Voyages of Samuel de Champlain, vol 3 | Page 3

twenty times that we should
never escape with our lives. The entire night was spent amid difficulties
and hardships. Never was the watch better kept, for nobody wished to
rest, but to strive to escape from the ice and danger. The cold was so
great, that all the ropes of the vessel were so frozen and covered with
large icicles that the men could not work her nor stick to the deck. Thus
we ran, on this tack and that, awaiting with hope the daylight. But when
it came, attended by a fog, and we saw that our labor and hardship
could not avail us anything, we determined to go to a mass of ice,
where we should be sheltered from the violent wind which was
blowing; to haul everything down, and allow ourselves to be driven
along with the ice, so that when at some distance from the rest of the
ice we could make sail again, and go back to the above-mentioned bank
and manage as before, until the fog should pass away, when we might
go out as quickly as possible. Thus we continued the entire day until
the morning of the next day, when we set sail, now on this tack now on
that, finding ourselves everywhere enclosed amid large floes of ice, as
if in lakes on the mainland. At evening we sighted a vessel on the other
side of one of these banks of ice, which, I am sure, was in no less
anxiety than ourselves. Thus we remained four or five days, exposed to
these risks and extreme hardships, until one morning on looking out in
all directions, although we could see no opening, yet in one place it
seemed as if the ice was not thick, and that we could easily pass
through. We got under weigh, and passed by a large number of
_bourguignons_; that is, pieces of ice separated from the large banks by
the violence of the winds. Having reached this bank of ice, the sailors
proceeded to provide themselves with large oars and pieces of wood, in
order to keep off the blocks of ice we met. In this way we passed this
bank, but not without touching some pieces of ice, which did no good

to our vessel, although they inflicted no essential damage. Being
outside, we praised God for our deliverance. Continuing our course on
the next day, we encountered other pieces, in which we became so
involved that we found ourselves surrounded on all sides, except where
we had entered. It was accordingly necessary to turn back, and
endeavor to double the southern point. This we did not succeed in
doing until the second day, passing by several small pieces of ice,
which had been separated from the main bank. This latter was in
latitude 44° 30'. We sailed until the morning of the next day, towards
the northwest, north- northwest, when we met another large ice bank,
extending as far as we could see east and west. This, in the distance,
seemed like land; for it was so level that it might properly be said to
have been made so on purpose. It was more than eighteen feet high,
extending twice as far under water. We calculated that we were only
some fifteen leagues from Cape Breton, it being the 26th day of the
month. These numerous encounters with ice troubled us greatly. We
were also fearful that the passage between Capes Breton and Raye
would be closed, and that we should be obliged to keep out to sea a
long time before being able to enter. Unable to do anything else, we
were obliged to run out to sea again some four or five leagues, in order
to double another point of the above-mentioned grand ice bank, which
continued on our west-southwest. After turning on the other tack to the
northwest, in order to double this point, we sailed some seven leagues,
and then steered to the north-northwest some three leagues, when we
observed another ice bank. The night approached, and the fog came on
so that we put to sea to pass the remainder of the night, purposing at
daybreak to return and reconnoitre the last mentioned ice. On the
twenty-seventh day of the month, we sighted land west-northwest of us,
seeing no ice on the north- northeast. We approached nearer for the
sake of a better observation, and found that it was Canseau. This led us
to bear off to the north for Cape Breton Island; but we had scarcely
sailed two leagues when we encountered an ice bank on the northeast.
Night coming on, we were obliged to put out to sea until the next day,
when we sailed northeast, and encountered more ice, bearing east,
east-southeast from us, along which