The Makers of Canada: Champlain | Page 9

he despatched
Champlain, with a savage named Messamouet, who asserted that he
could find the place. At about eight leagues from the island, near the
river St. John, they found a mine of copper, which, however, was not
pure, though fairly good. According to the report of the miner, it would

yield about eighteen per cent. Lescarbot says that amidst the rocks,
diamonds and some blue and clear stones could be found as precious as
turquoises. Champdoré, one of the carpenters, took one of these stones
to France, and had it divided into many fragments and mounted by an
artist. De Monts and Poutrincourt, to whom they were presented,
considered these gems so valuable that they offered them to the king. A
goldsmith offered Poutrincourt fifteen crown pieces for one of them.
Agriculture did not flourish on the island of Ste. Croix, which is about
half a league in circumference. The rays of the sun parched the sand so
that the gardens were entirely unproductive, and there was a complete
dearth of water. At the commencement there was a fair quantity of
wood, but when the buildings were finished there was scarcely any left;
the inhabitants, consequently, nearly perished from cold in the winter.
All the liquor, wine and beer became frozen, and as there was no water
the people were compelled to drink melted snow. A malignant
epidemic of scurvy broke out, and of seventy-nine persons thirty-five
died from the disease and more than twenty were at the point of death.
This disease proved one of the obstacles to rapid colonization in New
France. It was epidemic, contagious and often fatal. It is a somewhat
remarkable fact that the epidemic was prevalent amongst the French
only when they were established on the soil, being rarely discovered on
ship-board. Jacques Cartier had experienced the horrors of this disease
in the winter of 1535-6, when out of his one hundred and ten men
twenty-five died, and only three or four remained altogether free from
attack. During the year 1542-3, Roberval saw fifty persons dying of the
disease at Charlesbourg Royal. At Ste. Croix the proportion of deaths
was still greater, thirty-five out of seventy-nine. There was a physician
attached to de Monts' party, but he did not understand the disease, and
therefore could not satisfactorily prescribe for it. De Monts also
consulted many physicians in Paris, but he did not receive answers that
were of much service to him.
At the commencement of the seventeenth century scientific men
distinguished scurvy on land from scurvy on sea. They laboured under
the false impression that the one differed from the other. Champlain

called the disease mal de terre. It is certain, however, that the
symptoms did not vary in either case, as we may ascertain from the
descriptions furnished by Jacques Cartier and Champlain.
The position of the settlement was soon proved to be untenable, and de
Monts was certainly to blame for this unhappy state of affairs. Why did
he abandon Port Royal, where he had found abundant water?
Champlain, however, defends the action of his chief.
"It would be very difficult," he says, "to ascertain the character of this
region without spending a winter in it, for, on arriving here in summer,
everything is very agreeable in consequence of the woods, fine country,
and the many varieties of good fish which are found." We must not
forget, however, that the climate of this island differed very little from
that of Tadousac, which had greatly disappointed de Monts, and that
his sole object in settling in a more southern latitude was to avoid the
disagreeable consequences of the climate.
Champlain made a plan of the island of Ste. Croix, indicating the
buildings constructed for the habitation of the settlers. We observe
many isolated tenements forming a large square. On one side was the
residence of Champlain, of Champdoré and d'Orville, with a large
garden opposite. Near d'Orville's residence was a small building set
apart for the missionaries. On the other side may be seen the storehouse,
de Monts' dwelling, a public hall where the people spent their leisure,
and a building for Boulay and the workmen. In an angle of the large
square were the residences of Genestou, Sourin, de Beaumont, La
Motte, Bourioli and Fougeray. A small fort is shown at one end of the
island, approached by a pathway. The chapel of the priest Aubry was
located near the cannon of the fort. Such was the plan of the first
Acadian settlement. Much expense had been incurred for a very poor
result.
De Monts was the directing spirit of the colony, and in spite of his
noble attempts, he realized that his efforts were fruitless and that he
would have to try another place for a permanent settlement. By the
direction of