Voyages of Samuel De Champlain — Volume 02

CHAPTER I.

THE BENEFITS OF COMMERCE HAVE INDUCED SEVERAL PRINCES TO SEEK AN EASIER ROUTE FOR TRAFFIC WITH THE PEOPLE OF THE EAST.--SEVERAL UNSUCCESSFUL VOYAGES.--DETERMINATION OF THE FRENCH FOR THIS PURPOSE.--UNDERTAKING OF SIEUR DE MONTS: HIS COMMISSION AND ITS REVOCATION.--NEW COMMISSION TO SIEUR DE MONTS TO ENABLE HIM TO CONTINUE HIS UNDERTAKING.

The inclinations of men differ according to their varied dispositions; and each one in his calling has his particular end in view. Some aim at gain, some at glory, some at the public weal. The greater number are engaged in trade, and especially that which is transacted on the sea. Hence arise the principal support of the people, the opulence and honor of states. This is what raised ancient Rome to the sovereignty and mastery over the entire world, and the Venetians to a grandeur equal to that of powerful kings. It has in all times caused maritime towns to abound in riches, among which Alexandria and Tyre are distinguished, and numerous others, which fill up the regions of the interior with the objects of beauty and rarity obtained from foreign nations. For this reason, many princes have striven to find a northerly route to China, in order to facilitate commerce with the Orientals, in the belief that this route would be shorter and less dangerous.

In the year 1496, the king of England commissioned John Cabot and his son Sebastian to engage in this search. About the same time, Don Emanuel, king of Portugal, despatched on the same errand Gaspar Cortereal, who returned without attaining his object. Resuming his journeys the year after, he died in the undertaking; as did also his brother Michel, who was prosecuting it perseveringly. In the years 1534 and 1535, Jacques Cartier received a like commission from King Francis I., but was arrested in his course. Six years after, Sieur de Roberval, having renewed it, sent Jean Alfonse of Saintonge farther northward along the coast of Labrador; but he returned as wise as the others. In the years 1576, 1577, and 1578, Sir Martin Frobisher, an Englishman, made three voyages along the northern coasts. Seven years later, Humphrey Gilbert, also an Englishman, set out with five ships, but suffered shipwreck on Sable Island, where three of his vessels were lost. In the same and two following years, John Davis, an Englishman, made three voyages for the same object; penetrating to the 72d degree, as far as a strait which is called at the present day by his name. After him, Captain Georges made also a voyage in 1590, but in consequence of the ice was compelled to return without having made any discovery. The Hollanders, on their part, had no more precise knowledge in the direction of Nova Zembla.

So many voyages and discoveries without result, and attended with so much hardship and expense, have caused us French in late years to attempt a permanent settlement in those lands which we call New France, in the hope of thus realizing more easily this object; since the voyage in search of the desired passage commences on the other side of the ocean, and is made along the coast of this region. These considerations had induced the Marquis de la Roche, in 1598, to take a commission from the king for making a settlement in the above region. With this object, he landed men and supplies on Sable Island; but, as the conditions which had been accorded to him by his Majesty were not fulfilled, he was obliged to abandon his undertaking, and leave his men there. A year after, Captain Chauvin accepted another commission to transport Settlers to the same region; but, as this was shortly after revoked, he prosecuted the matter no farther.

After the above, notwithstanding all these accidents and disappointments, Sieur de Monts desired to attempt what had been given up in despair, and requested a commission for this purpose of his Majesty, being satisfied that the previous enterprises had failed because the undertakers of them had not received assistance, who had not succeeded, in one nor even two years' time, in making the acquaintance of the regions and people there, nor in finding harbors adapted for a settlement. He proposed to his Majesty a means for covering these expenses, without drawing any thing from the royal revenues; viz., by granting to him the monopoly of the fur-trade in this land. This having been granted to him, he made great and excessive outlays, and carried out with him a large number of men of various vocations. Upon his arrival, he caused the necessary number of habitations for his followers to be constructed. This expenditure he continued for three consecutive years, after which, in consequence of the jealousy and annoyance of certain Basque merchants, together with some from Brittany, the monopoly which had been granted to him was revoked by the Council to the great injury and loss of Sieur de Monts, who, in consequence of this revocation, was compelled to abandon his entire undertaking, sacrificing his labors and the outfit for his settlement.

But since a report had been made to the king on the fertility of the soil by him, and by me on the feasibility of discovering the passage to China, without the inconveniences of the ice of the north or the heats of the torrid zone, through which our sailors pass twice in going and twice in returning, with inconceivable hardships and risks, his Majesty directed Sieur de Monts to make a new outfit, and send men to continue what he had commenced. This he did. And, in view of the uncertainty of his commission, he chose a new spot for his settlement, in order to deprive jealous persons of any such distrust as they had previously conceived. He was also influenced by the hope of greater advantages in case of settling in the interior, where the people are civilized, and where it is easier to plant the Christian faith and establish such order as is necessary for the protection of a country, than along the sea-shore, where the savages generally dwell. From this course, he believed the king would derive an inestimable profit; for it is easy to suppose that Europeans will seek out this advantage rather than those of a jealous and intractable disposition to be found on the shores, and the barbarous tribes.

ENDNOTES:

1. The first commission was granted by Henry VII. of England to John Cabot and his three sons, Lewis, Sebastian, and Sancius, March 5, 1496.-- Rymer's Foedera, Vol. XII. p. 595. The first voyage, however, was made in 1497. The second commission was granted to John Cabot alone, in 1498.--Vide Hakluyt, 1600, London, ed. 1810, Vol. III. pp. 25-31.

2. Cortereal made two voyages under the patronage of Emmanuel, King of Portugal, the first in 1500, the second in 1501. In the latter year, he sailed with two ships from Lisbon, and explored six hundred miles or more on our northern coast. The vessel in which he sailed was lost; and he perished, together with fifty natives whom he had captured. The other vessel returned, and reported the incidents of the expedition. The next year, Michael Cortereal, the brother of Gaspar, obtained a commission, and went in search of his brother; but he did not return, and no tidings were ever heard of him.

3. Jacques Cartier made three voyages in 1534, 1535, and 1540, respectively, in which he effected very important discoveries; and Charlevoix justly remarks that Cartier's Memoirs long served as a guide to those who after him navigated the gulf and river of St. Lawrence. For Cartier's commission, see Hazard's State Papers, Vol. I. p. 19.

4. Roberval's voyage was made in 1542, and is reported by Jean Alfonse.-- Vide Hakluyt, 1600, London, ed. 1810, Vol. III. p. 291. On an old map, drawn about the middle of the sixteenth century, Roberval is represented in a full-length portrait, clad in mail, with sword and spear, at the head of a band of armed soldiers, penetrating into the wilds of Canada, near the head-waters of the Saguenay. The name, "Monsr. de Roberual," is inserted near his feet,--Vide Monuments de la Géographie, XIX., par M. Jomard, Paris.

5. For the narrative of the voyages of Frobisher, Gilbert, and Davis, vide Hakluyt, Vol. III. Of the fleet of five vessels commanded by Sir Humphrey Gilbert, in 1583, the Ralegh put back to England, on account of sickness on board; the Golden Hinde returned safely to port; the Swallow was left at Newfoundland, to bring home the sick; the Delight was lost near Sable Island; and the Squirrel went down on its way to England, some days after leaving Sable Island. Thus two only were lost, while a third was left.

There must have been some error in regard to the voyage of Captain Georges. There is no printed account of a voyage at that time by any one of this name. There are two theories on which this statement may be explained. There may have been a voyage by a Captain Georges, which, for some unknown reason, was never reported; or, what is more likely, Champlain may refer to the voyage of Captain George Weymouth, undertaken in 1602 for the East Ind. Company, which was defeated by the icebergs which he encountered, and the mutiny of his men. It was not uncommon to omit part of a name at that period. Of Pont Gravé, the last name is frequently omitted by Champlain and by Lescarbot. The report of Weymouth's voyage was not printed till after Champlain wrote; and he might easily have mistaken the date.

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