The Makers of Canada: Champlain eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 242 pages of information about The Makers of Canada.

The Makers of Canada: Champlain eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 242 pages of information about The Makers of Canada.

This victory did not entail much hardship on the part of the French.  Champlain and his two companions did more to rout the Iroquois than the sixty allies with their shower of arrows.  The result of this day’s proceedings was highly satisfactory to the Indians, who gathered up the arms and provisions left behind by the Iroquois, and feasted sumptuously amidst dancing and singing.  “The spot where this attack took place,” says Champlain, “is in the latitude of 43 deg. and some minutes, and the lake is called Champlain.”  This place is now called Ticonderoga, or the Cheondoroga of the Indians.

Champlain returned to Quebec with the Montagnais, and a few days after he set out for Tadousac to see whether Pont-Grave had arrived from Gaspe.  He met Pont-Grave on the morrow, and they both decided to sail for France, and to leave Quebec in the meantime under the command of Pierre de Chauvin,[12] pending the decision of de Monts as to the future of the colony.  Both visited Quebec in order to invest Chauvin with authority, and after leaving him everything necessary for the use of the settlement, and placing fifteen men under his command, the two commanders left Quebec on September 1st, 1609, and sailed from Tadousac for France on the fifth day of the same month.

Champlain had sojourned in New France since the beginning of July, 1608, and during that interval he had made good use of his time.  He had chosen the most suitable place for a habitation which was destined to become the metropolis of the French colony; he had constructed a fort and a storehouse, and he had also explored a very important tract of country.  Champlain had also visited a part of the river Saguenay; he had made himself acquainted with the vicinity of Quebec, and with the rivers, streams and tributaries of the St. Lawrence and Ste. Croix.  For the second time he had seen the river St. Lawrence as far as the Iroquois River over which he had sailed as far as Lake Champlain, whence it receives its waters.  Besides his achievements in exploration Champlain had cemented friendly relations with the Montagnais, Algonquins and Hurons; he had renewed his acquaintance with Anadabijou and formed an alliance with Iroquet and Ochateguin, three of the most powerful chiefs of these tribes.  He was also well versed in their methods of warfare and had studied their manners and customs and their treatment of their prisoners, so that when he returned to France he was in a position to give de Monts a great deal of valuable information, both as regards the inhabitants and the best means of promoting trade with them.

On his arrival in France Champlain proceeded at once to Fontainebleau, where he met King Henry IV and de Monts.  He had an audience with the king and gave His Majesty a satisfactory account of his proceedings.  He also presented to the king a girdle made of porcupine quills, two little birds of carnation colour, and the head of a fish caught in Lake Champlain, which had a very long snout, and two or three rows of very sharp teeth.

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The Makers of Canada: Champlain from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.