1608.]

CHAMPLAIN'S DISCOVERIES.

321

Sir Francis Popham, the son of the chief justice, continued for years to send expeditions to the coast of Maine, at his private cost; but no permanent settlement was made, though the crews of these vessels may have wintered sometimes at Monhegan, and sometimes at Pemaquid. The Northern Virginia Company was inactive, content, apparently, to watch and wait for the results of the efforts of the sister company farther south. The French, on the other hand, though the tenacious preference of the English for the Atlantic coast may have served to turn their attention to the bays and rivers farther east and north, persisted in the attempt to gain possession of the land. In 1608, Champlain penetrated in a new direction within the territory of the present United States.

bec. 1608.

On the 3d of July, 1608, he reached Stadacona - Quebec - and began, the next day, to build a fort near the spot where Jacques Cartier had passed, nearly three quarters of a century before, the winter of 1535-36. Champlain's adventurous spirit did not permit him to remain long at rest, and in the intervals of his fre- Champlain quent voyages to and from France, he was busy with new founds Quediscoveries, making charts of sea-coasts and river-courses, taking minute notes of climate and the natural products of the country, and writing narratives of all that befell him on land and sea. When in the spring his fort at Stadacona was finished, the little colony well established, their garden-plots laid out and carefully planted, he had time to think of new adventures. With a few companions he sailed up the great river, visiting its islands, entering the mouths of its tributary streams, giving them names by which many of them are known to this day. At the mouth of the Iroquois, now the Richelieu, he met by appointment a party of natives on the war-path against their enemies, the Iroquois. The river, he learned, came from a beautiful lake, which his shallop could reach without difficulty. The latter statement he soon found was not true, the Indians deceiving him that they might lure him on to take part in their expected battle. Disappointed but not discouraged, he persuaded two of his men to go on with him, and sent the rest back to Quebec with the vessel.

Champlain.

They made the somewhat perilous passage safely, without losing a single canoe, landing where the falls were highest and carrying their frail boats on their backs, till they came to smoother Discovery water. It was early in July when they entered the lake of Lake dotted with many beautiful islands and surrounded with 1609. noble trees, many of them, Champlain observed, like those of his native France, on which hung vines as luxuriant as he had ever seen anywhere. Coasting the lake he saw to the east some lofty mountain peaks, still snow-covered under the July sun. In the secluded valleys

among these mountains lived the fierce Iroquois, who had fertile plains rich in corn and other natural products. After a sail about the lake Champlain gave it his own name, -- the only instance, he records, in which he had thus arrogated to himself the honor of his discoveries.

Fight of

Several days passed before their foes, the Iroquois, made their appearance. It was in the dusk of the evening when they came to the banks of the lake, and all night the two parties taunted and defied each other for the fight which was to take place when the next day's sun should rise. But the party of savages who counted on the assistance of Champlain and his companions, kept their white the Indians. allies carefully concealed. Next day they formed in ranks and approached to within about two hundred feet of the Iroquois, who awaited them firmly. At that point they opened their ranks to give passage to Champlain, who advanced to the front and discharged his harquebus, wounding two of the enemy, who, astonished at such an appearance and its effect, fled in fright and disorder to the woods, pursued by the delighted victors.

After this battle Champlain returned to Quebec, where he continued governor until its surrender to the English admiral Kertk in 1629. He was reinstated in the office when it again fell into the hands of the French, and from that time continued to command there till his death in 1635.

Further attempts of De Monts.

Meanwhile a second attempt was made by the French to obtain a settlement on the coast of Maine. In the autumn of 1605, De Monts sailed for France, promising to send out supplies to the Port Royal Colony. But during his absence prejudice had been aroused against him as a Huguenot. His exclusive privilege of fishing the king had revoked, and the merchants did not care to invest in a venture which promised small returns. After many difficulties, however, he procured an outfit, and set sail on May 13, 1606, not arriving at Port Royal till July 27, but just in time to prevent the worn-out settlers from returning to France. Still desiring to find a more southerly place for his colony, he despatched Poutrincourt on the old route along the New England coast, and returned to France. Off Cape Cod Poutrincourt's vessel was stranded upon a shoal, and three of his men were killed by the natives, who manifested great hostility. The weather also proving unfavorable he put back, and reached Port Royal about the middle of November. Champlain and the other gentlemen received him with great joy, and a butt of the best Burgundy" made their caps spin round."

In the midst of their spring planting a vessel arrived with the unwelcome news that no more men nor supplies could be furnished, and that the colony must be disbanded. Port Royal was left uninhabited

1613.]

THE FRENCHMEN AT MT. DESERT.

323

till 1610, when Poutrincourt returned at the instance of the king to make the new settlement a central station for the conversion of the Indians, a work which made some Jesuit missionaries prominent in the history of the New World. His son followed in 1611, with Fathers Pierre Biard, and Enemond Masse. Madame la Marquise de Guercheville, a pious Catholic, to whom De Monts had ceded his title to Acadia, and to whom afterwards the French king granted the whole territory now covered by the United States, was the chief patroness of these voyages. Desir

ing to make another settlement, she despatched a vessel in 1613, with two more Jesuits, Father Quentin and Gilbert du Thet, and forty-eight men under La Saussaye, who intended to reach a place called Kadesquit (Bangor) on the Penobscot. This spot had been selected by Father Biard on a trip which he made from Port Royal to the PenobThey reached

scot.

Port Royal on May 16, and taking Fathers Biard and Masse on board sailed for their destination.

But such a fog enveloped them off Me

nans (Grand Manan)

Great Head.

that they had to lie to for two days; when the weather cleared up they saw the island which Champlain named Monts De- Mount Desserts, and which the Indians called Pemetig, which means ert. "at the head," from its commanding position. The lifting fog disclosed Great Head, rising sheer from the ocean to buttress the forests of Green and Newport mountains. On their right was the broad sheet of water, since called Frenchman's Bay, extending far into the land. Into this they gladly sailed, and dropping anchor inside of Porcupine

Island, effected a landing not far from the bar which gives its name to a little harbor. There the broad flank of Green Mount, with Newport just alongside to make a deep and still ravine, greeted the eyes which sea-spray and the fog had filled. Eagle Lake lay buried in the forest in front of them, and the wooded slopes stretched along to the right as far as they could see. The islands with bronzed cliffs to seaward, and bases honeycombed by the tide, wore sharp crests of fir and pine. The American coast does not supply another combination so striking as this, of mountains with their feet in deep ocean on every side, lifting two thousand feet of greenery to vie with the green of waves; of inland recesses where brooks run past brown rocks, and birds sing woodland songs as if their nests swung in a country remote

from sea-breezes. Delicate ferns fill the moist places of the wood, and the sea-anemones open in the little caverns where the tide leaves a pool for them. Nature has scattered the needled pines, of shape so perfect, from those of an inch high to the finished tree, artfully distributed in the open spaces. The Frenchmen hailed this picturesque conclusion to their voyage, and named the place and harbor St. Sau

veur.

Several Indian villages were on the island. A smoke rose as a signal that the men were observed; they signalled with another smoke, and the natives came to see them. Father Biard had met some of them on the Penobscot, and now inquired the way to Kadesquit. They answered that their place was better, and so wholesome that sick natives in the neighboring parts were brought thither to be cured. But when Father Biard could not be persuaded, they belied