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 fun 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, They 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 courte 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 fix 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 ass 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 fame 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.

THE END