Halles de Paris." Ibid. p. 796 : " Car tant de gens et en si grand nombre en vont qiierir de toute I'Europc tons les ans, que je ne S9ay d'oii peut venir cette fourmiliere." Cf. Hakluyt, Discour-se, etc., p. 88 : " Which imposition of [i.e. on] twoo or three hundred shippes laden yerel}' with sondry sortes of fishe, trane oyle, and many kyndes of furres and hides," etc. TRADE AND COMMERCE 1497-1597 29 men and whalers pushed further into the St. Lawrence, and when experience had shown that the furs thus to be secured obtained high prices in Europe, this intermittent barter grew into an or- ganized fur-trade. Jean Alfonse tells us in 1544 that the fishing near Anticosti and along the shore of the Gaspe peninsula was better than at Newfoundland,! and we know that about this time the Basques began to hunt the whale near Tadoussac. Lescarbot at the beginning of the seventeenth century notes that before the regular fur-trading companies were formed, the fishermen were in the habit of bartering with the savages in the lower parts of the river.2 Notices of this fur-trade are found scattered through the records of almost the whole of the sixteenth century. When John Cabot set out on his first voyage in the spring of 1497 " divers marchants of London " ventured small stocks in his ship, and according to the same authority " in the companie of the saide shippe sayled also out of Bristowe three or foure small ships fraught with sleight and grosse merchandizes, as course cloth, Caps, laces, points and other trifles." ^ Verrazano in sailing along the Atlantic coast from Florida to Cape Breton found the savage tribes for the most part friendly, and although his princi- pal object seems to have been gold, he often exchanged goods with them. 4 He also made other voyages, ostensibly for spices. ^ 1 Biblioth. Nat., MS. fr. 676, fol. 179 et seq. : " En ceste coste et k I'isle de 1' Ascension y a grand pescherie de molue et de plusieures aultres poissons beau- coup plus que k la terre neufve et est les poisson bien meilleur que celluy de ladite terre neufve," etc. - Lescarbot, op. cit. (edition of 1617), p. 637 : " Car avant les entreprises du sieur de Monts a peine avait-on oui parler de Tadoussac, ains les Sauvages par maniere d' acquit, voire seulement ceux des premieres terres, venoient ti'ouver les pecheurs des Morues vers Bacaillos, et \k troquoient ce qu'ils avoient, preque pour neant." For Charlevoix's opinion vid. his Histoire de la NouveUe France, Tome i, p. 166. Paris 1744. 3 R. ilarkham, The Journal of Christopher Columbus, etc., p. 200. 4 Hakluyt, Divers Voyages (reprinted by the Hakluyt Society, London, 1850) pp. 55 et seq. Cf. also Jacques Savary, Le Parfait N6gociant, Tome i (Paris 1675), Liv. ii, p. 114 : " En I'annee 1520 trois freres appellez les Parmentiers decouvrirent vers le Cap Breton I'lsle de Fernanbourg, ou its chargerent leurs vaisseaux de riches marchandises.'' 5 Hakluyt, Divers Voyages, p. 11 : " Master John Verazaims, which had been thrise on that coast," etc. Freville, Memoire sur le Commerce Maritime de Rouen, ii 432-434. Rouen et Paris 1857. 30 TRADE AND COMMERCE 1497-1597 Gomez, who visited the Gulf in the year 1524, brought back with him a certain quantity of furs as well as a number of Indians. He reported that the country was exceedingly rich in marten, beaver and other furs, i Cartier's first contact with the savages of the mainland in 1534 certainly indicates that they had already traded in furs with Europeans. The ships had reached the Bale de Chaleur which Cartier hoped was the passage to the East, and a boat had been sent ahead to examine the coast. On round- ing a headland it came suddenly upon about fifty canoes manned by savages who were paddling towards the shore. At the sight of the boat the Indians at once made signs that the French should also land, and even held up furs to them on their clubs. As the boat was alone it was decided to return to the ships, whereupon the savages sprang again into their canoes and paddled after her. Although they made friendly signs the French did not understand and fired a few shots over the heads of those in the leading canoe. The Indians at once turned back and made for their camp. On the morrow however nine canoes came to the point of land at the entrance to the bay where the ships were lying, and when two boats had been sent ashore to meet them, the savages bartered away their furs to such an extent that most of them were left stark naked. On the tollowing day they came with more furs of deer, otter, and other animals, which they also bartered until the supply was exhausted. 2 On his second voyage the next year when the St. Lawrence was visited for the first time, Cartier everywhere found the Indians as familiar and as friendly as if they had known the French all their lives. They came freely on board with fish and other pro- visions and showed great joy at the sight of the strangers. ^ In an agreement drawn up between Roberval and two ship-masters six years later, it was stipulated that after landing Roberval and his company in the St. Lawrence the masters should be allowed 1 Ramusio, op. cit. iii 52 : " Sono in questa terra eccellenti martori et zibellini et altre ricche fodere, delle qiiali ne porto alcune pelle il detto Pilotto." 2 Michelant et Rame, op. cit., pp. 28 et neq. Thevet, Les Singularitez de la France Anarctique, p. 401, edition of GafFarel, Paris 1878. 3 D'Avezac, op. cit., p, 21. TRADE AND COMMERCE 1497-1597 31 to retain one- third of all that was obtained by barter from the savages. ^ In 1545 Jean Alfonse tells us that the Indians of Norumbega on the New England coast possessed large quantities of furs, and he mentions especially marten, a fur then so rare in Europe that only princes and great lords could wear it. 2 In 1558 Thevet incidentally records that the boat of a fur-trader was upset in the St. Lawrence by a whale. ^ Twenty years later when seeking to refute the assertion that there was gold in the region of the St. Lawrence, this same writer enumerated the riches of the country as consisting solely in fish and furs. Since the skins used by the savages for clothing and coverings were those of the otter, bear, marten, fox, rabbit and elk, it is probable that these formed their principal articles of exchange. ^ In the year 1569 David Ingram and two companions, who had made their way overland all the way from the Gulf of Mexico, were picked up near Cape Breton by a French vessel from Havre which " had a trade with the people there of divers sortes of fine furres." ^ Eleven years later one Richard Whitbourne tells us that he brought home furs from Newfoundland. On setting out he had intended to go to that portion of the Gulf which lies near the Straits of Belle Isle in order to trade with the savages, but went instead to Trinity Harbour in Newfoundland where he 1 Abbe E. Morel, Jean-Frangois de la Roque, Seigneur de Jtoberval, in Btdletin deGiographie Historique et Descriptive, 1892, p. 285 : " qu'ilz auront le tiers de tout ce qu'ilz pourront conquester par traphique de marchandizes avec les sauvages de la dicte terre," etc, ■2 Biblioth. Nat., Ms. fr. 676 fol, 185 et seq. : "Et y a entre eulx force pelleterie de toutes bestes . . . . y a une ville qui s'appelle Norombegue et y a en elle .... force pelleteries de toutes bestes : les gens de la ville sont vestuz de pelleterie portant manteaulx de martres." Also his Voyages Avantureux, p. 29. Thevet, Singidaritez, etc., p. 415, edition of 1878. 3 Thevet, Singidaritez, etc., p. 440. 4 Thevet, Cosmographie Universelle, Tome ii (Paris, 1575), fols. 1010 recto and verso, 1011 and 1013. 5 Hakluyt, Principall Navigations (1589), -p. 561: "This Monsieur Campaigne was brought up into the Countrie by the said Examinate and his two Companions, by whose meanes he had a trade with the people of divers sortes of fine furres and leaves of trees for dying," etc. 32 TRADE AND COMMERCE 1497-1597 obtained not only fish but also a good supply of deer, bears, beavers, otters and seals, which were sold at Southampton, i During the first three-quarters of the century it was princi- pally those engaged in the dry cod fishing who bartered with the savages. The Basques about Tadoussac doubtless also car- ried on some trade with the natives of that region but further than this point boats did not care to venture. It appears indeed that on account of the seizure of Donacona and of the troubles which arose on Cartier's return in 1541 and during the winter of 1542-3 which Roberval passed on the St. Lawrence, trade could not with safety be carried on beyond Tadoussac. In 1581 how- ever some merchants of St. Malo pushed once more into the upper St. Lawrence. In process of time the remembrance of old wrongs had faded away, so that the new generation, induced by gifts and other attentions, finally consented to re-open trading rela- tions. In that year a barque of only thirty tons was sent, but so profitable was the return that a vessel of eighty tons was des- patched in the following summer. To keep the matter secret however the vessel was hired in Jersey while the crew were engaged elsewhere. So great were the profits of the second ven- ture that in the year 1583 the same merchants sent out three ships. 2 In the following j'^ear the number was increased to five and in 1585 ten ships were despatched. In 1584 two savages were brought home in order to facilitate trade and intercourse. 3 1 Whitbourne, op. cit., Preface: "My first Voyage thither, was about 40 j'eeres since, in a worthy Ship of the burthen of 300 Tunne .... wee were bound to the grand Ba}-, purposing there to trade witli tlie Savage people (for whom we carried sundry commodities) and to kill Whales and to make Trayne oj^le, as the Biscaines doe there yeerly in great abundance. But we bare with Trinity Harbor where we killed great store of Fish, Deere, Beares, Beavers, Seales, Otters and such like with abundance of Sea-fowle : and so returning for England, we arrived safe at Southampton." 2 Hakluyt, Principall Navigations, iii 176 and 187. N. Sainsbury, Calendar of Colonial State Papers, Addenda 1574-1674, p. 20 no. 23. London 1893. 3 Hakluyt, Discourse on Westerne Planting, p. 101 : "And nowe our neigh- boures, the men of St. Malue in Brj'taine, in the begynnynge of Auguste laste paste, of this yere 1584 are come home with five shippes from Canada and the contries upp the Bay of St. Lawrence, and have broughte twoo of the people of the contrie home, and have founde suche swete in that newe trade that they are prepariuge tenne shippes to leturne thither in Janurar3' nexte," etc. TRADE AND COMMERCE 1497-1597 33 A traveller who went to Newfoundland in the summer of 1583 stated that the country was noted for the export of the furs of martens, beavers, and foxes, and that the fur of the fox was then of great value.i In one cottage a sailor saw two hundred and forty elk hides which were afterwards sold in France for forty shillings a hide.2 Hakluyt, writing about this time from Paris, announced that in one man's house he had seen, besides a considerable quantity of hides, the furs of beavers and otters which had been brought from the St. Lawrence to the value of five thousand crowns. He was then expecting fresh intelligence about this country from the towns of Rouen, Dieppe and St. Malo, whence the traders to these parts had set sail.^ So splendid were the returns that the French admiral, the Due de Joyeuse^ with the Cardinal de Bourbon and several others, thought of sending out a colony, and it was possibly in connection with this project that The vet put forward the advantages of Prince Edward Island as the site for a settlement. Not only was the fishing good (over two hundred vessels coming there every summer) but at this point there was carried on, according to his statement, a considerable barter in furs.* Stephen Bellinger of Rouen, who was sent out that year to explore the coast, " broughte home . . . divers beastes skynnes, as bevers, otters, mar- ternes, lucernes, seales, buflfs, dere skynnes, all dressed and painted on the innerside with divers excellent colours."^ In view of the dimensions which the fur-trade had assumed it is not diflBcult to understand why those who sought a mono- 1 Hakluyt, Principall Narigations iii 153. 2 Ibid. p. 175, 3 Sainsbury, op. cit., p. 24 no. 31. Hakluyt does uot mention the St. Law- rence by name but says ' ' all these commodities and others of no less value are brought out of the most nether parts of those countries whereunto our voyage of inhabiting is intended." It was then his intention to sail with Sir Humphrey Gilbert. Cf. Principall Navigations iii 161 : " Putabas te superiore iam Junio nos subsecuturum." 4 Biblioth. Nat., Ms. fr. 15452 fol. 150 verso.; Ms. fr. 15454 fol. 149 verso et seq. 5 Hakluyt, Discourse Concerning Westerns Planting, p. 26 ; cf. also p. 34 : " and upp within the Graunde Baye, exceding quantitie of all kynde of precious furres," etc, and p. 84. 3 34 TRADE AND COMMERCE 1497-1597 poly of it should have met with considerable opposition. In 1588 an attempt of the kind was made. In that year two nephews of Cartier, Stephen Chaton, Sieur de la Jannaye, and Jacques Nouel, both captains in the navy, petitioned King Henry the Third for a monopoly of the fur-trade. They pointed out that there was still due to their uncle Cartier one thousand six hundred livres. the sum verified as correct by the commissioners appointed to regulate his accounts with Roberval in 1544. As compensation for the non-payment of this sum, and for the arrears of pay due to one of them as captain in the navy, they asked for a monopoly of the fur-trade of Canada for the space of twelve years. They had already, they explained, engaged in it for some years and had contracted very friendly relations with the savages of the country, several of whom had been brought home to France in order to facilitate future intercourse. Besides the trade in the furs of the buffalo, marten, sable, otter and other animals, they had discovered certain copper mines. If in addi- tion to the monopoly they were given permission to take out sixty convicts a year they would be able both to work these mines and also to colonize the country. In January 1588 their request was granted.! The French fishermen and the merchants who had begun to make a specialty of the fur-trade at once made an outcry against the danger which threatened their interests. In an assembly of the Estates of Brittany held in March deputies were appointed to petition for the abolition of the new monopoly.^ These remonstrances proved effective and in May the grant was revoked. According to the order in council setting forth the revocation, the King had never intended to put a stop to the freedom of trade with the island of Canada which was henceforth to be as free as it had always been. It was only in respect to new lands hereafter discovered by the patentees that a monopoly of the fur- trade could be conferred. The monopoly of the copper-mines 1 Michelant et Ram^, Voyage de Jaques Cartier, 2^ partie, pp. 34 et seq. 2 Ibid. pp. 44 e.( seq. Archives d'llle-et-Vilaine, Registre des Etats C 2642, p. 635; printed in Michelant et Rame, Relation Originale, etc., (1867) 2* partie p. 10. Joiion des Longrais, op. cit., pp. 152 and 155-56. TRADE AND COMMERCE 1497-1597 35 which they asserted they had discovered was however confirmed.i This failure of a few St. Malo merchants to secure a monopoly of the whole trade shows that it had already assumed very con- siderable proportions and that the number of those who had felt their interests threatened was by no means small. Henry the Third's successor, however, was bent on securing the occupation of the St. Lawrence, and convinced that no colonists would go out voluntarily, saw that some inducements must be given to the merchants in order to secure their co-operation in the work of colonization. He therefore granted a monopoly and upheld it even in the face of more vigorous opposition. From the year 1588 until the close of the century, the trade went on unhampered, but no inhabitants of the motherland showed any inclination to emigrate to the colony. The trade was only a coasting trade which, though it brought out a certain number of vessels every summer, seemed unlikely to lead to any permanent settlement. A factor no doubt sometimes spent a winter with the Indians in order to familiarize himself with their language and habits, but between such occasional residence and colonization lies a wide gap. On the other hand it was becom- ing clear to the Government at home that unless something were done to fortify and hold the country, it might at any moment be seized by a rival power. From a French vessel captured at the mouth of the English Channel on her way home in the autumn of 159] the fishermen of Bristol learned the exact position of the island of Ramea in the Gulf, where this vessel had shipped her cargo of train-oil.2 Soon afterwards two English ships were des- patched thither. One of them, reaching the island too late in the season to catch walruses, seized a vessel from St. Malo with her cargo almost complete. The other missed the island but, coming near Cape Breton, sighted " five or sixe boates .... which were judged to bee Christians, which had some trade that way."3 In the year 1594 another English vessel, the Grace of 1 Biblioth. Nat., Ms. fr. 8022 fol. 186 verso. Joiion des Longrais, op. cit., pp. 157-159. Michelant et Ram^, Voyage de Jaques Cartier, 2« partie,pp. 48 et seq. 2 Hakluyt, Principall Navigations, iii 189 et seq. 3 Ihid, p. 192. 36 TRADE AND COMMERCE 1497-1597 Bristol, sailed as far as the island of Anticosfci in the belief that wounded whales made their way there to die. Not finding any she returned to the Bay of Placentia in Newfoundland where nearly sixty fishing vessels had already arrived.^ The walruses at Ramea island were the prospective cargo of the Hopewell which set sail from London in the spring of 1597.2 Thus the number of foreign vessels entering the Gulf in- creased year by year and the danger from foreign occupation became thereby the greater. In the year 1584 Hakluyt had written that " if we did not fortifie ourselves aboute Cape Briton, the Frenche, the Normans, the Brytons or the Duche or some other nation, will not onely prevent us, of the mighty Baye of St- Lawrence, where they have gotten the starte of us already, but will deprive us of Newfoundland which nowe wee have discov- ered " ; but his book on Western Planting was never published 3. At the close of the century he again sought to stir up his country- men. " While the French, Bretons, Basques and Biscayans," said he, " do yearly return from these parts a manifold gain, we the English have merely stood still and been idle lookers on."^ In the face of this danger from English enterprise it had become necessary for France to bestir herself if she wished to retain the region of which Cartier and Roberval had taken possession in her name. Her first efforts to strengthen her claim were the despatch of the expeditions under La Roche in the summers of 1584 and 1598, Both of these failing, recourse was had to the plan proposed by the nephews of Cartier ten years before. The fur-trade, as has been already shown, was made a monopoly and given to a few merchants on condition that they should take out a certain number of colonists every year. No voluntary col- onists had as yet come forward, and since the interests of the merchants were not in colonization but in trade they took out any persons they could get without regard to fitness. The num- ber taken was generally far below that agreed upon. The ofli- 1 Ibid. pp. 194-5. 2 Ihid. p. 195. 3 Hakluyt, Discourse on Westeme Planting, pp. 48, 87, and 102. i Hakluyt, Principall Navigations, iii, 193. TRADE AND COMMERCE 1497-1597 37 cers appointed to see that the agreement was fulfilled of course complained, but as long as good colonists could not be induced to come forward the evil appeared irremediable. When finally, in despair, the Government withdrew the monopoly before its legal termination, the fresh group of merchants to whom a new mono- poly was given acted generally just as their predecessors had done. One need not therefore be surprised that in the year 1628 at the time of the formation of the fifth company since 1600 the country boasted of but two families of colonists. Before however recourse was had to this system of a monopolized trade, an attempt was made to form a settlement on Sable Island. CHAPTER III THE TWO ATTEMPTS OF LA ROCHE AND THE FIRST FUR-TRADE MONOPOLY It was doubtless to offset the danger of the occupation of the St. Lawrence by a foreign power that two expeditions were sent out under La Roche in 1584 and 1598. Troilus de Mesgouez, Sieur de Kermoalec and Marquis de la Eoche, had been able, in his position of page at the Court, to gain the favour of Catherine de Mddicis.i Through her influence he was made captain of Morlaix in 1565, and a few years later commander.2 In this capacity he attempted to gain the command of the castle of Taureau, near at hand, but by his illegal extortions he had already roused the resentment of the inhabitants of Morlaix, and they formed a common fund to oppose his claim before the courts.^ Before the publication of the court's decision, which rightly was given against him, La Roche sought to take the matter into his own hands by forcibly seizing the place, but the arrival of several of the neighbouring gentry with their attendants induced him to agree to a compromise.'* It was in his quality of governor of Morlaix that La Roche presided at the meeting of the Estates of Nantes in 1574.^ Three years later a commission was issued by Henry the Third empowering him to occupy territories in New- foundland not then in the possession of any allied sovereign. Although in 1578 he was made lieutenant-general and vice-roy 1 G. Desfontaines, Uistoire des Dues de Bretagne (Paris 1739) Tome iii, p. 40 : " C'^toit un Gentilhomme de basse Bretagne qui avoit ete autrefois Page de la Reine Catherine de Medicis, et qui ayant, a ce qu'on dit, gagne la faveur de cette Princesse, avoit obtenu I'erection de la terre de la Roche en Marquisat. " 2 Og^e, Dictionnaire Hidorique et Giographique de la Province de Bretagne ii 60, art. Alorlaix note. Rennes 1853. * It appears from the evidence furnished on this occasion that La Roche, though a former page of the Queen Mother, had fought with the Huguenots in several of the recent battles. * J. Daumesnil, Histoire de Morlaix, pp. 145-153. Morlaix 1879. 5 Michelant et Ram^, Relation Original e, etc., 2** partie, p, 8 note 1. Biblioth. Nat., Pieces originales vol. 1938 no. 44603 nos 3-5. [38] THE FIRST FUR-TRADE MONOPOLY 39 for the King in those parts, he did not set sail until 1584.1 Un- fortunately his largest vessel with over one hundred colonists on board was wrecked near Brouage and the voyage had to be aban- doned.2 At this time La Roche enjoyed the revenues of the Abbeys of Bonrepos^ and Landevenec,'* and in 1585 he was ap- pointed to the command of the Castle of Fougeres in Brittany.^ In July of the following year in consequence of this new appoint- ment he resigned his post at Morlaix.6 He had been governor of Fougeres for four years when on his way back from Paris in February 1589 he was seized by the orders of the Due de Mer- cosur who imprisoned him for seven years in his Castle of Nantes.7 The Due de Mercoeur then secured possession of the Castle of Fougeres which La Roche seems to have left ill-pro- vided for defence, although in truth his own capture was the first notice he had had of the outbreak of hostilities.^ For a sub- stantial ransom^ he was at length liberated in 1596, and he at once abused his liberty by engaging in an unlawful expedition against the island of Ushant, then in the possession of the gover- nor of Brest who was also of the King's party.i^ After a 1 Dom Morice et Dom Taillandier, Hi'stoire ecclesia-stiqve et civile de Bretagne, Preuves, Tome iii pp. 1439 and 1442. Paris 1746. Also in Michelant et Rame, op. cit., 2« partie pp. 5-10. 2 Hakluyt, Discourse on Westerne Planting, p. 26: "and this yere 1584 the Marques de la Roche wente with three hundred men to inhabit in those parts whose voj'adge was overthrowen bj' occasion that his greatest shippe of CCC tones was caste awaye over againste Burwage and so the enterprize for this yere ceseth." Cf. also Green, Calendar of Domestic State Papers, Addenda 1580-1625, p. 43. London 1872. 3 Morice et Taillandier, op. cit. Tome ii p. cliii. * Ibid. p. Ixxxi. 5 Biblioth. Nat., MS. fr. 3309 fol. 71 verso. 6 Morice et Taillandier, op. cit., Preuves iii 1482. 7 Morice et Taillandier, op. cit. Tome ii p. cclxxvii : "et au mesme temps pour coramencer I'hostilite, il fit prendre le Marquis de la Roche, Captaine de Fougeres, qui revenoit de la Cour, lequel il a garde sept ans prisonnier dans le Chasteau de Nantes." Deffaite de VArmee du Prince de Domhes p. 12. Paris 1589. Cf. also Desfontaines, oj). cit. iii 40. 8 Morice et Taillandier, oj). cit. , Tome ii p. cclxxviii. 9 Ibid., Preuves iii 1663. i^^Ihid. ii 453-454 : " Dans le mois de Juin suivant le Marquis de la Roche fit une entreprise sur I'isle d'Ouessant qui n"eut pas de suite," etc. 40 THE FIRST FUR-TRADE MONOPOLY chequered career in France during the civil war he turned his attention once more to the lands in the west.i An agreement was drawn up in March, 1597, between La Roche and Thomas Chefdostel, master of the Newfoundland fish- ing smack La Catherine, of one hundred and seventy tons, by which Chefdostel, on condition that La Roche should pay for one- half the cargo of salt at Brouage, one-half the wages of the crew, and the whole of the provisions, undertook to embark on board his vessel a company of soldiers and to land them on Sable Island.2 When however a few weeks later La Roche applied to the Parlement of Rouen for certain prisoners who were to be of the party, these were refused him for lack of sufficient authoriza- tion.3 He was kept waiting until the following January before receiving the order by which he was empowered to take from the gaols of Brittany and Normandy such a number of criminals as he should deem advisable, seeing that on account of the length of the voyage, the fear of shipwreck and regret at the thought of leaving their friends no voluntary colonists had offered them- selves.'* At the same time he was named lieutenant for the King in the lands of Canada, Hochelaga, Saguenay, Newfoundland, Labrador, Norumbega and Sable Island, where he was given the same powers formerly accorded to Roberval.^ Clothed with these powers La Roche at once began to make fresh preparations for the despatch of a colony to Sable Island. To transport thither the two hundred sturdy beggars, male and female, handed over to him at Rouen^ he concluded a fresh agreement with Chefdostel on the 16th of March, 1598, by which for the sum of six hundred crowns the latter agreed to transport them to their destination. 1 P. Potier de Courcy, Nobiliaire et Armorial de Bretagne, ii 268 (Rennes 1890), makes him governor of St. L6 and Carentan in 1597. 2 Br^ard, op. cit., pp. 75-78. 3 Rouen : Archives de la Cour d'Appel, Registre des Stances de la Tournelle, 17th April, 1597, cited by Gosselin, Nouve.lles Olcmen Historiques Normandes, p. 10. Rouen 1873. 4 Lescarbot, op. cit. (ed. of 1609), pp. 442-446. This is similar to the authority given to Roberval, cf. Harrisse, Notes pour servir, etc., pp. 258 et seq. 5 Lescarbot op. cit. (ed. of 1866), Liv. iii chap, xxxii pp. 398 et seq. 6 Archives du Parlement de Normandie ; Archives Secretes, 20th May, 1598 fol. 189 verso, 23rd May fol. 192. THE FIRST FUR-TRADE MONOPOLY 41 When the season on the Banks was over he was to return and pick up La Roche. Any furs or other goods secured in the inter- val were to be equally divided between Chefdostel, the owners of the Catherine, and La RocheA Two days later a contract of a similar nature was entered into with Jehan Girot master of the Frcuigoise, who however was paid only one hundred crowns as his vessel was smaller than the Catherine.^ In spite of these elaborate preparations only sixty persons were actually landed on Sable Island. It appears that the re- mainder, before the vessels set sail, had paid La Roche to be released. La Roche himself continued his voyage towards the mainland, a slight examination of the island convincing him that it was not fit for settlement. Upon attempting to return to the island, after a suitable situation had been found on the mainland, he was driven by a storm all the way back to France. No vessel touched at Sable Island, and the sixty criminals and beggars were left to winter on this barren reef of sand. No relief came until the summer of 160'}, by which time through dissension and famine their numbers had been reduced to eleven.^ Meanwhile La Roche on his return made an attempt to secure a fresh batch of pris- oners, but since it had become known that less than half the former allotment had been transported, the Parlement of Rouen refused to give him any more.** He died some three years later.B Thus two attempts to check the encroachments of foreign fishermen and fur-traders by establishing a strong post on Sable Island or the coast near at hand ended in failure. Though in the first case the sea was apparently responsible, in the second the blame must rest with the leader for his choice of such a site for his colony. It was now some sixty years since the French claim 1 Br^ard, op. cit. pp. 79-81. Ibid. pp. 81-83. 3 Lescarbot, op. cit. (eel. of 1866), Tome ii p. 396 et seq- Gosselin, op. cit. p. 16. 4 Rouen: Archives de laTournelle 17th October, 1598: "attendu leretour dudit de Mesgouet dudit pais faict exprez pour lever et niener personiies audit pais." These lines must have escaped the late M. Gosselin or he would not have given 1599 as the year of this expedition. Cf. his Nouvelles Olanes, p. 15. 5 Potier de Courcy, op. cit. ii 268. 42 THE FIRST FUR-TRADE MONOPOLY to these regions had first been made, and yet with the exception of the yearly summer coasting trade no signs of possession were visible. In the year following La Roche's expedition, a fresh applica- tion was made to the Government for a monopoly of the fur-trade by Pierre Chauvin, Sieur de Tonnetuit.i Although a Huguenot and born at Dieppe, Chauvin had been living for a number of years at Honfleur whither he had been sent as early as the year 1589 to occupy the post of captain of the garrison. Some five years later he became interested in the fur-trade of New France and soon possessed four vessels, the largest being of two hundred tons, which annually traded to the St. Lawrence. His application for a trading monopoly of ten years was accepted on condition that he should take out fifty colonists a year or five hundred in all. He appears to have assumed the title of lieutenant for the King in Canada although no Letters patent to this effect were issued.2 With his former partner Francois Grav^, Sieur du Pont, like himself an old fur-trader and one who had often visited the St. Lawrence, he began to make preparations for carrying on the trade under the new conditions.^ A number of colonists were collected and orders were issued forbidding other vessels to trade in those parts. Early in the spring of 1600 the ships of the monopolists reached Tadoussac at the mouth of the Saguenay where the barter was usually carried on.* Chauvin was of the opinion that the colonists should also be landed there. Dupont- Grave however, who had visited the wooded and meadowy banks higher up the river, preferred a site further west and in this view he was supported by the Sieur de Monts, well known afterwards for his attempts to colonize Acadia. At this time however Monts was merely on a voyage of pleasure and his opinion did not have great weight. Thus notwithstanding these remonstrances Chauvin 1 I cannot find any basis for Poirson's statement about the Discours of Hurault in connection with this company. Cf. his Ilistoire de Henri IV, iii 538, Paris, 1865, and Harrisse, Notes, etc., pp. 279-80. 2 Tabellionage de Rouen, 14th and 23rd February, 1600, cited by Gosselin, op. cit., p. 17. 3 Breard, op. cit., pp. 93 et seq. 4 Laverdiere, op, cit.. Tome v Chap, vi p. 41. THE FIRST FUR-TKADE MONOPOLY 43 remained firm. It is said he cared less for the welfare of the colonists than for the gains of the trade. After the colonists had been disembarked here, the summer was devoted to barter. When they set sail on their return, instead of fifty sturdy settlers planted on good soil they left a miserable remnant of sixteen men, huddled together for warmth in a small log-hut on the bleak rocks at the mouth of the Saguenay.i Chauvin's profits enabled him to send out a larger number of vessels in the following spring, though it is doubtful whether a new batch of fifty colonists also formed part of his ships' companies. Champ- lain indeed goes so far as to assert that Chauvin never intended to fulfil this condition of his monopoly but had taken out a few men merely to throw dust in the eyes of the Government. This was doubtless the easier in view of the King's great confidence in him, which had been earned by his excellent behaviour when governor of Honfleur.2 Meanwhile the excluded traders of St. Malo, Dieppe, La Eochelle and other seaport towns were making the land ring with complaints. Having failed to prevent the registration of Chauvin's papers,^ they now petitioned the King, declaring that since the discovery of the St. Lawrence by Cartier they had always been in the habit of trading with the savages in that region, that by long intercourse they had rendered these Indians so friendly that one of their men had been left to winter in the country in order to examine into its geography, and moreover that their vessels had been made ready for the yearly voyage and that if these could not be despatched the loss would be very great.'* Henry the Fourth however remained firm. He seems to have been of the opinion that though these traders undoubtedly added to the wealth and commerce of the nation, it was at that moment of still greater importance to show Europe that France claimed these regions as her own. This the yearly coasting trade could never effect, and since colonists would not go 1 Ibid., Tome v Liv. i Chap, vi ; Breard, op. cit. pp. 85-86. 2 Laverdi^re, op. cit., Tome v Chap, vi p. 44 ; Breard, op. cit, p. 67. 3 Michelant et Rame, op. cit., 2^ partie p. 12 No. iv. 4 Ibid. pp. 51 et seq. 44 THE FIRST FUR-TRADE MONOPOLY voluntarily, a monopoly was only a just recompense for those who went to the expense of planting each year a certain number of settlers in the colony. In the spring of 1601 Chauvin and his partners again despatched their vessels. It is probable however that had the passengers been counted they would have been found to fall far short of fifty, if indeed Chauvin did not altogether neglect to fulfil this condition of his privilege. The sixteen settlers at Tadoussac, who had been obliged to take refuge with the Indians, were doubtless relieved and we may even believe, in the absence of any information to the contrary, that they were taken home in the autumn. No others appear to have been landed and the whole summer was given over to trade. Under these circum- stances it is not surprising to find that the gains were as great as in the previous year.i The year 1602, though only the third in a monopoly of ten years, was the last during which Chauvin and his partners enjoyed their privileges in full. The persistent opposition of the excluded traders so far forced the hand of the Government that at length it promised to permit certain merchants of Eouen and St. Male to take part in the trade on condition that these also bore their share in the expense of transporting colonists.2 This admission however of a favoured few gave rise to as much hostility as before, and upon the declaration of the Town Council of St. Malo that the full and entire freedom of the trade would alone satisfy their demands, the King deemed it advisable that an inquiry into the whole matter should be instituted so that some mutually favourable arrangement might be arrived at. A monopoly granted ostensibly for a period of ten years was thus virtually withdrawn at the end of the third. Such indeed was so frequently the practice of the Govern- ment that at length the commercial element of the seaport towns lost faith in its word, and taught by experience refused to be bound by any severe conditions as to colonization. The monopoly enjoyed during these years by Chauvin had embraced only the valley of the St. Lawrence. Along the 1 Laverdiere, op. cit., Tome v pp. 43-44. 2 Michelant et Ram^, op. cit., 2« partie No. v pp. 12-14. THE FIRST FUR-TRADE MOXOPOLY 45 Atlantic coast a number of vessels continued to barter as they had done in the days when a ship of Havre picked up David Ingram on his arrival from Florida. These consisted principally of French and English vessels, although, according to a report of Indians in the Bay of Fundy, the Basques also came there every summer for furs. A little further to the south an English vessel secured a good stock of skins of beavers, martens, otters, wild- cats, " with very large and deep fur," black foxes, rabbits and " other beasts' skins to them unknown. "l As a result however of the inquiry now opened into the fur-trade by the Government this part of New France was included henceforth in the region to which the monopoly extended. On the 28th of December, 1602, an order was issued command- ing the Sieur de la Cour, first president of the Parlement of Normandy and the Sieur de Chaste, vice-admiral in the navy and governor of Dieppe, to repair to Rouen at the end of the following January and there, having summoned before them the deputies of that town, those of St. Malo and finally Captain Chauvin himself, to draw up some suitable agreement for the regulation of the fur-trade and for the colonization of New France. Their final decision was at once to be put in force by the Admiral of France, a position then occupied by the Sieur de Dampville.2 A proclamation was issued forbidding any captain, master, or merchant to send out any vessel to the St. Lawrence or to carry on any trade beyond the promontory of Gaspe until the decision of the Commission was made known.^ The report of this Commission has not so far been discovered, but it appears that after hearing the parties interested, the commissioners recommended the admission of only two vessels, as the Gcvern- ment had at first proposed, one for Rouen and one for St. Malo. The owner of each vessel was however to pay one-third of the cost of colonization. The vessel of the St. Malo merchants was 1 Archer's Relation of GosnoWa Voyage in the Collections of the Mass. Hist. Society, 3rd Series viii 73. Cf. Brereton's Brief and True Relation in ibid. pp. 86 and 91. 2 Michelant et Rame, op. cit,, 2^ partie pp. 15-17. 3 Ibid. pp. 17-21. This was addressed to the traders of Calais, Picardy, Normandy, Brittany, Guyenne and Biscay', which shows the extent of the trade. 46 THE FIRST FUR-TRADE MONOPOLY placed under tlie charge of a Captain Coulombier while Captain Prevert was given the command of the one fitted out at Rouen, l It appears that shortly after the publication of this decision and before the vessels had been despatched for the season of 1603 Captain Chauvin died. His death does not seem to have disturbed the existing arrangements, his place being taken by the Sieur de Chaste, who, as one of the late commissioners, was conversant with the demands of the fur-trade. He had been governor of Limoges and was in command of the expedition sent to the Azores in 1583. Although, on account of the superior force of the Spaniards, the French and Portuguese were defeated, yet Chaste so distinguished himself that on his return Catherine de Medicis expressed her satisfaction at his conduct. 2 As governor of Dieppe, in which position he greatly distinguished himself during the civil wars, 8 he must have been brought con- stantly into connection with the fishermen and traders of the St. Lawrence, while his recent duty as commissioner at Rouen no doubt gave bim an adequate knowledge of the trade. Before Chaste set sail with a fresh contingent of colonists it was deemed advisable to make a thorough examination of the new regions in order that when more accurate information as to their resources and geographical position had been obtained, the new settlement might be planted in the most favourable spot available. ^ This duty was consigned to Dupont-Grav^ who had charge of the ves- sel belonging to Chaste, and with him was also associated Samuel de Cham plain, a captain in the navy and a personal friend of Chaste. Champlain had jusi returned from the Spanish Main and was ready, now that his country enjoyed domestic peace, to devote his energies to the development and colonization of New 1 Ihid. pp. 21 et seq. N. Valois, Inventaire des Arrets die Conseil d'Etat, ii 129 No. 7566. Paris 1893. Laverdi^re, op. cit. Tome v chap, vii pp. 44 et seq. 2 De la'Chenaj'e, Desbois et Badier, Dictionnaire de la Noblesse, Tome v p. 894. Paris 1865. On the expedition to the Azores vid. M. Theveriot, Relations de Divers Voyages ciLrieux, Tome ii, 4^ partie. Paris 1696. 3 D. Asseline, Les Antiquitez et Chroniques de la Ville de Dieppe, Tome i, pp. 388 et seq.. Tome ii, pp. 1-116. Dieppe 1874. 4 Laverdiere, op cit.. Tome v Chap, vii p. 45. THE FIRST FUR-TRADE MONOPOLY 47 France, an object which he kept steadily in view and pursued without intermission until his death in 1635. Early in the spring of 1603 the vessel of Chaste as well as those in charge of Prevert and Coulombier set sail for New France. They carried no colonists, for while the two latter traded, Dupont-Grave and Champlain were to seek a suitable spot for settlement. Prevert seems to have directed his course to He Perc^e near the Bale de Chaleur where he spent the summer in bartering. He also found time to examine some mines on the Acadian peninsula to which he was guided by a few Indi- ans trading at He Percee. While the others were busy barter- ing with the savages who had come both from the upper St- Lawrence and from the Saguenay to Tadoussac, Dupont-Grav^ and Champlain set off to explore the St. Lawrence as far as the rapids of Lachine. Several merchants of St. Malo had already made their way there since Cartier's time for trading purposes, i but the present was an official exploring expedition. Every- where they found the land rich and fertile. " The further we advanced," says Champlain, " the finer the country appeared." An island at the mouth of the river afterwards called St. Maurice attracted his attention as a suitable spot for an inland post ; for he learned that the Algonquin and Huron tribes who lived in the regions of the upper Ottawa River and Georgian Bay feared to make use of the waterway of the St. Lawrence lest they should be waylaid by their inveterate enemies the Iroquois who dwelt in the peninsula at the eastern end of Lake Ontario. If a strong post were established here, Champlain was of opinion that even the Iroquois might be overawed sufficiently to induce them to sue for peace. 2 After making their way to the rapids of Lachine 1 Hakluyt, Prijicipall Navigations, iii 236: " I hav^e bene upon the toppe of a mountaine which is at the foot of the Saults," etc. Noel to Groute 19th June 1587. Cf. also his Discourse on Westeme PlatUing, p. 115: "A man of St. Malowe this last yere (1583) discovered the sea on the back side of Hochelaga." Annuaire diL Conseil H6raldtque de i^rawce, Paris 1894, p. 50 : " Et apres Cartier plusieurs Normans, Biscains, Bretons et entre autres les S*^ du Pontgrave et Prevert dudit St-Mallo, Fabian de Mescoroua, lesquelz, trente cinq ans (1578) ou environ, ont trafficque dans le dit lac et audessus avecques les dits sauvages." - Laverdiere, op. cit., Tome ii Chap, vi p. 30. 48 THE FIRST FUR-TRADE MONOPOLY the expedition returned to Tadoussac where trading operations were still proceeding, i Here they remained only a few days before they again set off to explore the regions about Gaspe and the Acadian peninsula. Although they did not actually push their explorations in this direction beyond He Percee where Pre- vert was trading, they were able from him and from the Indians who had come from the south for barter to obtain a full account of the land beyond. Pre vert also gave them a description of the mines he had visited, although, owing to the place being covered at high-tide, his examination was not as thorough as he had wished. The reports of this southern region must have impressed Champlain and Dupont-Grave very favourably for it was doubt- less in consequence of their advice that the colony brought out in the following year was taken to Ste. Croix in the Bay of Fundy instead of to the St. Lawrence. 2 Satisfied with the results of these invcbtigations they once more returned to Tadoussac, and when the barter there was over again set sail for France. The hopes of all were now centred upon Chaste in expectation of the despatch of a large expedition under his charge in the spring of the following year. Great must have been the grief and disappointment of Dupont-Grav6 and Champlain on reaching Havre in September to learn that their trusted leader was dead. This brave old man, whose head, says Champlain, bore as many years as grey hairs, and who notwithstanding his advanced age was still ready to place his services at the disposal of his country, had passed quietly away at Dieppe in the middle of the previous May. 3 Champlain especially feared lest, when such an exper- ienced adviser was no longer there, the Government might be 1 According to the traders of St. Malo nine or ten other barques were also at the rapids this year. Cf. Anmiaire du Conseil Heraldique de France, 1894, p. 50: *' et y a environ de dix a douze ans seuUement que le dit Champlain fut comme passager mene au premier sault par le diet Sr du Pontgi-ave de St-Mallo et en laquelle annee se trouva une infinite de personnes de toutes contrees de la France jusques au nombre de neuf ou dix barques qui toutes ensemble n^goti^rent au dit lieu." 2 Laverdiere, op. cit., Tome ii Chap, x pp. 50 et seq. For the trade further south this year cf. Pring's Voyage in Purchas, Part Four, pp 1654-56. London 1625. 3 Laverdiere, op. cit., Tome v Chap, vii, p. 47i THE FIRST FUR-TRADE MONOPOLY 49 induced to withdraw the monopoly, as the sea-port towns demanded. This year from Havre alone eighty vessels had visited the Banks, and since many of them were dry-fisheis who remained the whole time in harbour, the restriction in regard to bartering was very unpopular.! Champlain haw however that without a monopoly colonization would never make great pro- gress. In none too confident a mood therefore he set out for Fontainebleau where he pre-^ented to the King an account of their explorations, at the same time urging upon him the necessity of colonizing such a valuable tract of territory. Henry the Fourth, who was imbued with the same ideas, was especially pleased to hear that this new territory had turned out so fertile and valuable, and promised that the death of Chaste should in no way lead to the overthrow of the monopoly. A new man would be found and a new and more extensive company formed which should establish a colony, not in the St. Lnwrence where the winters were severe, but in the warmer region of the Acadian peninsula, where in addition there appeared to be prospects of finding minerals. With the death of Chaste, the monopoly originally granted to Chauvm and then extended to a few merchants of Rouen and St. Malo came to an end. The withdi'awal of privileges legally with still several years to run, although in this case perhaps justifiable, as no colonists had been settled in the country, became afterwards a regular practice of the Government. It was generally excused on the ground that the condition as to colonists was never pro- perly fulfilled by the monopolists. In the case of the withdrawal of Monts' monopoly, as we shall see, this excuse was the less justifiable, that he carried out that condition of his grant far better than even any of his successors. The history however of all the companies formed during these years for trade in New France is the same; fi-st a monopoly is granted under ciicumstaiices ostensibly most favourable to the Government and to the jsrivi- leged merchants ; then follow the growls of the excludeti traders, the lack of good voluntary colonists, the transportation to the colony of a few beggars, criminals or unpromising labourers ; a 1 Archives de la Seine Inferieure, Serie C 1238 fols. 99 verso et seq. 4 50 THE FIRST FUR-TRADE MONOPOLY drain on the company's funds in maintaining these during the long winter ; a steady decrease in the number taken out ; at length no attempt to fulfil this condition of the monopoly ; the anger of the Government when made aware of the facts ; and finally the sudden repeal of the monopoly several years before its legal termination. CHAPTER IV THE TWO MONOPOLIES OF MONTS, 1604-1608 The man chosen to till the vacancy created by Chaste's death was Pierre du Gua, Sieur de Monts. Like Chauvin he was a Huguenot and like him also had at one time held the post of governor of Hontieur.i During Henry the Fourth's struggles for the crown, Monts rendered good service in his cause and now enjoyed, as a reward, the governorship of the pretty little town of Pons in Saintonge.2 As mentioned above he had already visited the St. Lawrence with Chauvin in 1600, and on other evidence he seems indeed to have made several voyages to those regions."' He was now to profit by the recent survey of Dupont- Grave and Champlain and to leaa out to the warmer region of Acadia the colony of which the late commander Chaste was to have been the guiding spirit."^ To quiet the complaints of the excluded traders, it was decided to repeal the monopoly originally granted to Chauvin and in a fresh one, given for a similar term of years, to include as many of the merchants as desired to offer their names. The terms however upon which this new company was to enjoy the trade both of the St. Lawrence and of the Atlantic coast were so severe that at first no shareholders would come forward. While Chauvin had agreed to fifty colonists a year, the number was now required to be one hundred, or a total of a thousand colonists at the end of the ten years. To be sure, in case an insufficient number of good colonists came forward, idlers and beggars both in the towns and in the country might be seized, and the judges were instructed not to be too lenient in 1 Breard, op. cit. p. 68, 2 Biblioth. Nat,, Pieces originales, vol. 1421 no. 32147, nos. 4 and 5. 3 Lescarbot, op. cit. (ed. of 1866), ii 409 : " confians . . . en la conoissance que vous avez de la qualite, condition et situation dudit pais de la Cadie pour les diveres navigations, voyages et frequentations, que vous avez faits en ces terres," etc. •1 Laverdiere, op. cit.. Tome v Chap \aii pp. 48 et seq. [51] 52 THK TWO MONOPOLIES OF MOXTS, lt)04-1608 the infliction of the punishment of banishment;'- yet a very few- conferences with the other merchants convinced Monts that the number must be reduced, and on the eighteenth of December he presented a petition to the King to this effect. The fact that unless some reduction were made no shareholders would cotne forward seems to have been of sufficient weight with the Govern- ment to cause it to reduce the number to sixt}'. The further request, however, to close the books of the Company at once instead of in the spring, on the specious pretext that otherwise the number of shareholders might be too large, was granted only in a measure. At the end of eight days from that date no more shart-holders were to be admitted, although it was hoped that before then all who wished to do so would have given in their names. Henceforward trade in those regions was to be for- bidden to all but the shareholders of the Company.- In pursu- ance of this last declaration an order was issued on the same day to the officers of the Admiralty in Picardy, Normandy, Brittany and Guyenne, informing them of the new monopoly of Monts and his partners extending from the fortieth to the forty-sixth degree of latitude. To make the prohibition more expdcit it was declared to embrace the Gulf and River St. Lawrence with Gaspe and the coasts of the Acadian peninsula as far south as the fortieth degree. Any vessel caught bartering within these limits would be at once seized, and if convicted the owners would be obliged to pay a fine of thirty thousand livres.3 Notwithstanding that an endeavour had been made to include in this new company as many of the regular traders as possible, the publication of the new monopoly at once stirred up a vigor- ous opposition. Not only were many excluded merchants among its opponents but Sully the finance minister opposed 1 Lescarbot, op. cit. (ed. of 1866) ii 408 et seq. 2 Ministere des Colonies : Corresp. Gendrale, Acadie vol. i fol. 25 et seq., fol. 38 et seq., printed in Collection de Manuscrits Relatifs a la Nouvelh France vol. i pp. 44 et seq. It is unfortunate that tlie utility of this publication is so greatly decreased l)y the absence of any indication as to whence the documents have been taken, 3 Lescarbot, op. cit. (ed. of 1866) vol. ii p. 415; Collection de Mamiscrits, etc., pp. 46 et seq. THE TWO MONOPOLIES OF MONTS, 1604-1608 53 both the monopoly and the whole scheme of colonization. In his opinion no riches could be found north of forty degrees and with- out gold and silver colonies were, he thought, uselessJ When Monts sought to register his commission in the Parlement at Rouen he met with a repulse which was only overcome bv the intervention of the King himself. This opposition was partly due, it appears, to the fact that Monts, a Huguenot, had been placed at the head of the undertaking which announced as one of its principal aims the conversion of the savages of New France to the Catholic faith. The assurance given by the King that Catholic priests should aione have control of the mission work, and the further statement that since the books had lain open for so long the absence of anj' name must be the fault of its owner, seem to have been successful in removing all further oppositioi).2 Nothing now remained but to draw up the articles of associ- ation among the shareholders. By the terms of the agreement signed on the tenth of February the new company, which was to engage in the fishing, timber and mineral trades as well as in the fur-trade, of which alone however it hp.d the monopoly, possessed a capital of ninety thousand livres divided into live portions of eighteen thousand livres each. Two of these portions, or thirty- six thousand livres, were subscribed by the merchants of St. Malo, two more by those of La Rochelle and St. Jean-de-Luz, while the fifth portion was supplied by the merchants of Rouen, although more than half of it stood in the name of Monts himself. During the first year the Company was to send out dve vessels, — four fur-traders and one whaling vessel. Two of the former were to be despatched by the merchants of St. Malo who were also to receive nine hundred livres for this purpose from the merchants of La Rochelle. These latter again were to send ten thousand livres to the Rouen merchants to aid in the despatch of the two 1 Sully, (Economies Royales (Paris 1664), vol. ii, chap. 26 p. 246. " Conime la navigation du Sieur de Monts pour aller faire des peuplades en Canada, du- tout centre votre advis, d'autant que Ton ne tire iamais de grandes richesses des lieux situez au dessous de quarente degrez." 2 Harrisse, Notes, etc, pp. 280 et seq. ; Gosselin, Nouvelles Glanes, etc , pp. 21 et seq. ; Michelant et Ram^, op. cif., 2" partie pp. 27 et seq. 54 THE TWO MONOPOLIKS OF MONTS, 1604-1608 trading vessels from Havre witii the sixty colonists. With their own portion and what remainevl of that of the La Roehelle mer- chants, the mt-rchants of St. Jeande-Liiz were to equip the whaler, since it was the Basques alone who seem to have taken part in this trade. On the return of the vessels in the autumn the results of the season's trade were to be sent to the offices of the Company at Rouen, but for the second year again all the profits of the previous year were to be expended in sending out the colonists and no dividend was to be paid until the close of the second season. In point of fact no dividend ever was paid, and the repeal of the monopoly when it had still seven years to run inflicted great loss on all concerned.^ In the spring of 1604 however the prospects of the monopo- lists seemed bright and little difficulty was met with in preparing the vessels and despatching them. While the two trading vessels from St. Malo and the whaler of St. Jean-de-Luz made their way to the St. Lawrence, the vessels with the colonists sailed from Havre to the island of Ste. Croix at the mouth of the river St. John on the west coast of the Bay of Fundy, which after some hesitation was finally chosen as the site of the new settlement. When the ships bad been unloaded one of them was at once sent to Cape Breton and He Percee to trade and fish, as it was found that the remaining vessel would.be sufficient to carry home all the furs collected in the Bay of Fundy,2 Although the whole of the fur-trade along the coast from Tadoussac to beyond Ste. Croix was now in the hands of Monts and his Company, yet in practice it was extremely difficult to enforce the stiict observance of their right. No doubt a certain amount of surveillance was exercised at the ports in France, but since the cod and whale fisheries were still open a ready pretext for departure was always at hand. If one of the Company's vessels hajtpened to sail along the coast the fraud could of course be detected, but it must have been somewhat discouraging to those who sailed to Ste. Croix that the first vessel sighted after 1 Gosselin, Nonvelles Glanes, etc., pp. 24-29 ; Beaurepaire, Notes sur Pierre du Gua, in La Normandie, Rouen, Juillet 1893, pp. 10-11. 2 Laverdi^re, op. cit. iii 26 e/ seq.; Lescarbot, op. cit. (ed. of 18GG) ii 427. THE TWO MONOPOLIES OF MONTS, 1604-1608 55 reachinc^ the coast of New France was a contraband trader hail- ing from Havre, the very port whence they themselves had set sail. The vessel sent from Ste. Croix to He Perc^e also captured four Basque interlopers whose captains were taken into custodj'. In fact during the course of the summer eight vessels at least were caught infringing the rights of the monopolists, which seemed to promise well neither for the success of the Company nor for its popularity at home in France.^ While the Banks and the harbours of Newfoundland were swarming with the usual summer fishing fleets, assembled from nearly all the principal ports of Europe, and while the Company's vessels were busy bartering at Tadoussac, Gaspe, He Percee and Cape Breton, the new settlement at Ste. Croix had been made to present quite the appearance of a small town. To quote the words of one who afterwards visited the place, " During all this time Monsieur De Monts his people did worke about the Fort, which hee seated at the end of the Hand, opposite to the place where he had lodged his Canon. Which was wisely consid- ered, to the end to command the river up and down. But there was an inconvenience, the said Fort did lie towards the North, and without any shelter, but of the trees that were on the He shore, which all about hee commanded to be kept and not cut downe. And out of the same Fort was the Switzers lodging, great and large, and other small lodgings, representing (as it were) a Suburbe. Some had housed themselves on the firme lande neere the brook. But within the Fort was Monsieur De Motits his lodging made with very faire and artificiall Carpentrie worke, with the Banner of France upon the same. At another part was the store-house, wherin consisted the safety and life of everie one, likewise made with faire Carpentry worke and cov- ered with reedes. Right over against the said store-house were the lodgings and houses of these Gentlemen, Monsieur D'orville, Monsieur Champlein, Monsieur Champdord and other men of reck- oning. Opposite to Monsieur De Monts, his said lodging, there was a gallerie covered for to exercise themselves either in play or for the workmen in time of raine. And betweene the said Fort and 1 Lescarbot, op. cit. (edit, of 1866) ii 424 and 426. 56 THE TWO MONOPOLIES OF MONTS, 1604-1608 the Platforme where lay the Canon, all was full of gardens whereunto everie one exercised himselfe willingly. "^ There was also a hand-mill for grinding corn and an oven for baking, doubt- less similar to those now seen in all parts of the Province of Quebtc. What was planted on the mainland grew well, but the soil on the island turned out very dry and the sun burnt up every thing.2 Towards the end of August wlien most of the fishermen had already set sail and the traders and whalers in the St. Lawrence were doubtless thinking of doing the same, preparations were made for sending home the vessel which had remained at Ste. Croix. In this ship, which carried fish as well as furs, Monts sent back his secretary Rolleau to inform the share- holders of the successful establishment of the colony and to beg that fresh stores might be sent as early as possible in the follow- ing spring. Owing indeed to the time lost befoie deciding upon the island of Ste. Croix as the site for the colony, the stock of provisions which remained for the winter was none too large. With Kolleau also returned the Sieur de Poutrincourt, a Norman gentleman, who had gone out in search of a suitable spot to which he might retire for the remainder of his days with his wife and family. The situation of Port Royal, on the Bay of Fundy opposite Ste. Croix, had particularly attracted his atten- tion and as Monts had not hesitated to give him a grant of it, he was now setting out for home to put his afiairs in order, so that he might return thither with his family as soon as possible 3 On the arrival of the Company's vessels in France the cargoes were at once unloaded and the furs forwarded to Rouen. On their way thither however twenty-two bales were seized at Conde-sur-]Noirea,u, owing to the refusal of those in charge to pay the import duty. The customs officers, deeming New France a foreign country, wished to levy the same duty paid on goods coming from Spain, but the Company's agent would only pay 1 Lescarbot, Nova Francia, Bk. i Chap, vi pp. 29 et seq. London 1609. 2 Lescarbot, HiM. de la N. France (ed. 1866) vol ii pp. 449 et seq. Laverdi^re, op. cit. iii 26 et neq., with map and plan. 3 Lescarbot Hist, de la Nouvelle France (edit, of 1609), p. 481 ; Laverdi^re, op. cit. Tome iii Chap iv p. 29. THE TWO MONOPOLIES OF MONTS, 1604-1608 57 the rate levied between the different provinces of France. Pend- ing an authoritative decision the goods were temporarily released, ^ but although these events took place in November the decision was not pronounced until February 1605. It was then declared that since the new regions had been occupied in virtue of powers granted by the King, they necessarily came within the latter's authority and were therefore to be considered as a dependency of the kingdom of France. Commodities brought thence should therefore only pay the same duties as goods passing from one province of France to another. The King'.s displeasure was also intimated against his officers for this seizure whereby the Com- pany had been prevented from obtaining the money necessary for the purchase of fresh stores for the coming year. 2 In ignor- ance of this decision more furs were seized at Avranches but when the King's commands were made known they were at once released. 3 During the same wintei- proceedings were taken against the eight contraband traders caught during the previous summer. It turned out that not only had some of them been flying the colours of other nations but that foreign vessels had actually entered the St. Lawrence under the guidance of French pilots. To prevent a repetition of this, fresh injunctions were issued against any infringement of the Company's monopoly whether by their own countrymen or by ibreigners. The cod and whale fisheries were declared to be still open to all, but any attempt to barter with the savages along the coast was to be severely punished."* By the time all these difficulties had been removed, a new season had again come and preparations were made for sending off the Company's fleet to the usual trading grounds. If an English estimate of the success of the former summer be in any 1 Lescarbot, Hist, de la N'ouvelle France (ed. of 1609), pp. 467 tt seq.; Valois, op. cit. ii 217 No. 8903. 2 Lescarbot, Hist, de la Nouvdh France (ed. of 1609), pp. 467 et seq. ; Ministere des Affaires Etrang^res : Amerique Vol. iv fol. 17. 3 Valois, op. cit. ii 243 No. 9271. 4 Breard, op. cit. p. 102 ; Ministere des Colonies : Corresp. Generale, Canada, Tome i fol. 52 ; Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres : Amerique Vol. iv fol. 14. 58 THE TWO MONOPOLIES OF MON^TS, 1604-1608 way correct, monej" must have been plentiful, i and since little difficulty seems to have been met with in collecting a fresh batch of sixty colonists, the two vessels from Havre were able to get away in good time. Although the documents liave unfortunately preserved for us no record ot the departure of the tw^o traders from St. Mai) or of the whaler from St. Jean-de-Luz, these ships doubtless made their way, along with the great cod-fishing fleets, to the waters of the (jiilf or the sea-coasts near at hand. '^ When the two vessels with the fresh colonists reached Ste. Croix they learned that the winter in that region had been quite as severe as that experienced by Chauvin's people at Tadoussac. During the autumn, indeed, all had been busj" completing the buildings and exploring the neighbouring territory. Champlain had thus been able not only to examine a considerable extent of fresh coast-line, but also to establish tradinfj connections with several fresh tribes to the south of Ste. Croix.-^ When, however, the winter began and snow fell, the seventy-nine people had been obliged mostl}' to remain indoors. To feed so many for a whole winter, even under favourable circumstances, would be no easy task, but here the conditions were especially difficult. The severe cold froze the liquid stores so that cider was served out by the pound. As the island possessed no springs they had to content themselves with melted snow or run the risk of an acci- dent in crossing to the mainland between the blocks of ice carried down by the rapid stream. To grind the corn, all they possessed was a small hand mill ; but what with poor water and salted provisions, no one possessed sufficient strength to continue long at the task. Bread thus soon became a luxury. To add to their troubles, the daily fare of salted provisions affected the blood. Scurvy made its appearance and carried ofl' in all thirty- five out of the seventy-nine persons in the settlement. One can 1 According to this report, " The Frenchmen brought from Canada the value of thirtie thousand Crownes almost in Beversand Otters skinnes only." Purchas, Fourth Part p. 1656. London 1625. 2 Breard, op. cit., pp. 103 et neq. 3 Laverdiere, op. cit., Tomeiii Chap, v, p. 29 et seq. THE TWO MONOPOLIES OF MONTS, 1604-1608 59 well understand therefore with what delight the arrival of the two vessels with provisions and news from home was hailed.^ The fresh stores and warm weather soon put new life into all, and the summer's work was entered upon with good will. Monts however had made up his mind that owing to the unsatis- factory situation of the island with its sanoy ^oil and lack of water a new site must at once be found. One further to the north was of course not to be thought of, but since his powers extended to the fortieth degree it was possible that in a souther- ly direction a situation might be found more suitable than Ste. Croix. Champlain, to be sure, had in his autumnal voyage dis- covered no such sjiot.but there was still apossibility of findingwhat was wanted beyond the limit of his exploration. Accordingly, soon after the arrival of the new colonists the coast was again exaijiined as far south as Mallebarre (Nanset Harbour) but with no better success. Monts indeed was ah]e both to renew the trading relations already established by Champlain with the tribes of this region an<l even to bring back a small stock of furs, but his efforts to lind a new site proved as unsuccessful as those of his predecessor. Since the possibility of parsing a second winter at Ste. Croix could not be considered for a moment, it was finally decided to transport the colony to the beautiful harbour of Port Royal across the Bay of Fundy. Although in the same latituae as Ste. Croix, it ofiered many advantages not possessed by that place, and though this region had already been ceded to Poutrincourt, there seemed little chance that he would be able to occupy it for a year or so at least. In the meanwhile the search for a more southern site could be steadily pushed on. When this decision was arrived at, all the buildings, provisions, people, stores, and animals were transported across the Bay of Fundy. Here the buildings were again set up, not scattered about as at Ste. Croix, but in the form of a large square to assist in protect- ing the colonists against both winter and the Indians.2 1 Laverdiere, op. cit. , Tome iii Chap, vi pp. 43 et seq. ; Lescarbot, Hist, de la Nouvelle France (ed. of 1866) ii 450 et seq. ■2 Laverdiere, op. cit.. Tome iii, Liv. i. Chaps, vii-ix ; Lescarbot, Hist, de la Nouvelle France (ed. of 1866), vol. ii, Chap, viii pp. 477 et seq. 60 THE TWO MONOPOLIES OF MONTS, 1604-1608 While the colony was being thus transferred from Ste. Croix to Port Royal by means of the vessel kept there during the sum- mer, the other three traders and the whaler were doubtless trad- ing as usual along the coasts between Acadia and Tadoussac, although our sources tell us nothing but what took place in the Bay of Fundy. While it is possible that interlopers again made their appearance^ even in the face of the repeated injunctions of the authorities at home, they seem to have kept out of the way of the Company's vessels, for no arrests are reported. The Banks and the best harbours of Cape Breton and Newfoundland were as usual the scene of great fishing activity,''^ and from these during the month of August departures for home took place nearly everyday. Towards the end of that month the vessel at PortRoyal was also made ready for the return voyage. In her returned not only Monts himself but also a considerable number of colonists, who, from the experience of the winter passed at Ste. Croix, had lost all desire of a further stay in the new land. Indeed only forty -five persons seem to have remained and these were placed under the charge of Dupont-Grave, while Cham plain became the official geographer and Champdor^ the director of navigation. 3 On the arrival of the Company's vessels in France no more trouble was met with in regard to the furs, which were safely transhipped to Rouen and Pai'is. It appears that they were usually bought by the hatters and furriers of the capital, among whom Hakluyt, in 158 *•, mentioned Valeron Perosse and Mathew Grainer, " the kinges skynners." "* During the two years of the Company's existence it had been able to pursue its commercial carer r more or less successfully. A good deal of precious time had certainly been lost in the sum- mer of 1604 before Ste. Croix was chosen as the site of the settle- ment, and, though the choice proved unfortunate and the winter a severe one, yet during both years the trade had been good and the returns no doubt large. Now however in the third year of 1 Breard, op. cit. pp. 103-104. 2 Laverdiere, op. cit., vi 98 et seq. •i Lescarbot, Hist, de la Nouvelle France (edit, of 1866) ii 479. * Hakluj't, Discotirse on Westtrne Planting, pp. 34-35. THE TWO MONOPOLIES OF MONTS, 1604-1608 61 its existence a number of difficulties suddenly arose, which might have been overcome by patience and careful handling, but when capped by the unjust withdrawal of the monopoly itself brought the Company to a sudden and unfortunate end. The first diffi- culty met with was the impossibility of getting persons of any sort whatever to go out to Port Royal in the spring of 1606. Those who had passed a winter in New France had returned for the first time in the previous autumn and their description of the difficulties of life at Ste. Croix with salt food, no water, intense cold and little fuel was not of a nature to tempt many of their countrymen to follow in their steps. The ravages of the scurvy, a disease then little understood,! struck terror into more than one heart. It was therefore only in the face of gTeat diffi- culties that Monts at length succeeded in bringing together a certain number of fresh colonists. Since he intended to remain in France himself, he induced his friend Poutrincourt to go out in charge of them and to occupy the post of governor during his absence. Like Monts the Sieur de Poutrincourt had greatly distingu- ished himself during the recent civil wars in France. Henry of Navarre, when besieging the Castle of Beaumont, of which Poutrincourt was commandant, offered to reinstate him in the lordship of it, if he would surrender. This however the gallant nobleman refused to do, but alter the King had gone over to the Catliolic religion, Poutrincourt voluntarily offered his allegiance and .soon rose so high in the royal estimation that Henry declared hiui to be one of the most valiant and chivalrous men of his kingdo!i).2 Although Port Royal was granted to him in the summer of 1604 he had been unable so far to remove his family thither, but he was now willing, though not without some incon- venience to himself, to do Monts the service of taking charge of the colony. The vessel which was to transport him had been 1 Lescarbot, Hist, de la Nouvelle France (edit, of 1866) ii 451 : "voici des maladies inconeues," etc. 2 Lescarbot, Relation Derniere in Archives Cnrieuses de VHistoire de France XV 379 e< .seg. ; Pierre de L'Estoile, Memoires-Joumaux v 26, 32,38 and vii 78. Paris 1878. 62 THE TWO MONOPOLIES OF MONTS, 11)04-1608 made ready by the shareholders of La Rochelle, but when she was on the point of setting sail, she was driven by a storm against one of the piers and sank in the harbnur itself. This caused a delay of one month and Port Royal was not reached until -Tuly, though doubtless the other vessels of the Ccmpan}'' found their way to the St. Lawrence at a much earlier date. ^ This delay, which one may call the second misfortune of the Company, cost it the season's trade in thes-e parts, where a few Basque interlopers had been able, by their early arrival, to secure the whole of the winter's collection of furs from the natives. Moreover the winter at Port Royal proved as severe as at Ste. Croix. The scurvy again appeared, but out of seventeen struck down only twelve died. Spring passed into summer but no vessel arrived. Finally the provisions ran out. The colonists had made preparations for returning home in some of the vessels fishing on the coast and had in fact actually set out in two small boats to join these vessels, leaving only two of their number in charge of the settlement, when Poutrincourt's ship fortunately reached Fort Royal and the fugitives were recalled.2 Wlien they had once more returned to the old quarters and the provisions and fresh colonists were disembarked, preparations were ma<ie for facing the coming winter. The orders sent by Monts were to the efl'ect that the colony should be at once moved to the south, but since no site had been found and the summer was now almost at an end, it was decided to remain at Port Royal. The men were at once set to work to cultivate and sow the cleared land, for owing e ther to a lack of seed or to their intended depart- ure this had not yet been done. When some weeks later the tops of the Indian corn, wheat and rye, and of the turnips and other vegetables appeared, the outlook for the winter seemed more satisfactory.^ Towards the end of August or about five weeks after its 1 Lescarbot, Hist, de la N. France (edit, of 1866) vol. ii Chap, x-xi pp. 484 et seq. 2 Laverdi^re, op. cif., Tome iii Liv. i Chap, xi ; Lescarbot, Hist, de la NouvdU France (edit, of 1866), vol. ii Chap, viii pp. 479 et seq. 3 Laverdiere, op. cit. Tome iii, Liv. i Chap, xii ; Lescarbot, Hist, de la Nouvelle France (ed. of 1609), Liv. iv Chap, xliii p. 588. THE TWO MONOPOLIES OF MOXTS, 1604-1608 63 airival, the vessel was again made ready for the return voyage Owing to the loss of the six thousand furs taken by the Basques her cargo must have been much lighter than usual. Even then another interloper was reported at Canso, but when the Com- pany's ve.-sel touched there, he had made good his escape.^ Nor unfortunately could any compensation be hoped from the results of the season's trade in the St. Lawrence where the number of foreign vessels was increasing yearly. Not only had Frenchmen again piloted these strangers up the Gulf but a r^ompany had actually been formed at Amsterdam for trade in the river. Re- monstrances had been sent to the Estates General in the matter but they arrived too late to lenetit the Company during that year. Thus while the Basques were stealing the furs along the Atlantic coast, the Dutch were carrying on an equally illicit and doubtless equally fruitful trade in the St. Lawrence. Although the whaler from St. Jean-de Luz may have gone home with as full a cargo as usual, it is doubtful if the same can be said of the vessels of the Company engaged in the fur-trade.2 Such then were some of the difficulties met with by the Com- pany during the third year of its existence. It was also pestered with complaints about the illegal seizure of fishermen who con- tinually declared that they had done no bartering ^, and dissension arose within the Company itself because one of the shareholders named Bellois was found to have surreptitiously sent out a vessel to Tadoussac the previous autumn ■*. But the final blow, which eventually brought about the dissolution of the Company, came from another quarter. It appears that since the monopolization of the fur-trade the price of furs had risen considerably, so that the trades dependent on this material found themselves obliged to ask more for their goods. Naturally a falling off in the demand ensued. The great Hatters' Corporation of Paris, instead of bearing this in silence, at once complained to the finance 1 Lescarbot, Hist, de la Nouvelle France (ed. of 1609) p. 590. 2 Ihid. p. 590 ; Beaurepaire, op. cit. p. 5 ; Berger de Xivrey, Lettres Missives de Henri IV, vii 465-66. Paris 1858. 3 Michelant et Rame, Voyi-ge de Jaques Cartier 2e partie, pp. 51 et seq. 4 Archives du Tabellionage de Ro'ien 18th Nov. 1606, 8th, 16th and 19th Jan- uary, and 24th April 1607, cited by Gosselin, op. cit., p. 31. 64 THE TWO MONOPOLIES OF MONTS, 1604-1608 minister Sully. He from the first had been against any scheme of colonization, at least in a northern latitude, where he thought the search for gold useless. In a lettt-r to President Jeannin written at this time he gave additional reasons tor his view that French colonies would never succeed^ " I regretfully recognize," he wrote, " that the French are only interested in what is momentarily ot importance or is continually brought before their eyes. Lands beyond the seas therefore can only entail consider- able cost while being only of slight or extremely little use." Holding such opinions, it is not strange that wh^^n the,complaint of the Hatters' Company was presented to him he at once took the rather startling decision to withdraw the monopoly of the Company when it had still seven years to run. 2 Thus, as in the case of the company formed by Chauvin, a monopoly legally granted for ten 3' ears was suddenly withdrawn at the end of the third. The effect of these frequent repeals in undermining the confidence of the commercial classes in the word of the Government cannot be too strongly insisted on. The next company to which a monopoly was given stipulated that not sixty colonists each year but only six families in all should be taken out. It was one of the vessels from St. Malo which brought to Port Royal the news of the approaching dissolution of the Com- pany. As this third winter had proved no milder than its pre- decessors, the prospect of returning to France cannot have been received with very great dissatisfaction. In a fresh attempt to discover a site to the south the explorers only succeeded in reaching a point half a degree beyond the extreme limit visited by Monts in 1604. The cold weather again broughi. with it heavy snow, continual confinement, deprivation of all but salted provisions, and last but not least the dread scurvy, which carried oif seven of the company. Preparations for the return journey were made therefore with no great reluctance. When a few 1 Biblioth. Nat., Collect. Colbert Cinq Cents vol. 203 fol. 236. 2 Beaurepaiie, op. cit. p. 10; Laverdiere, op. cit.. Tome iii Chap, xvi, pp. 121 et seq. ; Ibid. Tome v Chap, viii pp. .51 et .seq.; Lescarbot, HUtoire de la Nouvelle France (edit of 1609), p. 630. THF TWO MONOPOLIES OF MONTS, 1604-1608 65 bad furs had been secured in the Bay of Fundy the vessel pro- ceeded to Canso in order to complete her cargo with dry cod. Towards the end of August this had been secured, and the ship's company, with those who had remained at Port Royal to gather in the crops, set sail for home.l Of the movements of the other vessels of the Company during this season we have little infor- mation. It appears however that though the monopoly was officially repealed in July, they sought to uphold it against the numerous strange vessels entering the St. Lawrence. The result was that several disputes arose which had afterwards to be set- tled in the law-courts at home.2 To look elsewhere for a moment in estimating the work of the year, the Newfoundland fleet was as large as ever and vessels from England and occasionally those from France con- tinued as before to take their cargoes to Italy or Spain and to carry home the products of those countries. In fact as Protes- tantism spread more and more in the north, the Catholic countries of the south became the great fish markets of Europe. About this time the fishermen of St. Jean-de-Luz, who had been in the habit of getting their salt in Spain, asked to be allowed to con- struct salt marshes of their own at the mouth of the Bidassoa which falls into the Bay of Biscay at Fontarabia. Thus it is clear that the cod-fishing was a prosperous industry at this port.3 On the return of the colonists and the vessels of the Company in the autumn of the year 1607 its affairs seems to have been at once wound up. During the three years of its existence the expenses had been considerable, and though the returns had not been small the balance was unfortunately on the wrong side. Monts himself reckoned his losses at more than ten thousand livres and he debated for some time whether he should not alto- gether sever his connection with the fur-trade of New France. On the advice of Champlain however he decided to keep up his 1 Laverdi^re, op. cit.. Tome iii, Chaps, xiii-xvii; Lescarbot, Hist, de la Nouvelle France (ed. of 1609), pp. 629 et seq. 2 Valois, op. cit., ii, 388, No. 11199 (14) ; Breard, op. cit., pp. 104-106; Arret du Parlement de Rouen 25th June, 1633. 3 Archives de la Gironde, Serie C 3812, fol 62 verso et seq, 5 66 THE TWO MONOPOLIES OF MONTS, 1604-1608 interest in it, but to transfer his efforts to the St. Lawrence. With a factory at the narrows in the St. Lawrence called Quebec, his asjents would be able not only to establish fresh trading con- nections with the savages to the west, but also by means of the alliance thus formed be enabled to push on their investigation into the geography of those regions and, possibly, even to discover the long-sought passage to the East.^ When at length Montshad decided to follow this advice, he thought it well to make his plans known to the King, hoping that if the true end of his efforts were made clear Henry the Fourth would see his way to give him some assistance. In this he was not disappointed. When he and Champlain announced their plans at Court, his Majesty at once granted Monts a fresh monopoly for one year with no condition as to colonists or other expenses. Delighted with this unexpected good fortune, Monts associated with him- self a few of his old Rouen partners, who were only too ready to assist him in the enjoyment of the monopoly, when no outlay for colonists was demanded in return.^ Three vessels were despatched by these partners in the spring of 1608. While two of them made their way to the St. Law- rence, the third under the charge of Ohampdore returned to the old quarters at Port Royal. Here everything w'as found un- touched. In the fields stood the waving grain awaiting only the mower and his scythe. With the Indians of the neighbourhood, who were greatly delighted at his return, Champdore was soon able to carry on a brisk trade, while at Ste. Croix and along the coast to the south, he secured a further supply of good furs. ^ Meanwhile the other vessels, one of which had on board the materials for the new factory, sailed to the St. Lawrence and cast anchor at Tadoussac. In fact the vessels which crossed the At- lantic rarely went beyond this point, * and even when the post 1 Laverdi^re, ojp. cit., iii 135-136, v 127. 2 Ibid, iii pp. 136-137 ; Valois, op. cit. ii 468, No. 12212 ; Lescarbot, Hist, de la Nouvelte France (ed. of 1609), pp. 651 et seq. 3 Lescarbot, Hist, de la Nouvelle France (ed. of 1609), pp. 652 et seq. 4 Laverdi^re, op. cit. iii 149 : "A Tadoussac oi\ vaisseaux ne peuvent passer pliis outre pour n' avoir la cognoissance du passage ny des bancs et rochers qu'il y a en chemin." THE TWO MONOPOLIES OF MOXTS, 1604-1608 67 at Quebec had been established, everything was transhipped here and sent on in small boats. A couple of Basque whalers found bartering refused to recognize the fresh monopoly given to Monts, and since superior force was on their side a decision in the matter was left to the judicial authorities at home.i While Dupont-Gravd was busy conducting the trading operations, Champlain set off up the river in a .small barque of fifteen tons, having on board the materials for the factory to be erected at the narrows called Quebec. Such was the origin of this first permanent settlement of the St. Lawrence by the French, and except for the years 1629 to 1632, the fieurs cle lis floated bravely above its ramparts until the victory of Wolfe in the autumn of 1759. This first structure, which was of wood, was built at the foot of the cliff and contained two stories. Outside ran a moat six feet deep and fifteen feet wide, while the place was made still more secure by cannon placed on mounds at the corners. The land close at hand was cleared and on part of it were planted the crops necessary for the sustenance of the inmates. These consisted of the interpreters and factors for the trade as well as of the workmen sent out to construct the building. Champlain, who had charge of the place, not only intended to do all in his power to develope the trade, but he was more particularly inter- ested in the discovery of what lay beyond the rapids of Lachine. That was the most westerly point yet reached by Europeans and the geography of the regions beyond was absolutely unknown. The possibility of discovering a water-way to the Southern Sea, or even of coming upon that great ocean suddenly as did those who first crossed the Isthmus of Darien, appeared then quite within the region of the achievable. 2 During the next twenty- 1 Arret du Parlement de Rouen 2oth of June 1633 ; Laverdi^re, op. cit. iii 140 et seq. 2 As early however as 1586 Thevet had doubted of any such success. " Par quoy si ces entrepreneurs, qui sont encor de present en cest erreur, trouvent ce destroit, ils tromperont Thevet et plusieurs autres qui tiennent son party. " Bib- lioth. Nat., Ms. Fr. 15452 fol. 277. In the map printed in the Cosmo graphic Universelh he depicts North America as a large continent with no north- em passage. 68 THE TWO MONOPOLIES OF MONTS, 1604-1608 seven years Champlain kept this object always in view and though he was necessarily doomed to disappointment, his labours added considerably to the geographical information then extant as to the regions of the west. ^ On the return of the three vessels in the autumn of 1608 the period of monopolies which had been inaugurated by Chauvin's Company in 1600 came finally to an end. By this last monopo- ly of one year, in return for which they were bound by no stipulation as to colonists, Monts and his partners had been able to repair to some extent their financial condition, while their new factory at Quebec gave them virtual control of a large extent of the best fur country. Twenty-eight men had been left there with Champlain during the winter, and though many of these died the continued presence in the country of these agents assured to Monts and his partners a marked superiority over the other traders in the period of open trading which was about to commence. The plan of granting trade monopolies had not colonized the country ; we shall now see that the system of open trade was equally unsuccessful. 1 Laverdiere, op. cit. iii 139 et seq.; Lescarbot, Histoire de la Nouvdle France (ed. of 1866), iii 595 et seq. CHAPTER V THE FREEDOM OF TKADE 1609-16-13 In the spring of 1609 the fur-trade was once more thrown open to the merchant marine of France as in the old days betore the monopoly granted to Chauvin. To satisfy the complaints which had continually poured in from all quarters^ the privilege granted to Monts for ten years was suddenly withdrawn at the end of the fourth. To be sure the King's council accorded him a compensation of six thousand livres which was to be levied on the traders of St. Malo and Bayonne, but unfortunately all attempts to obtain this sum failed. " It was," says Champlain, " like trying to drink the sea to enforce payment fr^m the seventy or eighty vessels which now visited New France."^ When an officer of the Court appeared at St. Malo to enforce the p.iyment on pain of imprisonment, he was quietly informed that he had got hold of the wrong names and that the persons he sought were not those who had traded in New France.^ Besides these regular traders who once more set sail in the spring of 1609, it is probable that many of the dry-cod fishers again resumed their bartering operations with the Indians, if indeed they had ever ceased to do so. At Quebec, of the twenty-eight who had remained for the winter, only eight men were left, ten having died of scurvy and five of dysentery. The cold had been so severe that the Indians of the neighbourhood also suffered much, though Champlain did 1 " Autre requeste du Maire et eschevins gens du Conseil . . . des villes, bourgs et parroisses de Bayonne, Sainct Jehan de Luz, Subibourre, Urougne, Handaye, etc." Bibliotheque Nationale, Ms. Fr, 18176 fol 4 verso. 2 Laverdiere, oip. cit. v 52 : " Mais quelle despense luy eust-il fallu faire en tous les ports et havres, pour recouvrer ceste somme . . . sur plus de quatre vingts vaisseaux qui frequentent ces costes ? C'estoit luy donner la mer k boire," etc. 3 Archives Municipales de St. Malo, serie EE 4 no. 138. [69] 70 THE FREEDOM OF TRADE, 1609-1613 all in his power to relieve them. At the same time he promised his neig"hbours the Montagnais Indians to assist them in an expe- dition against the Iroquois. He hoped by this not only to attach them more closely to French interests but also to see a good deal of the unknown region of the west, and if possible inflict such a defeat upon the Iroquois that they should soon sue for peace.l At this point it will be well to state briefly the condition of affairs among the Indian tribes of New France when Champlain made his first expedition against the Iroquois in the summer of 1609. When Cartier visited the St. Lawrence in 1535 he found the Montagnais Indians occupying the north shore of the St. Law- rence almost up to the narrows called Quebec. From that point to the Ottawa dwelt the Algonquins, the conquerors of the Montagnais, while beyond the Ottawa and still bordering the St. Lawrence lay the country of the Hurons, who acted as the allies of the Algonquins in tlieir wars with the Iro(|uois. This great nation of the Iroquois, to which the Hurons also belonged, although the two branches were now at war, occupied the terri- tory south of the St. Lawrence and south-east of Lake Ontario. The St. Lawrence was thus the dividing line between the two forces, and though marauding parties crossed it from the north and from the south it was not infrequently itself the scene of their battles.2 At the time of Cartier's visit the balance of power seems to have been maintained, but during the course of the sixteenth century, or between the visit of Cartier and that of Dupont-Grav^ and Champlain in 1603, the Iroquois power consolidated itself, and by this increased strength was at length able to drive its enemies far from the St. Lawrence. The Hurons took refuge in the peninsula between the Georgian Bd,y and Lake Huron. They still however kept up intercourse with the Algon- quins, who had been likewise obliged after the destruction of 1 Laverdi^re, op. cit. iii 166 et seq. 2 D'Avezac, op. cit., fol. 29 a and b : "Lequel Donnacona nous dist que c'estoient des Trudamans devers le Su, que leur nienoient continuellement la guerre, et nous fut diet qu'il y a eu deux ans passez que les dictz Trudamans les vindrent assaillir iusques dedans lediet fleuve, h une ysle qui est le travers du Saguenay, ou ilz estoient a passer la nuict tendans aller ix Honguedo leur niener guerre," etc. THE FREEDOM OF TRADE, 1609-1613 71 their towns to retire to the Upper Ottawa,i through the chain of lakes connecting the Ottawa River with the Georgian Bay. In fact until the middle of the seventeenth century this was the only route used for going to and from the Huron country to Quebec. The Montagnais row no longer dared to show them- selves on the St. Lawrence west of Quebec and were confined for the most part to the region about Tadoussac. The Etechemins, who had sometimes joined the alliance against the Iroquois, in- habited the shores of the Bay of Fundy.2 The traders in their barter at Tadoussac and in the Bay of Fundy had first been brought into contact with the Montagnais and the Etechemins. The former in their turn were in the habit of re-exchanging the goods obtained from the French with the tribes of Lake St. John and the upper Saguenay.^ These goods had reached the Algonquins, and since expeditions even by the weaker party against the Iroquois were still common 4 the Algonquins had been led in the course of one of them to visit the French at Quebec. In dread however of an Iroquois ambush they did not come by the Ottawa River, but by the rivers St. Maurice and Batiscan.-^ In fact the Algonquins' fear of an Iroquois ambush in the St. Lawrence had been in part the cause of the choice of Quebec as the site of the factory, in order that it might serve, by its position, as a check to the Iroquois and enable the friends 1 Lescarbot, Hist, de la Nouvelle France (ed. 1866), iii 828 : " Les Iroquois jadis en nombre de huit mille hommes ont extermine les Algoumequins, ceux de Hochelaga et autres voisins de la grande riviere. " Hochelaga may even have been destroyed between 1535 and 1541 unless at this later date it is called Tutonaguy. Cf. Hakluyt, Principall Navigations, iii 235 ; Laverdi^re, op. cit. iii 189 : " Ces lieux ne sont habitez d'aucuns sauvages pour lesubject deleurs guerres etse retirent des rivieres le plus qu'ils peuvent au profont des terres, afin de n'estre si tost surprins " ; and ihid. ii 41. 2 Laverdiere, ojp. cit. ii 8-9, vi 196 and 232. 3 Ihid. ii 21-22 : " Au bord desdittes rivieres il y a quantite de cabannes, ou il vient d'autres nations du cost4 du Nort, trocquer avec lesdicts Montagn^s des peaux de castor et martre, avec autres marchandises que donnent les vaisseaux frangois aux diets Montagues," Cf. also Tome iii pp. 143-144. * Ihid. ii 33 : " ou estoient cabannez et fortifiez les sauvages qui leur alloient faire la guerre." 5 Ihid ii. 27 : " Du coste du Nort, il y a une riviere qui s'appelle Bastican, qui va fort avant en terre, par ou quelques-fois les Algoumequins viennent." Cf. also pp. 30-31. 72 THE FREEDOM OF TRADE, 1609-1613 of the French to use the St. Lawrence without danger.^ Having now such powerful auxiliaries the Algonquins and Montagnais would be satisfied with nothing less than that Champlain should aid them in taking revenge on their conquerors, and in the summer of 1608 he finally promised to accompany them on the warpath.2 The report of this proposed expedition and the conviction of its assured success induced the Hurons to come down for the first time in the summer of 1609. Until then they seem to have con- tented themselves with receiving their goods through the Algon- quins.3 But curiosity and the pleasing expectation of revenge on their old enemies were strong magnets. Champlain and his men met them at the island of St. Eloi opposite the river Batiscan, where the Montagnais and Algonquins had already assembled. The expedition however could not proceed against the Iroquois until the new-comers had been gratified with a visit to Quebec as well as with a display of the marvellous effects produced by the fire-arms of the French.^ After five or six days at the factory, during which they seem to have bartered a certain amount of furs, a start was at length made for the mouth of the Richelieu River. Here, owing to some dispute, part of the Algonquins set off for home with their wives and goods,^ but the rest, along with 1 Ihid. p. 31 : " Aussi que I'habitation . . . seroit un bien pour la liberty de quelques nations qui n'osent venir par 1^, k cause desdicts Irocois leurs ennemis qui tiennent toute laditte ^i^^ere de Canadas bordee ; mais . . . sous le favour de laditte habitation, lesdicts sauvages viendroient librement sans crainte et danger." ^ Ihid. iii 176 : " Qu'il y avoit pres de dix lunes, que le fils d'Yroquet ni'avoit veu et que ie luy avois fait bonne reception, et declare que le Pont et moy desirions les assister centre leurs ennemis." 3 Ihid. ii 47-48 : "lis nous dirent qu'il y a une nation qu'on appelle les bons Irocois, qui %nennent pour troquer des marchandises que les vaisseaux fran9ois donnent aux Algoumequins." Cf. also Tome iii p. 201. 4 Ihid. iii p. 177 : " Et que maintenant ils me prio3'ent de retourner en nostre habitation, pour voir nos maisons et que pour signe de grande amiti^ et resious- sance ie feisse tirer des mousquets et arquebuses," etc. 5 Ibid. p. 181 : " Oil il s'esmeut entre eux quelque different sur le subiect dela guerre, qui fut occasion qu'il n'y en eut qu'une partie qui se resolurent de venir avec moy et les autres s'en retournerent en leur pays avec leurs femmes et marchandises qu'ils avoient traict^es." It was evidently the Algonquins who returned, for the Hurons coming prepared for war had doubtless brought neither their wives nor their furs. Cf. ihid. p. 177 : " qu'ils n'avoient point d'enfansavec eux, mais gens qui sgavoient faire la guerre," etc. THE FREEDOM OF TRADE, 1609-1613 73 the Hurons and Montagnais continued their way up that river and into what is now Lake Champlain. On the shores of the lake they came suddenly upon a band of almost two hundred Iroquois, who like themselves were proceeding only at night. In the battle which took place the next morning, the sight of Champlain and his two companions, and the deadly effect of their mysterious fire-arms, so wrought upon the fears of the Iroquois that in a very few moments they broke and fled. Champlain and his allies had not lost a single man. With ten or twelve prisoners, reserved for torture, they returned in triumph to the St. Lawrence, whence the Algonquins and Hurons at once set off" for home. Both nations promised to return again in the following summer, and so delighted were the Hurons with their reception at Quebec and with the aid given them by Champlain in the war that they even promised to take him to visit their country whenever he should care to do so.i Such were the results of the summer in the St. Lawrence region. Of the trade carried on at Gaspe, He Percee, Port Royal and Ste. Croix we have very little information. Doubtless Champdore and others made their way as usual to the Bay of Fundy, for when the English captain, Hudson, was on his way south this summer, he came upon several French shallops on the coast of Acadia full of Indians, who said they were in the habit of bartering their furs to ships from France. Hudson himself was able to secure a good supply of furs here, giving in exchange red cassocks, knives, hatchets, copper kettles, beads and other trifles.2 Several fishing vessels dried their cod as usual in the harbours of Gaspe and He Perc6e while on thft Banks was to be seen the great annual international fleet.^ Dupont- Grave and Champlain returned to France in the autumn with their ships. They leftthefactory with its fifteen interpreters and agents incharge 1 Ibid. pp. 198-199: " Les Algoumequins s'en retournerent en leur pays et aussi les Ochatequins . . . fort contens de ce qui s'estoit pass^ en la guerre et de 06 que librement i'estois alle avec eux . . . . et me dirent si ie ne desirois pas aller en leur pays pour les assister tousiours comme freres : ie leur promis." 2 Purchas His Pilgrimes, iii 586. 3 Laverdiere, op. cit. ii 49-50 : ' ' Tous cesdits lieux de Gachepay, Baye des Molues et Isle Percee sont les lieux ou il se fait la pesche du poisson sec et verd." 74 THE FREEDOM OF TRADE, 1609-1613 of a Captain Chauvin, Sieur de la Pierre, who had alreadj'- gained considerable experience of the fur-trade under Dupont-Grave.i During the winter of 1609 and 1610 Monts made a fresh application for a monopoly of the region visited by Champlain during the expedition against the Iroquois, He was unsuccess- ful and according to Champlain unjustly so, for his demands were fair and reasonable. 2 It appears however that Henry the Fourth, to whom Champlain's account of his adventures as well as a few presents brought from New France had given great pleasure, was not altogether a free agent in the matter and that in this as in other affairs he was obliged to follow the advice of his council. Here Sully had considerable influence and his views were quite opposed to any fresh monopolies of the kind. In con- sequence of this, Monts and his partners debated for some time what their future course of action should be. The opening of the upper St. Lawrence to the public seemed to preclude any hope of more than a moderate return which might not even be suflacient to pay the running expenses of the factory at Quebec. On the other hand this permanent post in the country, as well as the aid recently given by Champlain to the Algonquins and Hurons against the Iroquois, appeared to assure to Monts and his friends a superiority over their competitors which it seemed a pity to forego. After a x;onf erence of the partners at Houen it was finally decided to maintain the factory at Quebec and even to push on the exploration of the western part of the St. Law- rence valley. ^ Their only desire, they said, was to serve their country well, and the discovery here of a short route to the East would bring considerable glory both to them and to France. 1 Ihid. iii 200 et seq. 2 Ibid, iii 202-203 : •' Le sieur de Monts chercha raoj^en d'avoir noiivelle com- mission pour les traictes des nouvelles descouvertures .... oil auparavant persoune u' avoit traict^ : Ce qu'il ne pent obtenir, bien que les demandes et propo- sitions fussent iustes et raisonnables." 3 Ibid, iii 202 : " Le Sieur de Monts se delibera d'aller h. Rouen trouver ses assoeiez les sieur s Collier et le Gendre marchands de Rouen, pour advi.ser k ce qu'ils avoient k faire 1' ann^e ensuivant. lis resolurent de continuer I'habitation et parachever de descouvrir dedans le grand fleuve S. Laurens, suivant les prom- esses des Ochateguins, k la charge qu'on les assisteroit en leurs guerres comme nous leur avions promis." THE FREEDOM OF TRADE, 1609-1613 75 While therefore Dupont- Grave was to continue to take charge of the bartering operations and to endeavour to secure as many furs as possible in the face of the new competition, Champlain was to assist the Hurons in their wars in order to visit under their guid- ance the supposed salt sea which, as they reported, lay not far to the west of their home, i With a spirit no whit inferior to that of Monts, his old friend Poutrincourt also decided to return this spring to New France and make his permanent home in the old buildings at Port Royal. This site, it will be remembered, had been originally granted to him by Monts on their first arrival in the Bay of Fundy in the summer of 1604 ; but until now he had not been able to remove there permanently with his family. 2 Although the trade had actually been thrown open in the summer of 1609, advantage was not generally taken of this free- dom until the following year. It is not surprising therefore that the number of vessels in the St. Lawrence in the summer of 1610 was large. After passing one trader near Gaspe, 3 Champlain and Dupont- Grave found several more already at anchor at Ta- doussac. '^ When the strangers saw these last arrivals tranship their goods into small boats and proceed up the river to Quebec, they at once followed suit. Since the representatives of Monts and his partners now enjoyed no special privileges in the river, they were obliged to accept in silence this invasion of their old territory. All was well at the factory, but an expedition pro- jected by Champlain to the north in search of Hudson Bay had to be postponed as his Indian guides refused to accompany him.5 1 Ibid, ii 41-48. 2 Lescarbot, Histoire de la N. France (edit, of 1866) iii 608, 3 Laverdiere, op. cit. iii 206-7 : " Estans le travers de Menthane nous rencon- trasmes un vaisseau de S. Maslo, ou il y avoit un ieune homme qui beuvant a la sante de Pont-grave . . . tombast en la mer et se noya." * Und. p. 207 : " Le 26 du mois (AATil) arrivasmes a Tadoussac ou il y avoit des vaisseaux qui y estoient arrivfe des le 18 ce qui ne s'estoit veu il y avoit plus de 60 ans." This would be a further proof of the early existence of the fur-trade if one could be sure they had come for furs. 5 Ibid. p. 208 : " Qu'apres le retour de leur guerre, il me meneroient descoiivrir les trois ri\neres iusques en un lieu ou il y a une si grande mer qu'ils n'en voj'ent point le bout et nous en revenir par le Saguenaj' audit Tadoussac : et Icur deman- day s'ils avoient encore ceste mesme volonte : lis me dirent qu'ouy : mais que ce ne pouvoit estre que I'annee suivante." 76 THE FREEDOM OF TRADE, 1609-1613 Preparations were made instead for meeting the Algonquins and Hurons further up the river, to accompany them on the war- path against the Iroquois in case they wished to make a second expedition. With Champlain and his sixty Montagnais allies set out also not only the four boats belonging to the factory but also the traders who had followed him up the river from Tadoussac. Here again nothing could be done to prevent them. They fol- lowed him in fact all the way to the Algonquin and Huron bar- ter which took place at the mouth of the Richelieu River. On Champlain's arrival, news was brought that a band of Iroquois had been surprised and surrounded further up the river by some Aln^onquins. A general rush at once took place to the spot, and though the enemy were entrenched in a log fort, the arquebuses of Champlain and of one or two of the rival traders who had also come on soon made short work of the little Iroquois band. When the palisade was broken down, the inmates of the fort were all massacred except fifteen, reserved for death by torture. On the morrow, when passions had had time to cool, the barter with the Algonquins, who had come down almost two hundred in number, finally took place. Although both Cham- plain and Dupont-Grave were present in the interests of Monts and his partners, the new arrivals in the river both out- numbered them and also secured a larger share of the furs. "Thus," says Champlain, " had we done them the service of find- ing new nations in order that they might carry ofi all the booty without running any risk or taking any trouble. "^ So little respect indeed did these newcomers show either for the savages or themselves, that they actually stripped the blood-stained furs from the bodies of the dead Iroquois.2 The following day 1 Ibid. p. 218 : " Cedit iour on traicta quelque pelleterie, mais les autres barques emporterent la meilleure part du butin. C'estoit leur avoir fait un grand plaisir de leur estre alle chercher des nations estrangeres, pour apres em porter le profit sans aucune risque ny hazard." 2 Ibid. p. 217 : " Quand ce fut fait, il vint une autre chalouppe et quelques una de nos compagnons dedans, qui fut trop tart : toutesfois assez k temps pour la despouille du butin, qui n'estoit pas grand chose : il n'j' avoit que des robes de castor, des morts, plains de sang, que les sauvages ne vouloient prendre la peine de despouiller, et se moquoient de ceux qui le faisoient, qui furent ceux de la derniere chalouppe : Car les autres ne se mirent en ce vilain devoir." THE FREEDOM OF TRADE, 1609 1613 77 arrived the Hurons, who were greatly distressed at having missed the fight with the enemy. Their barter, with its feasts, pipes of peace and other ceremonies, lasted three days, and seems to have passed without cause of complaint against the other traders on the part of the representatives of Monts. When the others had left, Champlain persuaded the Hurons to take back with them a young French boy while he in his turn accepted a young Huron who later accompanied him home to France.^ After completing the palisade about the factory, Champlain mad6 his way to Tadoussac where a second barter was usually held in July. 2 Even with this however a number of the new-comers were unable to get rid of their merchandize and when Champlain set out for home in August some of them still lay at Tadoussac with all their goods on board. " Many," said he, " will long remember the loss they suffered this year."3 Along the Atlantic coast Poutrincourt had managed to collect a fair number of furs, and one of his company, writing from Port Royal to a Iriend in France, said that if he had brought some men with him he could secure annually furs to the value of almost seven or eight thousand livres. " I assure you," he con- tinued, " there is nothing pleasanter than trading in these parts and making every year a good round sum."* Thfe trading vessels which came here seem to have ranged the coast from He Percee as far south as below Ste. Croix.^ 1 Ibid. pp. 219 et seq. ; Ihid. v 170 et seq.; Lescarbot, Hist, de la Nouvelle France (ed. of 1866) iii 603 et seq. 2 Laverdi^re, op. cit. iii 223 : "et moy i'y fus aussi pour voir ce qui reussiroit de la seconde traite," etc. 3 Ibid. p. 224 : "Or apres avoir seiourne trois ou quatre iours k Tadoussac, et veu la perte que firent beaucoup de marchans qui avoient charge grande quantite de marchandises et equipe bon nombre de vaisseaux esperant faire leurs affaires en la traite de Pelleterie, qui fut si miserable pour la quantite de vaisseaux que plusieurs se souviendront long temps de la perte qu'ils firent en ceste ann^e." 4 Thwaites, The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, vol. i (Cleveland 1896) pp. 120 and 122: " I'espererois faire trafiq tous les ans de sept ou huict mille livres en Castors et Pelleterie . . . Vous asseurant qu'il fait beau trafiquer par degk et faire un beau gain." 5 Ibid. p. 66 : " De-Ik il vint h. la riviere sainct Jehan ... oil il trouva un navire de S. Malo, qui troquoit avec les 8auvages du pais." Cf. also pp. 98 and 168-70; Breard, op. cit. pp. 117 et. seq. ; Laverdiere, op. cit. iii 226; " et 78 THE FREEDOM OF TRADE, 1609-1613 The season of 1611, the third during which the trade was open, in most respects was merely a repetition of that of the pre- vious year, except that the competition was even greater than before. While the factors at Quebec had become acclimatized and no longer suffered from cold or scurvy, Poutrincourt and his people at Port Royal enjoyed no such happy immunity. This was partly due no doubt to the lack of fresh stores. His vessel, in charge of his son Saint-Just, had reached France in safety with its load of furs the previous autumn and preparations were made to return immediately with a supply of provisions. When Saint-Just was leaving Court however, after having expressed to the Queen-mother the regrets of his father and himself at her recent bereavement in the death of the late King, one of the ladies present asked if he would take back a couple of Jesuits to convert the savages, as his father had promised King Henry. He made no objection to this proposal and two Jesuits were requested to be at Dieppe by the twenty-fifth of November ready to set sail for Port Royal. They appeared at Dieppe on the day appointed but here a difficulty arose. The two merchants who had fitted out the vessel and were in partnership with Poutrin- court in the fur-trade absolutely refused to allow the Jesuits to embark. The report that the murder of King Henry the Fourth had not been without some connection with this Order had stirred both Catholics and Huguenots against it from one end of France to the other. The merchants offered to accept Benedic- tines, Franciscans, Trappists or any other Order whatsoever, or in case the Queen-mother would send all the Jesuits to New France, they offered to find the necessary means of transport, but a small company of two they declared should never go in their vessel. As express orders from the Queen to receive the priests failed to secure obedience, a collection in behalf of the two Jesuits was made at Court and with this sum the sh«ires of the two merchants in the vessel were bought up. The priests thus embarked, not as guests or passengers, but as part- owners of the vessel and her cargo. This intermixture of the arrivasraes k I'isle Perctje le lendemain [14th August] oil nous trouvasmes quan- tity de vaisseaux faisant pesche de poisson sec et vert." THE FREEDOM OF TRADE, 1609-1613 79 spiritual with the commercial did not in the end prove very successful.! The vessel set sail from Dieppe in January but did not reach Port Royal until the end of May. Champlain who had not set out until the first of March found her still struggling in the ice floes near Cape Breton when he passed up the St. Lawrence to Tadoussac.2 In the meantime Poutrincourt and his twenty-two friends and dependants sufiered considerably from cold and from the absence of fresh provisions. Some of them were sent to live with the savages, where the food though ill prepared was often, at least, more plentiful. When the vessel did at length arrive she brought little relief. She had been four months at sea, and during that time most of the stores she was bringing out were consumed. To make matters worse, other vessels had arrived before her and had carried off all the furs in that region so that the remaining supply was not large.^ Now however that Madame de Guercheville and other ladies of tbe Court had become inter- ested in the settlement through the Jesuit missionaries, Poutrin- court hoped that some sort of trade monopoly might possibly be accorded to him, and in this hope he took charge of the vessel himself on her return voyage.^ In the St. Lawrence the competition was even greater than it had been the previous summer. Although when Champlain and Dupont-Grave reached Tadoussac snow still covered the ground, they nevertheless found three vessels in port before them. The effect of last season's excessive competition on the savages of this region was at once seen, for they refused to en- gage in any bartering operations until more vessels still had ap- peared.5 While Dupont-Gravd was thus meeting with considerable 1 Thwaites, op. cit. i 138 e< stq. ; Ibid, ii 172 et seq. 2 Laverdiere, op. cit. iii 238-39 ; Thwaites, op. cit. ii 176. 3 Ihid. p. 180 : " Le retardment susdit est cause que lesditz navires et autres estans arrives devant ledit Sainct Just, ils ont enleve tout ce qui estoit de bon au pais pour le commerce des Castors et autres pelleteries," etc. Cf also p. 100 : " Si quando in Gallicas naves incidebamus, ut stepe incidimus," etc., and p. 178. 4 Ihid. i 190, ii 6, iii 192. 5 Laverdiere, op. cit. iii 240 : " encore voulurent ils attendre qu'il vint plus- ieurs vaisseaux ensemble afin d 'avoir meilleur marche des marchandises ; et par ainsi ceux s'abusent qui pensent faire leurs afifaires pour arriver des premiers : car ces peuples sont maintenant trop fins et subtils." 80 THE FREEDOM OF TRADE, 1609-1613 difficult}^ in securing furs from the Montagnais at anything like the old rate of exchange, Champlain proceeded in a small boat to Quebec, where all were found well. He at once set to work to prepare to meet the Algonquins and Hurons who were to assem- ble this summer at the Lachine rapids. This year as last he was followed up the river by a host of other traders, though he had taken no pains at Quebec to hide his wish that they should not accompany him.i Since the savages had not yet arrived at the rapids, he spent the interval in examining the land close at hand. To observe the height reached by the spring floods, he erected a small wall at a spot which he thought offered a good site for a new factory. Quebec indeed was not far enough west to intimi- date the Iroquois. The need of a fresh post had soon become apparent. At this very time a report reached him that four hundred Hurons, who had set out to come to the barter, had re- turned home on hearing that the Iroquois were lying in ambush near this spot. The island opposite he named St. Helen's Island after his fiancee Helen Boulle, whom he married some years later.2 On the first of June arrived Dupont-Grave followed closely by a considerable number of other traders. He had remained at Tadoussac until the increasing competition of the fresh arrivals had pushed prices up to such a height that a satisfactory gain was impossible.'^ With the continuous arrival of fresh boats however, it did not seem that the outlook at the rapids was much better. In fact when on the thirteenth of June the first batch of two hundred Hurons appeared, with the French boy lent them by 1 Ihid. p. 242 : " Je fis cependant diligeance de faire accommoder nostre dicte barque. Et comme elle fut preste, un ieune homme de la Rochelle appele Tresart, me pria que ie luy permisse de me faire compagnie audit saut, ce que ie luy refu- say, disant que i'avois des dessins particuliers et que ienedesirois estre conducteur de personne k mon preiudice et qu'il y avoit d'autres compaignies que la mienne pour lors, et que ie ne desirois ouvrir Ie chemin et servir de guide et qu'il Ie trouveroit ass^s aisement sans moj'." 2 Ihid. pp. 242 et seq. and p. 251. 3 rind. p. 245 : " Le premier iour de luin Ie Pont arriva audit saut qui n'avoit rien sceu faire a Tadoussac ; et bonne compagnie le suivirent et vindrent apres luy pour y aller au butin car sans ceste esperance ils estoient bien de I'arriere. . . . Le lendemain arriva quatre ou cinq barques . . . d'autant qu'ils ne pouvoient rien faire audit Tadoussac." THE FREEDOM OF TRAD'fc, 1609-1613 81 Champlain, there were in all thirteen boats ready to trade with them. As in the previous summer, Champlain did not spare his strictures on the rival traders. Monts and his partners were keeping up the factory at Quebec, aiding the savages in their wars, entering into relations with new nations, and endeavouring in every way to discover the nature of the regions to the west while the new traders, solely bent on gain, would bear none of the burdens and yet expected to share all the rewards.! A month later twenty canoes full of Algonquins arrived, but since they were on a war expedition their supply of furs was not large. " Each," Champlain remarks. " took what he could get."2 Fourteen canoes which arrived three days later brought little consolation for their stock also was small.^ The dissatisfaction was not confined to Champlain and Dupont-Grave. On account of the small supply of furs brought to the rapids, most of the other traders as well found themselves with a large surplus stock of goods still on hand. The Indians too were no better pleased. The number of new faces so frightened the Hurons, many of whom had never seen a white man before, that on their arrival they built a barri- cade about their camp and, a report arising that a plot was hatching against them, soon after hastily set off on a pretended hunt. They sent word to Champlain however to come to them secretly further up the river. There they told him that they were always ready to guide him to their own country, and that in case he wished to do so they would even allow him to erect factories there, but they begged him when next he returned not to bring any strangers with him. These new-comers, who seemed only intent on gain, alarmed them. Their old friend only too readily promised that when next he returned matters should have im- 1 Ibid. pp. 252-253 : " Apres tous ces discours finis, ie leur dis qu'ils traictas- sent ce peu de commodites qu'ils avoient, ce qu'ils firent le lenderaain, dont chacune des barques emporta sa piece : nous toute la peine et advanture, les autres qui ne se soucioient d'aucunes descouvertures, la proye, qui est la seule cause qui les meut, sans rien employer ny hazarder." 2 Ibid. p. 262 : " et qu'ils traitassent paisiblement : ce qu'ils firent et chacun en emporta ce qu'il peut." 3 Ibid. p. 263 : " le 15 iour du mois arriverent quatorze canots . . . Le lendemain ils traitterent ce peu qu'ils avoyent," etc. 6 82 THE FREEDOM- OF TRADE, 1609-1613 proved. Hurons and Algonquins having each accepted one of his boys, they all separated the best of friends with promises to meet again the following summer.! As a sign of the increasing intercourse between Old and New France it is interesting to note that not only did Champlain go home in a vessel from La Kochelle,^ but that two vessels engaged in the fur-trade on the Atlantic coast left men to winter in the Bay of Fundy. A Captain Plastiier took up his quarters in the old buildings at Ste. Croix, while at the river St. John were quartered young Dupont-Grave and some of his friends.^ One wonders indeed whether, had the trade remained open, these small beginnings would not in time have developed into perman- ent settlements. They had their basis in trade, they did not support any non-productive colonists and seem indeed to have possessed all the requirements of a successful colony. Many of the towns in Newfoundland had a similar origin ; in that very autumn John Guy and his family took up their quarters at Cooper's Cove.* Even now however when the trade was open these budding colonies were not left alone. Saint-Just in his official capacity of Vice- Admiral of Acadia insisted on receiving from each man one-fifth of the furs he had managed to collect. ^ No wonder that, resenting this interference, they abandoned their settlements the following spring. These three years of open trade thus had their good and their bad side. For the owners of the factory at Quebec of course the balance inclined rather in the latter direction. The factory, instead of proving an advantage, was becoming a burden. The cost of keeping it up throughout the winter was great, and in 1 Ibid. p. 257 : " et me prierent que revenant avec mes compagnons ie n'en amenasse point d'autres. Je leur dis que ie ne les araenois pas, ains qu'ils me sui- voient sans leur dire et qu'k I'adveuir i' j'rois d'autre fa9on que ie n'avois fait . . . dont lis furent fort contens." 2 Ibid. p. 265 : ' ' Apr^s avoir mis ordre k ce qui despandoit de nostre habi- tation, suivant la charge que ledit Sieur de Monts m'avoit donnee, ie m'embarquay dedans Ie vaisseau du capitaine Tibaut de la Rochelle, I'onziesme d'Aoust." 3 Thwaites, op. cit. ii 26 et seq. Cf. also pp. 178 et seq. 4 Purchas, vol iv pp. 1877 et seq. ; Prowse, op. cit. Chap. v. 5 Thwaites, op. cit., vol. iii 198 and 210. THE FREEDOM OF TRADE, 1609-1613 83 the season the vessel which had just arrived enjoyed the same facilities as the men who had passed the whole winter in the country. Only one expedition, that of 1609, had been despatched into the interior, and since then nothing had been done in the way of discovery. To be sure, agents had been sent to winter among the Hurons and the Algonquins but any trader in the river was at liberty to do the same, and Bouvier, a stranger, had in fact sent one of his boys to winter with the Hurons that very year.i It is not surprising therefore that in the autumn of 1611 the two partners of Monts signified to him their intention of giving up their inteiest in the factory. Here again the patriot- ism and high spirit of Monts showed themselves. Rather than suffer the fieurs de lis to be lowered and retire from this advanced post in the west he decided to buy out his old partners and to keep up the place himself. After his great losses at Ste, Croix and Port Royal this spirited action deserves the very highest praise. It was indeed by simple acts like this that the French colonial empire became what it did. To Champlain, intent on finding a northern passage to the East, this change was of course not unwelcome, as he now hoped to have more liberty to push on his explorations.^ In the spring of 1612 however, owing it seems to a fall from a horse, Champlain was unable to go out to the St Lawrence, so Dupont-Grave alone superintended the transfer of the factory to Monts. Doubtless most of the old factors and interpreters were retained, although, on account of the absence of our principal informant, we know very little of what took place this summer on the St. Lawrence. Over two hundred Algonquins and Hurons came down to the rapids where they were met by an unusually large number of traders who tended more and more to neglect Tadoussac and to press on up 1 Laverdiere, op. cit. iii 260. 2 Ibid. p. 266 : " Ledit sieur de Mons .... estant retourne ^' Paris parla h. ses associez, qui ne voulurent plus continuer en I'associa- tion pour n'avoir point de commission qui peut empescher un chacun d'aller en uos nouvelles descouvertures negotier avec les habitans du pays. Ce que voyant . . . . il convint avec eux de ce qui restoit en I'habitation de Quebec, moyennant une somme de deniers qui leur donna pour la part qu'ils y avoyent : et envoya quelques hommes pour conserver ladite habitation sur I'esperance d'obtenir une commission de sa Maiest^." 84 THE FREEDOM OF TRADE, 1609-1613 the river. The non-appearance of Champlain was a great dis- appointment to his Indian friends, with whom he had hitherto always kept his word. A false report of his death, spread by the rival traders, only induced the Indians to declare that if this were the case, they would never return to the rapids. They knew that the others only sought immediate gain ; Champlain alone was generous enough to help them in their wars.^ Along the Atlantic coast and on the Banks, the fishing and fur trades went on at this time much as before, but the settle- ment at Port Royal was not successful. Saint- Just, in demanding from the traders at Ste. Croix and the river St John one-fifth of their furs, of course forfeited their friendship, so that when, soon after the departure of the vessel, the provisions ran out, no help was to be expected from them. A voyage along the coast to the south gave small relief, for the Indians had little corn and even less furs. In this expedition Saint-Just discovered something of which he was not in search. This was the English fort, aban- doned by the northern branch of the Virginia Company in 1609. The English had in fact seized Captain Plastrier when he was wintering at Ste. Croix and had only set him free on obtain- ing a promise that he would not trade again in those parts. To counteract the English claim, Saint-Just now set up the arms of France on the most conspicuous height near at hand and the little company once more returned to Port Royal. For some time its outlook was not bright. At the end of January, how - ever, the vessel, which Poutrincourt had been able to fit out by means of aid given by Madame de Guercheville, at length arrived, and the rest of the spring and summer passed without incident.2 1 Ibid. pp. 266-67 : " disans que plus de deux cents sauvages estoient venus, pensans me trouver au grand saut S. Louys, oi\ ie leur avois donn^ le rendez-vous, en intention de les assister en ce qu'ils m'avoient supplie : mais vo3fans que ie n'avois pas tenu ma promesse, cela les fascha fort : toutesfois nos gens leur firent quelques excuses. . . . Mais plusieurs autres qui avoient quitte Tadoussac, traffic encien, vindrent audit saut avec quantite de petites barques pour voir s'ils y pourroient faire leurs affaires avec cesjpeuples, qu'ils asseuroient de ma mort,'' etc. Cf. also p. 291. 2 Thwaites, op. cit. ii 30 et seq. and 228 et seq. ; ibid, iii 198 et seq. ; Jean H^roard, Joumcd siir I'Enfance et la Jeunesse de Lotus XIII, ii 75 (Paris 1868) ; Carayon, Premiere Mission des J^suites au Canada^ Letter V pp. 44 et seq, (Paris 1864). THE FREEDOM OF TRADE, 1G09-1613 85 Thus during the summers of 1609, 1610, 1611 and 1612 the fur-trade had been open to all comers from the Lachine Rapids as far south on the Atlantic coast as the fortieth decree of latitude. Although such freedom was conducive to the increase of the trade itself and doubtless led to a considerable addition to the number of vessels which yearly visited the coast, yet this very increase bore hardly upon Poutrincourt and Monts. Both had posts, the one for trade, the other for settlement, which could only be continued on condition of a fair return each year from the fur-trade. Their competitors, not hampered by the expenses of such posts and generally more energetic in getting away early from France, succeeded in securing the larger share of the trade. The efforts of Poutrincourt to obtain relief had only resulted in the despatch of the Jesuits and the subsequent admission of Madame de Guercheville as a half -partner. Monts had also been unable to secure a monopoly for the upper St. Lawrence, although it seemed to Champlain most unfair that Monts should keep up the post at Quebec and he himself spend his summers in enduring the fatigues of long canoe voyages through the wilds of the west, only that in the next year a few St. Malo traders should reap the whole benefit of their pains. He had promised the Hurons in the summer of 1611 that when he again returned to the rapids he should be accompanied only by his friends, and during the summer of 1612, which he passed in France, he made considerable efforts to keep his word. The best solution which presented itself to his mind, and the one indeed which was finally adopted, was to form the better class of traders who yearly visited the St. Lawrence into one large company. By means of a common outlay they would be able both to push on discovery beyond the rapids and as the trade increased to erect new factories farther west.l In order to safe- 1 Laverdi^rc, op. cit, iii 28.3 : " Le desir . . . de faire nouvelles descouver- tures . . . ensemble d'amener ces pauvres peuples k la cognoissance de Dieu m'a fait chercher la facilite de ceste entreprise, qui ne peut estre que par le moyen d'un bon reglement:d'autant que chacun voulant cueillir les fruits de raon labeur, sans contribuer aux frais et grandes despences qu'il convient faire, k I'entretien des habitations necessaires pour araener ces desseins k une bonne fin, ruine ce commerce par I'aviditc^ de gaigner," etc. 86 THE FREEDOM OF TRADE, 1609-1613 guard themselves against an ending as disastrous as that which had happened to Chauvin and to Monts, Champlain proposed that the support of some noble powerful at Court should be secured. In return for such protection the company would allow him a certain yearly income. The man proposed by Champlain to fill this role of protector for the company was the Comte de Soissons, uncle of the young King i Charles de Bourbon, Comte de Soissons, the youngest son of Louis de Bourbon, first Prince de Conde, had fought with Henry the Fourth both at Arques and at Ivry. Offended, however, first at the King's opposition to his courtship of the Princess Cath- erine, and after his marriage to another lady at the King's refusal to allow her to wear the ^eurs de lis, he retired from the Court in anger. At the death of the King, he threatened to make trouble but was bought off with the government of Normandy. Although a man of narrow intelligence and loose morals, who sought to hide under a mock gravity a character without worth and full of dissimulation, he yet possessed a certain amount of influence at Court due rather to fear of his ambition than to respect for himself. By means of this influence, the request of Champlain that the King's council should in some way regulate the fur-trade resulted in the appointment of Soissons a^ Viceroy of Canada with a monopoly of the fur-trade from Quebec west- ward, for twelve years. 2 Unfortunately, just when this mono- poly was about to be published in all the ports and harbours of France, the Comte de Soissons died. At Champlain's request the vice-regency and the monopoly were then transferred to Sois- sons' nephew, the young Prince de Condd. Henri de Bourbon, third Prince de Cond^, spent the first six 1 Ibid. pp. 284 : "II me sembla k propos de me letter entre les bras de quelque grand ... Or cognoissant Monseigneur le Comte de Soissons . . . ie m'adressay k luy," etc. 2 Ibid. p. 285 : ' ' Aussi tost apr^s ie presentay k sa Maiest^, et k Nosseigneurs de son Conseil une requeste avec des articles, tendans k ce qu'il luy pleust vouloir apporter im reglement en cat affaire . . . . et pource sa Maiest^ en donna la direc- tion et gouvernement a mondit Seigneur le Comte, lequel deslors m' honora de sa Lieutenance"; Due (TAnmale, Histoire des Pri7ices dt Condi iii 11 et seq. Paris 1886 ; Zeller, Marie de Midicis et Sidly (Paris 1892), passim ; Archives du Parle- ment de Rouen 4th March 1613. THE FREEDOM OF TRADE, 1609-1613 87 years of his existence in the prison of St. Jean d'Angely where his mother was confined on suspicion of poisoning her husband. In July 1595, through the influence of Thou and his friends, she was again set at liberty, and her son, now recognized as heir to the throne, was installed under Catholic tutors in the Chateau of St. Germain. Summoned a few years later about the person of the King, he played for some time a conspicuous role in the fetes and ceremonies of the Court. His marriage to Mademoiselle de Montmorency caused hira to lose the favour of the King who had himself fallen a victim to her charms. Since the Kinsf's importunities still continued, even after their marriage, Condd decided to withdraw with his wife to his castle of Valery. i When shortly afterwards the King summoned him to return, he set oft' indeed with his wife but discreetly turned the horses' heads towards Brussels where he hoped she would at length be safe. Notwithstanding that the Pope urged Conde to lead back his wife in the interests of peace, he remained firm and an attempted abduction by force on the part of the King was not more suc- cessful. After the King's death they both quietly returned. Though Conde was now urged by Sully to give his support to the Queen-mother in securing the peace and the improvement of the kingdom, his course was exactly the opposite. He spent his time in finding fault with all that the Regent did and though an oflSce or occasional grant of money would for a time secure, if not his good will, at least his silence, yet at the end of a few months he became as troublesome as before. Just before the death of his uncle, Soissons, Cond^ had supported him in his quarrels with the Court and it was doubtless partly as a sop for 1 It was on this occasion that Malherbe put the following into the mouth of the King : Men soin n'est point de faire En I'autre hemisphere Voir mes actes guerriers ; Et jusqu' aux bords de I'onde Oi\ finit le monde, Acquerir des lauriers. Deux beaux yeux sont I'empire Pour qui je soupire ; etc. Malherbe, (Euvres i 165. Paris, 1862. 88 THE FREEDOM OF TRADE, 1609-1613 this as well as at Champlain's request that the viceroyship and the monopoly were now transferred to him. i By the terms of the new monopoly, granted for twelve years, the trade westward of Quebec was to be confined to the members of the new company about to be organized by Ghamplain. On account however of the delay caused by the death of the Comte de Soissons and by the opposition of the merchants of St. Malo to this new monopoly, there was not sufficient time before the season began to organize the company. It was therefore decided to postpone that proceeding until the autumn, for this summer, Conde would grant a certain number of passports to future shareholders of the company, which would enable them, and them alone, to trade above Quebec.^ Below that point and on the Atlantic coast the trade was still open to all, but any boat caught bartering above it would be confiscated and the owners fined three thousand livres. All traders to N ew France were forbid- den to sell fire-arms to the savages, and Frenchmen caught pilot- ing foreign vessels into the St. Lawrence were to be seized and dealt with in a summary manner. In order to encourage a new branch of industry, it was announced that all the timber brought from New France would be admitted into the mother country free of duty 3 This clause was due to the fact that Ghamplain for the first time in the autumn of 1611 had brought home some oak and the experiment had evidently proved successful.* Seven vessels obtained passports from Condd for trade above Quebec in the summer of 1613, and while doubtless obliged to 1 Zeller, op. cit., pp. 190 et seq.; Due d'Aumale, op. cit. iii 1-110. 2 Laverdi^re, op. cit. iii 286: " Quelques brouillons, qui n'avoyent aucun interest en I'affaire, I'importunerent de la faire casser, luy faisaut entendre le pre- tendu interest de tous les marchans de France, etc. . . . leur malice estant recogneue f urent reiettees avec permission seulement d'entrer en I'association . . . le temps de partir nous pressoit fort. Ainsi se fallut contenter pour cette ann^e d'y aller sans autre association, avec les passeports," etc. Cf. p. 287 : " ioint aussi que les marchans de S. Maslo s'y opposerent." A copy of their petition will be found in the Anmudre du Conseil H6raldique de France, 1894, pp. 48-53. 3 Archives du Parlement de Rouen, 4th, March 1613 ; Ibid. Archives Secretes, Annee 1613-14 fol. 123 verso et seq. 4 Laverdiire, op. cit. iii 264 : " et fis charger du chesne de fente pour faire I'espreuve en France," etc. THE FREEDOM OF TRADE, 1609-1613 89 pay him a certain sum for this privilege, they were also bound to furnish Champlain with four rnen each, in case he wished to undertake an exploring expedition or make a campaign against the Iroquois.i When however they reached the rapids on the twenty-first of May, they found no savages but learned that a small troop of Algonquins had just set out on their return home from an expedition against the Iroquois,^ A few days later three canoes arrived. Their occupants informed the traders that owing to the unfair treatment met with in the previous summer, when a report was also spread that Champlain was dead, the savages did not intend to come to the rapids any more. Over one thousand of them, despairing of any aid from the French, had gone off alone on a war expedition against the Iroquois. This news was a great blow to the traders, who saw before them a lost season and an unrequited outlay. It was an immense relief therefore when Champlain proposed to make a voyage up the Ottawa and to investigate the statements of Vignau, one of the coureurs de hois who, on returning home to France in the autumn of 1612, had reported that he had seen a great sea in the north. On its shore were even, he said, the remains of an Eng- lish vessel, cast away shortly before, while the scalps of the crew adorned the neighbouring wigwams. Since Hudson had not returned from his search for a north-west passage, begun in the year 1610, there seemed a probability that the account was a true one and that the ship had belonged to him. Besides, even if Champlain did not reach this sea, he hoped to be able to examine a considerable stretch of country and also to urge the Indians to come and meet the traders then awaiting them at the rapids.3 '^ Ibid. p. 286: " Les passeportc de Monseigneur le Prince . . . furent donnes pour quatre vaisseaux, lesquels estoient ia prepares pour faire le voyage ; S9avoir trois de Rouen et un de la Rochelle, a condition que chacun fourniroit quatre hommes pour m'assister, tant en mes descouvertures qu'k la guerre." Cf. also p. 322 : "pour m'advertir que le sieur de Maison-neufve de S. Maslo avoit apporte un passeport de Monseigneur le Prince pour trois vaisseaux." 2 Ibid. p. 290. 3 Ibid. p. 291 : Que le mauvais traictement qu'avoient re9eus les Sauvages I'annee precedente, les avoit degoutes de venir plus, et qu'ils ne croyoient pas que ie deusse retourner iamais en leurs pays . . . et pource 1200 hommes estoyent 90 THE FREEDOM OF TRADE, 1609-1613. Champlain and his five men travelled laboriously up the Ottawa. His presence, so far from Quebec, excited everywhere considerable surprise. On reaching an Algonquin village on the Lake des Allumettes the deceit of his guide was at length suddenly exposed. The chief Tessoiiat declared that this man had spent the winter with them and had never been beyond their village. Vignau himself then confessed that the whole story, including the tale of a northern sea and the English vessel, was a fiction, invented merely to gain credit ; the possibility of a search being actually undertaken had never entered his mind. In fact except for the two French boys and an odd interpreter or so, no Frenchman had until then advanced beyond the rapids of Lachine.i Notwithstanding that the attempt to find the north sea had thus proved a failure, the second object of Champlain's journey, to urge the savages to go to the rapids, met with more success. He assured them indeed that his failure to meet them in the previous year had been altogether due to an accident, that henceforth only trusted friends would be allowed to come to the rapids and that there were then awaiting them at that point six or eight of these with barques and goods. This news and the assurance that Champlain himself would be there to conduct the barter soon led to the despatch of over eighty canoes. The Algonquin chiefs also informed Champlain that if ever he carried out his intention of erecting a new post at the rapids they would then lead back their nation to its old quarters there under the shelter of the French guns.^ By means of Champlain's energy the merchants were able to make a good season's trade, though some of them got into difficulties with the traders who had not been allowed to proceed above Quebec. These men waylaid several of the boats on their way from Quebec to Tadoussac, where the sea-going vessels were lying, and robbed them of all the furs they had secured at the rapids. In the end however allez ii la guerre. . . . Ces nouvelles attristerent fort les niarchans . . . ce qui me fit resoudre en faisant mes descouvertures, de passer en leur paj's, pour encourager ceux qui estoyent rest^s, du bon traicteraent qu'ils recevroyent," etc. Cf. also p. 311. 1 Ibid. pp. 292 et seq. 2 Ibid. pp. 313, et seq. ; Arret du Parlement de Rouen 25th June 1633. THE FREEDOM OF TRADE, 1609-1613. 91 this policy defeated itself for when the matter was reported in France the area of reserved trade was extended from Quebec as far as Gaspe, as we shall presently see.l While such were the conditions of trade during this summer in the reserved area above Quebec, on the Atlantic coast events of a more extraordinary nature were taking place, before which the question of trade takes a subsidiary place in the records of the time. While the two Jesuits as interested partners in the fur-trade were at Port Royal, disputes were continually break- ing out between them and Saint-Just, who resented the advice of men unaccustomed to the direction of commercial affairs. To such a height indeed did feeling run that the Jesuits finally requested Madame de Guercheville, who had already helped them to come to New France, to provide the funds necessary for the establishment of an altogether new colony. As a result of this demand, in the spring of that year a vessel called at Port Koyal and took on board Fathers Biard and Masse. They were to have complete liberty of action for their proselytizing efforts in a new settlement founded at the expense of Madame de Guerchevjlle, to whom the rights of Monts in this region had just been trans- ferred by the King. In sailing down the coast a storm drove the vessel ashore at Mount Desert where the beauty of the spot and a mutiny of the crew finally induced them to establish their home. While however they were in the act of unloading the vessel and erecting quarters, an English vessel suddenly entered the harbour and after a short skirmish took more than half of them prisoners. As has already been mentioned, the colony sent out by the northern branch of the Virginia Company returned again to England in the spring of 1608. It was indeed the remains of their settlement which Saint-Just had discovered two summers later when in search of food.2 At Jamestown in Virginia how- ever the southern branch of the same company still continued to maintain a flourishing settlement, and since their charter em- braced the territory as far north as the forty-fifth degree of 1 Archives du Parlement de Rouen 14th December 1613. 2 W, Strachey, The Historie oj Travaile into Virginia Britannia, chap, viii pp. 162 et seq. London (Hakluyt Society) 1849. Stith, History of Virginia, bk. ii pp. 74 et seq. New York (Sabin's reprint) 1865. 92 THE FREEDOM OF TRADE, 1609-1613. latitude, complications were bound to ensue with the holders of French charters whose powers extended south to the fortieth degree of latitude. Saint-Just had indeed at the time of his visit set up the French arms, to show that France's claim was the earlier and more valid one. Just however as it was an English fishing vessel which had seized Captain Plastrier and forbidden him to trade in that region, so now it was another English fish- ing vessel sent north from Jamestown, which captured the colonists about to settle at Mount Desert.^ She had been making her way to an island in the neighbourhood, where the fishing boats were left during the winter, when some savages, mistaking her for a French vessel, informed her captain, one Argall, of the presence on the coast of the vessel at Mount Desert. Proceed- ing thither, Argall attacked the settlement so suddenly that a firm resistance was out of the question. Two Frenchmen, one of them a priest, lost their lives in the short skirmish which ensued. Of the remaining members of the colony, thirty made their way home in fishing and trading vessels met with along the coast, while fifteen were carried ofi as prisoners to Virginia. 2 Their arrival and the account of the destruction of the young settlement at Mount Desert created considerable excitement at Jamestown. The Virginia Council not only unjustly considered this attempt to found a colony on the coast as an infringement of their own rights but also declared that if the report were true that Poutrincourt had seized an English vessel and was about to 1 The discussion in il/o««. Hist. Collections, 4th Series, vol. ix, pp. 41 et seq, has not convinced me that this attack was premeditated. If so how did word of the arrival of the French vessel at Mount Desert reach Jamestown and why did Argall return there before attacking Port Royal ? It was in triith a voyage similar to that of the previous summer. Vid. Purchas^ Part iv, pp. 1758-62 and 1764-1765. Cf. also Laverdiere, op. cit. v 117 : " Depuis que ces Anglois se sont establis aux Virgines, afin. de se pourveoir de molues, ont accoiistume de venir faire leur pesche k seize lieues de I'isle des monts deserts : et ainsi y arrivans I'an 1613 estans sur- pris des brumes et iettez k la coste, des Sauvages de Pemetegoet, estimans qu'ils estoient Frangois, leur dirent qu'il y en avoit k Sainct-Sauveur. Les Anglois estans en necessity de vivres, et tous leurs hommes en pauvre estat," etc. 2 Thwaites, op. cit. ii 246 et seq., iii 274 et seq. ; Purchas, Part iv, p. 1768 ; Hamor, True Discourse of the Present State of Virginia (London, 1615) pp. 36 et seq. ; Brt^ard, op. cit., pp. 121 et seq. Fleury's account mentioned by Gosselin in his Nouvelles Glanes, p. 43, has not yet been discovered. THE FREEDOM OF TRADE, 1609-1613 93 fortify himself at Port Royal with thirty cannon, the further existence of that place was a standing menace to their own security. Argall was accordingly ojSicially despatched to drive the French from the coast. In truth however not only were these reports untrue but the French right to this region was the better and more valid one. When Argall had destroyed all ves- tiges of the French occupation at Mount Desert and Ste. Croix, he made his way to Port Royal where the surprise was as complete as it had been on the earlier occasion. Most of the men were busy peacefully working in the fields. The marauders took no prisoners but burned down all the buildings with the exception of the barns and the mill which, being a little way off, were hidden from view.l On account of these events one hears little of the state of the fishing or fur trade on the Atlantic coast during this summer. From the French or the savages however the English learned that the trade in these regions was extremely good and that in some years a single vessel would carry home furs to the value of eight thousand pounds. They therefore made arrangements with the savages for bartering the furs formerly taken by the French, who thus saw themselves gradually restricted to the region about the St. Lawrence.2 With the close of the season of 1613 the outlook for the French fur-trade was indeed not a brilliant one. English competition was henceforth to be feared in the Bay of Fundy while the whole of the St. Lawrence as far east as Gaspe was reserved for the company which Champlain was on the point of forming. The trader therefore who did not join this company had only the coast of New France from Gaspe to Cape Breton at his disposition. On top of the competition of the English from Virginia soon came that of the Dutch at Man- hattan and later that of the Pilgrim Fathers at Plymouth. The only road to commercial salvation for the ordinary trader lay in joining the company about to be formed by Champlain. 1 Thwaites, <yp. cit. ii 264 et seq., iv 30 et seq. ; Purchas, Part iv, p. 1808 ; Carayon, op. cit., Lettre vii, pp. 106 et seq. - Hamor, op. cit., pp 36 et seq. Laverdi^re, op. cit. iii 288: " Le 15 [Avril 1613] nous eusmes un grand coup de vent, accompagn^ de pluye et gresle, suivi d'un autre, qui dura 48 heures, si irapetueux qu'il fit perir plusieurs vaisseaux k I'isle du cap Breton." Cf. also Ibid, vi 100 et seq. CHAPTER VI champlain's company 1614-1620 Although the St. Lawrence above Quebec had been closed to the general trader in the summer of 1613, the lower part from Quebec to the Gulf as well as the Atlantic coast as far south as the fortieth degree of latitude had been left open to all. When however the robberies committed on the privileged traders between Quebec and Tadoussac in the autumn of that year were reported to the Viceroy in France,, he determined to obtain the inclusion of this area in his monopoly. On the 14th of Novem- ber the King, at his wish, issued new Letters patent wherein Conde's monopoly, which bad still eleven years to run, was extended from Quebec as far down as to the river Mantanne in the Gasp^ peninsula. The penalties to which a merchant who traded above this river made himself liable were similar to those formerly attached to trading on the St. Lawrence above Quebec.^ It had always been Champlain's intention, when the protec- tion of a powerful noble had been secured, to form the better class of merchants who traded to the St. Lawrence into one large company. With the danger of a sudden repeal of the monopoly removed and competition reduced to a minimum, he felt that the future of the St. Lawrence valley would be assured The nego- tiations carried on in the spring of 1613 had led to no result, having been interrupted by the departure of the vessels for the season's trade. However in the autumn of that year they were again resumed and in the spring of 1614 the articles of the new Company were at length agreed upon. The shares were to be divided into three portions, one to be subscribed for by the merchants of Rouen and the other two by those of St. Malo and La Rochelle. In return for the enjoyment of the monopoly 1 Archives du Parleraent de Rouen, 14th December 1613. Although the term used is " strangers and pirates," the French interlopers are evidently the people intended. [94] champlain's company 1614-1620 95 during the space of eleven years they agreed to pay Conde one thousand crowns a year and to take out six families each season to people the country. Champlain, as Condd's lieutenant, was to receive a salary and to have at his disposal every summer four men from each vessel in the river. With these he might either make war against the Iroquois, explore the interior or, if he wished, employ them during the whole summer at Quebec. Although these terms had been accepted by the representatives of the merchants of the three towns mentioned above, when the moment came for aflBxing the signatures, the representatives from La Rochelle failed to put in an appearance. Nothing remained but to divide the whole of the shares among the mer- chants of Rouen and St. Malo.'^ In the summer of 1614 therefore the factory at Quebec once more changed hands and became the property of the new Com- pany, in which however the former owner, Monts, was also a shareholder. The Company's trade this year in the St. Lawrence, which was now closed to all other traders as far down as Gasp^, must have been a very considerable one, but owing to the ab- sence of Champlain, who again remained in France, we know almost nothing of what took place in the river. After his prom- ise to build a fort at the rapids, his non-appearance and the absence of all preparations to this end were a great disappoint- ment to his savage friends. An expedition which they were to undertake together against the Iroquois had thus to be postponed until another year. The closing of the St. Lawrence led naturally to increased competition along the Atlantic coast, for this was now the only region open to the independent trader. Madame de GuercheviJle attempted no fresh colony but contented herself with representa- tions to the English Court. King James however declared that the Virginia Company had been quite within its rights, and there the matter ended.2 To the south of Mount Desert both the Dutch 1 Laverdi^re, op. cit. iii 326. Ibid, v 237-238. No copy of these articles has turned up so far unfortunately. 2 Sainsbury, Calendar of State Papers, Colonial i 15. London, 1860. Tbid. Addenda pp. 52-53, London 1893. Thwaites, The Jesuit Relations iv 68 et seq. Cf. also Mass. Hist. Collect. 3rd Series vi 72. 96 champlain's company 1614-1620 and the English were now doing considerable trade. In 1614, as a result of Hudson's discovery, some Dutch merchants obtained from their Government a monopoly of the fur-trade at ^lanhattan for three years.i The English were still nearer to the French. Although the colony sent out by the northern branch of the Virginia Company returned in 1608, Sir Francis Popham contin- ued to despatch a vessel to the abandoned settlement every sum- mer for trade.2 In the year 1614 Captain John Smith arrived on the same coast and though the season was over he yet man- aged to secure 1100 beaver skins, 100 martens and as many otters. To the south of him were two French vessels and Sir Francis Popham's ship, while to the north his " commodities were not esteemed, they were so near the French, who affords them better."^ Among the latter was perhaps Poutrincourt, who on reaching Port Royal in March and finding all his buildings des- troyed and the cattle killed decided to collect what furs he could and transport his people back to France. To build a new settle- ment was beyond his means ; even when finished it might after all only suffer a fate similar to that of the earlier one. Although Poutrincourt himself was shortly afterwards killed, fighting for his sovereign at M6ry-sur-Seine, his son Saint-Just returned in the following year to Port Royal where until the year 1621 he acted as agent for some fur-traders of La Rochelle.'* These traders of La Rochelle who had at the last moment re- fused to join the Company formed by Charaplain somehow in this summer obtained from Conde a passport into the St. Lawrence for one of their vessels. This permission was a direct infringe- ment of the Company's monopoly and led to a great deal of legal warfare between Conde, the Company and the La Rochelle mer- 1 E. B. O'Callaghan, History of New Netherland, i 74-76. New York 1846. Brodhead and O'Callaghan, Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York, i 13-14. Albany 1856. 2 Brief Relation, etc., in Mass. Hist. Collect., 2nd Series ix 4. Cf. also Georges* Brief e Narration in Ibid., 3rd Series vi 57 et seq. 3 Description of New England in Mass. Hist. Collect., 3rd Series vi 103-104. 4 Lescarbot, Hiat. de la Nouvelle France (edition of 1617), pp 687 et seq. Arret du Parleraent de Rouen 12th July 1633. Cf. also Br^ard, op. cit., pp. 123-124, champlain's company 1614-1620 97 chants. In fact the matter was not finally settled until the year 1633.1 Whether the troubles in which Conde now found himself involved at home were the cause both of this illegal permission to trade and also of the absence of Champlain from the St. Lawrence that summer we do not know, but this explanation is prima facie not unlikely. Although it had been hoped that the viceroyship of Canada would have quieted Conde at least for some time, in January of this year 1614 he was again in arms and, contrary to the general expectation, had a considerable following. The alarm of the Court was great and no time was lost in assembling troops and in preparing for the gravest even- tualities. Fortunately however the difficulties of the situation were overcome by the coolness of the Chancellor de Sillery who continued to urge prudence at the moment of the greatest tension. By means of his efforts, the affair passed off without bloodshed. By the terms of the treaty of Sainte-Menehould, the Regent agreed not only to hand over to Cond6 some 400,000 livres but to assemble the States-General for the discussion of the affairs of the realm. Even after this however Conde re- fused to appear at Court, and learning of the ill-treatment of some of his followers at Poitiers he sent another of his familiar admonitory letters. This however found Marie de Medicis in no conciliatory mood. Advancing with her army on Orleans she forced Condd, now in great fear of being taken prisoner, hastily to decamp. During the rest of the summer the Court continued its triumphant progress through the west, while the Viceroy of Canada wandered aimlessly hither and thither with- out plan or friends. On a report reaching Bordeaux that he was approaching that place, the citizens announced that they would shut the gates in his face. It was not indeed until September, on the eve of the King's majority, that, receiving a polite invita- tion from the Regent, Conde finally consented to make his reconciliation with the royal family. That these troubles, dis- putes and wanderings were not without some connection with the passport illegally granted to the merchants of La Rochelle 1 Archives du Parlement de Rouen, Arret du 25 Jiiin 1633. 7 98 champlain's company 1614-1620 for trade in the St. Lawrence and with the absence of Champlain from Canada during this same summer is at least probable.^ The demand made by Cond^ for the assembling of the States- General was carried out in the autumn of this year and was not without its effect on the trade of New France. The St. Male merchants had for some time opposed the registration of Condd's monopoly and only joined the new Company when further opposition became useless. It was indeed a question of doing this or of losing their share in the trade of the St. Lawrence. The deputies however from Brittany to the States-General were requested to obtain the repeal of the monopoly and one of their most innocent-looking proposals virtually contained such a clause. Champlain soon got wind of the affair and obtained, through Conde, permission to state to the Assembly the real facts of the case, whereupon the article was at once erased.2 Another article whereby the salt for the Newfoundland fishery was freed fror* all taxes actually received the King's assent ; but this unfortunately does not imply that it was ever carried into effect.3 In fact few if any of these demands of the third estate were afterwards enforced. At the opening of the trading season of 1615 the outlook for the new Company seemed bright. Conde was at peace with the Court and had promised to give no more special trading licenses. The barter took place as usual both at Tadoussac, where the sea- going vessels remained, and at the rapids, whither the traders made their way in small boats. On account of his failure to appear in the previous summer, Champlaiii found his Indian allies rather sceptical about his intention to aid them against the Iroquois. To prove the sincerity of his intentions and at the same time to search for the western passage, he decided, alter a consultation with Dupont-Grave, to spend the whole of the coming winter among the Hurons. With a score or so of French- men to accompany him he hoped not only to render the Indians 1 Zeller, Marie de Midicis et Villeroy, Chaps, viii and ix (Faris 1897). Due d'Aumale, Histoire des Princes de Cond6 iii 21 et seq. 2 i)e< Etats G6n6raux et Autres AsiembUes Nationales Tome xvii (Paris 1789), 2e partie, p. 132. Laverdi^re, op. cit. v 240 et seq. 3 Des Etats Oiniraux, etc., xvii 2e partie, pp. 29-30. champlain's company 1614-1620 99 valuable assistance in their wars but also to prepare them to some extent by such an intercourse for the reception of the Gospel which was henceforth to be preached to them by four Recollect Fathers, brought out that summer to Quebec. A few years later their number was increased to six, who were support- ed and maintained by the Company as long as its monopoly lasted.i As had been agreed, therefore, Champlain with Father Joseph, one of the Recollects, and twelve other Frenchmen spent the winter of 1615-16 among the Hurons in their homes on the pen- insula between Georgian Bay and Lake Huron. The journey thither by way of the Ottawa river, Lake Nipissing and Georgian Bay proved very long and very difficult to the white men. To Champlain the pleasure of exploring these regions made him oblivious of the difficulties of the route. On reaching the Huron country he not only seized every opportunity of examining it in all directions but he carefully inquired of all strangers the nature of the regions further to the west.2 During the course of an expedition which the Hurons made against the Iroquois, he was able to visit Lake Simcoe, the Trent river and the Bay of Quinte as well as that portion of New York State which borders on the eastern end of Lake Ontario. The attack made on the Iroquois fort near Lake Geneva proved however unsuccessful. The French indeed reared a wooden platform from which the musqueteers were able to command the village and to drive its defenders from their palisade but though the Hurons seized this occasion to place flaming bundles against the undefended woodwork, they placed them to leeward of it so that the palisade did not catch tire.s During the remainder of the winter Champlain was busy contracting alliances with the tribes who were the neighbours of 'the Hurons. Just as, up to the time of their expedition against the Iroquois in the summer of 1 609, the Hurons had been content to receive the French goods from the Algonquins, so the tribes in 1 Laverdi^re, op. cit. iv 14 et seq. Sagard, op. cit. i 36 e< seq. 2 Laverdi^re, op. cit. iv 25 : " Je donnay une hache k leur Chef . . . et communiquant avec luy, ie 1' entretins sur ce qui estoit de son pais, qu'il me figura avec du charbon sur une escorce d'arbre," etc. Cf. ibid, pp. 58 tt seq. 8 Ihid. iv 39 et seq,, v 258 tt seq. 100 champlain's company 1614-1620 this region had hitherto never visited the rapids but had received the French goods from the Hurons, to whom they gave in exchange the furs collected during the winter. Thus not only the Hurons but also the Algonquins and Montagnais brought to the St. Lawrence their own furs and those also of the tribes that lay beyond them. In 1 608, for example, Captain John Smith , when on a voyage up country from Jamestown, heard of a tribe called the Massawomeckes who had received " their hat- chets an<l such like tooles from the French who inhabit the river of Cannida."! It was now Champlain's endeavour to induce these neighbours of the Hurons to come to the rapids themselves, not only in order to increase the barter but also by this closer intercourse to learn more of the regions to the west and to the north He of course promised liberal aid to all against their enemies and received in return the much-desired invitation to visit their country ; for in this way he hoped to discover finally the lono;-sought passage to the East.^ In the spring of 1616 indeed some Algonquins had promised to guide him as far as Lake Superior, but owing to a quarrel between them and his Huron hosts the expedition had to be put off.^ Everywhere however he received reports of a most encouraging natui'e. One tribe informed him that not far from them, near the setting suui dwelt a white people like the French, who enjoyed a high state of civilization. " I do not know," says Champlain, "what to think of this, but in order to discover the truth a good deal of time and money must be spent." He doubted whether the keenness of the Viceroy or of the shareholders for discovery would reach the point of sending him on such a long and expensive journey.^ 1 Smith's Works (Arber's Edition, Birmingham 1884) p. 119 ; Cf. also p. 117. 2 Laverdi^re, op. cit. iv 141 : " J' avois passe par plusieurs et diverses nations . . . non cogneus aux Fran9ois, ny ^ ceux de nostre habitation, aveclesquels i"avois fait alliance, et iure araitie avec eux, a la charge qu'ils viendroient faire traicte avec nous, et que ie les assisterois en leurs guerres." 3 Ibid, iv 61 et seq., v 277 et seq. i Ibid, iv ^2 : " quelques prisonniers leur ont rapporte y avoir des peuples semblables k nous en blancheur et autres choses . . . Je ne puis que penser la dessus, sinon que ce fussent gens plus civiliaez qu'eux, et qu'ils disent noua ressembler : il seroit bien besoing d'en s9avoir la verity par la veue, mais il faut de I'assistance," etc. Cf. Tome v pp. 287 et seq. champlain's company 1614-1620 101 After having urged as many nations as possible to come to the rapids durin^j that summer, Champlain, with Father Joseph and the twelve Frenchmen, set off towards the end of May on the return journey. Dupont-Grav6 and the other factors were waiting for them at the rapids, and as many canoes arrived they doubtless did a good season's trade. Before the Hurons departed Champlain promised his host of the winter, as he had already so often done the chiefs of the Algonquins, that as soon as possible a fort should be built at the rapids to hold the Iroquois in check and render safe the navigation of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence.^ This summer the factory at Quebec was strengthened and en- larged. Since the Kecollects had also taken up their quarters there the old accommodation was no longer sufficient, and before he set out for France, Champliin superintended considerable alterations in the buildings. During the summers both of 1615 and 1616 the trade along the Atlantic coast seems to have gone on much as usual. Besides others, a vessel from La Rochelle came every spring to visit Saint-Just at Port Royal, and young Dupont-Grave, who had wintered once or twice at the river St. John, still kept up his old intercourse with the savages there.2 According to Captain John Smith's estimate this Atlantic trade was very good indeed- A vessel could get as a rule from six to seven thousand furs in a summer. In the year 1616 the French got twenty -five thousand furs, " of which," he adds boastfully, " we may have as good parts as they, if we take good courses."^ At the Bale de Chaleur the skins principally bartered were those of the beaver and the elk. ^ The iSewfoundland fishery was also on the increase and in the year 1615 steps were taken both in England and in France to 1 Ibid. iv. 104 : " et que . . . nous faisions une autre habitation au sault Sainct Loiiys, pour leur donner la seuret6 du passage de la riviere pour la crainte de leurs ennemis," etc. 2 Arrets du Parlement de Rouen, 25th June and 12th July 1633. Breard, op. cit. pp. 125-128. 3 Mass. Hist. Collect., 3rd Series, vol. vi, p. 115. 4 Laverdi^re, op. cit. vi 102, ' ' L'on fait en ce lieu bonne partie de traitte avec les habitans du pays. Pour des marchandises ils donnent en eschange des peaux d'eslan et quelques castors." 102 champlain's company 1614-1620 check some abuses. The worst was the destruction or the removal of platforms. It appears that the earliest arrivals among the dry -fishers were in the habit either of seizing the best platforms in any bay or of tearing them down and putting them up again elsewhere. A vessel was never sure in fact whether she would find her old platform on her return and the erection of a new one demanded considerable time. For the French fishermen Louis XIII issued an order forbidding any one to tear down or remove such platforms, which were henceforth to be regarded as private property. The stones carried out on the outward voyage for ballast were not to be thrown into the harbours, which might in process of time become filled up, but were to be dropped at sea or carried on shore.i In the same year an English sea-captain, Richard Whitbourne, was authorized to check the same abuses, 2 but neither of these attempts proved very effectual. According to Whitbourne there were at this time two hundred and fifty English vessels engaged in the trade with a total aggregate ton- nage of 15,000. These ships gave employment in all to no less than five thousand persons.^ The French, Basque and Portuguese vessels numbered altogether about four hundred, although this included those who went " to the Coast of Canady."'* It was also becoming more and more usual for the English vessels to take their cod to Spain, southern France or Italy, and to bring home to England the products of these countries.^ It should seem that the abolition of the duty on Canadian timber in the year 1612 led to a considerable development of that trade, for 1 Archives Municipales de St. Malo, EE 4 no. 139. 2 R. Whitbourne, Discoiirse and Discovery of Newfoundland (London 1622), Preface : " In the yeere 1615 I returned againe to New-found-land carrying with mee a Commission out of the high Court of Admiralty, under the great Scale thereof, authorizing me to impannell juries, and to make inquiry upon oath, of sundry abuses and disorders committed amongst Fishermen yeerely upon that Coast." 3 Ihid. pp. 11-12. 4 Ibid. p. 11. ^ Ibid, preface: "Letting passe my Voyage that I intended for Naples;" "Although I was bound from thence to Marseilles;" cf. also p. 11 : "Yea some men are of opinion that the people of France, Spaine, Portugall and Italy could not so well live, if the benefit of the fishing . . . were taken from them." CHAMPLAIN'S COMPANY 1614-1620 103 Montchretien, no mean witness, tells us that at this time the supply which formerly came from Denmark, Sweden and Russia was now obtained from the St. Lawrence.^ On reaching France in the autumn of 1616 after his winter among the Hurons, Champlain was both surprised and alarmed to learn that Cond6 had once more got himself into trouble. Although he had boon reconciled to the Court in the autumn of 1614, at the time cf the King's majority, the peace had been of short duration. H c was indeed preparing to give further trouble early in the following year when a sudden illness put an end to his plans. This attack seemed to him the more unfortunate as he thought the Huguenots were prepared to back him up. By the terms of the peace of Loudron in May 1615 he received, in addition to the posts already held, the government of Berry and the usual donation of some nine hundred thousand livres. " Adieu, d' Aubigne," cried Cond6, as his friend left the sick room, "get off to your Dognon," a small unhealthy spot near La Rochelle. " And you to the Bastille," called back the other in truly prophetic words. ^ In fact the Regent, alarmed at Condi's growing popularity and at the rumours of his designs on the Crown, secured his arrest on the morning of the first of Septem- ber 1616, when he came to the Louvre to attend the ordinary Council meeting. Notwithstanding his mother's efforts to rouse the populace c)f Paris they remained unmoved, and a few days later the doors of the Bastille closed on Conde for three years.3 When Champlain landed at Honfleur a week later, the news of the Viceroy's imprisonment was soon made known to him- " I concluded at once," he tells us, " that the enemies of the Com- pany would not be slow in vomiting forth their poison," and his forecast did not prove incorrect. * Conde's arrest had been car- ried out by a Gascon officer, M. de Thymines, who received as his 1 Montchretien, op. cit. (edition of Funck-Brentano), pp. 324-325. 2 Due d'Aumale, op. cit. iii 66. 3 Ihid. iii 82 et seq. * Laverdiere, op cit. v 310: " Estant arriv^ en France, nous eusmes nouvelles de la detention de Monseigneur le Prince, qui me fit iuger que nos envieux ne tar- deroient gueres k vomir leur poisorij et qu'ils feroient ce qu'ils n'avoient ose faire auparavant. " 104 champlain's company 1614-1620 reward the staS of a marshal of France. He was urged further to seize the occasion to apply for one or two of the numerous offices held by Cond^. The viceroyship of New France, worth a thousand crowns a year, he soon obtained without much trouble. The same friend who had urged this step now announced to the Com- pany that unless the Viceroy's salary were increased by five hun- dred crowns, which he meant to keep for himself, the monopoly would be taken from them. With the fate of Chauvin and Monts before them, the shareholders were alarmed at this threat, the more so perhaps as the possibility of a powerful protector like Conde being arrested had never entered into their calculations. Condd on the other hand by no means intended to lose the office without a struggle, and sent word to the Company from prison that if they paid Themines they would be obliged to pay twice, for he by no means intended to forego his own salary. The affair then entered the domain of law where it remained until the autumn of 1617. During this interval, the importance of the dispute and the prominence of the persons concerned drew pub- lic attention to the country in question. The total absence of colonists of any sort, in the face of the explicit condition stipu- lated when the monopoly was granted, excited open comment. To calm matters, Monts, as the shareholder of most experience, hurriedly drew up a fresh agreement by which, in return for a few new privileges, the Company offered to take out the stipu- lated number of colonists, to support them for two years, and to fortify the country as well. As usual, or as Champlain puts it, " by some strange accident," public interest in the matter soon cooled and so did the zeal of the Company to fulfil its engage- ments. 1 The undertaking to ship colonists was not altogether unob- served however, for in the spring of 1617 one family was at length taken out to Quebec, though under conditions scarcely likely to induce many others to follow in their footsteps. Louis Hebert, a Parisian chemist, whose father had been in the service of Catherine de M^dicis and who himself had been at Port Royal with Poutrincourt, was urged by Champlain at this time to take 1 Ibid. pp. 312 et seq. champlain's company 1614-1620 1U5 up land on the St. Lawrence. When application was made to the Company, they appeared only too pleased, and offered not only to support him and his family for two years but to ^ive him two hundred crowns a year as well for three years. Delighted with the offer, Hubert sold his house in Paris and with suitable goods set off with his family to Honfleur. Here however matters changed. Instead of two hundred crowns they now offered only one hundred, while in return he was obliged to sign an agree- ment that not only himself, but his wife, his children and his servant would serve the Company diligently during the whole of that period. Instead of becoming a colonist he was to be a servant of the Company and could only clear his land and build his house when the chief factor at Quebec had no need of his or his family's services. At the end of three years he might grow tobacco or wheat and other cereals, but he must sell his produce to the Company, not at prices suitable to the condition of affairs in a new country but at the prices current in France. He was further strictly forbidden to engage in any shape or manner in the fur-trade, and finally his services as apothecary were to be continually at the service of the Company without any payment in return. In the impossibility of returning to Paris, Hebert reluctantly accepted these conditions, but it is not diflScult to under- stand why his example was not followed by others. ^ At Quebec matters had not gone well. As nothing had as yet been planted, all were dependent on supplies from France, and this year the stock ran out before the vessels arrived. On his arrival Cham- plain scolded the factors, as he had always done, and during his stay did all he could to prevent a recurrence of scarcity by clear- ing and sowing the land near at hand. But after his departure everything was again neglected. It seems indeed that as soon as the boats full of furs disappeared round Point L6vy to join the sailing-vessels at Tadoussac, the factors gave themselves up entirely to six months of perfect idleness. Champlain would be almost certain on his return each spring to find everything juso as he had left it in the previous autumn, l 1 Au Roy sur la Nouvelle France (1626), pp. 10 et seq. 2 Sagard, op. cit. i 52 et seq. 106 champlain's company 1614-1620 The barter at the rapids this summer was unusually large, for all the tribes visited b}^ Champlain during his winter among the Hurons now came down to the St. Lawrence for the first time. The new comers were indulged in a round of perpetual feasting, then as now considered a not ineffectual method of securing a second visit. While on the one hand the Company was thus reaping the fruits of Champlain's labours during the winter of 1615-16, on the other the news that the Dutch traders on the Hudson had finally succeeded in concluding an alliance with the Iroquois confederation showed that little hope could henceforth be entertained of any trading connections in that direction,! The future for French trade clearly lay then among the tribes of the west and of the north. At Tadoussac this sum- mer the Recollects for the first time erected a small chapel. During the trading season the place presented a busy appear- ance, for here gathered the tribes from the regions of the ^ague- nay as well as those from the southern shore of the St. Lawrence. This was the harbour also where the ships of the Company passed the summer ; beyond this point navigation was deemed too difficult for ocean-going vessels. During the winter nothing was to be seen but the boats used for transporting the goods to Quebec, which were left drawn up on the shore.2 Along the Acadian coast young Dupont-Grav^ and the other French traders continued their yearly bartering voyages,^ while the Banks and the harbours of Cape Breton and Newfoundland presented every summer the same busy appearance. From the port of St. Malo alone there sailed now over one hundred and twenty vessels ;4 the total of all nations must have reached nearly a thousand.^ 1 O'Callaghan, op. cit. i 78. Brodhead, History of the State of New York (New York 1853), p. 88. 2 Sagard, op. cit., i pp. 47 et stq. 3 Br^ard, op. cit., p. 129. 4 Archives Municipales de St. Malo, Serie EE 4 no. 139. This fleet alone gave employment to over six thousand men. 5 The estimates vary from "many thousands" to "six or seven hundred." Cf Whitbourae, op. cit. p. 2 ; Archives Historiques de la Saintonge et de VAunia (Paris 1879), vii 379 ; Mass. Hist. Collect., 3rd Series, vi 110. champlain's company 1614-1620 107 Champlain, on his return to France in the autumn of 1617, found that the dispute about the viceroyship had been finally- decided in favour of Themines, who retained Champlain however as his lieutenant. With Champlain also returned the Recollect Father Dolbeau, who sought, as one of his colleagues had already done, to obtain further aid from the Company in mission- work. The Company's invariable reply was that in supporting six priests they were doing as much as they could for the spreading of the Gospel. Fresh aid, they said, should come rather from the great lords of the Court who would then be employing their time to better purpose than they now were in forcing the poor merch- ants for protection's sake to hand over every year a large portion of their just earnings. ^^ During the winter of 1617 and 1618 some disaffected Breton merchants once more made an attempt to break down the Company's monopoly in the St. Lawrence. Pro- fiting by Conde's imprisonment and by the appointment of a new viceroy, they caused a clause to be inserted in the articles of the Estates of Brittany requesting that the fur-trade might be free for that province. This article received the King's ratification before its true meaning was perceived. Champlain however, ever on the alert against such tactics, soon heard of it and begged the King's Council to suspend the article until both sides of the question had been heard. In the negotiations which ensued the Bretons based their claim on the historical right established by their countryman Cartier. Champlain and the Rouen sharehold- ers of the Company, after insisting on the fact that when their Company was formed all who wished to join it had been at liberty to do so, combated their opponents' arguments by " citing authors worthy of faith." This evidently means nothing more than that from the beginning the trade had been general and not confined to Brittany. This view was finally accepted by the Council who thereupon annulled the article. The Bretons were informed that the trade along the Atlantic coast was still open to all, but that none but shareholders of the Company could be allowed tu barter in the St. Lawrence.2 1 Laverdi^re, op. cit. v 313 et seq.; Sagard, op. cit. i 52. 2 averdi^re, op. cit. v 314-315. 108 champlain's company 1614-1620 About this time Champlain presented to the Chamber of Commerce at Paris a statement of the various trades which might be fostered in New France, if only proper means were taken to encourage them. As a description, not of what was then actually the case, out of what might exist, if capital were directed to the country, this document possesses an academic interest. Suffice it here to say that he speaks of fisheries, the fur-trade, lumbering* cattle-raising, mines and finally the cultivation of wheat, barley, maize and peas.l At the same time he presented to the King and his Council a request that the colony might be properly fortified. If, he informed them, this were not soon done, the English and Dutch, already settled close at hand and hostile to the French, would repeat the exploits of the former at Mount Desert and Port Royal. The value of the valley of the St. Law- rence was too great to allow of much hesitation on the course to be taken. The King here possessed a country nearly two thou- sand leagues in length which abounded in rolling plains, beauti- ful forests, and rivers full of fish. Besides giving an opportunity of spreading the Gospel in so large a territory, further explora- tion might lead to the discovery of the long-sought passage to the East. All the ships in Christendom would then pass that way in order to save time and avoid pirates. From the duties levied on these vessels a revenue would be secured ten times greater than what was then collected throughout France ; with this money a city about as large as Saint-Denis, to be named Ludovica, could be built on the site of the factory at Quebec, and besides the other numerous large buildings of this city would be erected a beautiful temple called the Redeemer and dedicated to Christ in token of his love for the heathen of the New World. Here fifteen Recol- lects would daily minister to the spiritual wants of this large community. Such was Champlain's beautiful dream of the future of the St. Lawrence valley. Unfortunately no passage existed, so that the dream was never to take practical form. At that time however all seemed to promise fair. The enthusiasm of the dreamer had infused itself into those to whom he spoke, 1 Archives Historiques de la Saintonge et de l' Aunts, vi 387 et aeq., nos. viii and ix. champlain's company 16*14-1620 109 so that while the Chamber of Commerce agreed that the mono- poly of the present Company should be allowed to run its course, it yet insisted that attention should be paid to the stipulation about colonists and that as long as its privilege lasted ten families should be taken out every year. Although notice to this effect was sent to the Company ,i the latter waited for the Government to move in the matter ; but the Government remained inactive Indeed when the trading season of 1619 opened nothing in the way of obtaining colonists had been done, although Champlain, still hopeful, left the further negotiations on the subject in the hands of one of his f riends.2 We hear nothing of this year's barter at Tadoussac. That in the upper river, which took place between Quebec and the rapids, had been in progress some days before Champlain arrived. As usual the factors had totally neglected everything at Quebec so that not only had they themselves suffered from famine but the whole place had fallen into ruin. For some time before the arrival of the vessels they had even been living on wild roots. Champlain did his best to put matters right, but this repeated neglect of all his express orders and of all that tended to the welfare of those at the factory gradually caused him to lose patience, and in the remaining years of the Company's existence he began to tighten the reins of control.^ When at length he was able to set out for the barter, he met a boat returning to Quebec for the purpose of bringing up everything exchangeable in the storehouse. On account both of Champlain's visit to the Huron country and of the hospitable reception accorded to those who had come down in the previous summer, the concourse of savages was this year greater than ever. Although the Indians welcomed Champlain with every expression of delight, he was not able to return this feeling in kind. The reason was that some years before two servants of the Company had disappeared from Quebec and were believed to have lost their way or been drowned. This spring however the tide had thrown the bodies 1 Laverdi^re, op. cit, v 324-325. 2 Archives Historiques de la SaiiUnngc tt de I'Aunis vi 378 et seq., nos. vi and vii 3 Laverdi^re, op. cit. iv 128, Sagard, op. cit. i 58. 110 champlain's company 1614-1620 high and dry on the beach, when it was discovered that after having been foully murdered the bodies had been sunk in the river with stones. Only the rotting of the cords had revealed the crime. The unanimous voice of the assembly was that ven- geance should at once be taken on the murderers. To find them however was not an easy matter. After some deliberation Cham- plain and Dupont-Grave decided that in view of this difficulty and of the danger, by hasty action, of estranging all the savages there assembled and thus doing immense harm to the trade, it would be better for the present at least to arrange the matter amicably. When the barter was over therefore, Champlain informed the assembled savages that until some trace of the culprits had been discovered nothing would be done. By next year he hoped that some information on the subject would have been obtained, and with the three hundred soldiers that the King had just promised him he would then secure justice.^ Along the Atlantic coast young Dupont-Grav^ traded as usual, while another fur-trader from Dieppe was captured by the English.2 Foreign vessels seem indeed to have now become more numerous on the coast. In a letter addressed by Saint- Just this autumn to the Town Council of Paris he warned them that if they did not send out colonists to that region or build a few forts on the coast, the French would soon be altogether dependent on the English for the " manna of Europe,' the Newfoundland cod. If the Town Coun- cil, he said, could only see their way to helping people for the first two years, they would easily get along afterwards, for the land was fertile and game and fish were abundant.^ In the same autumn Champlain also, on his return to France, sought to stir up the shareholders of his Company in this matter of coloniza- tion. The monopoly had only been given on this condition and the Chamber of Commerce at Paris urged him to see that the Company carried it out. With the exception indeed of the Vienne couple and the Hebert family, there is no trace in the 1 Laverdiere, op cit. iv 114 et seq., and 131 et seq. - Breard, op. cit. p 130. 3 Collection de Manuncrits relalifs a la Nouvelle France i 57-59. champlain's company 1614-1620 111 records of any other colonists in the country at this time. The wife of the former had died soon after her arrival, while if the accounts given be true the Hebert family were extremely badly treated. The terms of the agreement on which they had come out seemed hard enough, but in practice the factors of the Com- pany went even beyond it. " In fact," says Sagard, " the Company treated these people in the most rigorous manner possible, think- ing that they would thereby discourage others from following in their footsteps, unless indeed they came as slaves."^ On the other hand the shareholders declared that as long ass things were so unstable and the viceroy continually being changed, they could not engage in any great outlay as to colonists. For all they could tell their monopoly might be repealed at any moment. Their trade was also continually interrupted by interlopers, especially those of La Rochelle, who, since the unfortunate passport given by Conde, had never ceased to injure the Company's commerce in the St. Lawrence. When a decision was given against any citizens of La Rochelle, it could not be enforced. If one of the Company's agents appeared at La Rochelle, the mayor would inform him that he was conferring no slight favour on him in advising him to retire again as quickly as possible, for if his arrival became known even he, the mayor, would have no power to pre- vent the townspeople from throwing him into the sea.2 It appears indeed that religious hatred was not altogether absent from these disputes; and this may indeed have been the cause why 1 Sagard, op. ciL, i p, 53 : " Hebert, qui depuis un an estoit arrive k Kebec en intention de s'y habituer et y perseverent encores a present, nonob- stant les grandes traverses des anciens marchands qui les ont traictez avec toutes les rigueurs possibles, pensans pent estre leur faire perdre I'envie d'y demeurer et a d'autres mesnages de s'y aller habituer qu'en condition de serviteurs ou plustost d'esclaves." 2 Laverdiere, op. cit. v 321 : " Et de plus, combien ont-ilseu de procez centre les Rochelois, qui n'en vouloient perdre leur part, souz des passe-ports qu'ils obtenoient par surprise, sans rien contribuer? et autres sans commission .=e mettoient en mer a la desrob^e pour aller voler et piller contra les defenses de sadite Maieste, et ne pouvoit-on avoir aucune raison ny iustice en 1' enclos de leur ville : car quand on alloit faire quelque exploict de Justice le Maire disoit : Je crois ne vous /aire pas pen de faveur et de courtoisie, en vous conseillaut de . voiis retirer au plii-stost. Que si le peuple sr^ait . . . vous courez fortune d^ estre noyez dans le port . . . a quoy ie ne pourrois remedier." 112 champlain's company 1614-1620 the merchants of La Rochelle refused at the last moment to join Champlain's Company. In fact the Huguenots who did join only- planted dissension and distrust among the shareholders. Each party so mistrusted the other that it kept its own factors and agents at the factory, whereby of coarse the expenses were doubled. In the face of these troubles one is not surprised that Champlain's efforts to rouse the Company to its duty in regard to colonization came to nought. On the contrary his complaints only made his future relations with it more difficult.i When he arrived at Honfleur at the opening of the trading season of 1619 he was informed that the Company had decided to hand over the charge of the factory at Quebec for the future to Dupont-Grave. If Champlain cared to do so he was at liberty to continue his explorations but otherwise his authority was at an end. Champlain however knew too well the true condition of affairs not to treat such language in the way that it deserved. He pointed out that, as the representative of the King and the Viceroy, it was his duty to tell them what they should do. The only result of such ill-considered action would be to make him more exacting in the future as to the fulfilment of all the con- ditions stipulated by them, Dupont-Grave' had long been his friend and he hoped would still remain so, but even at the risk of such a loss, he intended to allow no interference with the King's authority. Some disaffected shareholders, urged on by one Boyer, still held out, so that when permission to embark on the Company's vessels had been explicitly denied him, he returned to Paris and presented his case to the King. At Court he re- ceived full acknowledgment of the justice of his claims and soon after, in a public meeting of the Exchange at Rouen, Boyer was obliged to offer an apology for his behaviour.2 We must regret this quarrel especially because on account of the absence of Champlain which it involved we know almost nothing of what took place this summer in the St. Lawrence. Along the Atlantic coast there was the usual fleet of traders and among them the 1 Ibid. pp. 325 et seq. 2 Laverdi^re, op. cit. v 322 et seq. OHAMPLAINS COMPANY 1614-1620 113 vessel of young Dupont-Grave as well as one from La Rochelle.^ In the autumn of this year, 1619, about the time the vessels were returning from Acadia and the St. Lawrence, Conde was once more set at liberty. As a salve to his feelings he was rein- stated in the office of Viceroy of New France, although he voluntarily relinquished it shortly afterwards for a good round sum. At the time of his dispute before the courts with Themines, the Admiralty Board had deemed it necessary to appoint a repre- sentative to look after its interests. This man, the Sieur de Villeraenon, had then convinced himself that in the interest of French shipping the Navy Board should be given the control of the colony. Now especially, when Champlain's power over the Company seemed on the wane, Villemenon advised Montmorency, the Admiral of France, to have the viceroyship transferred to himself. The matter was then broached to Conde who agreed to consent, provided he received some recompense tor the loss of his f^;alary. In return for a sum of eleven thousand crowns the vice- royship was made over to the Admiral of France.2 Henry, second Duke of Montmorency, at this time the darling both of the Court and the town, had been appointed Admiral of France and Brittany in the year 1612 when only seventeen years oi age. The duties of the office were performed by subordinates. The man who really took over the functions of Viceroy of New France was a certain Sieur Dolu of whom little else is known. He was instructed by Montmorency to inquire into the present condition of affairs in the colony and to report on the manner in which the Company was performing its engagements. In the course of this examination, in which he rect-ived considerable aid from Champlain, Dolu had no difficulty in persuading himself that the present Company was by no means doing its duty. Not only had it taken out no colonists, refused to recognize the authority of the King's lieutenant and left the river absolutely unfortified, but even after twelve years of existence, the factory 1 Breard, op. cit., p. 130. Arret du Parlement de Rouen, 12th Jul}% 1633. 2 This was doubtless at the rate of 1000 crowns a year for the eleven years of the monopoly. Laverdiere, op. cit. v 326-327. 8 114 cha3IPLain's company 1614-1620 at Quebec was still dependent on France for its annual supply of food. With the English in Newfoundland and the Dutch at the mouth of the Hudson, such a policy was exceedingly hazardous. Dolu informed the Company therefore that if they did not bestir themselves their monopoly would soon be taken away. The Company as usual took no steps to improve matters.^ When Champlain reached Quebec in the summer of 1620 he found that during his absence the whole place had been allowed to fall into decay. Not only did the rain enter the factory from every side but the storehouse had ahnost literally fallen to pieces. The dirt and filth of the court-yard showed that even the common rules of health had been neglected. He at once set to work as usual to try and make the place habitable, for he had brought his wife and intended to remain for the winter. To Dolu how- ever he sent back an account of the state in which he had found matters, at the same time pointing out the evident hopelessness of expecting any improvement from the present Company. So much indeed had to be done before the winter arrived that Champlain could not even find the time to pay a visit to the barter, at which he had not been present since the summer of 1618, Doubtless both above Quebec and also at Tadoussac things went on much as usual, for this was really the only piece of business to which the factors did pay any attention.2 As a result of the report sent home by Champlain this autumn on board the returning vessels, Dolu at length decided to cancel the present Company's monopoly, though it should legally have run on until the year 1625. That this step was unexpected or even unde- served can hardly be maintained. On the other hand however the new Company to which Dolu regranted the monopoly for a fresh term of eleven years turned out no better than its predecessor. It was in the period of this Company, organized by the Caens, that Quebec M'as taken by the English in 1629. 1 Ibid. V 326 et seq, , vi 3 et seq. 2 Ibid, vi 5 etseq. Le Clercq, Etablissement de la Foy (Paris 1691), i 159 et seq. CHAPTER VII THE CAENS' COMPANY AND ITS UNION WITH CHAMPLAIN's 1621-1627 On receipt of Champlain's account of the condition in which he had found the buildings at Quebec, Dolu, the agent of the new Viceroy, came to the conclusion that the immediate with- drawal of the monopoly from Champlain's Company was the only course left open. Next to nothing had been done during the six years it had been in existence, either for defence or colonization, and the decayed state of the factory showed how lightly it viewed even its most elementary duties. Since several groups of merchants had been forsome time endeavouring to obtain the monopoly, Dolu had no lack of applicants. His choice soon fell on two Huguenot merchants of Rouen, William de Caen and his nephew Emery. In consideration of the enjoyment of the monopoly for eleven years, they agreed to conditions similar for the most part to those which the old Company had accepted but had left unfulfilled. Montmorency was to receive the usual Viceroy's salary of one thousand crowns a year, while Champlain, who with his family was to live at Quebec, was to be paid two hundred crowns. He was also to have every summer at his disposal ten of the Company's men, whom he might use as workmen or soldiers according as circumstances demanded. As before, six Recollects were to be maintained for missionary work among the savages, as well as for the purpose of supplying the spiritual needs of the Company's men at Quebec. During the course of these eleven years, six families of not less than three persons each, were to be taken out to New France, but, like its predecessor, this Company was only obliged to pay them for their produce the prices current at home in France. On the whole, these conditions were very similar to those which obtained [115] 116 THE CAENS' COMPANY under the old Company and they were fulfilled as little in this case as in the other.l The members of the old Company, having heard various rumours of impending changes, begged Dolu for some assurance that no harm was intended against them. If injustice were done them, they said, it was the new Viceroy himself who should finally bear the consequences. In reply, Dolu informed them that the change of Viceroy had cancelled all former commissions. Besides this, he had learned that in addition to neerlectinof all the conditions under which they had received the monopoly, they even contemplated handing the country over to a foreign power. Indeed this rumour, he said, had been chiefly instrumental in causing the Admiral of France to place the colony under his own control.2 While it was thus quite plain that their worst fears were to be realized and the monopoly taken from them, yet the shareholders did not intend to submit without a struggle. Con- vinced that they haci been calumniated, at least in what related to handing the country over to a foreign power, they appealed to the King for justice. No reply however had been received when the season of 1621 opened, so both Companies thought themselves justified in sending out their vessels to the St. Lawrence The first to arrive at Tadoussac was a vessel belonging to the new Company, with letters for Champlain informing him of the withdrawal of the monopoly from the old Company and of the formation of the new one. He was further ordered by the Viceroy to confiscate the goods of the old Company found in the factory, as a punishment for its neglect to spend money on col- onists and fortifications. When this was al)Out to be effected, the chief factor asked to see the order from the King. Since none had arrived and since the other factors, clerks and inter- preters of the old Company backed up their head-man, Champlain was at length obliged to assert that until such an order did arrive not only would their goods be left intact, but they alone should be at liberty to trade in the river. He sent word however to 1 Biblioth. Nat., Ms. fr. 16738 fol. 143 et seq., and fol. 148 et seq.; Ibid. Ms. fr. 8022 fol. 181 et seq. 2 Bibhoth, Nat., Collection Colbert Cinq Cents No. 203 fol. 188 et »eq. THE CAENS' COMPANY 117 the factors of the new Company at Tadoussac that as soon as the King's order or the decision of the Council arrived, it was to be at once sent on to Quebec. Until the King's Council had given its decision, said he, everything was to go on exactly as in former years. The next vessel to cast anchor at Tadoussac was one belonging to the old Company with Dupont-Grave himself in charge. Fearing lest,on account of his recent attempt to seize their goods, resort might now be had to reprisals, Champlain ordered the half -finished fort on the top of the cliff to be put in a state of defence, and prepared, as far as the means at his disposal permitted, to uphold the King's authority. Dupont- Grav^ however was more surprised than annoyed at this recep- tion. Though he had left France before the Council had given its decision, he by no means intended to oppose that decision when once it was announced. On the contrary, expecting that it would probably be given against his Company, he had brought out no fresh stores for the winter as he intended to take the old Company's men back with him to France. Wiien all cause of anxiety had thus been removed, he and his friends continued their preparations for the barter. Having been again assured by Champlain that until the decision of the Council arrived they should not be disturbed, they departed with their goods to meet the savages up the river. These factors of the old Company had been bartering almost a month before William de Caen at length reached Tadoussac with the long-expected decision of the Council. As signified to him " by soun<l of trumpet " in the harbour of Dieppe, this decree ran, that for that year 1621 both Companies should trade in the St. Lawrence. In the autumn however they should either unite their interests or agree to form an entirely new Company, Since Champlain had already allowed the old Company to trade and had also sent word to the barter as soon as Caen's arrival was announced, nothing now remained for Caen but to take full advantage of what was left of the trading season. Strange to say however, this Caen utterly refused to do. He asserted that until the vessel of the old Company commanded by Dupont- Grave, which had set sail without its charter-party, had been 118 THE CAENS' COMPANY handed over to him that he might attack some interlopers seen when approaching Tadoussac, he would not move from that port. In the decision of the Council cognizance had been taken of the departure of this vessel without its charter-party and any such breach of the regulations was strictly forbidden for the future. As to the interlopers, Champlain who had come down to Tadoussac, was of the opinion that Caen's own three vessels with their one hundred and fifty sailors were quite sufficient to attack two small barques.^ Caen however remained obdurate ; but on discovering, after he had forcibly seized Dupont- Grave's vessel, that she was not so well armed as he had hoped, he at once restored her. Although he now gave up the idea of pur- suing the interlopers, he still refused to take any share in the trade, though for what reason is not quite clear.2 Yet he did not return to France empty-handed. For the merchandize brought out in the first vessel the old Company, which had alone enjoyed the trade this year, paid him seven hundred beaver-skins. As they had also brought out no stores for the winter, they were obliged to buy them from Caen at the price of one thousand skins more. The old Company was thus able to leave thirty of its factors and servants for another winter, while Caen himself left eighteen of his men.^ In one of the vessels of the old Company returned home two butchers and their wives, who, although sent out by the old Company in the previous summer as prospective colonists, had according to Champlain done nothing since their arrival but " hunt, fish, sleep and get drunk.''^ Since they only served as a useless drain upon the winter's stores, their return was an advantage. At the same time Father George, one of the Recol- lects, bore back to France a petition to the King begging him to pay some attention to the colony. Not only should a garrison be sent to Quebec and a watch-tower be erected at Tadoussac, but justice and law should be better enforced in the colony. It 1 Laverdiere, op. cit. vi 27 and 31. 2 Ibid. pp. 27 et seq. 3 Ibid. pp. 30 and 31. 4 Ibid. p. 35 : "ne faisant que se donner du bon temps k chasser, pescher, dormir, et s'enj'vrer avec ceux qui leurs en donnoient le moyen." THE CAENS' COMPANY 119 was lamentable enough to see a man like Caen openly flout the King's authority, but when it was considered that robberies, murders, assassinations, lust and blasphemy were only too com- mon among the factors and interpreters, the need of some control became rapidly apparent. For themselves the EecoUects wanted money to build a seminary at Quebec, while at the same time they desired the exclusion from the colony of all heretics. This last demand was doubtless due to the troubles occasione'! in the summer by Caen, but since in some of his vessels nearly two- thirds of the crew were Huguenots, its enforcement was not an easy matter. i In the previous winter the Pilgrim Fathers made a landing on the New England coast. Though at first the necessity of constructing a settlement cjave them little leisure for trade, yet in time they were able to pay more attention to this matter. The savages at first kept aloof, on account of a pestilence w^hich broke out among them after the capture of a French fur- trader some years before. As time passed however this fear was over- come and the Plymouth settlement became a rival trading-post, which limited considerably the area open to the French traders on the Atlantic coast.2 The number of English vessels here and on the Banks now reached three hundred and gave employment to some ten thousand seamen.^ The dispute between the rival Companies for the trade in the St. Lawrence was at length settled in the spring of 1622. By a decree of the King's Council the new Company received an extension of its monopoly until the year 1635. Up to that date it could in no way be deprived of this privilege by any change of viceroy or other official. On the other hand it was ordered to pay to the old Company the sum of ten thousand livres for the four years during which the monopoly of the latter should still have run, or, if they preferred it, they might hand over five- 1 Sagard, op. cit. i 90 et seq. Le Clercq, op. cit. i 187 et seq. Laverdiere, op. ctt. vi 121 : " car ils etoient presque les deux tiers de huguenots," etc. Cf. also Biblioth. Nat., Ms. fr. 16738 fol. 143 et seq. 2 J. A. Doyle, The English in America: The Puritan Colonies, (London 1887 i 70. Mass. Hist. Collect., 4th series, iii 98. 3 Sainsburj', Calendar of Colonial State Papers i 25, no. 54. 120 THE CAEXS' COMPANY twelfths of their capital to the shareholders of the old Company and unite the two Companies into one. After some deliberation, the latter course was chosen and the two Companies became one with a monopoly guaranteed against all interference until the year 1635. In truth, this United Company did enjoy the trade until the summer of 1633, but not uninterruptedly nor always with the consent of the Government.'' During the years 1622 and 1623 the trade was carried on by this United Company without the occurrence of any incident worthy of notice. Whether it was the baneful influence of the shareholders of the old Company however or a like indifference on the part of the new, no efforts of any kind were made during these years to fulfil the conditions stipulated as to colonists and fortifications. When in the summer of 1623 the Company's ves- sels reached the St. Lawrence rather later than usual, the factory was as empty of supplies as ever, the men having had recourse as usual to roots and berries. This is the more surprising as Champlain had been living continuously at the factory since the summer of 1620 and had had plenty of opportunity to cultivate a local source of supply. In the autumn of 1622 he had indeed prepared some land but nothing was planted until the following April. No result could therefore be hoped for before August at the earliest.2 The barter in the summer of 1623 took place at the river Richelieu where assembled more than sixty canoes of Hurons and Algonquins alone. On the 27th of July arrived other tribes who dwelt further west. They complained bitterly of the treatment meted out to them on their way down by the nations through whose territory they were obliged to pass. The Algonquins, not content with a heavy toll, had also robbed them of their furs, while the Hurons had actually tried to stop their passage. Champlain calmed these troubles as best he coulH. 3 1 Biblioth. Nat., Ms. fr. 16738 fol. 143 et seq. Laverdiere, op. cit. vi 38 et seq. 2 Laverdiere, op. cit. vi 55 and 58. ^ Fbid. p. 62: " Le 17 dudit mois arriverent des sauvages, qui firent une assemblee entr' eux, touchant les passages qui n'estoient pas libres aux Hurons, que les Algommequins les traittoyent mal, leur faisant contribuer de leurs mar- chandises et .... les deroboient," etc. THE CAENS' COMPANY 121 In a large assembly, held after the barter, the Indian who had murdered the two servants of the Company some three years before was pardoned. Having openly confessed his ungrateful return for the kindness of the French, he and the savage who had assisted him publicly demanded forgiveness from Champlain. When this had been given, a naked sword was thrown into the St. Lawrence in token that all was to be henceforth forgotten. On the return journey thirteen interpreters and three Recollects set out with the savages. It was the duty of these interpreters both to perfect themselves in the various Indian dialects and also to see that the savages came down in the following summer with a plentiful supply of furs, i After the barter Champlain returned to Quebec where he drew up the plans for a new factory. The old building, originally erected in 1 608, had suffered badly both from storms and neglect and no longer sufficed for the needs of the increasing trade. As soon as the design of the new building had been decided upon, eighteen men were at once set to work upon it.2 Along the Atlantic coast fishermen and fur-traders had been as busy this summer as ever. Many of the vessels of this Com- pany now carried home fish from Gasp6 in addition to the furs loaded at Tadoussac.^ On the other hand many of the whalers which came to Tadoussac bartered furs whenever an occasion oftered.4 This summer an attempt was made to set up a colony in Acadia from a quarter whence one would hardly have expected such an effort. Stirred by the accounts of the foundations of New Spain, New France, New Holland and New England, a Scot, Sir William Alexander, was moved with ambition to see a 1 Fbid. p. 66: " Deux autres Fran9ois furent donnez aux Algommequins, pour les maintenir en amitie et inciter a venir en traitte " ; Sagard, Grand Voyage au Pays des Hurons (Paris 1865), i 69. 2 Laverdi^re, op. cit. vi 67-69. 3 Ihid. p. 61 : " Miscou, ou estoit le sieur de la Ralde en pescherie " ; p. 67 : " et Deschesnes de s'en aller k Gaspey . . . pour faire faire diligence de la pesche du poisson." Cf. also p. 84. 4 Ihid. pp. 53-54: " qu'un vaisseau de 50 h. 60 tonneaux estoit arrive k Tadoussac pour faire pesche de baleine . . . ayant k la valeur de six h. sept cans escus de raarchandises, pour traitter." Cf. also p. 120. 122 THE CAENS' COMPANY part of this new world called New Scotland. He received encouragement in this design from Sir Ferdinand Georges, one of the members of the Plymouth Company, who even pointed out to him the beauty and richness of the region to the north ot New England,! which, since the expedition of Argall in 1613, seems to have been generally looked upon as belonging to England. Pleased at this encouragement Alexander at once applied for a patent to this region, and since King James and his Scottish Council were both favourable, the Charter passed the great seal in September, 1621. Without regard to the earlier French grants, of which Alexander at least was by no means ignorant,^ King James granted to him the huge peninsula between the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Atlantic Ocean This territory included the preseiit provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick as well as that portion of Quebec which borders the St. Lawrence at Gasp6. In fact, all that tract of land cut off by an imaginary line drawn from the mouth of the river Ste. Croix to its source and thence no- th ward overland to the St. Lawrence was made over to Alexander in this charter.-^ Although Sable Island, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton Island were also included, the two latter were a few days later granted to Robert Gordon of Lochinvar to form the barony of Galloway.-* In the summer of 1622 Alex- ander sent out his first vess 1, which carried, besides agricultural labourers, an artisan, a blacksmith and a minister of the Scottish Church. When nearing Cape Breton the ship was suddenly driven back to Newfoundland, and since the summer was then well-nigh spent, the company decided to winter hei'e while the vessel went home for fresh supplies.^ On his side Robert Gordon had also been busy ; but the two ships which he was fitting out at Beaumaris in the Island of Anglesea were not ready when 1 According to Georges the prime mover was John Mason, the author of a tract on Newfoundland. Cf. 3Tass. Hist. Collect. , 3rd Series, vi 78 et seq. 2 J. F^lix, Voyage a la Nonvelle France du Capitaine Danitl (Rouen 1881), Introd. p. 6. 3 D. Laing, Royal Letters Charters and Tracts relating to the Colonization of New Scotland (Edinburgh 1867), Charters, pp. 1 et seq. 4 Ibid. p. 16 et seq. 6 Sir W. Alexander, An Encouragement to Colonies, etc., pp. 2i2,etseq., in Laing's Royal Letters, etc. Felix, op. cif., Introd. pp. 5 et seq. THE CAENS' COMPANY 123 winter arrived. Although in the spring of 1628 fresh prepara- tions were made for despatching them and Gordon even received encouragement from the Spanish Ambassador at the English Court, yet, for some unknown reason they never set sail.l For the present therefore Cape Breton remained untenanted by Europeans. Alexander's vessel did not reach St. John's on its return until late in the summer of 1623. It was then found that the men who had remained there for the winter had already hired themselves out in the numerous fishing vessels which thronged the place Those on board contented themselves there- fore with reconnoitring the coast of Acadia, and after securing a cargo of cod at Newfoundland they set sail for home.^ Thus at the close of the summer of 1623 Saint-Just had been in no way disturbed in his peaceful trading operations at Port Royal. It appears that he also returned to France this autumn.-^ He ceded his rights at Port Eoyal to a friend, young La Tour, whose quar- ters were at Cape Sable to the south ot Port Royal. Here La Tour and a few of his friends continued the same half -trading, half roving life which Saint- Just himself had been leading since the destruction of his home in 1613.^ In the summer of 1624 the concourse of savages at the barter in the upper St. Lawrence was greater than ever. Although Champlain had not been beyond the rapids since the year 1615, yet owing to the annual winter visits of the interpreters,^ and to the gradual extension of the area in which the French merchan- dize circulated, fresh tribes continued to make their way nearly 1 Felix, op. cit., Introd. pp. 7 et seq. 2 Alexander, A n Encouragement to Colonies, etc. , p. 34. 3 Dr. Patterson's article in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Canada, second series, vol. ii, 1896, p. 127. Biblioth. Nat., Collect. Colbert Cinq Cents No. 148 fol. 436. Laverdiere, op. cit. vi 83 and 313. ■t If the English contention be correct. Saint- Just could only cede a limited right to young La Tour. Public Record Office, Foreign Corresp. : France, Dor- chester to Wake, March 2nd 1631 : "and this accord [between Alexandei and this La Tour's father] need be the lesse stood upon, because it is no other than the self same which was presented to Sir Samuel Argall by one Biencourt (a Frenchman remayning then in that place as chief e of that nation) who demanded a protection of Argall to depend upon his late Majesty as King of England." 5 Laverdiere, op. cit, vi 65-66 and 80-81. 124 THE CAENS' COMPANY every summer to the place of barter. This summer was made especially noteworthy by the arrival of thirty- five canoes of Iroquois. Two years before this, two Iroquois warriors had come to the Montagnais of their own accord in order to try and conclude a treaty of peace. But as they were not official repre- sentatives Champlain induced four of the Montagnais, specially deputed to conclude a peace, to return with these Iroquois.^ On their arrival in the Iroquois country they met with a good recep- tion and a permanent treaty was drawn up 2 Thirty-five canoes of Iroquois had now arrived both to trade and to sign the peace. Although the nations and tribes were thus very various, no diffi- culty arose, so perfect were the arrangements made by Champlain. Each nation had its own interpreter. After the ordinary business of the barter, there was the feast of friendship with the presents given by both sides. Then followed the dances and other festivities. Finally the whole was brought to a close b}?- the conclusion of the long-hoped-for peace between the Iroquois, the Hurons and the French. Although no new post had been erected at the rapids, it certainly looked as if the end thereby sought had been already attained. All hoped that with pea^e in the land a new era had dawned for the trade and prosperity of New France.^ In one of the returning vessels Champlain and his wife set sail for home. Since the summer of 1620 he had been contin- uously at work in the colony and the results now obtained seemed to warrant a short rest. With him also returned Father Iren^e. one of the Recollects, to secure if possible the aid of the Jesuits in their missionary work among the savages. In the course of their labours, the Recollects were continually hearing of fresh tribes further to the west and to the north. For a field which tended thus to enlarge itself indefinitely, they felt that the six men of their own Order were by no means sufficient. The Jesuits with their great wealth and better organization would prove, they hoped, a valuable ally.'* 1 Ibid, vi 46 et seq. 2 Ibid. p. 80: "lis furent tres bien receus des Yrocois qui leurs firent tout plain de bonne reception, pour achever de faire cette paix." 3 Le Clercq, op. cit. i 259 et seq. * Sagard, Histoire du Canada, iii 783. THE CAENS' COMPANY 125 Along the Atlantic, the open coasting trade as well as the fish- ing trade went on much as before. In a dispute with some sav- ages one vessel lost five of her crew. Three Recollects who came out to Acadia in a vessel from Bordeaux were able to make their way overland and join their brethren at Quebec.^ Shortly after the return of the vessels to France in the autumn of 1624, there were rumours of an impending change in the viceroy- ship, which in the course of the winter were verified. As Mont- morency informed Champlain, he found the duties of the office of Viceroy of New France more troublesome than those of Admiral of old France, and he finally made up his mind to hand the position over to another.2 This resolution was carried into effect in January 1625, when the young Due de Ventadour was gazetted to the viceroyship.3 Henri de L^vis, Due de Ventadour, peer of France, Prince of Maubuisson and Comte de la Voulte, had succeeded his father in the government of Languedoc in December 1624 when only twenty-eight years of age. Shortly before his father's death he had married Marie Liesse of Luxem- bourg who had been brought up by his own mother and who, though now only thirteen years of age, was one of the richest heiresses of the kingdom. Of the personal capacities of the new Viceroy we know little. The fact that in the year 1629 he and his wife separated in order to devote themselves to a religious life so impressed their contemporaries that few other facts about either of them have been recorded.'* By the terms under which the United Company was granted its monopoly, the change of Viceroy was to have no effect on its rights. Nor did it. Cham- 1 Laverdiere, op. cit. vi 83 ; Le Clercq, op. cit. i 293. 2 Laverdiere, op. cit, vi 85 : " Les anciens et nouveaux associez, eurent plusieurs contestations . . . cela en partie donna suiect k mondit seigneur de Montmorency, de se deffaire de sa charge de Viceroy, qui luy rompoit plus la teste, que ses affaires plus importantes." 3 Ibtd. : " La remettant a Monseigneur le Due de Ventadour, qu'il voyoit porte k ce sainct dessein, convenant avec luyd'un certain prix, tant pour la charge de Viceroj', que pour I'interest qu'il avoit dans ladite Societe," etc. Biblioth. Nat., MS. fr. 20163 fol. 239. 4 For an uninteresting account of their lives vid. Le Due et la Duchesse de Ventadour— un Grand Amour Chretien au XVIIe siecle, par X. Paris, 1889. 126 THE CAENS' COMPANY plain was maintained in the post of lieutenant for the Viceroy in the colony and other arrangements were left as before.^ During the summer of 1625 Champlain remained in France in order to look after his own affairs.2 On this account we are again without any record of what took place during the summer in the St. Lawrence valley. We know however that the disputes between the Catholic and Huguenot shareholders still continued. Caen, being a Huguenot, gave umbrage to the Catholics by allow- ing his co-religionists to hold their services openly and by request- ing the Catholics also to assist at them. When this was reported to the new Viceroy, he ordered Caen to place a Catholic in com- mand of the fleet for the future, who should give orders forbid- ding all psalm-singing of any sort when the Newfoundland Banks had been passed.^ There were also continued bickerings between the shareholders of the old Company and Caen who could never get on peaceably for long with anybody. They frequently dragged one another before some tribunal or other, but with what result is not always clear.* The invitation addressed by the Recollects to the Jesuits had been at once accepted by that Order. The new Viceroy generously furnished the funds for the first year and five members left France for the St. Lawrence in the spring of 1625.5 As a result of this preliminary visit a vessel of eighty tons was hired in the following year, in which they embarked the materials for a college at Quebec as well as twenty workmen to construct it.^ As usual after a period of absence, Champlain, on his return 1 Laverdi^re, op. cit. vi 88 et seq. 2 Ibid. p. 87 : " me promettant pour icelle annee de demeurer proche de luy, pour I'instruire des affaires dudit pais et donner ordre k quelques miennes autres que i'avoisa Paris." 3 n>id. p. 93 : " De plus que mondit seigneur avoit du mescontentement dudit sieur de Caen, sur ce qu'on luy rapporta qu'il avoit fait faire les prieres deleur religion pretendue, publiqueraent dans le fleuve sainct Laurent : desirant que les Catholiques y assistassent," etc. Caen, it is onlj' fair to add, d<^nied this charge. Ibid. p. 94. 4 Ibid. pp. 94-95. 5 Ibid. p. 86 : " II en envoya six, k ses propres cousts et despens, des Tannic mesmes," and the note on this. 6 Ibid. pp. 95-96. THE CAENS' COMPANY 127 to Quebec in the summer of 1626, found everything in complete disorder. The new factory, which he had left almost completed, had never been finished, though all the necessary material had been ready at hand. No one had paid any attention to the gardens or the crops, so that when the vessels were late, recourse was had as usual to roots and berries.^ Without a moment's delay, Champlain set everybody to work. The factory was first completed according to the original plans, whereby at least a shelter for the winter was assured. He next turned his atten- tion to the little fort on top of the hill. Although this building, commenced in the year 1620,2 had been finished before his departure for France, he now deemed it too small to hold all the colony in case of need, especially if the garrison promised by the King should ever be sent out. The fort was therefore torn down and a larger one built on the same foundation.-^ The cattle were transported to the rich meadows at Cape Tourmente to avoid the necessity of bringing hay thence to Quebec. Here huts " like those in Normandy " were constructed for the beasts besides one for the cowherd and his family. As the twenty workmen brought out by the Jesuits had also made good progress on their building, the once desolate promontory began to present an ani- mated appearance.^ During this time the annual barter had been going on as usual further up the river. It was learned however from the Iro(|Uois present that trouble had broken out between them and the Dutch, and that five of the latter had even been massacred. ^ A rupture of this sort would prove of course of great advantage 1 Ihid. vi. p. 123 : " Voili les risques et fortunes que Ton court la pluspart du temps, d'abandonner une habitation et la rendre en telle necessite qu'ils mour- roient de faim, si les vaisseaux venoient k se perdre . . . . Ce n'est pas que souvent ie n'en donnasse des ad vis, et represente les inconveniens qui en pouvoient arriver : mais comme cela ne touche qu'^ ceux qui demeurent au pays, Ton ne s'en soucie." Cf. ihid. p. 167 : "L'utilite demeure aux associez et h nous le raal." 2 Ihid. p. 6. 3 Ihid. p. 126 : " Je considere que le fort estoit bien petit, pour retirer a une necessity les habitans du pays, avec les soldats qui un jour y pourroient estre . . . qui me lit resoudre de I'abatre et I'agrandir, ce que ie fis iusqu'au pied." 4 Ihid. pp. 127 e.t seq. 5 Ihid. p. 129. 128 THE CAENS' COMPANY to the trade of the French. In the course of the barter the Huguenot crews of several of the barques disobeyed the rule of the new Viceroy b}'' holding their prayers publicly. As this was apt to give the Indians a poor idea of the unity of faith among the French, such practices were again forbidden for the future. ^ Although for the Algonquins and Hurons the shortest route to the barter was the one vicl the Nipissing lakes and the Ottawa river, for the tribes to the suuth of them about Lake Ontario the river St. Lawrence oflFered a much more convenient line of com- munication. When however a Recollect missionary among the Neutrals on the Niagara peninsula urged them to use this route, the Hurons at once interfered. The new route meant in fact the loss to them of their annual toll. They therefore spread a report among the Neutrals that the priests exercised evil influences. As the iife of this missionary was scon afterwards threatened, he had before long to be recalled to the central mission-station iu the Huron country. 2 Along the Atlantic coast, the fish and fur trades went on much as before. La Ralde, the new Catholic Admiral of the fleet, who had remained at Miscou and He Percee to fish, was successful in capturing several interlopers, though one of the numerous con- traband traders from La Rochelle managed to escape.^ Several men were left for the winter at Miscou to barter some goods which he had not been able to exchange during the summer. Although attacked by the scurvy, these managed to survive and doubtless presented La Ralde with a good supply of furs on his return in the spring of 1627/* 1 Ibid. pp. 128-129 : " D'aucuns dirent quiljavoit des pretendus reformez qui faisoient leurs prieres en quelques barques, s'assemblant au desceu dudit Emery de Caen," etc. 2 Sagard, Histoire du Canada, iii 800 et seq. According to this same writer the attempts to bring about peace with the Iroquois were unpopular with the shareholders lest part of the furs of the Hurons should then go to the Dutch on the Hudson. Ibid, p 811. 3 Laverdiere, op. cit. vi 129 : " De la Ralde m'escrivit qu'il avoit treuv^ plusieurs vaisseaux qui avoient traitte des peleteries, contre les deffences du Roy," etc.; also pp. 121-2 ^ Ibid, p 133: "k Miscou . . . de la Ralde avoit laisse quelques Fran9ois hyverner, pour traitter quelque reste de raarchandises," etc. Biblioth. Nat., Ms. fr. 16738 fol. 143 et seq. THE CAEJNS' COMPANY 129 Early in that year before the arrival of the vessels, the peace with the Iroquois was unfortunately broken. The savages who dwelt beside the Dutch had sent presents asking the Montagnais and Algonquins to help them against the Iroquois, who when they had killed the five Dutchmen had also massacred twenty- four of that tribe. In an assembly held near Quebec no decision was come to, since opinion on the subject was divided. It was agreed to wait until the vessels had arrived, when the other nations should have come down for the barter. During the inter- val however some Algonquins went off on the war-path and a few light-headed young Montagnais braves caught two Iroquois on Lake Champlain. Although Champlain was able to induce the savages assembled at the barter to send back these prisoners with presents and an expression of regret for what had occurred, yet his efforts were too late. On reaching the Iroquois country the embassy was at first well received, but when news was brought of the ravages committed elsewhere by the Algonquin warriors who had gone on the war-path, all the members of it were speed- ily massacred, without distinction of French or Indian. " While you," said they to the victims, " talk here of peace, your friends already wage war on us and kill our people." Thus by the action of a few rash young warriors the peace, concluded after so many efforts and calculated, had it continued, to be so rich in good results for French trade, was irrevocably broken. New France was destined indeed long to repent this rupture of peace with the Iroquois.i Perhaps on account of this very event however the trade in the St. Lawrence this summer was better than it had been for some time.2 An ordinary season yielded from fifteen to twenty thousand furs ; in a good year like the present the total reached as high as twenty-two thousand. While the gain from such a traffic must have been considerable, the beaver skins alone selling in France for ten francs or two dollars each, yet the ex- penses were also heavy. Besides the salaries of the Viceroy and of Champlain, a good interpreter received as much as a thousand 1 Ibid. pp. 133 et seq. ^ Ibid. ^. 144: " La traitte, qui fut I'une des bonnes que se fust faicteily avoit long temps." 9 130 THE CAENS COMPANY francs ; the wages of a sailor were about six hundred, while those of the factors and other servants doubtless fluctuated between the two.i The presence of the Dutch and the English on the Atlantic coast was now beginning to have its effect on the French trade. The Company established by the Dutch in 1621 was hampered by no restrictions in regard to colonists and thus devoted all its enero-ies to the fur- trade. In the summer of 1626 it sent home 7246 beaver skins, 850 of otter, 81 of mink and 36 of wild-cat. These realized in all a sum equal to over nineteen thousand dol- lars In this year 1627, owing no doubt to the troubles with the Iroquois, the total was slightly less.2 The Pilgrim Fathers were still nearer to the French. At first indeed it was they who were in fenr of a French raid, but in time they gradually usurped the territory where the French had formerly traded.3 In the year 162H Lord Baltimore, a Roman Catholic nobleman, •^ent out a colony to Ferryland in Newfoundland. In this year, 1627, he came out himself with two priests and about forty people.* With such settlements all about them and the prospect of another in Acadia, ordinary prudence would have demanded that some attention should be paid to strengthening the French post at Quebec To this fact Champlain himself was keenly alive but he had many obstacles to contend against. Although he had presserl on the fort as fast as possible, Caen, who objected to any such fortification, would not give him the men for the work. ^ Cannon and other arms indeed had been sent out but there was no powder for the muskets and no gunners for the cannon.6 But the weakest point was the absence of any local source of supply. 1 Rdatiom des Jesuites (Quebec 1858), i: Lettre du P. Charles L'AUeraant p.5. 2 Brodhead and O'Callaghan, Documents Relative to the Colonial History oj the State of Neio York, i 37-38. O'Callaghan, op. cit., p. 110. 3 Mass. Hist. Collect, First Series viii 253: "Hither [Buzzard's Bay] the Dutch or French or both use to come," etc. Cf. Ibid. pp. 236, 241, 243, 244 and 245. * Sainsbury, op. cit. i 94, no. 59. 5 Laverdiere, op. cit. vi 148: "Un des deplaisirs que ie recognu en ceste affaire que Ton estoit fache que ie faisois construire un fort au dessus de I'habita- tion," etc. Cf. p. 147. Ibid. pp. 32-33. THE CAENS' COMPANY 131 In case the vessels were prevented from entering the St.Lawrence, the whole place was at the mercy of the smallest trader. In this very autumn the Jesuits had been obliged to se^d home the work- men encfae'ed on their college on account ot" the non-arrival of their vessel with winter supplies.! Affairs at the factory were not much better. Although the vessel with the greater portion of their supplies had also never appeared, none of the lifty-five people there set sail for home.2 "I was however," says Chaniplain, ** greatly surprised how they could leave us so very badly off for the winter.''^ It cannot be said that in the autum:i of 1627 the outlook for the Company was a bright one. The shareholders, besides being only intent on their gain of forty per cent., were continually at daggers drawn among themselves, foreign nations were estab- lishing posts near the St. Lawrence, the peace with the Iroquois had been broken and already on the 20th of September it was announced that a large force of that nation wasonthe marcliHgainst Quebec, the provisions at the factory for the winter were miserably insufficient, and the priests and the two families of colonists were almost equally badly off. The only bright side to this picture was Champlain himself. Although Caen gave him no men for the fort, although he saw the peace with the Iroquois, for which he had striven so hard, broken by the action of a few silly savages, and although the winter's supply of food was small, he never despaired. He had sent word home to the Viceroy of Caen's negli- gence in regard to the food and of his refusal to furnish men to work at the fort, and he hoped, as human nature always does, that next year things would be better. As is not unusual how- ever they were worse. The fleet, sent out in the following spring, besides not being that of the United Company, whose monopoly had been guaranteed through all changes of Viceroy until 1635, 1 Ibid. pp. 144-145 : " Leur vaisseau n'estoit venu leur apporter des comraoditez qui leurs estoient necessaires pour la nourriture de vingt sept k vingt huict personnes." '^ Ibid. p. 146: "Nous demeurasmes cinquante cinq personnes . . . assez mal accormiodez de toutes les choses necessaires pour le maintien d'une habita. tion . . . et en attribuoit on les defauts a la prise d'un petit vaisseau par les Anglois." 3 Ibid. p. 146 132 THE CAENS' COMPANY was captured by the English and the colonists and crews were taken prisoners. Champ] ain indeed refused to surrender the factory to the victors but their success was only a question of time. On account of the small supply of food left in the autumn of 1627 provisions at Quebec had run very low indeed. In the summer of 1629 the place was finally starved into submission. CHAPTER VIII THE COMPANY OF NEW FRANCE, 1627-1629 While the United Company had been trading during these years in the St. Lawrence, a man made his appearance at the council board of the King who was destined first to suppress the office of viceroy and then to revoke the monopoly of the Com- pany as suddenly and as effectually as his predecessors had revoked those of Chauvin and Monts, notwithstanding that its rights had just been guaranteed, through all possible changes of viceroy, until the year 1635. This is not the place to discuss the political work of Richelieu. As the enemy of Austria and the oppressor of the Huguenots, he may have been successful, but his attempts to reorganize the trade and commerce of his country shew how unreasonable it "U'as to place the direction of such affairs in the hands of one whose knowledge of them was inadequate. Indifferent to the value of facts and figures, he seems in regard to trade to have dwelt in a realm of pure theory, where gigantic commercial corporations were formed and dis- solved again by a mere stroke of his ecclesiastical pen. For the scholar at the Sorbonne such powers of imagination proved of value ; when exercised by the guardian of the cotum'^rcial interests of a nation, they proved extremely harmful. After a short tenure of office under Marie de Medicis, from November 1616 to April 1617, Richelieu finally entered the Council, with the full consent of the King, in August, 1624. He had in the meantime been made a member of the Sacred College and had seen enough of the intrigues of the Court to take proper steps to secure his own position. He began by quickly settling several matters which, like the marriage of Henrietta Maria with Prince Charles of England, had been hanging fire for some years. As time passed his influence increased. In October 1626 he was named Grand Master, Chief and General Superintendent of the [133] 134 THE COMPANY OF NEW FRANCE, 1627-1629 Navigation and Commerce of France.^ After suppressing in the following January the office of admiral 2 he at length turned his attention to the fulfilment of the duties of his new office. Among these was the consideration and examination of all pro- posals, articles or treaties in regard to foreign trade or to the formation of trading companies for home or foreign commerce. One of the first of the proposals submitted in regard to foreign trade was that of the great Company of Morbihan. With whom the idea of this gigantic undertaking first origin- ated is not quite clear, but the plan would certainly do honour to a Russian or Prussian staff'-officer of the present day. The whole of the trade and commerce of France by sea as well as by land was to be placed in the hands of one huge company composed of the principal merchants of the country. In the town of Morbihan, in Brittany, where the company was to have its own courts and jurisdiction, were to be built docks, warehouses, ship- yards, arsenals, powder factories, schools of navigation, and in fact everything pertainintf to the exercise and control of the whole commercial life of the nation. Fortunately for France however, commerce did not lend itself, like politics, to such extreme cen- tralization, and when the edict was denied the assent of the Parlement of Paris, the plan was quietly allowed to drop.-^ Un- dismayed by this defeat, Richelieu next had recourse to a mixed French and Dutch company. The Dutch were already gaining an European reputation as traders and it was hoped that their knowledge and experience would be of service to their neigh- bours. La Com/pagnie de la Nacelle de St. Pierre fleurdelisee was also to carry on all the trade of the country by sea and land like the Company of Morbihan.^ In addition it was to woik all mines, develope all colonies and in fact control the commercial 1 Isambei't et Taillandier, Beceuil General des Ancienne.s Lois FraiK^aises (Paris 1829), xvi 194 et seq. 2 lUd. p. 198. 3 A copy of these articles is in the Minist^re des Colonies — Correspondance G^nerale : Canada, Volume i. Folio 1\ et seq. Cf. also Avenel, Richelieu et la Monarchie Absolue (Paris 1887), iii 210 et seq., where they are erroneously attri- buted to the year 1629. 4 These articles will be found in the Memoires de Mathieu MoU, i 423-448. Paris 1855. THE COMPANY OF NEW FRANCE, 1627-1629 135 life of the nation in the same way as the army controlled its defence. Yet this proposal pleased no more than its predecessor, so that the plan of one great company had finally to be aban- doned. Recourse was then had to a number of small companies for specific purposes. One of these was the Company of New France which replaced the United Company in its enjoyment of the monopoly of the fur-trade of the St. Lawrence. While the author of the two former proposals seems to have been Richelieu himself, the father of the Company of New France was the Chevalier de Razilly. Isaac de Razilly. a younger son of an ancient family of Touraine, had early taken to the sea and in the course of his wanderings had visite'l the " four parts of the world." He was therefore, as he expressed it, better versed in the customs of the living than in the literature of the dead when he addressed to Richelieu in 1626 a memorandum on the need of reform in matters of trade and commerce. According to him, the low state of commerce generally was due to the idea entertained by the Government that foreign trade was not neces- sar}' to the nation's welfare. This notion he easily refuted by the example of the King of Spain, who, accustomed formerly to a small revenue drawn from oranges and lemons, now possessed an empire upon which the sun never set.^ The great hindrances to French foreign trade were inferior ships and the fear of Turkish pirates. If larger and better-armed vessels were sent out, the French would soon lose their nickname of the " sardines of the sea." With reference to America and the trade of New France, Razilly's plan was as follows. A large company should be formed, capable of holding the English in check by colonizing the country with three or four thousand good colonists. Previously, the colony had been given over to about twentj^-five traders who 1 L. Deschamps, Isaac de Razilly, avec memoire inedit (Paris, 1887 ; an extract from the Revue de Geographie ior Octohev, 1886), p. 17: " Aussi chascun scayt qu'il n'y a que six vingts ans que son plus grand revenu estoyt en oranges et cittrons, et depuys les advys receus de Christophle CoUcn et qu'il a arme par mer, il a tant conquys de royaulmes que jamais le soleil ne couche dans ses terres," etc. Two memoirs by his brother, for they both gave Richelieu advice, will be found in the Biblioth. Nat., xMs. fr. 4826 folios 1-12. 1:^6 THE COMPANY OF NEW FRANCE, 1627-1629 were merel}' intent on gain and did nothing for colonization or defence. A large companj^ with a capital of some three hundred thousand livres and a good director at its head, would soon increase French power and influence in that region.i As Riche- lieu was hopelessly ignorant of all matters connected with trade and commerce he at once proceeded to put into execution the advice so honestly given. He first bought from Vent ad our the office of Viceroy of New France and incorporated it with that of Grand Master of the Navigation of France. He was then in a position to annul the monopoly of the United Company notwith- standing that it had been guaranteed to them, even in case of a change of Viceroy, until the year 1635, Richelieu seems indeed to have taken small pains to find out what the rights of that company were. It was sufficient justification, he thought, for the step he was taking, that during the seven years of its exist- ence it had made no efforts to take out the stipulated number of colonists.2 Having thus made a tabula rasa of all the old con- ditions he found the way clear for the establishment of the large company suggested by Razilly. Notwithstanding that none of the companies to which the monopoly had already been given had ever fulfilled, even in a small degree, the conditions under which that monopoly was usually granted, yet with a naivete truly most remarkable those same conditions were now again repeated in the case of the Company of New France. In return for a monopoly of fifteen years, this company agreed to take out three hundred colonists a year, or some four thousand by the year 1643. In addition to this, the King ceded to the Company the full ownership of the whole of the St. Lawrence valley, and all merchandize entering the mother-country from those parts was to pay no duty during a like period of fifteen years. None but French Catholics might be taken out by the Company as colonists, and it was further to 1 Deschamps, op. cit., p. 32. - Collection de Mamiscrits Relatifs a la Nouvdle France i 63 : " Ceulx qui avoient jusques k present obtenu par eulx seuls tout le commerce esdits Pays, ont eu sj' pen de pouvoir ou de volonte de le peupler que . . . encore jusques a present qu'il y a sept ans que les articles furent dressez, ils ne se sont mis en aucun devoir ni commence de satisfaire a ce dont ils s'estoient obligez." THE COMPANY OF NEW FRANCE, 1627-1629 137 support in each settlement three priests until the community itsjlf was able to undertake that charge. The stipulation that an artisan who had plied his trade in New France for six years, should, on his return to France rank as a master-workman, did not receive the assent of the Parlement of Paris. These were the conditions under which the land of New France as well as its trade and commerce were handed over to the Company of New France for an indefinite period.l Since the King- had granted twelve titles of nobility to be distributed among the shareholders, little difficulty was experi- enced in finding the necessary amount of capital. While those who had formerly engaged in the trade were mostly provincial merchants from Rouen, Sr. Malo and La Rochelle, the majority of the shareholders of the new Company were Parisians and it was there that the Company's offices were situated. The capital, in all three hundred thousand livres as Razilly had suggested, was divided into one hundred shares of three thousand livres each. Although each share could be again sub-divided, it was on]y entitled to one representative at the meetings of the Com- pany.2 At the annual meeting of the shareholders in January were elected the president and the board of twelve directors. The condition that six of the directors, who held office for two years, must be domiciled at Paris, shows the preponderating influence of the merchants of the capital in the Company. The negotiations with Richelieu about taking over the country and its trade, and the subsequent labour ot" forming the Company its3lf, had consumed so much time that the directors begged to be allowed to postpone sending out the fiist consignment of colonists until the year 1629. A naval war seemed also on the point of breaking out with England, which made the prospects for the year 1628 none too good. The Government however refused to agree to any delay and a fleet of four vessels was made ready at Dieppe in the spring of that year. On the 28th of 1 Edits, Ordonnances Royaux etc. (Quebec 1854), pp. 5 20. 2 It appears that the actual number of shareholders was thus 120. Biblioth. Nat., Ms. fr. 16738 folio 132 verso : " La Compagniede la Nouvelle France de six vingts associes," etc. 138 THE COMPANY OF NEW FRANCE, 1627-1629 April these vessels at length got under way, having on board a large number of colonists, with provisions, cattle, and the mater- ial for the construction of numerous buildings at Quebec. ^ On board of one of the vessels were four agents of the old Company, who were to be allowed to dispose of the goods still remaining at Quebec and to arrange for the return to France of any of their men who did not care to take service with the new Company. 2 Thirteen or fourteen Newfoundland fisliinpf vessels seized this opportunity of sailing under the protection of the guns of the Company's fleet, as the naval war with England which had been threatening had finally broken out. Although Charles the First was married to King Louis' sister this matrimonial connection had not removed aU causes of dis- sension between the two Crowns. Charles egged on the Hugue- nots in France and absolutely forbade the exercise of the Roman Gi^tholic religion in England. When in August 1626 some diffi- culty arose in regard to the Mass celebrated in the Queen's pri- vate chapel, he unceremoniously bundled the whole of her Catholic houseliold out of the country. Bassompierre, who was sent over to patch matters up, might possibly have succeeded had not a man-of-war appeared one day at Falmouth, while he was still there, with three rich French prizes in tow.-" Feeling in France soon rose high and on the 10th of October the Parlement of Rouen ordered the seizure of all English goods found in that town 4 The " English merchants trading for France " at once complained, and since similar seizures were reported elsewhere. King Charles at lenyth gave the order for the arrest of all French ships and goods found in England.^ The French answer to this was the seizure of the English wine fleet of two hundred sail at Bordeaux.'' Since Bassompierre, who was himself insulted in the streets of London, could promise no relief, King Charles 1 Sagard, Histoire du Canada iv 858. Asseline, Les Antiquilez et Chroniques de la Ville de Dieppe (Dieppe 1874), ii 235. 2 Biblioth. Nat., Ms. fr. 16738 vol. 143 B verso et seq. 3 State Papers, Domestic, Vol. xxxvi No. 31. 4 State Papers, France, l\: October 1626, 6 Rymer, Fadera (London 1726), xviii 802-3. 6 Court and Times of Charles the First (London 1848), p. 180. THE COMPANY OF NEW FRANCE, 1627-1629 139 sent a fleet of twelve men-of-war along the French coast with orders to burn all the war material found and to release all English ships held in custody.i On the 19th of March 1628 permission was given to grant letters of reprisal, "as the only means of securing satisfaction," and one month later this permis- sion was extended to letters of uiaique.^ Among those who applied for the latter was Jarvis Kirke, a merchant of London, who had spent nearly forty years of his life in Dieppe. Indeed he had married ami brought up his family there.3 He had in all live sons, who besides knowing French well were not altogether unconversant, from their long residence at Dieppe, with the stote of affairs in jSew France. This out- break of hostilities had seemed to Jarvis Kirke an excellent op- portunity of securing the region of the St. Lawrence for the English Crown, and in conjunction with a few other London merchants a small fle*"t of three ships was prepared for this purpose in the spring of 162S. The vessels, which carried in all sooie two hun- dred men, were under the chief command of David Kirke, while with him were associated his brothers Lewis, Thomas, John and James. Setting forth from England in March with letters of marque, the vessels first made their way to Miscou where the fishing huts and other buildings were destroyed.'* On their way up the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Tadoussac, they managed to capture several fishing vessels and whalers, as well as the ship sent out with fresh stores for the Jesuits. In one of the barques left at Tadoussac, Kirke despatched his brother Lewis to Quebec wiih a letter to Champlain informing him of what had already been done and demanding the surrender of the factory. On the way, this boat destroyed the crops at Cape Tourmente and also killed all the cattle there, in order that they should not serve 1 State Papers, Domestic, vol. Ivi Nos. 18, 85 and 90. Cf. also Xegociation du Mareschal Baasompierre en AngleUrre (Cologne 1668), p. 284 et seq, 2 Rymer, Fcedera, x\aii 861 and 887. 3 H. Kirke, The First English Conquest of Canada (London 1871), appendix A, p. 206. 4 One of these was " un batiment contenant plusieurs demeures de planches doubles, dehors et dedans, fortifie de palissades tout autour," which La Ralde had ordered to be constructed. Bibl. Nat. Ms. fr. 16738 fol. 143 C. verso. 140 THE COMPANY OF NEW FRANCE, 1627-1629 to re-prov!sion the factory. It was from this point that the news of the enemy's approach was conveyed to Champlain. At Quebec things were not going at all well. On account of the loss in tlie previous summer of the vessel which was convey- ing the greater part of the winter stores, and on account of the retention, notwithstanding this, of the workmen engaged on the fort, provisions at the factory had run very low. It was only this spring in fact that, for the first time in the history of the colony, a pair of oxen had been harnessed to the plough. Hitherto the little land cleared had been cultivated by hand.^ Two more servants of the Company had been secretly murdered by the savagas and relations with the latter were consequently somewhat strained.2 Notwithstanding these difficulties, Cham- plain was not one who gave in easily. When Lewis Kirke pre- sented the letter written by his brother calling upon him to sur- render, Champlain returned a fearless answer. Although it was true, he replied, that their stores were not too plentiful, yet with order and economy the supply could be made to last for a con- siderable period. Kirke himself was too brave a man not to understand what little respect the French would have for them- selves if they gave up the place without a struggle. They pre- ferred that he should first try his cannon and powder, nor did they think he would find the conquest so easy as he anticipated.^ When David Kirke at Tadoussac received this answer he made up his mind that an assault on Quebec would become unnecessary if he could intercept the supplies coming up the river. Thereupon he ordered his ves-els to stand down the Gulf and to keep a sharp look-out for French sail. As we have seen, the first fleet despatched by the Company of New France left Dieppe in April. After parting company on the Banks with their convoy of fishing vessels, the ships made their way to Gasp^ where they first received word of the presence of Kirke's fleet in the river. Although the vessels were overladen with colonists, 1 Laverdi^re, op. cit. vi 160-161. '^ Ibid. pp. 150 et seq. 3 Laverdi^re, op. cit. vi 173 et seq. Hist. MSS. Commission, 12th Report, Ap- pendix i, p. 374 et seq. THE COMPANY OF NEW FRANCE, 1627-1629 141 merchandize and building materials, there was nothing for it but to fight, if Quebec was to be relieved. Sailing on therefore they soon met Kirke's fleet coming leisurely down the Gulf. The engagement lasted for several hours and the French were finally obliged to yield, although with the loss of only two persons killed. On the English side no one seems to have been injured. The principal French officers were distributed throughout the English fleet, the men being sent home in two of the vessels which had just been taken. The other vessels were guarded as prizes, and English crews were put on board to sail them. Near the island of St. Pierre, Kirke captured more Newfoundland fishing vessels. His fleet now numbered fourteen sail, with some ^ix hundred prisoners. Most of these he sent back to France, and he sank the poorest of the prizes. He then directed his course for England, feeling certain that until the following spring no fresh supplies were likely to be sent to Quebec.! In this same summer Alexander had also been able to send out his colony to New Scotland. After the return of his vessel from the second voyage in the autumn of 1623, the loss involved had forced him to the conclusion that paper charters alone would not build up colonies. The two voyages made by his vessel had cost him a considerable sum. The King was kind enough to offer to charge this on the Exchequer, but the guardians of the latter had sense enough not to pay the demand.2 Something must be done however to raise fresh funds. In this connection the colon- ization of Ulster seemed to oflTer a model. During the years 1611 to 1622 over two hundred English landowners had become baronets of Ulster, and a sum of something like two hundred and twenty-five thousand pounds had been thereby obtained. Alex- ander now determined to institute a similar baronetcy of New Scotland or Nova Scotia, for the benefit of Scottish landowners and the younger sons of the nobility. The whole territory of 1 Sagard, Histoire du Canada iv 862 et seq. Hist. MSS. Commission, 12th Report, Appendix i pp. 375 et seq. 2 Rev. C. Rogers, The Earl of Stirlinrfs Register of Royal Letters relative to the Affairs of ^Scotland and Nova Scotia (Edinburgh 1884) vol. i, Introd. p. xviii. 142 THE COMPANY OF NEW FRANCE, 1627-1629 Nova Scotia was accortUngly divi<led into two provinces, each made up of a certain numbsr of dioceses and counties. These latter were each again subdivided into ten baronies, which were to extend three miles along t!ie coast, and ten )niles inland. The only condition for obtaining such a barony was the despatch thither of six colonists and the payment to Alexander of three thousand marks. The holder received the hereditary title of " sir " and came in order of precedence after the 3'oungest sons of vi'^counts and the Lords Barons of Parliament. At fir^t how- ever no one came forward, and when the sum had been reduced from three thousand to one thousand marks only eight persons took out baronies In November 1625 the lesser barons of Scot- land complained that not only was this new institution an inter- ference with their hereditary dignities, but that it was, in their opinion, by no means necessary to Alexander's plan of coloniza- tion. The only result of their action was the removal of Lord Melrose, for this and other reasons, from the post of Secretary for Scotland, and the appointmrnt of Sir William Alexander in his place.^ In his new position Alexander was able to explain his plan clearly to King Charles, who had just succeeded his father on the throne. In March 1626 the new monarch ordori.d his Chancellor to confer the order of knighthood, without extra charge, on the sons of those baronets of New Scotland who had alreadj^ attained their majority. A week later a proclamation was made at the " Mercat Croce " in Edinburgh " to wairne all and sundrie the gentrie of this kingdome that they either procure the said dignitie for thameselflSs or not repyne at otheris for doing of the same."2 This r'.>yal exhortation produced its effect and in January 1626 two ships were made ready at Dumbarton. They were not, finally despatched until the following spring when with two others they took out .seventy colonists and landed them at Poutrincourt's old quarters at Port Royal. -^ From his home at Cape Sable young La Tour, whose father had been taken prisoner by the Kirkes, surveyed with some surprise this invasion of the 1 Ibid., Introduction pp. xix and xxii. 2 Ibid., Introduction p. xxiv and pp. 18, 29 and 119. 3 Memoirs of the Maxv)elh of Pollok, edited by W. Fraser, vol. ii p. 200, Edinburgh 1863. Sainsbury, op. cit. i 84, nos. 22 and 23. THE COMPANY OF NEW FRANCE, 1627-1629 143 riyhts he had inherited from Saiut-Just. Yet as his was the weaker side, he could make no effective opposition. The two rival posts thus remained facing one another during the whole of the winter. In the autumn of 1628 Alexander heard of tl>e success of the expedition of Jarvis Kirke and his partners and at once laid claim to this territory as coming within the limits of his charter. In reality his rights did not extend beyond Gaspe but thi ^ fact was unknown to Kirke and his friends. Frightened therefore at the possibility of seeing their efforts frustrated when on the point of being crowned with success, they offered to let Alexander have not only Acadia but also the shores of the St. Lawrence up to within ten leagues of Tadoussac, on condition that all the region west of that point should fall to them.l After some further deliberation, during which the Scottish Privy Council requested King Charles to see that no injustice was done to Alexander, the latter at length agreed to unite his interests with the Kirkes.2 In the winter of 1628-1629, they formed the Scottish and English Company for trade in the St. Lawrence. On the fourth of February 1629 they were given a njonopoly of the fur-trade in the Gulf and River of Canada and the parts adjacent, with permission not only to seize all French vessels but also to destroy all French settlements in that region.^ No men- tion was made of colonists. In the spring of 1629 this new Company sent out two fleets to New France. The one made its way to Port Royal in order to relieve the colonists there while the other was despatched to the St. Lawrence. Young Alexander, Sir William s son, who was in char^je of the fleet for Port Royal, first landed Lord Ochiltrie and fifty fresh colonists at Cape Breton. On arriving at Port Royal he found that thirty people had died during the previous winter. All the attempts of the Sieur de la Tour, who on his arrival in England as a prisoner had married one of the Queen's French maids of honour and who had now come out to 1 Hist. MSS. Commission, 12th Report, appendix Part i pp. 376-377. 2 Sainsbury, op. cif. i 180, no, 15, Rogers, op. cif., Introd. p. xxvii. 3 State Papers, Colonial, Vol. v No. 2, printed in Kirke's English Conquest of Canada, appendix D. 144 THE COMPANY OF NEW FRANCE, 1627-1629 win over his son to the English side, proved ineflFective. The son despised his father's submission and refused even to enter into negotiations with him. During the summer the English vessels at Port Royal managed to carry on a considerable trade in furs along the coast of the Bay of Fund}', and with young Alexander returned home in the autumn an Indian chief of this region who was desirous of concluding an alliance with the English and their King.i The second fleet of the same Company under the command of David Kirke had steered for the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Near Gaspe they captured a pinnace sent down the river by Champlain to obtain provisions from some of the fishing vessels. From the occupants of this boat the}' soon learned the condition of affairs at Quebec. In putting on a bold front in the previous summer, Champlain had hoped that at least one of the vessels destined for his relief might avoid the English fleet. As the summer wore on howerer and none appeared he concluded that Kirke had really succeeded in capturing them all. The outlook for the winter was thus not pleasant. Their sole provision consisted of peas, which they managed to grind into a sort of flour. During the autumn they exchanged the furs in the warehouse for eels, but the savages, seeing their necessity, only gave ten eels for one beaver-skin. During the winter they occasionally secured an elk , also sharing part of the produce from Hebert's farm as well as that from the field cleared by the Jesuits. But this relief was so slight that by the end of May they were in extremities. Pro- visions of every sort were exhausted and their hunger was only allayed by roots and wild berries gathered in the woods. A canoe sent to Tadoussac, to offer to any vessel found there the trade of the river if she would relieve the factory, returned and reported that no sail was in sight. Shortly after this the savages from the upper countiy began to arrive for the annual barter. With them were the twenty interpreters, priests ^^nd factors who had spent the winter among the Indians and who now swelled con- 1 Court and Times of Charles the First, ii 60. Sainsbury, op. cit. i 104 no. 41. Rogers, op. cit., Introd, p, xxx. Uenys, Description Geographique et Historique des Costes de rAmerique Septentrioncde avec VHistoire Naturelle du Pais (Paris 1672), i 68 et seq. THE COMPANY OF NEW TRANCE, 1627-1629 siderably the number to be fed at the factory. The new arrivals were obliged for the most part to search for roots and berries like the others, though it was now difficult to find a spot near the factory which had not been thoroughly worked out. A boat sent to Gasp^ obtained no better news than the canoe which had gone to Tadoussac. No vessels were to be seen, though the savages reported that a fleet of six English ships had been sighted off the coast. While affairs were in this state and the savages who had come down for the barter were on the point of returning home, three strange vessels were one day perceived approaching Quebec.i Fully informed by the men captured in the small boat of the weak condition of the factory at Quebec, Kirke had made his way from Gaspe to Tadoussac and from there at once despatched three of the smaller vessels in charge of Lewis and ThoToas Kirke up the river to Quebec. These three vessels were the strange ships now seen approaching behind Point L^vy. Although Champlain sought to obtain as favourable terms as possible, he was in no position to dictate conditions to the new-comers. On the 20th of July Quebec surrendered and two days later the English flag was run up on one of the bastions. The French, who were promised a free passage home by way of England, were allowed to march out with arms and baggage, the head-men carrying all their furs, the factors, servants and workmen one beaver-skin each. These however were at once bartered to the victors for food and fresh provisions. As the savages had not yet set out on their return journey, the new-comers were able to trade for the furs which the Indians had brought with them, besides buying from those about Quebec the 1200 beaverskins which had been returned to them during the winter by the garrison for pro- visions.2 Although the vessels of the English and Scottish Company had thus reached the St. Lawrence first, the Company of New France had not altogether neglected its interests there. The loss of their fleet in the previous year had greatly discouraged the 1 Laverdi^re, op. cit. vi 180 et seq. Sagard, Histoire du Canada iv 884 et seq. 2 Laverdi^re, op. cit. vi 187. 10 146 THE COMPANY OF NEW FRANCE, 1627-1629 shareholders, but they only did their duty in fitting out a fresh one in the summer of 1629. Richelieu had promised men-of-war to convoy this one and care was also taken to make the vessels themselves as strong as possible. But in the midst of these pre- parations negotiations for peace were begun. With the fall of La Rochelle in October 1628 the English had lost all chance of securing a foothold in France. French corsairs were also plaj'ing^ havoc with the Newfoundland fishing fleet,! while the interrup- tion of all trade with France was beginning to cause uneasiness among the English commercial classes. The spring of 1629 therefore found Charles not altogether disinclined for peace, which was finally concluded, by the mediation of Venice, at Suza on the 29th of April. Since there still remained many vessels at sea^ with letters of marque, it was further agreed that anything taken during the space of two months after the peace should be restored on both sides. All danger from English vessels being thus removed, Richelieu cancelled the order for the men-of-war that were to convoy the fleet of the Company to New France.^ Al- though it had already waited two months for these ships, the Company's fleet was thus obliged to set sail without them.3 On the voyage out the ships became separated. One vessel, with the fresh stores for the Jesuits and their workmen who had been sent home in the autumn of 1G27, was wrecked off the coast of Cape Breton^ Another vessel reached Gasp6 in safety but at once set sail again for France when it was learned that the English were already in the river.^ Captain Daniel, who had had charge of the whole fleet, on reaching New France first made his way to Gape Breton to get some information about the state of affairs at Quebec. There he received the unexpected information that Lord Ochiltrie, who with fifty colonists had been deposited at that spot when young Alexander was on his way to Port Royal,. 1 Sainsbury, op. cit. i 93 et seq., nos. 56, 57, 61 and 62. Numbers 56 and 57 are printed in full in Kirke, op. cit., pp. 148-153. 2 Laverdi^re, op. cit. vi 264-265. 3 Rymer, Fcedera xix 66. Le Mercure Fran<;ois,, vol. xv, 2e partie^ Paris 1631, pp. 147-149 and pp. 480-1. i Laverdi^re, op. cit. vi 304 et seq. 5 Ibid. pp. 263-264. THE COMPANY OF NEW FRANCE, 1627-1629 147 had built a fort and was now exacting one-tenth of their cod from all the fishermen who visited the locality, James Stewart, the fifth Lord Ochiltrie, had taken an active part in the coloniz- ation of Ulster, where however he seems to have lost most of his fortune. He next obtained a grant of land in Cape Breton Island and with the help of some five hundred pounds given him by the King had now taken colonists thither in the hope of retrieving his fortunes. In response to the complaints of the fishermen of the neighbourhood, Daniel at once assembled a small force, and after approaching the place as a friend, suddenly made himself master of the inmates. The buildings were razed to the ground and the prisoners treated with undue rigour. Daniel constructed a fresh fort with the same material in another harbour close at hand, where he left a garrison of forty men. He then set sail for home without attempting to enter the St. Lawrence. Of the prisoners who were carried back, packed like sardines in the hold, forty-five were put ashore at Falmouth while the remaining sixteen were imprisoned at Dieppe.! This was the French retort to the expedition of Argall in 1613. Another French vessel in charge of Emery de Caen reached the St. Lawrence in safety and even succeeded in getting past Tadoussac without being discover- ed by Kirke's vessels that were at anchor there. Between Tadoussac and Quebec however she ran across the largest of the three vessels that had taken Quebec. This ship was now on her way back to Tadoussac, having on board several of the prisoners and a considerable quantity of furs. After a short engagement, during which the English had one sailor killed, the French vessel yielded.2 She was then brought to Tadoussac where were collect- ed in all some nineteen French and Basque prizes.^ Thus for the second year of its existence the Company of New France had to deplore not only its exclusion from New France but also the virtual loss of a second fleet. When the prisoners taken at Quebec had been distributed among the vessels and Lewis Kirke had been placed by his 1 F^lix, op. cit. passim and Appendix A. Laverdi^re, op. cit. vi 299-304. Sainsbury, op. cit. i 104 et seq., nos. 41, 46 and 47. 2 Laverdi^re, op. cit. vi 251 et seq. 3 Ibid. p. 290. 148 THE COMPANY OF NEW FRANCE, 1627-1629 brother in command of the factory with a store of fresh provis- ions for the winter, preparations were made for setting sail for England. %s a report got abroad that some French men of- war were waiting for them at Gaspe, the vessels kept as close to the Island of Anticosti as possible. On the 27th oi October they reached Dover in safety and here the prisoners were landed preparatory to their return to France. Champlain however, as soon a,H he heard that peace had been concluded in April, made his way to London to urge upon the French ambassador there, M. de Chateauneuf, the necessity of at ,>nce pressing for the res- toration of Quebes.'i On the return of this fleet and of the one sent to Port Royal under young Alexander, the Scottish and English Company had every reason to be satisfied with the results of the summer's work. The whole trade of the St. Lawrence had now become theirs while their poft at Port Royal gave them command of the greater part of the trade in the Bay of Fundy. On the other hand, Daniel's new fort at Cape Breton and the presence of young La Tour at Cape Sable still gave to the French an entry into the country. The conclusion of peace with France also made it doubtful whether the capture of Quebec could now be main- tained. On his arrival in London indeed Champlain at once gave an account of what had occurred to M. de Chateauneuf, the French ambassador. At the same time he wrote to Lauson, the president of the Company of New France, urging him to come to England himself, or to request Richelieu to forward proper instructions to Chateauneuf in the matter.2 Armed with the information supplied by Champlain, the French ambassador soon presented a demand for the surrender both of Quebec and of Port Royal.3 xhe claim was couched in no hesitating terms, for feeling on the subject in France was beginning to run high. To show that his intentions in concluding the recent treaty had been sincere, Charles the First gave his word that the matter would 1 Ibid. pp. 292 et seq. Sagard, Histoire du Canada, iv 911 et seq. 2 Laverdiere, op cit. vi pp. 296 et seq. 3 Avenel, Lettres Instruction), Diplomatiques et Papiers d'etat du Cardinal de Richelieu (Paris 1858) iii 446, 451 and 455. THE COMPANY OF NEW FRANCE, 1627-1629 149 be favourably considered and even promised that Quebec at any rate should be restored. From that moment the restoration of New France was only a question of time. The negotiations dragged on until the spring of 1632 before the terms of restitu- tion were finally f^ettled. By the Treaty of St. -Germain-en Laye, the French once more took possession both of Acadia and of the valley of the St. Lawrence. During the intervening years 1629 to 1632 the Scottish and English Company continued to pnjoy unhampered the fur-trade in the St. Lawrence. Let us see what success it met with. CHAPTER IX NEW FRANCE UNDER THE SCOTTISH AND ENGLISH COMPANY, 1629-1632 Although Champlain had written to Lauson, the president of the Company of New France, to press for the restoration of the colony, the persons interested in what had been seized at Quebec were not the directors of the Company of New France but the shareholders of the old United Company. Its monopoly had indeed been repealed by Richelieu at the close of the year 1627 but the Company had never, up to the time of the capture of Quebec, been able to withdraw its goods from the factory. All the vessels, sent out for this purpose, had, like the fleets of the Company of New France, been captured by the English. Thus, though the Company of New France as titular owners of the land pressed for its restoration, yet the goods and furs seized at Quebec belonged to the old United Company. Since all goods seized within two months after the proclamation of the treaty of Suza were to be restored, Caen set off for London in the autumn of 1629 to obtain re-possession of these furs. Although he suc- ceeded in obtaining from the Court of Admiralty the appointment of a commission consisting of two Frenchmen and two English- men, he afterwards refused to allow it to proceed on account of the intermeddling of a certain Mr. Chamberlain, of whom nothing further is known. At the request of the French ambassador the furs were placed in a warehouse under the seal of the Admiralty Court.i At the same time, as Champlain and Lauson requested, the French ambassador continued to press for the surrender of New France itself. Not only was it demanded that Quebec be restored in the same state in which it had been taken, but the French 1 State Papers, Colonial, vol. v, No. 48. Avenel, op. cit. p. 472. Laver- di^re, op. cit. vi297, and appendix vi, where the State Papers connected with the above will also be found. Cf. Ibid, appendices ii-v. [150] THE SCOTTISH AND ENGLISH COMPANY, 1629-1632 151 also asked for the restoration of Port Royal and of a vessel cap- tured during the summer by young Alexander. Since a report had also begun to spread that the seal of the Admiralty Court had been broken and the furs stolen from the warehouse where they had been temporarily placed, Chateauneuf begged that an inquiry into the matter might be at once instituted. To make these several demands more effective, three English prizes at Dieppe and at Calais were ordered to be detained until the English King should show a disposition to negotiate favourably.! In re. ply to these demands King Charles assured the French Govern- ment, through Dorchester, his minister for Foreign Affairs, that he still remained firm in his former resolution to restore Quebec. The question of the robbery of the furs placed under the seal of the Admiralty Court would be inquired into, and should it be found that the Scottish and English Company had been guilty of any irregularity, they should be brought to justice.2 No mention was made of Port Royal nor of the vessel seized by young Alex- ander This reply, which reached Paris in the spring of 1630, seems to have satisfied Lauson that the restoration of Quebec was actually intended. Preparations were therefore at once begun by the Company for the despatch of representatives to receive possession of it from the Kirkes. In fitting out their third fleet the Company met with some difficulty in regard to funds. Of the total capital of three hun- dred thousand livres, nearly two hundred and seventy thousand had been already spent on the first two unsuccessful ventures. Only thirty thousand livres were now left. In fact the losses of the two previous years had almost ruined the Company, In view however of the fact that the land of New France was their own property and that one of their principal aims, apart from trade, was the propagation of the Gospel among the savages,^ it was 1 Avenel, op. cit., pp. 478 and 519. State Papers, Colonial, vol. v No. 50, printed in Laverdi^re, op. cit. vi appendix vii. 2 State Papers, Colonial, vol. vNo. 51,inLaverdi^re, op. cit. vi appendix viii. 3 Collection de Manuscrits relatifs a la Nouvdle France, i 76 : " Cette nou- velle perte ruina presque cette Soci^t^ .... on crut qu'il falloit faire un efifort pour ne laisser pas perirune si belle occasion d'aller porter la lumi^re de la foy dans un pais infid^le " etc. 152 THE SCOTTISH AND ENGLISH COMPANY, 1629-1632 determined to proceed with the despatch of this third fleet by- borrowing some forty thousand livres. By means of this loan four vessels were made ready in the spring of 1630. The six men- of-war promised in the previous year were again ordered to accompany them, both as a safeguard against attack and also to overcome any possible hesitation on the part of the English gar- rison about retiring.i The news that these men-of-war were being prepared greatly alarmed King Charles. He feared lest under cloak of the re- occupation of New France a renewal of hostilities might be intended. Complaint was therefore made to the French ambas- sador in England that in view of the assurances already given and of the efforts to see that Caen received full justice in regard to his furs, such an action could only be regarded as an unfriendly one. When this was reported at Paris, Richelieu countermanded for the second time the order for the six men-of-war. Shortly after this hostilities broke out between France and Spain in Italy and the negotiations with England for the surrender of New France at once came to a standstill. Thus not only was the Company's fleet obliged to set sail alone, but all hope of securing re-possession of New France during that summer had also to be given up.2 The four vessels prepared by the Company set sail nevertheless for the west. Two of these, which had been fitted out at Bordeaux, made their way to young La Tour's fort at Cape Sable. Here they were enthusiastically received. Young La Tour, who had resisted all his father's efforts to win him over to the British side, recognized in the arrival of these vessels a personal compliment to himself and an encouragement to further patriotic action. Letters indeed to this purport were presented to him from the directors wherein he was exhorted to continue firm for the future. Arms and provisions were supplied to him and pre- parations were being made to set up a strong fort at this spot, when La Tour's father, finding the outlook for himself at Port Royal not so good as he had hoped, came over again to his own people and informed them of the condition of affairs among their 1 Laverdi^re, op. cit. vi 312. 2 Ibid. p. 313. THE SCOTTISH AND ENGLISH COMPANY, 1629-1632 153 rivals. The British, he reported, had no intention of retiring from Port Royal even if Quebec were handed back. Their occupation of this region had, they said, been projected several years before the war, and though it had been actually made during the pro- gress of hostilities, it could in no way be affected by the terms of the treaty, which only referred to seizures taking place during the two months following the peace. To circumvent their enemies therefore and hold them in check on every side, La Tour and his friends decided to build a second fort at the mouth of the river St. John. Here La Tour the elder was to have command while his son remained in charge at Cape Sable. As the material brought out in the two vessels was only sufficient to strengthen the post at Cape Sable, the smaller vessel was immediately sent back without any cargo, to inform the directors at Bordeaux of this decision and to ask for sufficient fresh material for a new fort at the river St. John. The second vessel returned more leisurely to Bordeaux with a small cargo of fish and f urs.^ The other two vessels of the fleet of the Company of New France made their way to the fort built by Captain Daniel on Cape Breton Island. They found on iheir arrival here that twelve of the garrison had died during the winter. Although few savages were about, the traders managed to collect some furs, but the principal portion of the cargo of both vessels on their return consisted of fish. The fort was supplied with fresh stores and a sufficient garrison left to ward off" any attack.2 Meanwhile the Scottish and English Company had been enjoying the trade both in the St. Lawrence and along the Atlantic coast. It was found that fourteen of the garrison had died at Quebec during the winter, but fresh provisions soon put matters right. To prevent a repetition of this, the land cleared by the Jesuits and Recollects, who had all gone home in the previous year, was planted by the English, in order that hence- forth they should have a local source of supply. Of the amount of trade done this summer by the vessels sent to Port Royal we 1 Ibid. pp. 313 et seq. Denys, op cit. i 68 et seq. 2 Laverdi^re, op. cit., vi 319-20. 154 THE SCOTTISH AND ENGLISH COMPANY, 1629-1632 know nothing ; the two sent to Quebec brought back three hun- dred thousand pounds weight of fursA Owing to the ravages of the French and English privateers in the summer of 1628 the number of vessels which frequented the Newfoundland Banks had rapidly fallen off. Although in the year 1629, at Lord Baltimore's request, an English man-of- war was sent thither, yet owners were afraid to allow their vessels to set sail. Indeed only some forty English vessels put in an appearance.2 Lord Baltimore himself was not finding New- foundland quite to his taste as a permanent home. During the winter of 1628 and 1629 the cold had been most severe from October until May. His house, he said, resembled more a hospi- tal than a private residence. Since however, to use his own words, " his inclination still carried him to proceedings in planta- tions," he received a fresh grant of land in Virginia and to this milder climate he soon after removed with his colony.^ On account of the continuation of hostilities between France and Spain in Italy, no further progress had been made since the spring of 1629 in the negotiations for the restoration of New France. But the efforts of Caen at London to secure re-posses- sion of the furs found at Quebec kept the English Government from altogether losing sight of the matter. When Caen had refused the commission appointed by the Admiralty Court shortly after his arrival in England, the Lord Mayor of London proceeded to deal with his complaints. On the 9th of April 1630, by the Lord Mayor's decision, the furs were sold to Caen in public auction at twenty-five shillings per pound. When however men were sent to weigh and deliver them, the key of the warehouse could nowhere be found. A domiciliary visit at the home of the Kirkes failing to discover its whereabouts, the order was finally given to break the warehouse open. This forced entrance disclosed the fact that of the seventeen hundred odd beaver-skins originally stored there only three hundred now remained. A certain Thomas Fittz was arrested as the guilty 1 Ibid. pp. 320 et seq.: "lis avoient rapports pour Trois cens mille livres de peleterie, et estoit mort quatorze Anglois de nonante qu' ils eatoient," etc. 2 Sainsbury, op. cit. i 96, tJo. 3. Ibid. pp. 100 et seq. Nos. 27, 39 and 40. THE SCOTTISH AND ENGLISH COMPANY, 1629-1632 155 party and confined to the Fleet. On promising, in July, to restore the stolen goods, he was again set at liberty. Caen was finally able to obtain possession oi all the furs brought from Quebec, but he now declared that the total left there was not seventeen hundred but five thousand, and he claimed composi- tion for the three thousand three hundred missing skins. Though the Scottish and English Company continuously maintained that they had found no more than the number already sworn to as correct, Caen still held out and finally, indeed, gained his point in the peace of 1632.1 It was however not until January 1631 that the negotia- tions about New France were again resumed at the point where Chateauneuf and the English ministers had left them at the out- break of war in Italy, in the spring of 1630. At the next meet- ing of the representatives of the two countries, which was held in Paris on the 21st of January 1631, it was agreed that all the vessels and goods taken since the peace which were in esse should be restored, while the value of those already sold should be paid back according to the inventories drawn up at the time of seizure. King Charles on his part also agreed to restore Quebec, while the French expressed their readiness not only to cancel several acts of outlawry passed against the Kirkes, but also to see that justice was done to the English merchants whose goods had been seized at Rouen. There only remained the question of Port Royal. Here however the French made a firm stand. The English proposal that it should be left " as a disputable point " for separate negotiation with M. de Fontenay, who had succeeded Chateauneuf as French ambassador in England, was rejected at once. Its immediate restoration was demanded conjointly with that of Quebec, as " both agreeable to reason and to the treaty itself." 2 The English representatives in Paris also recommended this step to Dorchester, the English Foreign minister. Accord- ing to the best information they could get, the French trade there in former days had never exceeded one thousand elk-skins 1 State Papers, Colonial, vol. v, Nos. 79, 81 (i, ii, iii), 92, 96 and 97. Most of these will be found in Laverdi^re, op. cit., vi Appendices x-xiv. 2 Public Record Office — State Papers : France, De Vic to Dorchester, ff Jan- uary, 1631 ; Ibid, i\ January, 1631. 156 THE SCOTTISH AND ENGLISH COMPANY, 1629-1632 and about as many beaver-skins. Rather than endanger all the negotiations for this one point, and the French would prefer to " hazard new misunderstandings than fall from their pretended right thereto," i let Alexander be given a fresh grant elsewhere on the same coast. Such at least was their advice. At this point however the negotiations were again interrupted by the departure of the King for Compiegne. The diplomatists were referred to that place for the next meeting. In view of the firm position taken up by the French on the subject of Port Royal, which, since it had been occu})ied before the close of the war, could in no way be brought under the terms of the treaty of peace, King Charles thought fit on his side to press for the payment of the remaining portion of his wife's dowry.2 It was only fair, he thought, that if the question of Port Royal, which had no connection with the treaty, were brought into it, the question of the portion money should also be introduced. Dorchester warned De Vic, the English agent, that he was not " to make tender of his Majesties giving contentment in the point of Port Royal by way of bargain, which were a marchandly proceeding and in no way becoming negotiations be- twixt Princes," but if King Charles' demands were fully accepted "Port Royal should not breed any interruption to a total agreement. "3 In the meantime King Louis had at length become station- ary at Dijon, and here at the end of March the negotiations were again resumed. Lord Montagu, a special envoy in France, who reached the Court before the others, informed the French commissioners that all their demands had been accepted in Eng- land and that the terms of the treaty could be at once drawn up. "When the English commissioners arrived however they declared that they had no instructions to conclude the treaty. The Frtmch demands in writing must be again sent to England and accepted there before this could be done. When also they broached the subject of the dowry the French commissioners grew very 1 Ibid., De Vic to Dorchester, ^ January, 1631. 2 Ihid., Dorchester to De Vic, February 17th, 1631. 3 Ibid., Dorchester to De Vic, March 2nd, 1631. THE SCOTTISH AND ENGLISH COMPANY, 1629-1632 157 " colde," nor would they give any assurance of satisfaction being received in this matter until the announcement was made that in return for this Port Royal should be restored as they demanded. Richelieu then went so far as to state that when he had seen the King, he would fix a day for the payment of the dowry.i A cer- tain amount of progress had thus been made when the French in their turn again introduced a fresh demand. It appeared that when Chateauneuf was ambassador in England he had drawn up certain regulaiions as to trade which he wished the two countries to enforce. The war in Italy and his own return to France, where he then occupied the post of Keeper of the Seals, had pre- vented the matter from being concluded. He now demanded that these regulations should be embodied in the treaty.'-^ As they were totally unknown to the English commissioners, who had not even a copy of them, they said that they must write to England for instructions. On account of this, all hope of com- pleting the negotiations in time for the surrender of New France in the summer of 1631 had to be given up.^ For another season therefore the Scottish and English Com- pany enjoyed the fur-trade of New France. The reports of their great gains had excited other English merchant:^ to fit out vessels for this trade, notwithstanding that the Company had been given the monopoly of it. But word of this reaching the harbour authorises at London the suspected vessels were at once stayed.'* The Company sent out its vessels as usual both to Port Royal and to Quebec. Before the arrival of the vessels destined for Quebec, the agents there were greatly surprised one day at the unexpected appearance of Emery de Caen. He informed them that since the countries were now at peace and the restoration of Quebec only a question of time, he was quite within his rights in trading in the river. Lewis Kirke, who was in command at the factory, allowed him to land his merchandize, but when it was found, after the arrival of the Company's three vessels from 1 Ihid., De Vic to Dorchester, March fg 1631. 2 Ibid., and De Vic and Augier to Dorchester, ^^^ 1631, Cf. Avenel, op. cit., iv 143. 4 State Papers : Colonial, vol. vi, Nos, 4, 5, 27 and 33, pr nted in Laverdi^re, op. cit., vi Appendices xv, xvi, xx and xxi. 158 THE SCOTTISH AND ENGLISH COMPANY, 1629-1632 London, that the barter this year would not be large, he was for- bidden to take any share in the trade. Leaving his goods at Quebec in charge of one of his men, he returned to France in a violent rage.l The whole trade therefore was as usual taken by the Company's three vessels. On the arrival at Port Royal of the other fleet of the same Company with colonists and cattle, the outlook for that settlement began to seem bright. King Charles assured his Scottish Privy Council that he was still ready to grant baronies to all who would aid in colonizing New Scotland which would continue as before to be the object of his solicitude.2 The Company of New France, on its side, also despatched two ships. Though the vessel sent back empty to Bordeaux had been received none too joyfully by the directors, yet they at once pro- ceeded to load her with the materials demanded by the La Tours and she arrived in due course. The new fort at the river St. John was therefore soon constructed and the elder La Tour placed in charge, while his son still continued to govern at Cape Sable. ^ This time on her return the vessel bore back a cargo of fish and furs.4 On the arrival of the other vessel of the Company in charge of Captain Daniel at Cape Breton, it was found that a dispute had broken out among the garrison there. The com- mander Gaude, who had shot one Martel of Dieppe, was put in irons and a new commander appointed in his place. After land- ing provisions for the winter, the vessel proceeded to Miscou where she intended to fish and if possible to trade. Her crew however soon became involved in a dispute with some Basque fish- ermen and with some Indians who sided with them In a skir- mish which ensued Daniel lost one of his crew. A pinnace sent up the river to Tadoussac secured a good supply of furs, but they were unfortunately taken from her again by one of Kirke's ves- sels met with on her way back. Daniel was thus obliged to set sail for home completely empty-handed.^ 1 State Papers : Colonial, vol. vi no. 23, in Laverdi^re, op. cit., vi appendix xix ; Ibid. pp. 339 et seq. 2 Rogers, op. cit., Introd. p. xxxviii. 3 Denys, op. cit. i 38. 4 Laverdi^re op, cit. vi 330 6 P)id. pp. 331 et seq. THE SCOTTISH AND ENGLISH COMPANY, 1629-1632 159 In the meantime the negotiations for the surrender of New France, which had been transferred from Dijon to London, had been quietly proceeding between the new French ambassador and the English ministers. Since the goods of some English mer- chants had been seized that spring at Rouen and the merchants themselves ill-treated by the townspeople, De Vic had sought to induce Chateauneuf to forego his commercial regulations by pointing out to him the many causes of complaint on the English side. Chateauneui's only reply was that the English should state these complaints in writing.^ In England, Fontenay and Dor- chester had made such good progress that in May Dorcheeter informed his agents in Paris that he would " very speedily have all in rypenes to speake with the French ambassador of the meanes to putt every thing into final execution." Yet this would require a " Sending over once more to that syde " to agree about the time for delivering the ships and foi restoring Quebec and Port Royal. There was no studied delay, as the French seemed to think, but only so much as was necessary for an affair of such importance. 2 Ten days later the affair was " in that forwardnes " that a final issue might soon be expected.3 At the beginning of June how- ever King Charles desired that the negotiations should be again transferred to Paris that it might not appear that the difficulty of reaching a final agreement lay with him and his ministers. * The point where matters now stuck was the dowry. King Charles wished a guarantee in the treaty itself. The French ambassador would only give verbal promises. It was at length agreed that the dowry should not be mentioned in the treaty but that Burlamachi, a London merchant, on going over with all the papers " to shutt up this long negotiation " should receive the money in person.^ It was the end of August before Burlamachi reached Paris 1 State Papers: France, De Vic to Dorchester, April -2 1631 ; Memorial of the Merchants, ^L^ 1631. 2 Ibid., Dorchester to Wake, May i\ 1631, 3 Ibid., Dorchester to Wake, May if 1631. 4 Ibid., Dorchester to Wake, H^ 1631. ' June '2 5 Ibid., Dorchester to Wake, ^f- 1631. 160 THE SCOTTISH AND ENGLISH COMPANY, 1629-1632 The English ambassador iu France was now Sir Isaac Wake who had just arrived from Italy. He at once took charge of the negotiations, until then carried on by De Vic and Augier, the two secretaries at the Embassy. In informing Wake of the then condition of the negotiations, King Charles stated that the restoration of Port Royal was not being done in ignorance, for he well knew that it did not come under the Treaty of Suza. The real reason was " an affection and desire to comply with our good brother the French king, in all things that may, friendly and reasonably, though not rightly and duly, bee demanded of us." 1 The real truth seems to be that Port Royal was sacrificed on account of the King's pressing need of money. Owing to the refusal of the Parliament to vote subsidies in 1629, which was the last year it had met, the Government was experiencing con- si<ierable difficulty. The payment to the troops in Germany was greatly in arrears, and at home the army and the navy were continually breaking out into mutiny on account of arrears of pay. It was hoped that the payment of the dowry would enable the Government to meet the most pressing of these demands. Burlamachi was presented at Court on the second of September and soon after made a round of oflBcial visits to the min sters. He had hardly completed these before the King left Paris and Court and commissioners were obliged to f(jllow. 2 At the same time it was learned that preparations were being made to sell the two English vessels at Dieppe, which according to the terms of the treaty were to be handed back intact. King Charles, who had all along shown a friendly attitude, was furious and told Fontenay plainly what he thought of such behaviour. "WTien this was reported to Richelieu he ordered the sale of the ships to be stayed until further orders. 3 From Compiegne, whence the King soon after set out for Monceaux, Burlamachi wrote to Dorchester that in view of the exorbitant demands of Caen and the shareholders of the United Company, who affirmed that the 1 Ibid., The King to Wake, June H 1631. 2 Ibid., Burlamachi to Dorchester, "^"^ -' 16.31. ' ' September 5 3 Ibid., Dorchester to Wake, 7th September 1631. Avenel, op. cit. iv 202 and 203 note. Cf. also State Papers : France, Brown to Dorchester, Sept. ^ 1631. THE SCOTTISH AND ENGLISH COMPANY, 1629-1632 161 furs bought in London were only about one-third of those left in the factory in the autumn of 1627, it would be well for the Scottish and English Company to send over all the papers they had for their defence.! After a short stay at Monceaux, his Majesty again set out for Troyes, Their journey, as Burlamachi wrote to Dorchester, was beginning to have all the appearance of a wild-goose chase.2 Indeed it was not until the beginning of October, when the King had finally made a halt at Fontaine- bleau, that the course of the negotiations was resumed. At the first conference, held on the tenth of that month, it was agreed that the English demands for wrongs suffered and ships seized should be examined by M. de Bouthillier, the secre- tary for Foreign Affairs, while Wake, the English ambassador, should check off" those of the French merchants and traders. As to New France, Wake informed them that he had no procuration, but a donation which he would deliver when all had been adjusted, for it was an act on his master's part not of obligation but of " pure courtoisie, whereas he did require nothing of them but what they were bound to give in virtue of treatyes."^ A second conference followed some ten days later. Wake began by demanding that having first ratified the conclusions reached in England by Dorchester and Fontenay they should next come to some final agreement about the reciprocal pretensions of the merchants and fix a day for mutual restitution. When the first point had been settled, they for some time discussed the second. Finally the proposal of Marechal de Schomberg that all the French and all the English claims should be lumped together, and Burlamachi and a French merchant be made respectively respon- sible for the totals, was accepted by both sides. No day how- ever was yet fixed for the mutual restitution. Although Wake had gained his principal points in this last conference, he found, on looking into matters, that they did not really profit him very greatly. There existed among his papers, he found, neither an inventory of the English goods sold in 1 Ibid., Burlamachi to Dorchester, Sept. t\ 1631. 2 Ibid., Burlamachi to Dorchester, Sept. if 1631. 3 Ibid., Wake to Dorchester, September 30 jg3j ' October 10 11 162 THE SCOTTISH AND ENGLISH COMPANY, 1629-1682 France, nor one of the French goods sold in England. For the absence of the former, he wrote home, some one was to blame, and if the merchants lost by the treaty they would only have themselves to thank for it.^ His difficulties were further increased by the repeated affirmation of the shareholders of the United Com- pany that the number of furs in the factory at the time of its capture was 4,266 while Kirke and his men swore on oath that they had only found 1,713.2 Although copies of these sworn depositions were forwarded from London to Wake, they did not^ according to Burlamachi, completely refute the statements of Caen and his people.^ Hardly had these two conferences at Fontainebleau been concluded, when the Court was once again under way. After fol- lowing it about for some time, without any occasion presenting itself of resuming the negotiations, Burlamachi quite lost pati- ence. On reaching Chateau-Thierry he expressed to the French ministers his intention of returning at once to England. He had now, he said, been in the country some six months and during nearly the whole of that period he had been on the march. Bouthillier begged him in Heaven's name not to think of such a step. The King's movements had been quite unexpected and as uncomfortable for his ministers as for the foreign representa- tives. He concluded his apology by promising that at the next place where a halt was made, the whole matter should be wound up.4 On reaching Metz all made preparations for the next con- ference which took place in fact in that town on the twenty- sixth of January 1632. Although the Scottish and English Company had sent an agent to France with all the papers they thought necessary to uphold their case, this man did not go beyond Paris. According to Burlamachi he was afraid of getting his boots muddy on the country roads. The conclusions reached recently at Fontaine- bleau having been taken as the basis of the present conference,. 1 Ibid., Wake to Dorchester, October Jf, 1631. 2 Sainsbury, op. cit. i 103 no. 37. 3 State Papers : France, Burlamachi to Dorchester, October J§, 1631. 4 Ibid., Burlamachi to Dorchester, Dec. ^ 1631. THE SCOTTISH AND ENGLISH COMPANY, 1629-1632 163 all went well until it came to the question of the demands pre- sented by Caen. On account of the failure of the agent of the Scottish and English Company to appear, Caen's statement that the number of furs left at Quebec was 4,266 was accepted as valid. As to his other demands, a total was after some debate agreed upon, which, though it included some items considered by Wake to be incorrect, was nevertheless not as large as the sum he himself had calculated. Chateauneuf and Bouthillier were then requested to draw up the treaty. " When tliis has been done," wrote Wake, " we have nothing more to do but to sign it."i According to the terms finally agreed upon, all the vessels and goods which had not been sold were to be restored intact. In the case of goods already disposed of, a return was to be made in money according to the value of the object as specified at the time of seizure. During the summer of 1632, in the course of which both Quebec and Port-Royal were to be handed back, the trade of New France was to be open to the subjects of both the contracting States. On the twentieth of March, after the Court returned to Paris, this treaty was finally signed at St.-Germain-en-Laye. Wake then handed over the orders for the surrender both of Quebec and Port Royal, while at the same time Burlamachi received the securities for the pay- ment of the remaining portion of the dowry.2 The terms of the treaty as finally concluded were greatly in favour of the French. Discontent in England was therefore gen- eral. Kirke wrote to Wake that it was plain the statements of the French had been always accepted, while those of the English had been wholly rejected. ^ Although Alexander had been sup- ported throughout by the Scottish Parliament, which only in the previous July informed that nation that Bang Charles, far from quitting his title to New Scotland, " will be verie careful to maintean all his good subjects who doe plant thameselfis there," 1 Ibid., Wake to Dorchester, January i| JIM. 2 Mercure Fraru^oifi, xviii 39-56. Rymer, Fcedera xix 361 et seq. Collection de Manuscrits t datifs a la N. France i 86 et seq. State Papers : France, Wake to Dorchester, March H 1632. 3 State Papers : Colonial, vol. vi, No. 53. 164 THE SCOTTISH AND ENGLISH COMPANY, 1629-1632 he seems to have taken the surrender of Port Royal very lightly. He had already been named viscount, and a royal warrant of £10,000 was now made out to aid him in removing his people from Port Royal. Even at this date however King Charles hoped that he would begin a fresh colony elsewhere and informed his subjects that they were to help and encourage the same, i In fact in August Viscount Sterling (Alexander's new title) was or- dered to communicate to the baronets such propositions .as might best serve " for making the right use heirefter of a plantatione and trade in these boundis."^ But though he became a member of the Council of New England, he never attempted a fresh colony and died in the year 1640, heavily in debt. ^ To King Charles himself the terms of the treaty were also an unpleasant surprise. It was found indeed that the claims of the French exceeded those of the English by some £14,380 which his Majesty was now called upon to pay. Although the remaining portion of the dowry amounted to 400,000 crowns, or about the same number of pounds,^ the payment of the former sum greatly displeased King Charles. He said however that for the sake of his honour he would not disavow the burden cast upon him and or- dered the money to be paid. 5 Equally unpopular was the surrender of Quebec and Port Royal, which took place as agreed upon in the summer of 1632. It was not however the Company of New France which took possession of Quebec but the old United Company that had been in possession at the time of the capture by the English. In con- sideration of its losses through this capture and through the sudden withdrawal of the monopoly before its legal termination, Richelieu granted them the trade in the St. Lawrence for this 1 Rogers, op. cit., Introd., p. xxxvii ; Ibid. pp. xxxv-vn, where State Papers : Colonial, vol. v No. 102 (1) will be found ; of. also Ibid. p. xxxix for State Papers: Colonial, vol. vi No. 56. 2 Rogers, op. cit., Introd. p. xl. 3 Ibid. p. li. 4 An approximation of values is difficult. Both coinages had been much de- based but the French more than the English. This is estimating the crown at three livres fifteen sols and making the whole equal to an English pound. 5State Papers : Colonial, vol. vi No. 45, in Laverdi^re, op. cit. vi Appendix xxiv. THE SCOTTISH AND ENGLISH COMPANY, 1629-1632 165 summer. On the 13th of July Lewis and Thomas Kirke at length embarked their people, the expenses of whose return were, according to the terms of the treaty, to be borne by Caen and his associates, l Besides the furs already secured by trade this summer in the St. Lawrence, the Scottish and English Company also obtained a considerable indemnity from some English inter- lopers who had been infringing their monopoly earlier in the year. 2 The fort at Port Royal was taken over by the Company of New France, which now possessed three other posts — at Cape Breton, Cape Sable and the river St. John. Razilly, the original promoter of the Company, received possession of the fort from young Alexander and landed in place of the returning Scotch the first batch of colonists which, during the four years of its existence, the Company uf New France had ever succeeded in landing in the country. Another post was established at Penta- goiiet, south of the river St. John. ^ Yet not one of these posts ever became very prosperous and two years later Razilly wrote home that though fifty thousand crowns had been expended not a single denier had been gained in return. ^ It was not until the summer of 1(''33 that the same Company was at length able to instal itself at Quebec. The old United Company, whose mono- poly should have gone on unaltered until the year 1635, then retired and the agents of the Company of New France took pos- session. For the loss of its monopoly during the remainder of this period the United Company obtained a compensation of seventy-nine thousand livres. ^ With the entry of the Company of New France into posses- 1 Thwaites, The Jesuit Belation-s and Allied Documents, v \Oet seq. Archives du Ministere des Affaires Etrang^res : Am^rique, Tome iv fol. 119 et seq. State Papers : Colonial, vol. vi No. 75, in Laverdiere op. cit. vi Appendix xxx. 2 State Papers : Colonial, vol. vi No. 66, 66 (1) and 66 (2), in Laverdiere, op. cit. vi Appendix xxix Nos. 1, 2 and 3. Winthrop's Letters in Mass. Hist. Coll., 3rd Series vol. ix p. 238. 3 Denys, op. cit. i 2 and 54. 4 Archives du Ministere des Affaires Etrang^res: Am^rique,Vol. ivfols. 122 and 130. Memoires des Commissaires du Boy pour la Delimitation de VAcadie (Paris, 1755), ii 491. 5 Collection de Manu^crits relatifs d la Nouvelh France i 77. 166 THE SCOTTISH AND ENGLISH COMPANY, 1629-1632 sion at Quebec in the summer of 1633 the period of the early trading companies comes to an end. Until the year 1663 this one trading corporation continued to control the political and commercial destinies of New France. In looking back over the period covered, one or two points force themselves into promin- ence. The first of these is that from the time of Roberval to the year 1632 and even up to the present day the French have not cared to leave their native land. While New England grew up through persecution and New Holland through the great induce- ments ofiered to any one who would take up land there, New France never had above one or two families of. colonists during all these years. This was due perhaps partly also to the treat- ment meted out to those who did venture to settle in the colony- Not only were they forbidden to engage in any way in the fur- trade, the staple industry of the country, but they had to sell all their produce at half or even less than half its real value, as well as to pay the very high charges demanded by the Company for all the articles brought from the mother country, and finally they were often treated by the Company's servants not as free settlers but as mere dependents. This remark brings us to the second point, that of the monopolized companies. It is certain that though intercourse between the old France and the new had ex- isted throughout the latter part of the sixteenth century, no one ventured to settle there until Chauvin took out his sixteen people to Tadoussac in the summer of 1600. When that system was once adopted, it should have been entorced more logically. If it was found that the number of colonists stipulated was too large, the Government should have reduced it. As it was, each company, finding the burden too great, did nothing ; and this breach of its promises after a few years caused the monopoly to be withdrawn. The open system, in force ber.ween the years 1609 and 1614, would doubtless have succeeded in time, had the Government taken over the post at Quebec and left discovery and trade to look after themselves. Bub then as now France had a strong centralized government at home and could hardly be expected to do things on a different system in her colony. Thus between the two evils of no colonistn and exces.sive governmental control, New France during these years never prospered. APPENDIX THE SOURCES [ 169'] THE SOURCES INTRODUCTION The sources of the early history of New France form merely one section of the sources of French history in general during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In addition to the documents already brought to light many more in so vast a field doubtless still remain unknown. Until more detailed catalogues of the great stores at the Archives Nationales and other centres have been published, small results can be looked for from the efibrts of individual research. Since the sources of the early history of Canada and those of the history of France are the same for the period in question, the guide to French sources in general prepared by MM. Langlois and Stein will be found of inestimable value.i By means of the indications given in that work, I have been able not only to search the French manuscripts of the Bibliotheque Nationale, 2 1 Langlois et Stein, Les Archives de VHistoire de France, 2 vols. 8", Paris, 1891-94. 2 The French MSS. of the Bibliotheque Nationale are in three divisions. Of the first, called ancien fonds a,nd comprising nos. 1-6170, a detailed catalogue has been prepared under the title of Catalogue des Manuscrits franqais, 4 vols. 4^, Paris, 1868-95. The fifth and last volume is in the press. The second division, called nouveau fonds and comprising nos. 6171-33264, has only been catalogued in a summary manner under the title of Catalogue general des Manuscrits fran^ais, which comprises nine volumes published since 1895. The third' division called nouvelles acqui'iitions, begun in 1860, already embraces ten thousand manuscripts. A catalogue of nos. 1-10,000 was published by M. Henri Omont in 1899 and 1900. Since 1891, M. Omont has however published every two years a list of the new acquisitions in the Bibliotheque de I'Ecole des Chartes, (Ann^e 1898, pp. 81-135.) Besides these manuscripts, there are also the numerous collections of French manuscripts copied or collected at home or abroad. Full information as to these will be found in Langlois and Stein, op. cit. pp. 857-870, while the catalogues are given on pp. 92-94 of the useful little book entitled Catalogue Alphabitique des Livres Imprimis mis a la disposition des lecteura dans la salle du travail du D^partement des Manuscrits, Paris, 1895, 8°. [171] 172 THE SOURCES: INTRODUCTION but also those of the other large libraries at Paris,^ as well as the Archives Nationales^ and those of the French Foreign^ and Col- onial^ Offices. The naval archives of which a general catalogue has been published^ are now stored at the Archives National es, but contain, nothing bearing on this portion of the history of New France. In the catalogue of manuscripts preserved in the various provincial libraries,! have found little for the period dealt with in this work.6 On the other hand, the archives of those Departments which border on the sea often contain papers relating to New France, but the search for them involves much labourJ Several towns such as St. Malo and Bordeaux contain in their municipal archives documents bearing on New France ; the catalogues how- ever are not always complete.^ Private collections should also not be disregarded ; the Chateau de Roberval in the Department of the Oise still contains papers relating to the first viceroy of Canada.^ Provincial law offices should some day bring to light 1 H, Martin, Catalogue des Maniiscrits de la Bibliotheque de V Arsenal, 7 vol- umes 8", Paris, 1885-1896. H. Molinier, Catalogue des Manuscrits de la Bihlio- tMque Mazarine, 4 volumes, Paris, 1885-1892. Ch. Kohler, Catalogue des Manu- scrits de la Bibliotheque Sainte-Genevi^ve, 2 volumes 8", Paris, 1893-96. 2 ^tat sommaire par series des Documents conserves aux Archives Nationales, 4°, Paris, 1891. Catalogue des Manuscrits conserves aux Archives Nationales,' Paris, 1892. Langlois et Stein, op. cit., pp. 5-44. - 3 Langlois et Stein, op. cit., pp. 45-50. There has been since published a Sup- pUment au Fonds France et au Fonds divers, 8°, Paris, 1896. 4 The only catalogue of the archives at the Colonial Office is the one made by M. Marmette and published by Mr. Brymner in his Reports on Canadian Archives for 1883, 1885, 1886 and 1887. Ottawa : Government Printing Office. 5 Mat sommaire des Archives de la Marine antirieures a la R6volution. Paris 1898. 6 Catalogue g6n6ral des Bihliotheques publiques de France : Dipartements, vols. 1-37, and still in course of publication. 7 CcUcdogue des Manuscrits conserves dans les Dipdts d^ Archives ddpartementcdes, communales, et hospitaliires, 8°, Paris, 1886. Collection des Inventaires sommaires des Archives dipartementcUes antirieures a 1790, 250 volumes 4'', and still in pro- gress. Langlois et Stein, op. cit. pp. 67-271. 8 Collection des Inventaires sommaires des Archives commuTiale-s antirieures a, 1790, about fifty volumes already published. Langlois et Stein, op. cit. pp. 273" 442. 9 Abb4 E. Morel, Jean Francois de la Roque seigneur de Roberval, vice-rot du Canada in the Bulletin de Giographie historique et descriptive, Paris, 1892, pp. 273 et seq. THE SOURCES: INTRODUCTION 173 much fresh material^ and the legal archives at Kouen, which I was unable to consult, certainly contain documents relating to the early history of New France.^ For English manuscripts relating to New France the search is made extremely simple by the Calendars of State Papers,^ which contain short synopses not only of the papers in the Public Record Office but also of those in the British Museum and of any others, wherever found, which the labours of the Historical Manuscripts Commission may have brought to light. The early printed books relating to New France as well as the early maps of that country have been carefully catalogued by Mr. Harrisse in a work published in 1872.'* For convenience, in the critical examination of these sources, i have divided them into the three classes of official, narrative, and anonymous. Although this division is slightly irregular, it still serves to mark them off into classes of documents which can be conveniently treated together. In the first class are con- tained all charters, grants, letters patent and other documents of a purely formal character, which I have simply placed in chrono- logical order. It is only in the second division, narrative sources, that the critical work actually begins. As the value of the narrative depends altogether on the character and personality of the author and the opportunities he enjoyed for observing the events recorded, I have endeavoured to give first of all a brief account of his life, and have then sought to estimate, in the light of this evidence, the value of his testimony. Official docu- ments preserved by these authors of narratives have been catalogued in the first division since their value as historical evidence depends not so much on him who has preserved them 1 Ch. et P. Breard, Doctimenfs Relatifs a la Marine normande, p. xi. Rouen 1889, 8''. 2 Gosselin, Nouvelles Glanes Historiques Normayides, p. 6. Rouen 1873. 3 Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, London, 1860 etc., 8°, nine volumes published, of which four relate to America. * Notes pour servir a V Histoire, d la Bihliographie et a la Cartographie de la Nouvelle France et des Pays Adjacents, 1545-1700, Paris, 1872, 8". In 1885 M. Gabriel Marcel published an additional list of maps in the Revue de Giographie, vol 16 pp. 186-194, 282-289, 359-365, 442-447, and vol 17 pp. 50-57. 174 THE SOURCES: INTRODUCTION as on their own character and style of expression. Letters, though not always strictly narrative sources, have yet been included under that head, as their value depends altogether on the personality of the author, who is in most cases here noted also one of the writers of narrative. In the third and last class are contained the anonymous sources. In estimating their value I have generally followed the plan of first eliminating the authentic material embodied by the writer in his work and then discussing the question of authorship, upon which necessarily hinges the value of the remainder. THE SOURCES PART I : OFFICIAL September 1510 \ Pardon granted to Guillaume Dobel, mate of a Newfoundland fishing vessel, who had pushed one of his men overboard. Annales de Bretagne ix 435-436. Rennes 1893. October 1511. Sobrecarta of the Queen Dona Juana con- taining the agreement made with Juan de Agramonte for a voyage of discovery to Newfoundland. Navarrete, Goleccion de lo8 Viages y Descuhriiaientos que hicieron por mar los Espan- oles, etc., iii 122-125, no. xxxi. October 1511. Order from Queen Juana confirming the appointment of Agramonte as captain of the expedition. Ibid. iii 125-127, no. xxxii. 14th December 1514. Act passed at Paimpol in Brittany between the monks of Beauport and the inhabitants of the island of Brehat wherein the former claimed one-tenth of all the fish brought from Newfoundland. Annales de Bretagne ix 177-182. 27th March 1523. Letter from Joao da Silveira, Portuguese ambassador in France, referring to Yerrazano's approaching voyage. RaccoUa di Documenti e Studi puhblicati dalla R. Com- missione Columbiana Parte V, Volume ii 245. Roma 1894. 27th March 1523. Agreement of the Emperor Charles V Mjith the pilot Estevan Gomez for a voyage to the Moluccas. Coleccion de Documentos Ineditos relativoa al Descubrimiento, Gonquista y Organizacion de las Posesiones Espanolas de America y Oceania, etc., Primera Serie, xxii 74. 1 A chronological list of the documents referring to the Cabots will be found in R. Beazley, John and Sebastian Cabot, (London 1898), pp. 265-291. The few documents relating to the voyages of the Corte-Reals have been very carefully edited by Mr. Harrisse in his work entitled Les Corte-Real et leurs Voyages ott Nouveau Monde, large 8°, Paris 1883, with a postscriptum. Mr. Harrisse in his Notes pour servir d VHistoire, etc., de la Nouvelle France (pp. 243-354) also- gave a list similar to the above and printed several unpublished documents. [175] 176 THE SOURCES, PART I : OFFICIAL 25th April 1523. Another letter with information about Verrazano's departure. Murphy, The Voyage of Verrazzano, pp. 162-168. New York 1875. 29th September 1525. A"Clameur de haro " on behalf of Jean Verrazano. De Costa, Verrazano the Exploiter, preface. New York 1881. 11th May 1526. Jean Verrazano gave a power of attorney to his brother and another. Revue Critique, 10^ annee, Tome I, p. 22. Paris 1876. 12th May 1526. Verrazano gave a special power of attorney to Adam Godeffroy. Ibid., p. 22. Circa 1526. Agreement between Chabot, Ango and Verra- zano for a voyage ibr spices. Freville, Memoire sur le Commerce Maritime de Rouen, ii 432-434. Paris 1857. 22nd July 1527. An order in regard to the sale of cod. N. E. Dionne, La Nouvelle France de Gartier a Champlain, pp. 346-347. Quebec 1891. 24th December 1527. Letter from Joao da Silveira mention- ing that Verrazano was to set sail in the spring. Memorie della Societd Geografica Italiana, vii (parte prima) 190. Roma 1897. 18th March — . Six thousand livres paid to Cartier to fit out his first expedition. Biblioth^que Nationale, Ms. Fr. 15628, fol. 213 verso, no. 618. 19th March —z,. Order forbidding the fishing vessels of St. Ioo4 o o Malo to leave for Newfoundland until Cartier had completed his crews. Michelant et Rame, Voyage de Jaques Cartier au Canada en 153 Jf, 2^ partie, pp. 3-5. Paris 1865. 30th October 1534. Letters patent from Admiral Chabot authorizing Cartier to prepare three vessels in the following spring for the completion of his discoveries. Ibid. pp. 5 et seq. 12th December 1534. Receipt given by Roberval for the sum of 100 livres for his pay for three months as ensign in the company of the Marechal de la Marck. Bibliotheque Nationale, Pieces originales, vol. 2523, no. 56459, no. 11. 3rd March — . Meeting of the community of St. Malo wherein complaint is made of the detention of the Newfound- THE SOURCES, PART I : OFFICIAL 177 land fleet in order that Cartier might complete his crews, Joiion des Longrais, Jacques Cartier, pp. 21-23. Paris 1888. 6th March J|^ . Receipt given by Roberval for his pay as ensign for October, November and December 1534. Bibliotheque Nationale, Pieces originales, vol. 2523, no. 56459, no. 12. 30th March 1535. 3,000 livres paid to Cartier to equip his second fleet. Bibliotheque Nationale, Ms. Fr. 15(132, fol. 170 verso, no. 571. 31st March 1535. Complaints at a meeting of the commun- ity of St. Malo against a ban ordered by Cartier ; roll of the crews. Michelant et Rame, op. cit. pp. 8-12, also Joiion des Longrais, op. cit. pp. 126-142. 5th October 1535. Receipt given by Roberval for his pay as ensign during the three months of April, May and June 1535. Bibliotheque Nationale, Collection Clairambault, vol. 134, fol. 1891, no. 5. 10th May 1537. King Francis I makes a present to Cartier of the vessel Hermine. Archives Nationales. Serie J 962 (12), no. 10. 14th September 1538. Payment of 3499 livres 4 sols and 6 deuiers to Cartier by the King for the expenses of his two voyages. Archives Nationales, S^rie J 962 (15), no. 23. 22nd September 1538. Order from Francis I to his treasurer to pay to Cartier fifty crowns for his salary and to aid in the keep of the savages brought from Canada. Bibliotheque Nation- ale, Ms. Latin 17059, no. 202. 22nd October 1538. Receipt given by Roberval, lieutenant in the company of Captain de Sedan, for 62 livres 10 sols, being his salary for the months of April, May and June 1538. Biblio- theque Nationale, Pieces originales, vol. 2523, no. 56459, no. 13. 25th March ^g. Baptism at St. Malo of three of the savages brought home by Cartier from Canada. Collection de Manu- scrits relatifs a la Nouvelle France, i 29-30. Quebec 1883, 4°. 17th October 1540. Letters patent granted by Francis I to Cartier appointing him chief pilot of the fleet which formed the third expedition in 1541. Lescarbot, Histoire de la Nouvelle France, ii 387 et seq., Paris 1866 ; Michelant et Rame, op. cit. pp. 12-17. 12 178 THE SOURCES, PART I : OFFICIAL 20th October 1540. Commission from the Duke of Brittany to Cartier empowering him to take away any prisoners found suitable for the purposes of the expedition. Michelant et Rame, op. cit. pp. 17-19. 12th December 1.540. Order from Francis I to the Senechal at Rennes ordering him to inquire into the attempts made at St. Malo and elsewhere to discourage pilots and siilors from offer- ing their services to Cartier. Ibid. pp. 19-21. 15th January ^^ . Letters patent from Francis I to Rober- val appointing him to the leadership of the expedition against the kingdom of Saguenay. Harrisse, Notes sur la Nouvelle France, pp. 243-253 ; Collection de Manuscrits relatifs d la Nouvelle France, i 30-36. loth January j^, . Order from Francis T to Roberval empow- ering him to enrol men and to provide himself with all arms and provisions necessary for the expedition. Harrisse, op. cit. pp. 265-268. 4th February j^^ . Fleuryot, one of Cartier's men, appointed guardian of some children. Joiion des Longrais, op. cit. pp. 24-25. 7 th February ^^ . Letters patent from Francis I to the Par- lements of Paris, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Rouen and Dijon ordering them to hand over to Roberval or his lieutenant any prisoners whom they might select as suitable to accompany them to Canada. Harrisse, o]). cit. pp. 258-264. 26th February ^° . Order of Parlement for the delivery of prisoners to Roberval. Biblioth^que de 1' Arsenal, Paris, Ms. Fr. 6650, fol. 56. 27th February ^— . Power of attorney given by Roberval to Paul d'Auxilhon for the South of France. Harrisse, op. cit. pp. 254-258. 1540 27th February — ^- Power of attorney given by Roberval to his brother-in-law Guillaume de Magdaillan for Paris and Dijon. Archives of the Chateau de Roberval. 4th March — . Fleuryot, one of the men chosen by Cartier, freed from a guardianship. Joiion des Longrais op. cit. pp. 25-26. 9th March ^^ . Order from Francis I to the Parlements of Paris, Toulouse and Poitou to cease their obstruction to the THE SOURCES, PART I : OFFICIAL 179 delivery of criminale to Roberval. Archives Nationales, serie U, reg. 754, fols. 65-66. 9th March ,— : . Order of the Parlement of Rouen for the delivery of prisoners to Roberval. Harrisse, op. cit. pp. 268-271. 11th March j^ . Power of attorney from Roberval to Civille for Rouen and to Pierre Martin for the region round about. Archives Nationales, serie U, reg. 754. fols. 66-68 verso. 29th March — . Thomas Monsler guilt}^ of theft at Dieppe handed over to Roberval at Rouen. Archives de la Seine-Inf^r- ieure, serie G, no 961. 20th April 1541. Roberval acknowledges the return of a power of attorney given to his brother-in-law Magdaillan. Bulle- tin de Geographie historique et descriptive, Paris, 1N92, p. 297. 8th May 1541. Roberval and Cartier hire the M"rie of eighty tons at St. Malo. Archives of the Chateau de Roberval. 19th May 1541. Arrival of thirteen prisoners, 8 men and 5 women, at St. Malo to form part of the expedition to Canada. Jolion des Longrais, op. cit. pp. 27-36. 19th May 1541. Cartier makes his will before setting sail. Ibid. pp. 39-43. 20th May 1541. Cartier intervenes in a dispute between a cobbler and a sailor. Ibid. pp. 44-48. 23rd May 1541. Notice of Roberval's departure from St. Malo to Honfleur one week previously. Ibid. pp. 37-38. 17th June 1541. Roberval buys the shares of Pierre Guehemenc and Jean Peppin in the Marie. Archives of the Chateau de Roberval. 19th June 1541. Roberval contracts for the hire of two ves- sels, the Valentine of 92 tons and the Ste. Anne of 80 tons, for the voyage to Canada. Ibid. June J 541. Roberval acknowledges the receipt of a prisoner named Fournier. Bulletin de Geographie historique et descrip- tive, 1892, p. 298. 10th July 1541. Letter of Chancellor Poyet to the Parle- ment of Rouen complaining of Roberval's delay in setting sail. Archives du Parlement de Rouen. Vid. Gosselin, Nouvelles Glanes Historiques Normandes, p. 6. Rouen, 18 /'S. ] 80 THE SOURCES, PART I : OFFICIAL 18th July 1541, Reply of Roberval addressed. Ibid. 12th November 1541 Registration of Cartier's will made the 19th of May, Jolion des Longrais, op. cit. pp, 49-50. 22nd February ^, . Letter of Marillac, French ambassador in England, mentioning the complaints made there of Roberval's piracies, Kaulek, Gorres'pondavce politique deMM. de Castillon et de Marillac, p. 390. Paris 1885, 8°. 8th March —] . One Buffon of St, Malo still in Canada. Jolion des Longrais, op. cit. p. 51. 9th September 1542, Roberval grants pardon to Auxilhon for the murder of one of the sailors of the Ste. Anne. Harrisse, op. cit. pp, 273-276. 1st December 1542. Cartier gives evidence at St. Malo as to the price of wheat in 1540. Joiion des Longrais, op. cit. pp. 52-54. 26th January — ^ , Order from Francis I to Auxilhon to take charge of the vessels destined to bear fresh provisions to Rober- val. Harris.se, op. cit. pp, 272-273, 11th September 1543. Order from Roberval to Auxilhon to sell the material belonging to him at La Rochelle, Ibid. pp. 276-277. 3rd April ~^. Commission from Francis I to Robert Legoupil of Rouen ordering him to verify Cartier's accounts and to examine the differences between him and Roberval, Michelant et Ram6, op. cit. pp, 21-23. loth April — ^ . Cartier acts as Portuguese interpreter at St, Malo, Joiion des Longrais, op. cit. pp, 57-58, 21st June 1544. Report of Legoupil and the other commis- sioners on Cartier's accounts, Michelant et Ram6, op. cit. pp. 24-31, 17th December 154 K Cartier gives evidence as to there being no vessels of 300 tons in all the duchy of Brittany. Joiion des Longrais, op. cit. pp, 59-60, 23rd April — ^ r.h,.i nr -.'^/r I Cartier present at St. Malo as a witness in 27th May 1545. V . ^ ,n^i T 1 ir.ir I various cascs. iotot. pp. 61-62. 18th July 1545. J -^^ THE SOURCES, PART I : OFFICIAL 181 18th July 1545. Receipt given to Roberval Yon, a mer- chant at Paris, in return for a payment for arms. Bulletin de Geographie historique et descriptive, 1892, pp. 298-299. 18th May 1546. Cartier present at the division of his father- in-lavt^'s property. Joiion des Longrais, op. cit. pp. 63-65. 18th July 1546. Receipt given for 20 crowns paid by Rober- val to Guillaume Barre of Fecamp for service with his vessel. Bulletin de Geographie historique et descriptive, 1892, p. 299. 19th July 1546. ") Cartier present at St.Malo as a witness. 2nd January J^^ j- Joiion des Longrais, op. cit. pp. 66-67 and 27th July 1548. ' ^ pp. 5-6. 1548. An Act passed in England against illegal exactions by officers for licenses to trade to N ewfoundland for fish. Hakluy t, Principall Navigations, iii 131. London 1600. Prowse, History of Newfoundland, pp. 53-54. London 1895. 23rd March 1549. Memorial of Jacobo de Ibaceta, master of a vessel bound for Newfoundland, begging church ornaments for a priest he was taking on board. Coleccion Vargas Ponce, legajo iii, no. 2, In the Deposito Hidrografico at Madrid. 29th November 1549. Cartier and his wife found an office for the dead in the cathedral at St. Malo. Joiion des Longrais, op. cit. pp. 68-69. F. G. Manet, Biographic des Malouins celebres, p. 52. St. Malo, 1824. 5th February 1550. Cartier names a child. Collection de Manuscrits Relatifs a la N. France, p. 39. 23rd December 1551. Cartier as a witness before the Court at St. Malo. Joiion des Longrais, op. cit. pp. 6-7. 29th January ^~^. Cartier gives evidence against a thief, Pasdalot, who insults him. Ibid. pp. 70-72. 12th June 1552. Cartier names a child. Ibid. p. 80, note 2, 15th October 1552. Cartier present as witness at the bap- tism of Thomas le Breton. Ibid. pp. 73-75. 3rd June 1553. Memorial of the Province of Guipuzcoa in Spain against an order that ships bound for Newfoundland should sail in consort with the armada of Luis de Carvajal. Coleccion Vargas Ponce iii, no. 4. 182 THE SOURCES, PART I : OFFICIAL June 1553. Letter recommending that Antonio de Abalia be heard against the order for Newfoundland ships to sail in consort with the armada of Luis de Carvajal. Ibid. no. '6. 17th September 1553. Baptism at St. Malo of a savage brought from Newfoundland. Jolion des Longrais, op. cit. pp. 76-77. 12th December 1553. Roberval's commission as comptroller of mines registered at Carcassonne. Bulletin de Geographie historique et descriptive, 1892, p. 300. 5th June 1555. Cartier appoints a guardian to his nephews and nieces. Jolion des Longrais, op. cit. pp. 80-81. 31st August 1555. A certain Jacques Boulain then absent on a voyage to Newfoundland. Revue de Bretagne et de Vendee, viii 377. Nantes 1880. 18th September 1555. Document concerning a le»al dispute between Jalobert, Secart and Maingard who accompanied Cartier in 1535. Ihid. p. 378. 28th September 1555. Legal dispute between Cartier and one Jehan Eberard. Ihid. p. 379. 1555. Examination of witnesses as to the ravages inflicted by Spanish vessels on French fishermen in Newfoundland. Goleceion Vargas Ponce i no. 18. Printed in a condensed form in Cesareo Fernandez Duro, Libro Sexto de Disquisiciones Nduticas, pp. 355-378. Madrid 1881. 6th June 1556. Cartier gives evidence in the trial of Perrine Gandon, unjustly accused of eating meat on a fast-day. Jolion des Longrais, op. cit. pp. 82-88. 17th July 1556. Cartier called by the Court at St. Malo to aid in fixing a scale between the value of wheat and the price of bread. Ibid. pp. 89-92. 27th November 1556. Cartier gives evidence in the Court at St. Malo as to the currents near the harbour of that town. Ibid, pp. 93-94. 9th March —^ . Cartier as appraiser in the division of a herit- age. Ibid. pp. 95-98. 25th March ]~ . Cartier testifies to the fitness of two inter- 1557 preters. Ibid. pp. 99-100. THE SOURCES, PART I : OFFICIAL 183 26th June 1557. Cartier as witness in two cases and as surety in another. Ibid. pp. 100-105. 15th July 1557. Royal order permitting ships from Guipuz- coa, Vizcaya or the Four Cities to sail to Newfoundland without special licence. Coleccion Vargas Ponce, iii, no. ti. Another copy in the Academy of History at Madrid. Coleccion Munoz, vol. 34 fol. 236 verso-237. 1st September 1557. Death of Cartier. Jotion des Longrais» op. cit. pp. 106-108. 8th February 1564. Letter from the town of Cap-Breton in France 'o that of San Sebastian on the subject of a mutual understanding in regard to the fishing in Newfoundland. Colec- cion Vargas Ponce iii, no. 8. 10th February 1564. Letter from the town of Biarritz to that of San Sebastian on the same subject. Ibid. 12th January 1569. ^ Gift of Cartier's widow to Jean Le Gobien their lawyer. Joiion des Longrais, op. cit. pp. 109-114. 10th October 1569. Receipt, given by La Roche for 500 livres paid to him for a journey made in the King's service from Tours to St-Pol-de-Leon, a small town on the coast of Brittany near Roscoff. Bibliotheque Nationale, Pieces origiiiales, vol. 1938> no. 44603 no. 3. 1570. Notice of the loss of a ship of Pasajes that year in Newfoundland. Coleccion Vargas Ponce iii, no. 9. 29th May 1572. Receipt given by La Roche for 100 livres. being his salary as governor of Morlaix for the months of January and February, J 572. Bibl. Nat., Pieces originales, vol. 19-j8, no. 44603, no. 4. 26th August 1572. Similar receipt for the months of Janu- ary, February, March and April for pay and pension. Ibid. no. 5. 15th April 1573. Reply of the town of St. Malo to the gover- nor's demand for vessels to proceel against the Huguenots of Belle Isle, in which it is stated that most of them are absent at Newfoundland and elsewhere Bulletin et Menioires de la Soc- iete archeologique dllle-et-Vilaine, iv 298-310. Rennes 1866. 1 The documents given by Gosselin (Nouvelles Glanes, etc., pp. 8-9) under the date of April, 1564, evidently refer to Florida. 184 THE SOURCES, PART I : OFFICIAL 1574. Notice of the Spanish ships which sail to New- foundland. Coleccion Navarrete in the Dep6sito Hidrografico at Madrid, vol. 28, no. 22. 29th August 1575. Letters patent of Henry III, appointing La Jannaye a captain in the Navy. Michelant et Ram6, op. cit- pp. 32-34. March 1577. Letters patent of Henry III empowering La Roche to conduct an expedition to Newfoundland. Michelant et Ram6, Relation Originale da Voyage de C'artier, pp. 5-8. Paris 1867. 1577. Representation of the Syndic of Renteria as to the proceedings taken against several inhabitants of San Sebastian who sent French vessels to Newfoundland. Coleccion Vargas Ponce V, no. 8. 3rd January 1578. Letters patent of Henry IIT appointing La Roche ^'iceroy of Newfoundland. Michelant et Ram6, op. cit. pp. 8-10 11th June 1578. Letters patent of Elizabeth giving Sir Humphrey Gilbert power to form a settlement in America* Hakluyt, Frincipall Navigations, pp. 677-679, London 1589. 16th March 1580. Order from the King to the Governor of Brittany to hold all vessels in the harbours of that province. Joiion des Longrais, op cit. pp. 193-194. 31st March L580. Order from the governor to the seigneur de la Hunaudaye to the same effect. Ibid. pp. 194-196. 12th April 1580. Order for the release of the vessels held. Ibid. p. 196. 21st April 1580. Petition of the Syndic of the town of Renteria against an order forbidding the sending of foreign ves- sels to Newfoundland. Coleccion Vargas Ponce v, no 10. 1580. List of the crew of a Spanish Newfoundland vessel and of the distribution of the whale oil and blubber. Ibid, iii no. 10. 26th September 1 580. Sale of Newfoundland fish. Prowse, History of Newfoundland, p. 84, no. I. 1581. Act of Queen Elizabeth prohibiting the importation of foreign-caught fish, that from Newfoundland excepted. Prowse, op. cit. p. 56. THE SOURCES, PART I : OFFICIAL 185 1584. Articles agreed upon between the Due de MerccBurand the Admiral de Joyeuse wherein mention is made of the trade with Newfoundland. Bibliotheque Nationale, Collection Duch- esne et Oihenart, vol. 43, fol. 15. 1584. Complaint of the people of Guipuzcoa against the per- mission given to the fifty Newfoundland vessels of St. Jean-de- Luz and Ciboure to sail home from San Sebastian with money instead of Spanish goods. Coleccion Vargas Ponce iii, no. 11. 14th November 1585. Order from Henry III to Crenay, governor of Fougeres, directing him to hand over the governor- ship of the castle to La Roche. Bibliotheque Nationale, Ms. Fr 3309, fol. 71 verso. 4th June 1586. Letter from the Due de Mercoeur to Henry III wherein mention is made of a delay in handing over the castle of Fougeres to La Roche. Bibliotheque Nationale, Collec- tion Colbert Cinq Cents, fol. 104, no. 10. 18th June 1586. Royal order offering to put a remedy to the losses caused by previous embargoes on Newfoundland vessels. Coleccion Vargas Ponce iii, no. 12. 23rd March 1587. Royal order that the Spanish ships bound for Newfoundland should sail well armed. Ihid. iii, no. 6. 20th April 1587. Royal order that Newfoundland fishermen should not be pressed into the Royal Navy. Ihid. 25th April 1587. Royal order that Newfoundland ships should also not be pressed for the Royal Navy. Ihid. 14th January 1588. Commission from Henry III granting a monopoly of the fur- trade in the St. Lawrence to La Jannaye and Nouel for twelve years, with permission to take out sixty criminals a year as colonists and workmen. Michelant et Ram^, Voyage de Jaques Cartier pp. 34-44. 9th February 1588. The community of St. Malo decides to oppose the registration of the former commission. Jotion des Longrais, op. cit. p. 152. 27th February 1588. Registrar of St. Malo, held to be re- lated to those who have received the monopoly, withdraws dur- ing the deliberations. Ihid. pp. 152-153. 186 THE SOURCES, PART I : OFFICIAL 11th March 1588. Inhabitants of St. Malo get legal advice at Rennes in the matter of applying for the revocation of the monopoly. Michelant et Ilam^, op. cit. pp. 4-4-48. 17th March 1588. Order from the Estates of Brittany to apply for the revocation of the trade monopoly of La Jannaye and Nouel. Michelant et Rame', Relation originate, etc., pp. 10-11. March 1588. Remonstrance of the Estates of Brittany against above monopoly. Jolion des Longrais, op. cit. pp. 155-156. 5th May 1588. Decree of King's Council given at the re- quest of the town of St. Malo declaring that the monopoly to La Jannaye and Nouel is not to affect their fishing or fur trade. Ibid. pp. 157-158. 9th July 1588. Letters patent of King Henry III to the Estates of Brittany revoking the trade monopoly given to La Jannaye and Nouel. Michelant et Rame, Voyage de Jaques Gartier, pp. 48-51. 16th July 1588. Notice of the revocation given to La Jannaye at St. Malo. Ibid. p. 159. 1593. Notice of the seizure of a Spanish Newfoundlander by Frenchmen of La Rochelle. Coleccion Vargas Ponce iii, no. 22. 28th January 1594. Order from King Henr}^ IV appointing Monts to a pension of 1200 crowns a year. Bibliotheque Nation- ale, Pieces originales, vol. 1421, no. 32147, no. 4. 10th March 1594. Receipt given by Monts for one hundred crowns, being his pay for February 1594. Ibid. no. 5. 3rd November 1596. Receipt given by Pierre de Chauvin for the sum of 108 crowns 33 sols lent to a Newfoundland fisherman. Ch. et P. Breard, Documents relatifs a la Marine Normande, p. 73. Rouen 1889. 12th November 1596. La Roche signs a power of attorney for Guillaume Ravend to obtain 5500 crowns from Madame de Matignon. Ibid. pp. 73-75. 2nd March 1597. Receipt given by Martin Faride to Pierre de Chauvin for 8 crowns. Ibid. p. 75. 4th March 1597. Agreement between La Roche and Chef- dostel, master of the CatJierine, for the transport of" soldiers to Sable Island. Ibid. pp. 75-78. THE SOURCES, PART I : OFFICIAL 187 12th March 1597. Receipt given by Pierre de Chauvin for four cannons to arm one of his vessels. Ibid. p. 78. 1597, Petition of the Brownists to Queen Elizabeth to be allowed to move to a " far country which lieth to the west in Canada." Sainsbury, Calendar of Colonial State Papers, Ad- denda 1574-lo74, pp. 31-32 no. 47. London 1893. 12th January 1598. Letters patent appointing La Roche Lieutenant-General for King Henry IV in Canada, Hochelaga, Newfoundland, etc. Lescarbot, op. cit. ii 398-400. 2nd March 1598. The above Letters patent registered in the Parlement of Rouen. Archives du Parlement de Rouen, 2nd March 1598. 16th March 1598. Fresh agreement between La Roche and Chefdostel for the transport of the expedition to Sable Island Breard, op. cit. pp. 79-81. 18th March 1598. Agreement for the same purpose with Jehan Girot, master of the Frangoise. Ibid. pp. 81-83. 19th March 1598. La Roche gives a power of attorney to one Martin Le Lou to act during his absence. Ibid p. 83. 29th March 1598. Receipt given by Le Liepvre, owner of the FroMcoise, and Girot" her captain, for 107 crowns to fit her out. Ibid. pp. 83-84. 2nd April 1598. Receipt by Girot and others for 150 crowns for the same purpose. Ibid. p. 84. 14th April 1598. A power of attorney given by La Roche to one Le Gac, Sieur de Collespel. Dionne, op. cit. pp. 366-367. 20th May 1598. Order of the Parlement of Rouen for the assembling of two hundred beggars for La Roche. Archives Secretes, same date, fol. 189 verso. 23rd May 1598. Report of the officer entrusted with the above duty. Ibid. fol. 192. 17th October 1598. Refusal of the Court at Rouen to hand over a prisoner to La Roche. Rouen, Archives de la Tournelle same date. 17th September 1599 License to export Newfoundland fish from England. Prowse, op. cit. p. 84, no. II. 188 THE SOURCES; PART I: OFFICIAL 3rd January 1600. Decision of the Municipality of St. Malo to oppose the registration of Chauvdn's monopoly. Michelant et Ram6, Relation originale, etc., p. 12. 1600. Reclamation of the owner of a Spanish Newfoundland vessel which returned to Bayonne instead of San Sebastian. Coleccion Vargas Ponce iii, no. 28. 1600. French Newfoundland vessels used to get their grain at the town of Motrico in Spain. Ibid. no. 29. 1600 (?). Request from the town of St. Malo to the Estates of Brittany for the repeal of Chauvin's monopoly. Michelant et Rame, Voyage de J Cartier, pp. 51-52. 7th December 1600. Jehan Brouet, a doctor, to receive five crowns a month for his services on board one of Chauvin's vessels sailing to Newfoundland. Breard, op. cit. p. 86. 19th January 1601. Receipt given by Chefdostel for 50 crowns to fit out his vessel the Jehan. Ibid. p. 87. 8th March 1601. Receipt signed by one Silvestre for 11 crowns lent him by Chauvin. Ibid. pp. 87-88. 3rd May 1601. Receipt signed by Deschamps and Le Roux of Dieppe for 16 crowns lent them to trade in Canada. Ibid. p. 88. 3rd May 1601. Charles Andrieu lends 25 crowns to Chauvin for the trade with Canada. Ibid. p. 88. 8th March 1602. Vincent Poullain of Havre is paid 120 crowns for his services on a voyage to Canada. Ibid. p. 89. 16th March 1602. Receipt by one Gohorel for 10 crowns to trade with Canada. If the vessel returns via Spain the interest is to be 40 per cent., otherwise 35 per cent. Ibid. 18th March 1602. Gion Dieres, Captain of the Esperance, gives a receipt for 10 crowns to be used in the trade with Canada. The vessel is to return either via Portugal or La Rochelle. Ibid.-p. 90. 1st April 1602. Ten crowns lent to one Mallorthie, master of the Jeiesaibien trading to Canada. Ibid. 2nd April 1602. Loan of 25 livres to Captain Dieres for the trade with Canada. Ibid. 29th June 1602. Receipt given by Monts for 660 crowns 2 Uvres being his pension for that year. Bibliotheque Nationals, Piecp'^ originales, vol. 1421, no. 82147, no. 6. THE SOURCES, PART I : OFFICIAL 189 2nd November 1602. Receipt by Henry CouiUard, master of the Don-de-Dieu of 200 tons, for 54 livres for having brought home three sailors left in the island of Canada by a vessel of St. Malo. Br^ard, op. cit. p. 90. 23rd November 1602. Chauvin empowers one Le Pillois who had been to Canada in 1600 to give evidence at Pont I'Eveque. Ibid. pp. 90-91. 21st December 1602. Decision of the town of St. Malo to ap- ply for the liberty of trade with Canada and to oppose the regis- tration of the new monopoly given to a few merchants of Rouen and of St. Malo. Michelant et Ram^, Relation originale, etc.> pp. 12-14. 28th December 1602. Letter from the King to the town of St. Malo informing them of the appointment of a commission to inquire into the trade with Canada. Ihid. pp. 15-17. 2nd January 1603. Royal order forbidding all trade in the St. Lawrence until the decision of the commission was announced. Ihid. pp. 17-18. 3rd January 1603. Letter from Montmorency, Admiral of France, to the town of St. Malo enclosing the documents above cited. Ibid. pp. 19-21. 20th January 1603. Chauvin gives a power of attorney to his sister. Br^ard, op. cit. p. 91. 26th January 1603. Decision of the town of St. Malo to leave the negotiations as to the monopoly of the fur- trade to those traders who were interested in it. Michelant et Rame, op. ctit. pp. 14-15. 1st February 1603. Couillard freed from responsibility for the payment of the duty on the cod brought home by him in the Don-de-Dieu in 1599 and 1600. Breard, op. cit. pp. 91-92. 8th February 1 603. Receipt given by Girot and Le Liepvre of the Frongoise for 260 livres to fit out their vessel for New- foundland, Ihid. p. 92. 18th February 1603. The Sieurdela Pierre borrows 36 liv- res to go to Canada. Ihid. pp. 99-100. 24th February 1603. Jehan Girot borrows 100 livres to fit out the Frangoise. Ibid. p. 100. 190 THE SOURCES, PART I : OFFICIAL 10th March 1608. Girot borrows 150 more livres at 35 per cent. Ibid. p. 100. 12th March 1603. Demand of Girot for an increase of pro- visions as he was going to Canada instead of Newfoundland. Ibid. pp. 100-101. 12th March 1603. Girot borrows 600 more livres at 35 per cent. Ibid. p. 101. 13th March 1603. Order in council permitting Captain Cou- lombier of St. Malo to trade to Canada. Michelant et Rame, op. cit. p. 23. 13th March 1 603. Order from the King to Montmorency to the same effect. Ibid. pp. 24-25. 7th April 1603. Notice of this given to the municipality of St. Malo. Ibid. pp. 21-22. 17th October 1603. Royal order allowing Newfoundland whale oil and blubber to be exported free of duty from Guipuz- coa. Coleccion Vargas Ponce v, no. 16. 22nd October 1603. Decision of the Estates of Brittany to apply for the liberty of trade with Canaiia. Michelant et Ram^, op. cit. p. 26. 6th November 1603. Propositions submitted to King Henry IV by Monts for the colonization of New France. Collection de Manuscrits relatifs d la Nouvelle France, i 40-43. 8th November 1603. Letters patent of King Henry IV ap- pointing Monts Governor of New France. Lescarbot, op. cit ii 408-415. 18th December 1603. Edict of King Henry IV granting to Monts a monopoly of the trade of New 5 ranee for ten years. Ibid. pp. 415-417. 18th December 1603. Remonstrance presented by Monts as to the number of colonists to be taken out each year. Collection de Manuscrits relatifs a la Nouvelle France, i 44-45. 31st December 1603. Advice of the Tr^soriers generaux to reduce the duty on fish for the fishing fleets of Havre. Archives de la Seine-Inferieure, serie C 1238, fols. 99 verso-101. 17th January 1604. Order from King Henry IV to the Par- cement of Rouen to cease its opposition to the registration of THE SOURCES, PART I : OFFICIAL 191 Monts' commissions. Harrisse, op. cit. pp. 280-282 ; Gosselin^ Nouvelles Glanes Historiques Normandes, pp. 21-23. Rouen 1873. 25th January 1604. A similar order from King Henr}' IV on the same subject. Harrisse, op. cit. pp. 282-283 ; Gosselin, op- cit. pp. 23-24. 27th October 1604. Power given by Dupont-Grave to his representative to proceed against the interloper captured off the coast of Acadia. Breard, op. cit. p. ] 02. 28th October 1604. Receipt by Louis Coman, a pilot, for 66 livres due for his services in Acadia. Ibid. pp. 102-103. 16th November 1604. Appeal from St. Malo to the Estates of Brittany to secure the freedom ol' trade with Canada. Miche- lant et Rame, op. cit. p. 27. 1st December 1604. Agreement of the pilot Gadois to sail to Leghorn and thence to Canada for cod. Breard, op. cit. p. 103. 4th December 1604. Decision of the Estates of Brittany to support the demand made by the merchants of St. Malo for the freedom of the fur-trade with Canada. Michelant et Rame, op. cit. pp. 27-28. 1604. Insurance policy on Newfoundland fish. Prowse, op. cit. pp. 84-85, no. iii. 17th January 1605. The pilot Gadois to receive 21 livres a month for his voyage. Breard, op. cit. p. 103. 20th January 1605. Order in council to release 22 bales of beaver-skins seized at Conde-sur-Noireau. Bibliotheque Nation- ale, Ms. Fr. 18168, fol. 12 recto and verso. 29th January 1605. Order of King Henry IV to the Parle- ment of Paris to register Monts' Letters patent. Collection de Manuscrits relatifs a la Nouvelle France, i 48-49. 8th February 1605. Order from King Henry IV to the Cour des Aides at Rouen informing them that goods from New France were only to pay the usual French provincial duties. Lescarbot, op. cit. ii 418-422. 1st March 1605. Le Liepvre borrows 100 livres for a voyage to Newfoundland. Breard, op. cit. p. 103. 192 THE SOURCES, PART I : OFFICIAL 20th March 1606. Opposition of the town of St. Malo to the registration of Monts' commissions at Rennes. Michelant et Rame, op. cit. p. 29. 31st March 1605. Order for the release of furs belonging to Monts seized at Avranches. Bibliotheque Nationale, Ms. Fr. 18168, fol. 230 and verso. 3rd June 1 605. Commissions of Monts registered in the Par- lement of Brittany. Michelant et Rame, op. cit. pp. 29-30. 17th November 1605. Complaint of the town of Motrico in Spain against being obliged to unload its vessels from Newfound- land in Pasajes. Coleccion Vargas Ponce iii, no. 31. 9th February 1607. Jehan Desamaison, Captain of the Es- perance, borrows 100 livres to make the voyage to Leghorn and thence via Spain to Newfoundland. Breard, op. cit. p. 105. 12th February 1607. Gion Dieres borrows money for the same purpose. Ibid. 17th July 1607. Repeal of Monts' monopoly. Archives Nationales, s^rie E 14a, fol. 71 recto and verso. 21st October 1607. Notice of Chauvin's death. Breard, op. cit. p. 105. 5th November 1607. Sale of one-fourth of a Newfoundland fishing-smack of 60 tons for 500 livres. Ibid. pp. 105-106. 12th November 1607. Fresh appeal from theEstatesof Brittany for freedom of trade with Canada. Michelant et Ram6, op.cit. p 31. 1607. Demand for permission to construct a salt marsh at the mouth of the Bidassoa. Archives D^partementales de la Gi- ronde, s^rie C 3812, fol. 62 verso et seq. 1607. Notice to the French ambassador in Holland to com- plain of the invasion of the St. Lawrence by Dutch traders. Ber- ger de Xivrey, Lettres Missives de Henri IV, vii 465, no. Ixxxiv. Paris 1858. 1607. Letter from Henry IV to the Estates of Holland com- plaining of the same. Ibid. p. 466, no. Ixxxv. 7th January 1608. Order of Henry IV to the officers of the Admiralty of Normandy, Brittany and Guyenne informing them of M unts' monopoly for one year. Laverdiere, (Euvres de Cham- plain, iii 136-137. Quebec 1870. THE SOURCES, PART I : OFFICIAL 193 26th February 1608. Letter from Sully to President Jeannin in which mention is made of the unsuitability of the French na- tion for colonial enterprises. Bibliotheque Nationale, Collection Colbert Cinq Cents, vol. 203, fol. 236. ^ 26th February 1608. Receipt of Thomas Neufville for 600 livres for a voyage to Canada. Br^ard, op. cit. p. 110. 1st March 1608. Sale of one-eighth of the Newfoundland fishing-smack L'Amiralle. Ibid. pp. 110-111. 28th March 1608. Loan of 750 livres for the fitting out of the Tessier for Newfoundland. Ibid. p. 112. 29th March 1608. Order in council granting to Monts a fresh monopoly of the fur-trade for one year. Bibliotheque Nationale, Ms. Fr. 18173, fols. 194 verso- 195. 31st March 1608. Loan of 75 livres for the voyage of the Dauphin to Canada. Breard, op. cit. p. 112. 2nd April 1608. Loan for the despatch of the Tigre to Can- ada. Ibid. 4th April 1608. Loan of 600 livres at 27 per cent, for the voyage of the Don-de-Dieu of 150 tons to Canada. Ibid. 5th April 1608. Loan of 50 livres for the Ouillaume and of 60 more for the Don-de-Dieu of 80 tons both bound for Canada, Ibid. pp. 112-113. 3rd November 1608. Order to inquire into the case of a Spaniard sending a French vessel to Newfoundland. Cohccion Vargas Ponce iii, no. 33. 24th November 1608. Decision of the community of St. Malo to urge the Estates of Brittany to apply for the liberty of the fur-trade in Canada. Michelant et Ram^, op. cit. pp. 31-32. 8th February 1609. Permission to send a French vessel from San Sebastian to Newfoundland. Coleccion Vargas Ponce iii, no. 35. 20th March 1609. Loan of 300 livres to Dupont-Grav^ for the vo}'age to Tadoussac. Breard, op. cit.'p. 114. 1 I have not been able to see a copy of the Galerie Philosophique du xvi^ Siecle (London 1783, 4°) in which this letter is published. Cf. Harrisse, Notes sur la Nouvdle France, p. 284. 13 194 THE SOURCES, PART I : OFFICIAL 26th March 1609. Notification to the town of St. Malo of the opening of the fur-trade and of the decision of the Council grant- ing a compensation to Monts. Michelant et Rame, ojo. cit p. 33. 2nd June 1609. Order to Spanish vessels bound for New- foundland to go well armed against English pirates. Coleccion Vargas Ponce iii, nos. 36 and 37. 21st June 1609. Receipt of Monts for 2000 livres of his pen- sion. Bibliotheque Nationale, Pieces originales, vol. 1421, no.32147 no. 7. 6th October 1609. Order in council declaring the fur-trade henceforth open and granting a compensation of 6000 livres to Monts to be divided among the vessels which traded there in 1609. Bibliotheque Nationale, Ms. Fr. 18176, fols 4-6. 17th January- 1610. Loan for the Newfoundland fishing trade. Breard, o/>. ci^. p. 117. 24th February 1610. One Morin loans the use of three boats left at the Bale des Morues in Canada. Ihid. p. 118. 4th March 1610. The Petite Lanterne about to set sail for Acadia. Ibid. 6th March 1610. Loan of 195 livres at 25 per cent, to Du- pont-Grav6. Ibid. 2Dd May 1610. Patent from James I to the London and British Company for the colonization of Newfoundland. Prowse, op. cit. Chap, V, appendix i, pp. 122-125. 1st October 1610. King Louis XIII to Poutrincourt en- couraging him in his enterprise. Marcel's reprint of the Factum du P voces, etc., p. 5. Paris 1887. 2nd October 1610. The Queen Mother to Poutrincourt to the same effect. Ibid. pp. 5-6. 7th October 1610. Louis XIII to Poutrincourt recommend- ing the Jesuits. Ibid. p. 6. 7th October 1610. The Queen Mother to the same for the same purpose. Ibid. p. 7. 25th October 1610. Decision of the town council of St. Malo to ask permission to arm two vessels against the savages of New- foundland who had killed several sailors and for the continuation THE SOURCES, PART 1 : OFFICIAL 195 of the freedom of trade in Canada. Michelant et Ram^, op. cit. pp. 34.-35. 27th December 1610. Contract of marriage between Cham- plain and Helen Uoulle. Laverdiere, op. cit. vol. vi, pieces justi" ficatives no. xxxi. 20th January 1611. Agreement between Robin, Saint- Just and the Jesuits for the fur-trade. Reprint of Factum du Proces etc. pp. 10-13. 17th February 1611. Payment to a pilot of 250 livres, 15 pots of oil, and 12 handfuls of green and 12 of dry cod for his salary. Breard, op. cit. p. 119. 17th February 1611. Decision of the town council of St. Malo to have the permission to arm two vessels against the sav- ages of Newfoundland registered at Rennes. Michelant et Ram6, op. cit. pp. 35-36. 2nd April 1611. Examination of Monts before the Court as to his monopoly. La Norraandie, Revue mensuelle, Rouen, Juilletl893, pp^ 8- 11. 13th August 1611. Proclamation of Governor Guy against abuses in the fishing trade. Sainsbury, op. cit, i 20 no. 40 (I). 8th February 1612. Loan of 40 livres to the pilot Routier for a trading voyage to Canada. Breard, op. cit. p. 120. 13th March 1612. Excommunication of Saint- Just and L'Abbe. Reprint of Factum, etc., pp. 43-47. 13th March 1612. Deposition of Hebert. Ibid. p. 54. 14th March 1612. Dupont-Grave gives a power of attorney to his wife. Breard, op. cit. p. 1 20. 17th March 1612. Loan of 48 livres at 32 1 per cent, for a voyage to Newfoundland. Ibid. 17th March 1612. Loan of 85 livres at 30 per cent, for a trading vovag-e to Canada. Ibid. 25th April 1612. Proces-verbal of what took place at the Port des Etechemins. Reprint of Factum, etc, pp. 30-32. l5th October 1612. Letters patent from Soissons appoint- ing Champlain his lieutenant. Laverdiere, op. cit. v 231-235. 13th November 1612. Letters patent from Louis XIII to Conde appointing him Viceroy of Canada with a monopoly of 196 THE SOURCES, PART I : OFFICIAL the fur-trade for twelve years. Archives of the Parlement of Rouen, 4th March 1613. 18th November 1612. Edict of Louis XIII to the officers ot the Admiralties of Normandy, Brittany, Picardy and Guyenne informing them of Conde's monopoly. Ibid. 22nd November 1612. Decision of the town of St. Malo not to prevent Monts from trading under Condi's monopoly. Michel- ant et Rame, op. cit. pp. 36-37. 22nd December 1612. Reiterated notice to the town of St. Malo of the new monopoly of the Prince de Conde. Ibid. p. 37. 16th January 1613. Decision of the town of St. Malo to ap- ply for liberty to trade with Canada. Ibid. pp. 37-39. 18th January 1613, Loan of 200 livres at 30 per cent, for a voyage to Canada. Breard, op. cit. p. 121. 19th January 1613. Another loan of 45 livres for the voyage to Canada. Ibid. 21st January 1613. Decision of the Parlement of Rouen to hear the merchants before registering Conde's monopoly. Ar- chives Secretes of the Parlement of Rouen, annee 1613-14, fols. 123 verso-124 and 126 verso. 26th February 1613. Order from Louis XIII to the Parle- ment of Rouen to register Condi's monopoly. Archives of the Parlement of Rouen, 4th March 1613. 26th February 1613, Agreement by which one Jacques Simon was to receive 100 livres for his services as interpreter to the Jesuits at St. Sauveur. Br6ard, op. cit. pp. 121-123. 27th February 1613. Loan of 100 livres at 30 per cent, for a voyage to Canada. Ibid. p. 123. 4th March 1613. Condi's Letters patent registered in the Parlement of Rouen. Archives of the Parlement of Rouen, same date. 20th June 1613. Receipt by Monts for the sum of 5000 livres given him by the King for his services as governor of the town of Pons. Bibliotheque Nationale, Pieces originales, vol. 1421 no. 32147 no. 8. 12th October 1613. Order in council summoning four merch- ants of St. Malo to pay 6000 livres to Monts within three months THE SOURCES, PART I : OFFICIAL 197 on pain of imprisonment. Archives of St. Malo, s^rie EE. 4, no. 138. 12th October 1613. Order to the sergeant to the same effect. Ibid. 14th November 1613. Edict of Louis XIII to the oflBcers of the Admiralties of Normandy, Brittany and Guyenne informing them of the extension of Conde's monopoly from Quebec to the river Mantanne. Archives of the Parlement of Rouen, 14th December 1613. 19th November 3 613. Statement of the sergeant as to his visit to St. Malo. Archives of St. Malo, sdrie EE. 4, no. 138. 8th December 1613. Complaint of La Rochelle fishermen against the English settlement in Newfoundland. Sainsbury, op. cit. Addenda, p. 51 no. 83. 14th December 1613. The extension of Condi's monopoly registered in the Parlement of Rouen. Archives of the Parle- ment of Rouen, same date. 21st December 1613. Decision of the town of St. Malo to free if possible the four merchants condemned by the King to pay to Monts the sum of 6000 livres. Michelant et Ramd, op cit. pp. 39-40. 1613. List of the Newfoundland vessels of St.- Jean-de-Luz which entered the canal of Pasajes that year. Coleccion Vargas Ponce iii, no. 41. 9th .Tanuar3'^ 1614. Statement of the sergeant at St. Malo as to the delivery of the papers regarding Monts' demand at St. Malo. Archives of St. Malo, s^rie EE. 4, no. 138. 13th January 1614. Loan of 50 livres at 27| percent, for the voyage of the Don-de-Dieu of 80 tons to Acadia. Br^ard, op. cit. pp. 1*23-124. 15th January 1614. Loan of 25 livres at 30 per cent, for the voyage to Acadia. Ibid. p. 124. 8th February 1614. Order in council putting an end to a difference between Monts and one of the captains of the garrison at Pons. Bibliotheque Nationale, Collection Clairambault, vol. 364 fol. 28 198 THE SOURCES, PART I: OFFICIAL 18th July 1614. Statement made by Poutrincourt about the destruction of his home at Port Royal before the Admiralty Court at La Rochelle. Lescarbot, op. cit. (Paris 1617) pp. 687-690. — October 1614. Expression of thanks from the Marquise de Guercheville to Secretary Winwood. Sainsbury, op. cit. Ad- denda, p. 52 no. 85. ^ October 1614. Complaint from Admiral Montmorency to King James of Argall's depredation. Sainsbury, op. cit i 15. 1st December 1614. Receipt given by Monts for 750 livres of his pension of 2000 livres a year. Bibliotheque Nationale, Pieces originales, vol. 1421, no. 32147, no. 9. 12th December 1614. Audience of Sir Thomas Edmondes with the King and Queen of France as to the English complaints against French sailors. Sainsbury, op. cit. Addenda, p. 52 no. 86. 80th December 1614. Memorial of the English complaints against the French. Ibid. pp. 52 53. 1614. Answer to the complaints presented to King James I by the Sieur de Buisseaux. Ibid. pp. 53-54. 20th February 1615. Agreement for the voyage of the Loyal of 70 tons to the coast of Acadia for fish and furs. Breard, op. cit. pp. 125-126. 17th April 1615. Loan of 39 livres at 30 per cent, for a voy- age to Canada. Ibid. p. 127. 18th April 1615. Loan of 26 livres for the same purpose. Ibid. 22nd April 1615. Loan of 50 livres at 25 per cent, for the same purpose. Ibid. pp. 127-128. 26th June 1615. Proclamation of Louis XIII forbidding the Newfoundland fishermen to tear down or remove the platforms in the bays and harbours on their first arrival. Michelant et Rame', o]j. cit. pp. 40-44. 20th August 1615. The above proclamation is registered in the Parlement of Brittany. Ibid. p. 44. 9th September 1615. The town of St. Malo decides to sup- port its citizens in the demands for the freedom of the fur-trade. Ibid. pp. 44-45. 1615. Petition to prevent the introduction into Spain of whale oil from Norway under the same favourable conditions THE SOURCES, PART I : OFFICIAL 199 enjoyed by that from Newfoundland. Coleccion Vargas Ponce v, no. 45. 5th January 1616. Loan of 63 livres at 25 per cent, for a trading voyage to Acadia. Br^ard, op. cit. p. 128. 5th November 1616. Appeal of the Estates of Brittany for the liberty of trade with New France. Michelant et Rame, op. cit. pp. 45-46. 6th March 1617. Agreement between Hebert and Cham- plain's Company, Au Roy sur la Nouvelle France, pp. 14-15. 1626. 9th March 1617. Loan for a trading voyage to Canada. Breard, op. cit. p. 129. 29th October 1617. Notice to the Estates of Brittany of the repeal of the article granting the freedom of trade with Canada and their determination to re-apply for its execution. Michelant et Rame, op. cit. pp. 47-49. 15th December 1617. Loan of 100 livres at 80 per cent, for a voyage to Canada. Breard, op. cit. p. 129. 18th December 1617. Loan of 26 livres at 30 per cent, for a trading voyage to Acadia. Ihid. January 1618. Petition of the inhabitants of St. Malo to the Parlement of Brittany to appoint a judge to try those guilty of tearing down platforms in Newfoundland. Archives de St. Malo, serie EE. 4, no. 139. 12th March 1618. Letters of Louis XIII to the Company formed in 1614 ordering them to give Champlain every assist- ance in fulfilling the duties of his office. Laverdiere, op. cit. v 324-325. 20th March 1618. Bull of Paul V giving permission to the Recollects to proceed as missionaries to New France. Sagard, Histoire du Canada, i 28-32. Paris 1865. 24th April 1618. Loan of 69 livres at 25 per cent, for a trading voyage to Canada. Breard, op. cit. p. 130. 25th July 1618. Petition that the whale oil and blubber brought from Newfoundland by the inhabitants of Guipuzcoa be preferred in the markets to that offered by strangers : granted. Coleccion Vargas Ponce iii, nos. 50 and 51. 200 THE SOURCES, PART I: OFFICIAL 25th September 1618. Payment to the widow of one Betourn6 of 111 livres for his services as carpenter in Robert Gravey's vessel, on her voyage to Acadia. Breard, Oj3. cit.ip. 130. 28th October 1618. Order of the Estates of Brittany to its representatives at Court to continue the lawsuit arising out of the monopoly of the fur-trade. Michelant etBam^, op. cit. pp. 49-50. 21st December 1618. Statement of the persons to be taken out and supported at the factory of Quebec during the year 1619. Laverdiere, 029. cit. v 317-319. December (?) 1618. Articles of grievances against the plan- tation of Newfoundland. Sainsbury, op, cit. i 20, no. 39. December (?) 1618. Answer of the Company of the Plantation of Newfoundland. Ibid. no. 40. December ( ? ) 1618. Reply of the petitioners to this answer. Ibid no. 41. 1618 ( ? ). Letters patent of Louis XIII granting permission to the Recollects to continue their missionary labours in New France. Sagard, op. cit. i 32-35. 3rd October 1619. Order from the Estates of Brittany to its representatives to defend those who are engaged in lawsuits in regard to the fur-trade monopoly. Michelant et Rame, op. cit. pp. 50-51. 16th March 1620. Petition from the Newfoundland planta- tion for relief against pirates. Sainsbury, ojj. cit. p. 25 no. 54- 7th May 1620. Letters from Louis XIII to Champlain en- couraging him in his work in New France. Laverdiere, o}). cit. v328. 23rd October 1620. Statement signed by the shareholders of Champlain's Company freeing one Mathieu Leforsonney from all responsibility as to some furs stored at Honfleur. Breard, op. cit. pp. 130-131. 27th October 1620. Letter to Sir Ferd. Gorges with orders to establish quiet among the fishermen of Newfoundland. Sainsbury, op. cit. p. 26. 8th November 1620. Articles stipulated by the Caens in re- turn for a monopoly of the fur-trade of New France. Biblioth^- que Nationale, Ms. Fr. 16738, fols. 148 et seq. THE SOURCES, PART I : OFFICIAL 201 27th November 1C20. Petition of the old Company to Mont morency to have their monopoly continued for four years, with Dolu's reply. Bibliotheque Nationale, Collection Colbert Cinq Cents, vol. 203, fols. 188-190. 29th January 1621. Loan of 72 livres at 25 per cent, for a trading voyage to Canada. Br6ard, op. cit. p. 131. 2nd February 1621. Notice sent to Charaplain by Montmo- rency of the formation of the Caens' Company. Laverdiere, op cit vi 10-11. 24th February 1621. Letter from Louis XIII to Champlain informing him of the despatch of arms to New France. Ibid. pp. 9-10. 2nd April 1621. Loan of 30 livres at 30 per cent, for a trad- ing voyage to Canada. Breard, op. cit. p. 131. 18th August 1621. Petitions from the inhabitants of New France and from the Recollects to the King for the removal of certain abuses. Sagard, oj). cit. i 80-94. 18th August 1621. List of arms handed over to Champlain. Laverdiere, op. cit. vi 32. 31st August 1621. Statement by one Hallard of the powder handed over to Champlain. Ihid. pp. 32-33. 10th September 1621. Charter from James I granting Nova Scotia to Sir William Alexander. D. Laing, Royal Letters, Charters and Tracts relating to the colonization of New Scot- land, Charters pp. 1-15. Edinburgh, (Bannatyne Club) 1867. 21st October 1621. Baptism of Eustache Martin at Quebec. Collection de Manuscrits relatifs a la Nouvelle France, i 61. 8th November 1621. Grant of a portion of Nova Scotia to Robert Gordon of Lochinvar. Laing, op. cit., Charters pp. 16-26. 20th March 1622. Letters from Louis XIII to Champlain in- forming him of the decree of the Council uniting the two Com- panies. Laverdiere, op. cit. vi 51. Slst December 1622. Grant of Newfoundland to Sir George Calvert. Sainsbury, op. cit. p. 35. 30th March 1623. Regrant of a territory in Newtounclland to Sir George Calvert. Ihid. p. 41. 202 THE SOURCES, PART I: OFFICIAL 7th April 1623. James I grants Avalon to Lord Baltimore. Prowse, op. cit pp. 131-132, no. IV. 2nd September 1623. Statement of Pierre Guerard before the Admiralty officer at Dieppe. Felix, Voyage a la Nouvelle France du Gapitaine Charles Daniel, Introd. pp. 5-9. Rouen 1881. 15th January 1625. Notice that there were then in the port at Pasajes bound for Newfoundland forty-one vessels with 295 ship's boats and 1475 men. Coleccion Vargas Ponce v, no. 30. 15th February 1625. Commission from Ventadour appoint- ing Champlain his lieutenant. Laverdi^re. op. cit. vi 88-92. 12th July 1625. Renewal of Baltimore's grant in Newfound- land by Charles I. Prowse, op. cit. 2nd edition, pp. 27-45. 8th August 1625. Petition of the Mayor of Poole to the Privy Council for protection for the Newfoundland fleet against Turkish pirates. Sainsbury, op. cit. p. 75. 24th August 1625. Royal order that ships from Newfound- land with cod were not to pay duty. Coleccion Vargas Ponce iii, no 57. 18th November 1626. The owners of the Newfoundland fishing vessel Saint-Thomas- des-Maretz demand indemnity for the seizure of the same by La Ralde. Breard, op. cit. pp. 133-134. 21st November 1626. Payment of 81 livres to one Bataille for his services in Canada. Ihid. p. 134. 26th November 1626. Report on shipping presented to Richelieu by Razilly. L. Deschamps, Isaac de Razilly, pp. 15- 35. Paris 1887. 29th April 1627. Articles accorded by King Louis XIII to the Company of New France. Collection de Manuscrits relatifs a la Nouvelle France, i 62-71. 1627. Description of the fleet which left St. Malo for New- foundland in May 1627. Sainsbury, op. cit. Addenda, p. 69. 2nd February 1628. Grant to Alexander by Charles I of the islands and trade of the St. Lawrence. Laing, op. cit., Charters pp. 46-51. 27th April 1328. Order from Louis XIII directing Champlain to draw up an inventory of the arms, furniture, provisions, etc., brought to Quebec by the Caens. Laverdiere, o-p. cit. vi 181-182. THE SOURCES, PART I : OFFICIAL 203 J^ July 1628. Demand sent by David Kirke to Champlain for the surrender of Quebec. Ihid. pp. 175-177. 18th July 1628 (?). Reply of Champlain. Ibid. pp. 177-179. 9th August 1628. Petition of Lord Newburgh and his part- ners to the King; about Canada and Alexander's rio-hts. Sains- bury, op. cit. Addenda, p. 70 no. 149. 1628. Statement of the condition of affairs in the St. Law- rence. Ibid. p. 69 no. 148. 1628. Propositions of accomodation with Alexander. Ibid. p. 70 no. 149(1). 4th February 1629. Monopoly of the trade in the gulf and river of Canada granted to Alexander and his partners. Sains- bury, op. cit. p. 96. 21st March 1629. Commission appointing Champlain lieu- tenant for Richelieu in New France. Laverdiere, op. cit. vi 297-299. March (?) 1629. Memorial touching the preparations of the French for Canada. Sainsbury, op. cit. p. 96 no. 3. 17th May 1629. List of the shareholders of the Company of New France. Collection de Manuscrits relatifs d la Nouvelle France, i 80-85. 19th July 1629. Demand for the surrender of Quebec. La- verdiere, op. cit. vi 239. 19th July 1629. Champlain's reply. Ibid. 19th July 1629. Articles demanded by Champlain before the surrender. Ibid. pp. 240-242 ; Sainsbury, op. cit. i 98, no 16. 21st July 1629. Statement by Lewis Kirke of what he found at Quebec. Laverdiere, op. cit. vi 245-246. 19th August 1629. Articles granted to Champlain and Du- pont-Grave. Ibid. pp. 242-243. 1629 (?). Grievances of Champlain when m London. Ibid. Pieces justificatives no. i. 9th November 1629. Deposition of Champlain before the Admiralty Court. Ibid. no. ii. 9th November 1629. Examination of Boulle. Ibid. no. iii. 9th November 1629. Examination of Nicholas Blundell of Dieppe. Ibid. no. iv. 204 THE SOURCES, PART I : OFFICIAL I7th November 1629. Deposition of David Kirke, Thomas Kirke, John Love and Thomas Wade. Ibid., no. v. 1629. Petition of the Scottish and English Company for the restoration of goods. Sainsbury, op. cit. p. 106 no. 49. January (?) 1630. Memorial of Lord Ochiltrie to the King complaining of his seizure by Captain Daniel. F^lix, op. cit. Appendice A pp. 5-14. January (?) 1630. Paper presented to the King by Lord Ochiltrie as to the plans of the French in America. Sainsbury, op. cit. i 106, no. 47. 27th January 1630. Appointment of a commission to inquire into Caen's claims. Ibid. no. 48. 1st February 1630. Demand of the French ambassador to have the furs seized which were brought from Quebec. Laver- diere, o^?. cit. vi, pieces justificatives no. vi, 1st February 1630. Demand of the same for the restitution of Port Royal and Quebec. Ibid, no vii. ^■^ 1st February 1630. Answer of the Lords' committees for For- eign Affairs to the above demands. Ibid., no. viii. 28th February 1630. A commission prepared to inquire into French claims but Caen not satisfied with it. Sainsbury, op. cit i 108, no. 56. 5th March 1630. Appointment of a commission to inquire into the amount of furs seized at Quebec. Laverdiere, ojJ. cit. vi, pieces justificatives no. ix. 2nd April 1680. Order of the Privy Council for the hearing of the matter of Caen's claims before the Lord Mayor. Sains- bury, op. cit. i 112, no. 79. 7th April 1 630. List of six French captains bound for Can- ada. Ibid. no. 80. 9th April 1630. Ibid, no 81. 9th April 1630. of the skins. Ibid. 15th April 1630. ambassador's application tives no. X. Notice of the sale of the skins to Caen. Order of the Privy Council for the delivery Dorchester to Wake in regard to the French Laverdiere, op. cit. vi, pieces justifica- THE SOURCES; PART I : OFFICIAL 205 April 1630. Deposition of the notary as to his search for the keys of the warehouse. Ibid. no. xi (3). April 1630. Petition of Caen to the Privy Council for re- dress. Ibid. no. xi (2). 28th April 1630. The Lord Mayor to the Privy Council as to Caen's demands. Ibid. no. xi (1). 18th May 1630. Warrant to the Lord Mayor to break open the warehouse. Ibid. no. xii. May 1630. Demand of the French ambassador for the arrest and imprisonment of Kirke and his partners. Ibid. no. xiii. 2nd June 1630. Order for the examination of Fittz the guilty party. Ibid. no. xiv. 16th June 1630. Order to proceed against Fittz in the Star Chamber for contempt of justice. Sainsbury, op. cit. i 117. 9th July 1630. Order of the Privy Council to accompany Fittz in search of the stolen skins. Ibid., p. 118. 14th July 1630. Order for the release of Fittz. Ibid. 9th September, 1630. The Council of Scotland to Charles I on the title of the French to Nova Scotia. Ibid. p. 119 no. 102, 9th September 163C. Reasons in defence of the English right to the same. Ibid. no. 102 (1). 26th February 1631. Petition of the Scottish and English Company for the stay of certain ships bound for Canada. Laverdiere, op. cit. vi, pieces justificatives no. xv. 29th February 1631. Warrant for the stay of the same. Ibid. no. xvi. 5th March 1631. Petition of John Smart of Plymouth for a plantation on the north side of the river of Canada. Sainsbury, op. cit. i 129, no. 8. 2nd May 1631. Declaration of the number of furs brought from Canada. Laverdi^re, op. cit. vi, pieces justificatives no. xvii. 27 th May 1631. Deposition of David Kirke before Sir Henry Martin. Ibid. no. xviii. August 1631. Captain Lewis Kirke to Emery de Caen. Ibid. no. xix. 22nd August 1631. Declaration of Emery de Caen as to his voyage to Quebec. Ibid. 206 THE SOURCES, PART I : OFFICIAL 14.th October 1631. Order of the Privy Council for the further hearing of the case of the interlopers. Ihid. no. xx. 5th November 1631. Examination of the interlopers. Ihid. no. xxi. November 1631. Report of the commissioners appointed to inquire into the matter. Ihid. 1st December 1631, Grant of arms to the Kirkes. Sains" bury, op. cit. i 137. 1631. Petition from Caen to Richelieu. Bibliotheque Nation- ale, Ms. Fr. 16738, fols. 132-133. 1631. Memorial from the Province of Guipuzcoa to the King of Spain pointing out how owing to the duty on salt no ships left that year for Newfoundland. Coleceion Vargas Ponce v, no. 36. 31st January — _,. Burlamachi to the Scottish and English Company on the state of ths peace negotiations. Laverdiere, op. cit. vi, pieces justificatives no. xxiii. January 1632. Note of such things as the Scottish and English Company has in Canada. Ihid. no. xxii. 13th February 1632. Agreement between Champlain and his wife as to their goods. Revue des Questions Heraldiques, Paris, Aout 1899, p. 67. 27th March 1632. Agreement between Razilly and Richelieu for the re-occupation of Port Royal. Collection de Manuscrits relatifs a la Nouvelle France, i 85-86. 29th March 1632. Treaty of St-Germain-en-Laye. Ihid. pp. 86-97. March 1632, Objections to the agreement as to the payment for Caen's debts. Laverdiere, op. cit. vi, pieces justificatives no. xxiv. March 1632. King Charles I commands the Scottish and English Company to give up Quebec. Ihid. no. xxv. March 1632. Another copy of the same. Ihid. no. xxvi. March 1632. Declaration by Champlain as to the arms and other material left at Quebec. Ihid. no. xxvii. 3rd April 1632. List of vessels which sailed that year from Pasajes for Newfoundland. Coleceion Vargas Ponce v, no. 38. 24th April 1632. Answer of the Scottish and English Com- THE SOURCES, PART I : OFFICIAL 207 pany to a letter from Sir Isaac Wake. Laverdiere, op. cit. vi, pieces justificatives no. xxviii. 10th May 1G32. Commission to Razilly from Louis XIII to receive Port Royal from the Scots. Collection de Manuscrits relatifs a la Nouvelle France, i 110. 12th May 1632. Receipt thereof acknowledged by Razilly. Ibid. p. 111. 19th May 1632. Grant of land to Razilly in Acadia by the Company of New France. Memoires des Commissaires du Roi, ii 491. Paris 1755. 12th June 1632. Order from Charles I to the Scottish and English Company for the surrender of Quebec. Sainsbury, op. cit., i 151, no. 55. 5th September 1632. Deposition of Solicitor Peacock re Thomson's payment of 400 marks. Laverdiere, op. cit. vi, pieces justificatives no. xxix (2). 1632. The Attorney General's report to the Privy Council on the interlopers. Ibid. no. xxix (1). 1632. Petition of the Scottish and English Company. Ibid. no. xxix (3). 1632. List of goods found in the Mary Fortune taken at Tadoussac, Sainsbury, op. cit. i 143, no, 50. 1632. Minute with respect to the possession of New Scotland by the French, Ibid. p. 152 no. 56. 11th May 1633. Patent to Sir William Alexander and others for the sole trade to the river and gulf of Canada. Ibid. p. 165. I7th June 1633. Demands of the Scottish and English Com- pany to Caen. Laverdiere, op), cit. vi, pieces justificatives no. xxx. 25th June 1633. Decret of the Parlement of Rouen relative to the disputes about the fur-trade in Canada. Archives of the Parlement of Rouen, same date. 25th June 1633. Second decree relative to the same. Ibid. 12th July 1633. Third decree relative to the same. Ibid., same date. 27th April 1634. Decree of the Council of State relative to the Company of New France, Bibliotheque Nationale, Ms, Fr. 16734, fols. 143 et seq. THE SOURCES. PART II : NARRATIVE Verrazano. The account of Verrazano's voyage is preserved in two Italian versions! and in an English version.^ The latter is only a trans- lation of one of the former ^ while the short French synopsis given by Belleforesf* and Lescarbot^ is evidently taken from this same Italian version of Ramusio.^ There remain therefore the two Italian versions, which, strange to say, offer considerable differences. Not only is the manuscript version much longer than that given by Ramusio, but in the parts given by both, the Italian is often quite different. Thus while one begins — " Non scrissi a V. Maesta Christianiss. Re dopo la fortuna havuta nelle parti Settentrionale," the other has " Da poi la fortuna pas- sata nelle piagge settentrionale, Serenissimo Re, non scrissi a Vostra Serenissima et Christianissima Maesta," etc. Again lower down the manuscript version has " il resto nudo, il capo simile," which is lacking in the other.7 It should therefore appear that both are translations of the original French version now lost. That such an original existed is proved by the mention of it in 1 The first exists in a manuscript copy found by Mr. 6. W. Greene in the Magliabecchian Libi-ary at Florence and published with a translation in the Collec- tions of the New York Historical Society, second series, vol. i (New York 1841) pp. 39-67. A corrected version will be found in the Archivio Storico Italiano, tomo ix (Firenze 1853) pp. 37-52. The second Italian version is the one given by Ramusio in his Navigationi et Viagcji, tomo iii, folios 420-422. Venetia 1556. 2 " The Relation of John Verarzanus, a Florentine, of the lande by him dis- covered in the name of his Maiestie, written in Diepe the eight of July 1524," in Hakluyt, Divers Voyages, pp. 55-71. Publications of the Hakluyt Society, Lon- don 1850. ^ Ibid., p. 17: "I have translated the voyage of John Verarzanus," etc. Cf. also p. 24. 4 Belleforest, Cosmographie Universelle, ii 2175-78. Paris 1575. 5 Lescarbot, op. cit. (ed. of 1866) i 30-37. 6 A. de Leon Pinelo, Epitome de la Bihliotheca Oriental y Occidental, Nautica y Geografica, tomo segundo (Madrid 1738), p. 620 : " i esti resumida en Marcos Lescarbot." For the other differences vid. De Costa, op. cit. pp. 7 et seq. [ 208 ] THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE 209 Pinelo, who distinctly tells us that Ramusio translated it from the French.i Let us hope that some day this original may yet be brought to light. Carli's Letter This is a letter2 written by one Fernando Carli to his father from Lyons in August 1524, in which he mentions the voyage of Verrazano to the New World in the Dauphine.'^ It is simply one of those fugitive contemporary notices which the historian is always delighted to discover, as they throw a refreshing light on facts which are often only otherwise authenticated by receipts, marriage contracts or death notices. John Rut. The information contributed by John Rut may be found in a letter, " in bad English and worse writing," which he sent from St. John's, Newfoundland, to King Henry the Eighth in the year 1527. Purchas, who has preserved it for us,^ thought the source from which he obtained it to be the original,^ although he did not copy it until nearly one hundred years after it had been written. This would account however for his description given above. It appears that two ships were sent out in that year to find certain islands in the west, although Hakluyt, coupling this venture with a letter from Seville, written in the same year, thought that their aim was to find a northern passage to the East.^ All that Rut says, however, is that they were about to sail on with all diligence " to- ward . . . that Islands . . . as we were commanded at our departing." In this they were unsuccessful. One vessel, the >S^am- 1 Pinelo, op. cit. (ed. of 1629) p. 79 : — :" Juan Verrazano. Relacion de lo que deseubrio al Septentrion de la Florida, en Frances. Juan Baptista Ramusio la traduxo en Italiano, i la imprimio en el tomo 3." Alcedo, Bihlioteca Americana, MS. in Carter-Brown Library, vol. ii, p. 890 : " Escrita en Diepa en Frances," etc., cited by De Costa, op. cit., p. 21, note 4. 2 " Lettera di Fernando Carli a suo padre " in Archivio Storico Italiano, ix 53-55. Vid. Brevoort's Verrazano (New York 1874) pp. 151-153, for English translation. 3 M. de la Roncitire has been kind enough to point out a reference to this vessel in the Collection Clairambault, vol. 154, fol, 4015, no. 99. 4 Purchas His Pilgrimes, The Third Part, p. 809. London 1625. 5 Ibid., p. 808 :— " here (as I thinke) given you from the Originall." 6 Hakluyt, Divers Voyages, p. 54. 14 210 THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE son. foundered not far from Newfoundland in a storm, and Rut's vessel, the Mary of Gilford, after " shaping her course towards Cape Britton and the coast of Norumbega, and oftentimes putting^ their men on land to search the state of those unknowen regions, returned home about the beginning of October."^ In itself the letter contains very little information, but it is important as proving the rapid increase of the fishing trade. On entering the harbour of St. John's they found thirteen vessels all engaged in fishing. Purchas says there was also a letter from the same place addressed to Cardinal Wolsey, but, as it was to the same purport, he deemed it unnecessary to print it.2 G artier s Voyages. Of the four voyages which Cartier seems to have made to the Gulf of St. Lawrence at the King's orders, we have accounts of only the first three. The original of the first voyage made in 1534 is lost. The manuscript preserved at the Bibliotheque Nationale in the collec- tion Moreau is only a copy of it.^ This is clearly proved, in the first place because it is dated 1544 and is found in the collection Moreau. Again it has none of the headings except one which the copyist wrote out in a moment of forgetfulness.'* There are also several mistakes, as for instance the omission of the word " main,"5 Rapont for Carpont,'' and fifty degrees for fifty-one and one-half. The Italian version of Ramusio,7 the next in date, though it contains the headings which are omitted in the French copy, is 1 Hakluyt, Principall Navigations (1589), p. 517. cf. also Coleccion de Documentos Iniditos de Indias 1st Series vol. xxxvii, pp. 456-458, vol. xl pp 305-354; 2nd Series iv pp. 57-60. 2 Purchas His Pilgrimes, Third Part, p. 809. 3 Collection Moreau, vol. 841, fols. 51 et seq. This was published as the original in 1867 at Paris by M. Michelant. i Michelant's edition, p. 6: — "Description de la terre dempuis Cap Rouge jucques au hable de Brest, estaut en la baye." 5 Ibid., p. 3. 6 Ihid., pp. 5, 6 and 7. 7 Ranmsio, op. cit. iii 435-440 : — " Prima Relatione di Jacques Cartier della Terra Nuova detta la Nuova Francia." THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE 211 not a very careful translation. Thus while it was the Vice- Admiral de Mouy who took the oaths and Cartier who set sail, the Relation is headed " Come messer Carlo da Mouy .... partito." Again, where the French copy reads (p. 8) " Et a deux lieux dudit hable des Buttes est le hable de la Balaine," Ramusio has " et k due leghe dal porto delle ballanze." So on folio 435 verso Brest is put for Bouays, and on folio 436 the number fourteen is left out. There are also other mistakes similar to those which occur in most translations. In 1580 Florio published at London an English translation of this version of Ramusio.^ The translation was done at Oxford and is dedicated to Edmond Bray, High Sheriff of that county.2 In the preface he says that " if the Marchant Venturer, or skil- full Pilot, or whosoever desirous of newe Discoveries, have the readying and perusing thereof, for whome especially I have done it into Englishe, they will find matter whorthy the looking." His aim in fact was to urge his countrymen to fresh efforts in dis- covery and colonization, for '' althoughe some attemptes have not had as yet suche successe as was wished, they ought not therefore to bee the slower in this entreprise." The translation is fairly well done, mistakes such as that of putting " Come Messer Carlo da Mouy .... partito " being corrected by Florio, who put " How Maister James Carthier departed from the Port of S. Malo." In 1598 there appeared at Rouen a French translation of Ramusio's version.^ It appears that the attention of the pub- lisher had been drawn to New France by the publication of 1 A shorte and hritfe narration of the tivo Navigations and Discoveries to the Northweast partes called Newe Fraunce: First translated out of French into Italian by that famous learned man Gio: Bapt: Ramutius and now turned into English by John Florio. Imprinted at London by H. Bynneman, dwelling in Thames streate, neere unto Baj'nardes Castell, Anno Domini 1580. 2 " To the Right Worshipful Edmond Bray Esquire From Oxenford the 25 of June 1580." Dedication. 3 Discours du Voyage Fait par le Capitaine Jaques Cartier aux Terres-neufves de Canadas, Norembergue, Hochelage, Labrador, et pays adiacens, dite nouvelle France, avec particidieres m^ceurs, langage et ceremonies des habitans d'icelle. A Rouen 1598. This version, which is the one given by Lescarbot (1609, p. 231) was reprinted by M. Michelant at Paris in 1865. It will also be found in H. Ternaux-Compans, Archives des Voyages, i 117-153. Paris 1840, 212 THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE La Roche's Letters patent which had been given to himself to print. When therefore a few days later, an account of Cartier's first voyage fell into his hands, he decided to print it as well, though it was in a foreign tongue. The translation was done by one of his friends and the book was published in the year 1598.^- Contrarv to the opinion of M. Michelant the work is simply a translation of Ramusio's version. Thus the mistake in the first heading is again repeated and we have " Comme Messire Charles de Mouy .... partit " etc. The " Nouvelle France " of the original which Ramusio had rendered " La Francese " now becomes " La Fran^oise," which must have been unintelligible to most readers. Other peculiarities present in the Italian version might also be pointed out. Two years later Richard Hakluyt gave a fresh English trans- ation in the third volume of his collection of voyages.^ It seems to have been at Hakluyt's suggestion that Florio had made his translation, which Hakluyt had intended to include in his Divers Voyages published in 1582.^ Since then however he has probably seen the French printed edition of 1598 or even the original at Paris,"* for he has improved Florio's translation in several places. Thus, where Florio (p. 5) had put White Sands, Hakluyt (p. 203) gives the French name " Blanc Sablon, " and again where Florio (p. 10) made the mistake of taking " Godetz Isoli " as the name of these birds,Hakluyt (page 205) translates properly with "onely Godetz." For some reason or other Florio put just one half the num- 1 " Aj'ant ces iours passez imprirae I'Edict du Roy contenant le pouvoir et commission donnee au sieur Marquis de la Roche, il m'est du depuis tombe entre les mains un Discours du voyage fait ausdites terres, par le Capitaine Jaques Car- tier, escrit en langue estrangere que i'ay fait traduire en la nostre, par un de mes amis." Ibid., p. 3. 2 Hakluyt, PW?i«25«« Navigations {1600), iii 201-212 :—" The first relation of Jaques Carthier of S. Malo, of the new land called New France, newly discover- ed in the j'ere of our Lord 1534." 3 Hakluyt, Diva's Voyages, p. 17 : — "And the last yeere, at my charges and other of my friendes, by my exhortation,! caused Jaques Cartiers two voyages of discovering the grand Bay, and Canada, Saguinay and Hochelaga, to bee trans- lated out of my Volumes, which are to be annexed to this present." * Hakluyt, i)isco?<r,se concerning Westeme Planting, p. 112: — "and in the Frenche originall [of the second voyage] which I sawe in the Kinges Library at Paris." THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE 213 ber of fathoms given in Ramusio (Florio, pp. 3,8,9,12 etc.), and this mistake Hakluyt also corrects. He writes Newfoundland as one word where Florio has " the newe found land." Hakluyt has still retained however several of the Italian terms, and we have Buona Vista (p. 201), Razo(p. 202), Lunario (p. 206)3aia (p. 207), etc., as in Ramusio. As to the author of the Relation I should hesitate to say that it was Cartier, as others have done,l on the ground that he would name the best harbour met with after himself. 2 Often indeed the author speaks of Cartier as a third person^ and always with respect as " the Captain". Since, as we shall see presently, the author of the second Relation was a certain Jean Poulet, it is not improbable that he also wrote this first one. He was a sort of secretary to the expedition.and kept the reckoning of the cal- endar, though not always with success. The style of the two accounts is similar and Poulet had formed one of the company on this first voyage. Four different French versions of the second voyage have been preserved, but an examination shows that they have all been tak- en from one original which in this case has fortunately survived. it is manuscript No. 5589 of the Bibliotheque Nationale, hitherto known as B. The other versions are two in manuscript known as A4 and C-5 , and the edition published at Paris in 1545^ known as P. Lescarbot tells us in 1609 that he took the version given in his work from the original bound in blue satin and then preserv- ed in the Royal Library at Paris.7 The present binding of B 1 Michelant's edition (1867), p. iv : — "II nous parait resulter non nioins claire- ment du recit lui-meme qu'on pent I'attribuer avec assurance h Cartier " etc. ■^ Ibid., p. 11. 3 Ihid., p. 2 : — " dudit Cartier." Cf. also p. 38 :^'" qui se assembl^rent sur ledit cappitaine .... et il leur donna", etc. Also p. 41. 4 Bibliotheque Nationale, Ms. Fr. 5653. 5 Ibid. Ms. Fr. 5644. 6 Brief Recit et Succincte Narration, de la navigation faicte es ysles de Canada, Hochelage et Saguenay et autres, avec particidieres meurs, langaige, et ceremonies des habitans d'icelles : fort delectables d, veoir, Paris 1545, 8" ; It was reprinted by M. d'Avezac in 1863. 7 Lescarbot, op. cit. (1609), p. 231 : — " mais le second ie I'ay pris sur I'original presente au Koy ecrit k la main, convert en satin bleu. " 214 THE SOURCES, PART IT : NARRATIVE dates only from the reign of Louis the Fourteenth but the light blue stains on the upper right hand corner of the leaves prove that the first binding was of that colour. It is probable indeed that something was accidentally spilled over the manuscript in the seventeenth century, and that it was then rebound with its pre- sent binding. The work was not well d"ne, for after folio 50 it is difficult to read the last inside word of each line. Internal evidence also supports the view that this was the manuscript copied by Lescarbot. To leave for the moment C quite out of the question, for, as I shall presently show, it is a late copy, as between A and B Lescarbot certainly copied B. In the first place A has neither the dedication nor the chapter headings which are given in Lescarbot. Again Lescarbot^ has " partant" like B (fol. 21) while A (fol. 21 verso) has " partist." So on page 390 Lescarbot has " et nomme " and B (fol. 42 verso) the same, while A (fol. 41) has "est nomme." In one place iu B (fol. 15) we have the ab- breviation "Sr"; A (fol. 15 verso) has " Seigneur" while Lescarbot 2 has put " sieur." Had he been copying A it is doubtful if he would have put anything ehe but " Seigneur." Not only does B bear greater signs of age than A and C but it has marginal notes and well-thumbed edges which testify to considerable usage From this original B was copied the manuscript A, which M. d'Avezac thought was the original. It does not contain either the dedication or the chapter-headings but it is otherwise a carefully executed copy. It is written in a clear hand on clean paper, has no marginal notes and bears every appearance of having been made rather for preservation than for use. In addition to the readings different from B which are given above, the more modern spelling reveals the later date of A Thus it has "riviere" where B has " ripviere," " a ce qui " for "adce que," " veoir " for " veoyr," "saubvete " for " sauf vete," " avec " for " avecques," " horrible " for " orrible," " a tant" for " attant," " eurent " for " heurent," " depuis " for " despuis " and " dempuis," " doibtz " and " doigz " for " doidz," " ballames" for " baillames," " profondz " for " parfondz," " mectre " for " meptre," " avril " for " apvril," " viz " for " vidz," " samedi " for " sabmedi" 1 Ibid., p. 350. 2 u^id., p. 336. THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE 215 etc. Otherwise B is so closely copied that even the slips are imitated. Thus where B (f ol, 13) has " Agaia " instead of the usual " Agaya," A has also the former. So with " Houchelaga " on folio 14 of both manuscripts. On folio 6 of B the words " de la " have been scratched out and " dudict " written after them. The copyist of A (f ol. 4 verso) wrote them both however without noticing this. Again the word ''ont" is inserted above the line in A (fol. 5 verso) because it was so in B (fol. 6 verso). So with the word " Addegve " in B (fol. G3) and A (fol. 56 verso). The present binding of A dates from the reign of Charles the Ninth, so it is possible that the copy was made under that monarch. From the original B was also taken the version published at Paris in 1.545 and known as P. The transcription was carelessly done, for besides slips of minor importance two whole chapters were left out. As far as one can judge this was accidental, as the pages where the copyist left off and the one where he began again resemble each other closely. It is possible therefore that resuming his work one day he skipped the three or four inter- vening leaves without noticing that he was doing so. Another error was to put " sixth " of July (p. 46 b) instead of sixteenth as the date of Cartier's arrival at St. Malo. Thus the return voyage was only made to occupy seventeen days instead of twenty-seven. We also find inserted in several places (pp. 6 a, 89 b and 40 b) the name of a certain " Jehan Poullet," though this name is absent from the original, manuscript B. The only way in which one can account for this insertion is by adopting the hypothesis that this man was the author of the Relation. Cartier was alive at the time and would have protested against any unjustified insertion. It was this Poulet who had had charge of the roll of the company at St. Malo in 1535,1 which 1 Joiion des Longrais, op. cit., p. 127 : — " Et a celluy Poulet aparu le roUe et norabre des compaignons que led. Cartier a prins pour lad. navigation." I did not see till after I had formed this opinion that such is also the view of M. Joiion des Longrais. Ibid. p. 127 note I : — " L'exageration evidente de son role dans le Brief R^cit peut seulement faire penser qu'il a du participer k sa redaction. Peut-etre meme en est-il I'auteur. On ne le retrouve point dans les registres d'Etat civil de S. Malo, mais il devait etre de Dol comma tous les Poulet." 216 THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE indicates that he acted as a sort of secretary of the expedi- tion. He had formed part of the company on the first voyage, l and this time had sailed in the same vessel with Cartier.^ He was evidently a Breton^ who had been to Bordeaux"* and possibly also to Brazil,^ though this does not necessarily follow from the text of his Relation. In any case he was a fervent member of the Roman Church for after having in his manuscript called the Lutherans "meschans" he added in the printed edition the epithets " apostatz et imifcateurs de Mahomet." ^ The manuscript C is also a copy, though a bad one, of B, made after the publication in 1o4j of P, of which it shows many traces. Thus we find the epithets " apostates and imitators of Mahomet" as in P, while the last phrase of the dedication in B, " les rottes, dangers et gisemens dicelles terres," is left out be- cause it was not in P. It would seem indeed that the scribe of C set out to copy B but finding that there were divergencies be- tween B and P adopted as a rule the readings of the later version as more likely to be correct. Thus in paragraph one after hav- ing written " audict an mil " etc. as in B, he looked into P where he found " en Ian mil " etc ; so he erased the former and wrote this. Again havinof found in P "Cathedrale de Sainct Malo" he erased the " dudict " which he had copied from B. Traces of these operations are still clearly visible in the manus- cript. In fact all through C we find the same continual endeavour to copy B as far as was compatible with the difi'erent readings of P. Thus on fol. 45 the words " et qu'ilz avoyent menge leurs vivres et estournemens" and on fol. 51 the words " ledit Seigneur et ses compaignons " are left out because they are not in P. On fol. 12 verso C has " nostre Capitaine " like P, though B (fol. 11) 1 D'Avezac, Bref R6cit, etc. (Paris 1863), p. 8 : — " Lequel cap congnoissons du precedent voyage." Cf. also p. 8 b. 2 Ibid,, p. 6 b : — " et depuis nous estre entreperduz, avons este avec la nef generalle. " Cf . also p. 13 b and especially pp. 39 et seq. Only Poulet himself could have recounted these facts. 3 Michelant et Rame, op. cit., p. 19 : — "que jevis oncques en Bretaigne." 4 D'Avezac, op. cit., p. 12: — " Comme devant Bordeaux de fio et ebbe." 5 Ibid., p. 30 b : — " Cedict peuple vit en communaulte de biens assez de la sorte des Brisilans." 6 Ibid. p. 4 b. THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE 217 has " le Cappitaine " ; again fol. IG " lors " for " dont " in B (fol. 15 verso) ; same folio "jouxte" for "joignant " ; fol. 20 "cinq" for " six "; fol, 37 " divise " for " diet," because P has these. On folio 57 C thought well to add an " aultre " because P had put one in. Sometimes however whole phrases are changed as on folio 16 verso, where C like P (p. 17 b) has " dont tous se retire- rent a grant haste linsi que si les eussions voullu tuer," while B rfol. 16) reads " dont se retirerent tous si a grand haste quil sembloyt que les voulsissious tuer " ; so Sgain on fol. 17 the phrase "lesquelz avoient des cornes aussi longues que le bras," etc., differs considerably from the reading in B (fol. 16 verso) " lesquelz estoient vestuz de chien noirs et blancs," etc. Wher- ever B has blanks, they are filled up from P. Thus on folio 22 of C we have the word " marche " taken from P as it is omitted in B (fol. 23) ; so also the word " frotter " (fol. 24 j omitted in B (fol. 26); and finally on folio 55 verso the number " twenty-first" absent from B folio 60. On the other hand C sometimes follows B even at the expense of P. The most notable instance is of course the two chapters omitted in P which C has copied in extenso from B. C also omits the name " Jehan Poullet " which is not found in B. Again in the choice of words C sometimes prefers B to P. Thus on fol. 37 he put " arrivez " as in B although P has ' revenuz " ; again on folio 57 " demeure " as in B, while P (p. 46) has " veismes." On folio 20 verso C has in- serted the words " de partye " as in B (fol. 21), although they are left out by P (p. 21 b) ; so also folio 21 the word " temps " and the heading on folio 24 of C, neither of which is in P. The Indian vocabulary at the end of C not only contains the words given in B and P but has also several new ones. Where C found the names of the Indian villages and the Indian terms for " large house," " come and swim," etc., I have not been able to discover. They constitute the only important point of interest in this manuscript. In fact even against these additions one might cite omissions, as for instance (fol. 9 verso) the words "qui faisoit," which are found both in B and P. Indeed after tiying to make his Indian vocabulary most complete the copyist of C left out the phrase " II y a de groz ratz " etc., given in B (fol. 66). 238 THE SOURCES, PART II: NARRATIVE This second Relation was several times translated but always from the version P published at Paris in 1545. In 1556 Ramusio published an Italian translation^ which was in turn translated into English by Florio in 1580.2 The two chapters omitted in P are of course absent from both of these translations. They are in other respects not very exact and in folio 445, for instance, of Ramusio we find " come il Capitano et cinque gentili Ihuomini con venti huomini " instead of " comment le cappitaine et les gentilz hommes avec vingt cinq hommes " as in P (p. 23). The Indian vocabulary is also considerably disfigured by the change. All these mistakes re-appear of course in Florio. In 1600 Hakluyt published a fresh English translation after having examined the original himself at Paris.3 He neither puts in the two omitted chapters however nor corrects all the mistakes. He limits his changes in fact to putting the correct number of fathoms instead of the half as given bj^ Florio, to writing Newfoundland for "the newe found land," and to slight alterations in the text of no great importance. In 1840 M. Ternaus-Compans published a copy of this Relation after the manuscripts B and C,"* and in 1843 the Quebec Historical Society published a modernized version of A which the editor thought to be the original.^ 1 Rarausio, op. cit. iii 441-453: — "Breve et Succinta Narrations della Navi- gation fatta . . . air Isole di Canada," etc. 2 A shorte and brief e narration of the Navigation caused to he made by the King of France, to the Hands of Canada, Hochelaga, Saguenay and divers others, ivhich now are called New France, with a discourse of the particidars, customes and man- ners of the inhabitoures therein. Florio, op. cit., pp. 28-80. 3 Hakluj't, Discourse on Westeme Planting p. 112: — "and in the Frenche originall which I sawe in the Kinges Library at Paris." Principall Navigations, iii 212-232: — "A shorte and briefe narration of the Navigation made by the commandement of the King of France, to the Islands of Canada, Hochelaga, Saguenay. and divers others which now are called New France, with the particu- lar customes, and miners of the inhabitants therein." 4 Ternaux-Corapans, op. cit. ii 1-66. "Nous la donnons aujourd'hui d'apr^s les manuscrits 10025 et 10265. 3. de la biblioth^que royale," p. 5 note I. 5 Voyages de Decouverte au Canada entre les annees 1534 et 1542, pp. 24-89. Quebec, 1843. "II existe k la biblioth^que royale de Paris trois exemplaires manuscrits du deuxi^me voyage, qui s'accordent sur tous les faits principaux, et dont I'un parait dater du milieu du 16e si^cle : on croit que celui-ci est Toriginal mSme de Quartier. La Soci^te s'en ^tait procure una copie, qui a ^t^ soigneuse- THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE 219 The account of Cartier's third voyage in 1541 is only pre- served in the English version given by Hakluyt.^ Although this was doubtless translated from the French, no trace of any account of this voyage in that language has hitherto been found. The original therefore is probably lost. This is the more to be regretted as the English version is incomplete and breaks off suddenly after Cartier's return from his visit to the rapids of Lachine. As to the author, it is possible that the original of this Relation was also written by the same Poulet who did the others, but I doubt it. The author had formed one of the company on the former voyage,^ and accompanied Cartier this time again on his visit to the rapids. It strikes one therefore as strange that, had it been Poulet, he should make no mention of Hochelaga or recall his earlier visit. Poulet was evidently alive also in 1545 when his name was inserted in the printed version which ap- peared in that year, so that, had he written this Relation, there is no reason why he should have left it incomplete. It would seem more probable that the author was one of those who died during the winter and his Relation 'was therefore never finished. Of the voyage made by Cartier to bring home Roberval in the summer of 1543, no account of any sort has been preserved. Even Hakluyt when in Paris appears to have sought for some account of this voyage in vain. Such indeed seems to be the meaning of the following sentence written by Cartier's nephew in 1587 : " I will not faile to informe my selfe, if there be any meane to find out those descriptions which Captaine Cartier made after his two last voyages into Canada. " ^ As there was an interval of five years between the return from the second voyage and the departure for the third this expression evidently relers to those made in 1541 and 1543. Besides, the account of the ment collationnee avec les deux autres manuscrits, et ensuite avec Lescarbot et Ramusio " Advertissement p. iii. 1 Hakluyt, Principall Xavirjations iii 232-236: — "The third voyage of dis- covery made by Captaine Jaques Cartier, 1540 unto the Countreys of Canada, Hochelaga, and Saguenay." 2 Ibid., p. 233 : — " When in the former voyage we carried him into France," etc. 3 Ibid., p. 236. 220 THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE second voyage had already appeared in 1545. A "certaine booke " of Cartier's " made in maner of a sea Chart "l which was then in the possession of a Jan Jocet, sieur de Cremeur, has never again been found. Pierre Crignon. Ramusio has preserved for us an anonymous " Discourse of a Great French Sea-Captain " 2 which he tells us was written in Frunch in the year 1539.3 Though he himself made consider- able efforts to discover the author's name, he was unable, much to his regret, to do so.'* It appears however that the author of this document is Pierre Crignon, the faithful companion of Jean Parmentier on all his voyages.^ Crignon had received a good education and had been given prizes for his verses both at Rouen and at Dieppe. He was also well versed in " astrology and cosmography." A work of his on the variations of the compass-needle, which has not been recovered, was dedicated to Admiral Chabot in 1534.6 He accom- panied Parmentier not only to America but also to the East; and in this Discourse he gives a short description of the various local- ities visited. After an introductory explanation of the terms latitude and longitude, comes a " Summary and Brief Descrip- tion of Newfoundland." The part best known to him is the southern coast to which the French fishermen principally re- sorted. The Portuguese and English seem to have used the east coast. Next follows a short account of the savages and their manner of hunting. After giving the names of those French 1 Ibid. 2 Ramusio, op. cit. iii 423-426. The title is " Discorso d'un Gran Capitano di Mare Francese del luoco di Dieppa sopra le navigationi fatte alia terra nuova dell' Indie occidentali chiamata la nuova Francia da gradi 40 fino k gradi 47 sotto il polo artico, et sopra la terra del Brasil, Guinea, Isola di San Lorenzo, et quella di Summatra fino alle quali hanno navigato le caravelle et navi Francese." 3 Ibid., fol. 417 verso :— " fatto del 1539." 4 Ibid. " Ma ben ci dolemo di non sapere il nome dell' auttore " etc. 6 Ch. Schefer, Le Discours de la Navigation de Jean et Raoul Parmentier de Dieppe (Paris 1883), Introduction p. xxiv : — " Je n'h^site pas non plus k lui attri- buer le recit des voj^ages d'un grand capitaine de Dieppe, ins(5r(5 dans le troisi^me volume du recueil de Ramusio." 6 Ibid,, p. xxi. and note 2. THE SOURCES, PART II: XARRATIVE 221 fishermen who first visited the Banks, he concludes with a descrip- tion of Norumbega, a name given, according to him, to the land from Cape Breton to Florida by the Indians themselves. The remainder of the Discourse which deals with Brazil, Guinea and Sumatra, does not interest us. Besides for the early description of the fishing, this document is important as being the source of our information about the names of the early French navigators to these parts. RobervaVs Voyage. The only extant account of Roberval's expedition to the St. Lawrence is, like the third voyage of Cartier, preserved to us in English.l It wa>^ doubtless translated from the French, although no sign of any version in that language has hitherto been found. The style difi'ers much from that of Car tier's voyages and has more the air of being a journal kept by some one on board than a full account written at command. It is possible indeed that the phrase "as it is declared in other bookes "2 may refer to other accounts then extant of this expedition, so that this is merely a summary of the voyage taken from some more elaborate narra- tive. The statement of the author after three short paragraphs, that he has already " described the beginning, the middest, and the ende of the Voyage,"^ gives colour to this conclusion. The rest of the account consists of a few statements jotted down by one of those who remained behind in the fort. The frequent repetition of Roberval's titles leads one to infer that the writer occupied a very inferior post and held the leader in great awe. He may even have been one of those who were whipped. Jean Mallart. In the Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris is preserved a manu- script^ by this person entitled Descnption de tons lesportz de mer 1 " The Voyage of John Francis de la Eoche, knight, Lord of Roberval, to the Countries of Canada, Sagiienai, and Hochelaga etc. begun in April 1542," in Hakluyt's Principall Navigations, iii 240-242. 2 Ibid., p. 241. 3 Ibid. 4 Bibliotheque Nationale, Ms. fr. 1382. Cf. also Harrisse, Jean et Sebastien Cabot, pp. 222-229. Paris 1882. 222 THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE de lunivers, which however turns out upon examination to be nothing more than a rhyming version of the Voyages Avantureux of Jean Alfonse, first given to the public in print in the year 1559. This manuscript however is dated 1545, which is not necessarily inexact, for we know that the works of Jean Alfonse were circulated in manuscript some years before they were printed. Mallart may therefore have made a copy or versified the original while it was in his hands. As an example of what was done a few lines will suffice. Thus when jean Alfonse writes^ " Au travers de la Terre neufve sur ledit banch y ha bien quatre vingts brasses, et en approchant de la terre il baisse, de maniere que quand il vient pres de la riviere, il n'y ha que neuf ou dix brasses," the poet sings, " Or entendez mes vers Cest quant on vient a passer le travers De terre neufve a sur ce banc vingt braces En approchant la terre et les places De la riviere il nen a plus que dix," etc. 2 In fact the whole work seems to have been the harmless jeu d'esjprit of one who was still " a mon tendre aage Et que ne feiz oncques ung seul voj'age Aux lieux loingtains dont faiz description. "3 By praising thus in rhyme, not altogether original, the exploits of Cartier and other " tres bons navigateurs," he hoped that his king would " subviendra a la mienne indigence. "4 Though he contributes nothing to increase our knowledge of the times, let us hope that his wish was granted and that some- thing was contributed to relieve his poverty. Jean Alfonse. Jean Alfonse, whose real name was Jean Fonteneau, was born at a village called Saintonge in the commune of Saint-Meme, canton of Segonzac, arrondissement of Cognac.^ At an early 1 Voyages Avantureux, p. 27, verso. 2 fol. 39 verso. 3 fol. 1 4 fol. 3 verso. 5 G. Musset, Jean Fonteneati, dit Alfonse de Sairitonge, etc., in the Bulletin de Odographie Hist, et Descript., annee 1895, pp. 275-295. Cf. also Harrisse, Jean et THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE 223 age he began to roam the seas and during the course of these rambHngs fell in love with a Portuguese, Valentine Alfonse, whom he married and whose name was afterwards given to him- self.i After this he extended his voyages not only round the Cape of Good Hope to India but also to the coast of North and South America. In April 1537 he was present as witness at the sale at La Rochelle of a share of the Christophe, of seventy tons, which fished on the Newfoundland Banks.2 In March 1541 he signed a power of attorney to his wife when about to set sail to the coast of Guinea.3 Of the success of this voyage we hear nothing, but in the spring of the following year he sailed with Roberval to the St. Lawrence in the capacity of pilot. ^ It is probable therefore that it was not his first voyage thither. When he tells us that in November, December, January and February the snow falls to a great depth in Canada one would think he must have passed the winter there,^ but this seems improbable from the fact that in June 1543 he was again at home and about to set out on a voyage to Madeira.^ This venture proved so suc- cessful that in the following summer he armed a vessel to proceed, with a few others, on a privateering expedition against the Spaniards.^ It was not the first time ^ that he had engaged in such pursuits during the eight and forty years that Sdbastien Cabot, pp. 205 et seq. ; Margry, Les Navigations Francaises et la Revolu- tion maritime du XlVe et XVI^ Steele (Paris 1867), Chap, v, pp. 225-341. The £tude sur le Capitaine Alfonse in the Bidletin de la Societ6 Archeologiqiie et Histor- iqiie de la Charente, 4fi serie, tome vi, 2e partie, Angouleme, 1870, pp. 997 et seq., is simply a review of Margry's study and contains nothing new. 1 Musset, op. cit. p. 276. 2 Ibid. Documents, etc., p. 286 no. i. 3 Ibid., p. 286 nos. ii and iii. 4 Hakluyt, Pnncipall XavigaiioTis, iii 237 et seq. 5 "Etyneige si fort en novembre, decembre, Janvier, febvrier, que la neige monte bien environ la haulteur de six piedz," etc. Bibliotheque Nationale, Ms. fr. 676, fol. 183. 6 Musset, op. cit. pp. 288-294, Documents nos. iv-xv 7 Hid., Documents nos. xvi-xvii. 8 " Depuis cest aage (1528) les Barbares et Chrestieus ont souffert beaucoup de maux de Tincursion des Coursaires. . . . Jean Alphonse Xainctongeois de nation s'il estoit en vie, il scauroit bien qu'en dire," etc. Thevet, Grand Insulaire {Bibl. Nat., Ms. fr. 15452, fol. 174 verso.) 224 THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE he had roamed the seas ; i and though his only punishment in this case was imprisonment, 2 his next venture proved fatal. For shortly afterwards, we learn, the Emperor sent some ships " to go against Juan Alphonso the Portuguese (who was called the Frenchman by the Spaniards), a Corsair, who had taken near Cape St. Vincent 10 or 12 Biscayan vessels loaded with valuable merchandize." Off La Rochelle they came upon the fleet of Jean Alfonse and having taken live of the vessels pursued him into the harbour where, before the Spaniards were driven off, he received a wound from which he shortly afterwards died.^ Jean Alfonse left several manuscripts behind him, and upon these his importance for the historian chiefly depends. It appears to have been shortly after his return from Madeira in the autumn of 1543 that his Cosmographies was begun, although it was not completed until the following May. This however is not the statement of the work itself, which ends as follows : " Faicte et compos^e par nous Jehan Allefonsce et Raulin Secalart, cappi- taines et pillotes de navires, demourant en la ville de la Rochelle en la rue Saint-Jehan-de-Prat, devant I'eglise dudit Saint-Jehan, le vingt-quatriesme jour du mois de novembre I'an mil cinq cens quarante-cinq — Achevay de par moy Raulin Secalart cosemographe de Honnefleur, desirant faire servisce a vostre maigestay reaille qui sera fin de se present libre. 1545." ^ According to the manu- script therefore the work was finished by Raulin Secalart in No- vember 1545. But a careful examination by M. Musset has shown that not only has the date been changed from May 1544 1 "Car j'ay navigue jusques ^ present (1544) par toutes les mers quarente et huyt ans," cited by Margry, op. cit. p. 269. Cf. Ibid., p. 227. 2 " Comma je luy [Alfonse] dis, luy estant detenu prisonnier k Poictiers, pour la prinse de quelques navires d'Espaigne." Thevet, Cosmographie Universelle, ii 1021 verso. Paris 1575. 3 Barcia, Ensayo Cronologico para la Historia General de la Florida, (Madrid 1723), fol. .58, cited by Brevoort, op. cit. p. 155. 4 Biblioth. Nat., Ms, Fr. 676 : " Cosmographie avec espere et regime du Soleil et du Nord en nostre langue fran9oyse composee par Jehan Allefonsce et Raulin Secalart 1545." This Ms. is about to be published by M. Musset of La Rochelle in the excellent Recueil de Voyages et de Documents pour servir a rhistoire de la Oiographie. 6 Cf. A. P. Paris, Les Manuscrits Fran^ais de la Bihliothique du Roi, v 310 et stq. Paris 1842. THE SOURCES, PART II: NARRATIVE 225 to November 1545, but that wherever the name of Jean Alfonse appears that of Raulin Secalart has been added. In reality therefore the work was finished by Jean Alfonse himself shortly before his death. Raulin Secalart, or Raulin le Tallois as his name really was, probably had it in his possession at that time and sought to gain fame by inserting his own name, i So much for the author ; now as to the subject-matter. This is divided into five parts, the tirst four of which are as follows : — Treaty of the sphere fols. 4-1;' ; explanation of the mer- idians, fols. 16-20 ; the solar calendar, fols. 20-37 ; theory of the astrolabe, fols. .S7-40. It is only from folio 40 onwards, where he gives a description of the different known parts of the world, that the document is of interest for us. After dealing with the islands of the Atlantic, the coast of Africa from Morocco to Aden, the three Indies, Malacca and Java, " whence to Peru in the East the distance is perhaps at the utmost nine hundred or a thousand leagues," he turns his attention to America. Of the three parts into whicli he divides the coast, viz. from the South Pole to the River Marignan, from thence to Cape du Feguier in Yucatan, " and Cathay," the third alone from Cape du Feguier northward is of importance for U'^. After mentioning; that Cape de Ratz is six hundred leagues north of the island of Fez he describes in some detail the region about Newfoundland, " which is mostly high land without any profit except the fishing." Having in a few words depicted the nature of the coast of Labrador and of the Frozen Sea in the North " whence come the icebergs that reach Newfoundla,nd," he gives a description of the course up the St. Lawrence as far as Roberval's fort, three leagues above Quebec, although one gathers that he himself had gone as far as the rapids of Lachine, While most of the names of places and headlands, as Ascension, Sag- uenay. Isle des Lievres, Isle d'Orldans, St Pierre, etc., are taken from Cartier'"s nomenclature, the bearings, latitude and longitude seem to have been made from his own observations. He also carefully points out sunken rocks or shoals and also states where 1 For notices of this Raulin le Tallois called Secalart vid. Breard, op.cit. pp. 46- 48 ; Lefevre-Pontalis, Correspondance Politique de Odet de Selve (Paris 1888), pp. 84 and 86 ; of. also Joiion des Longrais, Jacques Cartier, p. 133. 15 226 THE SOCTRCES, PART II : NARRATIVE good anchorage was to be found. His notes in fact must have been of great assistance to the fishermen and whalers who entered the Gulf. This portion of the Cosmographie has been pubhshed by Hakluyt, i but the translation is badly done and there are many omissions. Mr. Justin Winsor reproduced the sketch maps of those regions given in the manuscript in one of his works.2 In 1547 Jean de Marnef of Poitiers began to print Les Voyages Avan- tureux du Capitaine Jan Alf once, hut the work, which is simply an abridgment of the Cosmographie was not finished until 1559.^ Such then was Jean Alfonse and his work. Although the historian can glean few political facts from such a production, yet it is of importance in showing that the intercourse between the old France and the new was not so unusual as is commonly supposed and that even at this time a considerable amount of interest was taken in the regions of the St. Lawrence.* Anthony Parkhurst's Letter. Anthony Parkhurst of Bristol seems to have been a merchant who regularly sent his vessels to fish on the Newfoundland Banks. In the year 1578 Richard Hakluyt of the Middle Temple, the uncle of the famous preacher, wrote to him for some account of " the state and commodities of Newfoundland." His reply ,5 dated 1 " The course from Belle Isle, Carpont, and the Grand Bay in Ne^vfoundland up the River of Canada for the space of 230 Leagues, observed by John Alphonse of Xanctoigne chiefe Pilote to Monsieur Roberval 1542," in Principall Navigations iii 2.S7-240. ■2 Justin Winsor, Cartier to Frontenac, pp. 42-43. London 1894. 3 Les Voyages Avantureux du Capitaine Jan Alf once Sainctongeois. A Poi- tiers. 1559. On page 68 verso we read " Fin du present livre, compose et ordone par Jan Alfonce pilote experimente es choses narrees en ce livre, natif du pays de Xainctonge, pres la ville de Cognac. Fait a la requeste de Vincent Aymard, marchant du pays de Piedmont, escrivant pour luy Maugis Vumenot, marchant d'Honfleur," Cf. Harrisse, Notes siir la Nouvelle France, pp. 6 et seq. 4 " Et toutes ces terres de Canada par raison doivent estre appellees la nouvelle France par ce qu'elles sont en une mesme haulteur et si elle estoit aussi bien peuplee que France, mon advis est qu'elle seroit aussi attemperee," etc. Cosmographie, fol. 182. 5 Hakluyt, Principall Navigation.^ (1589) pp. 674-677: — "A letter written to M. Richard Hakluyt of the middle Temple, eonteining a report of the true state and commodities of Newfoundland 1-578 " THE SOURCES, PART II: NARRATIVE 227 at Bristol in November of the same year, throws great light upon the state of the fishing trade at that date, the most important results of which have already been embodied in the text. He advised that the island of Belle Isle at the mouth of the straits of the same name should be fortified, for it would make the Eng- lish " lordes of the whole fishing in small time." He also wished to see Anticosti inhabited and " the river searched, for that there are many things which may rise thereof " and one would then know whether it was true that Frenchmen and "Portingals" were in that river as he had read. He had intended to search the river himself, had he not been defrauded by some " vile Portin- gals, descending of the Jewes and Judas kind," who had forced him to return home with great loss. If however Hakluyt thought him a man of suflBcient credit to " seek the Isle of S. John or the river of Canada " he was willing to undertake the task even if it should necessitate leaving his own affairs. Unfortunately how- ever he seems never to have undertaken this search. Carlyles Discourse. It would appear at first sight as if a discourse written " for the better inducement to satisne such Merchants of the Moscovian companie and others, as in disbursing their money towards the furniture of the present charge of the intended voyage to the hithermost parts of America, doe demaund forthwith a present returne of gaine,"i could contain little of interest with regard to the trade of New France. It so happens however that towards the close of it, after a short summary of Cartier's earl}- voyages, Carlyle gives an account of the resumption of trading relations between St. Malo and the upper St. Lawrence. The seizure of Donnacona and the disputes both during Cartier's second winter and during Roberval's stay had " put the whole Countrey people into such dislike with the French, as never since they would ad- mit any conversation, or famiiiaritie with them, untill of late yeeres, the olde matter beginning to growe out of minde, and be- ing the rather drawen on by giftes of many trifling thinges, which were of great value with them, they are, within these two 1 Hakluyt, Principall Navigations (1589) pp. 718-723. Cf. also Sainsbury, Calendar oj Colonial State Papers, Addenda, no. 23 p. 20. 228 THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE or three yeeres content againe to admit a trafique, which two yeeres since (i.e. 1581) was begonne with a small barke of thirtie tunnes, whoso returne was founde so profitable, as the next yeere following, beins; the last yeere, by those Merchants, who meant to have kept the trade secret unto themselves, from any others of their owne Countrey men, there was hired a shippe of four score tunnes out of the Isle of Jersey, but not any one Mariner of that place, saving a shipboy. This shippe made her returne in such sort, as that this yeere (1583) they have multiplied three shippes, to wit. one of nine score tunnes, another of an hundreth tunnes and a third of foure score tunnes." These statements were obtained from " very substantiall and honest men of Plim- moutb, who sawe the saide shippes in readiuesse to depart and were aboord of some of them." There was then present also a man f lom Guernsey, " Lewis de Vicke, who reporteth to have credibly heard that by this last yeeres voyage the Frenchman gotte foure- teene or fifteene hundreth for every one hundreth." This was douV)tless the beginning of that company of merchants which afterwards sought to gain a monopoly of the trade under the names of Jannaye and Nouel.^ Gilberfs Voyage. The principal account preserved to us of the voyage of Sir Humphrey Gilbert to Newfoundland in 15^3 is that written by Edward Hayes, Captain of the Golden Hinde? The " True Report" published by Sir George Pecham is only a diluted edi- tion oi' the facts gleaned from Hayes.3 The four vessels, the Delight, Golden Hinde, Swallow, and Squirrel, set sail from Causet Bay on the 11th of June 1583, and after a stormy passage, dur- 1 Cf. Joiion des Longrais, op. cit. pp. 149 et -seq. 2 " A report of the voyage and successe thereof, attempted in the j'eere of our Lord 1583 by Sir Humphrey Gilbert knight . . . written by M. Edward Haies Gentleman, and principal actor in the same voyage, who alone continued imto the end, and by Gods speciall assistance returned home with his retinue safe and entire," in Hakluyt, Principall Nain(jation« (1589) pp. 679-697. 3 " A true Report of the late discoveries and possession taken of the New- found Lands by that valiant and worthy Gentleman, Sir Humphrey Gilbert Knight. Written by Sir George Pecham Knight," London, 1585 ; printed in Hakluyt, Principall Navigations (1589) pp. 701-718. THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE 229 ing which they became separated, finally reached Newfoundland at the end of July. The Swalloiu, the crew of which consisted of impressed pirates, at once attacked the first " Newlander " met with and rifled her of " tackle, sailes, cables, vitailes, and the men of their apparel ; not sparing by torture (winding cords about their heads) to drawe out else what they thought good." On the 3rd of August they all met off the harbour of St. John's, but " the English marchants that were and alwayes be Admirals by turnes interchangeably over the fleetes of fishermen within the same harbour " would not permit them to enter. When at length the nature of tlie voyage was known, no farther opposi- tion was ofi'ered, and on the Delight running on a rock at the harbour's mouth all the vessels, of which there were thirty-six, gave aid in getting her ofi". Moreover soon after the fleet cast anchor guns were fired in token of welcome. On Sunday the 4th of August nothing was done but to take a walk with the Eng- lish merchants " to a place they cal the Garden." On Monday a tent was set up, and before it was read Gilbert's commission in virtue of which he took possession of the harbour of St. John's and 200 leagues everv vvav. A rod and turf of the same soil were given to him in token of possession for him and his heirs and assignees for ever. Three laws were at once siven out to the effect that public worship should be according to the Church of England, that pirates or trespassers should be executed as in case of high treason, and finally that any one uttering words dis- honourable to the Queen should not only lose his ears but also his ship and goods. Gilbert also granted "in fee farme divers parcels of land lying by the water side convenient to dresse and drie their fish," for which was to be paid a " certaine rent and service unto Gilbert, his heires or assignes for ever," At this point the narrative is interrupted by a " Briefe Relation of the Newfound land and commodities thereof " upon which it was unnecessary here to dwell. During this time not only had many of the company deserted, but some even took possession of ves- sels in neighbouring harbours and sailed away in them. Several had died and many were still ill. Gilbert determined there- fore to leave the Swalloiu for these people to return in, and on 230 THE SOURCES, PART II: NARRATIVE the 20th of August the Delight, Golden Hind, and Squirrel set sail for Sable Island and Cape Breton with the intention of examining also the coast of the mainland. They came upon Sable Island, however, so suddenly one morning that the Delight was wrecked. Of the manner in which sixteen of the cvew escaped, an account has been left for us by the master, Richard Clarke.^ The Golden Bind and Squirrel having got out of the shallows in safety, Gilbert at once determined, in view of the loss of the Delight and the scarcity of their provisions, to return home to England. About half way across, the Squirrel, which was only of tsn tons and on board of which after leaving Newfound- land Gilbert had gone in order the better to run close in and view the coast, suddenly went down with all on board. Captain Hayes managed to bring the Golden Hind safely to Weymouth about the middle of September. Whether the Swallow had already reached home from Newfoundland is not recorded. So ended the unfortunate expedition of Sir Humphrey Gilbert. The accounts both of Hayes and Clarke seem authentic, and throw considerable light upon the customs and manners of the fisher- men at that date. There have also been preserved two letters written during the stay of the fleet in Newfoundland, but neither contains any- thing of importance. From the first, dated St. John's the sixth of August, we simply learn that Hakluyt had intended to accom- pany the expedition ; 2 while the second is an even shorter letter written in great haste by Gilbert himself. ^ Jacques JS'oel. This Noel, who was a nephew of Jacques Cartier's, appears to have acted as pilot on board some vessels of St. Malo trading in the St. Lawrence.^ It is possible therefore that for many 1 " A relation of Richard Clarke of Weymouth, master of the shippe called the Delight, going for the discoverie of Norumbega, with Sir Humphrey Gilbert 1583. Written in excuse of that fault of casting away the shippe and men imputed to his oversight," in Hakluyt, Principall Navigatioit,i (1589) pp. 700-701. 2 Hakluyt, Principall Nadgafions (1589) pp. 697-698. 3 Purchas His Pi/grimes, Third Part, p. 808. 4 Michelant et Rame, op. cit. (1865) 2« par tie, p. 34 :— " ledict Nouel en THE SOURCES, PAET II : NARRATIVE 231 years he had already plied the same trade before becoming familiar with the navigation of the river. Hakluyt has for- tunately preserved for us two letters sent by him to his friend Jean Grout of St. Malo then studying in Paris.^ From the first of these we learn that he had been to the top of Mount Royal and that the savages had assured him that the journey westward to Lake Ontario only occupied ten days, while in the second he stated that there then existed a " certaine booke made in maner of a sea Chart, which was drawne by the hand of my said uncle [Cartier], which is in the possession of Master Ciemeur," and that his own sons Michael and John were then in Canada, no doubt also as pilots or sailors. These letters written in Fiench were probably secured by Hakluyt during his residence in Paris as chaplain at the British Embassy, a post which he occupied from the year 15<S4 until the year 1590. Andre T/ievet.^ Born of humble parents at Angouleme in the year 1502, Andr^ Thevet early en^'ered the order of St. Francis where he soon found that theology alone was unable to satisfy a mind bent rather upon geography and travels. This his superiors seem also to have discovered, and the new recruit was soon on the march to preach the Gospel abroad. At Plaisance in the south of France Thevet was lucky enough to be presented to the Cardinal Jean de Lorraine,^ who, taken with the naive curio>ity of the Franciscan, voluntarily supplied him with funds for a journey to the Orient. Embarking at Venice he spent five or six years in the East, during which period he visited not only Greece, Constantinople, Rhodes, Alexandria and Arabia but also quesquel voiages a faict oflBce de pillotte," etc. Cf. also p. 36 and Hakluyt, Principall Navigations (1589) p. 723. 1 Hakluyt, Principall Navigations (1600) iii 236-237. For this Jean Grout cf. Joiion des Longrais, op. cit. 144. 2 The only study of Thevet I have found is that of M. Gafifarel in his intro- duction to the edition of the Singularitez published in 1878. The same notice also appeared as an article in the Revue de Geographie, Tome iii, pp. 177-192, and with additions in the Bulletin de Gdographie historique, 1888, pp. 166-201. 3 " Auquel ie dois attribuer la cause de mon premier voyage Levantin." Les Vrais Pourtraits et Vies des Homines Illustres, p. 355 b. Paris 1584, Folio. 232 THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE Palestine, Cyprus and Malta.i The results of these travels were embodied in his Gostnographie du Levant, first printed at Lyons in 1554.2 About this time Villegaignon was prepa,ring for his expedition to Brazil, and Cardinal Claude de Lorraine, the nephew of his former protector, proposed Thevet as almoner to the expedition. Having been accepted he embarked at Havre on the sixth of May 1555. Passing down the coast of Spain they sailed via Madeira, the Canaries and the Cape Verde Islands southward along the west coast of Africa.^ On the 26th of < October they reached the island of Ascension wh^re they obtained their first view of the southern constellations.'* They continued further towards the south and it was not, according to Thevet, until they were almost in the latitude of the Cape of Good Hope, that they at length turned westward and headed for South America, which was sighted according to the chronology of our author on the last day of October or four days after leaving the island of Ascension. ! -.sting northward past Macaheh and Cape de Frie they at length cast anchor in the river Ganabara on the tenth of November.6 Here on the He aux Fran^ais the expedi- tion was landed and the settlement established. Thevet how- ever did not remain in the country but reimbarked in the return vcsse. ^hich set sail two and one-half months after their arrival, that is, in January 1556.^ After being driven hither and thither by bad weather and having taken two months to round the Cape St. Augustine, they finally crossed the equator in the first week of j^pril.^ Sailing past Hayti and Cuba, they were driven by 1 "Ah demourant vous trouverez en ce mien petit euvre, non tant seule- raent la peregrinacion faite en la terre sainte . . . mais aussi le discours du voyage de la Greee, de la Turquie, d'Egj'pte, raont de Sinay, Judee, jusques en Antioche et Armenie, et plusieurs isles tant fertiles que steriles." Cosmo- graphie du Levant, Dedication p. 5. Lion 1554, 4**. 2 For a misfortune which befell Thevet on this voyage, vid. Ronsard,(^ lii^res, vi 430. Paris 1893. 3 Les Singidaritez de la France Antarctique, pp. 79 et set]. Paris 1878. 4 Ibid. pp. 103 and 105. 5 Ibid., p. 110. 6 Ibid., pp. Ill, 120 and 126. 1 Ibid., pp. 127 and 312. 8 Ibid., p. 356. THE SOURCES, PART TI : NARRATIVE 233 further contrary winds not only towards Florida but also " fort pres de Canada," which expression doubtless means the region north of the Carolinas.^ At length the weather cleared and by means of the trade winds they were able to sail for France by way of the Azores and Cape Finisterre.2 Since Brazil was at that time exciting a good deal of interest in France and merchants were anxious to hear of its resources The vet was induced by the Cardinal de Sens to publish a description of his voyage. On account of a fever contracted in South America this seems to have taken him some time for it was only in 1557 that there appeared his Sivgularitez de la France Antarctique autrement nonfiraee Artieriquefi He had even been prevented from correcting the proofs by a fresh attack of fever. 4 Instead of giving an account of Brazil and his voyage thither, this work deals with almost everything else except these points. Not only are there long chapters on all the places touched at both going and coming, but there are others on Africa in Particu- lar, Africa in General, Madagascar, Ethiopia and any other region which could possibly be brought in. He even took advantage of the fact that in sailing home they coasted South America to describe Peru, Mexico, Florida, Canada and Newfoundland, but since he visited none of these countries any more than Mada- gascar, his information is all second-hand. He states that he had been induced to write about Canada because no one had described it properly ; yet the narrative of Cartier's second voyage had appeared in 1545. With the excep- tion of a few facts about snowshoes, hunting and the medicinal preparations of the savages, he tells us absolutely nothin;^ new. This extra information was obtained from a Portuguese pilot,^ who 1 Ibid., pp. 391 and 395. 2 lUd., p. 445. 3 Les Singidaritez de la France Antarctique autrement nommie Amirique et de phisieurs Terres et Isles ddcouvertes de nostre temps, Paris 1.557, 4°. For another account of the same voyage vid. Barry's letters in Ternaux-Compans, op. cit. i 102-116. 4 " La fiebvre a tellement detenu I'Autheur depuis son retour qu'il n'a pas eu loysir de revoir son livre avant que le bailler a I'Imprimeur" etc. Advertisement au Lecteur, pp. Ixi et seq. 5 "lequel visita deux ou trois villages et les loges ou habitoient ceux du pais." Singidaritez, etc. (1878) p. 406. 234 THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE may have been Jean Alfonse, and from Cartier himself, his "grand et singulier amy," with whom he spent nine days at his home in St. Malo.i From them he doubtless drew his facts about children in chapter Ixxviii and the manner of making war in the following chapter. His statements about minerals were corol- laries from Koberval's expedition, while those about earthquakes came out of his own head. Altiiough he had never been near Newfoundland he added a chapter upon it, based on accounts given him by fishermen.2 Thus the information about these regions is not first hand but came to him from books or persons who had been there. Later on however, as we shall see, he declares that it was all first hand. Not long after the publication of the Singularitez Thevet was appointed, by means of the influence of his protectors. Almoner to the Queen mother Catherine de Medicis.^'^ Yet since his interest in geography still outran his devotion to theology, he soon secured the additional titles of Historiographer and Cosmo- grapher Royal, posts which he continued to occupy under both Henry the Second and his brother Charles the Ninth. These new titles were, in his eyes, of immense importance, for no one could be so named who had not a sound knowledge not only of geography but also of geometry, chorography, topography, poli- graphy and prosography.4 What his duties were as guardian of the King's curiosities or cosmographer royal is not quite clear, but he seems to have been kept busy principally in clearing up diflScult points of geogru,pl)y for his royal masters.^ It was 1 " Et ainsy m'en fit le recit le Capitaine Jaques Cartier estant log^ en sa maison a S. Malo en I'lsle" etc. Biblioth^que Nationale, Ms. Fr. 15452, fol. 157; cf. ibid. fol. 151 and Co.syyiographie Universelle, tome ii, fol. 1014 b. 2 "Ainsi que disent les habitants de Terre neuve et les pecheurs ordinaires." Singularitez, etc., (1878) p. 441. 3 "Catherine de Medici, ma tres-honoree Dame et maistresse, qui a daigne m'honnorer de I'estat d'Aumosnier ordinaire de sa maison. Vrais Pourtraits, etc., p. 223. 4 Dedication of Vrais Pourtraits. 5 " Quant aux rares bons, et curieux espris, ie puis tesmoigner qu'il [Charles IX] en a est^ fort amoureux : ie recognois . . . souvent avoir est^ mande par sa Maiestd pour luy esclaircir les difficultez qu'il avoit sur le fait des cartes et des pays estrangers." Ibid., p. 228 b. THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE 235 doubtless these services which procured him the Abbey of Masdoin in Saintonge, although he continued to reside at Paris. His Discours de la Bataille de Dreux published in 1563 does not interest us here any more than does his failure to accompany Montluc to the Canaries in 1566.1 It is otherwise however with iiis Cosmographie Universelle, published in two large folio volumes some nine years later. Each of the four parts of the globe occupies half a volume and America is described in the second half of volume two, folios 903 to 1025 A map was also added which is extremely important as being the first one which makes America one large continent with no passage in the north to the Pacific but with a strait between Asia and the north-west corner of North America. The statements about Canada and the region of the St. Lawrence contained in this work are a mere repetition of those made in his Singularitez. This is not the impression however which The vet seeks to convey ; for although in the former work he had only been " fort pres de Canada "2 he asserts now, some twenty years later, that he both landed in Canada and spent twenty days there examining the country .3 One must regret therefore that he only saw what Cartier and others had already seen and described. In fact, but for the story of Roberval's niece (Chap, vi, fols. 1019-1020b), there is nothing not given in his Singularitez except the engraving of a dead whale being stripped by Basque fishermen (fol. 1017). In 1584 appeared Lf-s Vr ens Pour traits et Viesdes Homntcslllus- tres, also in two folio volumes, which are usually found however bound in one.* While it is said to contain the lives of the great men 1 " L'an mil cinq cens soixante six, quand le vaillant seigneur de Montluc y arriva, k la compagnie et embarquement duquel je fus prie d'aller ; mais, Mon- sieur Bourdin procureur general de la Cour de Parlement de Paris, avec lequel je demeurois, ne le voulut permettre." Bibliotheque Nationale, Ms. fr. 15454, fol. 158. 2 Singularitez, etc. (1878) p, 395. 3 " durant lesquels i'euz bon loisir de me pourmener et rechercher ce qui estoit de i^are et singulier par le pajs." Cosmographie Universelle, Tome ii, fol, 1009b. 4 A letter in which Thevet calls this ridiculous work " un torn beau qui eter- nise k tout jamais " will be found in Milangts de Litterature et d'Histoire recueillia et publiespar la Soct6t6 des Bibliophiles Franqois, Paris 1877. 236 THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE of the New World, Canada appears to be weak in this respect, for a " King of Florida " is the onl}' important personage north of the Gulf of Mexico. Perhaps had Thevet really voyaged beyond this point he would have found other Indians worthy of being included. Such then are Thevets published writings. One maj^ call them tremendous compilations resting on very slight foundations of fact. The manuscripts which he left at his death, now pre- served in the Bibliotheque Nationale, are perhaps even worse in this respect. Five ot these manuscripts have usually been taken, after their titles, for four distinct works ; an examination dis- closes the fact that they really consist of only two, borh of little or no value. Ms. fr. 17175, entitled Second Voyage (V Andre Thevet dans les Terres Australes et Occidentales, is a sixteenth century manu- script of 3 78 leaves divided into forty-eight chapters. Folios 1 and 2 contain a " Petit Dictionnaire de la langue des Canadiens " and also " Aultre Petit Dictionnaire du royaume d'Ochelaga, Canada et autres pais " which on examination prove to be both similar to the vocabulary given in the Grand Tnsulaire (Tome i, folios 158 and 159) of which I shall speak presently Folios 3 to 10 contain an alphabetical index to something but of what it is im- possible to discover. The account of the voyage itself then occu- pies folios 11 to 17S with 36-38 blank. It is an account written in 1587- of two voyages which Thevet declares he made to America in 1550 and 1555. Of the former voyage we have hither- to heard nothing ; let us see then where he went. He does not tell us how or whence he set out but merely that he arrived in America in the year 1550 with a certain Captain Te.stu,2 who had already made several voyages thither.'^ Having passed under the equator on the thirtieth of July* he mentions their visits to the 1 " L'annee passee mil cinq cens quatre ^-ingtz et six " etc., fol. 148 verso; also fol. 156: " rannee passee mil cinq cens quatre vingtz six". 2 " J'arrivay en I'Amerique en I'an mil cinq cens cinquante qui fut men pre- mier voyage soubz la conduite de ce valeureux pilots et capitaine Testu," fol. 54 verso ; cf. also fol. 128. 3 Fol. 34. ■1 " Le penultiesme jour de juillet ayant double I'Equator," fol. 42. THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE 237 islands of Margajas^ and St. Dominique 2 and their arrival upon the coast of Brazil where one of the islands was named after him.^ All this region seemed so fertile that he thought his country- men would do better to send colonists there, than to waste their energies in Canada.'* Early in December they found on this coast the remains of a European settlement and a placard was set up to record the fact.5 After visiting the Three Islands and a lake called after his friend Nicholas Barre, they finally reached the Portuguese settlement at Cape St. Vincent, which greatly excited The vet's admiration.^ Near Trinity Island they rescued three Moors and two Portuguese who had been slaves for more than fifteen years.7 After touching in succession at Rats Island,^ Car- thagina, Cuba, St. Christopher's and St. Dominique^ they reached Hayti, where Testu captured a Spanish vessel but at once released her again.io Forced by a st-rm as in his second voyage to anchor near Florida, they finally made the Madeira group and thence sailed to Dieppe, which was reached on the twenty-second of July about noon after being absent just a year.n The second voyage is the one made with Villegaignon in 1555 and which he had already 1 " Isle noiumee des Margajas devant laquelle nous fusmes mouiller I'ancre," fol. 62. 2 Fol. 47. 3 Fols. 104 et seq. On the 22nd of August they were at the river La Pa- raide. Cf. fol. 48 verso. 4 "C'est en cest endroit ou les princes et grand seigneurs curieux d'habiter et se fortifBer, pour laisser memoire perpetuelle d'eux deveroient envoyer sans s'amuser au fripponnage des terres Canadiennes et autres qui ne sont plus voisins ou sont tant mortz de bons soldatz," etc., fol. 109 5 Fol. 111. Here is the inscription " VII Decemb. MDLI Franci hunc portum appulsi vagum invenere, cuius nomine Nane Francus Turonensis hoc insigne erexit !" 6 Fol. Ill verso et seq. 7 Fol. 130. 8 Fol. 131 verso. 9 Fol. U3etseq 10 " Testu avec lequel j'estois prist un navire d'Hespagnols, I'aiant pris, leur donna conge sans autrement les offenser encores que la prise fust de bonne guerre," fol. 148 verso. 11 " environ midi de laquelle rade estions partis un an auparavant qui fust mon premier voyage," fol. 178 verso ; cf. also fols. 154 and 163 for Florida and Madeira. 238 THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE described at great length in his Singularitez. Although in that work he did not hesitate to say that he had only been in the country a few months since he arrived in November and sailed in January, yet he now solemnly informs us that he remained there several years and that any one who doubts his word is tell- ing untruths.i He refers in this work to crossing the equator, 2 to the arrival at Cape de Frie in November^ and to coasting the island of Hayti.^ According to its title of " Second Voyage " this account should describe the voyage in 1555. It does nothing of the kind, but mixes certain facts of this voyage with a larger number taken from a supposed earlier voyage. ^ In my opinion the first voyage in 1-5.50 riever was made, for without such a voyage the contents of this manuscript are easily explicable. It was easy in 1587 to speak of a voyage which took place thirty- six years previously without much danger of contradiction. To a modern mind it would seem peculiar that this voyage, which took place even before his book on the East was published, should not have been mentioned, if not in it, at least in his Singularitez which dealt principally with America. The whole contents however are, as is not surprising, taken bodily from his earlier works. Thus the first chapter is an almost exact reprint of the first chapter of the Singularitez with the dates changed ; most of the second chapter conies from chapter ten of the same ; the third chapter is chapter twelve of the same ; the fourth is taken from both thirteen and fourteen, and so on. The thirty- second, thirty-third, thirty-fourth, thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth chapters (folios 121-138) are simply chapters five to eight of 1 " L'an cinq cens ciuquante cinq je feis un autre voyage et accompagnaj- le Seigneur de Villegagnon, avee lequel je demeuray quelques annees. Je scay bien que ce menteur Leri s'est persuade que je retournay en France la mesme ann^e,' etc, fol. 54 verso. Cf. Lerj^, Histoire d'un Voyage faict en la terre de Bresil, i 15 et seq., Paris 1880. '^ Fol. 39. 3 Fol. 49 verso 4 Fol. 148. 5 " Pourquoy il m'a semble bon par mesme moien de discourir mon premier et'second voyage et remarquer les choses plus rares qu'il m'a semble bon d'iceulx. Car ce que j'aurois veu et observe en I'un, je ne I'aurois pas advanture en I'autre," etc, fol. 178 verso. THE SOURCES, PART II: NARRATIVE 239 Book xxi of his Cofiviographie Universelle. Sometimes as in the thirty-seventh and forty-seventh chapters he drew from his Grand Insidaire, which he had begun some three years before.^ In that part which more especially concerns us, the source of his information is only too apparent. Thus the forty-second chapter entitled " Canada and Newfoundland " (fol. 157) is a repetition of the seventy-fifth chapter of the Singularitez with a bit of the third chapter of Book xxii of the Cosmographie Universelle thrown in. The next chapter, on the " Route and Dangers of Canada " (fol. 159, verso), is a copy of that part of the Cosmographie of Jean Alfonse which deals with the St. Law- rence. Thevet's visit to Canada also advances a step, for he now tells us how during the twenty days spent there he conversed with a savage and also christened one of the islands near at hand after himself. Ms. fr. 15454 is an autograph copy of the above although there are several divergencies, mostly unimportant. Thus on folio 2 there are several sentences not in the former manuscript. Often also the chapters of the former are subdi- vided into smaller ones with new headings (e. g. fol. 14 verso, fol. 25 etc.). Although therefore this manuscript is a copy of the former work it was evidently not taken from the former manuscript, but rather from one made in the following year 1588. Thus where, in the former, the past year is always 1586, here it is 1587 (folios 142 and 148). Three of the remaining manuscripts left by The vet contain his Grand Insulaire or description of all the known islands of the globe, and on this he was evidently engaged from about the year 1584 until his death in 1590. In fact the two Mss. 15452 and 15453 still remain just as he left them. Since however, as will easily be seen from what has already been said, Thevet's work is of very slight value, it will be sufficient to discuss briefly the sources of his information on the islands about the St. Law- rence. The description of Newfoundland (Ms. fr. 15452 fol. 143 et seq.) is the same as in his Cosmographie Universelle, book. 1 " Ainsi que, Dieuaydant, j'espere monstrer quelque iour dans mon Grand Insulaire." Vrais Pourtraits, etc., p. 482. 240 THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE xxiii, chapter v, to which indeed he in this case refers the reader, though he calls it chapter xx. The island of Roberval (fol. 145 verso) called also Isle des Demons where Roberval put his niece ashore, had already been similarly described in chapter vi of the same book of this fonrier woi'k. He here rambles on about ap- paritions in general and the negligence of his countrymen in not peopling it to drive the spirits away. On folio 148 he began a description of the island of Bcdle Isle which he saj^s was so named by Cartier after the one on the coast of Brittany. According to Thevet deer and hinds roamed there.^ Any one who has passed this barren rock on a steamer will understand from this one instance the value of Thevet's statements. He places St. Julien Island (fol. 149) between Anticosti and the Straits of Belle Isle. The former island (fol. 151) is full of mountains, forests and bears, which rob tht- huts of the fishermen. At the end of the manuscript (fol. 403) he again continues the description, copying with great care the Gosmographie of Jean Alfonse. In this addi- tion, however, he neglected to correct divergencies, so that while we had been formerly told that the island was mountainous, one now learns that it is "so flat that there was no hill which a horse and cart could not pass over." He also states that it lies in 48|- to 50 degrees, not in 51 to 53 as before. The description of Saguenay and the entrance to the river St. Lawrence is also supplied by Jean Alfonse. There is one story of Cartier's visit which is new and which he perhaps heard from Cartier himself. The Indian vocabularies on folios 1 58 and 159 fire from Ramusio's third volume and from the printed edition of Cartier's second vovage. So much then for the fresh information contained in these reams of manuscript. Ms. fr. 17174, entitled a " Description of several Islands," is an autograph manuscript of 145 leaves, containing portions of the Grand Insulaire and of the Second Voyage. Thus the description of the ishmd of Solochi is from the Grand Insulaire, Ms. 15452 fol. 11; that of Zeland from the same, fol. 31; Greenland from the same, fol. M.S etc. So the description of the islands of Mule, Man, Wight, Rusline, Rosa and Skie are simply recopied 1 " Les cerfs et biches y faonnent k outrance " etc., fol. 148 verso. THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE 241 from the folios 42-62 of his Grand Insulaire (Ms. fr. 15452), while the Second Voyage supplies the accounts of Bayonne, the Canaries, Isle des Neiges and Gelledin. Finally Ms. fr. 19031 contains fragments of several unimportant works composed or translated by him.i Thevet (lied at Paris in November 1590 and was buried in the church of the Cordeliers, where for some weeks previously he had been daily superintending the completion of his own tomb. It was finished indeed just in time to receive his body. L'Estoile calls hira a noted liar and a great ignoramus.^ De Thou says that having gained a smattering of learning he employed his time in fantastic voyages wherein he soon acquired a moder- ate reputation. Thereupon he began to write books in which he incorporated extracts from other works as well as descriptions taken from guide-books and other similar compilations. " In fact," says the same writer, "ignorant beyond all belief, he put in his books the uncertain for the certain, the false for the true with an astonishing complacency."^ Even at the present day one's estimate of Thevet cannot be other than this. Only cne of Thevet's works was translated. That was the Singularitez, which appeared at London in 1568 under the title of " The New found world or Antarctike, wherin is contained " wonderful and strange things, as well of humaine creatures, as " Beastes, Fishes, Foules and Serpents, Trees, Plants, Mines of " Golde and Silver : garnished with many learned aucthorities , " travailed and written in the French tong, by that excellent 1 Mss. fr. 4941 and oC46 do not interest us here. 2 P. de I'Estoile. Jl&moires-Jom'naux, v 61-62. Paris 1878. Cf. also tome iv, p. 381. 3 De Thou, Hl-itoire Universelle, (Londres 1734) ii 651 : — " 11 employa le tems de sa jeunesse a faire des pelerinages, et d'autres voyages de fantaisie. S'etant acquis par ce moj'en une espece de reputation, il s'appliqua par une vanite ridicule a ecrire des Livres, qu'il vendoit a de miserables Libraires : apres avoir compile des extraits de differens auteurs, il y ajoiitoit tout ce qu'il truu\'oit dans les Guides des chemins, et autres Livres semblables, qui sont entre les mains du peuple. En ellet, ignorant au-dela de ce que Ton peut s'imaginer, et n'aj'ant aucune connois- sance ni des belles-lettres, ni de Tantiquite, ni de la chronologic, il mettoit dans ses livres I'iucertain pour le certain, et le faux pour le vrai, avec une assurance eton- nante," etc. 242 THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE " learned man, master Andre we The vet. And now newly translated ' into Englishe wherein is reformed the errours of the auncient " Cosmographers. Imprinted at London, by Henrie Bynneman, " for Thomas Hacket. And are to be sold at his shop in Poules " Church yard, at the sign of the Key." In the dedication, ad- dressed to Sir Henry Sidney, Lord President of Wales, Thevet is spoken of as a " worthy traveller " while the book is called " a thing very rare, and of such exquisitie doing, as before this time the like hath not ben heard of." The whole work is translated in a fairly exact and accurate manner. An Italian translation also was published at Venice in 1561. Richard Hakluyt. Unlike Thevet, his contemporary, Hakluyt never visited the New World, yet he has bequeathed to us much more important information than the former author who boasted that he had made two voyages to those parts. Several of the documents preserved by Hakluyt have been spoken of elsewhere but there are others due more or less to his own pen. Born near London about the year 1553, Hakluyt was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford, where he took his degree in 1574.1 When only a school-boy his uncle, a barrister in the Temple, had aroused his interest in the new discoveries, and it appears that after taking his degree he actually delivered lectures at Oxford on the geographical discoveries of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. In the autumn of 1583 he went to Paris as chaplain to Sir Edward Stafford the English ambassador there. On his return to England in 1590 he was given the living of of Wetteringsett cum Blochford in Suffolk. In the year 1605 he was made a prebendary of Westminster, a post which he con- tinued to hold until his death in 1616. His first work, entitled Divers Voyages touching the discover - 1 For his life vid. J. W. Jones' Introduction to the Hakluyt Society's reprint of his Divert Voyages, London, 1850 ; the address to the same Society by Sir Clements Markham, the President, in 1896 ; the article Hakluyt in the Dictionary of National Biography and Dr. Woods' Introduction to the Discouvfte on Wenterne Planting in the Collections of the Maine Historical Society, second series, vol ii, Cambridge, 1877, pp. xxv-lxi. THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE 243 ies of Amierica and the Islands Adiacent, was published at Lon- don in 1582. Of the English translation of Verrazano's voyage therein contained mention has already been made. In 1584 at the request of Sir Walter Ralegh he wrote A particuler dis- course concerning the greats necessitie and manlfolde comody- ties that are like to groive to this Realme of Englande by the Westerne discoveries lately attempted. Of this interesting pam- phlet, which was never printed, only four copies were made. One fortunately came to light in the year 1868 and was finally pub- lished in 1877.^ In the course of the twenty chapters in which these " comodyties ", which range from the spreading of the Gos- pel to the bridling of the King of Spain and the discovery of a northwest passage to Cathay, are set forth, we get a good deal of incidental information about the early voyages to the New World. Here for instance 2 is the only reference to the first voyage of La Roche in 1584 as well as to the exploring expedi- tion of Bellinger of Rouen in the previous suminer.^ In 1589 appeared Hakluyt's Principall Navigations, Voiages and Discoveries of the English Nation .... within the compasse of these 16G0 yeeres, in which are contained the accounts of several unpublished voyages to Newfoundland. Of a voyage said to have taken place in the year 1527, he was not able to give much additional information except that one of the ships was named the Dominus Vobiscum and that a canon of St. Paul's " did much advaunce the action and went therein himself e in person.""* In conclusion he blames the " great negligence of the writers of those times, who should have used more care in preserving the memories of the worthie actes of our nation." 5 About the voyage of Master Hore ^ to the same region in the year 1536 he was able to obtain fuller information from one of 1 Collections of the Maine Historical Society, second series, ii 1-167 2 Ihid, p. 26 3 Ihid. Pnncipall Navigations (1589) p. 517. * Ibid. Cf. also Coleccion de Docnmentos iniditos de Indias, 1st series vol. xxxvii, pp. 456-458, vol. xl, pp. 305-354 and second series vol. iv, pp. 57-60. 6 Ibid., pp. 517-519 : — " The voyage of Master Hore and divers other Gentle- men to Newfoundland and Cape Breton, in the year 1536." 244 THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE the survivors, Thoraas Buts of Norfolk, to whom he " rode 200 miles onely to learne the whole trueth of this voyage from his owne mouth ; " for this man was the sole member of that expedi- tion then living. Part of his information however he obtained from his uncle, the barrister of the Middle Temple, who had received it from one Davvbeny, another member of the expedi- tion. It appears that this " master Hore of London, a man of great coura;^e and given to the sludie of Cosmographie," induced thirty gentlemen of the Inns of Court and of Chancery and others "desirous to see the strange things of the world" to embark in two tall ships which set sail from Gravesend in April 1586. After visiting Cape Breton and Penguin Island they sailed northward to Newfoundland where liovvever provisions began to run short. Just when all their stores were exhausted and one man had actually killed aud begun to eat another, "such was the mercie of God, that there arrived a French shippe in that port well furnished with vittaile, and such was the policie of the English that they became masters of the same and changing ships, set sail to come into England," where they arrived safely at the end of October. Some months later when the poor Frenchmen appeared and begged for relief. King Henry VIII, grieved at the tale of his countrymen's sufferings, made good the damage due out of his own pocket. This voyage, which took place in the same year as that in which Cartier returned from wintering on the St. Lawrence, is important as showing that English voyciges continued to be made from time to time, and also for tiie mention of the French fishing vessel. It is probable that the examination of David Ingram, who in the year 1569 wandered with two companions from the Gulf of Mexico northward to the coast of Acadia whence they were taken home by a French trader, was also carried out by Hakluyt or at his request.! After his defeat in the harbour of San Juan 1 ♦' The Relation of David Ingram of Barking, in the Countie of Essex Sayler, of sundry things which he with others did see in traveiling by land from the most Northerly partes of the Bale of I^Iexico .... through a great part of America, untill he came within fiftie leagues or there abouts of Cape Britton." Ihid., pp. 5o7-oG2. Cf. also Sainsbury, op. rit. vol. i, no. 2, and Addenda no.';. 25 and 26, p. 21. THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE 245 de Ulloa in the autumn of 1568 John Hawkins had been obliged, through lack of all stores and by the condition of his boats, to put one hundred men ashore near the mouth of the Mississippi Three of these, David Ingram, Brown and Twide, " travelled by land two thousand miles towards Cape Britton und never con- tinued in any one place above three or foure dayes." Unfortu- nately however the value of this document is greatly weakened by the fact that one never knows to what portion of this great extent of territory the various statements refer. Yei; for us the fact that these men were taken off by a Freoch vessel in a region where fishing was abundant and white bears common, is of considerable importance. After passing the Baye Ste. Marie, which I take to be the Bay of Fundy, he states that they came to the " maine sea upon the Northside of America," and having travelled in sight of this for two days they were informed when a', the head of a river, sixty leagues west from Cape Breton, that a ship was on the coast at the mouth of it. Repairing thither they found a French vessel trading in furs, leaves for dyeing and rude silver. In this vessel they were taken to Havre, and thence they made their way to England. Not only is this a good proof of the early rise of the fur-trade, Vut the savages of that region said " they had seene shippes on that coast and did draw upon the ground the shape and figure of shippes and of their sailes and flagges." Some of these were doubtless fishing vessels. In 1599 and 1600 Hakluyt published a new and much en- larged edition of his Principall Navigations, in the third volume of which are printed several important papers relating to the St. Lawrence. The translations of Cartier's and Roberval's voyages have been discussed elsewhere as well as those not written by Hakluyt himself. There is however an anonymous account of the discover}^ of the island of Ramea which was doubtless trans- lated from the French by Hakluyt."!- It had been found on a 1 " Relation of the first voyage and discoverie of the Isle Ramea made by for Monsieur de La court Pre Ravillon, and Grand Pre, with the ship called the Bonaventure, to kill and make Traine oyle of the beasts called the Morses with great teeth, which we have perfourmed by Gods helpe this yeere 1591." Principall Naviyation.'^ (IGOO) iii 189-190. 246 THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE French vessel when she was brought into Bristol as a prize,^ and through his friends in that town Hakluyt doubtless obtained possession of the document. Soon after leaving St. Malo " with the fleete that went for Canada " this vessel lost the others in a violent storm and reached Newfoundland alone. As she was about to enter hei- usual fishing harbour, a fresh storm forced her to sail up and down for eleven days. When the weather at length cleared, the crew discovered this island of Ramea, which during the months of April, May and June turned out to be the home of innumerable walruses. They were able therefore to ship, instead of cod, some forty casks of train oil, though unfor- tunately for the owners these were unloaded at Bristol instead of at St. Malo. This document is merely the pilot's account of the course to be held in order to return to Ramea, It is interesting as a ray of light thrown upon the yearly operations of the French Newfoundland fishermen. Besides leading English ves- sels to sail to this island, the mention of walruses induced Hak- luyt to add "A briefe note of the Morsse and the use thereof " 2 in which he informs us that one of his friends had used the teeth of these animals in administering medicine to his patients and " had found it as souveraigne against poyson as any Unicornes home." Richard Fisher. Our sole information about Fisher consists in the statement made by himself that he was " Master Hilles man of RedrifFe." As the author of an account 3 of a voyage to Cape Breton in the year 1593 he becomes for us rather an important personage, although the voyage itself turned out a failure. On the first of June 1593 the Marigold of seventy tons departed out of Fal- mouth in company with another ship for the island of Ramea 1 Ibid., p. 191 : "to advertise your honour of the discovery of an Island made by two smale shippes of Saint Malo ; the one 8 daies past being prised near Silley bj' a ship called the Pleasure .... which prise is sent backe to this Port with upwards of fortie tunnes of Traine," etc. 2 Ibid., p. 191. 3 " The voj'age of the ship called the Mariijold of M. Hill of Redrife unto Cape Briton and beyond to tlie latitude of 44 degrees and an half, 1593," in Hak- luyt, Principall Navigations, (1600) iii 191-193. THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE 247 where the Bretons caught the walruses. On the way out they lost one another, but keeping her reckonings well the other ves- sel sailed directly to the island, where she found a vessel from St. Malo already three quarters full of oil. This vessel in fear of seizure " being of a Leaguer towne tied so hastily that present night " that she left half her crew and three boats which the English vessel captured. Only a moderate cargo was now secured however, as the season was almost at an end. On the other hand the Marigold overshot the island and reached Cape Breton. Here the crew landed and took in water. They were approached by a savage, but when a musket accidentally went off he fled. Again setting sail, tbey beat up and down to the west and south-west of Cape Breton for eleven weeks but finding no trace of Ramea they finally sailed for home. Silvester Wyet. In his position of master of the Grace of Bristol, a barque of thirty tons, this man wrote an account of her voyage to the island of Anticosti in the year 1594, which the diligence and care of Hakluyt have preserved for us/' She was sent to this island in the belief that " Whales which are deadly wounded in the Grand Bay, and yet escape the fisher for a time, are woont usually to shoot themselves on shore " there. Finding however, after wait- ing some time, that this did not seem to be the case, the Grace set sail for Newfoundland, and on arriving at the Bay of Placentia, where it was intended to load cod, the crew found themselves well used by " the fishermen of Saint John de Luz and of Sibi- buro and of Biskay, which were to the number of threescore and odde sayles, whereof eight shippes onely were Spaniardes." After fishing here for a time with two pinnaces lent them by the men of St. Jean-de-Luz and Ciboure, they crossed the bay to the harbour called Pesinarck where they made a stage and " fished so long, that in the ende the Savages came, and in the night cut both our pinnesse and our shippes boate away." Fearing further 1 " The voyage of the Grace of Bristol of M. Rice Jones, a Barke of thirtj' five Tuniies, up into the Bay of Saint Laurence to the Northwest of Newefound- land, as farre as the Isle of Assumption or Natiscotec, for the barbes or fynnes of Whales and traine Oyle," in Hakluyt, Principal/. Navigations (1600) iii 194-19.5 248 THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE annoyance they sailed to Farrillon where they found two and twenty English vessels. Here they quietly " made up their fishing voyage to the full " and then sailed for home. Charles Leigh. In the summer of 1597 Charles Leigh, a London merchant made a voyage on board of one of his vessels, " bound unto the river of Canada." On his return he compiled an account of their adventures which gives one a more vivid idea of the lawlessness which then existed on the coast of New France than any docu- ment hitherto discovered. ^ On Friday morning the 8th of April the Hopewell of 120 tons and the Chancewell of 70 tons set sail together from Gravesend for the St. Lawrence. Near New- foundland they lost sight of one another but came together again on the following day in the Bay of Assumption, where the Hope- well contrary to her captain's wish fought with a French vessel. On the way to the island of Ramea they once more became separ- ated, so that on the 18th of June the Hopewell arrived alone. Here she found two vessels from St Malo and two from St. Jean- de-Luz who also said they were Frenchmen. Doubting the truth of this, Leigh asked them to hand over their povv^der and ammuni- tion, promising, if they turned out to be really French, to keep it in safety without diminution. On their refusal it was taken from theni by force but again restored when an examination of the masters showed that they had spoken the truth. This high- handed proceeding of a single Engli-^h vessel so angered the foreigners that on the following morning the crew of the Hope- ivell were treated to the spectacle of three pieces of cannon direct- ed against them from the shore, while two hundred Frenchmen, collected out of the neighbouring harbours, and three hundred sav- ages shot at them fi'om the woods. After a short skirmish a parley was arranged, but when Ralph Hill and the boatswain's mate appeared on shore they were straightway seized. Fearing further treachery'- and being the weaker side the Hopeiuell cut 1 " The voyage of M.Charles Leigh, and divers others to Cape Briton and the Isle of Ramea," in Hakluji;, Principall Navigations (1600) iii 195-201. For his voyage to South America vid. Purchas, part iv, pp. 1250-62 and Sainsbury, op. cit. vol. i p, 5. THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE 249 her cable, and left her anchor on shore. On the way out of the harbour the two missing men were again sent on board. Being warned away from Tsle Blanche by a cannon shot,she headed up the western coast of Newfoundland. Soon a bad north-easter set in, whereupon the master said that they could not keep that course. Leigh "then asked how farre they had to the river of Cape Briton : he sayd a little way. Then, said he, If it be not farre, we were best to go thither to trade with the Savages while the wind is contrary." Finding however that it was further out of their course than he had thought, Leigh ordered the master to turn again and head for the Straits of Belle Isle. But " within one halfe houre afterwards the gunner and company presented me and the master with a request in writing to returne for Eng- land or to goe for the Islands of A9ores for a man of war, for they would not proceed on their voyage; and therefore do what I could, they turned the helme homewards." On the twenty- seventh of June when taking water at Cape Breton they came upon a boat belonging to their consort the Cltancevjell which had been cast away in a harbour near at hand and robbed by some Frenchmen ; the very shirts of the crew had been taken from them. Upon information that this had been done by a great Biskaine of 300 tons, a search was made for her and she was finally discovered in the English Port "with two Biskainers more, and two ships of Rochel." The admiral of the harbour, when ap- plied to, at once ordered the stolen goods to be returned, and most of the lost property was actually recovered. Since however Leigh threatened to use violence if the remainder were not given up, the admiral kept him a prisoner until the Hopeivell got under way, when Leigh was put on board. "The next morning we pur- posed if the winde had served our turne,tohave made them to re- pent their evill dealing or els to have suncke their ships if we could. But the winde caried us to sea: so that wee tooke our course toward the bay of S. Laurence in Newfoundland : where wee hoped to find a Spanish ship, which as we had intelligence, did fish at that place." Her capture was easily effected by the ship's boat, which surprised the Spaniard in the night. But before the Hopewell could arrive, for it was foggy, the vessel was again re- 250 THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE taken by some Basques from a neighbouring harbour, who had been summoned by one of the fugitive crew. Foiled in this at- tempt they next laid their course for the harbour of Cape St. Mary where it was reported that certain Leaguers were fishing. Only one was discovered but she was at length taken after a close fight during which they "played upon us with shot and pikes out at two ports, between which we entred very dangerously." A vessel from La Rochelle which was close at hand merely looked on at the fun. In this prize Leigh at once set sail for England while the master of the Hojieiudl was ordered " to go for the Is- lands of the Azores and there to spend his victuals for (as) a man of warre." What success he met with is not recorded. From an account such as that condensed above, one realizes what the life in the fishing harbours was like. In reality it seems to have differed little from sheer piracy, though had the crew not mutinied when on the way up the west coast of New- foundland, it is possible the voyage might have passed off" quietly. Bertrand's Letter. Of the author of the Lettre Missive^ to the Sieur de la Tron- chaie we know very little indeed. From the statements contain- ed in it one would suppose that he was a merchant of Paris who had gone out to New France for the first time in the year IGIO to take some share in the fur-trade, a very agreeable occupation as he assures us.2 Lescarbot, who calls him an honest man, and a native of Sesane^, tells us that although at Paris he had suffer- ed from the gout, he was quite free from it at Port Royal.4 The 1 Lettre Mis-nve, Touchant la Converdon et Baptesme du grand Sagamo>i <h la nouvelle France, qui en estoit axiparavant I'arrivie des Francois le chef et sotirerain. Envoyie du Port Royal eri la nouvelle France au Sieur de la Tronchaie, dattee du 28 Juin IGIO, Paris, 1610. Printed in the Jenuit Relatione and Allied Documents, i 118-12.3. Cleveland 1896. 2 " Vous asseurant qu'il fait beau trafiqiier par de9ii et faire un beau gain." Ibid., p. 122. 3 Ibid, ii 156 : — " M. Bertrand natif de Sesane." 4 Ibid, ii 182 : — " Tesmoin un honete personnage nomme Bertrand, leqnel k Paris estoit journellement tourmente de la goutte, de laquelle il a est^ totalement exempt par dela, etc." THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE 251 letter is extremely short and not of very s^reat value except for the hint given as to the gains to be derived from the fur- trade.i Marc Lescarbot. Born at Vervins 2 of a good family between the years 1560 and 1570, Lescarbot, after receiving a good education, took up the study of law. He had not however been called to the Bar when in 1598 he pronounced in his native town an oration of thanksgiving before the Papal Legate on the conclusion of peace with Spain.3 In the following year he published a translation of a Latin work by Cardinal Baronius on the origin of the Russians.^ Shortly afterwards he was called to the Bar and among his first briefs seem to have been several law-suits in which the Seigneur de Poutrincourt was involved. On the de- parture of the latter with Monts in 1604 Lescarbot was given the charge of all his private affairs until his return, when those, he informs us, who during his absence had given trouble became most silent and affable.^ During the year 1605 he doubtless 1 " Quant ail paj-s, iamais ie n'ay veu rien de si beau, meilleur ny plus fertile, et vous dis avec verite, et sans meiitir que si i'avois trois ou quatre Laboureurs maintenant avec moy, et pour les nourrir una annee, et du bled pour ensemencer le labourage qii'ils pourroient faire de leurs bras seulenient, du surplus qui me reviendroit apres leiir nourriture, i'espererois faire trafiq tons les ans de sept ou huict mille livres en Castors et Pelleterie," etc. Ihid. i 120. ^ Histoire de la Nonrelle France (1866) iii 768; "Veivin lieu de ma nais- sance," etc, Vid. Demarsy, Notes siir Marc Lescarbot avocat Vervinois, Verrins, 1868, passim. 3 Lescarbot, op. cit. iii 768 : "A Vervin, oil je fis deux actions de graces en forme de panegjTique a Monseigneur le Legat Alexandre de Medicis, Cardinal de Florence, depuis Pape Leon XL" Copies of this are preserved in the Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris under the titles Actio GrcUiarum pro Pace per Marcum Scarbotium, I. V. L.. Lutetise, MDIIC, (Lb ^^33), and Harangue d' Action de Graces jwiir la Paix, prononcee en la ville de Vervin, le dernier iour de May, 1598, etc. , par Man; Lescarbot, Licentier es Droicts, Paris. MDXCVIII, (Lb %32). * Discours de VOrigine des Russiens, et de leur miraculeuse conversion : et de quelques actes memorables de letirs Rois ; en outre comme par laps de terns ilz ont quitl4 la verite coneue : et maintenant une grande jxirtie d'tceux se sont rangez A la eomm,union du S. Siege Apostolic. Traduit en Francois du Latin du Cardinal Cesar Baronius par Marc Lescarbot advocaf, Paris 1599, 8'"'. 5 " Certains qui le poursuivoient rigoureusement absent. . . . devindrent soupples et rauets a son retour." Histoire, ii 484-485. 252 THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE continued his practice at Paris, for it was from here that he set out in the spring of 1606 to accompany Poutrincourt to the New World. The latter had agreed, at Monts' request, to take charge of the settlement at Port Royal, while Lescarbot's excuse for going was his desire " to examine the land with his own eye and to flee a corrupt world." It appears that he had received personal disfavours from several judges, i Embarking on the Jonas at La Rcchelle in May 1606 they did not reach Port Royal until the end of July. 2 On the 30th of the following July Lescarbot left Port Royal for France so that he spent just twelve months in the New World. ^ He saw very little of it except the region about Port Royal, having only visited beyond this the River St. John and the island of Ste. Croix. 4 Reaching home in the autumn of 1607, Lescarbot did not turn his attention towards the produc- tion of a fresh work until the Easter law vacation of 1608 when he determined at the instance of his friends to write the history of the attempts so far made to establish a French empire. The accounts of the voyages of Verrazano, Cartier, Laudonniere, and the others were thus incorporated in his work, which in his own words was also to be a record of the chief events of the voyages of Monts and of Poutrincourt. ^ This work published in the following year under the title of Histoire de la Nouvelle France is divided into three books, 1 "Desireux de reconoitre la terre oculaireraent et fuir iin monde corrorapu ; estant ra^me induit par Tinjustice que m'avoient pen auparavant faite certains Jujes Presidiaux," etc. Ibid. p. 485. 2 Ibid. p. 518. 3 Ibid. p. 575. A letter dated Port Royal '22nd August 1606 is in the Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres, Amerique, Vol. iv, fols 49-50. It was published by M. Marcel in the Beriie de Geographic Tome 16 pp. 65-69. Paris 1885. 4 Histoire p. 569. 5 " Je veux done faire un recueil general de ce que i'ay leu en divers petits traitez et memoires que j'ay pris tant en la Bibliotheque du Roj' qu'ailleurs : en- semble ce que ledit sieur de Monts a fait et exploite au voyage qu'il y fit en I'an mil six cens trois : et finalement ce que j'y ay veu en I'espace de deux etes et un hiver que nous avons este en ladite province, en la compagnie du sieur de Poutrin- court. . . tant pour contenter I'honnete desir de plusieurs qui des long temps requierent cela de moy que pour emplo^^er utilemeut les heures que je puis avoir de loisir durant ce temps que Ton appelle des Vacations " Dnd., pp. 5-6, He adds in 1617 "des vacations en I'an 160S." THE SOURCES, PART II: NARRATIVE 253 in the first of which are described the voyages of Verrazano, Vil- legaignon, Ribaut, Laudonniere and Gourgues. The accounts of the expeditions of Cartier, Roberval, La Roche, Monts and Pout- rincourt occupy the second book, while in the third and last he gives an account of the manners and customs of the savages of the New World. Of his summary of V'errazano's voyage which is copied from Belleforest, mention has already been made. The sources of his version of Cartier's voyages, which are given in full, are easily traceable. The first is takeu from the Rouen edition of 1598 while, as he himself tells us, the second was copied from the original manuscript preserved in the King's Library, i This as I have shown elsewhere is now Ms. fr. 5589, known as B. He also reprinted some verses " Sur le voyage de Canada " which he found in the Rouen edition of the first voyage.2 In copying this first voyage he has put the first of August for the 25th of July and having once committed himself continues his error. 3 The spelling of the second relation is also frequently modernized and he suppressed some of the dedication which seemed to be rather bigoted.^ He did not retain the original order of the nar- rative but broke it up into sections, between which he inserted portions of Champlain's account of his voyage to the St. Law- rence in 1603. The only valid reason for this seems to be jea- lousy of Champlain, who, he says, gives one the impression that no person had ever gone beyond Quebec before he went there. ^ Some descriptive portions of Cartier's second relation are reserv- ed for his third book on the manners and customs of the savages. ^ 1 " Ainsi j'ciy laisse en leur entier les deux voyages dudit Capitaine Jacques Quartier, le premier desquels estoit imprime ; mais le second je I'ay pris sur I'original presente au Roj' ecrit k la main '" etc. Ihicl, pp. 204-20.5 (edition of 16(9 p. 231.) - " Au surplus, ayant trouve en tete du premier voyage. . . cjuelques vers Frangois qui me semblent de bonne grace, je n'en ay voulu frustrer I'autlieur, du- quel j'eussemis le nom s"il se fust donne a conoitre." Ibid., p. 205, 3 Edition of 1609 pp. 278 et seq. Michelant et Rame op. cit., pp. 36 et neq. i " Pour rOrthographie i'ay sviivi la plus simple qu'il m'aeste possible, rejett- ant a peu pres touttes lettres superflues." Au Lecteur, edition of 1609. It seems odd in view of this to speak of Lescarbot's version of Carciei-'s voyages. 5 " Si bien que le sieur Champlain peusoit estre le premier qui en avoit gaigne le prix," etc. Edition of 1866, ii, 309. 6 Ibid., iii 662 et seq. 254 THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE His accounts of the voyages of Roberval and La Roche are very scanty indeed, for no French version of the former's voy- age seems to have been then preserved and Lescarbot was igno- rant of that given by Hakluyt some nine years earlier. It ap- pears as if his whole information on this subject was derived from the slight mention of Roberval in the Letters patent of La Roche and from a conversation with one of Roberval's descendants. It is not astonishing therefore that his account is quite wrong. He makes no mention of Cartier's third voyage nor of his descen- dants' attempt at a monopoly. A very summary account is given of the expedition of La Roche, which he states to have taken place in the year 1596. Since his attention had not been turned to the New "World before 1606, in which year La Roche died, he was doubtless only able to glean a few facts from Champlain or others who had heard of the expedition at the time. The copy of the Letters patent was evidently taken from the edition of them printed at Rouen in 1598.1 The remainder of Book II is taken up with an account of the settlement established by Monts first at Ste. Croix and then transferred to PortRoj^al. After giv- ing in full copies of Monts' commissions taken from a small print- ed edition which appeared in 1605 and a copy of which is still to be seen in the archives of the French Foreign Office,^ he goes on to describe the voyage out and the establishment of the settle- ment at Ste. Croix. For all this portion of his account up to his own arrival at Port Royal in July 1606, he was of course depen- dent on information gathered from others, among whom Poutrin- court seems to have held the chief place. Thus we have a very minute and detailed narration of the latter's voyage out and home again, while the events of the year 1605, when he was absent, are treated much more summarily. For this period therefore Cham- plain is a much better source.^ It is the remainder of Book II (chapters 39-48) which forms the most valuable portion of Les- carbot's history. Here he is recounting events at which he was 1 Edition of 1609, pp. 434-450 ; cf. Michelant et Rame, Voyage de Jaques Cartier p. S : — " Ay ant ces cours passez imprime I'Edict du Roj' contenant le pouvoir et commission donn^e par sa Majeste an sieur Marqnisde la Roche," etc. 2 Am^'rique, vol. iv, fols. 3-22. 3 Laverdi^re, (Emrres de Chaviplain, Tome iii, chaps, ii-xi. THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE 255 personally present and in many of which he took a not unimpor- tant part. Thus we have a lon^ account of the voyage of the Jonas from La Rochelle to Port Royal as well as an interesting narrative of the events at the latter place during the winter and spring of 1607. In comparing him with Champlain, who was also present during the same period, one sees that while each is correct in his own way their points of view are so different that they seldom touch upon the same matters. Champlain is above and beyond all a discoverer and geographer, while Lescarbot's in- terests lie more in the system of government of the colony and in the customs of the savages. To one brought up on the classics these strange peoples offered a most interesting field for compara- tive study. Book III gives the results of his inquiries into In- dian customs and as a study of their habits deserves much more attention than has hitherto been paid to it. In addition to his own observations Lescarbot draws on the writings of Jean Alfonse, Thevet, Cartier's narratives, an English History of Virginia (doubtless Hariot's), Champlain, Lery and others. Immediately upon its appearance Lescarbot's work met with a good reception. It was written in an easy style by one who was not too much of a pedant to enjoy a good story and who took an intelligent interest in the events recorded ; his book is pleasant reading even to this day. It is not surprising then that an English and a German translation soon appeared. The first was done at Hakluyt's request by P. Erondelle, whom tradition holds to have been a Huguenot pastor in London.^ He only translated however that portion of the work which described the settlements at Ste. Croix and Port Royal together with the last book on the customs and manners of the Indians. The work was dedicated to Prince Henry the " Bright Starre of the North " and was published " to the end that comparing the goodnesse of the lands of the Northerly parts with Virginia, greater encourage- ment might be given to prosecute that generous and godly liVoro. Francia or the De-'icriptioii of that part of New France, lohich it one continent with Virginia. Trandated out of French into English by P. E. Londini 1609. Also printed in a condensed form in Purchas, op cit. the Fourth Part, pp 1619-1641. 256 THE SOURCES, PAET II : NARRATIVE action."l The chapters 31-48 of Book II form the first part while Book III is^kept entire except that the French verses in the oriirinal are omitted. The ti-anslation itself seems to be well done and the work must have been of great value at the time of its appearance. The German translation which appeared at Augsburg in 1613 gives only a brief summary in some eighty pages of the whole of the original.^ The work was done by a nobleman for the benefit of his Catholic co-religionists.^ He even promised them similar translations of the Jesuit relations, but these seem never to have appeared. Shortly after the publication of his history Lescarbot was thrown into prison for a time on the charge of having written a book against' the Jesuits.* Whether innocent or guilty, he did not remain thereHong for in the following year appeared his Conver- sion des 8auvages]yf hich contained a short account of the return of Poutrincourt to make his home at Port Royal and of his efforts to convert the natives.^ Saint- Just had been sent home to France in the summer of 1610 with a load of furs, and it was doubtless he who furnished Lescarbot wath the facts herein recorded.*^ In the year 1611 Lescarbot brought out a new edition of his history in an enlarged and corrected form. Thus he inserted a new ded- ication, to King Louis XlIT instead of to his father, and also placed ths voyage of La Eoche in the year 1598 instead of 1596. 1" To the Reader." 2 Marc Lescarbot, J^ova Frauria. Grundliche History von Erfundviif/ dtr grossen Land^ichafft Nova Francia odtr Ntw FranlTeich genaunt . . ausz eiiiem zn Parisz gedrnckfen Franzosischen Buck in Tdif-sch gehrachf. Aiigspurg : Clnj'sos- tomo Dabertzhofer, 1613. 3"Also"''hat .sich ein Fiirncmer Edler . . . Icichtlich erbetteu lassen, den Catholischen zu guteni vorgemeldtes Euch in das Teutsch zn bringen." Preface. * L'Estoile, Memoires-Journaux, x S8 : — " Un advocat denies amis, ncmnie Lescarbot, en peine et en prison, pour le Mastigophore de Fuzy, h la suscitation, ainsi qu'on disoit, et par la trahison d'un imprimeur, nomni6 Langlois." Cf. also ibid, , pp. 87 et seq. 5 La Com'eriiion des Saiivage-s qui ont e-ste baptizes tn la Konvdle France, cette annie IGIO. Avec un Bref Recit du voyage da Sieur De Poutrincourt, Paris, n. d., but the privilege for printing is dated 9th September of that year. This rare tract has been printed in Thvvaites, Jesuit Relations and Allied Donimeiits, i 52- 113. 6 Saint- Just had only reached liome on the 2Ist of August. Cf. ibid, ii 140. THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE 257 The additions are considerable for the whole now formed six books instead of three, though the first extra one (i. e. Bk. II) is simply formed of chapters 21 to 30 of the edition of 1609. By- means of the statement of Cartier's expenditure,^ communicated to him by a Samuel Georges of La Eochelle, the same who had been a member of Monts' Company, he was able to add a few facts about Roberval. He also gave for the first lime the com- mission granted to Cartier for his third voyage^ and a chapter was inserted on the attempt of Jannaye and Nouel to obtain a monopoly of the fur-trade in 1588, which he had not mentioned in the first edition.^ Chapters 1 to 30 of Book II of the old edition become Book III of this edition. The remaining chapters of Book II (i. e. 31-48) of the edition of 1609 now form Book IV but there are no changes in the text. These four books therefore of the second edition cover the ground gone over in Books I and II of the first edition. He now adds an account in six chapters of Champlain's operations in the St. Lawrence since the year 1608 and of Poutrincourt's return to Port Royal, and these con- stitute Book V. As to the sources of the latter account the facts are the same as given in his Conversion des Sauvages ; the events in the St. Lawrence he doubtless heard of from Champlain him- self,* for no other narrative of them was published until the year 1613. Book VI of the new edition is the old Book III on the manneis and customs of the savages. He also added to the book of poems called Les Muses de la Nouvelle France three new ones to Champlain, to Captain Gourges and to a savage from Florida.^ The edition of the History published in 1612, which was reprinted at Paris in 1866, only difiers from the former in the correction of the errata given in the table at the end of the edition of 1611 and in the consequent absence of this table. Of this edition Book Valone was translated into English by Purchas. ^ 1 This will be found in Michelant et Rame, op. cit. pp. 24-29. 2 Histoire (Edition of 1866) ii 387-391. 3 Ihid. ii 393-395. 4 " Ce qu'ayant entendu de la bouche dudit Champlain" . . . " Selon que m'a recite ledit Champlein " . . . " II nous promet," etc. /6irf. iii 605-607. 5 Ibid, iii, 2nd part, pp. 52-56. 6 Op. cit. Fourth Part, pp. 1642-1645. 17 258 THE SOURCES, PART II: NARRATIVE The year 1612 saw no abatement to Lcscarbot's literary ac- tivity for in that year appeared his Relation Derniere.^ This is a small pamphlet of forty pages containing an account of Pouti'inconrt's return to Port Royal in the year 1610 and of the principal events which had taken place there since that date. Al- though he had already given some statement of these events in his Conversion des Saivvages, as well as in the fifth chapter of the fifth book of his History as published in 1611, he now goes over the same ground again, though he relates in addition the story of Saint Just's departure in the spring of 1611 and the events at Port Royal until Poutrincourt set off for France in June of that year. It was from the latter indeed that all his information was obtained and doubtless also it was at his request that special stress was laid on the number of savages converted, in order to make an impression upon the Court and to obtain, if possible, some financial aid. A long list is thus given of the savages who had been baptized, and among the names conferred figure those of the Prince and Princess of Conde, of the Comte de Soissons and of other persons afterwards connected with New France. The publication was doubtless intended to show that before the ar- rival of the Jesuits the spiritual welfare of the savages had not been neglected. During the years 1612 to 1614 Lescarbot was in Switzer- land2 in the suite of Pierre de Castille, the French ambassador to that Republic, so that it was not until the year 1617 that he brought out a third and still more enlarged edition of his History. These three editions, succeeding each other in such rapid succes- sion, show that the book must have been widely read. Although in the edition of 1611 he had pointed out the necessity of the maintenance of a monopoly if the colony was to be peopled, ^ he 1 Relation Demiere de ce qui s'est pass6 au vuyage du sieur de Poutrincourt en la Nouvelle- France depuis 20 mois enca. par Marc Lescarbot A dvocat en Parlement. Paris MDCXII. This has been reprinted in Thwaites, Jesuit Relations ii 122-191, and it will also be found in the Archives Curieuses de VHistoire de France xv 377-406. 2 Edition of 1617, p. 678 : " Moy ^tant en Suisse." Cf. also p. 684. 3 " On dit qu'il ne faut point emp^cher la liberte naturelleraent acquise a toute personne de traffiquer avec les peuples de delk. Mais je demanderay volon- THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE 259 now went a step further and urged the King to use his authority to prevent such illegal revocations of grants as had taken place in the past.i^ The tirst four books of the new edition are similar to those of the edition of 1611 as is also the last book (VI) on the manners and customs of the savages, except that chapters 3 and 4 are rolled into one and the numbers thereby changed. Book V, which in the edition of 1611 contained only six chapters now has fifteen and into these are worked some fresh material as well as portions of the Relation Derniere. In some cases the increas- ed number of chapters is nothing more than a sub-division of an old chapter. Thus chapter 3 of the old Book V now make chapters 3 and 4 in the new edition, while the old chapter 4 has become chapters 5, 6, and 7. The new chapters 9 and 10 contain the substance of his Relation Derniere, but the following five chapters, giving a history of the disputes with the Jesuits, the founding of St. Sauveur and the destruction of both places by Argall, are quite new. He drew part of his material from Biard's Relation which had appeared in the previous year and which he cites, 2 but most of it was probably obtained from Poutrincourt before the latter's death some two years before. He also uses some letters written to him in 1614 by Poutrin- court^ and a proces-verbal'^ drawn up at La Rochelle in July of that year. The Factum against the Jesuits was also not un- known to him.5 In continuing his account of the operations in the St. Lawrence he uses not only the edition of Champlain's voyages published in 1613^ but also whatever could be gleaned tiers qui est plus k preferer ou la Religion Chretienne et I'amplification du nom Francois, ou le profit particulier d'un marchant qui ne fait rien pour le service deDieu ni du Roy ?" He goes on to state that beaver-skins which in 1588 were sold at 2^ livres then brought 8^ livi-es each for the monopolists. Edition of 1611, p. 419. 1 " Mais, Sire, il faut vouloir et commander, etne permettre qu'on revoque ce qui aura ete une fois accorde, comme on a fait ci-dev^ant a la ruine d'une si belle enterprise," Edition of 1617, pp. 5-6. 2 " Le meme pere Biart passe sous silence sept mois de temps," etc. Ibid. p. 676. 3 Ihid., pp. 678, 684-685. 4 Ibid., pp. 687-690. 5 Ibid., pp. 677-678. 6 " M'etant quelquefois servi, au regard des derniers temps, de ce que Samuel Champlein en a donne au public." Ibid., Liv. I, p. 5. 260 THE SOURCES, PART II: NARRATIVE from people who had been there. Thus he states that he bad received many of the facts related from a Norman gentleman who was on his way to Italy.^^ In the year 1618 Lescarbot published a volume in Switzer- land 2 as well as a small pamphlet on the fall of Concini from power.3 He took occasion in this latter to inform the King that if the French did not take possession of Newfoundland, which was worth a million in gold a year to the country, some other power would do so.^ After his marriage in the following year, doubtless a result of his appointment to the post of naval com- mis'^ioner,^ we hear nothing more of him until the year 1629 when he published a small volume of verses on the defeat of the English at La Rochelle ^ This seems to have been the last pro- duction from his pen but when he died is not yet known. Such then are the life and works of this clever, witty and pleasing writer who did so much to preserve in an agreeable form the ups and downs of the little colony of French settlers on the shores of the Bay of Fundy. As the friend of Poutrincourt he seems to have been anxious to preserve some account of his actions, and without Lescarbot's labours the early annals of New France would have lacked the only writer who lifts those times in any degree out of the commonplace. Ennemond Masse. Masse, who was born at Lyons in 1574, is only a small con- tributor to the historical literature of early Canada. At the age of twenty-three he entered the Society of Jesus and made such progress that, like Biard, he was appointed to a chair in their college at Lyons. From there he went to Paris as assistant to 1 " Les particularites. . . . m'ayans ete recit^es par un Gentil-homme Norman qui alloit en Italic." Ibid., p. 647. 2 Le Tableau de la Suisse et autres alliez de la France 6s hautes Allemagnes. Auquel sont descrites les sirigulariUs des Alpes," etc. Paris, 1618, 8°. 3 Le Bout de I' An or le Franc Gaulois au Roy. Paris, 1618 (Biblioth^que Nationale Lb.36 1118 and 1119) 4 " Qui vaille tous les ans un million d'or k la France." Ibid., p. 15. 5 Annates des Voyages, Paris, 1869, Tome i, pp. 76-81. 6 La Chasse aux Anglois en Vile de Rez, et an Siege de la Rochelle et la reduc- tion de ladite ville a Vobeissance du Roy. Paris 1629, 8" THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATJVE 261 Father Cotton, the confessor of King Henry IV, and was thus a likely man to be appointed to go to New France in the spring of 1610. A letter dated at Port Royal in June of that year simply informed the General of the Order of his safe arrival in the New World and of the prospects for a successful harvest.^ On the 29th of February, 1612, he addressed a letter to a M. L'Abbe at Dieppe praising the qualities of a son of his who commanded a vessel trading to Port Royal. 2 In the following March he sent a letter to Madame de Guercheville in which he informed her that since their work at Port Royal was being ruined through disputes, their only hope of success lay in her generosity. If she would take over this colony or begin a new one, all would go well.3 Ifc was this letter and doubtless one of a similar purport from Biard which led to the establishment of St. Sauveur. Nothing more came from Masse's pen, as far as is known, until the Recollects invited the Jesuits to assist them in their mis- sionary labours on the St. Lawrence He reached New France in 1625 and before his deatb at Sillery, in 1046, had translated several prayers into the Montagnais dialect.* Father Biard. Pierre Biard who was born at Grenoble in the year 1557 entered the Jesuit Order at a date unknown. Being a good pupil he soon rose in the ranks and some time about the end of the century was given the chair of scholastic theology at Lyons. While occupying this post he was summoned in the year 1608 to take charge of the mission about to be sent to Acadia.-^ It was however not until the spring of 1611 that he was finally able to set sail accompanied by another Jesuit, Ennemond Masse.^ Before 1 Thwaites, The Jestiit Relations and Allied Docnments, i 184-186. Cf. also p. 314, note 39. 2 Factum du Proces entre Jean de Biencourt, Sieur de Poutrincourt et les Peres Biard et Masse, Jisuites, reprint of M, G. Marcel, pp. 62-63. Paris 1887. ^Ihid. pp. 59-60. * Laverdi^re, (Euvres de Champlain, tome vi, Appendix pp. 16-20. " L'Oraison Dominicale, traduite en langage des Montagnars de Canada par le R. P. Masse de la Compagnie de Jesus." 5 Thwaites, The Jesuit Relations, iii 162. 6 lUd. pp. 162 and 166. 262 THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE leaving Dieppe he sent to the General of his Order at Rome a letter in which he gave an account of their troubles with the Huguenot merchants there, whose share in the vessel they them- selves were obliged finally to buy.i About a fortnight after their arrival at Port Royal, he despatched another letter to the Provincial in France giving an account of the voyage and his first impressions of the country. He was of the opinion that missionary work among such people would be difficult, but hoped much from the King's aid and from the kindness of the Sieur de Poutrincourt and his son.2 In a second letter to the General of the Order dated the following day he merely referred him for information to the letter just written to the Provincial.^ During the remainder of the year he was busy learning the Indian language so that it was not until January, 1612, that he again wrote home. In a second letter to the Provincial of the Order in France, dated in that month, he gives him an account of what had since taken ]jlace and of the difficulties met with in trying to master the Indian dialects, although Saint- Just gave him as much help as he was able.4 He also related how be accompanied Saint- Just on a voyage along the coast and of their discovery of the fort abandoned by the northern branch of the Virginia Company in 1608. His third letter to the General of the Order dated the same day, except for the few additional paragraphs at the beginning in which he describes the country, might be called a Latin translation of the former, as it doubtless was.^ During the spring, a good deal of dissension arose between him and Saint-Just, who had been left in charge of the colony by his father, and an attempt was actually made by the Jesuits to sail for home in the vessel of one L'Abbe. This however Saint-Just refused to permit, and since the Jesuits thereupon ex- i/6irf. i 126-137. 2/6iU pp. 138-183; cf. p. 180 :— " M. de Poutrincourt, Seigneur doux et Equitable, vaillant, etc., ... etM.de Biancourt son fils, imitateur des vertus et belles qualitez de son pere, tous deux zeMs au service de Dieu. . . . nous donnent aussi grand courage de nous employer en ceste ouvrage," etc. ^Ihid. pp. 188-190. 4 Ihid. ii 4-55. 5 Ihid. ii 60-105. The date 1611 seems a misprint. THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE 263 communicated him, no further intercourse took place between them until August when peace was again restored.l Early in the spring of 1613 however, the vessel sent out by Madame de Guercheville called at Port Royal for the Jesuits and they set off in her to found the new settlement of St. Sauveur. When Argall captured their settlement he took Biard with him to Virginia. On account of his anger against Saint- Just, Biard appears to have informed the Governor there that those at Port Royal had not only captured an English vessel but that they were also about to fortify themselves with thirty large cannon.2 A.s a result of this information A-rgall's second expedition was directed against Port Royal and Ste. Croix. On the return voyage to Virginia the ves- sel on board of which Biard sailed was driven by a storm so far out to sea, that after touching at the Azores the course was set for England where they did not arrive until the winter was well-nigh spent. Biard was at once freed and made hif^ way to Amiens in France whence he addressed his fourth and last letter to the General of his Order. He therein gave an account of his misfortunes, of his safe arrival in England and of his immediate return to France.^ Between May 1614 and January 1616 when the license to print it was issued, Biard was engaged on hi:^ Relation which was published at Lyons in the course of that year.4 Before ex- amining the contents of this work it will be well to say a few words about the general aims of these Relations of the Jesuits and of the particular circumstances under which that of Biard was produced. According to Xavier, the ideal missionary in whose steps the others strove to follow, nothing which might justly offend any one or which did not breathe in every word the 1 Lescarbot, Histoire de la Nouvelle France (1617) pp. 676-677 ; Factum du Frocks, etc., pp. 42 et seq. 2 ' ' Lui ayans fait croire que nous avions pris un navire Anglois : que ie viendrois avec trente canons pour me fortifier sur le Port-Royal." Lescarbot, Histoire, etc. (1617) pp. 684-685. Cf. also the Proces-verbal in the same, pp. 687-690. 3 Thwaites, The Jesuit Relations iii 3-19. 4 Relation de la Nouvelle France, de se.s Terres,Naturel du Pais, et de ses Habi- tans, item du voyage des Peres Jesuites atisdictes contries et de ce quHls y ont fai iusques a leur prinse par les Anglois. Lyon 1616, 12ino. 264 THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE gloriticKtion and service of God should be inserted. " Let your account be of such sort," he said, " that, being taken to Europe, and passed from hand to hand, they may even be communicated to the public in print. Since they are thus to come not only into the hands of friends but also into those of ill- affected and often unjust and jealous persons, they must give no legitimate occasion for blame or for unfavourable interpretation."! They were in fact to be written in such a manner as to please every one. In reading them one must remember therefore that they depict only the pleasant and sunny side of colonial life, which, under the spiritual guidance of these faithful priests, appears to be ap- proaching nearer and nearer to the divioe perfection. The church services were always full, savages were being daily brought into the fold and were making manifest in a wonderful manner the powers of the saints in Heaven. Among the people, old and young, instead of frivolity or gaiety, all was prayer, fast- ing and religious exercises. In truth however there was another side to that life and in using these Relations as soui'ces for its history, one must bear this point in mind continually. In so far as they deliberately chose to depict the better and pleasanter side for the edification of the faithful at home, the writers chose no doubt the right means to that end ; but we of a later age who seek to find in them the true story of the times must remember what the end was for which they were written. Murders, rapes, blasphemies, robberies and other crimes might be and often were of frequent occurrence,^ but no retiection of such a state of affairs is ever mirrored in this peaceful stream of pietistic litera- ture. In the case of Biard's Relation, one must also bear in mind, that shortly after his return there had appeared an anony- mous pamphlet setting fonh his past conduct in no favourable 1 Lettres de Saint Franrois-Xavier traduites par Pag^s, ii 51 and 117, Paris 1855 ; cited by Rochemonteix, Les J^suites et la Nouvelle France au X Vile siecle, tome i, Introduction p. ix. Paris 1895. 2 " II est grandemeut necesssaire que la iustice soit exercee avec plus de puissance pour ne permettre qu'il se comraette des voleries, raeurtres, assassinats, paillardise, blasphemes et autres crimes desia par trop familiers entre quelques Frangois habitans en ladite terre " etc. Sagard, Histoire dii Canada, p. 89. Cf. Le Tac, Histoire Chronologiqne de la Nouvelle France, p. 135. Paris 1888. THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE 265 light. 1 Fault was not only found with him for becoming a fur- trader and buying half the vessel but he was also accused of get- ting drunk on the voyage out, of throwing the books of the Huguenots into the sea, of seeking to obtain control of the colony on his arrival, of excommunicating Saint-Just without cause and finally of leaving the colony without any spiritual n;inistration for a period of six months. It was his aim therefore in publish- ing this Relation not only to give a favourable account of their missionary labours but also to clear himself from the various charges publicly set forth iu the Factum. As we have seen, Biard reached France in May 1614, but his Relation was cot published until two years later. He seems however to have set to work upon it directly after his return and to have lived during these two j-ears at Paris.2 For its com- position he made use of Lescarbot^ and the works of Champlain then published* as well as of his own letters previously sent home of which he evidently had kept or then procured for him- self copies. It is from these materials that he constructed the first eight chapters, in which he set forth the situation, climate, soil, and natural features of the country as well as the govern- ment, customs and manner of life of the savages. In chapter viii we find the first mention of the Factum, but it is not until chapter ix that he breaks out against his former friends. Although on his first arrival'at Port Royal he had praised the kindness both of the Sieur de Poutrincourt and of his son Saint- Just, who on the voyage out had shared his cabin with him and on their arrival had helped him with the Indian language, ^ he now speaks of them in the following terms: " It is," hesays'^ "ab- 1 Factum du Proeez entre Messire Jean de Biencourt Chevalier Sieur de Pout- rincourt et Pierre Biard, Evemond Masse et Consorts, soy disans Prestres de la Sociiti de Jesus, 1614. This was reprinted by M. Gabriel Marcel at Paris in 1887. Cf. infra Anonymous Sources No I. 2 Thwaites, The Jesuit Relations, etc. iii 54 : — " Ceste presente annee 1614;" " ceste dicte annee icy k Paris" etc. 3 Ihid. p. 52. 4 Ibid. pp. 50, 56, 68, 70 and 160. 5 Ibid- i 148 and 180 ; ii 8, 28 and 90, 6 Ihid. iii 137-138 : — " Or comment est-ce que s'y pourroit dresser, fournir, et entretenir ceste colonic, et peuplade ? Ce n'est point icy le lieu d'en minuter, et 266 THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE solute folly for a few unimportant persons to imagine that by- spending for example three or four thousand crowns they can secure baronies and I don't know what big fiefs in this new land. The case would be worse if this foolish vanity should be found in people who flee the ruin of their own homes in France ; for the fate of such covetous persons would invariably be this, not as the one-eyed to rule the blind but as blind people tt) fall headlong into the slough of misery and set up possibly instead of a castle of Christians, a den of thieves, a nest of brigands, a retreat for pirates, a refuge for cut-throats, a house of scandal and of every sort of evil." If god-fearing people, he continues, should find themselves in such a company, strife would necessarily result, but the blame would all lie on these wicked persons. Such was the result of their disputes. His defence, in chapter x, of the charge that he had unnecessarily prolonged the probationary period of the neophytes is simply a repetition of what he had already written to the Provincial soon after his arrival at Port Royal. Chapters xi to xxix, in which he gives an account of their arrival at Port Royal, of the chief events during their stay, of their departure for St. Sauveur and of Argall's arrival, form an important source for the history of Acadia during the years 1611 to 1614. In the first of these, in which he gives an account of the troubles at Dieppe, he evidently had Lescarbot and the Fac- tum under his eye ; the former for the facts about Saint-Just, the latter for the events at Dieppe when he had retired to Eu. His defence of the unfortunate agreement about the fur-trade is extremely weak. The investment would, they had hoped, pro- vide them with a regular source of income whereby no burden would be cast on Poutrincourt and no collections need be made in France for their support. Instead, he continues, of the profits articuler les chefs. Seulement advertiray-ie, que c'est une grande folie k des petits compagnons, que de s'iniaginer des Baronnies, et ie ne sgay quels grands fiefs, et tenements en ces terres, pour trois ou quatre niille escus, par exemple, qu'ils auront k y foncer. Le pis seroit, quand ceste folle vanite arriveroit ci gens qui fuyent la ruine de leurs maisons en France : car k tels convoiteux infailliblement adviendroit, non que, borgnes ils regneroient entre les aveugles, ains qu'aveugles ils s'yroient precipiter en la fosse de misere, et possible feroient-ils au lieu d'un chasteau Chrestien, une caverne de larrons, un nid de brigands, un receptacle d'escumeurs, un refuge de pendarts, un attelier descandale, et toute meschancet^." THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE 267 from the fish and fur-trades " being lost in the hands of the merchants," it would, under the new arrangement, be used by the Jesuits for the maintenance of Port Royal. He even makes the astounding statement at the head of the following chapter, that it was very lucky for Robin that the Jesuits had been able to free him from his embarrassments, though it is perfectly clear that had the Jesuits not insisted on being taken against the wish of the two Huguenot merchants, there would have been no difficulty of any sort, much less a question of lack of funds. In fact after his arrival at Port Royal Biard admitted as much and wrote home that on the first refusal of the merchants it had been agreed to leave them, the Jesuits, out of the question and des- patch the vessel as originally arranged.! To excuse their action now on the ground that if they had not bought out the Hugue- not merchants, the vessel would not have been able to set sail is therefore no defence at all, for the merchants would have been only too glad to send the vessel without them. He makes no attempt to defend himself from the charges made against him personally.2 His account of events at the Port des Etechemins can be called neither clear nor satisfactory. Lescarbot bad stated in 1612 that a vessel from St. Malo was seized for being without her charter- party but released again with a warning not to come to sea in future without it.^ The Factum however accused Biard of unduly interfering to secure her release.* Biard himself admits that al- though he was ignorant for what cause the vessel was seized, she was released at his solicitation, w^hich seems to mean, as the Factum asserts, that he interfered in a matter which he neither understood nor in which he had any concern.^ On the other hand his account of the troubles at the river St. John is much more rea- 1 Ibid i. 142 : — '• Seulenient fut accorde que, laissant a part la question des Jesuites, on chargeroit promptement le vaisseau, de peur que cet embarras et dispute n'apportast du retardement au secours qui promptement debvoit estre donn^ k Monsieur de Potrincourt. " 2 Ibid, iii 180-182. In vol. ii, p. 84, he even admits the disputes : — " inter- dum nonnullae cum hsereticis disputationes," etc. 3 Ibid, ii 178. 4 Facttim (1887) p. 20. 5 Thwaites, The Jesuit Relations iii 188 and 190. 268 THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE sonable than the exaggerated statements given in the Factum where he is accused of making no effort to check an attempt to murder Saint- Just.i He makes no mention of the troubles in the spring of 1612 when he launched his excommunication against Saint- Just, doubtless because the existence of that document^ and the deposition of H^bert^ placed the matter beyond dispute.'^ For the history of the colony after peace was concluded and for the foundation of the new colony at Saint-Sauveur, Biard is for the present our sole source though in the Archives at Rouen there appears to exist an account of the capture of the latter by Captain Fleury.5 Here he of course seeks to defend himself from the charge of having led the English back to Port Royal but one is bound to choose between this half-hearted defence and the state- ments made on oath by Poutrincourt and his son before the Ad- miralty officers at La Rochelle. According to their statements Argall had been misinformed as to the intended fortification of the colony in order that its destruction might be the more speedily effected, and they also swore that on shore Biard acted as the guide of the English.^ Of the remaining chapters, numbers thirty to thirty-three contain an account of the long sea voyage to Eng- land via the Azores and the Relation is then brought to a close with one chapter on the missionary work of the colony and two others on the French right to those regions and the necessity of colonizing them. In reading the latter it is necessary to bear in mind the general aim of these Relations as already set forth above. An undated letter in which Biard informs Poutrincourt that peace had again been made at Port Royal will be found in the Factum. 7 Such then are Biard's writinors. As to h is particular point of view, it may be noticed that he 1 Ibid, iii 212 et seq. ; Fachim, pp. 23 and 24. 2 Factum pp. 43-47. 3 Ihid. p. 54. Cf. also iJnd. pp. 48-52 and 55-57, where the letters of Saint- Just to his father are printed. 4 Lescarbot pointed this out in 1617, vid. Histoire, etc., (1617) p. 676 :— " Le meme pere Biart passe sous silence sept mois de temps s9avoir depuis Janvier jus- ques k la fin d'aoust duranc lequels y eut un divorce entre eux " etc. 5 Gosselin, Nouvelles Glanes Historiques Normcmdes, pp. 41 et seq. 6 Lescarbot, Histoire, etc. (1617), pp. 687-690, 7 Factum, pp. 58-59. THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE 269 believed in the existence of the Lord of Darkness against whom he of course ranged himself with the Angels of Light. On his arrival in New France, he insisted that every neophyte should have a good knowledge not only of the Lord's prayer but also of the ten Commandments, the Sacraments and the other articles of the Christian faith. ^ As this was rather a large demand upon the untutored savage, the work of conversion proceeded slowly and many complaints arose in consequence. Consequently, when the number of converts greatly increased, Biard seems to have been led to the conclusion that " God inwardly supplemented the defects of his external instruments."^ To encourage Madame de Guercheville to continue to supply them with funds, she was one day informed that " her name was already known in Heaven," as a young girl called after her had just died and gone there. 3 Through Biard's instrumentality, or rather by the help of a bone of St. Lawrence, a former archbishop of Dublin, miracles took place at Port Royal, though after the excommunication was given out these dwindled.^ Still the mere act of hanging crosses round the necks of sick savages seemed to cure them.^ To Biard the Northern Lights were the' finger of God and it was only by His help that a furious band of blood-thirsty air-spirits was restrained from bringing about the massacre of a few Christians.^ Although the propagation of the faith was slow, all the forms and cere- monies were introduced and it was not unusual to see young Indians carrying candles, bells, holy water, etc., in the proces- sions on Saints' days or at funerals.7 From this somewhat cursory view of his life and works, it will be easily seen that the most valuable portion of Biard's writ- ings is that which he sent home from New France before his departure for St. Sauveur. After the destruction both of St. Sauveur and of Port Royal and especially after the Factum had been published, his writings betray a tone of animosity and hatred which weakens their eftect for us to a considerable degree. In the letters sent home from Port Royal no such feeling is i,Thwaites, The Jesuit Relations, i 162. 2 Ihid. ii 12. 3 Ihid. ii 14. 4 Ibid, ii 18. 5 Ibid, ii 50. 6 Ibid, ii 26-28. 7 Ibid, ii 52. 270 THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE apparent and his statements, as those of an educated man on the spot, are entitled to the recognition which such productions usu- ally receive. After the publication of his Relation he seems to have spent some time in Italy as a parish priest but returned to France again shortly before his death, which took place at Avig- non in November 1622.^ LalleTnanfs Letters. Of the life of the Jesuit priest Charles Lallemant very little is known before his departure for Quebec in the spring of 1625 to take charge of the mission sent out on the invitation of the Recollects. About the time that the vessels were preparing to return to France he despatched two letters home in which he told how in default of all other quarters, the Recollects had final- ly taken them into their building.2 During the winter efforts were made to learn the Montagnais language so that in the fol- lowing summer Lallemant could inform their General at Rome of considerable progress in this respect.^ The woi'kmen arrived that summer and the work on the new buildings was soon well advanced. Another letter written at this time to his brother Hierosme Lallemant was afterwards published as the Relation for the year 1626.* In this letter he tells us that Quebec was totally dependent on the mother country for all its provisions and that in case an accident should happen to the vessels, one could not foretell what would take place. His chief complaint however is that the coureurs de hois and the interpreters who lived among the Indians only confessed once a year. Of the fur- trade he speaks as follows : " Before the present Company, to whom the King has given the trade for a certain time, the sav- ages were visited by so many people that one of the old men told 1 Ihid i 196-198. 2 Sagard, Histoire du Canada (1636) pp. 868-870. 3 Lettre du t". Charles Lallemant au T.R.P Mutio Vitelleschi, General de la Compagnie de J6sus a Rome, printed in Caraj'on, Premiere Mission des Jisuites au Canada, no. viii, pp. 117-121, Paris 1864. 4 Mercure Franr^oit, Tome xiii, pp. 12 el seq. Relations des Jismites, (Quebec, 1858) vol. i pp. 1-9 of the second Relation. I have been unable to see the new edition. THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE 271 me he had seen so many as twenty vessels in the port of Tadou- ssac though now one only sees two belonging to this Company. These two vessels bring out all the goods traded with the savages, namely cloaks, blankets, night-caps, hats, shirts, clothes, axes, iron arrow-heads, hooks, swords, knives, pots, prunes, raisins, wheat, peas, biscuits, as well as provisions for the French ; in return they take back the skins of the elk, the wolf, fox, marten, muskrat, but principally the beaver which brings in the best return. 1 have been told that for one year the number reached 22,000. The usual number is from 15,000 to 20,000 at one pistole each."- He then goes on to show that in view of the expenses incurred this does not leave a very great surplus. The remainder of the letter relates in the usual dry manner the story of the numerous conversions effected during the year. Cham- plain has also preserved for us 2 a letter sent from Bordeaux in November, 1629, in which Father Lalleuiant tells the story of the shipwreck at Cape Breton in that year of the vessel under Father Noyrot which was taking provisions to the Jesuits at Quebec. He relates his escape from drowning, his return to Spain in a Basque fishing vessel which in turn was also wrecked near St. Sebastian, and how after having been again saved, he finally reached Bordeaux in safety whence this letter was written to the Superior of the Jesuit College at Paris. Daniel and Malapart. In the summer of 1629 Captain Charles Daniel, who was in charge of the fleet of the Company of New France, captured the fort of Lord Ochiltrie on Cape Breton Island and took him and his company prisoners. The report of this capture, drawn up for Richelieu at Paris on the 12th of December following, was published in the next year at Rouen by one of his men Andr^ Malapart.3 This man, who had lost an eye and a bit of his 1 Relations des Jdsuites (Quebec, 1858) vol. i, Relation II p. 5. 2 Laverdiere, op. cit, vi 304-311. 3 La Prise (Tun Seigneur Escossois et lie ses Gens qui pilloient les Navire pescheurs de France. Ensemble le Razement de leur Fort et Vestal lissement d^un autre pour le service du Roy et Vasseurance des Pescheurs Francois en la Nouvelle France. Par Monsieur Daniel de Dieppe .... Dedie a Monsieur le President de 272 THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE hand in the skirmish,^ had at first intended to write his own account of these events, but coming across Daniel's report, he decided to publish it with a few additional remarks.2 The report takes up six pages of the volume while his own additions cover thirteen. Daniel's report, which was also published by Champlain,3 is a simple account of the manner in which he had discharged the orders given him. These had been to wait for Razilly at La Rochelle and then to revictual Champlain at Quebec. Razilly however was in the end ordered elsewhere and so the fleet of the Company of New France set sail alone. On the way across the Atlantic the vessels became separated and Daniel reached Cape Breton alone. He asked the French fisher- men there for news of affairs at Quebec, but they gave him interesting information of a different sort. This was to the efltect that a Scottish nobleman had taken up his quarters close at hand and was demanding one-tenth of their fish from all the French vessels in the neighbourhood. On receipt of this information, Daniel at once attacked the place and took Lord Ochiltrie and his people prisoners. The fort was razed to the ground and with the old material a new one was constructed by the French in one of the neighbouring harbours. Here a garrison was left, and all idea of succouring Quebec having been abandoned, Daniel once more returned to France. Forty- two of the prison- ers were landed at Plymouth while the remaining eighteen were locked up at Dieppe. Such was Daniel's report. To the reprint of 1881 M. Felix has added Lord Ochiltrie's account of his Lauzon, Intendant de la Compagnie dudit Pais. Par le Sieur Malapart Parisien soldat dudit Sieur Daniel. A Rauen, MDCXXX. It was reprinted at Rouen in 1881 by the Societe des Bibliophiles Normands with an introduction bj'^ M. J. F«51ix. 1 Ibid. p. 23: — " ie perdis . . . iin ceil et quasi une de raes mains," etc. 2 Ibid. p. 5: — " Mon dessein premier estoit de dresser un petit discours de tout ce que i'en sgavois et avois veu, mais ayant heureusement rencontre une copie de la mesme relation que mon Capitaine avoit presentee a Monseigneur le Cardinal .... i'ay creu qu'elle seroit plus agreable en sa propre forme, qu'en celle que ie luy eusse voulu donner. C'est pourquoy tout ce que ie feray en cet escrit, ce sera de suppleer ce que la pudeur de celuy qui I'a donn^e ec la briefvet^ deue k un rapport, luy ont faict retranchei et tenir dans le silence." 3 Laverdi^re, op. cit. vi 299-304. THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE 27S capture which is preserved in the papers of the Public Record OfEceA According to him the French were received as friends, both parties knowing that peace had been made between the Crowns, but when they entered the fort, they suddenly seized all the inmates. He also complained that they turned most of his people, including the women and children, out of doors in the rain and wind and that on board ship all were packed in the hold like sardines.2 It is possible that his month's detention in the prison at Dieppe may have unduly soured Lord Ochiltrie against his captors,"^ though doubtless the treatment of himself and his people at the hands of Daniel and his men was by no means gentle. Malapart's additions to Daniel's account cannot be called im- portant. He says they sent a petition to Daniel to induce him to attack the Scots, and that all confessed and took communion before the engagement began. His only other important state- ment is to the effect that over two hundred French fishermen now yearly visited the coast and that the whole industry both at home and abroad gave employment to over 100,000 men. 4 In an adulatory address to the Company of New France he says that if it produces no other result than to have caused such a glorious action, it will not have been created in vain.5 He brings the work to a close with some insipid verses addressed to Captain Daniel. 1 Colonial Papers, vol. v, no. 46, 2 Reprint of 1881, Appendix A pp. 10-11: — " They wer all imbarkpcl in the said . . . ship, fyfty men, wemen and childrein being inclosed in the hold of the schipe in so little bound that they wer forced to Ij' upon other as they hayd beein so mony fisshis, lying in thair awin filhe and fed upon bread and water that by famine and the pestiferus smell of thair awin filth many of them wer throwin in the sea." 3 Ibid, p YI: — " being keepit close prisoner in Deepe for ane monthe." 4 Ibid. p. 13 : — "et maintenir k quelque cent mille Fran9ois la liberte de gaigner leur vie. I'ay dit, cent mille, mais c'est pour le moins. Car il va tons les ans en ce Pais quelques deux cents grands Navires ti la pesche tant de moUue et de saulmon, que de petites baleines du lard desquelles on faict de I'huylle. " 5 Ibid. p. 21 : — " Quand vostre pieuse Compagnie n'apporteroit iamais autre bien que celuy qu'a produit Taction heroique de Monsieur Daniel, il ne sera iamais que la France n'aye suject de benir tous ceux qui Font erigee," etc. 18 274 THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE ChaTYiplain. Samuel Champlain, who was born at Brouage in France about the year 1567, seems to have received his early sea training under his father who was a naval captain.^^ We are first able to trace his career definitely about the close of the century when he served for several years as quartermaster in the royal army in Brittany. At the conclusion of hostilities by the peace of Vervins in the year 1598, he set sail for Spain with his uncle, a captain in the Spanish navy, and in the spring of the following year was himself given charge of this same vessel to convey troops to the Spanish Main.2 After visiting Porto Rico, Mexico and Havana he returned to Seville in March 1601, having been absent just two years and two months. He has left an account of this voyage which however does not concern us here.^ In the spring of 1603 he set off with Dupont-Grave to make an examination of the river St. Lawrence preparatory to the despatch thither of a colony.^ On their return from this voy- age, an account of which is given in a little work called Des Sauvages published at Paris in the same year, it was found that Chaste, the former head of the Company, had died, so the direc- tion of the colony was placed in the hands of Monts.^ The years 1 Laverdi^re, (Euvres de Champlain, tome iii, p. v : — " Entre tous les arts celuy de naviger m'a tousiours sembl^ tenir le premier lieu. C'est cet art qui m'a des mon bas aage attire a I'aimer." On Champlain consult: — Memoir of Cham- plain by Rev. E. F. Slafter in vol. i, pp, 1-204, of the Prince Society's translation of his works, published at Boston in 1880 ; Laverdiere's life in vol. i, pp: ix-lxxvi of his edition of Champlain's works, published at Quebec in 1870 ; N. E. Dionne, Sanmel Champlain, vol. i. (all published), Quebec, 1891 ; and G. Gravier, Vie de Samuel Champlain, Paris, 1900. 2 Laverdi^re, op. cit. i, pp. i et seq.: — " Ayant est^ employe en I'armee duRoy en Bretaigne en qualite de Mareschal des logis jusques ... en I'ann^e 1598, je me resolu pour ne demeurer oysif, de faire ung voiage en Espaigne," etc. 3ILaverdi6re, op. cit. tome i : Brief Discours des Choses plus remarquables . . . reconneues aux hides Occidentalles, etc. An English translation was pub- lished by the Hakluyt Society in 1859. 4 Ibid, v 45 et seq. 5 Des Sauvages, ou Voyage de Samuel Champlain de Brotiage fait en la France Nouvelle, Van mil six cens trois, Paris, n. d. , reprinted in vol. ii of Laverdiere's edition of his works. One of the three copies of the original known to be in existence is in the Biblioth^que Nationale. An English translation was published by Purchas (The Fourth part pp. 1605-1619) in 1625. THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE 275 1604 to 1607 were spent by Champlain in the two settlements of Ste. Croix and Port Royal, whence he made minute explorations of the surrounding coasts. Being a fair draftsman he drew up rough plans both of the coast line and of the harbours visited. He even produced a sketch of the buildings which com- posed the two settlements. When the monopoly of Monts' Company was revoked, he returned to France, and it was doubt- less due to his suggestion that in the following year the centre of French trade and colonization was transferred to the valley of the St. Lawrence. His voyage in the year 1603 had not only shown him that the fur-trade was good there and possibly better than elsewhere, but he also entertained hopes of finding in this region the long-sought passage to the East. From the summer of the year 1608 until his death at Quebec on Christmas day, 1635, Champlain devoted all his energies to the development of the colony on the St. Lawrence and to the search for a passage to the East. He spared himself no pains in order to examine the country, to search for mines, to bring home samples of wood, and to plant all sorts of seeds as a test for the soil. He also made a long voyage up the Ottawa in the hope of finding Hudson's Bay and he spent the winter of 1615-16 among the Hurons in order to gain information about a reported water- course to the Southern Sea. In the autumn of 1609, after his first expedition against the Iroquois, he returned to France, but only to set sail anew in the spring of the following year. This plan he pursued also the year after. During the summer of 1612 he remained in France, doubtless occupied in the formation of the new Company for trade in the St Lawrence. In the summer of 1613 however he again returned to Quebec and it was in the autumn of that year, not long after his return to France, that he published his second work.l In the first part he gives an account 1 Les Voyages cbi Sieur de Champlain Xaintongeois, Capitaine ordinaire pour le Roy en la marine, ou Journal tres-fidele des observations /aites es descouvertures de la nouvelle France : tant en la description des terres, costes, rivieres, ports, havres, leurs hauteurs, et plusieurs declinaisons de la guide-aymant ; qu'en la creance des peuples, leurs superstitions, facfln de vivre et de guerroyer : enrichi de quantiti de figures. Ensemhle deux cartes geografiques . . . . a laquelle est adioust6 le voyage du d^troict qu'o7it trouv6 les Anglois au dessus de Labrador, depuis le 53e degr6 276 THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE of events at Pox't Royal and Ste. Croix during the years 1604 to 1G07 as well as of his voyages of discovery along the coast of the Atlantic. Part II is a history of the foundation of Quebec, and of his yearly voyages to the rapids of Lachine as well as that to Lake Champlain during the summer of 1009 when he and his Indian allies defeated the Iroquois. The " Voyage towards the strait found by the English " was added after the index of the former parts had been completed and tells the story of his expe- dition up the Ottawa, when lured thither by the false tale of Nicholas de Vignau. Although Champlain did not sail to the St. Lawrence in the year 1614, he returned thither in the spring of 1615 and spent the winter of that year and the following spring among the Hurons at their home near the Georgian Bay. During this visit, he was able not only to obtain a practical acquaintance with their country, habits and mode of life but also to gather consider- able information about the regions lying farther to the west The results of these explorations and of his voyage to the St Lawrence in the summer of 1618, for during the previous year he seems to have remained at home.i are embodied in a third volume which he was able to finish in the spring of 1G19.2 In this as in his two previous works he does little more than de- scribe events of which he himself was an eye-witness and in which indeed he usually took a very prominent part. In order to reproduce so faithfully incidents which had taken place years de latitude, kisques cm 63e en Van 1613 cerchans un chemin par le Xord pour aller d la Chine, Paris 1613, 4to, printed in Laverdiere, op. cit. Tome iii. 1 I very much doubt whether he visited the St. Lawrence in that summer notwithstanding his assertion to the contrary some fifteen years later. Although he tells us (Laverdiere, op. cit. v 313) that he went out in that year when nothing remarkable occurred, I am inclined to think we should have had a mention of it in 1619. had it been the case. 2 Voyages et Descouvertures faites en la Nouvelle France, depuis Vannie 1615 iusques a la fin de l'ann4e 16 IS par le Sieur de Champlain, Cappitaine ordinaire pour le Roy en la Mer du Ponant. Oil sont descHts les mieurs, coustumes, habits, fa- cons de guerroyer, chasses, danses,festins, et enterrements de divers peuples Sauvages, et de phmeurs chases remarquahles qui luy sont arrivees audit pais, avec nne de- scription de la beautd, fertility et temperature d'iceluy. Paris, 1619, printed in Laverdiere, op. cit. , Tome iv. THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE 277 before, he must have kept a diary, and in several places in his works the existence of some such source is betrayed. Thus at the end of the last chapter of the first part of the edition of 161 o there is an account of what occurred almost day by day during the month of September 1607.^ This could not have been given unless he had kept a diary of what took place and in fact he calls the edition of l(il3 "a very faithful journal of observations made" etc 2 Similar examples might be cited from the volume published in 1619,3 of which a second edition appeared in 1627. This new edition differed in no way from the original however a'* he him- self was absent in New France at the time. In the spring of 1618 Champlain, whose voyage to the Huron country in the winter of 1615-1616 had given him some idea of the immoisity of these new regions, presented to the Chamber of Commerce at Paris a report on the possibility of increasing the trading relations between Old and New France.'^ After exam- ining this report and summoning Champlain and others who had been to New France before them, the Chamber of Commerce recommended that funds be advanced for sending out three hundred families a year as long as Champlain wished. The King should be urged to despatch three hundred soldiers, while the Company, which then enjoyed the monopoly of the fur-trade, should be forced to fulfil the stipulation as to colonists.^ Pleased with this encouragement Champlain presented to the King and his Council a list of the advantages which would accrue to the kingdom if this advice were f ollowed,^ but nothing seems to have resulted from all these efforts. In the year 1G19 Champlain was prevented from returning to Quebec by the intrigues of one Boyer, but an order from the King soon put matters right and from the spring of 1620 till the autumn of 1624 he remained permanently at Quebec with his wife. After enjojnng a year's 1 Tbid. iii 132 et seq. : — "Le 3 Septembre partismes de Campseau ; le 4 estions le travers de I'isle de Sable, le 6 arrivasmes sur le grand banc, le 26, le 28 " etc. 2 " Journal tres-fidele des observations faites es decouvertures " etc. Title. 3 Laverdiere, op. cit. iv 107. 4 Archives Historiques de la Saintomjt et de VAunis, tome vi, Paris, 1879, pp. 387-390. 5 Ihid. pp. 390-394. 6 Ibid. pp. 378-387. 278 THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE rest in France he returned to Quebec in the spring of 1626 and did not leave it until it was captured by the English in the summer of 1629. Having on his arrival in England urged Chateauneuf the French ambassador to press for the restoration of the colony, he made his way back to France where he remained until the year 1633. During these years however his pen was not idle. In 1630 he presented to King Louis a petition for the continuance of his pension which at the time of the capture of New France seems to have been discontinued. i He prepared at the same time a new edition of his voyages. In this work, which appeared in the year 1632, he not only gave a full and detailed account of the events in which he had taken part since the year 1620 but he also added a short synopsis of the early voyages to North America as well as a resume of all his earlier works.2 It should seem indeed as if the continued demand for his books had induced him, instead of continuing to issue new editions, to combine the kernel of them with an account of the occurrences of the last ten years. Though the events of these years received considerable attention, we have also a great amount of historical matter relating to the earlier years of the colony. It is to this volume indeed that one^must turn for most of the facts known about Chauvin and La Roche, as well as for the history of the country between 1620 and 1629. The numerous official documents embodied in this volume are cited elsewhere,^ but he also printed the voyage of Captain Daniel after the edition of 1630,4 an undated letter from one Marsolet,^ and finally a letter from 1 Biblioth^que Nationale, Ms. Fr. 9097, fols. I et seq. This was reprinted by M. Gabriel Marcel in 1886 under the title of M6moire en reqtbete de Ckamplain pour la continuation du Paienient desa Pension, Paris, MDCCCLXXXVI. 2 Les Voyages de la Noui^elle France Occidentale, dicte Canada, /aits par le Sr de Champlain Xainctongeois, Capitaine pour le Roy en la Marine du Ponant, et toutes les Descouvertes qiCil afaites en ce pais depuis Van 1603 iusques en Van 1629 . A Paris, 1632, 4" . 3 Sources, Part I : Official. 4 La Prise d'un Seigneur Escossois et de ses gens qui pilloienf les Navires pescheurs de France par le Sieur Malapart Parisien. A Rouen, MDCXXX. Re- printed at Rouen in 1881 by the Socidt^ des Bibliophiles Normands. 6 Laverdi^re op. cit. vi 269-270. THE SOURCES, PART II NARRATIVE 279 Father Lallemant to the Superior of the Jesuits College at Parish All these documents are of very great value, and since Champlain rarely related an incident at which he was not per- sonally present or of which at least he received the news from an eye-witness, the remainder of this work, giving the history of New France from 1620 to 1629, is also of very great import- ance. In fact Ohamplain's writings are a source of the first value and however much one may regret the years he passes over in silence, yet this very loss enhances the value of the remainder by proving that it contains nothing but what was actually seen or experienced by himself. As to the theory which has been advanced that the Jesuits had a hand in the production of this edition,^ I cannot find any grounds for accepting it. The few mistakes cited by the Abb^ Laverdiere^ are apt to occur in any large work of the kind and are doubtless chiefly printer's errors. That the portion of the volume published in 1619 which spoke of the arrival of the Recollects is curtailed was only natural, and this for two reasons. In the first place Champlain was giving a resume of his earlier works and wished to leave out what he judged unimportant. He did not mean however to detract from the merits of the work done by the Recollects and in the dedication to Richelieu he expressly mentions the missionary work carried on " by divers Religious orders" and the progress they have made in converting the sav- ages.4 The second reason for the summary remarks about the Recollects is that he no longer bore towards them the same friendly feelings as formei'ly. When indeed Father Georges was sent home in 1621 to petition the King on behalf of the colony, he seems to have so far exceeded his powers as to make unjust complaints against Caen and to have sought to substantiate these by forging letters from the inhabitants. This proceeding angered 1 Ihid., pp. 304-311 2 Ibid, tome v p. vi: " Non-seulement quelqu'un a revu,ou meme retouche le rdcit de Champlain, mais on peut affirmer que ce travail a et(5 fait soit par un j^suite, soit par un ami des religieux de cat ordre." 3 Ibid. pp. v-vi. i Ibid. p. 4: " La mission .... faite de divers Ordres de Religieux, leur progrez en la conversion de plusieurs Sauvages," etc. 280 THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE Champlain extremely and he wrote a severe letter to Father Georges on the subject, i It is by no means surprising therefore that his feelings towards the Recollects were no longer the same and that in this work published in 1682 he gave preference to the Indian translations by members of the Company of Jesus.2 Although New France was restoied in the suiniDer of 1632, Champlain did not return to Quebec until the following year when the Company of New France entered into possession. He seems to liave felt that he might never again see the motherland and before fcailing made his last will in which he left all his pro- perty to his wife.'' He died at Quebec on Christinas day 1635, thus bringing to a peaceful end a life of which, as he himself said, the gain was small but the glory great. In the previous August he had despatched a letter to Kichelieu in which he asked for a hundred soldiers to check the ravages of the Iroquois.'* It was the failure of his successors to adopt this policy which brought such ruin and disaster on the colony in later years. This was the last writing of the great pioneer of New France. Not only with his pen — and his written productions are numerous — but also with his hands and mind had Champlain laboured since the year 1603, first of all to tind out the geography and riches of 1 Bibliotheque Nationale, Ms. Fs. 16738, fol. 143 et seq. " Quatre autres Let- tres missives, signees Champlain, et autres escrites au Roy, au feu sieur de Mont- morency, au feu sieur Chancellier de Sillery, et au sieur de Villemenon sur I'avis qu'ils avoient que ledit Pere Georges avoit presents au Roy I'annee precedente cer- taines Lettres qu'il disoit venir de leur part, par lesquelles ils se plaignoient dudit de Caen et declarent que telles Lettres sont suppos^es, dequoy ils croyoient estre obligez pour la decharge de leur conscience en advertir sa Majesty et de ce qu'ils avoient receu dudit de Caen toutes sortes de courtoisies, lesdites Lettres datees du 25 aoust 1622. Autre Lettre missive escrite de Quebec le dernier aoiist audit an 1622 par ledit sieur de Champlain audit Pere Georges, par laquelle il I'accuse d'avoir fabrique lesdites Lettres et se plaint de son procede." 2 Laverdiere, op. cit. tome vi Appendix: "Doctrine Chrestienne, du R. P. Ledesme de la Compagnie de Jesus. Traduicte en Langage Canadois . . . par le R. P. BrebcBuf de la mesme Compagnie" and also " L'Oraison Dominicale, tra- duite en langage des Montagnars de Canada par le R. P. Mass^ de la Compagnie de Jesus." 3 Reime des Questions Hiraldiques Archeologiqiies et Historiques, no. 14, Paris, 25 aout 1899, pp. 67-68. 4 Laverdiere, op. cit. tome vi, pieces justificatives no. xxxii ; Collection de Manuscrits relatifs a la Nouvelle France, i 112-113. THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE 281 this region, and then to set them before his countrymen. That his success was not greater was due to the absence of any desire on the part of the French to emigrate rather than to lack of energy on his side. As sources for the early history of Canada his writings are of inestimable value. Naturally of a calm and judicious frame of aiind he was able to take a clear and unpartisan view of most events. His measured and careful language shows that the statements made are not given haphazard. But not only is he the faithful historian of the early life of New France, he is also one of the first Europeans who, knowing the language of the Indians, had studied their life with attention during many years. On this account his writings, especially the volume published in 1619, must always be considered of very great value. Champlain's wife, Helen Boulle, (their marriage contract has been presei'ved i) survived him many years and finally entered the order of the Ursulines.2 Their married life seems to have been an extremely happy one but an agreement for the hire of a servant in 1617 is the only document which throws any light upon it.3 Indeed, outside of the facts given in his works, we know very little of the doings of Champlain and even less of those of his wife. Gabriel Sagard. Our information about the life of the Recollect Father Sagard is extremely scanty.'^ Entering the order of St. Francis at an early age he seems to have spent some time in one of their houses at Metz^ and subsequently to have visited Luxembourg^ before 1 Laverdi^re, op, cif. tome vi, pieces justificatives no. xxxi. 2 E. Charavay, Documents Inedits aur Samtid de Champlain, pp. 7-8. Paris 1875. 3 Ibid. pp. 4-5. 4 In the introduction to Tross' reprint of Sagard's Histoire du Canada, (Paris 1866) tome i, p. liii, M. Chevalier remarks : " J'ai cherehe, scrute, fouille, remue, ressasse livres, manuscrits, papiers, et de lui je ne sais que son cBuvre." ^ Histoire du Canada (1636) p. 968: — " L'annee suivante, estant de commu- naut^ en nostre Convent de Mets " etc. 6 Ibid. p. 969 : — " Je fus un iour bien estonne qu'entrant en une maison de condition au Duche de Luxembourg " etc. 282 THE SOURCES. PART II : NARRATIVE taking up his residence near Paris about the year 1614.''- Being a friend of Father Chapoin, who in the following year sent off the first Recollects to Canada, his attention was drawn to this new missionary field and a longing soon seized him to go there. In the spring of 1624 this wish was gratified, and on his arrival at Quebec in the summer he was at once sent on to the Huron mission. He only spent one winter there however for on returr- ing to Quebec in the following spring he received word to repair at once to France and was never again allowed to continue his labours in the New AVorld. On what work he was engaged on his return we do not know ; but it was not until the summer of 1632 that he published an account of his voyage to the Huron mission.'-^ On leaving Dieppe he had kept a diary of his journey but on the way from Quebec to the Huron country this was unfortunately lost.^ It is probable however that he continued it and that this record of his daily life formed the principal source from which he drew the materials for his work. After a few preliminary remarks, an account is given in chapter ii of the voyage to New France which differs only slightly from that given by Lescarbot in his History. Chapter iii describes Quebec, while in chapters iv and v we have an interesting account of the difiSculties and dangers of the long and trying journey up the St. Lawrence and Ottawa rivers and across the Nipissing chain of lakes to the homes of the Hurons on the Georgian Bay and Lake Huron. In the remaining seventeen chapters of Part i and in the first four of Part ii he gives a descrip- tion of the Huron manners and customs as he had observed them during his stay in the country. Chapter v of Part ii narrates his return to Quebec and the voyage back to France. At the end 1 Ihid. p. 614: — "II y a quelques ann^es que demeurant de comraunaut^ en nostre Convent de S. Germain en Laye." Cf. also p. II: — " J'eusse bien d6sir(5 desloi's d'estre de la partie " etc. 2 Le Orand Voya(je du Pdys des Hurons dtue en rAmirique vers la Mer douce, 6s derniers confiufi de la Nouvellt- France dite Canada, etc. Paris 1632. It was reprinted by Tross at Paris, 1865. 3 " Ce fut en ce village ou par niesgard ie perdis . . . tous les memoues que i'avois faits des pays, chemins, rencontres et choses remarquables que nous avions veues depuis Dieppe en Normandie jusques-h\." Grand Voyage, p. 74. THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE -283 of the volume he printed a dictionary of the Huron language^ as far as he had been able to learn it during his stay of six months. If however, as he tells us himself, the Huron language was rapidly altering, his labours must have soon become useless for practical purposes.^ It was not until four years later, in 1636, that he published an enlarged edition of this Grand Voyage under the title of His- toire da Canada.^ On the restoration of Canada to France in 1632 the Recollects had been forbidden to return, while the Jesuits, whom they themselves had invited to share their labours, were given the monopoly of this missionary held. In order how- ever that the work of his Company from 1615 to 1629 might be- come more widely known Sagard re-published his Voyage with some account of the first missionaries sent out and of their subse- quent invitation to the Jesuits to aid them in their labours. In doing this, he embodied some fresh documents in extenso and in other cases, when only portions of them are given, he mentions whence they are taken. The most important documents thus preserved for us are, in Book I, the Papal Nuncio's commission to the Company j** the King's commission,^ a letter from Father Jamet dated Quebec 1620,^ the reply of the Sieur des Boues,'' a petition of the colony and one from the Recollects to the King in 1U21.8 Books II and III are a repetition of the two parts of his Grand Voyage w ith a few additions from unindicated sources of which we shall speak presently. In Book IV he has Jigain preserved for us some important documents such as the two letters of the Jesuit Lallemant dated ai Quebec in 16 25,^ and a copy of a letter from Father Joseph describincr his stay among 1 Dictionaire de la Langue Huronne necessaire a ceux 'lui n'ont Vintelligence d'icelle, et ont d trailer avec les sauvages du Payn. Paris 1632. 2 ' 'Nos Hurons, et generallement toutes les autres Nations ont la mesme insta- bility de langage, et changent tellement leurs mots, qu'a succession de temps i'ancien Huron est presque tout autre que celuy du present, et change encore" etc. Dictionaire, p. 9. 3 Histoirt du Canada et Voyages que les Fr'eres Mineiira Recollects y ont f aids jtour la Converdon des Infidelle-s. Divisez en quatre Ldvres. Paris, 1636. Another volume was promised. (Cf. pp. xix-xx). * Ihid. pp. 12-17. = Ihid. pp. 17-21. 6 Und. pp. 57-65. 7 Ihid. pp. 66-71. 8 Ihid. pp. 73-90. 9 Ihid. pp. 868-870. 284 THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE the Neutral Nation.! There is also a orreat deal in Books I and IV which was doubtless given to him by eyewitnesses, as for in- stance the account of Father Iren^e's voyage in chapters viii and ix of the former.2 The substance of chapters ix and x of Book IV was also contributed by those who had taken part in the events lelated.^ Although it would at first appear that a great deal had been added to the GtomcL Voyage which now forms Books II and III, this turns out on examination not to be the case. Sometimes it is the old material broken up into shorter chapters, as for instance chapter ii of the Grand Voyage which forms the first four chapters of Book II in the History, or chapter iv of the same which becomes chapters vi and vii of Book II in the History. This seems to have been done to n^ake the reading easier.* Be- sides this there is however some really fresh material both authenticated and unauthenticated. Of the former, there is the letter sent by his Superior to summon him home,5 and an account of the reception of two Iroquois prisoners given to him by Brother Gervais.6 The story of the Indian women in chapters xliii and xliv of Book II must have been gleaned from some one who had been there, as the events took place after his reiurnT In the last chapter of Book III in describing the return voyage to France he has added an account oi the usual style of conversation on board, which is not without a certain interest. With the exception of the account of the Indian languages, given in chapter xxi of Book II, the rest of the new material is rather unimport- ant. It consists either of anecdotes from the Old Testament and the clas.sics (e. g. Book II, chaps, xiv and xxvii) or of a more minute account of certain events (Book II, chap, xi) or of a de- 1 Ihid. pp. 879-892. 2 Ibid. p. Ill : — " Le Pere Irenee aj^ant appiis que ie revenois des Hurons, vint au devant de moy dans un canot " etc. 3 Ihid, p. 961 : — " Comme elles m'ont dit mainte fois " etc. 4 Cf. pp. 502-503. 5 Ihid. p. 835. 6 Ihid. p. 470 : — " Fr^re Gervais m'a appris" etc. Cf. also p. 27 :— " De la fa9on qu'il fut traicte en son voyage . . . ie n'en scay pas les particularitez pour ne m'y estre pas trouve mais il m'a asseure " etc. " " Une histoire arrivee en Canada environ Tan 1626 ou 27 '' etc. Ibid. p. 681. THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE 285 scviption of the missionary labours of the Recollects in other parts of the world (Book II, chaps, xxxviii and xxxix). In describing events prior to and later than his arrival in New- France, Sagard used the works of Lescarbot i and Champlain as well as those of the Jesuit fathers whom he blames for thus pub- lishing their virtues. There are other sections of his work for which his sources are not and cannot well be known, as for instance his account of events in the summer of 1617, for which he is our unique source. Besides thus often throwing light into hidden corners he occasionally adds anecdotes and tales not given by others, and these qualities in addition to the importance of his work in preserving for us the valuable documents mentioned above will always make him read by those who seek a detailed knowledge of early Canadian history. His point of view is of course exceedingly ecclesiastical and he has no eye for the trade or the system of government of the colony. Thus it was only with great reluctance and because he had been continually pes- tered to do so, that he finally stated, and in an extremely sum- mary manner, the chief commodities sent from the colony.2 He delights much more in expatiating on the miraculous effects of the sign of the cross -^ or holy water •* or in relatinij in great detail how Satan strapped a monk to a cross before which he had been praying ; it was only when help arrived through the win- dow, for the devil had locked the door, that the man's life was saved.5 However with all his faults Sagard adds to our know- ledge of the times and even these very points in which he betrays his character enable us to understand better the minds of the early missionaries oF New France. 1 lUd. pp. 488 and 665. 2 " Au retour de mon voyage, lors que ie m'efforgois de faire entendre la neces- site que nos pauvres Sauvages avoient d'un secours puissant, qui favorizast leur conversion, plusieurs mal-devots me demandoient s'il y avoit [non cent mille ames mais]cent mille escus a gaigner. Voicy donc,o mal-devots les thresors et richesses ausquelles seules vous aspirez avec tant d'inquietudes. Elles consistent princi- palement en quantite de Pelleteries, de diverses especes d'Animaux terrestres et amphibies. II y a encore des mines deCui\T.'e desquelles on pourroit tirer du profit s'il y avoit du monde," etc. Grand Voyage, pp. 334-335. Cf. also Hutoire, pp.. 786-789. 3 Histoire, pp. 550 et seq. * Ibid. p. 559. 5 Ihid. pp. 525 et seq. 286 THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE Le Jeunes Relation. Paul Le Jeune was born at Chalons-sur-Marne in July 1591, and though his parents were Huguenots he himself became at the age of twenty-one a member of the Society of Jesus. After studying at La Fleche and Clerment he was appointed lecturer at Rennes and Bourges and later professor of rhetoric at Nevers and Caen where he spent the years 1629 and 1630. During the two following years he held the post of Superior at Dieppe and it was here that the order reached him in the spring of 1632 to repair to Havre and embark for New France as head of the Jesuit mission there. By the terms of the treaty of St. Germain- en-Laye the Scottish and English Company were to retire in that summer and Caen was to take possession until the following year. With Le Jeuiie also sailed Father de Noiie and Brother Gilbert. On the eighteenth of June the vessel cast anchor at Tadoussac. After spending two weeks here they moved on up the river to Quebec. This Relation, dated at Quebec the 28th of August, gives an account of the voyage out and of the results of their missionary labours during the two months and ten days they had been in the country.! In the first six pages he describes the sea voyage, the short stay at Gaspe and their safe arrival at Tadoussac. During their stay here he was able to get his first sight of the savages and even to visit them in their wigwams. To him they seemed like the masks in carnival time or western types of John the Baptist. Even the cruelties inflicted on three Iroquois prisoners did not diminish his hope that one day they might be civilized, for he assures us that Germany, Spain and England were inhabited by just such creatures before the Gospel reached those countries. The proper method to evangelize them was in his opinion to build seminaries ; for once the childi-en were taught, they would instruct their parents. On their arrival at Quebec the fort was 1 Brieve Relation du Voyage de la Nouvelle France Fait ati moisd' A vril dernier par le P. Paul le Jeune de la Compagnie de Jesufi. Envoyee au R. P. Barthelemy Jacquinot Provincial de la mesme Compagnie en la Province de France, Paris, 1632, printed in Thwaites, The Jesuit Relations, v pp. 8-75. A garbled copy was published in the Mercure Frnn<;ois, xviii 56 et seq., and in the Collection de Manu- acrits relatifs a la Nouvelle France, i 97-108. THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE 287 given over to Caen and the English at once retired, leaving how- ever the college of the Jesuits in ruins. The warm welcome of the Hebert family helped to cheer them and in that house was held their first Mass. The remainder of the Relation consists of a description of the evils wrought by the English in sellino- fire- water to the savages, of the faith of these latter in the Jesuit missionaries, of the first lessons given to the young savao-es, and of the baptism of a boy four years old belonging to the Fire Na- tion. Although he had never been beyond Quebec, Le Jeune signs his Relation " from the midst of a forest more than 800 leagues in extent," which would lead one to suppose that the whole of the surrounding country was covered for that distance with a thick forest. Champlain however has told us that there were plenty of meadows and openings all along the river. Pie- tistic as this Relation undoubtedly is, even to an exaggerated degree, yet, as our only account of the re-occupation of the coun- try by the French, it is of considerable importance. The fact that it was written at the end of August, and published in the following November speaks well for the energy of those to whom it was sent. Pere Le Trie. The Hlstoire Chronolog'ique de la Xouvelle Fro nee throws no fresh light upon the early history of Canada. The author intended to divide the work into three parts, the first extending from 1504 to 1632, the second from 1632 to 1670, and the third from 1670 to 1689.1 Only the first part and a few pages of the second part were finished. ^ The manuscript, which is not signed, is now preserved in the Archives at YersaiUes,^ where it was dis- 1 " Je me suis propose de reduire cette hiatoire en troi-s partie.s. La premiere traitte de ce qui s'est passe depuis que les Francois ont commence de banter le Canada, jusques a ce que les Anglois les en ayent chasse qui fut I'an 1629, et meme je la pousse juques en 16.32, que les Francois y sont rentrea. La seconde depuis 16.32 juques en 1670, que les PP. Recollects y sont revenus, et la troisieme depuis 1670 juques a cette presente annee." Lettre de I'autheur a un de ses Amys, p. o. 2 " Je n'ay pu achever que la premiere partie " etc. Ihid. 3 Catalogue, des Mo.nuscrits conserves flans les Depots fj/ Archives Departemen- tales, Com.muTioJ.es et Hospitalihres, p. 282. Paris 1886. 288 THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE covered by M. Eugene Reveillaud who published it in 1 888. i From a comparison of the original with some entries in the parish registers at Three Rivers, M. Reveillaud has concluded that the author of the work is a certain Pere Le Tac who wont out to Canada in 1676. After spending a year at Lharlesbourg near Quebec he was transferred to Three Rivers where he re- mained until 1.683. In the following year he was appointed Tnaitre des novices in the Recollect convent at Quebec. In 1689 he was sent to found a mission at Plaisance in Newfoundland but not being able to get along peacefully with the governor he returned to France in September of that year. He seems to have gone out to New France again in 1690 or 1691 and to have died there in July 1699.2 A work written in the year 1689 ^ could not of course con- tain much fresh information for the period from 1504 to 1632. Indeed all the author sought to do, as he himself tells us, was to give a short and concise account of a period which had been hitherto treated too diffusely."* In other words he has simply made a chronological synopsis for the period of Lescarbot, Sagard and Champlain.^ Though he mentions Du Creux, whom he calls Le Creux, it is only to refute him.^ Of the sixteen 1 JUitoire Chronologique de la Nouvelle France ou Canada depuis sa dicouverte (mil cinq cents qnatre) juques en Van mil six cents trente deux par le Pere Sixte Le Tac, Recollect. Puhliie pour la premitre fois d'apres le mamiscrit original de 1689 et accompagnie de Notes et d'nn Appendice tout compose de documents originaux et inidits par Eng. Reveillaud. Paris, 1888, 8". 2 These facts are taken from the Notice Biographique published by M. Reveil- laud who in turn took them from the Repertoire du Clergi Canadien of the Abb^ Tanguay. 3 Histoire Chronologique, p. 32 ; " Cette annee 1689." Cf, also pp. 34 and 38. 4 Tbid. pp. 4-.5 : " Je me suis contents de faire un abbrege et de passer quan- tity de choses que je n'ay pas eru devoir estre marquees." 5 Ihid. pp. 2-3 : " Lescarbot avocat, Fr. Gabriel Sagard, Recollect, le Sr Samuel de Champlain, le P. Lecreux jesuitte. J'ai trouve ces autheurs si obscurs .... lis sont remplis d'histoires de voyages, de rivieres, de lacs, de caps, d'anses. J'ay neglige toutes ces choses qui ne font qu'embrouiller et n'en fais mention que de quelques uns dont je ne puis me dispenser de parler " etc. 6 Ibid. p. 129 " J'a}' remarque que les PP. .Jesuittes n'ont pas rendu aux PP. Recollects la justice qui leur est deiie, lorsqu'ils ont fait imprimer une histoire de Canada en latin sous le nom du P. le Creux, du college de Bourges. Cet autheur, dans sa preface, pour donner plus de gloire aux missionnaires et Jesuittes du Can- THE SOURCES PART II : NARRATIVE 289 chapters into which the first part is divided, chapters i and ii are merely introductory. They contain however, besides a brief mention of the voyages of Columbus and the Cabots, an inter- esting description of New France and New England in the year 1689. The next three chapters resume the voyages of Verra- zano, Cartier, Roberval, Ribaut, Laudonniere, Gourgues, La Roche and Chauvin. Chapters vi to xvi then give a brief account of the history of New France from 1604 to 1632. Though adding nothing to our knowledge of the period treated, the work of Father Le Tac is a defence of the Recollects during the year.s they passed in the colony. He recognizes this himself and pleads in excuse that his aim is only to bring to public notice the injustices committed by a few Jesuits who mixed religion with politics.^ This and the other religious com- munities in the colony were banded against the Recollects, who in his opinion bore all this abuse very silently. " I have tried to imitate," he says, " this same moderation in giving expression to that which, as I have seen, causes them so much suffering. But since the truth engenders hate, I do not deem it expedient to make myself known."2 Because, in other words, " a Bishop, a Governor and an Intendant acted together and laboured unceas- ingly to overthrow and pull down the poor Recollects " about the year 1689, ^ a member of that oppressed Order thought it his duty ada, supprime d'abord la connoissance que le public devoit avoir des travaux que les PP. Recollects ont soufferts a jetter les fondenients de la Religion dans les habitations fran9oises et sauvages." 1 Ihid. pp. 5-6 " Au reste pour ce qu'en parlant des PP. Recollects et des PP. Jesuittes vous pourriez juger que je le fais trop avantageusement des premiers et des autres avec trop de bile et peut-etre trop d'eraporteraent, je crois qu'il est necessaire que je vous avertisse que je ne pretends point blesser ny ma conscience ny un Ordre de I'Eglise que je reconnois pour ma mere ; mon but n'est que de faire connoitre les injustices que quelques politiques Jesuittes font pat la voye de la puissance seculiere qu'ils tournent de la maniere la plus adroite, mais la plus injuste du monde." 2 Ihid, p. 8 : '• J'ay tasche d'imiter cette raeme moderation pour exprimer une partie de ce que j'ay reconnu en cevix qui les font tant gemir Mais parce que la verite engendre la haine, je ne ci'ois pas qu'il soit expedient que je me fasse connoitre au Public." 3 Ibid. p. 6: "Un Eveque, un Gouverneur, un Intendant agissent unanime- ment, et travaillent sans cesse k renverser et terrasser ces pauvres Religieux. C'est ce qu'ils ont fait depuis 20 ans " etc. 19 290 THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE to re-write the history of Canada in the light of this event. His statements of fact, which are not verified by Lescarbot, Sagard or Champlain must therefore be taken cum grano sails. Thus when he tells us that the idea of sending the Jesuits to the St. Lawrence originated with that Order who induced the Viceroy to propose the same to the Recollects, i he is deliberately falsify- ing history ; for Sagard distinctly tells us that the idea originat- ed with the Recollects themselves who were even blamed by their friends for proposing it.2 In short, except for the interesting description of New France in the year 1689, the work is of little or no value. Le Glercq's History. Although he did not publish his Premier Etahlissement de la Foy until the year 1691,^ the Recollect Father Christian Le Clercq has preserved for us several important documents con- cerning the early history of the colony, which are not given by any of the earlier writers. He seems indeed to have had access to the Archives of the Recollects/^ Thus he has preserved for us a letter from Father d'Olbeau dated at Quebec in July 1615,^ Le Caron's account of his voyage to the Hurons in IGIG,*^ and that 1 Ibid. p,p. 122-12.3: — "Les poursuites des PP. Recollects [de quelque secours pour etablir des seminaires] reveillerent la pensee qu'avoient eu les PP. Jesuites de venir faire mission dans le grand fleuve Saint-Laurent. Le P. Noyrot de la Compagnie de Jesus confesseur de Mgr. de Ventadour detourna son penitent de rien faire pour les PP. Recollects et le porta k y envoyer plutot des Religieux de la Compagnie. Mgr. le Viceroy ainsi inspire conseilla aux PP. Recollects . . . de mener avec eux des PP. Jesuites." 2 Sagard, HUtoire du Caw a cZa (1866), iii 783 : — " Entretous les Religieux nous proposames les RR. PP. Jesuites, lesquels comme personnes puissantes pouvoient beaucoup k ces peuples indigens." Cf. also p. 784. 3 Premier Etahlimement de la Foy dans la Noiivdle France, contenant la Pub- lication df, VEvangile, rJHifitoire des Colonies Francoises, et les fametises dicouvertes dep'ds le F'eam de Saint Laurent la Louisiane et le Fleuve Colbert jusqu^au Golphe Mexiqne, achevtes sou-'i la conduite de feu Monsieur de la Salle, 2 vols. 12", Paris 1691. An English translation was published at New York by Mr. J. G. Shea in 1881 in two volumes. 4 Shea's Translation p. 109: " the following articles set out more at length in our memoirs still extant." Cf. also ibid, pp. 106, 114, 143, 155, 183, 184, 198 and .303. s Ibid. pp. 87-90. 6 Ibid. pp. 95-96. THE SOURCES, PART II : NARRATIVE 291 to the Montagnais two years later,l an account of a missionary- conference held in Quebec in 1620,2 the fragments of a letter From Father Poullain,^ and those of a memoir written by Le Caron in 1624.4 In addition to these he sometimes gives us ac- counts of events relating to this early period of Canadian history which he declares he had received from eye-witnesses.^ Although we must be grateful to Le Clercq for having pre- served these documents, he sometimes takes liberties with the old material which greatly weaken the value of his statements. Thus he gave to the Letters patent of Louis XIII, which he copied from Sagard, the date 2()th March, 1615, although neither the copy in Sagard ^ nor the one in the Archives of the Recol- lects^ really bore this date. He also appears to have let his imagination run away with him in his account of the discussion in the King's Council as to the advisability of demanding the restoration of Canada.^ No evidence to support these statements has so far come to light. In conclusion one can only regret that he thought it would be tiresome to the reader should he insert all the Acts drawn up in 1621.^ 1 Ibid. pp. 134-137. 1 Ibid. pp. 109-112. 3 Ibid. p. 187. 4 Ibid. pp. 214-224. ^ IJiid. p. 180: — "I have often heard this adventure related by Madame Couillard who was then in the fort " etc. 6 Sagard, Histoire du Canada (1636) p. 21. 7 Le Tac, Hisfoire Chronologique de la Nouvelle France, edition of Reveillaud, appendix pp. 173-176. 8 Shea's translation, pp. 310-318. 9 Ibid. p. 174. THE SOURCES PART III : ANONYMOUS The Factum. The value of an anonymous source depends to a great extent on the number of authentic documents which the author embodies in his work and on the comparison of his statements with those of known writers on the same subject. The number of authentic documents contained in the Factum published anonymously and doubtless at Paris in the year 1614 is considerable.^ Some of these have already been mentioned elsewhere.^ Of the remain- der the following are the most important : a letter from the Mar- quise de Guercheville to Poutrincourt dated at Paris the 29th of September 1610,3 one from Father Cotton to the same dated the 6th of October,4 a letter from Saint-Just to his father dated the loth of March 161 2,^ another letter written on the following day ,6 and finally a letter from Du Thet to Aubigny dated the ]st of March in the same year.7 Extracts from two undated letters of Saint-Just to his father have also been incorporated in the work.8 Although we have no positive evidence that these docu- ments are genuine, yet as their authenticity was never called in question by the writers on the other side, probability points to their being faithful copies of the originals. They form indeed a valuable addition to our knowledge of a period otherwise not well known. To the remainder of the Factum however nothing like the same value can be attributed. Written in a moment of great irritation and with an evident intention of exciting animosity 1 Factum, du Procez Entre Messire Jean de Biencourt chevalier sieur de Pout- rincourt, Baron de S. Just, appelant d'une part, et Pierre Biard, Evemond Massi et ronsorff, >ioy difian-s Prestres de In Societe de Jiaiis, intimez. n. p., MDCXIIII. The copj' preserved at the Bibliotheqiie Nationals [4° Fm. 2965] was repx'inted with an introduction by M, Clabriel Marcel at Pai-is in 1887. 2 Sources, Part I : Official. 3 ;Ma.rcprs reprint, pp. 7-S. 4 Ihid. pp. 8-9. 5 ihid. pp. 48-50. 6 /6i"rf. pp. 50-54. "t Ihid.^. iil. 8 /?>,>/. pp. 25-29 and 55-57. [292] THE SOURCES, PART III • ANONYMOUS 293 against those attacked, for the most part it either distorts or interprets unfavourably the events recorded. Before the facts as given can be accepted, they must be corroborated from other sources which here are usually wanting unfortunately. Thus of Biard's personal habits we know nothing, so that whether at a banquet on the voyage out he drank more than was good for himi must remain a matter of conjecture. In any case the fact is one of extremely slight importance. The whole strength of the case against the Jesuits lies in the fact that in becoming partners in the enterprise they lowered the dignity of their spiritual office ; the act of excommunication against their fellow- shareholders only made the matter more ridiculous. In conclusion a word as to the author of this document. That it was not Lescarbot seems almost certain, for he was doubtless still in Switzerland and the style is not that of the author of the History of New France. If one might hazard an hypothesis, I should be inclined to name Simon Imbert, one of Poutrincourt's agents and according to Biard an old Parisian publican. 2 It is singular indeed that this man was present at nearly all the incidents related. On the voyage out he was not only on board but gave up his room to Masse.^ He was therefore fully aware of all that had taken place at Dieppe and was also a spectator of Biard's interference at Port St. John and Port Royal.4 It seems doubtful whether he was present at Ste. Croix and the river St. John,^ unless the vessel had not yet returned to France, for he seems to have been on board on the return voyage to Port Boyal in order to report so faithfully the conversation of Du Thet.6 He is thus able also to give full particulars as to the dispute about the cargo. Moreover certain incidents are related in the Factum of which Imbert alone could have had knowledge. Thus we are told what he said in confession to Father Masse. ^ 1 lUd. p. 14. 'i Thwaites, The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, iii 242. 3 Marcel's reprint, p. 39. 4 Ibid. pp. n et seq. 6 Ibid. pp. 22 et seq. Ibid. pp. 34 et seq. 7 Ibid. p. 37. 294 THE SOURCES, PART III : ANONYMOUS Again an account is given of a private conversation between this Imbert and Saint-Just, in such minute detail and with remarks as to the changes observed in Saint-Just's countenance such that only Imbert himself could have written the passage.^ It was doubtless on the way back to France with Captain L'Abbe that copies were obtained of the letters of tlie Jesuits sent by this vessel to their friends in France.^ It is also noteworthy that while the Factum is silent as to what took place at Port Royal after the vessel's departure, we have a full account of events at Dieppe on her arrival until the moment when the vessel of the Jesuits set sail to found a colony at St. Sauveur.^ The account of the capture of this place by Argall was doubtless obtained from an eye-witness or by hearsay."* La Plainte de la Nouvelle France. Although this pamphlet^ is not dated it was evidently written by Father Georges on his arrival in France in the autumn of 1621 in order to help his campaign against the Huguenot Caen.6 It is in fact a long lamentation of the country over the evil days on which she had fallen when heretics were openly allowed to mock at her altars and to threaten her priests "with irons and chains." 7 This insolent heretic indeed had both abused the priests and also used violence against Champlain the Father of the colony. Fault was also found with the small number of colonists which this Company had stipulated to take out each year.^ From evidence 1 Ibid. pp. 38-39, 2 Ibid. pp. 58-63. 3 Ibid. pp. 14 ei seq. 4 Ibid. pp. 70 et -seq. 5 Plainte de la Nouvelle France dicte Canada, a la France sa Germaine, Pour servir de Factum en une cause pandente av Conseil, n.p.,n.d. The lawsuit was the one between Caen's Companj' and that formed by Champlain in 1614. 6 Plainte etc., p. 9 : " Si tost que ses desseins me furent congneus je depute vers toy un des prestres que tu m'as donne poiir representor I'interest que nous deux avons de nous opposer h ces iniustices." cf. Sagard, Histoire du Canada, pp. 77-78. 7 Plainte etc., p. 6. 8 Ibid, p. 11. THE SOURCES, PART III: ANONYMOUS 295 which has just been discovered we see that this complaint is greatly exaggerated. Not only did Georges make up this and other documents out of his own bigoted head but he seems to have forged certain letters to the same end, for which he was afterwards severely reprimanded by Ohamplain.^ Au Roy 8ur la Nouvelle France. This pamphlet is a complaint published in the year 1626 against the United Company and its monopoly of trade in the St. Lawrence.2 Instead of being, like the former pamphlet against Caen, a mere Jeremiad without fact or figure, it contains several statements which it substantiates by quoting a letter and an agreement. The former was written by Monts to Louis He- bert in the spring of 1617 to urge him to carry out his intention of returning to New France and assuring him of a welcome from the Company ; 3 the latter is a copy of the agreement which on his arrival with his family at Honfleur Hebert was obliged to sign before they would allow him to embark.* Besides giving these two important documents the pamphlet goes over the articles of Caen's Company and seeks to prove either their use- lessness or the total absence of all effort to carry them out. The author lays particular stress on the wrongs inflicted upon the Heberts not only by the old Company but more especially by Caen himself, who had sought in every way to render their exist- ence in the New World most unhappy. The pamphlet, which was brought out in order that the King and Council should no longer be ignorant of the actual state of affairs in the colony, closes by urging that the Viceroy should either reside there him- self or send a representative who would render unto Caesar the things that were Csesar's, and unto God the things that were God's. Each vessel which traded along the Atlantic coast should also be forced to pay 100 crowns for this privilege, while if they entered the river the duty should be raised to three hundred. 1 Cf. p. 278, note 1, supra. 2 Au Roy sur la Nouvelle France, n. p. 1626. 3 Ihid. pp. 11-12. 4 Ihid. pp. 14-15. 296 THE SOURCES, PART III : ANONYMOUS The author remains unknown, though he was evidently some one who had occupied a high spiritual position at Court.l 1 " Sire. Ce ne m'est peu d'honneur d'esbre cogneu de vostre Majeste et loiie grandement vostre bon naturel de vous resouvenir des petits services Je vous puis avoir rendu, qu'i Messieurs et Dames vos Fr^res et Sceurs . . . . Et S9ait corabien de fois i'ay invoque la benediction du Ciel sur vous, la main et I'estoUe sacerdotale sur vostre chef," etc. Ibid, preface. INDEX Abalia, Antonio de, 182. Acadia, 42, 47, 48, 49, 51, 52, 60, 73, 82, 113, 121, 123, 125, 130, 143, 149, 191, 194, 197, 198, 199, 200, 207. Admiralty, 52, 113, 150, 151, 154. Agramonte, Juan de, 175. Aides, Cour des, 191. Aigues Mortes, 11. Alexander, Sir William, afterwards Vis- count Stirling, charter granted to, 121, 122 ; sends out first vessel, 122; vessel reaches St. John, 123 ; sends out colony, 141 ; institutes baronetcy to raise funds, 141, 142 ; appointed Secretary for Scotland, 142 ; unites with Kirke and forms Scottish and English Co., 143; proposed new grant to, 156 ; supported by Scottish Parliarauit, 163; made Viscount Stirling, 164 ; death of. in 1640, 164; other references, 201, 202, 203, 207. Alexander, William, the Younger, brings colonists to Cape Breton, 143 ; brings home Indian chief, 144 ; leaves Lord Ochiltrie at Cape Breton, 146 ; fleet under, 148, 151 ; places Razilly at Port Royal, 165. Alfonse, Jean, 29, 31 ; critical estimate of, 222-226. Algonquins, 47, 70, 71, 72, 74, 80, 82, 83, 89, 90, 99, 100, 101, 120, 128, 129. Allumettes, Lac des, 90. Ambassador, French, 148, 150, 152, 155, 159, Ambassador, Spanish, 123. Amsterdam, 63. Andrieu, Charles, 188. Anglesea, Island of, 122. Annates de Bretagne, 175. Anticosti, 6, 7, 36, 148. Archives of the Chdteau de Boberval, 178, 179. Archives D6partemenlales de la Gironde, 192. Archives Rationales, 177, 179, 192. Archives du Parlement de Rouen, 187, 196, 197, 207. Archives, Secretes, 187, 196. Archives de St. Malo, 197, 199. Archives de la Seine- Infirieiire, 179, 190. [29' 20 Argall, attacks Jesuit settlement, 92 ; destroys French vessels, 93 ; at Port Royal, 93 ; expedition of, 122, 147, 198. Armada, Spanish, 25. Aubert, Thomas, 19. d'Aubign(5, 103. Augier, 160. Au Roy siir la Nouvelle France, 199 ; critical estimate of, 295. Austria, 133. Auxilhon, Paul de, 178, 180. Avalon, 202. Avranches, 57, 192, Azores, 46. Baie de Chaleur, Cartier reaches, 6 ; Cartier meets savages and trades at, 30. Baie des Chateaux, Newfoundland, Car- tier at, 7. Baie des Morues, 194. Baltimore, Lord, sends out colony, 130 ; removes to Virginia, 154 ; 202, Barre, Guillaurae, of Fecamp, 181, Barter, 28, .32, 43, 47, 48, 55, 69, 77, 90, 106, 109, 120, 123, 127, 128, 144. Basque, vessel, 102 ; prizes, 147 ; fisher- men, 158. Basques, in St. Lawrence, 23, 29, 32. Bassompierre, sent to make peace, 138 ; insulted in London, 138. Bastille, 103. Bataille, 202. Batiscan (liver), 71, 72. Bayonne, 69, 188. B4ard, Father, settles at Mount Desert, 91, Beaumaris, ships from, 122. Beaumont, Castle of, 61. Beauport, Monks of, 175. Belle Isle, Straits of, 6, 7, 21, 181. Bellinger, Stephen, 33. Bellois, 63. Benedictines, 78. Berry, 103. Bertrand's Letter, Critical estimate ot, 250. Betourn^, 200. Biard, Pierre, Critical estimate of, ^91- 270. 7] 298 INDEX Biarritz, 183. Bibliothtque de VArstncd, 178. Bihliotheque Nationah, Collection Colbert Cinq Cents, 185, 193, 201. BihliotMque Nationah, Collection Clair- amhault, 177, 197. Bibliothtque Rationale, Collection Duchesne el Oihenart, 185. Bibliotheqne Nationale, Ms. Fr., 185, 191, 192, 193, 194, 200, 206, 207. Bibliotheque Nationale, Ms. Latin, 177. Bibliothtque Nationale, Pitcps oriqincdes, 176, 177, 183, 186, 188, 194, 196, 198 Bidassoa, 65, 192. Biscay, Bay of, 23, 65. Blundell, 203. Bonrepos, Abbey of, 39. Bordeaux, 97, 125, 138, 152, 153, 158, 178. Boulain, Jacques, 182, BoulM, Helen, 80, 195, BoulM, 203. Bourbon, Cardinal de, 33. Bourbon, Charles de, Comte de Soissons. See Soissons, Bourbon, Henri de. Prince de Cond^. See Cond^. BouthiUier, examines English wrongs, 161 ; defends King's conduct, 162 ; with Chateauneuf draws up treaty, 163. Bouvier, 83. B03W, 112. Briiard, Ch. et P., Documents relatifs d la Marine Normande, 186, 187, 188, 191. 202. Brehat, Island of, 175. Brest, 6, 21,39. Breton, Cape. See Cape Breton. Breton, Thomas le, 181. Brion's Island, 27. Bristol, 19, 28, 29, 35, 36. Brittany, 15, 19, 20, .39, 40, 52, 98, 1.34, 178, 180, 184, 186, 190, 191, 192, 193, 193, 196, 197-200. Brittany, Estates of, 34, 107. Brouage, 39, 40. Brouet, Jehan, 188. Brownists, 187. Brussels, 87. Buffon of St. Male, 180. Buisseaux, Sieur de, 198. Bulletin de G6ographie historiqne et de- scriptive, 179, 181, 182. Bulletin et Mimoires de la Soriiti arcMolo- (jique d'llle-et-Vilaine, 183. Burlamachi, reaches Paris, 159 ; pre- sented at Court, 160 ; writes for Company's papers, 161 ; responsi- bilitj' of, 161 ; disgusted with French King, 162 ; receives securitj^ for dowry, 163, 206. Cabot, John, 18. Caens Company, 115-132; conditions of, 115 ; servants of, murdered, 121 ; vessels of, 121 ; other references to, 200, 201, 202, 204, 205, 206,207. Caen, Emery de, 115 ; vessels in charge of, 147 ; appears at Quebec, 157 ; forbidden to trade b}' Lewis Kirke, 158 ; returns to France, 158 ; 205. Caen, William de, granted monopol}', 115; at Tadoussac, 117 ; vessels of, 118 ; seizes Dupont-G rave's vessel, 118; trades in beaver skins, 118; returns to France, 118 ; flouts King's authority, 119 ; monopoly extended to, 119 ; \inites with old company, 120; quarrels with Catholics, 126; hinders Champlain, 130 ; negligence of, 131 ; in London, 150, 152 ; re- fuses commission, 154 ; obtains furs, 154, 155 ; exorbitant demands ot, 160, 163, 162 ; statement of, ac- cepted, 163, 165. Calais, 151. Calvert, Sir George, 201. Canada, 7, 8, 12, 34, 40, 86, 98, 178, 179, 180, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 193, 195, 196, 198, 199, 201,203,204,205, 206, 207. Canada (river of), 100, 143. Cancale, 23. Canso, 63, 65. Cape Breton, 26, 35, 36, 54, 55, 60, 79, 93, 106, 122, 123, 143, 146, 147, 153, 158, 165. Cape Ray, 6, Cape Royal, 21. Cape Sable, 123, 142, 148, 1.52, 153, 158, 165. Cape Tourmente, 127, 139. Cai'cassonne, 182. Carli, Fernando, critical estimate of, 209, Carlyle, Critical estimate of, 227. Catholic faith, 53, 61, 78, 126, 128, 138. Cartier, Jacques, first voyage, 6, 7 ; second voj'age, 7-10; third voj^age, 11-14 ; sums due to, 33 ; nephews of, receive monopoW, 34 ; critical estim- ate of writings, 210-220 ; other refer- ences to, 20, 21, 36, 43, 47, 70, 107, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183. Carvajal, Luis de, 181, 182, Chabot, Admiral, 176. Chaleur, Baie de, 47, 101. INDEX 299 Chamberlain, Mr., 150. Champdare, 55, 60, 66, 73. Champlain, Samuel de, object of life of, 46 ; official exploiting expedition of, 47, 48 ; urges necessit}' of coloniza- tion, 49 ; establishes trading connec- tions, 58 ; made official geographer, 60 ; builds factory at Quebec, 67 ; winters at Quebec, 68, 69 ; promises to assist Alontagnais against Iroquois, 70 ; first expedition of against Iro- quois, 70; meets Hurons at 8t. Eloi, 72 ; defeats Iroquois, 73 ; invited by Hurons to visit them, 73 ; returns to France, 73 ; Indian guides refuse to accompany, 75 ; again defeats Iro- quois, 76 ; trades with Algonquins, 76 ; takes young Huron to France, 77 ; at Tadoussac, 79 ; at Quebec, 80 ; at Lachine, 81 ; names island near Lachine, 81 ; dissatisfaction of, 81 ; confers with Hurons, 81 ; re- turns to France, 82 ; accident of, 83; effect of report of death of, 84 ; urges appointment of Conde) 86 ; brings home oak, 88 ; sails up the Ottawa, 89, 90 ; reassures savages, 90 ; salary of, 94 ; absence of, 95 ; before As- sembly, 98 ; spends winter with Hurons, visits Lake Sinicoe, Bay of Quinte, and part of New York State, 99 ; contracts alliances with tribes, 99 ; seeks passage to the east, 100 ; returns to Lachine, 100 ; promises to build fort at Rapids, 100 ; returns to France, 100 ; at Harfleur, 103 ; reproves factors, 105 ; fruit of la- bours of, 106 ; lieutenant of The- mines, 107 ; presents statement rela- tive to trades in New France, 108; requests King to fortify colony, 108; plans of, for St. Lawrence valley, 108 ; tightens reins of control at Quebec, 109 ; decision of, about In- dian murderers, 110; stirs up share- holders about colonization, 110 ; authority of, weakened, 1 12 ; pre- sents case to King, 112 ; justice of claims of, acknowledged, 112; apology of Boyer to, 112 ; assists Dolu in examination of company, 113 ; sends bad reports to Dolu, 114; salary of, 115 ; receives news of withdrawal of monopoly and forma- tion of new company, 116; allows old company alone to trade, 116 ; opposes Dupont-Grav^, 117 ; an- novxnces Caen's arrival, 117; at Ta- doussac, 118 ; complains of colonists, 118; Company of, unites with new Company, 120 ; makes peace be- tween tribes, 120 ; pardons Indian murderer, 121 ; builds new factory, 121 ; sails for home, 124 ; position of, maintained, 126 ; returns to Que- bec, 127 ; builds larger fort, 127 ; sends back Iroquois prisoners, 129 ; reports Caen's negligence, 131 ; re- inses to surrender, 132 ; ordered by Kirke to surrender factory, 139 ; answer of, 140 ; pinnace of, cap- tured, 144 ; surrenders to Kirke, 145 ; in London, 148 ; urges Lauson to come to England, 148 ; critical estimate of, 274-281; other references to, 51, 55, 59, 65, 66, 93, 94, 97, 98, 150, 195, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 206. Champlain's Company, 94-114 ; articles of, 94 ; allowance of, to Conde, 94 ; factory at Quebec the property of, 95 ; trade of, 95 ; infringement of monopoly of, 96 ; proposal to repeal monoply of, 98 ; maintains Recollect Fathers, 99 ; enemies of, 103 ; The- mines's demands from, 104 ; Conde threatens, 104 ; fresh agreement of, 104, 105 ; induces Hebert to emi- grate, 104 ; failed to fulfil agree- ment, 104, 105 ; extent of mission work of, 107 ; monopoly of, endan- gered, 107 ; monopoly confirmed to, 107 ; notified about colonization, 109; servants of, murdered by Indians, 109 ; treatment of Hebert by, 111 ; shareholders' views on colonization, 111 ; commerce of, hindered. 111 ; hands over charge of factory to Du- pont-Cirave, 112 ; investigated by Dolu, 113 ; threatened by Dolu, 114 ; monopoly of, cancelled, 114 ; appeals to Dolu for protection, 116 ; appeals to King for justice, 116, 117. Champlain, Lake, 73, 129. Charles I, makes trouble with French, 138 ; sends fleet to French coast, 139 ; offers to help Alexander, 141 ; confers knighthood on baronets of New Scotland, 142 ; proclamation of, 142 ; desires peace, 146 ; assists lames Stewart, 147 ; promises re- storation of Quebec, 149 ; at Coni- piegne, 156 ; presses for payment of wife's dowry, 156 ; offers baronies, 158 ; discusses treaty, 159 ; sacrifices Port Royal, 160 ; complains to Fon- 300 INDEX tenay, 160 ; wants fresh colony, 164 ; displeased with treaty, 164 ; pays French claim, 164 ; other references to, 151, 155, 163, 202, 205, 206, 207. Charles of England, Prince, 133. Charles V, Emperor, 175. Chaste, Sieur de, early life of, 46 ; suc- ceeds Chauvin, 46 ; official exploring expedition under, 47 ; death of, 48 ; other references to, 49, 51. Chateauneuf, M. de, 148 ; demands sur- render of Quebec and Port Royal, 148 ; urges an enquiry, 151 ; suc- ceeded by M. de Fon tenay, 155 ; trade regulations of, 157 ; made Keeper of the Seals, 157 ; demands treaty, 157 ; reply of, to De Vic, 159 ; with Bouthillier draws up treaty, 163. Chateau Thierry, 162. Chaton, Stephen. See Sieur de la Jan- naye. Chauvin, Pierre, Sieur de Tonnetuit, obtains monopoly, 42 ; takes colon- ists to Tadoussac, 42 ; profits of, 43, 44 ; King's confidence in, 43 ; traders oppose monopoly of, 43 ; monopoly of, withdrawn, 44 ; death of, 46 ; other references to, 49, 51, 58, 64, 68, 74, 133, 136, 186, 187, 188, 189, 192. Chefdostel, 40, 186, 187, 188. Cibourre, 185. Civille, 179. Coleccion de Doc.umenfos InAditos relati- vo.s al Descubrimiento, Conquesta y Organizacion de las Posesiones Es- panolaa de. America y Oceania, 175. Coleccion Munoz, 183, Coleccion NaxKirrete, 184. Coleccion Vargas Ponce, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, i86, 188, 190, 192, 193, 194, 197, 198, 199, 202, 206. Collection de Manvscrits relntifs d la Nouvelle France, 177, 181, 190, 191, 201, 202, 203, 206, 207. Columbus, 15, 18. Coulombier, Captain, 46, 47, 190. Coman, Louis, 191. Company of Morbihan, place and failure of, 134. Company of New France, replaces United Company, 135 ; started by Chevalier de Razilly, 135 ; monopoly gi-anted to, 136 ; St. Lawrence valley ceded to, 136; Constitution of, 137 ; sends out colonists, 137 ; servants of, mur- dered, 140 ; vessels of, overpowered by Kirke, 141, 145 ; excluded from New France, 147 ; loses second fleet, 147, 150 ; despatches ships, 158 ; takes over Fort at Port Royal, 164, 165 ; posts of, 165 ; lands colonists, 165 ; instals itself at Quebec, 165 ; in power till 1663, 166. Compiegne, 156, 160. Conde, Henri de Boubon, Prince de. Vice- regency and monopoly of Soissons transferred to, 86 ; early life of, 87 ; at Court, 87 ; marriage of, 87 ; in- fatuation of king for wife of, 87 ; troublesome at coui't, 87 ; grants passports to traders, 88 ; monopoly of extended, 94 ; receives allowance from Champlain's Company, 94 ; trouble between, and Champlain's Company, 96 ; treaty with, 97 ; forced to leave Orleans, 97 ; recon- ciliation of, 97 ; monopoly of, opposed, 98 ; illness of, 103 ; popularity of, 103 ; imprisonment of, 103 ; threats of, 104 ; re-instated as Viceroy of New France, 113; resigns Viceroy- ship and receives recompense, 113; other references to, 107, 111, 195, 196, 197. Conde-sur-Noireau, 56, 191. Convicts, 12, 15, 40. Coo, Captain, 20. Cooper's Cove, or Cuper's Cove, 82. Corte-Reals, 18, Cortez, 9, 11. Couillard Henry, 189. Cour, Sieur de la, 45. Crenay, 185. Crignon, Pierre, Critical estimate of, 220. Dahouet, 19. Dampville, Sieur de, Admiral of France, 45. Daniel, Captain Charles, 146 ; attacks colonists, 147 ; constructs fort, 147 ; takes prisoners home, 147 ; fort of, 153 ; at Cape Breton, 158 ; at Mis- cou, 158 ; sails for home, 15S, 204 . Critical estimate of, 271-273. Darien, Isthmus of, 67. D'Aubign(5, 103. Dauphin, 193. De Costa, Verraza7io the Explorer, 176. De Vic, English agent, 156 ; complains to Chateauneuf, 159, 160. Denmark, 103. Desamaison, Jehan, 192, Deschamps, L,, 188 ; Isaac de Razilly 202. INDEX 301 Dieppe, 19, 22, 33, 42, 43, 45, 46, 48, 78, 79, 110, 117, 137, 139, 140, 147, 151, 158, 160, 179, 188, 202, 203. Dieres, Gion, 188, 192. Dijon, 156. 159, 178. Dionne, N. E., La Nouvelh France de Cartier a Champlain, 176, 187. Dobel, Guillaurae, 175. Dognon, 103. Dolbeau, Father, 107. Dohi, Sieur, performs duties of viceroy, 113 ; threatens Company, 114 ; can- cels Company's monopoh% 114; new Companj^ appointed by, 114, 201. Donacona, taken to France, 10. Dorchester, Minister of Foreign Affairs, 151, 155, 156, 159, 160, 161, 204. D'Orville, Monsieur, 55. Dover, 148. Dumbarton, 142. Dupont-Grave, 42 ; seeks suitable spot for settlement, 47 ; in charge of settle- ment at Port Royal, 60 ; returns to France, 73 ; in charge of fur-trade, 75 ; at Tadoussac, 80 ; superintends transfer of factory to Monts, 83 ; at Rapids, 101 ; confers with Champlain, 110; given charge of factory, 112; other references to, 48, 51, 67, 70, 76, 81, 98, 113, 117, 118. 191, 193, 194, 195, 203. Dupont-Grave, the younger, 101, 106, 110. Duro, Cesareo Fernandez, Lihro Sexto de Disqtiisiciones ^aiificas, 182. East, the, passage to, 66, 83, 100, 108. Eberhard, Jehan, 182. Edinburgh, 142. Edmondes, Sir Thomas, 198. Elizabeth, Queen, 184, 187. England. 18, 19, 23, 65, 101, 102, 119, 122, 137, 138, 143, 145, 148, 152, 154, 156, 1.59, 161, 162, 163, 187. English Channel, 20, 35. Etechemins, country of, 71 ; Port des, 195. Factum, The, Critical estimate of, 292- 293. Factum du Proces, 195. Fagundes, 7, 20. Falmouth, 138, 147. Farida, Martin, 186. Felix, Voyage a la No^ivelie France du Capitaine Charles Daniel, 202, 204. Ferry land, colony in, 130. Fisher, Richard, Critical situation of, 246. Fishing Industry, Cabot's discovery, 18 ; tax laid on cod, 18 : Henry VII grants Letters patent for trade in new land, 19 ; extent of in 1510, 19 ; protection for returning ships, 20 ; extent of, 22 ; regular export trade, 23 ; Parkhurst's statistics in 1578, 24 ; cod fishing, 25 ; whale fishing, 27 ; other references to, 33, 35, 36, 49, 53, 54, 55, 57, 58, 60, 65, 73, 84, 93, 98, 101, 102, 108, 110, 119, 121, 125, 128, 146, 153, 154, 158. Fittz, Thomas, 154, 155, 205. Fitz- William, 20. Fleuryot, 178. Florida, 12, 29, Fontainebleau, 49, 161, 162. Fontarabia, 65. Fontena}', Monsieur de, 155, 159, 160, 161. Fougeres, castle of, 39, 185. Fournier, 179. France, 11, 14, 17, 18, 19, .33, 34, 36, 39, 41. 43, 45, 48, 52, 55, 56, 57, 64, 6.5, 101, 10.3, 101, 102, 105, 108, 114, 115, 116, 125, 126, 127, 129, 134, 137, 138, 141, 146, 148, 148, 158, 162, 166. Francis I, assists Cartier with support of Indian guide, 10 ; sends Cartier on second voyage, 11; sends Sanneterre back to Roberval, 16 ; other refer- ences to, 177, 178, 180. Franciscans, 78. Fre\alle, Memoires sur le Commei ce Mari- time de Rouen, 176. French and Dutch Company, 134, Fundy, Bay of, 45, 48, 54, 56, 59, 65, 71, 73, 75, 82, 93, 144, 148. Fur trade, commencement of, 28; growth of, 29 ; trading ships in 1497, 29 ; extent of, oO ; in Newfoundland, 33; monopoly of, granted to Jannaye and Nouel, 34 ; grant revoked, 34 ; traders complain, 43 ; on Atlantic coast, 45 ; decision of commission concerning, 45 ; with Algonquins, 72 ; Chauvin engaged in, 74 ; in charge of Dupont-Grave, 85 ; free- dom of, 75 ; with Algonquins, 76 ; Poutrincourt's account of, 77 ; Du- pont-Grave's difficulties in, 80 ; at Lachine, 81 ; open to all comers, 1609-1612, 85 ; area of reserved, 90 ; Jesuits, partners in, 91 ; competi- tion in, 93 ; extent of, 94 ; restric- tions of, 94 ; at Mount Desert, 96 ; at Manhattan, 96 ; at La Rochelle, 100 ; Dutch engaged in, 130 ; mon- opolized by Company of New France, 135 ; monopoly of, granted to Scot- 302 INDEX tish and English companj', 143 ; other references to, 31, 32, 42, 43, 53, 54, 63, 66, 68, 69, 73, 83, 84, 90, 93, 101, 106, 108, 110, 118, 121, 125, 128, 129, 144, 148, 153, 154, 155, 157, 158, 165. Cxadois, 191. Gaillon, Michael, hanged, 16. Galloway, Barony of, 122. Gandon, Perrine, 182. Gaspe, 7, 45, 48, u2, 55. 73, 75, 90, 93, 94, 95, 121, 122, 140, 143, 144, 145, 146, 148, Gaude, 158. Geneva Lake, 99. George, Father, 118. Georgian Bay, 47, 71, 99. Germany, 160. Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 184 ; critical estimate of narrative of his voyage, 228-230. Girot, Jehan, 41, 187, 189, 190. Gobien, Jean de, 183. GodeSiroy, Adam, 176. Gohorel, 188. Gomez, Estevan, 30, 175. Gordon, Robert of Lochinvar, 122, 123, 201. Gorges, Sir Ferdinand, 122, 200. Gosselin, Nouvelles Glanes Historiques Normandes, 179, 191. Grainer, Matthew, 60. Grave, Fran9ois, Sieur du Pont. See Dupont-Grav^. Gravey, Robert, 200. Gua, Pierre du, Sieur de Monts. See Monts. Guehemenc, Pierre, 179. Guerard, Pierre, 202. Guercheville, Marquise de, 79, 84, 85, 91, 95, 198. Guipuzcoa, 181, 183, 185, 190, 199, 206. Guy, Governor, 82, 195. Guyenne, 52, 192, 196, 197. Hakluyt, Richard, gives account of fur trade, 33 ; on dangers from foreign occupation, 36 ; mentions King's furriers, 60 ; Principal Navigations, 181, 184; critical estimate of, 242 246. Hallard, 201. Harfleur, 22. Harrisse, Henry, Notes mir la Nouvelle France ; Collection de Manuscrits re- latifs d la Nouvelle France, 178; 179, 180, 191. Hatters' Company, 63, 64. Havre, 21, 45, 48, 49, 54, 55, 58, 188, 190. Hawkins, 24. Hubert, Louis, 105, 110, 111, 144; depo- sition of, 195, 199. Henrietta Maria, 133, 138, 143. Henry III, grants monopolv to Jannaye and Nouel, 34; 38"; 184; 185, 186. Henry IV, receives petition from traders, 43 ; 44 ; favours colonization, 49 ; 51 ; 53 ; 57 ; Poutrincourt esteemed by, 61 ; grants new monopoly, 66 ; re- fuses monopolj^ to Monts, 74 ; widow of, 78; murder of, 78; 186; 187; 190; 191 ; 192. Henry VII, grants Letters Patent, 19. Henry, second Duke of Montmorencj', appointed Admiral in 1612, 113. Hochelaga, 8, 9, 14, 40, 187. Holland, 192. Honfleur, 14, 22, 42, 43, 51, 103, 105, 112, 179, 200. Hudson, trades with Indians, 73 ; non- return of, 89, 96. Hudson Bay, 75. Hudson, River, 106, 114. Huguenots, against Jesuits, 78 ; exclusion of, desired, 119; shareholders dispute with Catholics, 126 ; crews disobey Vicerov, 128 ; other references to, 42, 51,'53, 103, 112, 115, 133, 138. Hunandaye, Seigneur de la, 184. Huron, Lake, 99. Kurons, Country of, 70; retreat to (Tcor- gian Bay, 70 ; meet Champlain at St. Eloi, 72 ; defeat Iroquois, 73 ; invite Champlain to visit them, 73 ; barter of, 77 ; take French boy, 77 ; at Lachine, 81 ; afraid of white faces, 81 ; agents winter among, 83 ; Cham- plain spends winter with, 99 ; expe- dition of against Iroquois, 99 ; other references to, 47, 71, 74, 75, 80, 82, 85, 100, 101, 103, 106, 120, 124, 128. Ibaceta, Jacobada, 181. Iceland, 18. He Percee, 47, 48, 54, 55, 73, 77, 128. Indians, brought home by Cartier, 7 ; baptized, die, 11 ; act as guides, 14 ; Cartier trades with, 30 ; of Norum- bega, 31 ; colonists with, 44 ; trade with French, 73 ; at Lachine, 81 ; trust Champlain, 84 ; Champlain distrusts, 109 ; other references to, 85, 43, 45, 47, 48, 59, 66, 70, 75, 89, 99, 120, 128, 144, 145, 158. Ingram, David, 31, 45. Ireland, traveller from, visits Cartier, 11. Irenee, Father, 124. INDEX 303 Iroquois, burn Hochelaga, 14 ; country of, 70 ; defeated by Hurons and Montagnais, 73; again defeated, 76; attacked by Hurons, 99 ; conclude alliance with Dutch, 106 ; treaty with, 124 ; quarrel with Dutch, 127 ; war with, 129 ; massacre embassy, 129 ; other references to, 47, 74, 80, 90, 95, 98, 101, 130. Italian, envoy, describes Cabot's voyage, 18. Italy, 65, 102. Jalobert, 182. James I, 95, 122, 194, 198, 201, 202. Jamestown, settlement of Virginia Com- pany at, 91 ; vessel from captures colonists from Mount Desert, 92 ; 100. Jannaye, Sieur de la, 34, Jeannin, President, 64, 193. Jersey, 32. Jesuits, offered to Saint Ju?t, proposal accepted, 78 ; at Dieppe, 78 ; collec- tion for, 78 ; luade part owners of vessel, 78 ; share in fur trade, 91 ; quarrel with Saint Just, 91 ; request funds for new colony, 91 ; settlement of at Mount Desert, 91 ; taken by English, 91 ; help asked from, 124 ; accept invitation of Recollects, 126 ; order of, 126; 127; send home work- men, 131 ; stores captured by Kirke, 139; other references to, 79, 85, 144, 146, 153, 194, 195, 196. Joseph, Father, 99, 101. Joyeuse, Due de, 33. Juana, Queen Dona, 175. Jumieges, 23. Kaulek, Corrtspondance politique de AIM. de Casti/lon et de. Marillac, 180. Kirke, David, 139, 144, 203, 204, 205, Kirke, James, 139, Kirke, Jarvis, applies for letters of mar- que, 139; demands surrender of fac- tory, 139 ; sends vessels to Gulf, 140 ; overcomes French, 141 ; sails towards England, 141 ; unites with Alexander and forms Scottish and English Company, 143 ; takes Quebec, 145 ; trades, 145, 147 ; vessels of reach Dover, 148 ; proceedings against, 154, 155 ; other references to, 162, 163, 205, 206, Kirke, John, 139. Kirke, Lewis, sent to Quebec with letter to Champlain, 139, 140, 145; in com- mand of factory, 148 ; forbids Emery de Caen to trade, 158 ; leaves New France, 165 ; other references to, 203, 205, 206, Kirke, Thomas, 139 ; at Quebec, 145 ; leaves New France, 165, La Bouille, 23, La Compagnie de la Nacelle de St. Pierre fleurdelisee, 134 ; plan of proposed and abandoned, 135. La Jannaye, 184, 185, 186, La Marck, 11. La Normandie, Revue MeTisuelle, 195. La Plainte de la Nouvelle France, critical estimate of, 294. La Ralde, 128, 2(»2, La Roche, rise of, 38 ; expedition under, 36; early history of, 38, 39; agreement between, and Chefdostel, 40 ; made King's lieutenant, 40 ; death of, 41 ; other references to, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187. La Rochelle, 14, 20, 21, 22, 43, 53, 54, 62, 82, 94, 95, 96, 98, 101, 103, 111, 113, 128, 137, 146, 180, 186, 188, 197, 198. La Tour, Sieur de, 143, 152, 153, 158. La Tour, the younger, 123, 142, 148, 152, 153, 158. Labrador, 21. Lachine, 8, 16, 47, 67, 80, 81, 85, 90, 98, 106, Laing, D, Royal Letters, Charters and Tracts relating to the coloni7Mtion of New Scotland, 201, 202, Lallemant, Charles, critical estimate of, 270. Lauson, president. Company of New France, 148, 150, 151. Laverdiere, CEuvres de Champlain, 192, 195, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207. Le Clercq, Father Christian, critical estimate of, 290. Le Gac, Sieur de CoUespel, 187. Le Jeune, Paul, critical estimate of, 286. Le Liepvre, 187, 189, 191. Le Lou. Martin, 187. Le Pillois, 189. Le Roux, 188. Le Tac, Pere, critical estimate of, 287- 290. Leforsonney, Mathieu, 200. Leghorn, 191, 192. Legoupil, Robert, 180. Leigh, Charles, critical estimate of, 248- 250. Lescarbot, 25, 28, 29, 187, 190, 191, 198, Histoire dela Nouvelle France, 177 ; critical estimate of, 251-260. 304 INDEX L<5vis Henri de, Due de Ventadour, 125. Li5v}% Point, 105. Limoges, 45. Lochinvar, 201. London, 29, 138, 139, 157, 159, 161, 202. London and British Company, 194. Longrais, Joiion des, Jacques Cartier, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182. Loudron, Peace of, 103. Louis XIIL, 94, 102, 107, 108, 116, 117, 119, 118, 127, 133, 136, 137, 138, 156, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 202, 207. Love, John, 204. Ludovica, proposed city, 108. Lumber trade, see Timber. Luxembourg, Marie Liesse of, 125. Luz, St. Jean de, 185. Magdaillan, Guillaume de, 178, 179. Magdalen Islands, 6. Maingard, 182. Malapert, Andr^, critical estimate of, 271-273. Mallart, Jean, critical estimate of, 221. Mallebarre, 59. Mallorthie, 188. Manet, Biographie des Malouins cdUhres, 181. Manhattan, 93, 96. Mantanne, 94, 197- Marcel, Factum du Proces, 194. Marck, Marechal de la, 176. Marie Liesse of Luxembourg, riches of, 125 ; religious life of, 125. Marrillac, French ambassador, 180. Martel, of Dieppe, 158. Martin, Eustache, 201. Martin, Pierre, 179. Martin, Sir Henry, 205. Masse, Father Ennemond, settles at Mount Desert, 91 ; critical estimate of, 260, 261. Massawomeckes, 100. Matignon, Madame de, 186. Maubuisson, Prince of, 125. Medicis, Catherine de, 38, 46, 104. Medicis, Marie de, orders Saint Just to receive Jesuits, 78 ; plan resorted to by, 78; advances against Conde, 97; other references to, 133, 158. Melrose, Lord, 142. M6moire del/a Societd Geographica Itali- ano, 176. Mimoires des Commissaires du Boi, 207. Mercower, Due de, 39, 185. M^ry-sur-Seine, 96. Mesgouez, Troilus de. Sec La Roche. Metz, 162. Mexico, 11, 17, Gulf of, 31. Michelant et Rame. Voyage de Jacques Cartier an Canada en 1534, 176, 177, 178, 180, 184, 185, 186, 188, 190, 192, 193, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200. Relation Originale du Voyage de Car- tier, 184, 186, 188, 189. Milan, 18. Miscou, 128, 139. Moluccas, 175. Monceaux, 160, 161. Monsler, Thomas, 179. Montagnais, Territorj' of, 70, 71 ; re- exchange French goods, 71 ; defeat Iroquois, 73 ; assist Champlain, 76 ; 100, make peace with Iroquois, 124 ; other references to, 72, 129. Montagu, Lord, 156. Montchretien, 24, 103. Monts, Pierre du Gua, Sieur de, mon- opoly of, 51-68 ; succeeds Chaste, 51 ; conditions of Co. of, 51, 52; mon- opoly of opposed by Sully, 52, 53 ; objections to, 53; constitiition of Co. of, 53 ; cajjital of Co. of, 53 ; 1st ex- pedition of Co. of, 54 ; difficulties of, 54, f>5, 63 ; sends Rolleau to France, 56 ; trouble of, about import duty, 56, 57 ; monopoly of assured, 57 ; takes out colonists, 58 ; transports colony to Port Royal, 59 ; returns to France, 60 ; withdrawal of monopoly of, 61, 64 ; suggests change of settle- ment, 62 ; affairs of Co. of wound up, 65 ; losses of, 65 ; new scheme of, 66 ; annoiinces plan at court, 66 ; fresh monopoly granted to, 66 ; at Quebec, 67 ; finances of, improve, 68 ; mon- opoly of, withdrawn, 69 ; com- pensation to, 69 ; applies for fresh monopoly, 74 ; grants Port Royal to Poutrincourt, 75 ; representa- tives of, 75, 77 ; interests of, 76 ; work of, 81 ; 83 ; patriotism of, 83 ; 85; unable to obtain monopolj', 85 ; rights of transferred to Madame de Guercheville, 91 ; at Quebec, 95 ; other references to, 42, 49, 186, 188, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198. Montmorenc}', Duke of, takes viceroy- ship, 113; instructs Dolu, 113; sal- ary of, 115; resigns viceroyship, 125 ; other references to, 189, 190, 198, 201. Morbihan, Co. of, 134. Morin, 194. Morlaix, 22. INDEX 305 Motrico, 188, 192. Mount Desert, Jesuit settlement at, 91 ; colonists from captured, 92 ; Argall attacks settlement at, 92; destruction of settlement at, 92, 93 ; fur-trade at, 95, 96, 108. Mount Royal, Cartier at, 8, 9. Murphy, The Voyage of Verrazano, 176. Nantss, Estates of, 38 ; castle of, 39. Nantes, John of, 16. Navarre, Henry of, 61. Navarrete, Coleccion de los viages, etc., 175. Neufville, Thomas, 193. Neutrals, 128. New Brunswick, 122. New England, 25, 37, 119, 121, 122, 164 ; 166. New France— 17, 42, 45, 47, 49, 53, 55, 56,61, 65, 69, 70, 75, 78, 82, 88; 91,93,98, 104, 108; 113; 115, 121, 124, 125, 129, 139, 143, 146, 149, 150- 166, 190, 191, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203. New France, Co. of, see Company of New France. New Holland, 121, 166. New Scotland, 122, colony to, 141 ; bar- onetcy of, 141 ; knighthood for, 142; baronies for, 158 ; title to, 163 ; 207. New Spain, 121. New York State, 99. Newburgh, Lord, 203. Newfoundland, 7, 10, 13, 20, 22, 26, 31, 33, 36, 38, 40, 55, 60, 65, 82, 101, 110. Newfoundland, Banks of, 17, 19-24, 41, 49, 55, 60, 73, 84, 106, 126, 140, 154. Niagara Peninsula, 128. Nice, 11. Nipissing, Lake, 99, 128. Normandy, 40, 45, 52, 86, 127, 192. Norumbega, 31, 40. Norway, 198. Nouel, Jacques, obtains monopoly, 34, 185, 186 ; critical estimate of, 230. Nova Scotia, 122, 141, 142, 201, 205. Ochiltrie, James Stewart, Fifth Lord, 143, 147, 204. Ontario, Lake, 47, 70, 99, 128. Orleans, Island of, 8, 15, 97. Ottawa, River, 47, 70, 71, 89, 99, 101. Paimpol, 175. Paris, 11, 28, 33, 60, 63, 103, 105, 108, 110, 134, 137, 137, 151, 152, 155, 159, 162, 163, 178, 181, 191. Parkhurst, Anthony, 24 ; critical esti- mate of, 226. 21 Parlement of Paris, 134 ; 137. Parlement of Rouen, 138, 179. Parliament, Lords Barons of, 142 ; re- fuses to grant subsidies, 160 ; Scottish, supports Alexander, 163. Pasajes, 183, 192, 197, 202, 206. Pasdalot, 181. Paul V. 199. Peacock, 207. Pentagoiiet, 165. Peppin, Jean, 179. Peru, 10, 17. Picardy, 52, 196. Picquerayans, land of, 10. Pierre, Sieur de la, 189. Pilgrim Fathers, 93, 119, 130. Pinzon, 15. Pizarro, 11. Placentia, Bay of, 36. Plastrier, Capt. , at Ste Croix, 82 ; seized by English, 84 ; 92. Plymouth, 93, 119. Plymouth Co., 122. Poitiers, 97. Poitou, 178. Point Levy, 145. Pons, 51, 196, 197. Pontgrave. See Dupont-Grave. Pont I'Eveque, 189. Poole, Mayor of, 202. Pope, the, 87. Popham, Sir Francis, 96. Portugal, 18, 19, 20, 126. Portuguese, 102. Port Royal, 56 ; Ste. Croix settlement transported to, 59 ; privations at, 62 ; Champdore at, 66 ; Poutrincourt at, 75 ; Saint Just at, 96, 101 ; Poutrincourt at, 142 ; other refer- ences to, 60, 61, 64, 65, 73, 77, 78, 104, 108, 123, 143, 144, 146, 148, 151, 153, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160 ; 163, 164 ; 165 ; 198, 206, 207. Poullain, Vincent, 188. Poutrincourt, Sieur de, in France, 56 ; dis- tinguishes himself in civil wars, 61 ; esteemed by Henry IV, 61 ; takes colonists to Port Royal, 61 ; priva- tions of, 78 ; helped by Madame de Guercheville, 84 ; losses of, 85 ; re- turns to France, 96 ; death of, 96 ; other references to, 59, 62, 65, 67, 79, 92, 93, 104, 142, 194, 198. Poyet, Chancellor, 179. Prevert, Capt., 46, 47, 48. Prince Edward Island, 6, 122. Prowse. History of Newfoundland, 181, 184, 187, 191, 202. 306 INDEX Quebec, post at, 67 ; Champlain builds factory at, 67, Champlain winters at, 68 ; deaths at, 69 ; route to, 71 ; Al- gonquins at, 71 ; Chauvin in charge at, 73 ; trading boats at, 75 ; Cham- plain at, 80 ; Recollect Fathers at, 99, 101 ; colonists at, 104 ; Hebert at, 105 ; bad management at, 105, 109; Dupont Grave in charge at, 112; Champlain at, 115; new factory at, 121 ; college at, 126 ; assembly at, 129 ; reduced to starvation, 144 ; surrender to Kirke, 145 ; deaths at, 153 ; Caen leaves goods at, 158; sur- render of, by English, 164 ; Co. of New France at, 165 ; United Co. retires from, 165 ; other references to, 56, 66, 70. 74, 78, 81, 82, 83, 85, 86, 88, 90, 94, 95, 106, 108, 114, 117, 118, 119, 122, 125, 127, 130, 131, 132, 133, 138, 140, 141, 144, 146, 147, 148, 150, 154, 155, 157, 159, 163, 166, 197, 200, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207. Quimpre, 22, Quints, Bay of, 99. JRaccolta di Dociiriienti e Studi puhblicati dalla B. Commissione Columbiana, 175. Ramea, .35, 36. Ramsgate, 20. Ravend, Guillaume, 186. Razilly, Isaac, Chevalier de, father of Co. of New France, 135 ; urges need of reform, 135; plan of, 135; re- ceives possession of Port Royal, 165 ; other references to, 136, 137, 202, 206, 207. Recollect Fathers, at Quebec, 99 ; erect chapel at Tadoussac, 106 ; object of, 115 ; want money to build Seminary, 119; go with savages, 121 ; Father Iren^e, 124 ; order of, 124 ; other references to, 108, 125, 126, 128, 153, 199, 200, 201. Rennes, Senechal at, 178, 186, 192, 195. Renteria, Syndic of, 184. Revue Critique, 176. Revue de Bretagne et de Vendie, 182. Revue des Questions Heraldiques, 206. Richelieu, Armand du Plessis, Cardinal de, political work of, 133 ; enters the council, 133 ; influence of, 133 ; Grand Master of Navigation, etc., of France, 133, 134; starts French and Dutch Co., 134; carries out Razilly's plan, 136 ; buys office of Viceroy, 1.36 ; annuls monopoly of United Co., 136 ; makes terms about dowry, 157, 160 ; grants United Co. trade in St. Lawrence, 164 ; other references to, 135, 137, 146, 148, 150, 152, 202, 203, 206. Richelieu, River, 72, 76, 120. Roberval, Jean Francois de la Roque, Seigneur de. Voyage of, to France, 11-17; niece rescued, 23; other re- ferences to, 34, 36, 40, 166, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182. Roberval's Voyage, critical estimate of, 221. Robin, 195. Rolleau, 56. Roque, Jean Frangois de la. See Roberval. Roscoff, 183. Rouen, 20, 24, 40, 44, 45, 46, 49, 53, 54, 56, 60, 66, 74, 94, 95, 107, 115, 137, 138, 155, 159, 178, 179, 180, 187, 189, 190, 196, 197, 207. Rouen, Archives de la Tournelle, 187. Routier, 195. Royeze, 16. Russia, 103. Rut, John, of Bristol, 20 ; critical estim- ate of, 209. Sable Island, settlement at, 24 ; colonists reach, 40, 41 ; other references to, 38, 122, 186, 187. Sagard, Gabriel, Histoire du Canada, 199 ; critical estimate of, 281-285 ; other references to. 111, 200, 201. Saguenay, Kingdom of, 9, 10, 16, 178. Saguenay, River, 6, 8, 9, 40, 43, 47, 71, 106. Sainsbury, Calendoir of Colonial State Papers, 187, 195, 197, 198, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207. St. Catherine, 6. St. Charles, 8. Ste. Croix, settlement at, 55, 56 ; priva- tions at, 58 ; deaths at, 58 ; settle- ment transported to Port Royal, 59 ; Plastrier at, 82 ; Monts' losses at, 83 ; Plastrier seized by Englisli at, 84 ; other references to, 60, 61, 62, 66, 73, 77, 84, 93, 122. St. Denis, 108. St. Eloi, Champlain meets Huron at, 72. St. Germain, Chateau of, 87. St. Germain-en-Lave, Treaty of 149, 163, 206. St. Helen's Island, 80. St. Jean d'Angely, 87. St. Jean de Luz, 53, 54, 58, 65. St. John, Lake, 71. INDEX 307 St. John, Newfoundland, Roberval at, 14 ; Rut, at, 20 ; Alexander reaches, 123. St. John, River, 54, 82, 84, 101. Saint- Just, Sieur de, reaches France, 77 ; asked to take out Jesuits, 78 ; Vice- Admiral of Acadia, 82 ; discovers old fort, 84, 92 ; has trouble with Jesuits, 91 ; at Port Royal, 96, 101 ; urges colonization, 110; returns to France, 123 ; other reierences to, 84, 123, 143, 195. St. Lawrence, Gulf of, 7, 8, 10, 20, 23, 35, 36, 52, 63, 122, 139, 140, 143, 144. St. Lawrence (River), 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 22, 33, 35, 38, 42, 43, 44, 46, 47, 48, 49, 51, 52, 54, 56, 57, 62, 63, 65, 66, 67, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 79, 83, 85, 88, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 100, 101, 103, 105, 106, 107, 111, 112, 185, 189, 192, 202, 203. St. Lawrence Valley, exploration of, 74 ; description of, 108 ; plans for, 108; ceded to Co. of New France, 136 ; 149. St. Malo, 6, 13, 23, 32, 33, 35, 43, 44, 45, 47, 49, 53, 54, 58, 64, 69, 85, 88, 94, 95, 98, 106, 137, 176, 177, 178, 180, 181, 182, 183, 185, 186, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 202. St. Maurice River, 171. Sainte-Menehould, Treaty of, 97. St. Pierre, 8, 22, 141. St.-Pol-de-Lt^on, 183. St. Sauveur, 196. Saint-Thomas-des-Maritz, 202. Saintonge, 51. Sanneterre, 15, 16, 17. Schomberg, Marechal de, 161. Scotland, barons of, 142 ; Secretary for, 142. Scottish and English Co. formed, 143 ; granted monopoly, 143 ; fleets of, 143 ; send representatives to Quebec, 151 ; capital of, 151 ; aim of, 151 ; fleet of, 152 ; other references to, 144, 145, 146, 148, 151, 153, 155, 157, 158, 161, 162, 163, 165. Scurvy, 10, 15, 16, 58, 61, 62, 64, 128. Sebastian, San, 183, 184, 185, 188, 193. Secart, 182. Sedan, Capt. de, 177. Seine, 24. Sillery, Chancellor de, 97. Silveira, Joao da, 175, 176. Silvestre, 188. Simcoe Lake, 99. Simon, Jacques, 196. Smart, John of Plymouth, 205. Smith, Capt. John, 96, 100, 101. Soissons, Charles de Bourbon, Comte de, fought under Henry IV, 86 ; chara- ter of, 86 ; made Viceroy of Canada, 86 ; granted monopoly, 86 ; death of, 86 ; 195. Southampton, 32. Southern Sea, 9, 10, 67. Spain, 14, 18, 56, 65, 135, 181, 188, 192, 198, 206. Spanish, spy, 12, 22 ; ambassador, 123. Spices, 12, 29. Stadacona, 9, 10, 13. States-General, 97, 98. Sterling, Viscount. See Alexander, Sir William. Stewart, James. See Ochiltrie, Lord. Sully, Maximilian de Bethune, Due de, 52 ; 53, 64 ; 74 ; 87, 193, Superior Lake, 100. Suza, 146, 150, 160. Sweden, 103. Tadoussac, 27, 29, 32, 42-44 ; 47, 48, 54, 55, 58, 60, 63, 66, 71, 75, 76, 77, 79, 80, 83, 90, 94, 98, 105, 106, 108, 114, 116, 116, 193. Taureau, 38. Tessoiiat, 90. Themines, Monsieur de, 103 ; obtains viceroyship, 104 ; disputes with Conde, 113. Thevet, Andre, 23, 24, 31, 33; critical estimate of, 231-242. Thomson, 207. Thou, obtains liberty for Conde and his mother, 87. Timber, trade, 53, 88, 102, 103, 108. Toulouse, 178. Touraine, 135. Tours, 183. Trappists, 78. Tresories, 190. Trinity Harbour, Newfoundland, 31. Troyes, 161. Ulster, colonization cf, 141, 147 ; baronets of, 141. United Co., formed, 120 ; monopoly guar- anteed to, 120 ; replaced by Co. of New France, 135 ; monopoly of an- nulled, 136 ; goods of seized at Quebec, 150 ; exorbitant demands of, 160 ; takes possession of Quebec, 164 ; granted trade in St. Lawrence, 164 ; retires from Quebec, 165 ; re- ceives compensation, 165 ; other references to, 125, 131, 133, 162. 308 INDEX Ushant, 39. Valer5', 87. Vatteville, 23. Venice, 1-46. Ventadour, Due de, gazetted to viceroy- ship, 125 ; religious life of, 125 ; Riciielieu buys viceroyship from, 136 ; 202. Verrazano, 29, 175, 176; critical estimate of, 208. Vizcaya, 183. Vic, 156. Vienne, 110. Vignau, statements of, 89 ; deceit of exposed, 90. Villemenon, Sieur de, 113. Virginia, prisoners taken to, 92, 93 ; Lord Baltimore removes to, 154. Virginia Co., .settlement of, 91 ; charter of, 91 ; council of 92; 95, 96. Voulte, Comte de la, 125. Wade, Thomas, 204. Wake, Sir Isaac, takes charge of nego- tiations, 160 ; examines grievances, 161 ; difficulties of, 162 ; other refer- ences to, 163, 204, 207. Whitbourne, Richard, 31 ; 102. Winwood, Secretary, 198. Wolfe, 67. Wyet, Silvester, critical estimate of, 247. Xivrey, Berger de, Lettres Missives de Henry IV, 192. Yon, Roberval, 181. Longitude N^ kTTIKA: ■ort Lamox Aioany i ^kill UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY D 000 416 895 1