 This
is the third of 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.
MEMOIR OF SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN
Volume II
1604-1610
CHAPTER III.
DESCRIPTION OF PORT ROYAL AND THE PECULIARITIES OF THE SAME. ISLE
HAUTE. PORT OF MINES. BAYE FRANÇOISE.-THE RIVER ST. JOHN, AND
WHAT WE OBSERVED BETWEEN THE PORT OF MINES AND THE SAME. THE ISLAND
CALLED BY THE SAVAGES MANTHANE. THE RIVER OF THE ETECHEMINS, AND
SEVERAL FINE ISLANDS THERE. ST. CROIX ISLAND, AND OTHER NOTEWORTHY
OBJECTS ON THIS COAST.
Some days after, Sieur de Monts
decided to go and examine the coasts of Baye Françoise. For this
purpose, he set out from the vessel on the 16th of May,[53] and we
went through the strait of Long Island.[54] Not having found in St.
Mary's Bay any place in which to fortify ourselves except at the
cost of much time, we accordingly resolved to see whether there
might not be a more favorable one in the other bay. Heading
north-east six leagues, there is a cove where vessels can anchor in
four, five, six, and seven fathoms of water. The bottom is sandy.
This place is only a kind of roadstead.[55] Continuing two leagues
farther on in the same direction, we entered one of the finest
harbors I had seen along all these coasts, in which two thousand
vessels might lie in security. The entrance is eight hundred paces
broad; then you enter a harbor two leagues long and one broad, which
I have named Port Royal.[56] Three rivers empty into it, one of
which is very large, extending eastward, and called Rivière de
l'Équille,[57] from a little fish of the size of an _esplan?_, which
is caught there in large numbers, as is also the herring, and
several other kinds of fish found in abundance in their season. This
river is nearly a quarter of a league broad at its entrance, where
there is an island [58] perhaps half a league in circuit, and
covered with wood like all the rest of the country, as pines, firs,
spruces, birches, aspens, and some oaks, although the latter are
found in small numbers in comparison with the other kinds. There are
two entrances to the above river, one on the north, the other on the
south side of the island. That on the north is the better, and
vessels can there anchor under shelter of the island in five, six,
seven, eight, and nine fathoms. But it is necessary to be on one's
guard against some shallows near the island on the one side, and the
main land on the other, very dangerous, if one does not know the
channel. * * * * *
CHAMPLAIN'S DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING MAP.
PORT AU MOUTON.
_The figures indicate fathoms of water_.
_A_. Place where vessels lie.
_B_. Place where we made our camp.
_C_. A pond.
_D_. An island at the entrance to the harbor, covered with wood.
_E_. A river very shallow.
_F_. A pond.
_G_. A very large brook coming from the pond F.
_H_. Six little islands in the harbor.
_L_. Country, containing only copse and heath of very small size.
_M_. Sea-shore.
NOTE.--The wanting letter L should probably be placed where the
trees are represented as very small, between the letters B and the
island F.
* * * * *
We ascended the river some fourteen or fifteen leagues, where the
tide rises, and it is not navigable much farther. It has there a
breadth of sixty paces, and about a fathom and a half of water. The
country bordering the river is filled with numerous oaks, ashes, and
other trees. Between the mouth of the river and the point to which
we ascended there are many meadows, which are flooded at the spring
tides, many little streams traversing them from one side to the
other, through which shallops and boats can go at full tide. This
place was the most favorable and agreeable for a settlement that we
had seen. There is another island [59] within the port, distant
nearly two leagues from the former. At this point is another little
stream, extending a considerable distance inland, which we named
Rivière St. Antoine. [60] Its mouth is distant from the end of the
Bay of St. Mary some four leagues through the woods. The remaining
river is only a small stream filled with rocks, which cannot be
ascended at all on account of the small amount of water, and which
has been named Rocky Brook. [61] This place is in latitude [62] 45°;
and 17° 8' of the deflection of the magnetic needle.
* * * * *
CHAMPLAIN'S DESCRIPTION OF THE MAP
PORT ROYAL
_The figures indicate fathoms of water_.
_A_. Our habitation. [Note: On the present site of Lower Granville.]
_B_. Garden of Sieur de Champlain.
_C_. Road through the woods that Sieur de Poutrincourt had made.
_D_. Island at the mouth of Équille River.
_E_. Entrance to Port Royal,
_F_. Shoals, dry at low tide.
_G_. River St. Antoine. [Note: The stream west of river St. Antoine
is the Jogging River.]
_H_. Place under cultivation for sowing wheat. [Note: The site of
the present town of Annapolis.]
_I_. Mill that Sieur de Poutrincourt had made.
_L_. Meadows overflowed at highest tides.
_M_. Équille River.
_N_. Seacoast of Port Royal.
_O_. Ranges of mountains.
_P_. Island near the river St. Antoine.
_Q_. Rocky Brook. [Footnote: Now called Deep Brook.]
_R_. Another brook. [Note: Morris River.]
_S_. Mill River. [Note: Allen River.]
_T_. Small lake.
_V_. Place where the savages catch herring in the season.
_X_. Trout brook. [Note: Trout Brook is now called Shäfer's Brook,
and the first on the west is Thorne's, and the second Scofield's
Brook.]
_Y_. A lane that Sieur de Champlain had made.
* * * * *
After having explored this harbor, we set out to advance farther on
in Baye Françoise, and see whether we could not find the copper
mine, [63] which had been discovered the year before. Heading
north-east, and sailing eight or ten leagues along the coast of Port
Royal,[64] we crossed a part of the bay Some five or six leagues in
extent, when we arrived at a place which we called the Cape of Two
Bays;[65] and we passed by an island a league distant therefrom, a
league also in circuit, rising up forty or forty-five fathoms. [66]
It is wholly surrounded by great rocks, except in one place which is
sloping, at the foot of which slope there is a pond of salt water,
coming from under a pebbly point, having the form of a spur. The
surface of the island is flat, covered with trees, and containing a
fine spring of water. In this place is a copper mine. Thence we
proceeded to a harbor a league and a half distant, where we supposed
the copper mine was, which a certain Prevert of St. Malo had
discovered by aid of the savages of the country. This port is in
latitude 45° 40', and is dry at low tide. [67] In order to enter it,
it is necessary to place beacons, and mark out a sand-bank at the
entrance, which borders a channel that extends along the main land.
Then you enter a bay nearly a league in length, and half a league in
breadth. In some places, the bottom is oozy and sandy, where vessels
may get aground. The sea falls and rises there to the extent of four
or five fathoms. We landed to see whether we could find the mines
which Prevert had reported to us. Having gone about a quarter of a
league along certain mountains, we found none, nor did we recognize
any resemblance to the description of the harbor he had given us.
Accordingly, he had not himself been there, but probably two or
three of his men had been there, guided by some savages, partly by
land and partly by little streams, while he awaited them in his
shallop at the mouth of a little river in the Bay of St.
Lawrence.[68] These men, upon their return, brought him several
small pieces of copper, which he showed us when he returned from his
voyage. Nevertheless, we found in this harbor two mines of what
seemed to be copper according to the report of our miner, who
considered it very good, although it was not native copper.
* * * * *
CHAMPLAIN'S DESCRIPTION OF THE MAP.
PORT DES MINES.
_The figures indicate fathoms of water_.
_A_. A place where vessels are liable to run aground.
_B_. A Small river.
_C_. A tongue of land composed of Sand.
_D_. A point composed of large pebbles, which is like a mole.
_E_. Location of a copper mine, which is covered by the tide twice a
day.
_F_. An island to the rear of the Cape of Mines. [Note: Now called
Spencer's Island. Champlain probably obtained his knowledge of this
island at a subsequent visit. There is a creek extending from near
Spencer's Island between the rocky elevations to Advocate's Harbor,
or nearly so, which Champlain does not appear to have seen, or at
least he does not represent it on his map. This point, thus made an
island by the creek, has an elevation of five hundred feet, at the
base of which was the copper mine which they discovered.--_Vide_
note 67.]
_G_. Roadstead where vessels anchor while waiting for the tide.
_H_. Isle Haute, which is a league and a half from Port of Mines.
_I_. Channel.
_L_. Little River.
_M_. Range of mountains along the coast of the Cape of Mines.
* * * * *
The head [69] of the Baye Françoise, which we crossed, is fifteen
leagues inland. All the land which we have seen in coasting along
from the little passage of Long Island is rocky, and there is no
place except Port Royal where vessels can lie in Safety. The land is
covered with pines and birches, and, in my opinion, is not very
good.
On the 20th of May,[70] we set out from the Port of Mines to seek a
place adapted for a permanent stay, in order to lose no time,
purposing afterwards to return, and see if we could discover the
mine of pure copper which Prevert's men had found by aid of the
savages. We sailed west two leagues as far as the cape of the two
bays, then north five or six leagues; and we crossed the other
bay,[71] where we thought the copper mine was, of which we have
already spoken: inasmuch as there are there two rivers, [72] the one
coming from the direction of Cape Breton, and the other from Gaspé
or Tregatté, near the great river St. Lawrence. Sailing west some
six leagues, we arrived at a little river,[73] at the mouth of which
is rather a low cape, extending out into the sea; and a short
distance inland there is a mountain,[74] having the shape of a
Cardinal's hat. In this place we found an iron mine. There is
anchorage here only for shallops. Four leagues west south-west is a
rocky point [75] extending out a short distance into the water,
where there are strong tides which are very dangerous. Near the
point we saw a cove about half a league in extent, in which we found
another iron mine, also very good. Four leagues farther on is a fine
bay running up into the main land;[76] at the extremity of which
there are three islands and a rock; two of which are a league from
the cape towards the west, and the other is at the mouth of the
largest and deepest river we had yet seen, which we named the river
St. John, because it was on this saint's day that we arrived
there.[77] By the savages it is called Ouygoudy. This river is
dangerous, if one does not observe carefully certain points and
rocks on the two sides. It is narrow at its entrance, and then
becomes broader. A certain point being passed, it becomes narrower
again, and forms a kind of fall between two large cliffs, where the
water runs so rapidly that a piece of wood thrown in is drawn under
and not seen again. But by waiting till high tide you can pass this
fall very easily. [78] Then it expands again to the extent of about
a league in some places, where there are three islands. We did not
explore it farther up.[79] But Ralleau, secretary of Sieur de Monts,
went there some time after to see a savage named Secondon, chief of
this river, who reported that it was beautiful, large, and
extensive, with many meadows and fine trees, as oaks, beeches,
walnut-trees, and also wild grapevines. The inhabitants of the
country go by this river to Tadoussac, on the great river St.
Lawrence, making but a short portage on the journey. From the river
St. John to Tadoussac is sixty-five leagues.[80] At its mouth, which
is in latitude 45° 40', there is an iron mine.[81]
* * * * *
CHAMPLAIN'S DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING MAP.
RIVIÈRE ST. JEHAN.
_The figures indicate fathoms of water_.
_A_. Three islands above the falls. [Note: The islands are not close
together as here represented. One is very near the main land on one
shore, and two on the other.]
_B_. Mountains rising up from the main land, two leagues south of
the river.
_C_. The fall in the river.
_D_. Shoals where vessels, when the tide is out, are liable to run
aground.
_E_. Cabin where the savages fortify themselves.
_F_. A pebbly point where there is a cross.
_G_. An island at the entrance of the river. [Note: Partridge
Island.]
_H_. A Small brook coming from a little pond. [Note: Mill Pond.]
_I_. Arm of the sea dry at low tide. [Note: Marsh Creek, very
shallow but not entirely dry at low tide.]
_L_. Two little rocky islets. [Note: These islets are not now
represented on the charts, and are probably rocks near the shore
from which the soil may have been washed away since 1604.]
_M_. A small pond.
_N_. Two brooks.
_O_. Very dangerous shoals along the coast, which are dry at low
tide.
_P_. Way by which the savages carry their canoes in passing the
falls.
_Q_. Place for anchoring where the river runs with full current.
* * * * *
From the river St. John we went to four islands, on one of which we
landed, and found great numbers of birds called magpies,[82] of
which we captured many small ones, which are as good as pigeons.
Sieur de Poutrincourt came near getting lost here, but he came back
to our barque at last, when we had already gone to search for him
about the island, which is three leagues distant from the main land.
Farther west are other islands; among them one six leagues in
length, called by the savages Manthane,[83] south of which there are
among the islands several good harbors for vessels. From the Magpie
Islands we proceeded to a river on the main land called the river of
the Etechemins,[84] a tribe of savages so called in their country.
We passed by so many islands that we could not ascertain their
number, which were very fine. Some were two leagues in extent,
others three, others more or less. All of these islands are in a
bay,[85] having, in my estimation, a circuit of more than fifteen
leagues. There are many good places capable of containing any number
of vessels, and abounding in fish in the season, such as codfish,
salmon, bass, herring, halibut, and other kinds in great numbers.
Sailing west-north-west three leagues through the islands, we
entered a river almost half a league in breadth at its mouth,
sailing up which a league or two we found two islands: one very
small near the western bank; and the other in the middle, having a
circumference of perhaps eight or nine hundred paces, with rocky
sides three or four fathoms high all around, except in one small
place, where there is a sandy point and clayey earth adapted for
making brick and other useful articles. There is another place
affording a shelter for vessels from eighty to a hundred tons, but
it is dry at low tide. The island is covered with firs, birches,
maples, and oaks. It is by nature very well situated, except in one
place, where for about forty paces it is lower than elsewhere: this,
however, is easily fortified, the banks of the main land being
distant on both sides some nine hundred to a thousand paces. Vessels
could pass up the river only at the mercy of the cannon on this
island, and we deemed the location the most advantageous, not only
on account of its situation and good foil, but also on account of
the intercourse which we proposed with the savages of these coasts
and of the interior, as we should be in the midst of them. We hoped
to pacify them in the course of time, and put an end to the wars
which they carry on with one another, so as to derive service from
them in future, and convert them to the Christian faith. This place
was named by Sieur de Monts the Island of St. Croix. [86] Farther
on, there is a great bay, in which are two islands, one high and the
other flat; also three rivers, two of moderate size, one extending
towards the east, the other towards the north, and the third of
large size, towards the west. The latter is that of the Etechemins,
of which we spoke before. Two leagues up this there is a waterfall,
around which the savages carry their canoes some five hundred paces
by land, and then re-enter the river. Passing afterwards from the
river a short distance overland, one reaches the rivers Norumbegue
and St. John. But the falls are impassable for vessels, as there are
only rocks and but four or five feet of water.[87] In May and June,
so great a number of herring and bass are caught there that vessels
could be loaded with them. The soil is of the finest sort, and there
are fifteen or twenty acres of cleared land, where Sieur de Monts
had some wheat sown, which flourished finely. The savages come here
sometimes five or six weeks during the fishing Season. All the rest
of the country consists of very dense forests. If the land were
cleared up, grain would flourish excellently. This place is in
latitude 45° 20',[88] and 17° 32' of the deflection of the magnetic
needle.
* * * * *
CHAMPLAIN'S DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING MAP.
ISLE DE SAINTE CROIX.
_The figures indicate fathoms of water_.
_A_. A plan of our habitation.
_B_. Gardens.
_C_. Little islet serving as a platform for cannon. [Note: This
refers to the southern end of the island, which was probably
separated at high tide, where a cannon may be seen in position.]
_D_. Platform where cannon were placed.
_E_. The Cemetery.
_F_. The Chapel.
_G_. Rocky shoals about the Island Sainte Croix.
_H_. A little islet. [Note: Little De Monts's Island, Sometimes
called Little Dochet's Island.]
_I_. Place where Sieur de Monts had a water-mill commenced.
_L_. Place where we made our coal.
_M_. Gardens on the western shore.
_N_. Other gardens on the eastern shore.
_O_. Very large and high mountain on the main land. [Note: This
"mountain" is now called Chamcook Hill. Its height is 627 feet. At
the northern end of the island on the right there is an extensive
sandy shoal, dry at low tide, of a triangular shape as formerly, and
has apparently changed very little since the days of Champlain.]
_P_. River of the Etechemins flowing about the Island of St. Croix.
* * * * *
ENDNOTES:
53. For May read June. It could not have been in May, since
Champlain Set out from Port Mouton on his exploring expedition on
the 19th of May, which must have been a month previous to this.
54. What is now called the Petit Passage, the narrow strait between
Long Island and Digby Neck.
55. Gulliver's Hole, about two leagues south-west of Digby Strait.
56. Champlain here names the whole harbor or basin Port Royal, and
not the place of habitation afterward so called. The first
settlement was on the north side of the bay in the present hamlet of
Lower Granville, not as often alleged at Annapolis.--_Vide_
Champlain's engraving or map of Port Royal.
57. "Équille." A name, on the coasts between Caen and Havre, of the
fish called lançon at Granville and St. Malo, a kind of
malacopterygious fish living on sandy shores and hiding in the sand
at low tide.-- _Littré_. A species of sand eel. This stream is now
known as the Annapolis River. Lescarbot calls it Rivière du Dauphin.
58. This island is situated at the point where the Annapolis River
flows into the bay, or about nine miles from Digby, straight.
Champlain on his map gives it no name, but Lescarbot calls it
Biencourville. It is now called Goat Island.
59. Lescarbot calls it Claudiane. It is now known as Bear Island. It
was Sometimes called Ile d'Hébert, and likewise Imbert Island.
Laverdière suggests that the present name is derived from the French
pronunciation of the last syllable of Imbert.
60. At present known as Bear River; Lescarbot has it Hebert, and
Charlevoix, Imbert.
61. On modern maps called Moose River, and sometimes Deep Brook. It
is a few miles east of Bear River.
62. The latitude is here overstated: it should be 44° 39' 30".
63. On the preceding year, M. Prevert of St. Malo had made a glowing
report ostensively based on his own observations and information
which he had obtained from the Indians, in regard to certain mines
alleged to exist on the coast directly South of Northumberland
Strait, and about the head of the Bay of Fundy. It was this report
of Prevert that induced the present search.
64. Along the Bay of Fundy nearly parallel to the basin of Port
Royal would better express the author's meaning.
65. Cape Chignecto, the point where the Bay of Fundy is bifurcated;
the northern arm forming Chignecto Bay, and the southern, the Bay of
Mines or Minas Basin.
66. Isle Haute, or high island.--_Vide Charlevoix's Map_. On Some
maps this name has been strangely perverted into Isle Holt, Isle Har,
&c. Its height is 320 feet.
67. This was Advocate's Harbor. Its distance from Cape Chignecto is
greater than that stated in the text. Further on, Champlain calls it
two leagues, which is nearly correct. Its latitude is about 45° 20'.
By comparing the Admiralty charts and Champlain's map of this
harbor, it will be seen that important changes have taken place
since 1604. The tongue of land extending in a south-easterly
direction, covered with trees and shrubbery, which Champlain calls a
sand-bank, has entirely disappeared. The ordinary tides rise here
from thirty-three to thirty-nine feet, and on a sandy shore could
hardly fail to produce important changes.
68. According to the Abbé Laverdière, the lower part of the Gulf was
sometimes called the Bay of St. Lawrence.
69. They had just crossed the Bay of Mines. From the place where
they crossed it to its head it is not far from fifteen leagues, and
it is about the same distance to Port Royal, from which he may here
estimate the distance inland.
70. Read June.--_Vide antea_, note 53.
71. Chignecto Bay. Charlevoix has Chignitou _ou Beau Bassin_. On De
Laet's Map of 1633, on Jacob von Meur's of 1673, and Homenn's of
1729, we have B. de Gennes. The Cape of Two Bays was Cape Chignecto.
72. The rivers are the Cumberland Basin with its tributaries coming
from the east, and the Petitcoudiac (_petit_ and _coude_, little
elbow, from the angle formed by the river at Moncton, called the
Bend), which flows into Shepody Bay coming from the north or the
direction of Gaspé. Champlain mentions all these particulars,
probably as answering to the description given to them by M. Prevert
of the place where copper mines could be found.
73. Quaco River, at the mouth of which the water is shallow: the low
cape extending out into the sea is that on which Quaco Light now
stands, which reaches out quarter of a mile, and is comparatively
low. The shore from Goose River, near where they made the coast, is
very high, measuring at different points 783, 735, 650, 400, 300,
500, and 380 feet, while the "low cape" is only 250 feet, and near
it on the west is an elevation of 400 feet. It would be properly
represented as "rather a low cape" in contradistinction to the
neighboring coast. Iron and manganese are found here, and the latter
has been mined to some extent, but is now discontinued, as the
expense is too great for the present times.
74. This mountain is an elevation, eight or ten miles inland from
Quaco, which may be seen by vessels coasting along from St. Martin's
Head to St. John: it is indicated on the charts as Mt. Theobald, and
bears a striking resemblance, as Champlain suggests, to the _chapeau
de Cardinal_.
75. McCoy's Head, four leagues west of Quaco: the "cove" may be that
on the east into which Gardner's Creek flows, or that on the west at
the mouth of Emmerson's Creek.
76. The Bay of St. John, which is four leagues south-west of McCoy's
Head. The islands mentioned are Partridge Island at the mouth of the
harbor, and two smaller ones farther west, one Meogenes, and the
other Shag rock or some unimportant islet in its vicinity. The rock
mentioned by Champlain is that on which Spit Beacon Light now
stands.
77. The festival of St. John the Baptist occurs on the 24th of June;
and, arriving on that day, they gave the name of St. John to the
river, which has been appropriately given also to the city at its
mouth, now the metropolis of the province of New Brunswick.
78. Champlain was under a missapprehension about passing the fall at
the mouth of the St. John at high tide. It can in fact only be
passed at about half tide. The waters of the river at low tide are
about twelve feet higher than the waters of the sea. At high tide,
the waters of the sea are about five feet higher than the waters of
the river. Consequently, at low tide there is a fall outward, and at
high tide there is a fall inward, at neither of which times can the
fall be passed. The only time for passing the fall is when the
waters of the sea are on a level with the waters of the river. This
occurs twice every tide, at the level point at the flood and
likewise at the ebb. The period for passing lasts about fifteen or
twenty minutes, and of course occurs four times a day. Vessels
assemble in considerable numbers above and below to embrace the
opportunity of passing at the favoring moment. There are periods,
however, when the river is swollen by rains and melting snow, at
which the tides do not rise as high as the river, and consequently
there is a constant fall outward, and vessels cannot pass until the
high water subsides.
79. They ascended the river only a short distance into the large bay
just above the falls, near which are the three islands mentioned in
the text.
80. The distance from the mouth of the river St. John to Tadoussac
in a direct line is about sixty-five leagues. But by the winding
course of the St. John it would be very much greater.
81. Champlain's latitude is inexact. St. John's Harbor is 45° 16'.
82. _Margos_, magpies. The four islands which Champlain named the
Magpies are now called the Wolves, and are near the mouth of
Passamaquoddy Bay. Charlevoix has _Oiseaux_, the Birds.
83. Manan. Known as the Grand Manan in contradistinction to the
Petit Manan, a small island still further west. It is about fourteen
or fifteen miles long, and about six in its greatest width. On the
south and eastern side are Long Island, Great Duck, Ross, Cheyne,
and White Head Islands, among which good harborage may be found. The
name, as appears in the text, is of Indian origin. It is Sometimes
Spelled Menarse, but that in the text prevails.
84. The St. Croix River, sometimes called the Scoudic.
85. Passsmaquoddy Bay. On Gastaldo's map of 1550 called Angoulesme.
On Rouge's "Atlas Ameriquain," 1778, it is written Passamacadie.
86. The Holy Cross, _Saincte Croix_, This name was suggested by the
circumstance that, a few miles above the island, two streams flow
into the main channel of the river at the same place, one from the
east and the other from the west, while a bay makes up between them,
presenting the appearance of a cross.
"Et d'autant qu'à deux lieues au dessus il y a des ruisseaux qui
viennent comme en croix de décharger dans ce large bras de mer,
cette île de la retraite des François fut appelée SAINCTE
CROIX."--_His. Nouvelle France_ par Lescarbot, Paris. 1612, Qvat Liv.
pp. 461, 462.
It is now called De Monts's Island. It has been called Dochet's
Island and Neutral Island, but there is great appropriateness in
calling it after its first occupant and proprietor, and in honor of
him it has been so named with suitable ceremonies.--_Vide Godfrey's
Centennial Discourse_, Bangor, 1870, p. 20. The United States
maintain a light upon the island, which is seventy-one feet above
the level of the sea, and is visible twelve nautical miles. The
island itself is moderately high, and in the widest part is one
hundred and eighty paces or about five hundred and forty feet. The
area is probably not more than six or seven acres, although it has
been estimated at twice that. It may have been diminished in some
slight degree since the time of Champlain by the action of the
waves, but probably very little. On the southern extremity of the
island where De Monts placed his cannon, about twenty-five years ago
a workman in excavating threw out five small cannon-balls, one of
which was obtained by Peter E. Vose, Esq., of Dennysville, Me., who
then resided near the island, and was conversant with all the
circumstances of the discovery. They were about a foot and a half
below the surface, and the workman was excavating for another
purpose, and knew nothing of the history of the island. At our
solicitation, the ball belonging to Mr. Vose has recently been
presented to the New England Historic Genealogical Society, of which
he is a member. It is iron, perfectly round, two and a quarter
inches in diameter, and weighs 22 oz. avoirdupois. There can be no
reasonable doubt that these balls are relics of the little French
colony of 1604, and probably the only memorial of the kind now in
existence.
87. The description in the text of the environs of the Island of St.
Croix is entirely accurate. Some distance above, and in view from
the island, is the fork, or Divide, as it is called. Here is a
meeting of the waters of Warwig Creek from the east, Oak Bay from
the north, and the river of the Etechemins, now called the St.
Croix, from the west. These are the three rivers mentioned by
Champlain, Oak Bay being considered as one of them, in which may be
seen the two islands mentioned in the text, one high and the other
low. A little above Calais is the waterfall, around which the
Indians carried their bark canoes, when on their journey up the
river through the Scoudic lakes, from which by land they reached the
river St. John on the east, or, on the west, passing through the
Mettawamkeag, they reached the Norumbegue, or Penobscot River.
88. The latitude of the Island of St. Croix is 45° 7' 43".
This
is the conclusion of Chapter 3 of Voyages
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