USA > Maine > The beginnings of colonial Maine, 1602-1658 > Part 4
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1 A tercentenary commemoration of Pring's voyage to the New England coast in 1603 was held by the Maine Historical Society in Portland, November 19, 1903, and the proceedings were published by the Society in its Collections, 3rd Series, 2, 1-50. Hon. James P. Baxter read a paper entitled The Avant Couriers of Colonization and Prof. A. L. P. Dennis read a paper entitled Captain Martin Pring, Last of the Elizabethan Seamen, to which he added a valuable Pring bibliography.
27
GOSNOLD AND PRING.
story now was made complete. Concerning the fertility of the country, this was said:1 "Passing up the river we saw certain cottages [wigwams] together, abandoned by the savages, and not far off we beheld their gardens and one among the rest of an acre of ground, and in the same was some tobacco, pumpkins, cucum- bers and such like; and some of the people had maize or Indian wheat among them. In the fields we found wild peas, strawber- ries very fair and big, gooseberries, raspberries, hurts and other wild fruits. We pared and digged up the earth with shovels, and sowed wheat, barley, oats, peas and sundry sorts of garden seed, which for the time of our abode there, being about seven weeks, although they were late sown, came up very well, giving certain testimony of the goodness of the climate and of the soil. And it seemeth that oats, hemp, flax, rape-seed and such like, which require a rich and fat ground, would prosper excellently in these parts. For in divers places here we found grass above knee deep." Mention also was made of the trees of the country, with many of which Pring and his companions were familiar in their English homes ; but there were "divers other sorts of trees" that to them were unknown. References also were made to fur-bear- ing animals, such as beavers, otters, wolves, bears, foxes, etc., whose skins could be secured by exchange with the Indians, yielding "no small gain" to the trader because of the great profit which the exchange afforded. But this was not all, and the new- world voyagers, having in mind a large Bristol industry, did not fail to call attention to the immense value of the fisheries on the American coast; and they closed their encouraging report with reference to the qualities of the soil and its products with these words : "And as the land is full of God's good blessings, so is the sea replenished with great abundance of excellent fish, or cod sufficient to laden many ships, which we found upon the coast in the month of June. Seals to make oil withal, mullets, turbots, mackerel, herring, crabs, lobsters, oysters and muscles with ragged pearls in them."2
1 Early English and French Voyages, 349.
2 Early English and French Voyages, 350. This narrative first appeared
28
THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
The report was certainly a most welcome one. It not only con- firmed the reports made by Gosnold and his associates the year before, but it presented interesting details with reference to the products of the country, and emphasized most strongly the oppor- tunity that the new world afforded for profitable trade relations with the Indians. Such a report could hardly have failed to make a favorable impression upon the enterprising merchant venturers of Bristol, as well as upon all others interested in the results of Pring's voyage and exploration. No expedition, however, designed to secure immediate further advancement of English interests in this vicinity sailed from Bristol, or any other port in England in 1604; and Pring, who doubtless could have been secured for added service in yet other explorations here, was employed that season as master of the Phoenix in Captain Charles Leigh's ill-fated expedition to Guiana.
in Purchas' Pilgrimes, which was published in 1625. Purchas regarded Pring as the authority of the relation, but in part at least the story of the voyage seems to have been written by another hand. For example, in the last paragraph the writer mentions "our Captain". It is known that Hak- luyt-of course after the publication of his great work Principall Naviga- tions, etc .- secured the narrative from Pring. Doubtless one would not go far astray who should make Hakluyt largely Pring's amanuensis in its preparation.
CHAPTER III.
THE DE MONTS COLONY.
B UT any delay in maintaining England's claim to territory on the Atlantic coast of the North American continent was not without peril to English interests. Already France had seized large possessions on the St. Lawrence, also in regions far within the interior of the continent, south of the Great Lakes ; and having purposes whose meaning was obvious, that nation could not be expected to leave out of view the unoccupied territory on the Atlantic seaboard. In fact, with information concerning the voyages of Gosnold and Pring, France was not losing any time in asserting such purposes; and the King, as early as November 8, 1603, gave to Sieur de Monts,1 an officer of the royal household, a charter that conveyed to him trading and seigniorial rights in American territory between the fortieth and forty-sixth parallels of latitude, that is, from about St. John's, Newfoundland, to Phil- adelphia.2
De Monts was not without experience in the affairs of France on this side of the sea, having accompanied Chauvin to the St. Lawrence settlements not long before. What he then learned con- cerning the climate in that region, as compared with that of his
1 Champlain (Champlain's Voyages, Prince Society, 1878, II, 4, 5) says de Monts "desired to attempt what had been given up in despair, and requested a commission for this purpose of his Majesty, being satisfied that the previ- ous [French] enterprises had failed because the undertakers of them had not received assistance, who had not succeeded, in one nor even two years' time, in making the acquaintance of the regions and people there, nor in finding harbors adapted for a settlement".
2 This charter, or a contemporary copy, is in the Bureau des Marines et Colonies in Paris, and extracts in an English translation are printed in the Farnham Papers, I, 1-6. The charter conferred upon de Monts a monopoly of the fur trade.
30
THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
native land, doubtless now impressed him with the importance of seeking a location for his colony farther southward.
No distinctive religious purpose in the movement was indicated in the persons brought together who comprised de Monts' party. Happily, at that time in France, Catholics and Protestants were at peace,1 and both were represented in the expedition. De Monts was a Protestant, while Samuel de Champlain, 2 the geographer of
1 The struggle in France for religious liberty had continued for many years with varying fortunes, but at length had been brought to a happy issue. In 1598, only six years before de Monts conducted his colony to the Amer- can coast, Henry IV, King of France, recognizing the "frightful troubles, confusion and disorders" to which on his accession to the throne he found his Kingdom a prey, promulgated the famous Edict of Nantes, which gave liberty of conscience to all the inhabitants of the land, granting to them the right to dwell anywhere in the royal dominions and to meet for religious pur- poses without being subjected to inquiry, vexed, molested or constrained to do anything contrary to the dictates of conscience. What this meant to many of the King's subjects, long harrassed, distressed, it is difficult now even to conceive. To thousands this edict was a call to a new and better life. Some- what tardily, Parliament in the following year, 1599, formally entered this important document upon its registers, and so confirmed to warring, fac- tional France, Catholic and Protestant alike, the boon of religious liberty. It was not for long, however. For twelve years, or until the close of the reign of Henry IV, the Edict of Nantes was in full operation. Then followed unceasing assaults upon the rights which it guaranteed; and at length, in 1685, came its revocation-the culmination of a series of events that are written large upon the pages of the history of France.
2 Champlain was a native of Brouage, a small village in the province of Saintonge, France, and was born about the year 1567. From his early years he gave attention to practical seamanship, had an army experience of several years after 1592, and in 1599 was in command of a French ship of 500 tons in the West Indies. On his return he prepared a report of his discoveries and observations with illustrations, which remained in manuscript until printed in an English translation by the Hakluyt Society in 1859. In the preceding year Champlain accompanied Pont Gravè in his expedition to the St. Law- rence, and it was his report concerning the inhabitants and products of the country that directed the attention of the King to the opportunities that the new world afforded for French colonization and led to the de Monts expedi- tion and Champlain's connection with it. Thenceforward Champlain's life was devoted to French interests in America. It was an eventful life. Fit- tingly it closed at Quebec, where Champlain died in the autumn of 1635.
P
Iste. de sainte Croix.
P
losse
hotad
10 - 6080+
H
6
67
8
9
10
10
Les chifres montrent les braffes d'eau.
« Le plan de l'habitation. B Intdinages. ..
È Le cimetiere. F La chappelle.
-
auoit fait commencer vn mou -. ! lin à cau.
O Grande montaigne fort hau-
C Peric iller feruant de. platte farme à mettre le canon.,
G Baffes de rochers autour de / l'ifle fainete Croix.
L Place où l'on faifoit le charbon M Iardinages à la grade terre de l'Ouelt.
D Platte formz od onmersoit du . H vn petit iflet САЛОВ.
I Le lieu oule ficur de Mons
N Autres iardinoges à la grande
terre de l'Ent.
te dans la terre.
P Riuiere des Erechemins pat- fant au tour de l'ifle faincte * Croix.
CHAMPLAIN'S MAP OF ST. CROIX ISLAND.
S
89 9 9 77
31
THE DE MONTS COLONY.
the company, and the most distinguished of de Monts' associates, was a Catholic. Of religious discussions among some of the colo- nists, however, there was no lack, as the records of the expedition show; but the purposes that led to the enterprise had no religious ends in view. The ends were pre-eminently national, and those most deeply interested in the colony evidently saw no reason why Catholic and Protestant might not work together harmoniously in the endeavor to establish a French settlement at some point on the Atlantic coast below Cape Breton.
Among the colonists there were skilled artisans, selected doubt- less with reference to the requirements of such an undertaking. But their number was not large compared with others who are described as vagabonds and ex-convicts,-men upon whom little dependence could be placed in an enterprise calling for steadfast- ness and heroic endurance amid trying circumstances. Two ves- sels, one of one hundred and twenty tons and one of one hundred and fifty tons, were secured for the transportation of the colony, and April 7, 1604, de Monts sailed out of the harbor of Havre de Grace, westward bound, followed by the prayers and good wishes of his countrymen.1
The usual route of French vessels in crossing the Atlantic was followed until the American coast was reached early in May. Then, turning southward, and proceeding down the coast, de Monts entered the Bay of Fundy and commenced the work of exploration with reference to a location for a settlement. Skirt- ing the shores of the bay, including those of adjoining waters now known as Annapolis Basin, he failed to discover such a spot
"He was buried in the memorial Chapel which he had erected. This Chapel was subsequently destroyed and the place which it occupied forgotten; so that to-day we know not the spot where he was buried. It is perhaps enough to know that his dust is commingled with that of the land he loved, though the name by which he knew it [New France] is no longer on the tongues of living men." Hon. James P. Baxter, in an address at the 300th anniversary of de Monts settlement on St. Croix Island. See Me. Hist. Society's Coll., Series III, 2, 144.
1 Champlain's Voyages, II, 7.
32
THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
as he deemed desirable.1 Sailing still farther southward, he came near the end of June into a bay, the present Passamaquoddy Bay. At its northern part a broad river opened, and ascending its invit- ing waters, de Monts and his companions, not far from the mouth of the river, came to an island that offered easy protection for defence against hostile assault. It seemed an attractive spot for the proposed settlement; and such it was under sunny skies and surrounded with scenes of summer beauty on every hand. Here, accordingly, on June 26, or 27, choice of a location was made. De Monts gave to the island the designation St. Croix, the name also now borne by the river in which the island of the settlement is located.2
Plans for the erection of dwellings, storehouses, and other build- ings were prepared, and the colonists entered upon the work of their construction. Leaving this scene of busy activity Septem- ber 2, Champlain availed himself of an opportunity for added exploration and map-making still farther down the coast. His journal gives us interesting glimpses of the land as he proceeded. He was the first of the early voyagers to make mention of Mount Desert, that most attractive spot on the Maine coast. In fact, it was Champlain who gave to the island its name.3 Proceeding on his way, Champlain at length entered Penobscot Bay and river and extended his exploration of the river (which he mentions
1 Champlain, in his Voyages (Prince Society, II, 22), referring to this Basin, says, "which I have named Port Royal", a name which was soon applied to the settlement made on the north shore of the Basin. A map of the Basin, with Champlain's description of it, faces p. 24 of the Voyages.
2 The name St. Croix, as applied to the river, was suggested by the fact that two streams enter the river a few miles above St. Croix Island, one from the east and one from the west, furnishing in this way the representation of a cross.
3 "From this island [Mt. Desert] to the main land on the north, the dis- tance is less than a hundred paces. It is very high, and notched in places, so that there is the appearance to one at sea, as of seven or eight mountains extending along near each other. The summit of the most of them is desti- tute of trees, as there are only rocks on them. The woods consist of pines, fir, and birches only. I named it Isle des Monts Deserts." Champlain's Voyages, II, 39.
Habitation de fleste Drug
B
Z
G
H
CHAMPLAIN'S SKETCH OF THE ISLAND OF ST. CROIX AND BUILDINGS, 1604.
33
THE DE MONTS COLONY.
under the name "Pentegouet" and also "Norumbegue") as far as the site of Bangor. While in the river, Champlain had an inter- view with the "Bessabez," or chief of the Indians of that region, to whom, in the name of de Monts, he made overtures of friend- ship. Thence, Champlain made his way to the Kennebec ("Quin- ibequy"), and attempted the exploration of the river. Unfavor- able weather, however, prevented the accomplishment of his pur- pose in following its reach northward; and descending to the sea, he turned back up the coast September 23, and reached St. Croix island October 2.1
The winter that followed opened early and was one of great severity. The evidence was now borne in upon the colonists that the location had not been wisely chosen. During the winter months they suffered greatly not only from the cold winds that swept fiercely across the surrounding ice fields, but also from lack of wood and water. Amid these discouraging outward circum- stances, scurvy assailed the colonists, and thirty-five of the sev- enty-nine who comprised the company died of the dread disease before the season closed.2 Indeed so discouraging was the condi- tion of the colonists before the winter ended that the abandonment of the undertaking seemed inevitable.
In the early summer of 1605, however, new hopes were awak- ened by the change of seasons and especially by the opportune arrival of supplies from France. Exploration farther down the coast it was thought might secure more desirable conditions, and de Monts and Champlain, with some of their associates, accord- ingly left St. Croix island June 18, for such added exploration. Passing the entire length of what is now the coast of Maine, 3 also
1 Champlain's Voyages, II, 38-48.
2 Champlain says snow began to fall October 6, and was from "three to four feet deep up to the end of the month of April." For his account of the sufferings of the colonists during that long winter see Champlain's Voyages, II, 50-53.
8 On reaching the Kennebec the party made an extended exploration of the river, ascending to its head waters, where the Indians "go by this river across the country to Quebec". Proceeding farther along the coast from the
3
34
THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
southward to Cape Cod, and as far along the Massachusetts coast as the entrance to Vineyard Sound, they failed to find the favor- able location they sought ; and on July 25, they turned their boat northward and set out on their return.
Reaching the mouth of the Kennebec on July 29, they tarried awhile, possibly making further exploration. But neither there, nor at other places in the vicinity, were they successful in finding such a site for a colonial settlement as seemed to offer conditions deemed by them important. While they were at the river and in communication with Kennebec Indians, Anasou, an Indian chief, told them of a vessel ten leagues to the eastward,1 and that those on board had killed five Indians "of this river", meaning the Kennebec. From the story in its details, de Monts and his asso- ciates rightly inferred that an English vessel was in the neighbor- hood. No further mention of the vessel occurs in Champlain's narrative ; but the presence of an English ship on the coast, and the incident mentioned by Anasou in connection with his report concerning it, must have left upon the minds of de Monts and his little company evidence that England's claim to territory on the coast was receiving added attention. Certainly there was no fur- ther delay at the Kennebec, and the party made its way back to St. Croix island, which was reached August 8.
In all probability the colonists, who had wearily watched for de Monts' return, experienced no disappointment on receiving the report the exploring party brought. The horrors of the preced- ing winter still hung heavily upon them, and something must be
mouth of the Kennebec (making mention of Seguin under the name "Tor- toise Island"), Champlain and his companions reached "a bay where there were a great many islands" (Casco bay), and from which large mountains were "seen to the west'' (White Mountains). Richmond's island Champlain named Isle de Bacchus, because of its "beautiful grapes". Champlain's Voy- ages, II, 55.
1 Champlain's Voyages, II, 91. Champlain says, "we named the island where they were La Nef [the ship] for, at a distance, it had the appearance of a ship". The reference was to Monhegan, it is inferred; but if Anasou was rightly understood, he was in error, as he was with reference to the five Indians, who were captured not at Monhegan, but at St. George's harbor.
ST. CROIX ISLAND FROM THE MAINE BORDER.
35
THE DE MONTS COLONY.
1369415
done. De Monts' purposes had no suggestion of anything more than a withdrawal to Port Royal.1 The settlement at St. Croix island was abandoned, and the proposed change of base was made.
Ill fortune, however, still followed the colonists. Soon after their arrival at Port Royal, de Monts, having established there his depleted company, set sail for France, still having the interests of the colony in view. The loss of one so prominent in its affairs must have had a depressing effect upon those left behind. The long, cold, dreary and inactive winter months only deepened the gloom of the situation. Indeed to such an extent did the colo- nists become disheartened amid their lonely surroundings, that home-longings were strengthened day by day; and, when the opportunity at length offered, the remaining colonists, unwilling to endure the experience of another winter under such hard circum- stances, followed de Monts back to France, arriving at St. Malo, October 1, 1607.2
The attempt to plant a French colony on the Atlantic coast of the North American continent had failed. If it had succeeded, France would have secured a favorable outpost for a still farther advance in the effort to have and to hold the vast domain desig- nated by the King in the charter that de Monts received. It is difficult to account for de Monts' failure on any other ground than that of weakness in most of the colonists. Aside from Champlain, and a few others it may be, the colonists at Port Royal were not of such stuff as is required in the founders of states, or in the beginnings of any large enterprise. St. Croix island, it is true, was an unfortunate location for the colony; but Pilgrims and Puritans, not many years later, made permanent settlements in territory not much farther south, and within the limits of de Monts' exploration. The colonists were too easily discouraged.
1 Champlain's Voyages, II, 94. Sieur de Poutrincourt, who accompanied the expedition "only for his pleasure", asked de Monts for Port Royal soon after their arrival upon the coast ; and he gave it to him in accordance with authority received from the King. (Voyages, II, 37.)
2 Champlain's Voyages, I, 77.
36
THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
They were lacking in high aims and the cheerful endurance of great hardships. Their presence on the coast, however, proved a spur to English endeavor. The prize at stake was large, and if England would seize it there was need of haste as well as strength of purpose and heroic determination.1
1 The tercentenary of de Monts' settlement at St. Croix island was com- memorated on that island by the Maine Historical Society, June 25, 1904 ; and the proceedings were published by the Society in an attractive illustrated pamphlet of seventy-eight pages. See also Me. Hist. Society's Coll., Series III, 2, 74-151.
1004
DE MONTS' COLONY MEMORIAL ON ST. CROIX ISLAND. Unveiled June 25, 1904.
CHAPTER IV. WAYMOUTH'S VOYAGE OF 1605.
E NGLISH interests upon the American coast, however, had not ceased to receive attention in England. The Earl of Southampton, who was one of the principal promoters of Gosnold's expedition of 1602, was now at liberty, James I, at the beginning of his reign, having opened the Earl's prison doors and restored to him the titles and estates of which he had been deprived. Shortly after this restoration-the Earl's new patent was issued July 1, 1603-occurred the return of Pring from his successful voyage hither. The report he brought awakened in the released prisoner an enthusiastic desire for participation in efforts that would enhance the glory of England on this side of the sea. In 1604, he was busily engaged in making plans for another expe- dition to the American coast. With him, in the undertaking, were associated his son-in-law, Thomas Arundell,1 afterward Baron of Wardour, and Sir Ferdinando Gorges,2 whose name was to become
1 Thomas Arundell had service under the Emperor Rudolph II. He took in action with his own hand a standard of the Turks, and December 14, 1595, was created a count of the Holy Roman Empire for this achievement, but was forbidden by Queen Elizabeth to use the title, saying, "She liked not for her sheep to wear a stranger's mark, nor to dance after a foreigner's whistle." He was elevated to the English peerage May 4, 1605, and died in 1639 or 1640.
2 A son of Edward Gorges and his wife Cicely Lygon, he was born about 1566. He was knighted by Essex before Rouen in October, 1591. While in the Netherlands in 1596, he received orders to take charge of work on the fortifications at Plymouth, England. About July, 1603, he was deprived of his command at Plymouth, but it was restored to him in a few months, and he retained the command there many years. His interest in American colo- nization, beginning at this time, was a lifelong interest. For an extended account of his life, also for his writings and letters, see Hon. James P. Bax- ter's Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, Prince Society, 1900, 3 volumes.
38
THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
so prominently identified with the history of early colonization on the Maine coast. Probably, also, Sir John Popham,1 then Chief Justice of England, had a part in the new undertaking.
The command of the expedition was given to Captain George Waymouth, already mentioned in connection with his search for a northwest passage to India in 1602. Since his return, as may be inferred from what is known concerning his attainments, he had been engaged in studies extending beyond the science of naviga- tion, including shipbuilding and the science of fortification.2
Aside from these facts, there is no information with reference to the preparations for the voyage. Even the name of the vessel provided for the expedition-the Archangel-3 would not have
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