Chapter 5

FINIS.

Footnotes

[1]Extract from "Histoire et Description Générale de la Nouvelle France, avec le Journal Historique d'un Voyage fait par ordre du Roi dans l'Amérique Septentrionnale. Par le P. De Charlevoix, de la Compagnie de Jesus." Tome Premier, 12o., Paris, 1744, p. 172. "Le Commandeur deChatte, governeur de Dieppe, lui succéda, forma une Compagnie de Marchands de Roüen, avec lesquels plusieurs Personnes de condition entrerent en société, et fit un Armement, dont il confia la conduite à Pontgravé, à qui le Roy avoit donné des Lettres Patentes, pour continuer les découvertes dans le Fleuve du Canada, et pour y faire des Etablissemens. Dans le même tems Samuël deChamplain, Gentilhomme Saintongeois, Capitaine de Vaisseau, et en réputation d'Officier brave, habile et expérimenté,arriva des Indes Occidentales, où il avoit passé deux ans et demi.Le Commandeur de Chatte lui proposa de faire le voyage de Canada, et il y consentit avec l'agrément du Roy, etc."—Ed.

[2]The Père Fournier, in hisHydrographie, says that the Basques and Bretons had been there before 1504: "L'an 1504, ainsi qu'il est porté dans l'histoire de Niflet, et dans Magin, les Basques, Normands, et Bretons allèrent en la coste des Moreïes, dit le Grand banc, vers le Cap Breton; voire, il semble qu'ils y ayent esté bien auparavant, car dans une lettre écrite par Sebastian Cavot à Henry VII, Roy d'Angleterre, l'an 1497, ces terres sont appelées du nom d'Isles de Bacaleos, comme d'un nom assez connu. On ne peut douter que ce nom ne leur ait este donné par les Basques, qui seuls en Europe appellent ce poisson Bacaleos, ou Bacallos: et les originaires l'appellent Apagé."—Lib. vi, c. 12, Paris, 1643. Others say that Juan Vaz de Cortereal explored the northern seas and discovered the land ofBaccalhos, or Codfishland, in 1463, either of which, if true, accounts for Cabot's mentioning the name as familiar, but overthrows his claim to its discovery.... Champlain also writes: "Ce furent les Bretons et les Normands qui en l'an 1504 descouvrirent,les premiers des Chréstiens, le Grand Banc des Moluques (Molues or Morues) et les Isles de Terre Neufve, ainsi qu'il se remarque és histoires de Niflet et d'Antoine Maginus."—Voyages de la Nouvelle France, Paris, 1632.

[3]Navarrete and Ramusio.

[4]Fournier.

[5]Ramusio. Mark Lescarbot, who wrote a history of New France (Paris, 1612), also gives a detailed account of the voyages of Ferazzano.

[6]Bruzen de la Martonière,Dictionnaire Geographique, Paris, 1768.

[7]Fournier quaintly says: "Il avait l'intention d'aller jusques au Pôle, mais il fust pris et mangé par des sauvages."

[8]Champlain says that he was "fort étendu et experimenté au faict de la marine, autant qu'autre de son temps."

[9]Champlain,Voyages en Nouvelle France, etc.

[10]Champlain says, that the cattle had been saved from the wreck of a Spanish ship.

[11]Champlain.

[12]Ibid.,Voyages en Nouvelle France, etc.

[13]Desmarquets, in hisMémoires Chronologiques pour servir à l'Histoire de la Ville de Dieppe, says that Chauvin, on arriving at Tadoussac the second time, found only the corpses of the sixteen men whom he had left there. When he again returned to France he left twenty more men, but death preventing his intended third voyage, those twenty died of hunger, like the sixteen first.

[14]The salt works at Brouage were considered the finest in the kingdom. Cardinal Richelieu also established a large cannon foundry there in 1627.

[15]The Commander Aymar de Chastes, also styled Frère Aymar de Clermont, was knight and maréschal of the order of St. John of Jerusalem, of the language of Auvergne, commander of the Armeteau and of St. Paul, lieutenant-general for the king in the Pays de Coer, and governor of the town and castle of Dieppe. He was employed by Henry III to reinstate Don Antonio of Portugal in his kingdom, and by Henry IV to command the fleet on the coast of Brittany; it was almost entirely owing to Mons. de Chastes that Dieppe declared for the king against the League, which enabled him to fight and win the battle of Arques. He died at Dieppe, on the 13th of May, 1603, and was buried in the church of the Minimes there, followed to the grave by all the inhabitants, "who looked on him as their father and protector," says Asselini, MS. Chron.

[16]This fact at once shews that Champlain's fortune was but small and his merits great. Henry IV at that time had no funds to throw away, and a pension then given must have been well deserved. The attachment to his person also proves the feeling of the king.

[17]Pierre du Gast, sieur de Monts, gentleman of the chamber to the king, was named in 1603 vice-admiral of the coasts of Acadia, from the fortieth to the forty-sixth degree of north latitude, and in the following year his majesty gave him the lieutenancy of the same country. By letters patent of 21st January, 1605, all subjects, save De Monts and his associates, were forbidden to trade in those parts. De Monts first named the sieur Du Pont Gravé his lieutenant in September 1605, and in February 1606 replaced him by the sieur de Paitrincourt. The cession to De Monts was again ratified in 1608, but to little purpose.

[18]The Jesuits did not send a mission until the next year, 1611. Madame de Guercheville was the wife of M. de Liancour, "premier écuyer" to the king, and governor of Paris: she was one of the most ardent supporters of the Jesuits, as the following trait will shew: "When the expedition of M. de Biencour, son of M. de Poitrincourt, was preparing at Dieppe in 1611, the Jesuits sent two of their company, the fathers Biart and Rémond Massé, to join it, and proceed to establish a mission in Canada. On their arrival at Dieppe, the Sieurs du Querne and Jourdain, Protestants and members of the Company of New France, would not allow them to embark, treating them with disdain and contumely. At which Madame de Guercheville was so indignant that, aided by the influence of Father Coton, she managed to force the recusant Protestants to quit the company, with an indemnity of four thousand livres for their shares."—Asselini, MS. Chronicle, 1682.

[19]In the beginning of 1620, the Duke de Montmorency was created viceroy and lieutenant-general of New France and the neighbouring islands and coasts, from Florida along the sea coast to the Arctic circle; to the west, from Newfoundland to the Great Lake, called the Freshwater Sea (Lake Superior), with all the lands adjoining the rivers which flow into the St. Lawrence, or Great River of Canada; the ports of Tadoussac and of Quebec, etc., etc.

[20]It was not so much the worry of the Duke de Montmorency, as the intrigues of the Jesuits, which induced him to give up, or rather sell, the viceroyalty. The whole negotiation is explained in theHist. Canadensisof the Jesuit Du Creux (or Creuxius, as he styles himself), Paris, 1664. The Duke de Ventadour was very devout, had even taken holy orders, and was quite in the Jesuits' hands: they wishing to get, or rather strengthen their footing in Canada, after many expedients, settled the matter as follows: "Viâ certa demum hæc judicata; Pro rege Novæ Franciæ dignitatem à Duce Montmorantio, coëmeret Ventadorius.... Nec mora, agit continuò cum Montmorantio Ventadorius; cum eoque brevi decidit in Librarum Turonensium (Livres Tournois) centum millia, et quod excurrit hæc tam grandi pecunia pene profundendiâ illustrissime testatus, quam sibi cordi, Canadensis res esset."—Lib. i, p. 4. One hardly knows which most to admire, the simplicity of the worthy "Creuxius" in thus letting out the secret, or the abominable Latin in which he narrates the whole affair.

[21]Scarcity of provisions. "Nec minus animo Camplenius angebatur, Galli remanebant quinque et quinquaginta, quibus in istis angustiis difficultatibusque, victum quotidianum tandiu præbere haud facillimum merito putabatur, etc,"—Du Creux,Hist. Canadensis, lib. i, p. 13.

[22]Three young girls. "Accessere sub extremum Januarium virgunculæ indigenæ tres, ultro præter morem, oblutæ à parentibus ... partem metu, ne Gallorum duorum cædem, quos Barbari aliquot dormientes, recens, per summam inhumanitatem oppresserant, Camplenius gravius ulcisceretur, etc."—Du Creux,Hist. Canadensis, lib. i, p. 13.

[23]"In summâ inopiâ, pernegante Pontio-Gravæo!"—Du Creux.

[24]On the 29th April, 1627, another company for the trade with New France, to the exclusion of all previous associations, and styled the Company of the Hundred Associates, was organized, and the articles settled and signed, under the especial patronage and influence of the Cardinal de Richelieu; and on the 29th June the Duke de Ventadour resigned the post of viceroy of New France, in consideration of the sum of seventy thousand livres, which the President de Lauzun promised him on the part of the king. The "Great Cardinal" had been already invested in 1626 with the direction of all naval affairs, under the title of Grand Master and Superintendant of Navigation and Commerce, those of admiral and vice-admiral of France being suppressed. His first care was to put down the rival companies, and take the trade into his own hands; the next, to get rid of the Jesuits, and their tool the Duke de Ventadour.

[25]"Fauces illas, aditusque fluminis obsidebat jam aliquandiu David Kersius, Anglus, ab navibus, militibusque Rupemontio instructor ... præmonitus pridem ab exulceratis Cadomianis (De Caen), qui exclusos sese ab Novâ Franciâ, tantâ vel ignominiâ, vel rei familiaris jacturâ impotentissimé ferebant, de navium transmissarum numero, de Noyrotis actuario nominatim, de militum robore, de commeatu, de omnibus denique, quæ hostis incendere cupiditatem, vel stimulare diligentiam, vel cautionem munire posse videbantur."—De Creux, lib. i.

[26]Champlain, however, shortly after received a commission from the king, Louis XIII, appointing him commandant in New France under Cardinal Richelieu, ordering him also to take an inventory of all goods and property of every kind belonging to De Caen, and to have them valued; and also, to send without delay an account of the state of the settlement, the number of acres of cleared land, and plans of the fort and buildings, etc., for the deliberation of the royal council.

[27]De Caen found means not only to disarm suspicion of his treachery and collusion with Michel, but contrived to obtain a sort of compensation for his exclusion from the company of the "Cent Associés." On the 1st January, 1633, Cardinal Richelieu gave permission to the Sieur Guillaume De Caen to establish colonies on certain islands in the West Indies, with exclusive privileges for a term of years, "provided the said islands were not already inhabited by Christians, and that none but Roman Catholics should be allowed to settle there." I cannot find any further mention of De Caen and his enterprises.

[28]"Traîté de la Marine et du Devoir d'un bon Marinier."

[29]In 1604 Champlain published a relation of his first voyage to Canada; in it he mentions a strange and frightful monster called "gougou," giving at the same time the names of his authorities. This story, which, in a great measure, gave rise to the accusation of credulity, was suppressed in the general relation of his voyages in 1632. The "dragon," the two legs of the camelion, and the no-legs of the bird of Paradise, the mode of hatching the same, etc., described in the present manuscript, show that, however he may have got over extreme credulity in later years, in his first voyages he had a strong belief in the marvellous—but that quality belonged in a degree to the age in which he lived.

[30]Maréchal d'Aumont. Jean d'Aumont, born in 1522, of an ancient and noble family, entered the career of arms very early, and distinguished himself by his bravery during the Piedmontese war. Henry III created him Knight of the Saint Esprit in 1578, and Marshal of France in the following year. D'Aumont signalized himself at the battle of Ivry. He was named governor of Poitou by Henry IV, and by his prudent conduct kept that province from rising for the League. The king sent him to Brittany to oppose the Duke de Mercœur. He was killed by a musket-shot at the siege of Camper, on the 19th of August, 1595, aged seventy-three years.

[31]Maréchal de Brissac. Charles, second Duke de Cossé Brissac, peer and marshal of France. He gave up Paris, of which he was governor, to Henry IV, on the 22nd March, 1594. He served in the war in Brittany till its close, and died at Brissac, in Anjou, in 1621.

[32]"Maréchal de logis"—quarter-master.

[33]Reduction of Brittany. The greater part of Brittany held out for the League against the king (Henry IV), under the command of the Duke de Mercœur, aided by the Spaniards under the Archduke Albert of Austria.Philippe Emanuel de Lorraine, Duke de Mercœur, was born at Nomény, in 1558. Attached to the Duke of Guise, he was about to be arrested at the States of Blois in 1588, but the queen, Louise de Lorraine, his sister, gave him timely warning, and he escaped. He then openly embraced the party of the League, withdrew to his government of Brittany, called in the aid of the Spaniards, and gave them possession of the port of Blavet in 1591. He made his submission to Henry IV in April, 1598, and was pardoned at the intercession of Gabrielle d'Estrées, lately created Duchess of Beaufort, who, however, previously stipulated that the duke should give his daughter, Françoise, one of the richest heiresses in France, in marriage to the son of Henry IV, César, Duke de Vendôme. In 1601 the Emperor Rodolph offered De Mercœur the command of his army in Hungary against the Turks. He endeavoured with only fifteen thousand men to raise the siege of Chanicha, which Ibrahim Pacha had invested with sixty thousand. He was forced to retire, but his retreat passed for one of the most skilful then known. Obliged in the following year to return to France, he died on the way, at Nuremberg, in 1602.

Philippe Emanuel de Lorraine, Duke de Mercœur, was born at Nomény, in 1558. Attached to the Duke of Guise, he was about to be arrested at the States of Blois in 1588, but the queen, Louise de Lorraine, his sister, gave him timely warning, and he escaped. He then openly embraced the party of the League, withdrew to his government of Brittany, called in the aid of the Spaniards, and gave them possession of the port of Blavet in 1591. He made his submission to Henry IV in April, 1598, and was pardoned at the intercession of Gabrielle d'Estrées, lately created Duchess of Beaufort, who, however, previously stipulated that the duke should give his daughter, Françoise, one of the richest heiresses in France, in marriage to the son of Henry IV, César, Duke de Vendôme. In 1601 the Emperor Rodolph offered De Mercœur the command of his army in Hungary against the Turks. He endeavoured with only fifteen thousand men to raise the siege of Chanicha, which Ibrahim Pacha had invested with sixty thousand. He was forced to retire, but his retreat passed for one of the most skilful then known. Obliged in the following year to return to France, he died on the way, at Nuremberg, in 1602.

[34]Blavet, the last town held by the Spaniards in Brittany, was, together with all the places they possessed in Picardy, given up by the treaty of Vervins, in June 1598, and thus the whole province was submitted to the king's authority.Blavet, or Port Louis, a fortified town with citadel and harbour in Brittany, department of the Morbihan, at the embouchure of the river Blavet; the town being ruined during the wars of the League, Louis XIII rebuilt it from the former materials, erected a fort, and gave it his name.

Blavet, or Port Louis, a fortified town with citadel and harbour in Brittany, department of the Morbihan, at the embouchure of the river Blavet; the town being ruined during the wars of the League, Louis XIII rebuilt it from the former materials, erected a fort, and gave it his name.

[35]"Patache"—advice-boat.

[36]Guadaloupe. The first settlement in Guadaloupe was established by the French in 1635, by Messrs. Du Plissis and Olive.

[37]"Ramasques"—wide-spreading, branching, and bushy trees.

[38]Canifiste, from "Caneficier," the name given in the Antilles to the cassia tree. Cassia fistula (Linn.)—the keleti of the Caribs, producing the cassia Nigra of commerce.

[39]Honey of canes—molasses?

[40]The town of Porto-rico was founded in 1510. It was attacked by Drake and Hawkins in 1595, but the Spaniards, being apprised of their coming, had made such preparations, that Drake was forced to retire, after burning the Spanish ships that were in the harbour. In 1598 an expedition was fitted out by George Clifford, Earl of Cumberland, to conquer the island. He disembarked his men secretly and attacked the town, when, according to the Spanish accounts, he met with vigorous resistance from the inhabitants (Champlain's account from eyewitnesses and sufferers is very different); but in a few days the garrison of four hundred men surrendered, and the whole island submitted to the English. The possession of the island being deemed of great importance, the Earl adopted the harsh measure of exiling the inhabitants to Cartagena, and in spite of the protests and remonstrances of the unfortunate Spaniards, the plan was put in execution; a few only escaped. However the English soon found it impossible to keep the island; a grievous malady carried off three-fourths of the troops. Cumberland, deceived in his hopes, returned to England, leaving the command to Sir John Berkeley. The mortality spreading daily more and more, forced the English to evacuate the island, and the Spaniards soon after resumed possession of their dwellings.Champlain's account of the state of the island after the departure of the English, and of the cowardice of the governor, is curious; there is, however, some confusion in his dates, and as to the time that the English occupation lasted.

Champlain's account of the state of the island after the departure of the English, and of the cowardice of the governor, is curious; there is, however, some confusion in his dates, and as to the time that the English occupation lasted.

[41]Sombrade—from "sombra," Span.—leafy shade. "Ficus americana maxima," the "Clusea rosea" of St. Domingo, or "Figuier maudit marron."

[42]Plantes—"Plantano" of the Spaniards, a species of banana, called in the Canaries "plantano."

[43]Lemons of strange size—Shaddock?

[44]Algarobe. See forward, page 25.

[45]Pappette—"Curica papaia" (Linn.)—papaw-tree.

[46]Coraçon. Anona Muricata, or Corassol, from the Spanish "Corazon,"—heart, so called from the shape of the fruit. Some writers derived the name from Curaçoa, supposing the seed to have been brought by the Dutch from that island. The native name was "memin."

[47]Cassava—Jatropha Manihot.

[48]See frontispiece.

[49]Now San Domingo.

[50]Feuille-morte, whence "phillemoti," brownish.

[51]A difficult channel, called by the Spaniards the "Sound of Mexico," abounding in fish, especially Dorades."We pursued our route till we arrived at a place which the Spaniards call the Sound of Mexico, for in that place we often cast the sound.... During this time we took great diversion in fishing, particularly dorades, on which we made great cheer."—Gage'sVoyage to Mexico in 1625, from French translation by the Sieur de Beaulieu, Hües O'Neil: 2 vols., Paris, 1676.

[51]A difficult channel, called by the Spaniards the "Sound of Mexico," abounding in fish, especially Dorades.

"We pursued our route till we arrived at a place which the Spaniards call the Sound of Mexico, for in that place we often cast the sound.... During this time we took great diversion in fishing, particularly dorades, on which we made great cheer."—Gage'sVoyage to Mexico in 1625, from French translation by the Sieur de Beaulieu, Hües O'Neil: 2 vols., Paris, 1676.

[52]Hiatus in MS.

[53]Sparus aurata (Linn.), Brame de Mer—the Bahama dorade is called "porgy."

[54]Hiatus in MS.

[55]The fort or castle of San Juan d'Ulloa is evidently meant, but whether it bore that name when Champlain was there, or whether he confounded the St. Jean de Luz of Spain with San Juan d'Ulloa, is a moot point. In Mercator and Hondius's maps, Amsterdam, 10th edition, 1628, St. Juan d'Uloa(Ulloa) is placed on the twenty-sixth degree of north latitude, at the mouth of the river "Lama" (Rio del Norte). The town of Villa Rica, is laid down in the actual position of Vera Cruz, but no mention of either St. Juan de Luz, or d'Ulloa; and in Gage'sVoyage with the Spanish Fleet to the West Indies and Mexico, 1625, it is styled Sñ Juan d'Ulhua, otherwise Vera Cruz."The proper name of the town is Sñ Juan d'Ulhua, otherwise Vera Cruz, from the old harbour of Vera Cruz, which is six leagues from it. But the harbour of the old Vera Cruz being found too dangerous for ships, on account of the violence of the north wind, it was entirely abandoned by the Spaniards, who went to St. Juan d'Ulhua, where their vessels found a safe anchorage by means of a rock which serves as a strong defence against the winds; and in order to perpetuate the memory of this happy adventure, chancing on a Good Friday, to the name of St. Juan d'Ulhua they added that of the True Cross, taken from the first harbour, which was discovered on the Holy Friday of the year 1519."—Gage'sVoyage to Mexico, etc., 1625.

"The proper name of the town is Sñ Juan d'Ulhua, otherwise Vera Cruz, from the old harbour of Vera Cruz, which is six leagues from it. But the harbour of the old Vera Cruz being found too dangerous for ships, on account of the violence of the north wind, it was entirely abandoned by the Spaniards, who went to St. Juan d'Ulhua, where their vessels found a safe anchorage by means of a rock which serves as a strong defence against the winds; and in order to perpetuate the memory of this happy adventure, chancing on a Good Friday, to the name of St. Juan d'Ulhua they added that of the True Cross, taken from the first harbour, which was discovered on the Holy Friday of the year 1519."—Gage'sVoyage to Mexico, etc., 1625.

[56]"The boats towed our ships, one after the other, through the midst of the sunken rocks, which makes this port one of the most dangerous that I have seen in all my voyages in the north or south seas.... We cast our anchors in the haven, but as they were not sufficient to assure our vessels in so dangerous a port, we added the assistance of many cables, which were fastened to great rings of iron, fixed expressly in the walls of the castle to guarantee ships thereby from the violence of the north wind."—Gage'sVoyage.

[57]See forward, pages 28 and 29.

[58]Brazil, or Brésil wood—Cæsalpinia. Two species of Brazil wood are used in dyeing, Cæs. Echinata (Lamarck), and Cæs. Sappan (Linn.) The first is the Brazil wood, or Brésillet, of Pernambuco, a large tree growing naturally in South America, used in commerce for red dye. The second is indigenous in India, where it is used for the same purpose, and known in the trade as sappan wood; in France, "Brésellet des Indes."The origin of the name "Brazil," or "Brésil," for this wood, was long a moot point, whether the country took its name from the tree, or the tree from the country. Many early writers (and some modern) have thought that it was derived from the country. The Sieur de Rochefort, in his "Histoire Naturelle et Morale des Antilles d'Amérique" (Rotterdam, 1658), says: "Le bois de Brésil est ainsi nommé à cause que le premier qui a esté veu en Europe, avoit esté apporté de la Province du Brésil, où il croist en plus grande abondance qu'en aucun endroit de l'Amérique"; and Savary, in hisDictionnaire du Commerce, writes: "C'est un bois dont on se sert pour teindre en rouge, et qui est ainsi nommé puisqu'il est d'abord venu du Brésil, province de l'Amérique." I could cite more modern authorities, written and oral, for within the last month I heard the derivation of the country asserted by a gentleman of no slight pretensions to learning.Unfortunately for the above theory, the names "Brésil" and "Brésillet" are mentioned in an "ordonnance" of John, king of France, dated London, 16th September, 1358. "Nous avons entendu plusieurs marchants, Lombards et autres, qui ont trait, ou faict traire hors du dict Royaume,—guerdes, garances, 'Brésils, et autres teintures.'"Again, in theRèglements pour le Mestier de Draperie de la Ville de Troyes, 360: "Nous avons ordené, et ordenons que dores-en-avant, aucune teintures ne puisse ou doie taindre draps au laines en ycelle Ville de Troies, mais que de garde, de garance, deBrésil, et d'autres meilleures taintures," etc.Also in theStatuts et Règlements pour les Drapiers de la Ville de Rouen, 4th December and 5th January, 1378,Brésilis mentioned, and it is to be found inOrdonnancesof the years 1368, 1398, and 1400. In the very ancient MS. statutes of the town of Abbeville,Brésilis named: "Que à Selle neuve, ne sait mis en œuvre basenneBresillé." Finally, Muratori, in hisAntiq. Ital. Med. Ævi, vol. ii, cites a charter of the year 1193, in which "Brazil" appears. "Scilicet de omnibus drappis de batilicio, de lume zucarina, deBrasile," etc.The antiquity of the name is thus clearly shown, the origin is most probably "brasa," red, flame-colour, incandescent.We have the quaint authority of Barros as to the origin of the name of the country, Brazil. "This country had at first the name of Santa Croce, Holy Cross, on account of that which was raised there; but the demon, who loses by this standard of the cross the empire which he had over us, and which had been taken from him by the mediation of the merits of Jesus Christ, destroyed the cross, and caused the country to be called Brazil, the name of a red wood. This name has entered into the mouth of every one, and that of Holy Cross is lost, as if it was more important that a name should come from a wood used to dye clothes, rather than from that wood which gives virtue to all the sacraments—means of our salvation—because it was dyed with the blood of Jesus Christ spilled upon it."Thus it is evident that the name Brazils was given to the country by the Portuguese, subsequently to Cabral's discovery, from the quantity of the red wood abounding there.The first known "Brasilium," or "Brésil," would be the Indian variety (Cæsalpinia Sappan), introduced into Europe, most probably, by the Venetians or Genoese, and obtained by them from the Levant, brought there by caravans, or by the Persian and Arabian Gulfs."Campesche," or Campeachy wood, "Hæmatoxyllum Campechianum" (Linn.)

The origin of the name "Brazil," or "Brésil," for this wood, was long a moot point, whether the country took its name from the tree, or the tree from the country. Many early writers (and some modern) have thought that it was derived from the country. The Sieur de Rochefort, in his "Histoire Naturelle et Morale des Antilles d'Amérique" (Rotterdam, 1658), says: "Le bois de Brésil est ainsi nommé à cause que le premier qui a esté veu en Europe, avoit esté apporté de la Province du Brésil, où il croist en plus grande abondance qu'en aucun endroit de l'Amérique"; and Savary, in hisDictionnaire du Commerce, writes: "C'est un bois dont on se sert pour teindre en rouge, et qui est ainsi nommé puisqu'il est d'abord venu du Brésil, province de l'Amérique." I could cite more modern authorities, written and oral, for within the last month I heard the derivation of the country asserted by a gentleman of no slight pretensions to learning.

Unfortunately for the above theory, the names "Brésil" and "Brésillet" are mentioned in an "ordonnance" of John, king of France, dated London, 16th September, 1358. "Nous avons entendu plusieurs marchants, Lombards et autres, qui ont trait, ou faict traire hors du dict Royaume,—guerdes, garances, 'Brésils, et autres teintures.'"

Again, in theRèglements pour le Mestier de Draperie de la Ville de Troyes, 360: "Nous avons ordené, et ordenons que dores-en-avant, aucune teintures ne puisse ou doie taindre draps au laines en ycelle Ville de Troies, mais que de garde, de garance, deBrésil, et d'autres meilleures taintures," etc.

Also in theStatuts et Règlements pour les Drapiers de la Ville de Rouen, 4th December and 5th January, 1378,Brésilis mentioned, and it is to be found inOrdonnancesof the years 1368, 1398, and 1400. In the very ancient MS. statutes of the town of Abbeville,Brésilis named: "Que à Selle neuve, ne sait mis en œuvre basenneBresillé." Finally, Muratori, in hisAntiq. Ital. Med. Ævi, vol. ii, cites a charter of the year 1193, in which "Brazil" appears. "Scilicet de omnibus drappis de batilicio, de lume zucarina, deBrasile," etc.

The antiquity of the name is thus clearly shown, the origin is most probably "brasa," red, flame-colour, incandescent.

We have the quaint authority of Barros as to the origin of the name of the country, Brazil. "This country had at first the name of Santa Croce, Holy Cross, on account of that which was raised there; but the demon, who loses by this standard of the cross the empire which he had over us, and which had been taken from him by the mediation of the merits of Jesus Christ, destroyed the cross, and caused the country to be called Brazil, the name of a red wood. This name has entered into the mouth of every one, and that of Holy Cross is lost, as if it was more important that a name should come from a wood used to dye clothes, rather than from that wood which gives virtue to all the sacraments—means of our salvation—because it was dyed with the blood of Jesus Christ spilled upon it."

Thus it is evident that the name Brazils was given to the country by the Portuguese, subsequently to Cabral's discovery, from the quantity of the red wood abounding there.

The first known "Brasilium," or "Brésil," would be the Indian variety (Cæsalpinia Sappan), introduced into Europe, most probably, by the Venetians or Genoese, and obtained by them from the Levant, brought there by caravans, or by the Persian and Arabian Gulfs.

"Campesche," or Campeachy wood, "Hæmatoxyllum Campechianum" (Linn.)

[59]"Cactus Opuntia." The belief that the cochineal was the seed of a plant, was prevalent for a very long period after the conquest of Mexico. In a drawing which Champlain gives of the plant, the "seeds" are shown exactly as the insects fix and feed on the leaves. The jealousy of the Spanish government, and the severe monopoly of this production, prevented the true nature and mode of propagation from being known, and gave rise to a variety of fables and conjectures.

[60]I am at a loss to find what tree it is that Champlain designates thus, unless it is "Canica"—Myrtus pimenta.

[61]The brown cacao (Linn.)

[62]The supporting and stimulating properties of chocolate were discovered very early, and were particularly valuable in a country where the animal food gave but little nourishment. Gage says, that "Three or four hours after a repast of three or four dishes of beef, kid, turkey, and other game, his and company's stomachs were overcome with weakness and ready to faint, so that they were obliged to support and fortify them with a glass of chocolate," etc. This "strangeness" was attributed to the little nourishment in the meats, although in appearance as fine as those of Europe, owing to the extreme dryness of the pasturage.

[63]Champlain has here evidently the description of the cacao tree and the "Metl," or Maguey (Aloes Pitta, Aloes disticha, Agave Americana), to which nearly all the latter part of his description applies, save the "leaf like that of an olive tree."

[64]"Psidium" (Linn.) "Sa qualité est de resserrer le ventre, estant mangé vert, dont aussi plusieurs s'en servent contre le flux de sang; mais estant mangé meur il a un effet tout contraire."—De Rochefort,Hist. des Antilles, etc., 1658.

[65]A kind of apple common in Normandy, in the "Pays de Caux" more particularly.

[66]"Ahuacahuitl," native name, by corruption called "Aguacat"; by the Spaniards, "Avorat," "Avogade," and "Avocat"—the Avogada pear."Shaped like a pear, sometimes like a lime, green without, green and white within, with a large kernel in the middle. It is eaten cooked or raw, with salt. All travellers agree that no fruit in Europe can compare with it."—Clusius.

[66]"Ahuacahuitl," native name, by corruption called "Aguacat"; by the Spaniards, "Avorat," "Avogade," and "Avocat"—the Avogada pear.

"Shaped like a pear, sometimes like a lime, green without, green and white within, with a large kernel in the middle. It is eaten cooked or raw, with salt. All travellers agree that no fruit in Europe can compare with it."—Clusius.

[67]Algaroba, or Algarova, the name given by the Spaniards to some species of acacia of the New World, from their resemblance to the algarobe, caroubier, St. John's bean, or carob tree, of which the pods form excellent food for cattle.

[68]The fruit of a variety of Cactus Opuntia—the "Nuchtli" of the Mexicans, and called "Raquette" by the French, from the shape of the leaves. "Ce que nos François appellent Raquette à cause de la figure de ses feuilles: sur quelques unes de ces feuilles, longues et herissées, croist un fruit de la grosseur d'une prune-datte; quand il est meur, il est rouge dedans, et dehors comme de vermillon. Il a cette propriété, qu'il teint l'urine en couleur de sang aussi tost qu'on en a mangé, de sorte que ceux qui ne savent pas ce secret, craignent de s'estre rompu une veine, et il s'en est trouvé qui, aians apperceu ce changement, se sont mis au lit, et out creu estre dangereusement malades."—De Rochefort,Voyage aux Antilles, etc., 1658.This should be the same fruit of which Gage writes (1625-26): "There is another sort of this fruit, 'Nuchtli,' which is red, and is not esteemed as the others, although not of bad taste, but on account of its staining with the colour of blood, not only the mouth and the linen of him who eats it, but also his urine."

This should be the same fruit of which Gage writes (1625-26): "There is another sort of this fruit, 'Nuchtli,' which is red, and is not esteemed as the others, although not of bad taste, but on account of its staining with the colour of blood, not only the mouth and the linen of him who eats it, but also his urine."

[69]From the Spanish "Ciruela"—plum.

[70]In Champlain's time only two varieties of palm were known (save the cocoa-nut tree, which was called "palm"par excellence), the "Palmiste franc," or cabbage palm—Areca oleracea (Linn.); and the "Palmiste épineuse," or thorny palm—Areca spinosa (Linn.)

[71]"Cocos lapidea" of Gaertner, the fruit of which is smaller than the common cocoa-nut, and of which small vases, cups, etc., are made.

[72]Cocos nucifera.

[73]"C'est cette eau qui entre ses autres vertus, a la propriété d'effacer toutes les rides du visage, et de lui donner une couleur blanche et vermeille pourveu qu'on l'en lave aussi-tost que le fruit est tombé de l'arbre."—De Rochefort.

[74]Plaintain-tree—Banana.

[75]Rhus Copallinum (Linn.) The Mexicans gave the name of "copal," to all resins and odoriferous gums. The "copal," par excellence, is a white and transparent resin, which flows from a tree whose leaves resemble those of the oak, but longer; this tree is called "copal-qua-huitl," or tree which bears the copal; they have also the "copal-qua-huitl-petlahuae," whose leaves are the largest of the species, and like those of the sumach. The "copal-quauhxiotl," with long and narrow leaves; the "tepecopulli-qua-huitl," or copal of the mountains, whose resin is like the incense of the old world, called by the Spaniards, "incienso de las Indias," and some other inferior kinds.

[76]Batatas—sweet potatoe, yam.

[77]Champlain clearly means the rattle-snake (Crotulus), but seems to have confounded it with the horned snake, from the "plumes" on the head.

[78]Probably "Lacerta Iguana" (Linn.), some of which grow to a great size. The flesh was considered a delicacy by the Indians and by many Europeans, but eating of it too frequently was supposed to occasion a wasting of the body. De Rochefort says: "On ne conseille néanmoins d'en manger souvent à cause qu'elle dessêche trop le corps et lui fait perdre tout son embonpoint."—Hist. Nat. et Morale des Antilles.

[79]In another room there were great earthen vessels, some filled with water, others with earth, in which were snakes as big as a man's thigh; and crocodiles, which they call caymans, as thick as a man's thigh.—Gage,Description of the Palace of Montezuma.

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