Chapter XVI: Preface (5)

During this fit of passion one of the savages observed an _Agnus Dei_, which he had attached to his neck, and asked what it was that he had thus attached to his neck, and was on the point of seizing it and pulling it off. But Brule said to him, with resolute words, If you take it and put me to death, you will find that immediately after you will suddenly die, and all those of your house. He paid no attention however to this, but continuing in his malicious purpose tried to seize the _Agnus Dei_ and tear it from him, all of them together being desirous of putting him to death, but previously of making him suffer great pain and torture, such as they generally practise upon their enemies.

But God, showing him mercy, was pleased not to allow it, but in his providence caused the heavens to change suddenly from the serene and fair state they were in to darkness, and to become filled with great and thick clouds, upon which followed thunders and lightnings so violent and long continued that it was something strange and awful. This storm caused the savages such terror, it being not only unusual but unlike anything they had ever heard, that their attention was diverted and they forgot the evil purpose they had towards Brule, their prisoner. They accordingly left him without even unbinding him, as they did not dare to approach him. This gave the sufferer an opportunity to use gentle words, and he appealed to them and remonstrated with them on the harm they were doing him without cause, and set forth to them how our God was enraged at them for having so abused him.

The captain then approached Brule, unbound him, and took him to his house, where he took care of him and treated his wounds. After this there were no dances, banquets, or merry-makings to which Brule was not invited.

So after remaining some time with these savages, he determined to proceed towards our settlement.

Taking leave of them, he promised to restore them to harmony with the French and their enemies, and cause them to swear friendship with each other, to which end he said he would return to them as soon as he could. Thence he went to the country and village of the Atinouaentans, [224] where I had already been; the savages at his departure having conducted him for a distance of four days' journey from their village. Here Brule remained some time, when, resuming his journey towards us he came by way of the _Mer Douce_, [225] boating along its northern shores for some ten days, where I had also gone when on my way to the war.

And if Brule had gone further on to explore these regions, as I had directed him to do, it would not have been a mere rumor that they were preparing war with one another. But this undertaking was reserved to another time, which he promised me to continue and accomplish in a short period with God's grace, and to conduct me there that I might obtain fuller and more particular knowledge.

After he had made this recital, I gave him assurance that his services would be recognized, and encouraged him to continue his good purpose until our return, when we should have more abundant means to do that with which he would be satisfied. This is now the entire narrative and recital of his journey from the time he left me [226] to engage in the above-mentioned explorations; and it afforded me pleasure in the prospect thereby presented me of being better able to continue and promote them.

With this purpose he took leave of me to return to the savages, an intimate acquaintance with whom had been acquired by him in his journeys and explorations. I begged him to continue with them until the next year, when I would return with a good number of men, both to reward him for his labors, and to assist as in the past the savages, his friends, in their wars.

Resuming the thread of my former discourse, I must note that in my last and preceding voyages and explorations I had passed through numerous and diverse tribes of savages not known to the French nor to those of our settlement, with whom I had made alliances and sworn friendship, on condition that they should come and trade with us, and that I should assist them in their wars; for it must be understood that there is not a single tribe living in peace, excepting the Nation Neutre. According to their promise, there came from the various tribes of savages recently discovered some trade in peltry, others to see the French and ascertain what kind of treatment and welcome would be shown them. This encouraged everybody, the French on the one hand to show them cordiality and welcome, for they honored them with some attentions and presents, which the agents of the merchants gave to gratify them; on the other hand, it encouraged the savages, who promised all the French to come and live in future in friendship with them, all of them declaring that they would deport themselves with such affection towards us that we should have occasion to commend them, while we in like manner were to assist them to the extent of our power in their wars.

The trading having been concluded, and the savages having taken their leave and departed, we left Trois Rivieres on the 14th of July of this year. The next day we arrived at our quarters at Quebec, where the barques were unloaded of the merchandise which had remained over from the traffic and which was put in the warehouse of the merchants at that place.

Now Sieur de Pont Grave went to Tadoussac with the barques in order to load them and carry to the habitation the provisions necessary to support those who were to remain and winter there, and I determined while the barques were thus engaged to continue there for some days in order to have the necessary fortifications and repairs made.

At my departure from the settlement I took leave of the holy Fathers, Sieur de la Mothe, and all the others who were to stay there, giving them to expect that I would return, God assisting, with a good number of families to people the country. I embarked on the 26th of July, together with the Fathers Paul and Pacifique, [227] the latter having wintered here once and the other having been here a year and a half, who were to make a report of what they had seen in the country and of what could be done there. We set out on the day above mentioned from the settlement for Tadoussac, where we were to embark for France. We arrived the next day and found our vessels ready to set sail. We embarked, and left Tadoussac for France on the 13th of the month of July, 1618, and arrived at Honfleur on the 28th day of August, the wind having been favorable, and all being in good spirits.

ENDNOTES:

201. Champlain made a voyage to New France in 1617, but appears to have
kept no journal of its events. He simply observes that nothing
occurred worthy of remark. _Vide_ issue of 1632, Quebec ed., p. 969.
Sagard gives a brief narrative of the events that occurred that
year. Vol. I. pp. 34-44.

202. Eustache Boulle. His father was Nicolas Boulle, Secretary of the
King's Chamber, and his mother was Marguerite Alix. _Vide_ Vol. I.
p. 205 _et passim_.

203. Nicolas de La Mothe, or de la Motte le Vilin. He had been Lieutenant
of Saussaye in 1613, when Capt. Argall captured the French colony at
Mount Desert. _Vide Les Voyages de Champlain_, 1632, Quebec ed.,
p. 773; _Relation de la Nouvelle France_, Pere Biard, p. 64.

204. _Fauquets_. Probably the common Tern, or Sea Swallow. _Sterna
hirundo_. Peter Kalm, on his voyage in 1749, says "Terns, _sterna
hirundo, Linn_, though of a somewhat darker colour than the common
ones, we found after the forty-first degree of north latitude and
forty-seventh degree of west longitude from _London_, very
plentifully, and sometimes in flocks of some hundreds; sometimes they
settled, as if tired, on our ship." _Kalm's Travels_, 1770,
Vol. I. p. 23.

205. St. John's day was June 24th.

206. According to Sagard they were assassinated about the middle of April,
1617. _Hist. Canada_, Vol. I. p. 42.

207. Sagard says the French, on account of this affair, were menaced by
eight hundred savages of different nations who were assembled at Trois
Rivieres. _Vide Histoire du Canada_, 1636, Vol. I. p.42. The
statement, "on estoit menace de huict cens Sauvages de diuerse
nations, qui festoient assemblez es Trois Rivieres a dessein de venir
surprendre les Francois & leur coupper a tous la gorge, pour preuenir
la vengeance qu'ils eussent pu prendre de deux de leurs hommes tuez
par les Montagnais environ la my Auril de l'an 1617," is, we think,
too strong. The savages were excited and frightened by the demands of
the French, who desired to produce upon their minds a strong moral
impression, in order to prevent a recurrence of the murder, which was
a private thing, in which the great body of the savages had no part.
They could not be said to be hostile, though they prudently put
themselves in a state of defence, as, under the circumstances, it was
very natural they should do.

208. They were then at Trois Rivieres.

209. The moat around the habitation at Quebec was fifteen feet wide and six
feet deep, constructed with a drawbridge to be taken up in case of
need. _Vide_ Vol II p. 182.

210. Probably Pere le Caron, who was in charge of the mission at Quebec at
that time.

211. _Vide Histoire du Canada_, par Sagard, 1636, Vol. I. p 45.

212. They arrived on St. John's day, _antea, note 205_, and consequently
this was the 25th of June, 1618.

213. Jean d'Olbeau.

214. Frere Modeste Guines. _Vide Histoire du Canada_, par Sagard, a Paris,
1636, Vol. I.p. 40.

215. Joseph le Caron, Paul Huet, and Pacifique du Plessis.

216. Louis Hebert, an apothecary, settled at Port Royal in La Cadie or Nova
Scotia, under Poutrincourt, was there when, in 1613, possession was
taken in the name of Madame de Guercheville. He afterward took up his
abode at Quebec with his family, probably in the year 1617. His eldest
daughter Anne was married at Quebec to Estienne Jonquest, a Norman,
which was the first marriage that took place with the ceremonies of
the Church in Canada. His daughter Guillemette married William
Couillard, and to her Champlain committed the two Indian girls, whom
he was not permitted by Kirke to take with him to France, when Quebec
was captured by the English in 1629. Louis Hebert died at Quebec on
the 25th of January, 1627. _Histoire du Canada_, Vol. I. pp. 41, 591.

217. These fields were doubtless those of Louis Hebert, who was the first
that came into the country with his family to live by the cultivation
of the soil.

218. Platon. _Vide_ Vol. 1., note 155.

219. Champlain says, _donne charge d'aller vers les Entouhonorons a
Carantouan_. By reference to the map of 1632. it will be seen that the
Entouhonorons were situated on the southern borders of Lake Ontario.
They are understood by Champlain to be a part at least of the
Iroquois; but the Carantouanais, allies of the Hurons, were south of
them, occupying apparently the upper waters of the Susquehanna. A
dotted line will be seen on the same map, evidently intended to mark
the course of Brule's journey. From the meagre knowledge which
Champlain possessed of the region, the line can hardly be supposed to
be very accurate, which may account for Champlain's indefinite
expression as cited at the beginning of this note.

The Entouhonorons, Quentouoronons, Tsonnontouans, or Senecas
constituted the most western and most numerous canton of the Five
Nations. _Vide Continuation of the New Discovery_, by Louis Hennepin,
1699, p. 95; also Origin of the name Seneca in Mr. O. H. Marshall's
brochure on _De la Salle among the Senecas_, pp. 43-45.

220. _Vide antea_, p. 124.

221. The River Susquehanna.

222. He appears to have gone as far south at least as the upper waters of
Chesapeake Bay.

223. The Dutch fur-traders. _Vide History of the State of New York_ by John
Romeyn Brodhead, Vol. I. p. 44 _et passim_.

224. Attigonantans or Attignaouantans the principal tribe of the Hurons,
sometimes called _Les bons Iroquis_, as they and the Iroquois were of
the same original stock. _Vide_ Vol. I. p. 276, note 212.

225. Lake Huron. For the different names which have been attached to this
lake, _vide Local Names of Niagara Frontier_, by Orsamus H. Marshall,
1881, P. 37.

226. Brule was despatched on his mission Sept 8, 1615. _Vide antea_,
p. 124.

As we have already stated in a previous note, it was the policy of
Champlain to place competent young men with the different tribes of
savages to obtain that kind of information which could only come from
an actual and prolonged residence with them. This enabled him to
secure not only the most accurate knowledge of their domestic habits
and customs, the character and spirit of their life, but these young
men by their long residence with the savages acquired a good knowledge
of their language, and were able to act as interpreters. This was a
matter of very great importance, as it was often necessary for
Champlain to communicate with the different tribes in making treaties
of friendship, in discussing questions of war with their enemies, in
settling disagreements among themselves, and in making arrangements
with them for the yearly purchase of their peltry. It was not easy to
obtain suitable persons for this important office. Those who had the
intellectual qualifications, and who had any high aspirations, would
not naturally incline to pass years in the stupid and degrading
associations, to say nothing of the hardships and deprivations, of
savage life. They were generally therefore adventurers, whose honesty
and fidelity had no better foundation than their selfish interests. Of
this sort was this Etienne Brule, as well as Nicholas Marsolet and
Pierre Raye, all of whom turned traitors, selling themselves to the
English when Quebec was taken in 1629. Of Brule, Champlain uses the
following emphatic language: "Le truchement Brusle a qui l'on donnoit
cent pistolles par an, pour inciter les sauuages a venir a la traitte,
ce qui estoit de tres-mauuais exemple, d'enuoyer ainsi des personnes
si maluiuans, que l'on eust deub chastier seuerement, car l'on
recognoissoit cet homme pour estre fort vicieux, & adonne aux femmes;
mais que ne fait faire l'esperance du gain, qui passe par dessus
toutes considerations." _Vide issue of_ 1632, Quebec ed., pp. 1065,
1229.

But among Champlain's interpreters there were doubtless some who bore
a very different character. Jean Nicolet was certainly a marked
exception. Although Champlain does not mention him by name, he appears
to have been in New France as early as 1618, where he spent many years
among the Algonquins, and was the first Frenchman who penetrated the
distant Northwest. He married into one of the most respectable
families of Quebec, and is often mentioned in the Relations des
Jesuites. _Vide_ a brief notice of him in _Discovery and Exploration
of the Mississippi Valley_, by John Gilmary Shea, 1852, p. xx. A full
account of his career has recently been published, entitled _History
of the Discovery of the Northwest by John Nicolet in_ 1634, _with a
Sketch of his Life_. By C. W. Butterfield. Cincinnati, 1881. _Vide_
also _Details fur la Vie de Jean Nicollet_, an extract from _Relation
des Jesuites_, 1643, in _Decouveries_, etc, par Pierre Margry, p. 49.

227. Paul Huet and Pacifique du Plessis. The latter had been in New France
more than a year and a half, having arrived in 1615. _Vide antea_,
pp. 104-5.

EXPLANATION OF TWO GEOGRAPHICAL MAPS OF NEW FRANCE.

It has seemed to me well to make some statements in explanation of the two geographical maps. Although one corresponds to the other so far as the harbors, bays, capes, promontories, and rivers extending into the interior are concerned, nevertheless they are different in respect to the bearings.

The smallest is in its true meridian, in accordance with the directions of Sieur de Castelfranc in his book on the mecometry of the magnetic needle [228] where I have noted, as will be seen on the map, several declinations, which have been of much service to me, so also all the altitudes, latitudes, and longitudes, from the forty-first degree of latitude to the fifty-first, in the direction of the North Pole, which are the confines of Canada, or the Great Bay, where more especially the Basques and Spaniards engage in the whale fishery. In certain places in the great river St. Lawrence, in latitude 45 deg., I have observed the declination of the magnetic needle, and found it as high as twenty-one degrees, which is the greatest I have seen.

The small map will serve very well for purposes of navigation, provided the needle be applied properly to the rose [229] indicating the points of the compass. For instance, in using it, when one is on the Grand Bank where fresh fishing is carried on, it is necessary, for the sake of greater convenience, to take a rose where the thirty-two points are marked equally, and put the point of the magnetic needle 12, 15, or 16 degrees from the _fleur de lis_ on the northwest side, which is nearly a point and a half, that is north a point northwest or a little more, from the _fleur de lis_ of said rose, and then adjust the rose to the compass. By this means the latitudes of all the capes, harbors, and rivers can be accurately ascertained.

I am aware that there are many who will not make use of it, but will prefer to run according to the large one, since it is made according to the compass of France, where the magnetic needle varies to the northeast, for the reason that they are so accustomed to this method that it is difficult for them to change. For this reason I have prepared the large map in this manner, for the assistance of the majority of the pilots and mariners in the waters of New France, fearing that if I had not done so, they would have ascribed to me a mistake, not knowing whence it proceeded. For the small plans or charts of Newfoundland are, for the most part, different in all their statements with respect to the positions of the lands and their latitudes. And those who may have some small copies, reasonably good, esteem them so valuable that they do not communicate a knowledge of them to their country, which might derive profit therefrom.

Now the construction of these maps is such that they have their meridian in a direction north-northeast, making west west-northwest, which is contrary to the true meridian of this place, namely, to call north-northeast north, for the needle instead of varying to the northwest, as it should, varies to the northeast as if it were in France. The consequence of this is that error has resulted, and will continue to do so, since this antiquated custom is practised, which they still retain, although they fall into grave mistakes.

They also make use of a compass marked north and south; that is, so that the point of the magnetic needle is directly on the _fleur de lis_. In accordance with such a compass many construct their small maps, which seems to me the better way, and so approach nearer to the true meridian of New France, than the compasses of France proper, which point to the northeast. It has come about, consequently, in this way that the first navigators who sailed to New France thought there was no greater deviation in going to these parts than to the Azores, or other places near France, where the deviation is almost imperceptible in navigation, the navigators having the compasses of France, which point northeast and represent the true meridian. In sailing constantly westward with the purpose of reaching a certain latitude, they laid their course directly west by their compass, supposing that they were sailing on the one parallel where they wished to go. By thus going constantly in a straight line and not in a circle, as all the parallels on the surface of the globe run, they found after having traversed a long distance, and as they were approaching the land, that they were some three, four, or five degrees farther south than they ought to be, thus being deceived in their true latitude and reckoning.

It is true, indeed, that, when the weather was fair and the sun clearly visible, they corrected their latitude, but not without wondering how it happened that their course was wrong, which arose in consequence of their sailing in a straight instead of a circular line according to the parallel, so that in changing their meridian they changed with regard to the points of the compass, and consequently their course. It is, therefore, very necessary to know the meridian, and the declination of the magnetic needle, for this knowledge can serve all navigators. This is especially so in the north and south, where there are greater variations in the magnetic needle, and where the meridians of longitude are smaller, so that the error, if the declination were not known, would be greater. This above-mentioned error has accordingly arisen, because navigators have either not cared to correct it, or did not know how to do so, and have left it in the state in which it now is. It is consequently difficult to abandon this manner of sailing in the regions of New France.

This has led me to make this large map, not only that it might be more minute than the small one, but also in order to satisfy navigators, who will thus be able to sail as they do according to their small maps; and they will excuse me for not making it better and more in detail, for the life of a man is not long enough to observe things so exactly that at least something would not be found to have been omitted. Hence inquiring and pains-taking persons will, in sailing, observe things not to be found on this map, but which they add to it, so that in the course of time there will be no doubt as to any of the localities indicated. At least it seems to me that I have done my duty, so far as I could, not having sailed to put on my map anything that I have seen, and thus giving to the public special knowledge of what had never been described, nor so carefully explored as I have done it. Although in the past others have written of these things, yet very little in comparison with what we have explored within the past ten years.

MODE OF DETERMINING A MERIDIAN LINE.

Take a small piece of board, perfectly level, and place in the middle a needle C, three inches high, so that it shall be exactly perpendicular. Expose it to the sun before noon, at 8 or 9 o'clock, and mark the point B at the end of the shadow cast by the needle. Then opening the compasses, with one point on C and the other on the shadow B, describe an arc AB. Leave the whole in this position until afternoon when you see the shadow just reaching the arc at A. Then divide equally the arc AB, and taking a rule, and placing it on the points C and D, draw a line running the whole length of the board, which is not to be moved until the observation is completed. This line will be the meridian of the place you are in.

And in order to ascertain the declination of the place where you are with reference to the meridian, place a compass, which must be rectangular, along the meridian line, as shown in the figure above, there being upon the card a circle divided into 360 degrees. Divide the circle by two diametrical lines; one representing the north and south, as indicated by EF, the other the east and west, as indicated by GH. Then observe the magnetic needle turning on its pivot upon the card, and you will see how much it deviates from the fixed meridian line upon the card, and how many degrees it varies to the northeast of northwest.

CHAMPLAIN'S LARGE MAP.

GEOGRAPHICAL CHART OF NEW FRANCE, MADE BY SIEUR DE CHAMPLAIN OF SAINTONGE, CAPTAIN IN ORDINARY FOR THE KING IN THE MARINE. MADE IN THE YEAR 1612.

I have made this map for the greater convenience of the majority of those who navigate on these coasts, since they sail to that country according to compasses arranged for the hemisphere of Asia. And if I had made it like the small one, the majority would not have been able to use it, owing to their not knowing the declinations of the needle. [230]

Observe that on the present map north-northeast stands for north, and west-northwest for west; according to which one is to be guided in ascertaining the elevation of the degrees of latitude, as if these points were actually east and west, north and south, since the map is constructed according to the compasses of France, which vary to the northeast. [231]

SOME DECLINATIONS OF THE MAGNETIC NEEDLE, WHICH I HAVE CAREFULLY OBSERVED.

Cap Breton . . . . . . 14 deg. 50' Cap de la Have . . . . 16 deg. 15' Baye Ste Mane . . . . 17 deg. 16' Port Royal . . . . . . 17 deg. 8' En la grande R. St Laurent 21 deg.

St Croix . . . . . . . 17 deg. 32' Riviere de Norumbegue. 18 deg. 40' Quinibequi . . . . . . 19 deg. 12' Mallebarre . . . . . . 18 deg. 40'

All observed by Sieur de Champlain, 1612.

REFERENCES ON CHAMPLAIN'S LARGE MAP.

A. Port Fortune.
B. Baye Blanche.
C. Baye aux Isles.
D. Cap des Isles.
E. Port aux Isles.
F. Isle Haute.
G. Isle des Monts Deserts.
H. Cap Corneille.
I. Isles aux Oiseaux.
K. Cap des Deux Bayes.
L. Port aux Mines
M. Cap Fourchu.
N. Cap Negre.
O. Port du Rossignol.
P. St. Laurent.
Q. Riviere de l'Isle Verte.
R. Baye Saine.
S. Riviere Sainte Marguerite
T. Port Sainte Helene.
V. Isle des Martires.
X. Isles Rangees.
Y. Port de Savalette.
Z. Passage du Glas.

1. Port aux Anglois.
2. Baye Courante.
3. Cap de Poutrincourt.
4. Isle Gravee.
5. Passage Courant.
6. Baye de Gennes.
7. Isle Perdue.
8. Cap des Mines.
9. Port aux Coquilles.
10. Isles Jumelles.
11. Cap Saint Jean.
12. Isle la Nef.
13. La Heronniere Isle.
14. Isles Rangees.
15. Baye Saint Luc.
16. Passage du Gas.
17. Cote de Montmorency.
18. Riviere de Champlain.
19. Riviere Sainte Marie.
20. Isle d'Orleans.
21. Isle de Bacchus.

NOTE--The reader will observe that in a few instances the references are wanting on the map.

CHAMPLAIN'S NOTE TO THE SMALL MAP.

On the small map [232] is added the strait above Labrador between the fifty-third and sixty-third degrees of latitude, which the English have discovered during the present year 1612, in their voyage to find, if possible, a passage to China by way of the north. [233] They wintered at a place indicated by this mark, 6. But it was not without enduring severe cold, and they were obliged to return to England, leaving their leader in the northern regions. Within six months three other vessels have set out, to penetrate, if possible, still farther, and, at the same time, to search for the men who were left in that region.

GEOGRAPHICAL MAP OF NEW FRANCE, IN ITS TRUE MERIDIAN.

_Made by Sieur Champlain, Captain for the King in the Marine. 1613_.

+o Matou-ouescariny. [Note: This figure is inverted on the map. _Vide
antea_, note 59, p. 62.]
o+ Gaspay.
oo Ouescariny. [Note: _Vide antea_, note 47, pp. 59, 81. The figure oo is
misplaced and should be where o-o is on the map, on the extreme
western border near the forty-seventh degree of north latitude.]
o-o Quenongebin. [Note: This figure o-o on the map occupies the place
which should be occupied by oo. _Vide antea_, p. 58, note 46.]
A. Tadoussac.
B. Lesquemain.
C. Isle Percee.
D. Baye de Chaleur.
E. Isles aux Gros Yeux. [Note: A cluster of islands of which the Island
of Birds is one.]
H. Baye Francoise.
I. Isles aux Oyseaux.
L. Riviere des Etechemins. [Note: This letter, placed between the River
St. John and the St. Croix, refers to the latter.]
M. Menane.
N. Port Royal.
P. Isle Longue.
Q. Cap Fourchu.
R. Port au Mouton.
S. Port du Rossignol. [Note: The letter S appears twice on the coast of
La Cadie. The one here referred to is the more westerly.]
SS. Lac de Medicis. [Note: This reference is probably to the Lake of Two
Mountains, which will be seen on the map west of Montreal.]
T. Sesambre.
V. Cap des Deux Bayes.
3. L'Isle aux Coudres.
4. Saincte Croix. [Note: St. Croix on the map is where a cross surmounted
by the figure 4 may be seen.]
4. Riviere des Etechemins. [Note: This appears to refer to the
Chaudiere. _Vide_ vol. I. p. 296.]
5. Sault. [Note: This refers to the Falls of Montmorency.]
6. Lac Sainct Pierre.
7. Riviere des Yroquois.
9. Isle aux Lieures.
10. Riviere Platte. [Note: A small river flowing into Mal Bay. _Vide_
Vol. I. p. 295; also _Les Voyages de Champlain_, Quebec ed., p. 1099.]
11. Mantane. [Note: _Vide_ Vol. I. p 234.]
40. Cap Saincte Marie. [Note: The figures are wanting. Cape St. Mary is on
the southern coast of Newfoundland. _Vide_ Vol I. p. 232.]

ENDNOTES:

228. The determination of longitudes has from the beginning been environed
with almost insuperable difficulties. At one period the declination of
the magnetic needle was supposed to furnish the means of a practical
solution. Sebastian Cabot devoted considerable attention to the
subject, as did likewise Peter Plancius at a later date. Champlain
appears to have fixed the longitudes on his smaller map by
calculations based on the variation of the needle, guided by the
principles laid down by Guillaume de Nautonier, Sieur de Castelfranc,
to whose work he refers in the text. It was entitled, _Mecometrie de
l'eymant c'est a dire la maniere de mesurer les longitudes par le
moyen de l'eymant_. This rare volume is not to be found as far as my
inquiries extend, in any of the incorporated libraries on this
continent. There is however a copy in the Bodleian Library at Oxford,
to which in the catalogue is given the bibliographical note: _Six
livres. Folio. Tolose, 1603_.

It is hardly necessary to add that the forces governing the variation
of the needle, both local and general, are so inconstant that the hope
of fixing longitudes by it was long since abandoned.

The reason for the introduction of the explanation of the maps at this
place will be seen _antea_, p. 39.

229. The rose is the face or card of the mariner's compass. It was
anciently called the fly. Card may perhaps be derived from the Italian
cardo, a thistle, which the face of the compass may be supposed to
resemble. On the complete circle of the compass there are thirty-two
lines drawn from the centre to the circumference to indicate the
direction of the wind. Each quarter of the circle, or 90 deg., contains
eight lines representing the points of the compass in that quarter.
They are named with reference to the cardinal points from which they
begin, as: 1, north, 2, north by east, 3, north-northeast; 4,
northeast by north; 5, northeast; 6, northeast by east; 7, east-
northeast; 8, east by north. The points in each quarter are named in a
similar manner.

230. The above title is on the large map of 1612. This note is on the upper
left-hand corner of the same map.

231. For this note see the upper right-hand corner of the map.

232. In Champlain's issue in 1613, the note here given was placed in the
preliminary matter to that volume. It was placed there probably after
the rest of the work had gone to press. We have placed it here in
connection with other matter relating to the maps, where it seems more
properly to belong.

233. This refers to the fourth voyage of Henry Hudson, made in 1610, for
the purpose here indicated. He penetrated Lomley's Inlet, hoping to
find a passage through to the Pacific Ocean, or, as it was then
called, the South Sea, and thus find a direct and shorter course to
China. He passed the winter at about 52 deg. north latitude, in that
expanse of water which has ever since been appropriately known as
Hudson's Bay. A mutiny having broken out among his crew, he and eight
others having been forced into a small boat, on the 21st of June,
1611, were set adrift on the sea, and were never heard of afterward.

A part of the mutinous crew arrived with the ship in England, and were
immediately thrown into prison. The following year, 1612, an
expedition under Sir Thomas Button was sent out to seek for Hudson,
and to prosecute the search still further for a northwest passage. It
is needless to add that the search was unsuccessful.

A chart by Hudson fortunately escaped destruction by the mutineers.
Singularly enough, an engraving of it, entitled, TABVLA NAVTICA, was
published by Heffel Gerritz at Amsterdam the same year. Champlain
incorporated the part of it illustrating Hudson's discovery in his
smaller map, which is dated the same year, 1612. He does not introduce
it into his large map, although that is dated likewise 1612. A
facsimile of the Tabula Nautica is given in Henry Hudson the
Navigator, by G. M. Asher, LL.D. published by the Hakluyt Society in
1860.