PIONEERS ON LAND CHAPTER I CHAMPLAIN IN NEW FRANCE 1 SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN, who has been called the Father of New France, was a French soldier of noble family. His first voyage to New France was made in 1603, when he explored the St. Lawrence River as far as the Rapids above Montreal. He tried to pass these, known as the Rapids of St. Louis, in a skiff, but was forced to return. On the deck of his vessel the Indians made rude plans or maps of the river above, with its chain of rapids, its lakes and cataracts. Champlain turned toward home but resolved to visit this country at some future time. This time, with the France was made, he After sailing around the The next year he came again. vessel in which the voyage from explored the Bay of Fundy. head of the Bay of Fundy, he visited and named the St. John River and then went to Passamaquoddy Bay. Champlain made maps of all the coast and harbors. His 1 Authority: Parkman's "Pioneers of France in the New World.” friend De Monts, to whom the king of France had given all the land from Montreal to the Delaware, wanted to make a settlement farther south than the St. Lawrence, to avoid the extreme cold of the winters. At the mouth of the St. Croix River an island was selected as a site for the new colony. It commanded the river and was well fitted for defence, but the soil was poor, the place was not so far south as they thought, and not well located for the trade in furs which they expected to carry on. Everybody went to work, and before winter began the cedars which covered the island were cut away and many houses were built. There were several dwellings, storehouses, a magazine, workshops, and a barrack for the Swiss soldiers that had accompanied the expedition. The whole was enclosed with a palisade. When the work of preparing for winter was done, part of the company returned to France. Seventy-nine men remained behind, among them Champlain, De Monts, and several other gentlemen of noble birth. The winter was a bitter one. While De Monts was getting things settled upon the island, on the second of September he sent Champlain on an exploring trip along the coast of Norumbegue (Maine). With a bark of seventeen or eighteen tons, two Indian guides, and a dozen men, Champlain was in high spirits as he set out. They found the coast full of islands, bold, rocky, and irregular, and coming in sight of a large island rising into barren summits, he called it Mount Desert. Its cool groves and fresh sea air have made it in recent years a great resort for summer tourists. Winding in and out among the islands, they entered the mouth of the Penobscot River. Up this stream they passed till they came to the fall just above the present city of Bangor, which stopped their further passage. The banks and hillsides were clothed with tall pines and stout oak trees. Along the river were a few deserted wigwams, but on the shores of Penobscot Bay there were many Indians, who proved friendly, entering into trade with beaver skins. The weather now proved bad and as provisions were low, the party returned to the mouth of the St. Croix. Great cakes of ice swept by their island with the ebbing and flowing tide, often shutting off their supplies of wood and water. Icy winds swept through their rude houses and they shivered round their ill-kept fires, for wood from the mainland was very difficult to get. Soon scurvy broke out and before spring thirty-five died and many more were left weak and exhausted. Champlain did all he could to help and encourage the discontented survivors and was still unwilling to give up his plans for discovery and settlement. After the severe winter was past and fresh supplies from France had arrived, Champlain and De Monts set out for a still further examination of the coast of Maine and New England. With twenty sailors, two Indians, and some gentlemen, they started the 18th of June to search for a better location for a settlement. Passing by Mount Desert and the mouth of the Penobscot, they reached the entrance to the Kennebec. They sailed along both sides of the broad bay, meeting some Indians, but finding poor soil and no good point for a settlement. They anchored in sight of Old Orchard Beach, now become famous as a watering-place. Crossing the bar with the rising tide, they anchored at Saco, near the mouth of the river, where the natives came down to see them with strong signs of rejoicing. Fields of waving corn, beans, pumpkins, and squashes in bloom, and heavily laden grapevines along the river, were seen. The Indians were graceful and agile, living mostly upon vegetables and corn, and upon fish which were caught by them in abundance at the mouth of the river. After two days spent at Saco, they passed on and saw the islands at Cape Porpoise covered with wild currants upon which great flocks of wild pigeons were feasting. Many of these birds were taken, and these gave the Frenchmen a much-relished addition to their fare. Casting anchor on the east side of Cape Ann, a few Indians were seen and Champlain went on shore. After winning the confidence of the natives by gifts, Cham |