History of the Discovery of the Northwest by John Nicolet in 1634 Part 8

XXII.

"Anno Domini 1642, 29 Septembris, Ego Joannes de Brebeuf, Societatis Jesu sacerdos, baptisavi solemniter in ecclesiae Immaculata Conceptionis ad Tria Flumina, duos puellas recens nata, unum ex patre Augustino Chipak8etch et matre 8t8ribik8e; Alizon dicta est a patrinis Joanne Nicolet et Perretta Alteram vero ex patre K8erasing et 8inchk8ck matre Lucia dicta est a Patrinus Nicolao Marsolet[132] et Margarita Couillard, uxor Domini Nicolet."

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 117: Father Buteux resided in Three Rivers from the year of the establishment of that place, 1634, to 1651 when, on his second trip to the upper St. Maurice he was killed by the Iroquois.]

[Footnote 118: Capita.n.a.l, chief of the Montagnais Indians, is the man who did the most amongst his people to impress upon the mind of Champlain the necessity of erecting a fort at 3-Rivers. He died in 1635.

See _Relation_, 1633, p. 26; 1635, p. 21.]

[Footnote 119: The figure "8" in such words is, as before mentioned, supposed to be equivalent to "w," "we," or "oo," in English. Ante, p.

46, note.]

[Footnote 120: Le Neuf. Name of a large family, belonging to the n.o.bility. Jean G.o.defroy having married Marie Le Neuf, they all came together (36 people) to Canada, when the branch of Le Gardeur settled at Quebec and that of Le Neuf proper at 3-Rivers. Throughout the history of Canada, we met with members of that group.]

[Footnote 121: Alizon is the family name of the wife of Gourdin, the brewer, who resided at the Fort of Three-Rivers as early as 1634.]

[Footnote 122: Malapart was at that time acting as governor of the post.]

[Footnote 123: Nenascoumat, an Indian chief, is much connected with the history of the first settlement of his people at 3-Rivers and Sillery, from 1634 to about 1650.]

[Footnote 124: Jean G.o.defroy, the princ.i.p.al man who caused French people to come direct from France to settle at Three-Rivers, as early as 1636.

He had been in Canada for many years before. His brother Thomas is well known in the history of those years for his services both to the missionaries and to the colonists; he was burned by the Iroquois. Louis, son of Jean, became King's Attorney. Jean was raised to the rank of n.o.bleman by Louis XIV. His descendants are still in the district of 3-Rivers.]

[Footnote 125: Christophe Crevier, sieur de la Melee, settled in 3-Rivers in 1639. Like that of G.o.defroy, the family became very numerous and prosperous. The descendants of Crevier still exist in the district of 3-Riv. Francois Crevier, born 13th May 1640 was killed by the Iroquois in Three Rivers when 13 years old only.]

[Footnote 126: Father Raymbault is the same that accompanied Father Jogues in the spring of the year 1642 to what is now Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. He died, it will be remembered, in the fall of 1642. Ante, p.

91.]

[Footnote 127: Champflour left for France in the autumn of 1645. For several years, he had been governor of 3-Rivers.]

[Footnote 128: Claude Jutra lit Lavallee was one of the first settlers of 3-Rivers, where his descendants still exist.]

[Footnote 129: Jacques Hertel, married to Marie Marguerie. He held land at 3-Rivers before the foundation of the Fort. Died 1652. His son Francois was one of the greatest sons of Canada. Louis XIV. made him a n.o.bleman. His descendants are still in Canada. Like G.o.defroy, Crevier, and Le Neuf, the Hertels have held their position for 250 years.]

[Footnote 130: Jeanne Le Marchand, widow, was the mother of Le Neuf.]

[Footnote 131: Francois Marguerie succeeded Nicolet as Interpreter at 3-Rivers. He has left his name to a river flowing into the St. Lawrence, in the county of Nicolet opposite the town of 3-Rivers.]

[Footnote 132: Nicolas Marsolet, connected, as an interpreter, with 3-Rivers, but mostly with Tadoussac and Quebec.]

II.--FIRST CONNECTED SKETCH PUBLISHED OF THE LIFE AND EXPLORATION OF NICOLET.[133]

[Du Creux states that, in the last months of 1642, New France mourned for two men of no common character, who were s.n.a.t.c.hed away from her; that one of them, who died first, of disease, was a member of the Society of Jesuits; and that the other, although a layman, was distinguished by singularly meritorious acts towards the Indian tribes of Canada. He sketches briefly the career and character of Father Raymbault, the Jesuit, first referred to, who died at Quebec in the latter part of October. The second person alluded to was Nicolet. Of him he gives the following account:]

"He had spent twenty-five years in New France, and had always been a useful person. On his first arrival, by orders of those who presided over the French colony of Quebec, he spent two whole years among the Algonquins of the Island, for the purpose of learning their language, without any Frenchman as a companion, and in the midst of those hards.h.i.+ps, which may be readily conceived, if we will reflect what it must be to pa.s.s severe winters in the woods, under a covering of cedar or birch bark; to have one's means of subsistence dependent upon hunting; to be perpetually hearing rude outcries; to be deprived of the pleasant society of one's own people; and to be constantly exposed, not only to derision and insulting words, but even to daily peril of life.

There was a time, indeed, when he went without food for a whole week; and (what is really wonderful) he even spent seven weeks without having any thing to eat but a little bark. After this preliminary training[134]

was completed, being sent with four hundred Algonquins to the Iroquois to treat of peace, he performed his mission successfully. Soon after, he went to the Nip.i.s.siriens, and spent seven years with them, as an adopted member of their tribe. He had his own small estate, wigwam, and household stuff, implements for hunting and fis.h.i.+ng, and, no doubt, his own beaver skins, with the same right of trade as the rest; in a word, he was taken into their counsels; until, being recalled, by the rulers of the French colony, he was at the same time made a commissary and charged to perform the office of an interpreter.

"During this period, at the command of the same rulers, he had to make an excursion to certain maritime tribes, for the purpose of securing peace between them and the Hurons. The region where those peoples dwell is nearly three hundred leagues distant, toward the west, from the same Hurons; and after he had a.s.sociated himself with seven amba.s.sadors of these [_i.e._, of the Hurons], having saluted on their route various small nations which they fell in with, and having propitiated them with gifts--lest, if they should omit this, they might be regarded as enemies, and a.s.sailed by all whom they met--when he was two days distant, he sent forward one of his own company to make known to the nation to which they were going, that a European amba.s.sador was approaching with gifts, who, in behalf of the Hurons, desired to secure their friends.h.i.+p. The emba.s.sy was received with applause; young men were immediately sent to meet them, who were to carry the baggage and equipment of the Manitouriniou (or wonderful man), and escort him with honor. Nicolet was clad in a Chinese robe of silk, skillfully ornamented with birds and flowers of many colors; he carried in each hand a small pistol.[135] When he had discharged these, the more timid persons, boys and women betook themselves to flight, to escape as quickly as possible from a man who (they said) carried the thunder in both his hands. But, the rumor of his coming having spread far and wide, the chiefs, with their followers, a.s.sembled directly to the number of four or five thousand persons; and, the matter having been discussed and considered in a general council, a treaty was made in due form. Afterwards each of the chiefs gave a banquet after their fas.h.i.+on; and at one of these, strange to say, a hundred and twenty beavers were eaten.

"His object being accomplished, Nicolet returned to the Hurons, and, presently, to Three Rivers, and resumed both of his former functions, viz., as commissary and interpreter, being singularly beloved by both the French and the natives; specially intent upon this, that, uniting his industry, and the very great influence which he possessed over the savages, with the efforts of the fathers of the Society [Jesuits], he might bring as many as he could to the Church; until, upon the recall to France of Olivier, who was the chief commissary of Quebec, Nicolet, on account of his merits, was appointed in his place. But he was not long allowed to enjoy the Christian comfort he had so greatly desired, viz., that at Quebec he might frequently attend upon the sacraments as his pious soul desired, and that he might enjoy the society of those with whom he could converse upon divine things.

"On the last day of October, having embarked upon a pinnace at the seventh hour of the afternoon (as we French reckon the hours), i.e., just as the shades of evening were falling, hastening, as I have said, to Three Rivers upon so pious an errand, scarcely had he arrived in sight of Sillery, when, the north wind blowing more fiercely and increasing the violence of the storm which had commenced before Nicolet started,[136] the pinnace was whirled around two or three times, filled with water from all directions, and finally was swallowed up by the waves. Some of those on board escaped, among them Savigny, the owner of the pinnace; and Nicolet, in that time of extreme peril, addressing him calmly said: "Savigny, since you know how to swim, by all means consult your own safety; I, who have no such skill, am going to G.o.d; I recommend my wife and daughter to your kindness." In the midst of this conversation, a wave separated them; Nicolet was drowned; Savigny, who, from horror and the darkness of the night, did not know where he was, was torn by the violence of the waves from the boat, to which he had clung for some time; then he struggled for a while, in swimming, with the hostile force of the changing waves; until, at last, his strength failing, and his courage almost forsaking him, he made a vow to G.o.d (but what it was is not related); then, striking the bottom of the stream with his foot, he reached the bank[137] at that spot, and, forcing his way with difficulty through the edge of the stream, already frozen, he crept, half dead, to the humble abode of the fathers. Restoratives were immediately applied, such as were at hand, especially fire, which was most needed; but, as the cold weather and the water had almost destroyed the natural warmth, he could only manifest his thoughts for some time by motions and not by speech, and so kept the minds of the anxious fathers in doubt of his meaning; until, recovering his speech, he explained what had happened with a strong expression of Nicolet's Christian courage.

"The prisoner for whose sake Nicolet had exposed himself to this deadly peril, twelve days afterwards reached Sillery, and soon after Quebec--having been rescued from the cruelty of the Algonquins by Rupaeus, who was in command at Three Rivers, in pursuance of letters from Montmagny, on payment, no doubt, of a ransom. He was already disfigured with wounds, great numbers of which these most savage men had inflicted upon him with careful ingenuity, one after another, according to their custom; but in proportion to the barbarity which he had experienced at Three Rivers was the kindness which he afterwards met with at Quebec, where he was treated by the monks of the hospital in such a manner that he was healed within about twenty days, and was able to return to his own people....

"This, moreover, was not the first occasion on which Nicolet had encountered peril of his life for the safety of savages. He had frequently done the very same thing before, says the French writer; and to those with whom he a.s.sociated he left proofs of his virtues by such deeds as could hardly be expected of a man entangled in the bonds of marriage; they were indeed eminent, and rose to the height of apostolic perfection; and, therefore, was the loss of so great a man the more grievous. Certain it is that the savages themselves, as soon as they heard what had befallen him, surrounded the bank of the great river in crowds, to see whether they could render any aid. When all hope of that was gone, they did what alone remained in their power, by incredible manifestations of grief and lamentation at the sad fate of the man who had deserved so well of them."

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 133: Translated from Du Creux' Hist. of Canada (printed in Latin, in Paris, 1664), p. 358. That his account should not sooner have awakened the curiosity of students of American history is due to the fact previously mentioned, that not until the investigations of John Gilmary Shea, in 1853, were the "Ouinipigou" identified as the "Winnebagoes," and their having been visited by Nicolet established. It was this locating of the objective point of Nicolet's exploration on American soil that finally stimulated American writers to further research; though, to the present time, Canadian historians have taken the lead in investigations concerning the indomitable Frenchman.]

[Footnote 134: _Tirocinium_ is the _first campaign_ of the young soldier; and so, generally, the first period of trial in any life of danger and hards.h.i.+p.--_Translator._]

[Footnote 135: It may be interesting to the reader to know how pistols are described in the author's Latin: "Sclopos minores, exiis qui tacta vel leviter rotula exploduntier."--_Translator._]

[Footnote 136: "Borea flaute pertinacius, foedamque tempestatem, quam excicre gam ceperat, glomerante." Literally, perhaps, "the north wind blowing more persistently, and gathering into a ma.s.s the dark storm which it had already begun to collect."--_Translator._]

[Footnote 137: The word "littus" here is properly used, not of the dry land, but of the sloping land under the water, near the edge of the river.--_Translator._]