Voyages of Samuel de Champlain, vol 2 | Page 5

some error in regard to the voyage of Captain
Georges. There is no printed account of a voyage at that time by any
one of this name. There are two theories on which this statement may
be explained. There may have been a voyage by a Captain Georges,
which, for some unknown reason, was never reported; or, what is more
likely, Champlain may refer to the voyage of Captain George
Weymouth, undertaken in 1602 for the East Ind. Company, which was
defeated by the icebergs which he encountered, and the mutiny of his
men. It was not uncommon to omit part of a name at that period. Of

Pont Gravé, the last name is frequently omitted by Champlain and by
Lescarbot. The report of Weymouth's voyage was not printed till after
Champlain wrote; and he might easily have mistaken the date.
6. The name of New France, Novus Francisca, appears on a map in
Ptolemy published at Basle in 1530.
7. The controlling object of the numerous voyages to the north-east
coast of America had hitherto been to discover a shorter course to India.
In this respect, as Champlain states above, they had all proved failures.
He here intimates that the settlements of the French on this coast were
intended to facilitate this design. It is obvious that a colonial
establishment would offer great advantages as a base in prosecuting
searches for this desired passage to Cathay.
8. For some account of this disastrous expedition, see Memoir, Vol. I.
9. Vide Memoir, Vol. I.
10. It will be observed that Champlain does not mention the expedition
sent out by Commander de Chastes, probably because its object was
exploration, and not actual settlement.--Vide an account of De Chastes
in the Memoir, Vol. I.
11. In Champlain's report of the voyage of 1603, after obtaining what
information he could from the natives relating to the St. Lawrence and
the chain of lakes, he says they informed him that the last lake in the
chain was salt, and he therefore believed it to be the South Sea. He
doubtless enlarged verbally before the king upon the feasibility of a
passage to China in this way.
12. The commission here referred to was doubtless the one renewed to
him in 1608, after he had made his searches on the shores of New
England and Nova Scotia, and after the commission or charter of 1603
had been revoked.
Champlain is here stating the advantages of a settlement in the interior,
on the shores of the St. Lawrence, rather than on the Atlantic coast.

13. In this chapter, Champlain speaks of events stretching through
several years; but in the next he confines himself to the occurrences of
1603, when De Monts obtained his charter.

CHAPTER II.
DESCRIPTION OF SABLE ISLAND; CAPE BRETON; LA HÈVE;
PORT AU MOUTON; PORT CAPE NEGRE; SABLE BAY AND
CAPE; CORMORANT ISLAND; CAPE FOURCHU; LONG ISLAND;
BAY OF SAINT MARY; PORT SAINT MARGARET; AND OF ALL
NOTEWORTHY OBJECTS ALONG THIS COAST.
Sieur de Monts, by virtue of his commission [14] having published in
all the ports and harbors of this kingdom the prohibition against the
violation of the monopoly of the fur-trade accorded him by his Majesty,
gathered together about one hundred and twenty artisans, whom he
embarked in two vessels: one of a hundred and twenty tons,
commanded by Sieur de Pont Gravé; [15] another, of a hundred and
fifty tons, in which he embarked himself, [16] together with several
noblemen.
We set out from Havre de Grâce April 7th, 1604, and Pont Gravé April
10th, to rendezvous at Canseau, [17] twenty leagues from Cape Breton.
[18] But after we were in mid-ocean, Sieur de Monts changed his plan,
and directed his course towards Port Mouton, it being more southerly
and also more favorable for landing than Canseau.
On May 1st, we sighted Sable Island, where we ran a risk of being lost
in consequence of the error of our pilots, who were deceived in their
calculation, which they made forty leagues ahead of where we were.
This island is thirty leagues distant north and South from Cape Breton,
and in length is about fifteen leagues. It contains a small lake. The
island is very sandy, and there are no trees at all of considerable size,
only copse and herbage, which serve as pasturage for the bullocks and
cows, which the Portuguese carried there more than sixty years ago,

and which were very serviceable to the party of the Marquis de la
Roche. The latter, during their sojourn of several years there, captured a
large number of very fine black foxes, [19] whose skins they carefully
preserved. There are many sea-wolves [20] there, with the skins of
which they clothed themselves since they had exhausted their own
stock of garments. By order of