Chapter I: Preface: To Vol. III

Following is a synopsis of the documents contained in the present volume:

XIII. Biard writes from Amiens (May 26, 1614) to the general of the order, reporting the planting of St. Sauveur mission, the attack by Argall, the captivity of the Jesuit missionaries, and their safe return to France.

XIV. Biard's _Relation_ of 1616 opens with an historical sketch of French discoveries in New France. The climate of the country, its forests, and its inhabitants, are described; the writer discourses on the mode of life among the savages, their dwellings, tribal organization, polity, women, marriage, medicine, practices of witchcraft, burials, etc. As a basis for missionary work, he advocates the establishment of a colony which shall be properly supported in France, and to this end appeals to the sympathies of Catholics at home. Much space is devoted to answering the attacks on the Jesuit missions of New France, made by an anonymous pamphleteer, who has been supposed to be Lescarbot himself. Continuing with a report of his own movements, Biard describes the voyage made by himself and Biencourt as far as the Kennebec River, and the privations and hardships of the colony during the ensuing winter (1611-12). He again recounts the manner in which Mme. de Guercheville obtained a grant of New France, and sent a colony to St. Sauveur, on Mt. Desert Island; the disputes between Biencourt and the Jesuits; the stay of Massé among the savages on St. John River; his own trip to Chignectou, with Biencourt; and the hardships endured by both, as also those of the entire colony, during the winter of 1612-13. The Jesuits, during this winter, build a boat, and are thus enabled to go fishing. La Saussaye arrives at Port Royal under Mme. de Guercheville's auspices, and takes the Jesuits away with him to St. Sauveur. The settlement there is well begun, when Argall comes upon it, and takes the French captive. Owing to the great length of this _Relation_, we have space in the present volume but for the first twenty-five chapters; the remaining twelve will form the opening part of Volume IV.

R. G. T.

MADISON, WIS., November, 1896.

XIII

BIARD'S EPISTOLA

ad Reverendissimum Patrem Claudium Aquavivam

(26 Maii, 1614)

SOURCE: We follow Father Martin's apograph (in the Archives of St. Mary's College, at Montreal) of the original Latin MS. in the Archives of the Gesù, at Rome.

Epistola Patris Petri Biardi ad Reverendissimum Patrem Claudium Aquavivam, Præpositum Generalem Societatis Jesu, Romæ. (26 Maii, 1614.)

(_Transcripsit Pater Felix Martinus ex codice Latino qui Romæ in Archivis Jesu conservatur._)

ADMODUM REVERENDE IN CHRISTO PATER,
Pax Christi.

Et affectus et debitum cogunt ut ego nunc recens et multis maximisque periculis summo Dei beneficio et vestræ Paternitatis precibus ereptus, eam salutem et quoad possum ejus genibus provolutus amplectar; grato certe ao [animo] ac magno spiritu. Etenim velut aspicere me debeo ad poenitentiam, ut spero, agendam et gratias exhibendas; tanti sunt ii casus e quibus me nunc liberatum admiror. Sed quoniam nunc forte [2] importunum foret longam rerum [=oi]um [omnium] historiam texere et credibile est Vestram Paternitatem multa jam ex P. Enemundo Massæo inaudivisse; omissis aliis hoc nunc solum explicabo, quonam modo post nostram ab Anglis in Nova Francia oppressionem, circumducti simus variis locis ac tandem huc in patriam restituti.

Letter of Father Pierre Biard, to the Very Reverend Father Claude
Aquaviva, General of the Society of Jesus, at Rome. (May 26, 1614.)

(_Copied by Father Felix Martin, from the original Latin preserved
in the Archives of the Gesù at Rome._)

VERY REVEREND FATHER IN CHRIST,
The peace of Christ be with you.

Both affection and duty urge me, fresh from such multiplied and
mighty perils, from which I have been rescued by the surpassing
favor of the Lord and by the prayers of your Paternity, to send
you my greetings; and, in so far as it is possible, I throw myself
at your knees and embrace you, assuredly with the utmost gratitude
and devotion. And, indeed, I am bound, as it were, to contemplate
myself, both to do penance, as I hope, and to express my gratitude;
so great are the perils out of which I now marvel to see myself
delivered. But, as it may at this time [2] be wearisome to weave
a long story of all these things, and as it is probable that Your
Paternity has already learned many of them from Father Enemond
Massé, I shall pass over all the rest, and confine myself for the
present to this one matter: in what manner, after our violent
capture by the English in New France, we were taken from place to
place, and at last restored to this our native land.

Eramus ut Vestra Paternitas scit in Nova Francia quatuor [3] omnino e societate, anno superiore 1613. Et quidem tunc primum incipiebamus novam moliri commodo loco habitationem, novam coloniam &c. Ecce subito nescio quo casu (casus certe fuit non consilium) injecti nostrum in littus Angli Virginenses, magno furore navem nostram invadunt, [=oi]bus [omnibus] prope defensoribus in terra occupatis. Pugnatum tamen est aliquandiu, sed necessario facta est non multo post deditio. In certamine duo e gallis occisi, quatuor vulnerati et insuper frater noster Gilbertus Duthet, vulneratus [4] ad mortem fuit. Is postridie inter manus meas religiose expiravit.

There were, as Your Paternity knows, only four [3] of our
society in New France in the last year, 1613. Then, too, we first
began to build in a convenient place a new settlement, a new
colony, etc. But most unexpectedly, by some hazard or other (for a
hazard it certainly was, and not a premeditated plan), some English
from Virginia were driven upon our shores, who attacked our ship
with the utmost fury, at a time when nearly all its defenders were
occupied on land. Resistance was nevertheless made for a time,
but we were soon obliged to surrender. In the struggle, two of
the French were killed, four were wounded; and, in addition, our
brother Gilbert Duthet received [4] a mortal wound. He made a most
Christian end, the following day, under my ministration.

Capta navi et rebus [=oi]bus [omnibus] direptis; multum nobis fuit, nobis inquam sacerdotibus et jesuitis, non occidi. Verum et hoc ipsum non occidi, si solum fuisset, omni nace [_sc._ nece] atrocius erat. Nam quid sane ageremus in locis omnino desertis et incultis rerum omnium nudi et egentes? Sylvatici quidem ad nos clam et de nocte ventitabant, infortunium nostrum complorabant, quæ poterant pollicebantur et magno certe animo et fideli. [5] Verum ea erat locorum rerumque conditio ut nusquam nisi mors, aut calamitosior morte miseria occurreret. Et eramus omnino triginta in his angustiis. Una res molliores reddebat Anglos, quod videlicet una e nostris scapha ipsis nequicquam obversantibus evaserat; hanc quia foro [_sc._ fore] testem nostræ oppressionis non dubitabant, vitæ nostræ parcere cogebantur. Timebant enim talionem et regem nostrum. Ergo tandem (magnum scilicet beneficium) nobis triginta qui supereramus unam aiunt [6] sese velle scapham relinquere quo per eam circumeamus oram maritimam si quam forte navem gallicam reperiamus quæ nos in patriam revehat. Demonstratum est in eam scapham plures quam quindecim ingredi non posse. Verum aliud nihil obtineri potuit, nec de nostris quidem navigiis. Ne morere [_sc._ morer] in hac difficultate sibi quisque ut potuit consuluit: P. Enemundus Massæus in eam quam dixi scapham ingressus est cum aliis quatuordecim; eique favit Deus uti jam Vestra Paternitas cognovit. [7] Ego ducem anglum adii obtinuique pro me et P. Jacobo Quentino socio meo, itemque pro Joanne Dixon qui admissus erat in societatem et servo item uno ut deveheremur ad insulas vicinas in quibus Angli piscari solent, inibique ut Angli[s] illis piscatoribus commendaremur. Quo per eos in Angliam delati inde, quod facile est, in Galliam rediremus. Obtinui hoc quidem inquam verbis, sed verbis fides non fuit. Nos enim una cum reliquis gallis qui restabamus in universum quindecim detulerunt [8] ipsi recta in suam Virginiam longe ab eo loco in quo capti fueramus leucis facile ducentis quinquaginta. At in Virginia novum periculum. Etenim qui ibi præest suspendi nos omnes volebat, sed in primis jesuitas. Sed restitit is qui nos ceperat capitaneus, fidemque datam opposuit. Et valuit tandem vel fides vel regis timor.

Our ship having been captured and everything pillaged, it was a
great concession to us,--that is, to us priests and jesuits,--that
we were not killed. And yet this sparing of our lives, if
considered in itself only, would have been worse than any death.
For what were we to do in an absolutely desert and barren region,
despoiled and destitute of everything? The Savages, indeed, used
to come to us stealthily and by night; and, with great generosity
and devotion, commiserated our misfortune, and promised us whatever
they could. [5] Truly the condition of things was such that
either death itself, or a more calamitous misfortune, everywhere
threatened us. There were in all thirty of us, in these distressing
circumstances. One consideration rendered the English less severe,
namely, that one of our boats had escaped, in spite of their
watchfulness; and, as they had no doubt that it would bear witness
to the violence done us, they were obliged to spare our lives, for
they feared reprisals and dreaded our king. Therefore they finally
offered (a great favor, forsooth) to leave for our thirty survivors
[6] a single boat, in which we might coast along the seashore,
on the chance of finding some french vessel to take us back to
our own country. It was shown that this boat could not hold over
fifteen men; but nothing further could be obtained, even from among
our own boats. To be brief: in this perplexity each of us took
counsel as he could; Father Enemond Massé embarked with fourteen
companions in the boat I have mentioned, and the Lord favored him,
as Your Paternity has already learned. [7] I went to the english
captain and obtained a promise from him that I and Father Jacques
Quentin, my companion, and also John Dixon--who had been admitted
into the society--and one servant, should be transported to the
neighboring islands where the English usually fish, and that we
should there be recommended to these English fishermen; so that,
having been carried by them to England, we might easily return
thence into France. I obtained, as I say, a promise to this effect,
but there was no good faith in this promise. For they carried us
off, together with the frenchmen who remained, fifteen in all, [8]
straight to their own country, Virginia, distant from the place in
which we had been captured at least two hundred and fifty leagues.
In Virginia, however, a new peril arose; for the governor there
wished to hang us all, and especially the jesuits. But the captain
who had taken us resisted, alleging his promise to us. Finally this
promise, or their fear of our king, prevailed.

His peractis, datum est negotium ei capitaneo qui nos ceperat, ut rediret in eam Novæ Franciæ partem ubi nos spoliaverat, ibique quotquot reperiret naves francicas diriperet et omnes habitationes domosque incenderet. [9] Restabant enim ibi duæ Gallorum habitationes, una Sanctæ Crucis et altera Portus-regalis ubi per biennium manseram. Hanc in expeditionem tres naves instructæ sunt, duæ quas nobis ceperant, et tertia illa major et bellica, ut appellant, quæ nos ceperat. Ita accepti sumus in has naves octo solum Galli si qua forte opportunitas daretur emittendi nos in patriam. Hæ naves redierunt primum in eum locum ubi capti fueramus crucesque quas statueramus dejecerunt omnes. Sed ecce vindictam. Ibidem [10] antequam discederamus unum e suis suspenderunt quem machinatum esse nescio quid deprehenderant. Crux pro crucibus fuit.

After this episode, the captain who had taken us was commissioned
to return to that part of New France where he had plundered us, and
to plunder any French ships he might find, and burn all the houses
and settlements. [9] There remained two French settlements there,
that of Sainte Croix and that of Port Royal, where I had remained
for two years. Three ships were equipped for this expedition,--two
which they had taken from us, and a third and larger one, the
man-of-war, as they call it, which had taken us. So eight of us
Frenchmen were taken in this vessel, in view of any opportunity
that might arise of sending us back to our own country. These
vessels returned first to the place where we had been captured,
and all the crosses that we had set up they overthrew. But not
unavenged! On the same spot, [10] before our departure, they hanged
one of their number whom they had apprehended in some plot. Thus
one Cross took the place of many.

Hic quoque iterum nobis periculum. Volebant ire Angli, ut ante dictum est, ad habitationem Sanctæ Crucis, etsi in ea nulli tunc habitatores essent. Sed erat sal ibi relictum. Nemo præter me viam sciebat; atque ibi me aliquando fuisse Angli norant. Rogant igitur ut eos deducam. Ego qua possum tergiversari et evadere; sed [11] nihil proficio. Vident aperte me nolle. Hic nimirum incenditur capitaneus, et eram jam periculo propior; cum subito sine me ipsi locum reperiunt, diripiunt et incendunt. Quin etiam per eam occasionem sylvaticum quemdam comprehenderunt, cujus ductu ad Portum regalem perducti sunt. Quæ me res periculo majore cum exemerit, aliunde tamen induxit in majus. Namque direpto et incenso Portu regali (quem nescio quo casu destitutum a suis repererunt) ecce nescio quis Gallus ex ipsis qui portum [12] illum regalem deseruerant, accusationem mittit adversum me; Me videlicet germanum ac naturalem Hispanum esse atque adeo ob scelera quædam in Gallia commissa, eo redire non audere. Hic capitaneus jam infensus, nimirum dato iracundiæ colore, proponit suis ecquid sentiant. Æquumne videatur me in littus ejicere ibique deserere? Valuit plurium opinio satius esse reducere me in Virginiam, atque ibi me infelici arbori, quam evaseram ex æquo et legibus, redonare. [13] Sic tunc evasi; sicque paulo post ad iter in Virginiam regressi sumus. Sed ecce biduo post tam sæva tempestas accidit, ut distractis navibus alii quid aliis acciderit nesciamus. Nostræ navis capitaneus postquam per tres ipse hebdomadas tempestatem sustinuit, jamque sibi plurima sed aquam maxime deesse vidit, nec esse spem Virginiæ diu repetendæ; consilium cepit refugiendi ad insulas portugalensium quas terceras appellant. Hoc capto consilio ego qui parato suspendio exemptus videbar rursum incido in majus discrimen ac vere majus, quandoquidem socios hic habebam discriminis. Angli sedecim cum ad insulas [14] illas appropinquarent cogitare cæperunt actum esse de se si nos sacerdotes et jesuitæ appareremus. Illico etenim a catholicis Lusitaniæ viris nos in libertatem vindicaremur. Ipsi contra veluti piratæ ac vexatores ecclesiasticorum poenas darent. Angebat eos hæc cura. Sed quid agerent? Nos ne darent in præceps? An occulere nos sufficeret? In hoc æstu et dubitatione vocat me capitaneus, remque proponit. Dico ei, mihi gravius malum non esse mortem quam esse aliis occasionem [15] mali. Si placeat ei nos occulere polliceor ei me latebras bona fide adjuturum. Quid immisit Deus in ejus mentem ut mihi crederet? Nescio certe; hoc scio quod si prævidisset pericula in quæ post incidit, non credidisset. Ergo occuluit nos in fundo navis: tribus hebdomadis solem non vidimus; sed ei tot difficultates in portu insulæ Faal inciderunt et toties visitata fuit trium hebdomadarum tempore navis, ut mirum sit quomodo non simus deprehensi. Sed hoc quoque providit Deus ad majorem laudam [_sc._ laudem] Societatis: manifeste namque Angli [16] ipsi viderunt quod si nos aperire ipsosque detegere voluissemus, in nostra id sæpe manu fuisset. Ipsi met postea sæpe ac coram ministris nostram fidem collaudarunt in Anglia ipsis admirantibus inimicis veritatis. His defuncti periculis, Angli constituerunt in Angliam redire potius quam in Virginiam quæ tanto distabat longius et ad quam repetendam deerant necessaria omnia. Ita in Angliam tetendimus. Longa fuit navigatio et varia: tandem caligine ac nubibus decepti recto [17] cursu decidimus inque Walliam non longe ab Hybernia delati sumus. In Wallia capitaneus noster cum ad urbem Pembrochium excendisset victus petendi causa ad certa quædam indicia velut pirata captus est ac detentus. Ille enim vero ut se liberaret negat se piratam; argumentumque innocentiæ suæ profert Jesuitas duos quos in navi haberet, quosque si placeat accersere ex ipsis cognosci posse veritatem. O artificium divinæ Providentiæ! Erat tunc hyems adulta, et omnia in navi deerant. Ideoque nisi nobis provisum fuisset et frigore ac malis peribamus. Quid multa? [18] Extemplo accersuntur Jesuitæ et in urbem mirantibus omnibus deducuntur. Jubemur pro testimonio dicere. Nos enim vero quæ vera erant proferimus, capitaneum scilicet nostrum officiarium esse regium non piratam, et quæ in nos fecisset parendi necessitate magis quam voluntate fecisse: Ita capitaneus noster liberatus est et nos cum ipso in urbe usquedum Londino responsum acciperetur perhumaniter retenti sumus. Diu expectatum est responsum, at nos interea sæpe cum ministris sæpius cum aliis disputavimus: licebat enim fere [19] omnibus adire nos; etsi nobis exire domo non licebat. Verum cætera omnia humaniter ut dixi tribuebant. Pembrochio denique jubemur Londinum navigare. Sed iter fuit longum. Otiosissimæque intercesserunt moræ quas ne usque percenseam hoc sufficiat dicere, anglici regis jussu nos ab itinere abductos esse ad urbem Dueram atque inde Caletum in Galliam missos. Caleti liberaliter accepti sumus a domino Gubernatore et decano urbis ac per tres dies recreati; hinc venimus Ambianium ubi nunc sumus.

Here a new peril arose. The English, as I have previously
stated, wished to go to the settlement of Sainte Croix, although
it had at this time no inhabitants. Some salt, however, had been
left there. No one except myself knew the way; and the English
knew that I had been there formerly. They accordingly demand that
I lead them. I do all I can to evade and refuse this proposal;
but [11] it avails me nothing. They perceive clearly that I am
unwilling to obey. At this the captain grows very angry, and my
peril becomes imminent; when suddenly they find the place, without
my help, and plunder and burn it. They, moreover, on this occasion
captured a savage, who guided them to Port Royal. Although this had
delivered me from one great danger, it nevertheless involved me in
another greater one. For after they had plundered and burnt Port
Royal (which by some inexplicable chance they had found abandoned
by its inhabitants), some Frenchman, one of those very men who
had deserted port [12] royal, brought an accusation against me,
which was nothing less than this: that I was a genuine, native
Spaniard; and that, on account of certain crimes committed in
France, I dared not return there. Hereupon, the captain, already
incensed against me, having found a fine pretext for his wrath,
asked his followers whether they did not think it would be just to
cast me forth on the shore and abandon me there. The opinion of
the majority prevailed, who thought it better to take me back to
Virginia, and there to return me to that unlucky tree which, in
accordance with law and justice, I had escaped. [13] Thus I escaped
death for the moment: and so we soon after started on our return
voyage to Virginia. But, two days later, so fearful a tempest arose
that the ships were separated, and none of us knew what became of
the others. The captain of our ship, after he had endured the storm
for three weeks, and had begun to run short of various necessaries,
particularly of fresh water, concluding that there was no hope
of getting back to Virginia for a long time, decided to run to
the portuguese islands called terceras [Azores]. Through this
decision I, who appeared to have escaped from the death by hanging
that awaited me, again found myself in a greater peril; greater I
may truly call it, since I had here companions in my danger. The
sixteen Englishmen, on approaching [14] these islands, began to
reflect that they were lost if we priests and jesuits appeared;
for we would be set at liberty on the instant by these Portuguese
catholics, and they, on the contrary, would be punished as pirates
and persecutors of priests. This anxiety troubled them. But what
were they to do? Should they throw us overboard, or would it
suffice to conceal us? In this embarrassment and uncertainty, the
captain sent for me, and laid the matter before me. I said to him
that death itself was not a greater evil, in my estimation, than to
be the occasion [15] of misfortune to others. I promised, in case
he chose to conceal us, that I would lend myself to this scheme in
good faith. With what idea did God inspire him, to make him believe
me? I know not, truly; but this I do know--that, if he had foreseen
the dangers into which he subsequently fell, he would not have
trusted me. Accordingly he hid us in the hold of the vessel; during
three weeks we did not behold the sun; but the captain encountered
so many difficulties in the port of the island Faal, and the vessel
was visited so frequently during this space of three weeks, that
it seems marvelous that we escaped detection. But this also God
purposed for the greater glory of the Society; for the English [16]
clearly saw that if we had wished to show ourselves, and to expose
them, it would frequently have been in our power to do so. They
themselves afterwards, when in England, often eulogized our good
faith in the presence of their ministers, and to the admiration
even of the enemies of the truth. Escaping from these perils, our
captors decided to return to England rather than to Virginia, which
was so much farther distant, and which was to be reached only by a
long voyage, for which they lacked all the necessaries. Accordingly
we set sail for England. Our voyage was a long one, and was marked
by many vicissitudes: finally, losing our bearings in the fog and
the cloudy weather [17] we deviated from the right course and were
carried to Wales, not far from Ireland. In Wales our captain,
having landed near the town of Pembroke to lay in provisions, was
seized and detained as a pirate, because of certain appearances
pointing that way. He, however, to recover his liberty, denied
being a pirate; and, as a proof of his innocence, he adduced the
fact that he had in his vessel two Jesuits from whose own lips they
could learn the truth, if they pleased to summon them. Oh skillful
hand of divine Providence! Winter was then fully upon us, and in
the ship we were in want of everything. Thus, had we not been
provided for, we should have died of cold and hardships. But what
need of a long story? [18] The Jesuits are at once summoned, and,
gazed at by all, are led into the town. We are ordered to give our
evidence. We, of course, attest what was perfectly true,--that our
captain was a royal officer and not a pirate, and that what he had
done to us had been done in obedience to orders, rather than from
his own free will. Accordingly, our captain was set at liberty; and
in company with him we were detained in the town, and very well
used, while awaiting orders from London. These were long delayed;
and in the interval we frequently engaged in arguments with the
ministers, and more frequently still with others,--for nearly every
one was permitted [19] to have access to us, although we were not
allowed to go out. In every other respect, as I have said, we
were very kindly treated. Finally we received orders to sail from
Pembroke to London. But the voyage proved a long one. Protracted
delays intervened; to avoid a long enumeration of these, let it
suffice to say that by order of the english king we were landed
at Dover, and thence sent to Calais in France. At Calais we were
hospitably received by the Governor and the dean of the city, and
rested three days; thence we came to Amiens, where we now are.

Tenuit nos captivitas nostra [20] per novem menses et dimidium. Semper in navi, nisi cum, uti dixi, excendimus ad Pembrochium. Tres menses fuimus: cum nobis in die non darentur nisi circiter unciæ duæ panis et non multum salsi piscis et aqua fere semper foetida; ideoque miramur quomodo in morbum non inciderimus. Quod pauci Anglorum evadere potuerunt, imo ejusdem etiam aliquot mortui sunt. Sed nimirum Deus nos custodivit placatus Vestræ Paternitatis ac totius Societatis precibus; faxit ipse pro sua bonitate ut id cedat ad majorem ipsius gloriam emendationemque morum meorum ac salutem. Hoc spero per preces ac [21] benedictionem Vestræ Paternitatis quam humillime et quanto affectu possum nixus genibus flagito. Dm[(u]s [Dominus] Jesus Vestram Paternitatem custodiat semper et Sanctissimis suis gratiis augeat, Pater optime et suavissime.

Vestræ Paternitatis
filius obediens ac servus indignus

PETRUS BIARD

Ambiani, 26 Maii, 1614.

We remained in captivity [20] during nine months and a half. We
were in the ship all the time, except when we landed at Pembroke,
as related. There were three months during which we daily received
only about two ounces of bread, and a small quantity of salt fish,
with water that was nearly always fetid; so that we marvel at not
having fallen sick. Few of the English escaped illness, and some of
them even died as the result. But God doubtless watched over us in
answer to the prayers of Your Paternity and of all our Society; may
he grant in his goodness that it result to his own greater glory
and in my salvation and better life. This I hope for, through the
prayers and [21] the blessing of Your Paternity, which, with all
possible humility and affection, I solicit on my knees. May the
Lord Jesus ever watch over Your Paternity and may our Father with
utmost goodness and favor increasingly bestow upon you his Most
Holy grace.

Your Paternity's
obedient son and unworthy servant,

PIERRE BIARD.

Amiens, May 26, 1614.

XIV

Biard's Relation de la Nouvelle France

LYONS: LOUIS MUGUET, 1616

SOURCE: Text is reprinted from the original, in Lenox Library; Title-page is photographic facsimile of original, in Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.

PECULIARITIES OF ORIGINAL: The text only, is paged. P. 191 is wrongly numbered, 181; p. 256 to the last page (340), are wrongly numbered, 263 to 338. Chap. xi. is wrongly numbered xii.; succeeding chapters are consecutively numbered therefrom, xiii., xiv., etc., except that Chap. xix. in this arrangement, is wrongly numbered xxi.; but this transposition of letters has not affected the numbering of subsequent chapters.

Chaps. i.-xxv. (correct numbering) are given in the present volume; the rest of this document will appear in Volume IV.

RELATION DE LA NOVVELLE FRANCE, DE SES TERRES, NATVREL DV Païs, & de
ses Habitans,

_ITEM_,

Du voyage des Peres Iesuites ausdictes contrées, & de ce qu'ils y ont
faict iusques à leur prinse par les Anglois.

_FAICTE_

Par le P. PIERRE BIARD, Grenoblois de la Compagnie de IESVS.

_A LYON_,
Chez LOVYS MVGVET, en
ruë Merciere.

_M. DCXVI._

Auec Priuilege du Roy.]

RELATION OF NEW FRANCE, OF ITS LANDS, NATURE OF THE COUNTRY, and of its
Inhabitants,

_ALSO_,

Of the voyage of the Jesuit Fathers to said country, and of their work
there up to the time of their capture by the English.

_WRITTEN_

By Father PIERRE BIARD, of Grenoble, of the Society of JESUS.

_LYONS_,
LOVYS MVGVET, ruë Merciere.
1616.

By Royal License.

[iii] Av Roy.

_SIRE,_

_Si ie presente à vostre Majesté ces Discours de vostre nouuelle France, la description du païs, & le recit des moeurs, & façons de faire estrange, & sauuage des Canadins: Ie suis obligé par toutes sortes de deuoir à ce faire. Son commandement expres, ioinct à celuy de la Royne vostre tres-honnorée mere lors Regente, m'y a porté, auec quelques miens Compagnons, plus fauorablement que le vent, & la marée, vostre liberalité Royale m'y a entretenu quelques années, & son authorité puissante m'a deliuré des mains de certains Corsaires Anglois, qui ennemis de nostre saincte_ [iv] _foy (de laquelle nous jettions quelque semence en ces Terres Neuues, auec esperance d'en faire vne moisson plantureuse, seul motif de nostre voyage, & de vostre iussion, SIRE,) nous ont faict quitter la place à nostre grand regret, & nous ont tenu comme prisonniers quelques moys dans leur vaisseau, & preparé cent fois la hart, & la potence pour nous faire perdre la vie: le seul respect de V. Majesté les ayant empeschez d'executer leurs mauuais desseings, particulierement sur ma personne, laquelle possible la diuine prouidence a voulu reseruer par l'entremise vostre, pour estre commandée derechef de faire voile aux mesmes contrées, & continuer la culture de ce peuple sauuage. Eschappé donc de ce danger, & tout mouïllé encores du naufrage sur le port de vostre France; i'offre à vos pieds ce peu de cayers, comme vne table de tres-humble recognoissance, que si i'escris, si ie vis, c'est (apres Dieu) par vostre moyen, & faueur, SIRE. Et_ [v] _ceste obligation signalée m'estant tousiours deuant les yeux, fera que ie prieray Dieu continuellement, auec tous ceux de ma robbe, que V. Majesté croissant d'aage, & de zele puisse vn iour arborer l'estendart de la Croix auec ses fleurs de lys Royales, aux terres plus escartées des Infideles: tandis que ce grand Roy des Roys luy prepare au Ciel vne couronne tissuë d'honneur, & de gloire perpetuelle, que ie vous souhaitte, apres auoir porté la vostre en terre longuement, & heureusement; de mesme coeur, & affection que ie suis, De vostre Majesté,_

Tres-humble, & tres-obeïssant
subject, & seruiteur,
PIERRE BIARD.

[iii] To the King.

_SIRE,_

_If I present to your Majesty these Discourses upon your new
France, the description of the country, and the account of the
manners and strange and barbarous ways of the Canadians, I am bound
to do it by every consideration of duty. Your express command,
with that of the Queen, your highly esteemed mother, then Regent,
carried me and some of my Companions thither more propitiously
than wind and tide; your Royal generosity supported me there for
some years; and your mighty authority delivered me from the hands
of certain English Pirates, enemies of our holy_ [iv] _faith, (of
which we cast some seeds in this New World, with the hope of one
day having a plentiful harvest, sole object of our voyage and of
your royal command, SIRE,) they compelled us to leave the place,
to our great regret, and held us prisoners several months in their
ship, and a hundred times prepared the rope and the gallows for
our execution; respect for Your Majesty alone having prevented
them from carrying out their wicked designs, particularly upon my
person, which possibly divine providence has wished to preserve
through your agency, to be again ordered to sail away to the same
country, and to continue the education of this barbarous people.
Delivered now from this danger, and still wet from the shipwreck
in the port of your France, I lay at your feet this little book
as an evidence of very humble gratitude that, if I am living and
writing, it is due (after God) to your help and favor, SIRE. And_
[v] _this signal obligation, being always before my eyes, will
cause me to pray God continually, with all those of my order, that,
as Your Majesty's years and zeal increase, you may one day plant
the standard of the Cross with its Royal fleurs de lys upon the
most distant Infidel lands, while the great King of Kings prepares
for you in Heaven a crown of honor and of everlasting glory, which
I wish for you, after having worn your crown upon earth long and
happily, with the same love and devotion from which I am your
Majesty's_

Very humble and very obedient
subject and servant,
PIERRE BIARD.

[vi] Avant-Propos.

A GRANDE raison (amy Lecteur) vn des plus anci[~e]s Prophetes, nous depeignant mystiquement soubs le sensible, & historial degast de la Iudée, les horribles rauages, exterminations, & ruines, que Satan opere, où sa fureur peut auoir le domaine, a dit emphatiquement; _Au deuant de luy la terre est vn Paradis de delices, & derriere luy la solitude d'vn desert._ Car certes, qui iettera ses yeux sur tout le vaste contour de la terre, & y considerera les nations illuminées du Soleil de Iustice, nostre Sauueur IESVS-CHRIST, arrousées de son sang, & precieux Sacrement; nourries de sa grace & parole; viuifiées, & resiouyes de son [vii] esprit; cultiuées, & regies de ses diuins Offices, honnorées de son oracle, & presence réelle; Qui, dy-ie, contemplera cecy, aura grãde occasion de s'escrier, _Qu'au deuant du destructeur infernal_, Et, _où il ne peut atteindre; la terre est vn Paradis de delices_, ou toutes benedictions, mesmement temporelles, & seculiere felicité accompagn[~e]t les peuples; estant planté au milieu d'eux, le vray arbre de vie, nostre Redempteur Iesus-Christ. Mais au contraire, si lon destourne la veuë, & que lon regarde derriere ce maudit tyran, Lucifer, & par où il a peu exercer ses intolerables cruautez, on ne trouuera que destructions & solitudes, cris & lamentations, que desolatiõ, & ombre de mort. Ores il n'est ja besoin, que nous sortions hors de nostre hemisphere, pour voir à l'oeil, & recognoistre [viii] ceste verité; La Grece, & la Palestine, jadis vn bel Eden, auiourd'huy vn pitoyable desert nous sont deuant les yeux. Que s'il vous plaist que nous nous regardions nous mesmes, pour, touchãt à la main cela mesme, rendre loüange au liberal donateur de nos biens: Ie vous prie suiuons ce Soleil corporel, qui nous esclaire, & l'accompagnons en son couchant, pour sçauoir, à qui par droicte ligne de nous, il va donner le bon iour au delà de nostre Ocean, nous ayant icy recommandé au repos de la nuict. C'est la nouuelle France, ceste nouuelle terre, dy-ie, descouuerte premierement au dernier siecle, par nos François, terre iumelle auec la nostre, subiecte à mesmes influences, rangée en mesme parallele, située en mesme climat; terre vaste, & pour ainsi dire, infinie: [ix] terre que nous saluons, regardans nostre Soleil en son vespre: terre cependant, de laquelle vous pourrez meritoirement dire, si vous considerez Satan en front, & venant de l'Occident pour nous abbatre: _Deuant luy est vn Paradis de delices, & derriere luy la solitude d'vn desert_: Car en pure verité toute ceste region, quoy que capable de mesme felicité que nous, toutefois par malice de Satan, qui y regne, n'est qu'vn horrible desert, nõ guiere moins calamiteux pour la malencontreuse disette des biens corporels, que pour celle, qui absoluëment rend les hommes miserables, l'extreme nudité des parements, & richesses de l'ame: & ne faut ja en accuser le sol, ou malignité de la terre, l'air, ou les eaux, les hommes, ou leurs humeurs: Nous sommes tous faicts, & releuons de mesmes principes: [x] Nous respirons soubs mesme eleuation de pole, mesmes constellations nous temperent: & ne croy point, que la terre, laquelle produit là d'aussi hauts, & beaux arbres que les nostres, ne produisist d'aussi belles moissons, si elle estoit cultiuée, D'où vient donc vne si grande diuersité? d'où ce tant inegal partage de bon, & mal heur? de jardin & desert? de Paradis, & d'Enfer? Que m'interrogerez-vous? Interrogez celuy, qui du Ciel aduisoit son peuple, de considerer ceste tant opposite diuision entre Esaü & Iacob, freres iumeaux, & comme cestuy-là estoit logé en l'air auec les dragõs, & bestes sauuages; & cestuy-cy en la moüelle, & mammelle de la terre auec les Anges.

[vi] Preface.

VERY appropriately (dear Reader) one of the earlier Prophets,
depicting to us allegorically, under the visible and historical
downfall of Judah, the horrible ravages, exterminations, and ruin
wrought by Satan, where his fury can have full sway, has said
emphatically: _Before him the land is a Garden of pleasure, and
behind him a desolate wilderness._ For truly, whoever will cast
his eyes over all the vast circumference of the earth, and will
consider the nations thereof which are illuminated by the Sun
of Justice, our Savior JESUS CHRIST; bedewed with his blood and
precious Sacrament; nourished by his grace and word; animated and
gladdened by his [vii] spirit; enlightened and governed by his
divine Offices, honored by his utterances and actual presence;
whoever, I say, will contemplate this, will have great reason to
cry out, _Beyond the infernal destroyer_, and, _Where he does not
extend, the earth is a Garden of delight_, where all blessings,
even temporal and worldly happiness, follow the people, the real
tree of life, our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, being planted in their
midst. On the contrary, if we turn aside our gaze, and look behind
this cursed tyrant, Lucifer, and upon the places where he has
exercised his intolerable cruelties, we shall find only destruction
and solitude, cries and lamentations, only desolation and the
shadow of death. Now we need not go out from our own hemisphere to
see and recognize [viii] this truth; Greece and Palestine confront
us, formerly as beautiful as Eden, to-day a mournful desert; but if
you wish that we should look upon our own country, that, having a
striking proof thereof, we may render praise to the liberal giver
of our blessings; I pray you let us follow this corporal Sun, which
gives us light, and accompany it to its setting, to learn to whom,
in a direct line from us, it goes forth to give good day across our
Ocean, leaving us here to the stillness of the night. It is new
France, this new land, first discovered in the last century, by our
countrymen, a twin land with ours, subject to the same influences,
lying in the same latitude, and having the same climate; a vast
country, and so to speak, infinite; [ix] a country which we greet,
facing our Sun at eventide: a land moreover, of which you may well
say, if you consider Satan opposite and coming up from the West
to smite us; _A Garden of delight lies before him, behind him a
solitary wilderness._ For verily all this region, though capable
of the same prosperity as ours, nevertheless through Satan's
malevolence, which reigns there, is only a horrible wilderness,
scarcely less miserable on account of the scarcity of bodily
comforts than for that which renders man absolutely miserable, the
complete lack of the ornaments and riches of the soul; and neither
the sun, nor malice of the soil, neither the air nor the water,
neither men nor their caprices, are to be blamed for this. We are
all created by and dependent upon the same principles: [x] We
breathe under the same sky; the same constellations influence us;
and I do not believe that the land, which produces trees as tall
and beautiful as ours, will not produce as fine harvests, if it be
cultivated. Whence, then, comes such great diversity? Whence such
an unequal division of happiness and of misfortune? of garden and
of wilderness? of Heaven and of Hell? Why do you ask me? Ask him,
who from Heaven counsels his people, to consider the so opposite
division between Esau and Jacob, twin brothers, the former cast out
to dwell with dragons and wild beasts; the latter in the lap and
bosom of the earth with the Angels.

Ceste consideration de vray est puissante, & deuroit occuper d'admiration tous nos sentimens, [xi] nous retenãt en vne pieuse crainte, & affectiõnée volonté de communiquer charitablement ce comble de bi[~e] du Christianisme; qui nous vient si gratuitement au rencontre: Car autrement certes il est facile à nostre benin Pere de croiser ses bras comme fit Iacob, & mettre sa dextre sur le puysné, & sa gauche sur le plus grand. O mon Dieu! où est icy l'ambition des Grands? où la contention des forts? où la monstre des riches? où l'effort des vertueux? y a-il champ de Marathon, ou lices Olympiques plus propres aux courageux? où est-ce que la gloire d'vn Chrestien le peut esleuer plus heureusement, que où elle apporteroit la felicité corporelle tout ensemble, & la spirituelle à ses consorts; & ou comme grand outil de Dieu, il feroit d'vn desert vn Paradis? où [xii] il dompteroit les Monstres infernaux, & introduiroit la police, & la milice du ciel en terre? où les generations, & generations à milliers, & iusques aux derniers siecles beniroyent son nom & memoire sans cesse, & le ciel mesme (qui se peupleroit de ses bi[~e]faits) se resiouyroit des graces, & benedictions, versées dessus luy?

This consideration is certainly powerful, and ought to inspire all
our sentiments with admiration, [xi] keeping us in pious fear, and
in loving desire to benevolently impart this highest of all the
blessings of Christianity, which comes to us so gratuitously and
of its own accord. For otherwise it is certainly easy for our kind
Father to cross his hands as did Jacob, and put his right upon the
younger, and his left upon the elder. Oh, my God! where is here the
ambition of the Great? where, the contention of the strong? where,
the display of the rich? where, the endeavor of the virtuous?
is there a field of Marathon, or are there Olympian games, more
fitting to the brave? Where can the glory of a Christian more
successfully ennoble him, than there where it brings both bodily
and spiritual happiness to his brethren; and where, as one of God's
great instruments, he would make a Garden out of the wilderness;
where [xii] he would subjugate satanic Monsters, and would
introduce the order and discipline of heaven upon earth; where
generations upon generations, by thousands and to the remotest
ages, would forever bless his name and memory, and heaven itself
(which would be peopled by his good deeds) would rejoice at the
thanksgivings and blessings bestowed upon him.

Or c'est (amy Lecteur) l'ardent desir, & zele de voir ceste nouuelle France, que ie dy, cõquise à nostre Seigneur: qui m'a fait prendre la plume en main pour vous depeindre briefuement, & en toute verité ce que i'ay recogneu de ses cõtrées. Il y a quatre ans, que i'y fus enuoyé pas mes Superieurs: &, Dieu punissant mes pechez, i'en ay esté despuis enleué par les Anglois, ainsi que ie raconteray cy-apres.

Now (dear Reader) it is this my eagerness and ardent desire to
see this new France converted to our Lord, which has made me take
my pen in hand to describe to you briefly, and in all truth, what I
have found out about these lands. It is four years since I was sent
there by my Superiors; and, as God's punishment for my sins, I was
taken away from there by the English, as I shall relate hereafter.

Relation de la Novvelle France, et le Voyage des Peres Iesvites en icelle.

CHAPITRE I.

[1] QUEL PAÏS EST LA NOUUELLE FRANCE, & CEUX QUI PREMIEREMENT L'ONT VOULU HABITER.

NOVS appellons Nouuelle France; les terres, & païs de l'Amerique, ou Indes Occidentales, qui sont à l'autre bord de l'Ocean de Guienne, vers le Soleil couchant, opposites à nous, & droictement correspondantes en mesme ligne de l'Orient à l'Occident. [2] On leur a imposé ce nom de Nouuelle France, pour deux raisons principalement. La premiere, d'autant que (comme i'ay dit) ces terres sont paralleles à nostre France, n'y ayant rien entre la Guienne & ces dictes contrées, sinon nostre mer d'Occident, large en son plus estroict, de huict cens lieües & d'auantage; En son plus ample peu moins de mille lieües ou enuiron. La seconde raison est d'autant que ce païs a esté premierement descouuert par les François Bretons, l'an 1504. Il y ja cent & onze ans; Et qui despuis n'ont cessé de la frequenter. Les Normans de mesme ont contribué à ce trauail des premiers; entre lesquels nous lisons, que le Capitaine Thomas Aubert, Dieppois y fit voile, l'an 1508. & en ramena des Sauuages du païs, lesquels il fit voir auec admiration, [3] & applaudissement à la France. Deux ans auant luy le Capitaine Ieã Denys de Honfleur auoit fait la mesme descouuerte; Mais par ce qu'il n'en auoit rapporté que des poissons, & des cartes Geographiques, son renom en est demeuré plus obscur, que de Thomas Aubert. Depuis l'an 1523. Iean Verazan courut toute la coste, dés la Floride iusques au Cap Breton, & en prit possession au nom de François I. son maistre. Ie croy que ç'a esté ce Iean Verazan, qui a esté le Parrain de ceste denomination de Nouuelle France: Parce que Canada, (duquel nom aussi on l'appelle communement) n'est point à proprement parler toute ceste tenuë de païs, qu'ores on nõme Nouuelle France; Ains est celle tant seulement, laquelle s'estend au long des riuages du grand Fleuue Canadas, & [4] le Gelfe de S. Laurens; qui n'est seulement, que la partie la plus Septentrionale de la Nouuelle France; ainsi qu'il vous appert par la carte Geographique, que nous vous apposons icy.

Relation of New France, and the Jesuit Fathers' Voyage to that
country.