 This
is the twenty-sixth in a continuing series of entries from the Voyages
of Samuel de Champlain, first published in 1613. To view Part I,
click here. For Champlain's
account of the discovery of the lake that bears his name, click
here...
Original
translation from the French by Charles Pomeroy Otis, Ph.D.
Republished by the Prince Society, Boston: 1878.
The voyages to the great river St.
Lawrence,
made by Sieur de Champlain,
Captain in ordinary to the King in the Marine,
from the year 1608 to that of 1612
CHAPTER IX.
DEPARTURE FROM THE FALL OF THE IROQUOIS RIVER. DESCRIPTION OF A
LARGE LAKE. ENCOUNTER WITH THE ENEMY AT THIS LAKE; THEIR MANNER OF
ATTACKING THE IROQUOIS, AND THEIR BEHAVIOR IN BATTLE.
I
set out accordingly from the fall of the Iroquois River [337] on the
2d of July. [338] All the savages set to carrying their canoes,
arms, and baggage overland, some half a league, in order to pass by
the violence and strength of the fall, which was speedily
accomplished. Then they put them all in the water again, two men in
each with the baggage; and they caused one of the men of each canoe
to go by land some three leagues, [339] the extent of the fall,
which is not, however, so violent here as at the mouth, except in
some places, where rocks obstruct the river, which is not broader
than three hundred or four hundred paces. After we had passed the
fall, which was attended with difficulty, all the savages, who had
gone by land over a good path and level country, although there are
a great many trees, re-embarked in their canoes. My men went also by
land; but I went in a canoe. The savages made a review of all their
followers, finding that there were twenty-four canoes, with sixty
men. After the review was completed, we continued our course to an
island, [340] three leagues long, filled with the finest pines I had
ever seen. Here they went hunting, and captured some wild animals.
Proceeding about three leagues farther on, we made a halt, in order
to rest the coming night.
They all at once set to work, some to cut wood, and others to obtain
the bark of trees for covering their cabins, for the sake of
sheltering themselves, others to fell large trees for; constructing
a barricade on the river-bank around their cabins, which they do so
quickly that in less than two hours so much is accomplished that
five hundred of their enemies would find it very difficult to
dislodge them without killing large numbers. They make no barricade
on the river-bank, where their canoes are drawn up, in order that
they may be able to embark, if occasion requires. After they were
established in their cabins, they despatched three canoes, with nine
good men, according to their custom in all their encampments, to
reconnoitre for a distance of two or three leagues, to see if they
can perceive any thing, after which they return. They rest the
entire night, depending upon the observation of these scouts, which
is a very bad custom among them; for they are sometimes while
sleeping surprised by their enemies, who slaughter them before they
have time to get up and prepare for defence. Noticing this, I
remonstrated with them on the mistake they made, and told them that
they ought to keep watch, as they had seen us do every night, and
have men on the lookout, in order to listen and see whether they
perceived any thing, and that they should not live in such a manner
like beasts. They replied that they could not keep watch, and that
they worked enough in the day-time in the chase, since, when engaged
in war, they divide their troops into three parts: namely, a part
for hunting scattered in several places; another to constitute the
main body of their army, which is always under arms; and the third
to act as _avant-coureurs_, to look out along the rivers, and
observe whether they can see any mark or signal showing where their
enemies or friends have passed. This they ascertain by certain marks
which the chiefs of different tribes make known to each other; but,
these not continuing always the same, they inform themselves from
time to time of changes, by which means they ascertain whether they
are enemies or friends who have passed. The hunters never hunt in
advance of the main body, or _avant-coureurs_, so as not to excite
alarm or produce disorder, but in the rear and in the direction from
which they do not anticipate their enemy. Thus they advance until
they are within two or three days' march of their enemies, when they
proceed by night stealthily and all in a body, except the
_van-couriers_. By day, they withdraw into the interior of the
woods, where they rest, without straying off, neither making any
noise nor any fire, even for the sake of cooking, so as not to be
noticed in case their enemies should by accident pass by. They make
no fire, except in smoking, which amounts to almost nothing. They
eat baked Indian meal, which they soak in water, when it becomes a
kind of porridge. They provide themselves with such meal to meet
their wants, when they are near their enemies, or when retreating
after a charge, in which case they are not inclined to hunt,
retreating immediately.
In all their encampments, they have their Pilotois, or Ostemoy,
[341] a class of persons who play the part of soothsayers, in whom
these people have faith. One of these builds a cabin, surrounds it
with small pieces of wood, and covers it with his robe: after it is
built, he places himself inside, so as not to be seen at all, when
he seizes and shakes one of the posts of his cabin, muttering some
words between his teeth, by which he says he invokes the devil, who
appears to him in the form of a stone, and tells him whether they
will meet their enemies and kill many of them. This Pilotois lies
prostrate on the ground, motionless, only speaking with the devil:
on a sudden, he rises to his feet, talking, and tormenting himself
in such a manner that, although naked, he is all of a perspiration.
All the people surround the cabin, seated on their buttocks, like
apes. They frequently told me that the shaking of the cabin, which I
saw, proceeded from the devil, who made it move, and not the man
inside, although I could see the contrary; for, as I have stated
above, it was the Pilotois who took one of the supports of the
cabin, and made it move in this manner. They told me also that I
should see fire come out from the top, which I did not see at all.
These rogues counterfeit also their voice, so that it is heavy and
clear, and speak in a language unknown to the other savages. And,
when they represent it as broken, the savages think that the devil
is speaking, and telling them what is to happen in their war, and
what they must do.
But all these scapegraces, who play the soothsayer, out of a hundred
words, do not speak two that are true, and impose upon these poor
people. There are enough like them in the world, who take food from
the mouths of the people by their impostures, as these worthies do.
I often remonstrated with the people, telling them that all they did
was sheer nonsense, and that they ought not to put confidence in
them.
Now, after ascertaining from their soothsayers what is to be their
fortune, the chiefs take sticks a foot long, and as many as there
are soldiers. They take others, somewhat larger, to indicate the
chiefs. Then they go into the wood, and seek out a level place, five
or fix feet square, where the chief, as sergeant-major, puts all the
sticks in such order as seems to him best. Then he calls all his
companions, who come all armed; and he indicates to them the rank
and order they are to observe in battle with their enemies. All the
savages watch carefully this proceeding, observing attentively the
outline which their chief has made with the sticks. Then they go
away, and set to placing themselves in such order as the sticks were
in, when they mingle with each other, and return again to their
proper order, which manoeuvre they repeat two or three times, and at
all their encampments, without needing a sergeant to keep them in
the proper order, which they are able to keep accurately without any
confusion. This is their rule in war.
We set out on the next day, continuing our course in the river as
far as the entrance of the lake. There are many pretty islands here,
low, and containing very fine woods and meadows, with abundance of
fowl and such animals of the chase as stags, fallow-deer, fawns,
roe-bucks, bears, and others, which go from the main land to these
islands. We captured a large number of these animals. There are also
many beavers, not only in this river, but also in numerous other
little ones that flow into it. These regions, although they are
pleasant, are not inhabited by any savages, on account of their
wars; but they withdraw as far as possible from the rivers into the
interior, in order not to be suddenly surprised.
The next day we entered the lake, [342] which is of great extent,
say eighty or a hundred leagues long, where I saw four fine islands,
ten, twelve, and fifteen leagues long, which were formerly inhabited
by the savages, like the River of the Iroquois; but they have been
abandoned since the wars of the savages with one another prevail.
There are also many rivers falling into the lake, bordered by many
fine trees of the same kinds as those we have in France, with many
vines finer than any I have seen in any other place; also many
chestnut-trees on the border of this lake, which I had not seen
before. There is also a great abundance of fish, of many varieties:
among others, one called by the savages of the country _Chaousarou_
[343] which varies in length, the largest being, as the people told
me, eight or ten feet long. I saw some five feet long, which were as
large as my thigh; the head being as big as my two fists, with a
snout two feet and a half long, and a double row of very sharp and
dangerous teeth. Its body is, in shape, much like that of a pike;
but it is armed with scales so strong that a poniard could not
pierce them. Its color is silver-gray. The extremity of its snout is
like that of a swine. This fish makes war upon all others in the
lakes and rivers. It also possesses remarkable dexterity, as these
people informed me, which is exhibited in the following manner. When
it wants to capture birds, it swims in among the rushes, or reeds,
which are found on the banks of the lake in several places, where it
puts its snout out of water and keeps perfectly still: so that, when
the birds come and light on its snout, supposing it to be only the
stump of a tree, it adroitly closes it, which it had kept ajar, and
pulls the birds by the feet down under water. The savages gave me
the head of one of them, of which they make great account, saying
that, when they have the headache, they bleed themselves with the
teeth of this fish on the spot where they suffer pain, when it
suddenly passes away.
Continuing our course over this lake on the western side, I noticed,
while observing the country, some very high mountains on the eastern
side, on the top of which there was snow. [344] I made inquiry of
the savages whether these localities were inhabited, when they told
me that the Iroquois dwelt there, and that there were beautiful
valleys in these places, with plains productive in grain, such as I
had eaten in this country, together with many kinds of fruit without
limit. [345] They said also that the lake extended near mountains,
some twenty-five leagues distant from us, as I judge. I saw, on the
south, other mountains, no less high than the first, but without any
snow. [346] The savages told me that these mountains were thickly
settled, and that it was there we were to find their enemies; but
that it was necessary to pass a fall in order to go there (which I
afterwards saw), when we should enter another lake, nine or ten
leagues long. After reaching the end of the lake, we should have to
go, they said, two leagues by land, and pass through a river flowing
into the sea on the Norumbegue coast, near that of Florida, [347]
whither it took them only two days to go by canoe, as I have since
ascertained from some prisoners we captured, who gave me minute
information in regard to all they had personal knowledge of, through
some Algonquin interpreters, who understood the Iroquois language.
Now, as we began to approach within two or three days' journey of
the abode of their enemies, we advanced only at night, resting
during the day. But they did not fail to practise constantly their
accustomed superstitions, in order to ascertain what was to be the
result of their undertaking; and they often asked me if I had had a
dream, and seen their enemies, to which I replied in the negative.
Yet I did not cease to encourage them, and inspire in them hope.
When night came, we set out on the journey until the next day, when
we withdrew into the interior of the forest, and spent the rest of
the day there. About ten or eleven o'clock, after taking a little
walk about our encampment, I retired. While sleeping, I dreamed that
I saw our enemies, the Iroquois, drowning in the lake near a
mountain, within sight. When I expressed a wish to help them, our
allies, the savages, told me we must let them all die, and that they
were of no importance. When I awoke, they did not fail to ask me, as
usual, if I had had a dream. I told them that I had, in fact, had a
dream. This, upon being related, gave them so much confidence that
they did not doubt any longer that good was to happen to them.
When it was evening, we embarked in our canoes to continue our
course; and, as we advanced very quietly and without making any
noise, we met on the 29th of the month the Iroquois, about ten
o'clock at evening, at the extremity of a cape which extends into
the lake on the western bank. They had come to fight. We both began
to utter loud cries, all getting their arms in readiness. We
withdrew out on the water, and the Iroquois went on shore, where
they drew up all their canoes close to each other and began to fell
trees with poor axes, which they acquire in war sometimes, using
also others of stone. Thus they barricaded themselves very well.
Our forces also passed the entire night, their canoes being drawn up
close to each other, and fastened to poles, so that they might not
get separated, and that they might be all in readiness to fight, if
occasion required. We were out upon the water, within arrow range of
their barricades. When they were armed and in array, they despatched
two canoes by themselves to the enemy to inquire if they wished to
fight, to which the latter replied that they wanted nothing else;
but they said that, at present, there was not much light, and that
it would be necessary to wait for daylight, so as to be able to
recognize each other; and that, as soon as the sun rose, they would
offer us battle. This was agreed to by our side. Meanwhile, the
entire night was spent in dancing and singing, on both sides, with
endless insults and other talk; as, how little courage we had, how
feeble a resistance we would make against their arms, and that, when
day came, we should realize it to our ruin. Ours also were not slow
in retorting, telling them they would see such execution of arms as
never before, together with an abundance of such talk as is not
unusual in the siege of a town. After this singing, dancing, and
bandying words on both sides to the fill, when day came, my
companions and myself continued under cover, for fear that the enemy
would see us. We arranged our arms in the best manner possible,
being, however, separated, each in one of the canoes of the savage
Montagnais. After arming ourselves with light armor, we each took an
arquebuse, and went on shore. I saw the enemy go out of their
barricade, nearly two hundred in number, stout and rugged in
appearance. They came at a slow pace towards us, with a dignity and
assurance which greatly amused me, having three chiefs at their
head. Our men also advanced in the same order, telling me that those
who had three large plumes were the chiefs, and that they had only
these three, and that they could be distinguished by these plumes,
which were much larger than those of their companions, and that I
should do what I could to kill them. I promised to do all in my
power, and said that I was very sorry they could not understand me,
so that I might give order and shape to their mode of attacking
their enemies, and then we should, without doubt, defeat them all;
but that this could not now be obviated, and that I should be very
glad to show them my courage and good-will when we should engage in
the fight.
* * * * *
CHAMPLAIN'S EXPLANATION OP THE ACCOMPANYING MAP.
DEFEAT OF THE IROQUOIS AT LAKE CHAMPLAIN.
_A_. The fort of the Iroquois.
_B_. The enemy.
_C_. Canoes of the enemy, made of oak bark, each holding ten,
fifteen, or eighteen men.
_D_. Two chiefs who were killed.
_E_. One of the enemy wounded by a musket-shot of Sieur de
Champlain.
_F_. Sieur de Champlain.
_G_. Two musketeers of Sieur de Champlain.
_H_. Montagnais, Ochastaiguins, and Algonquins.
_I_. Canoes of our allied savages made of birch bark.
_K_. The woods.
NOTES. The letters _A_, _F_, _G_, and _K_, are wanting but the
objects to which they point are easily recognized. The letter _H_
has been placed on the canoes of the allies instead of the collected
body of the allies immediately above them.
* * * * *
As soon as we had landed, they began to run for some two hundred
paces towards their enemies, who stood firmly, not having as yet
noticed my companions, who went into the woods with some savages.
Our men began to call me with loud cries; and, in order to give me a
passage-way, they opened in two parts, and put me at their head,
where I marched some twenty paces in advance of the rest, until I
was within about thirty paces of the enemy, who at once noticed me,
and, halting, gazed at me, as I did also at them. When I saw them
making a move to fire at us, I rested my musket against my cheek,
and aimed directly at one of the three chiefs. With the same shot,
two fell to the ground; and one of their men was so wounded that he
died some time after. I had loaded my musket with four balls. When
our side saw this shot so favorable for them, they began to raise
such loud cries that one could not have heard it thunder. Meanwhile,
the arrows flew on both sides. The Iroquois were greatly astonished
that two men had been so quickly killed, although they were equipped
with armor woven from cotton thread, and with wood which was proof
against their arrows. This caused great alarm among them. As I was
loading again, one of my companions fired a shot from the woods,
which astonished them anew to such a degree that, seeing their
chiefs dead, they lost courage, and took to flight, abandoning their
camp and fort, and fleeing into the woods, whither I pursued them,
killing still more of them. Our savages also killed several of them,
and took ten or twelve prisoners. The remainder escaped with the
wounded. Fifteen or sixteen were wounded on our side with
arrow-shots; but they were soon healed.
After gaining the victory, our men amused themselves by taking a
great quantity of Indian corn and some meal from their enemies, also
their armor, which they had left behind that they might run better.
After feasting sumptuously, dancing and singing, we returned three
hours after, with the prisoners. The spot where this attack took
place is in latitude 43° and some minutes, [348] and the lake was
called Lake Champlain. [349]
ENDNOTES:
337. The River of the Iroquois, so called by Champlain, was long
known by that name, says Charlevoix, because these Indians generally
descended it, in order to make their inroads into the colony. Fort
Richelieu, at the mouth of the river, erected in 1641, was named
after the celebrated Cardinal, the river having already taken his
name. This fort having been demolished, another was built by M. de
Sorel, a French officer in command, which took his name, as likewise
did the river. A fort was built on the same river at the present
village of Chambly in 1664, and called Fort St. Louis. This wooden
structure was replaced by another of stone, erected prior to 1721,
to which the name of Chambly was given, as likewise by some writers
to the river. The river has likewise sometimes been called the St.
Johns, but the prevailing name is the Richelieu.
338. Read the 12th of July.
339. This fall is now avoided, and the navigation of the Richelieu
secured by a canal connecting Chambly Basin and St. Johns, a
distance of about ten miles.
340. It is not entirely certain what island is here referred to. It
has been supposed to be the Island of St. Thérèse. But, taking all
of Champlain's statements into consideration, the logical inference
would be that it is the Isle aux Noix.
341. "These two words were used in Acadie to indicate the
_jongleur_, or sorcerer. The word _pilotois_, according to P. Biard,
Rel. 1611, p. 17, came from the Basques, the Souriquois using the
word _autmoin_, which Lescarbot writes _aoutmoin_, and Champlain _ostemoy_.
P. Lejeune, in the Relation of 1636, p. 13, informs us that the
Montagnais called their Sorcerers _manitousiouekbi_: and according
to P. Brébeuf. Rel. 1635. p.35. the Hurons designated theirs by the
name _arendiouane_."--_Laverdière, in loco_.
342. The distances are here overstated by more than threefold, both
in reference to the lake and the islands. This arose, perhaps, from
the slow progress made in the birch canoes with a party of sixty
undisciplined savages, a method of travelling to which Champlain was
unaccustomed; and he may likewise have been misled by the
exaggerations of the Indians, or he may have sailed to comprehend
their representation of distances.
343. Of the meaning of _chaousarou_, the name given by the Indians
to this fish, we have no knowledge. It is now known as the
bony-scaled pike, or gar pike, _Lepidosteus osseus_. It is referred
to by several early writers after Champlain.
"I saw," says Sagard, "in the cabin of a Montagnais Indian a certain
fish, which some call Chaousarou, as big as a large pike. It was
only an ordinary sized one, for many larger ones are seen, eight,
nine, and ten feet long, as is said. It had a snout about a foot and
a half long, of about the same shape as that of the snipe, except
that the extremity is blunt and not so pointed, and of a large size
in proportion to the body. It has a double row of teeth, which are
very sharp and dangerous;... and the form of the body is like that
of a pike, but it is armed with very stout and hard scales, of
silver gray color, and difficult to be pierced."--_Sagard's History
of Canada_, Bk. _iii_. p. 765; _Laverdière_. Sagard's work was
published in 1636. He had undoubtedly seen this singular fish; but
his description is so nearly in the words of Champlain as to suggest
that he had taken it from our author.
Creuxius, in his History of Canada, published at Paris in 1664,
describes this fish nearly in the words of Champlain, with an
engraving sufficiently accurate for identification, but greatly
wanting in scientific exactness. He adds, "It is not described by
ancient authors, probably because it is only found in the Lake of
the Iroquois;" that is, in Lake Champlain. From which it may be
inferred that at that time it had not been discovered in other
waters. By the French, he says, it is called _piscis armatus_. This
is in evident allusion to its bony scales, in which it is protected
as in a coat of mail.
It is described by Dr. Kay in the Natural History of New York,
Zoölogy, Part I. p 271. On Plate XLIII. Fig. 139, of the same work,
the reader will observe that the head of the fish there represented
strikingly resembles that of the chaousarou of Champlain as depicted
on his map of 1612. The drawing by Champlain is very accurate, and
clearly identifies the Gar Pike. This singular fish has been found
in Lake Champlain, the river St. Lawrence, and in the northern
lakes, likewise in the Mississippi River, where is to be found also
a closely related species commonly called the alligator gar. In the
Museum of the Boston Society of Natural History are several
specimens, one of them from St. John's River, Florida, four feet and
nine inches in length, of which the head is seventeen and a half
inches. If the body of those seen by Champlain was five feet, the
head two and a half feet would be in about the usual proportion.
344. The Green Mountain range in Vermont, generally not more than
twenty or twenty-five miles distant. Champlain was probably deceived
as to the snow on their summits in July. What he saw was doubtless
white limestone, which might naturally enough be taken for snow in
the absence of any positive knowledge. The names of the summits
visible from the lake are the following, with their respective
heights. The Chin, 4,348 feet; The Nose, 4,044; Camel's Hump, 4,083;
Jay's Peak, 4,018; Killington Peak, 3,924. This region was at an
early period called _Irocosia_.
345. This is not an inaccurate description of the beautiful as well
as rich and fertile valleys to be found among the hills of Vermont.
346. On entering the lake, they saw the Adirondack Mountains, which
would appear very nearly in the south. The points visible from the
lake were Mt. Marcy, 5,467 feet high above tide-water; Dix's Peak,
5,200; Nipple Top, 4,900; Whiteface, 4,900; Raven Hill, 2,100; Bald
Peak, 2,065.-- _Vide Palmer's Lake Champlain_, p. 12.
347. The river here referred to is the Hudson. By passing from Lake
Champlain through the small stream that connects it with Lake
George, over this latter lake and a short carrying place, the upper
waters of the Hudson are reached. The coast of Norumbegue and that
of Florida were both indefinite regions, not well defined by
geographers of that day. These terms were supplied by Champlain, and
not by his informants. He could not of course tell precisely where
this unknown river reached the sea, but naturally inferred that it
was on the southern limit of Norumbegue, which extended from the
Penobscot towards Florida, which latter at that time was supposed to
extend from the Gulf of Mexico indefinitely to the north.
348. This battle, or Skirmish, clearly took place at Ticonderoga, or
_Cheonderoga_, as the Indians called it, where a cape juts out into
the lake, as described by Champlain. This is the logical inference
to be drawn from the whole narrative. It is to be observed that the
purpose of the Indians, whom Champlain was accompanying, was to find
their enemies, the Iroquois, and give them battle. The journey, or
warpath, had been clearly marked out and described by the Indians to
Champlain, as may be seen in the text. It led them along the western
shore of the lake to the outlet of Lake George, over the fall in the
little stream connecting the two lakes, through Lake George, and
thence to the mountains beyond, where the Iroquois resided. They
found the Iroquois, however, on the lake; gave them battle on the
little cape alluded to; and after the victory and pursuit for some
distance into the forest, and the gathering up of the spoils,
Champlain and his allies commenced their journey homeward. But
Champlain says he saw the fall in the stream that connects the two
lakes. Now this little stream flows into Lake Champlain at
Ticonderoga, and he would naturally have seen the fall, if the
battle took place there, while in pursuit of the Iroquois into the
forest, as described in the text. The fall was in the line of the
retreat of the Iroquois towards their home, and is only a mile and
three-quarters from the cape jutting out into the lake at
Ticonderoga. If the battle had occurred at any point north of
Ticonderoga, he could not have seen the fall, as they retreated
immediately after the battle: if it had taken place south of that
point, it would have been off the war-path which they had determined
to pursue. We must conclude, therefore, that the battle took place
at Ticonderoga, a little north of the ruins of the old Fort
Carillon, directly on the shore of the lake. If the reader will
examine the plan of the battle as given by Champlain's engraving, he
will see that it conforms with great exactness to the known
topography of the place. The Iroquois, who had their choice of
positions are on the north, in the direction of Willow Point, where
they can most easily retreat, and where Champlain and his allies can
be more easily hemmed in near the point of the cape. The Iroquois
are on lower ground, and we know that the surface there shelves to
the north. The well-known sandy bottom of the lake at this place
would furnish the means of fastening the canoes, by forcing poles
into it, a little out from the shore during the night, as they
actually did. On Champlain's map of 1632, this point is referred to
as the location of the battle; and in his note on the map. No. 65,
he says this is the place where the Iroquois were defeated by
Champlain. All the facts of the narrative thus point to Ticonderoga,
and render it indisputable that this was the scene of the first of
the many recorded conflicts on this memorable lake. We should not
have entered into this discussion so fully, had not several writers,
not well informed, expressed views wholly inconsistent with known
facts.
349. The Indian name of Lake Champlain is _Caniaderiguaronte_, the
lake that is the gate of the country.--_Vide Administration of the
Colonies_, by Thomas Pownall. 1768, p. 267. This name was very
significant, since the lake and valley of Champlain was the "gate,"
or war-path, by which the hostile tribes of Iroquois approached
their enemies on the north of the St. Lawrence, and _vice-versa_.
This is
the conclusion of Volume II, Part XXVI, Chapter 9 of Voyages
1608-1612
Click here for Volume II, Part XXVII, Chapter 10
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