Voyages of Samuel de Champlain, vol 1 | Page 4

made hard to prevent the escape of the water by percolation. This was done in the larger ones by leading horses over the surface, until, says an old chronicler, the basins "would hold water as if they were brass." The water was introduced from the sea, through sluices and sieves of pierced planks, passing over broad surfaces in shallow currents, furnishing an opportunity for evaporation from the moment it left the ocean until it found its way into the numerous salt-basins covering the whole expanse of the marshy plains. The water once in the basins, the process of evaporation was carried on by the sun and the wind, assisted by the workmen, who agitated the water to hasten the process. The first formation of salt was on the surface, having a white, creamy appearance, exhaling an agreeable perfume, resembling that of violets. This was the finest and most delicate salt, while that precipitated, or falling to the bottom of the basin, was of a darker hue.
When the crystallization was completed, the salt was gathered up, drained, and piled in conical heaps on the platforms or paths along the sides of the basins. At the height of the season, which began in May and ended in September, when the whole marsh region was covered with countless white cones of salt, it presented an interesting picture, not unlike the tented camp of a vast army.
The salt was carried from the marshes on pack-horses, equipped each with a white canvas bag, led by boys either to the quay, where large vessels were lying, or to small barques which could be brought at high tide, by natural or artificial inlets, into the very heart of the marsh-fields.
When the period for removing the salt came, no time was to be lost, as a sudden fall of rain might destroy in an hour the products of a month. A small quantity only could be transported at a time, and consequently great numbers of animals were employed, which were made to hasten over the sinuous and angulated paths at their highest speed. On reaching the ships, the burden was taken by men stationed for the purpose, the boys mounted in haste, and galloped back for another.
The scene presented in the labyrinth of an extensive salt-marsh was lively and entertaining. The picturesque dress of the workmen, with their clean white frocks and linen tights; the horses in great numbers mantled in their showy salt-bags, winding their way on the narrow platforms, moving in all directions, turning now to the right hand and now to the left, doubling almost numberless angles, here advancing and again retreating, often going two leagues to make the distance of one, maintaining order in apparent confusion, altogether presented to the distant observer the aspect of a grand equestrian masquerade.
The extent of the works and the labor and capital invested in them were doubtless large for that period. A contemporary of Champlain informs us that the wood employed in the construction of the works, in the form of gigantic sluices, bridges, beam-partitions, and sieves, was so vast in quantity that, if it were destroyed, the forests of Guienne would not suffice to replace it. He also adds that no one who had seen the salt works of Saintonge would estimate the expense of forming them less than that of building the city of Paris itself.
The port of Brouage was the busy mart from which the salt of Saintonge was distributed not only along the coast of France, but in London and Antwerp, and we know not what other markets on the continent of Europe. [9]
The early years of Champlain were of necessity intimately associated with the stirring scenes thus presented in this prosperous little seaport. As we know that he was a careful observer, endowed by nature with an active temperament and an unusual degree of practical sense we are sure that no event escaped his attention, and that no mystery was permitted to go unsolved. The military and commercial enterprise of the place brought him into daily contact with men of the highest character in their departments. The salt-factors of Brouage were persons of experience and activity, who knew their business, its methods, and the markets at home and abroad. The fortress was commanded by distinguished officers of the French army, and was a rendezvous of the young nobility; like other similar places, a training-school for military command. In this association, whether near or remote, young Champlain, with his eagle eye and quick ear, was receiving lessons and influences which were daily shaping his unfolding capacities, and gradually compacting and crystallizing them into the firmness and strength of character which he so largely displayed in after years. His education, such as it was, was of course obtained during this period. He has himself given