be referred to as the “Father of New
France,” allowing him to receive much of the glory and some of the
blame for the colonizing of Acadia.
Champlain was born in 1567 at Brouage, the son of a sea
captain. As a soldier and a sailor, he crossed the Atlantic in 1598
to the West Indies and Mexico, then wrote and illustrated a book
about the trip that much entertained the king. Champlain would make
ten voyages in all to what he called “the Great River of Canada.”
His first voyage to Acadia, however, under the direction of de
Monts, would not be an easy crossing. There were horrendous storms,
a close call involving icebergs and a near grounding on Sable
Island before reaching Cap de la Have on the South Shore of Nova
Scotia. As they travelled south and west along the coast, they came
across a *Captain Rossignol trading with the Mi’kmaq. Today Port
Rossignol bears his name, although we know little about how this
brazen trader came to be there. Further along they decided to go
ashore at Port Mouton, named thus because a sheep fell overboard
there and drowned.
Rounding the southernmost tip of Nova Scotia, Champlain and
de Monts entered what they called Baie Française (the Bay of Fundy)
and soon were delighted to find the smaller protected harbour of
Annapolis Basin that Champlain would describe as “One of the finest
harbours that I have seen on all these coasts.” Here would be the
site of the future Port Royal.
They sailed further to the Chignecto Peninsula, then back
down the Bay of Fundy and wintered over on Sainte Croix Island in
the Ste. Croix River, a decidedly bad choice. They would have to
travel continually to the maincland for firewood, fresh water and
food supplies. Their homes were poorly built with many cracks that
allowed the winter winds to invade. Despite some knowledge of a
Native herbal tea that warded off disease, thirty-five of the
seventy-nine men died of scurvy. Owning up to the fact that Sainte
Croix Island was a poor place to live, Champlain ventured further
along the coast of Maine but found it less than inviting. He and de
Monts agreed the outpost be moved back to the previous harbour
across the Bay of Fundy that Champlain had found so
desirable.
On both sides of the bay, the French encountered Native
people: the Penobscot, the Maliseet and, near Port Royal, the
Mi’kmaq, with whom they would strike up a most beneficial alliance.
Apparently the Mi’kmaq welcomed th*e French to Port Royal with open
arms. Their leader was a man named Membertou, described by one of
the settlers as being “of prodigious size, and taller and
stronger-limbed than most, bearded like a Frenchman while not one
of the others had hair on his chin.” Membertou said he was over a
hundred years old and that he had previously encountered Jacques
Cartier.
De Monts returned to France to report to the king and to
bring back supplies. The colony of forty survivors was left in the
charge of Lieutenant François Pontgrave, who saw his men through a
somewhat milder winter that killed only a dozen of them. Still not
convinced that they had chosen the most comfortable location,
Pontgrave set off in the spring of 1606, again in search of a more
suitable, warmer place further to the south for a permanent colony.
But there were more problems. First there was a “navigational
accident.” Then Pontgrave suffered a heart attack, and finally his
ship “ran aground and broke to pieces.” Discouraged all round, they
decided to abandon Port Royal. Two Frenchmen agreed to stay behind
and look after things. The rest of the men would try to return to
France on fishing boats workitng near Cape Sable. There the Port
Royal refugees heard of the news of fresh supplies and more men on
their way to Port Royal. The ships arrived under the command of
Poutrincourt, who had replaced de Monts. With him were Marc
Lescarbot, a poet and lawyer, as well as Claude and Charles de La
Tour.
“The Spice of
France,” allowing him to receive much of the glory and some of the
blame for the colonizing of Acadia.
Champlain was born in 1567 at Brouage, the son of a sea
captain. As a soldier and a sailor, he crossed the Atlantic in 1598
to the West Indies and Mexico, then wrote and illustrated a book
about the trip that much entertained the king. Champlain would make
ten voyages in all to what he called “the Great River of Canada.”
His first voyage to Acadia, however, under the direction of de
Monts, would not be an easy crossing. There were horrendous storms,
a close call involving icebergs and a near grounding on Sable
Island before reaching Cap de la Have on the South Shore of Nova
Scotia. As they travelled south and west along the coast, they came
across a *Captain Rossignol trading with the Mi’kmaq. Today Port
Rossignol bears his name, although we know little about how this
brazen trader came to be there. Further along they decided to go
ashore at Port Mouton, named thus because a sheep fell overboard
there and drowned.
Rounding the southernmost tip of Nova Scotia, Champlain and
de Monts entered what they called Baie Française (the Bay of Fundy)
and soon were delighted to find the smaller protected harbour of
Annapolis Basin that Champlain would describe as “One of the finest
harbours that I have seen on all these coasts.” Here would be the
site of the future Port Royal.
They sailed further to the Chignecto Peninsula, then back
down the Bay of Fundy and wintered over on Sainte Croix Island in
the Ste. Croix River, a decidedly bad choice. They would have to
travel continually to the maincland for firewood, fresh water and
food supplies. Their homes were poorly built with many cracks that
allowed the winter winds to invade. Despite some knowledge of a
Native herbal tea that warded off disease, thirty-five of the
seventy-nine men died of scurvy. Owning up to the fact that Sainte
Croix Island was a poor place to live, Champlain ventured further
along the coast of Maine but found it less than inviting. He and de
Monts agreed the outpost be moved back to the previous harbour
across the Bay of Fundy that Champlain had found so
desirable.
On both sides of the bay, the French encountered Native
people: the Penobscot, the Maliseet and, near Port Royal, the
Mi’kmaq, with whom they would strike up a most beneficial alliance.
Apparently the Mi’kmaq welcomed th*e French to Port Royal with open
arms. Their leader was a man named Membertou, described by one of
the settlers as being “of prodigious size, and taller and
stronger-limbed than most, bearded like a Frenchman while not one
of the others had hair on his chin.” Membertou said he was over a
hundred years old and that he had previously encountered Jacques
Cartier.
De Monts returned to France to report to the king and to
bring back supplies. The colony of forty survivors was left in the
charge of Lieutenant François Pontgrave, who saw his men through a
somewhat milder winter that killed only a dozen of them. Still not
convinced that they had chosen the most comfortable location,
Pontgrave set off in the spring of 1606, again in search of a more
suitable, warmer place further to the south for a permanent colony.
But there were more problems. First there was a “navigational
accident.” Then Pontgrave suffered a heart attack, and finally his
ship “ran aground and broke to pieces.” Discouraged all round, they
decided to abandon Port Royal. Two Frenchmen agreed to stay behind
and look after things. The rest of the men would try to return to
France on fishing boats workitng near Cape Sable. There the Port
Royal refugees heard of the news of fresh supplies and more men on
their way to Port Royal. The ships arrived under the command of
Poutrincourt, who had replaced de Monts. With him were Marc
Lescarbot, a poet and lawyer, as well as Claude and Charles de La
Tour.
“The Spice of
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