Journal of a Voyage to North America Is Limited to Two Hun- Dred Copies Printed from Type for the Caxton Club by the R
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
4"/-.^'**»- -•» S~ THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY 9171 C38ljEK V.2 lunois msToitiCAi siimey JOURNAL of a ^opage TO North America. JOURNAL of a VopuQt TO North America. Translated from the French of Pierre Francois Xavier de Charlevoix. Edited, with Historical Introduction, Notes and Index, by Louise Phelps Kellogg, Ph.D. IN TWO VOLUMES: VOLUME II. CHIC^gO: THE CAXTON CLUB. MCMXXIII. JOURNAL VOYAGEO F A T O N O R T H-A M E R I C A. Undertaken by Order of the FRENCH KING. CONTAINING The Geographical Defcriptlon and Natural CANADA.Hiftory of that Country, particularly TOGETHER WITH An Account of the Customs, Characters, Religion, Manners and Traditions of the original Inhabitants. In a Series of Letters to the Duchefs of Lesdiguieres. Tranflated from the French of P. de Charlevoix. VOL. II. LONDON: Printed for R. and J. Dodslev, in Pall -Mall, MDCCLXiT 0^ THE 0^ CONTENTS OF THE Second Volume. LETTER XVII. Description of Lake Erie. Voyage as far as Detroit or the Narrows. Project for a Settlement in this Place. Cause of its Failure. Council called by the Commandant it. the of Fort Pontchartrain, and the Subject of Of Games of the lndia.ns f'^ i LETTER XVIII. Some Particulars relating to the Character^ Customs^ and ^'^^ Government of the Indians 19 LETTER XIX. Voyagefrom the Narrows to Michillimakinac. Description ^^'^ of the Country. Of the Marriages of the Indians 2^ 51 S"^"?? Vlll LETTER XX. Voyage to the Bay. Description of it, and of the Course thither. Irruption of the Spaniards into the Country of the Missouri Indians, and their Defeat. Dances of the Indians f^?] 54 LETTER XXI. Departurefrom Michillimakinac. Observations on the Cur- rents in the Lakes. Character of the Indians of Canada. ^^^ Their good and ill Qualities 71 LETTER XXIL Voyage to the River St. Joseph. Observations with respect to the Rivers which fall into Lake Michigan on the eastern Side. Of Father Marquette's River, and of the Origin of this Name. Of the Games of the Indians. Some particulars ^^^^ of the Character of these Nations 86 LETTER XXIII. Sequel of the Character of the Indians and of their Manner ^"^1 of living 104 LETTER XXIV. Of the Religion and Traditiorts of the Indians of Canada [141] 130 LETTER XXV. ^'^^^ Sequel of the 'Traditions of the Indians i S3 ^ IX LETTER XXVI. Departurefrom the Fort of the River St. Joseph. Sources of the Theakiki : What passes at the Death of the Indians ; of their Funerals and Tombs. Of their Mourning and Wid- ^'^^^ owhood. Of the Festival of the Dead 1 69 LETTER XXVIL Voyage to Pimitiouy. Of the River of the Illinois; Recep- tion of Prisoners of War amongst that People. Manner of burning them. Some particulars of their Manner of living t'97i 182 LETTER XXVIII. Voyagefrom Pimiteouy to Caskasquias. Course of the Riv- er of the Illinois. Of the Copper Mines. Of the Missouri. Of the Mines of the River Marameg. Description of Fort Chartres, and of the Mission of Kaskasquias. Of the Fruit-trees of Louisiana. Description of the Mississippi above the Illinois. Different tribes of that Nation. Some T'raditions of the Indians. T^heir Notions about the Stars Eclipses and 'Thunder. Their Manner of calculating Time ^^'^^ 198 LETTER XXIX. Of the Colony of the Illinois. Voyage to Akansas. Descrip- tion of the Country ^""^^^ 218 LETTER XXX. Voyagefrom the Akansas to the Natchez. Description of the Country. Of the River of the Yasous. Of the Customs^ Man- ners, and Religion of the Natchez ^^^'^^ 232 LETTER XXXI. Voyagefrom the Natchez to New Orleans. Description of the Country and of several Indian Villages, with that of f^*"] the Capital of Louisiana 257 LETTER XXXII. Voyagefrom New Orleans to the Mouth of the Mississippi. Description of that River to the Sea. Reflections on the Grants ^'^'"^ 271 LETTER XXXIII. Description of B'lloxi. Of the Plant Cassina or Apa-Cachina. Of Myrtle-wax, of the Mobile, of the Tchactas, of the Bay of St. Bernard. Voyagefrom Biloxi to New Orleans, by f^^^^ the Way of Lake Pontchartrain 283 LETTER XXXIV. Voyage to the Gulph of Bahama. Shipwreck of the Adour. Return to Louisiana, along the Coast of Florida. Descrip- tion of that Coast f^^^] 295 LETTER XXXV. Voyage from Biloxi to Cape Francois in St. Domingo [3SI] 328 LETTER XXXVI. Description of Cape Francois in St. Domingo. Return to France, and the Author s touching in England ^^^'^ 345 JOURNAL of a ^opase Made by Order of the French King through North America. LETTER SEVENTEENTH. Description of Lake Erie. Voyage as far as Detroit or the Narrows. Project for a Settlement in this Place. Cause of its Failure. Council called by the Commandant of Fort Pontchartrain, and the Subject of it. Of the Games of the Indians. Fort Pontchartrain in the Narrows/ June 8, 1721. Madam , SET out on the 27th of last month from the entrance of lake Erie after sealing my last letter, and though I it was then late I made three leagues farther that day with the advantage of a favourable wind and the finest 'The translator gives us the English word for the narrow passage between Lakes Erie and Huron, now known by its French form Detroit. weather weather in the world. The course is by coasting along the north shore amounting to a hundred leagues. The way turning off towards the south from Niagara is ^^^ much more agreeable but longer by one half. Lake Erie is a hun- dred leagues in length from east to west. Its breadth from north to south is thirty leagues, or thereabouts. The name it bears is that of an Indian nation of the Huron language, which was formerly seated on its banks, and who have been entirely destroyed by the Iroquois. Erie in that lan- guage signifies Cat, and in some accounts this nation is called the Cat nation.^ This name comes probably, from the large quantity of these animals formerly found in this country. They are no larger than ours and their skins are reckoned very valuable. Some modern maps have given lake Erie the name of Conti, but with no better success than the names of Conde, Tracy, and Orleans which have been given to the lakes Huron, Superior and Michigan. On the 28th I advanced nineteen leagues, and found myself opposite to a river called, Lagrande Riviere^ or the Great River, which runs from the eastward in 42 deg. 15 min.^ The largest trees however were not as yet covered with leaves. Excepting this circumstance, the country ap- peared to me extremely beautiful. We made little way the 29th, and none at all the 30th. We embarked again on the morrow before sunrise, and advanced a good way. The 1st. of June being the day of Pentecost, after having sailed up a beautiful river for the space of an hour, which has its rise as they say at a great distance, and runs betwixt two fine meadows; we passed over a carrying place of about sixty paces in breadth, in order to avoid turning round a ^The Iroquois war of extermination of the Erie tribe occurred about 1656. The cats were wildcats or lynx. n'he present Grand River of southwestern Ontario. This river ran through the ter- ritory of the Neutrals, a tribe like the Hurons and the Erie destroyed by the Iroquois. point -^[ 3 K point which is called the long Point ;'^ it is a very sandy spot of ground, and naturally bears a great quantity of vines. The f^' following days I saw nothing remarkable, but coasted along a charming country, hid at times by very disagreeable prospects, which however are of no great ex- tent. Wherever I went ashore I was quite enchanted by the beauty and variety of a landscape, which was termi- nated by the noblest forests in the whole world. Add to this, that every part of it swarms with water fowl; I can- not say whether the woods afford game in equal profu- sion ; but I well know that on the south side there is a pro- digious quantity of Buffaloes. Were we always to sail as I then did, with a serene sky in a most charming climate, and on water as clear as that of the purest fountain ; were we sure of finding every where secure and agreeable places to pass the night in, where we might enjoy the pleasure of hunting at a small expence, breathe at our ease the purest air, and enjoy the prospect of the finest countries in the universe, we might possibly be tempted to travel to the end of our days. I recalled to memory those ancient Patriarchs who had no fixed place of abode, who lived in tents, who were in a manner the masters of all the countries they passed through, and who enjoyed in peace and tranquillity all their productions, without the plague inevitable in the possession of a real and fixed estate. How many oaks represented to me that of Mamre ? how many fountains put me in mind of that of Jacob? each day a new situation chosen at pleasure; a neat and commodious house built and furnished with all necessaries in less than a quarter of an hour, and floored with a pavement of flowers, continually springing up on a carpet of the most beautiful green; on all sides simple and '•Still called Long Point in Norfolk County, Ontario. natural natural beauties unadulterated and inimitable by any art. '"^ If these pleasures sometimes suffer a little inter- ruption, whether by hard weather or some other unfore- seen accident, it is only to render them more sensibly felt at a second enjoyment.