29. Jean Parmentier, of Dieppe, author of the _Discorso d'un gran capitano_ in Ramusio, Vol. III., p. 423, wrote in the year 1539, and he says the Bretons and Normans were in our northern waters thirty-five years before, which would be in 1504. _Vide_ Mr. Parkman's learned note and citations in _Pioneers of France in the New World_, pp. 171, 172. The above is doubtless the authority on which the early writers, such as Pierre Biard, Champlain, and others, make the year 1504 the period when the French voyages for fishing commenced.

30. _Vide Voyage of Iohn Alphonse of Xanctoigne_, Hakluyt, Vol. III., p.

293.

31. Compare the result of these inquiries as stated by Champlain, p.252 of this vol and _New Voyages_, by Baron La Hontan, 1684, ed. 1735, Vol I.

p. 30.

32. The Duke of Sully's disapprobation is expressed in the following words: "The colony that was sent to Canada this year, was among the number of those things that had not my approbation; there was no kind of riches to be expected from all those countries of the new world, which are beyond the fortieth degree of lat.i.tude. His majesty gave the conduct of this expedition to the Sieur du Mont."--_Memoirs of Sully_, Philadelphia, 1817, Vol. III. p. 185.

33. "Frequenter, negocier, et communiquer durant ledit temps de dix ans, depuis le Cap de Raze jusques au quarantieme degre, comprenant toute la cote de la Cadie, terre et Cap Breton, Bayes de Sainct-Cler, de Chaleur, Ile Percee, Gachepe, Chinschedec, Mesamichi, Lesquemin, Tadoussac, et la riviere de Canada, tant d'un cote que d'aurre, et toutes les Bayes et rivieres qui entrent au dedans desdites cotes."-- Extract of Commission, _Histoire de la Nouvelle-France_, par Lescarbot, Paris, 1866, Vol. II. p. 416.

CHAPTER III.

DE MONTS LEAVES FOR LA CADIE--THE COASTS OF NOVA SCOTIA.--THE BAY OF FUNDY --SEARCH FOR COPPER MINE--CHAMPLAIN EXPLORES THE PEn.o.bSCOT--DE MONTS'S ISLAND--SUFFERINGS OF THE COLONY--EXPLORATION OF THE COAST AS FAR AS NAUSET, ON CAPE COD

De Monts, with Champlain and the other n.o.blemen, left Havre de Grace on the 7th April, 1604, while Pont Grave, with the other vessel, followed three days later, to rendezvous at Canseau.

Taking a more southerly course than he had originally intended, De Monts came in sight of La Heve on the 8th of May, and on the 12th entered Liverpool harbor, where he found Captain Rossignol, of Havre de Grace, carrying on a contraband trade in furs with the Indians, whom he arrested, and confiscated his vessel.

The next day they anch.o.r.ed at Port Mouton, where they lingered three or four weeks, awaiting news from Pont Grave, who had in the mean time arrived at Canseau, the rendezvous agreed upon before leaving France. Pont Grave had there discovered several Basque ships engaged in the fur-trade. Taking possession of them, he sent their masters to De Monts. The ships were subsequently confiscated and sent to Roch.e.l.le.

Captain Fouques was despatched to Canseau in the vessel which had been taken from Rossignol, to bring forward the supplies which had been brought over by Pont Grave. Having transshipped the provisions intended for the colony, Pont Grave proceeded through the Straits of Canseau up the St.

Lawrence, to trade with the Indians, upon the profits of which the company relied largely for replenishing their treasury.

In the mean time Champlain was sent in a barque of eight tons, with the secretary Sieur Ralleau, Mr. Simon, the miner, and ten men, to reconnoitre the coast towards the west. Sailing along the sh.o.r.e, touching at numerous points, doubling Cape Sable, he entered the Bay of Fundy, and after exploring St. Mary's Bay, and discovering several mines of both Silver and iron, returned to Port Mouton and made to De Monts a minute and careful report.

De Monts immediately weighed anchor and sailed for the Bay of St. Mary, where he left his vessel, and, with Champlain, the miner, and some others, proceeded to explore the Bay of Fundy. They entered and examined Annapolis harbor, coasted along the western sh.o.r.es of Nova Scotia, touching at the Bay of Mines, pa.s.sing over to New Brunswick, skirting its whole southeastern coast, entering the harbor of St. John, and finally penetrating Pa.s.samaquoddy Bay as far as the mouth of the river St. Croix, and fixed upon De Monts's Island [34] as the seat of their colony. The vessel at St. Mary's with the colonists was ordered to join them, and immediately active measures were taken for laying out gardens, erecting dwellings and storehouses, and all the necessary preparations for the coming winter. Champlain was commissioned to design and lay out the town, if so it could be called.

When the work was somewhat advanced, he was sent in a barque of five or six tons, manned with nine sailors, to search for a mine of pure copper, which an Indian named Messamouet had a.s.sured them he could point out to them on the coast towards the river St. John. Some twenty-five miles from the river St. Croix, they found a mine yielding eighteen per cent, as estimated by the miner; but they did not discover any pure copper, as they had hoped.

On the last day of August, 1604, the vessel which had brought out the colony, together with that which had been taken from Rossignol, took their departure for the sh.o.r.es of France. In it sailed Poutrincourt, Ralleau the secretary of De Monts, and Captain Rossignol.

From the moment of his arrival on the coast of America, Champlain employed his leisure hours in making sketches and drawings of the most important rivers, harbors, and Indian settlements which they had visited.

While the little colony at De Monts's Island was active in getting its appointments arranged and settled, De Monts wisely determined, though he could not accompany it himself, nevertheless to send out an expedition during the mild days of autumn, to explore the region still further to the south, then called by the Indians Norumbegue. Greatly to the satisfaction of Champlain, he was personally charged, with this important expedition. He set out on the 2d of September, in a barque of seventeen or eighteen tons, with twelve sailors and two Indian guides. The inevitable fogs of that region detained them nearly a fortnight before they were able to leave the banks of Pa.s.samaquoddy. Pa.s.sing along the rugged sh.o.r.es of Maine, with its endless chain of islands rising one after another into view, which they called the Ranges, they at length came to the ancient Pemetiq, lying close in to the sh.o.r.e, having the appearance at sea of seven or eight mountains drawn together and springing from the same base. This Champlain named _Monts Deserts_, which we have anglicized into Mount Desert, [35] an appellation which has survived the vicissitudes of two hundred and seventy-five years, and now that the island, with its salubrious air and cool shades, its bold and picturesque scenery, is attracting thousands from the great cities during the heats of summer, the name is likely to abide far down into a distant and indefinite future.

Leaving Mount Desert, winding their way among numerous islands, taking a northerly direction, they soon entered the Pen.o.bscot, [36] known by the early navigators as the river Norumbegue. They proceeded up the river as far as the mouth of an affluent now known as the Kenduskeag, [37] which was then called, or rather the place where it made a junction with the Pen.o.bscot was called by the natives, _Kadesquit_, situated at the head of tide-water, near the present site of the city of Bangor. The falls above the city intercepted their further progress. The river-banks about the harbor were fringed with a luxurious growth of forest trees. On one side, lofty pines reared their gray trunks, forming a natural palisade along the sh.o.r.e. On the other, ma.s.sive oaks alone were to be seen, lifting their st.u.r.dy branches to the skies, gathered into clumps or stretching out into long lines, as if a landscape gardener had planted them to please the eye and gratify the taste. An exploration revealed the whole surrounding region clothed in a similar wild and primitive beauty.

After a leisurely survey of the country, they returned to the mouth of the river. Contrary to what might have been expected, Champlain found scarcely any inhabitants dwelling on the borders of the Pen.o.bscot. Here and there they saw a few deserted wigwams, which were the only marks of human occupation. At the mouth of the river, on the borders of Pen.o.bscot Bay, the native inhabitants were numerous. They were of a friendly disposition, and gave their visitors a cordial welcome, readily entered into negotiations for the sale of beaver-skins, and the two parties mutually agreed to maintain a friendly intercourse in the future.

Having obtained from the Indians some valuable information as to the source of the Pen.o.bscot, and observed their mode of life, which did not differ from that which they had seen still further east, Champlain departed on the 20th of September, directing his course towards the Kennebec. But, encountering bad weather, he found it necessary to take shelter under the lee of the island of Monhegan.

After sailing three or four leagues farther, finding that his provisions would not warrant the continuance of the voyage, he determined, on the 23d of September, to return to the settlement at Saint Croix, or what is now known as De Monts's Island, where they arrived on the 2d day of October, 1604.

De Monts's Island, having an area of not more than six or seven acres, is situated in the river Saint Croix, midway between its opposite sh.o.r.es, directly upon the dividing line between the townships of Calais and Robinston in the State of Maine. At the northern end of the island, the buildings of the settlement were cl.u.s.tered together in the form of a quadrangle with an open court in the centre. First came the magazine and lodgings of the soldiers, then the mansion of the governor, De Monts, surmounted by the colors of France. Houses for Champlain and the other gentlemen, [38] for the cure, the artisans and workmen, filled up and completed the quadrangle. Below the houses, gardens were laid out for the several gentlemen, and at the southern extremity of the island cannon were mounted for protection against a sudden a.s.sault.

In the ample forests of Maine or New Brunswick, rich in oak and maple and pine, abounding in deer, partridge, and other wild game, watered by crystal fountains springing from every acre of the soil, we naturally picture for our colonists a winter of robust health, physical comfort, and social enjoyment. The little island which they had chosen was indeed a charming spot in a summer's day, but we can hardly comprehend in what view it could have been regarded as suitable for a colonial plantation. In s.p.a.ce it was wholly inadequate; it was dest.i.tute of wood and fresh water, and its soil was sandy and unproductive. In fixing the location of their settlement and in the construction of their houses, it is obvious that they had entirely misapprehended the character of the climate. While the lat.i.tude was nearly the same, the temperature was far more rigorous than that of the sunny France which they had left. The snow began to fall on the 6th of October.

On the 3d of December the ice was seen floating on the surface of the water. As the season advanced, and the tide came and went, huge floes of ice, day after day, swept by the island, rendering it impracticable to navigate the river or pa.s.s over to the mainland. They were therefore imprisoned in their own home. Thus cut off from the game with which the neighboring forests abounded, they were compelled to subsist almost exclusively upon salted meats. Nearly all the forest trees on the island had been used in the construction of their houses, and they had consequently but a meagre supply of fuel to resist the chilling winds and penetrating frosts. For fresh water, their only reliance was upon melted snow and ice. Their store-house had not been furnished with a cellar, and the frost left nothing untouched; even cider was dispensed in solid blocks.

To crown the gloom and wretchedness of their situation, the colony was visited with disease of a virulent and fatal character. As the malady was beyond the knowledge, so it baffled the skill of the surgeons. They called it _mal de la terre_. Of the seventy-nine persons, composing the whole number of the colony, thirty-five died, and twenty others were brought to the verge of the grave. In May, having been liberated from the baleful influence of their winter prison and revived by the genial warmth of the vernal sun and by the fresh meats obtained from the savages, the disease abated, and the survivors gradually regained their strength.

Disheartened by the bitter experiences of the winter, the governor, having fully determined to abandon his present establishment, ordered two boats to be constructed, one of fifteen and the other of seven tons, in which to transport his colony to Gaspe, in case he received no supplies from France, with the hope of obtaining a pa.s.sage home in some of the fishing vessels on that coast. But from this disagreeable alternative he was happily relieved.

On the 15th of June, 1605, Pont Grave arrived, to the great joy of the little colony, with all needed supplies. The purpose of returning to France was at once abandoned, and, as no time was to be lost, on the 18th of the same month, De Monts, Champlain, several gentlemen, twenty sailors, two Indians, Panounias and his wife, set sail for the purpose of discovering a more eligible site for his colony somewhere on the sh.o.r.es of the present New England. Pa.s.sing slowly along the coast, with which Champlain was already familiar, and consequently without extensive explorations, they at length reached the waters of the Kennebec, [39] where the survey of the previous year had terminated and that of the present was about to begin.

On the 5th of July, they entered the Kennebec, and, bearing to the right, pa.s.sed through Back River, [40] grazing their barque on the rocks in the narrow channel, and then sweeping down round the southern point of Jerremisquam Island, or Westport, they ascended along its eastern sh.o.r.es till they came near the present site of Wisca.s.set, from whence they returned on the western side of the island, through Monseag Bay, and threading the narrow pa.s.sage between Arrowsick and Woolwich, called the Upper h.e.l.l-gate, and again entering the Kennebec, they finally reached Merrymeeting Bay. Lingering here but a short time, they returned through the Sagadahock, or lower Kennebec, to the mouth of the river.

This exploration did not yield to the voyagers any very interesting or important results. Several friendly interviews were held with the savages at different points along the route. Near the head waters of the Sheepscot, probably in Wisca.s.set Bay, they had an interview, an interesting and joyous meeting, with the chief Manthomerme and twenty-five or thirty followers, with whom they exchanged tokens of friendship. Along the sh.o.r.es of the Sheepscot their attention was attracted by several pleasant streams and fine expanses of meadow; but the soil observed on this expedition generally, and especially on the Sagadahock, [41] or lower Kennebec, was rough and barren, and offered, in the judgment of De Monts and Champlain, no eligible site for a new settlement.

Proceeding, therefore, on their voyage, they struck directly across Cas...o...b..y, not attempting, in their ignorance, to enter the fine harbor of Portland.

On the 9th of July, they made the bay that stretches from Cape Elizabeth to Fletcher's Neck, and anch.o.r.ed under the lee of Stratton Island, directly in sight of Old Orchard Beach, now a famous watering place during the summer months.

The savages having seen the little French barque approaching in the distance, had built sires to attract its attention, and came down upon the sh.o.r.e at Prout's Neck, formerly known as Black Point, in large numbers, indicating their friendliness by lively demonstrations of joy. From this anchorage, while awaiting the influx of the tide to enable them to pa.s.s over the bar and enter a river which they saw flowing into the bay, De Monts paid a visit to Richmond's Island, about four miles distant, which he was greatly delighted, as he found it richly studded with oak and hickory, whose bending branches were wreathed with luxuriant grapevines loaded with green cl.u.s.ters of unripe fruit. In honor of the G.o.d of wine, they gave to the island the cla.s.sic name of Bacchus. [42] At full tide they pa.s.sed over the bar and cast anchor within the channel of the Saco.

The Indians whom they found here were called Almouchiquois, and differed in many respects from any which they had seen before, from the Sourequois of Nova Scotia and the Etechemins of the northern part of Maine and New Brunswick. They spoke a different language, and, unlike their neighbors on the east, did not subsist mainly by the chase, but upon the products of the soil, supplemented by fish, which were plentiful and of excellent quality, and which they took with facility about the mouth of the river. De Monts and Champlain made an excursion upon the sh.o.r.e, where their eyes were refreshed by fields of waving corn, and gardens of squashes, beans, and pumpkins, which were then bursting into flower. [43] Here they saw in cultivation the rank narcotic _petun_, or tobacco, [44] just beginning to spread out its broad velvet leaves to the sun, the sole luxury of savage life. The forests were thinly wooded, but were nevertheless rich in primitive oak, in lofty ash and elm, and in the more humble and st.u.r.dy beech. As on Richmond's Island so here, along the bank of the river they found grapes in luxurious growth, from which the sailors busied themselves in making verjuice, a delicious beverage in the meridian heats of a July sun. The natives were gentle and amiable, graceful in figure, agile in movement, and exhibited unusual taste, dressing their hair in a variety of twists and braids, intertwined with ornamental feathers.

Champlain observed their method of cultivating Indian corn, which the experience of two hundred and seventy-five years has in no essential point improved or even changed. They planted three or four seeds in hills three feet apart, and heaped the earth about them, and kept the soil clear of weeds. Such is the method of the successful New England farmer to-day. The experience of the savage had taught him how many individuals of the rank plant could occupy prolifically a given area, how the soil must be gathered about the roots to sustain the heavy stock, and that there must be no rival near it to draw away the nutriment on which the voracious plant feeds and grows. Civilization has invented implements to facilitate the processes of culture, but the observation of the savage had led him to a knowledge of all that is absolutely necessary to ensure a prolific harvest.

After lingering two days at Saco, our explorers proceeded on their voyage.

When they had advanced not more than twenty miles, driven by a fierce wind, they were forced to cast anchor near the salt marshes of Wells. Having been driven by Cape Porpoise, on the subsidence of the wind, they returned to it, reconnoitred its harbor and adjacent islands, together with Little River, a few miles still further to the east. The sh.o.r.es were lined all along with nut-trees and grape-vines. The islands about Cape Porpoise were matted all over with wild currants, so that the eye could scarcely discern any thing else. Attracted doubtless by this fruit, clouds of wild pigeons had a.s.sembled there, and were having a midsummer's festival, fearless of the treacherous snare or the hunter's deadly aim. Large numbers of them were taken, which added a coveted luxury to the not over-stocked larder of the little French barque.

On the 15th of July, De Monts and his party left Cape Porpoise, keeping in and following closely the sinuosities of the sh.o.r.e. They saw no savages during the day, nor any evidences of any, except a rising smoke, which they approached, but found to be a lone beacon, without any surroundings of human life. Those who had kindled the fire had doubtless concealed themselves, or had fled in dismay. Possibly they had never seen a ship under sail. The fishermen who frequented our northern coast rarely came into these waters, and the little craft of our voyagers, moving without oars or any apparent human aid, seemed doubtless to them a monster gliding upon the wings of the wind. At the setting of the sun, they were near the flat and sandy coast, now known as Wallace's Sands. They fought in vain for a roadstead where they might anchor safely for the night. When they were opposite to Little Boar's Head, with the Isles of Shoals directly east of them, and the reflected rays of the sun were still throwing their light upon the waters, they saw in the distance the dim outline of Cape Anne, whither they directed their course, and, before morning, came to anchor near its eastern extremity, in sixteen fathoms of water. Near them were the three well-known islands at the apex of the cape, covered with forest-trees, and the woodless cl.u.s.ter of rocks, now called the Savages, a little further from the sh.o.r.e.

The next morning five or six Indians timidly approached them in a canoe, and then retired and set up a dance on the sh.o.r.e, as a token of friendly greeting. Armed with crayon and drawing-paper, Champlain was despatched to seek from the natives some important geographical information. Dispensing knives and biscuit as a friendly invitation, the savages gathered about him, a.s.sured by their gifts, when he proceeded to impart to them their first lesson in topographical drawing. He pictured to them the bay on the north side of Cape Anne, which he had just traversed, and signifying to them that he desired to know the course of the sh.o.r.e on the south, they immediately gave him an example of their apt scholarship by drawing with the same crayon an accurate outline of Ma.s.sachusetts Bay, and finished up Champlain's own sketch by introducing the Merrimac River, which, not having been seen, owing to the presence of Plum Island, which stretches like a curtain before its mouth, he had omitted to portray. The intelligent natives volunteered a bit of history. By placing six pebbles at equal distances, they intimated that Ma.s.sachusetts Bay was occupied by six tribes, and governed by as many chiefs. [45] He learned from them, likewise, that the inhabitants of this region subsisted by agriculture, as did those at the mouth of the Saco, and that they were very numerous.

Leaving Cape Anne on Sat.u.r.day the 16th of July, De Monts entered Ma.s.sachusetts Bay, sailed into Boston harbor, and anch.o.r.ed on the western side of Noddle's Island, now better known as East Boston. In pa.s.sing into the bay, they observed large patches of cleared land, and many fields of waving corn both upon the islands and the mainland. The water and the islands, the open fields and lofty forest-trees, presented fine contrasts, and rendered the scenery attractive and beautiful. Here for the first time Champlain observed the log canoe. It was a clumsy though serviceable boat in still waters, nevertheless unstable and dangerous in unskilful hands.

They saw, issuing into the bay, a large river, coming from the west, which they named River du Guast, in honor of Pierre du Guast, Sieur de Monts, the patentee of La Cadie, and the patron and director of this expedition. This was Charles River, seen, evidently just at its confluence with the Mystic.

[46]

On Sunday, the 17th of July, 1605, they left Boston harbor, threading their way among the islands, pa.s.sing leisurely along the south sh.o.r.e, rounding Point Allerton on the peninsula of Nantasket, gliding along near Coha.s.set and Scituate, and finally cast anchor at Brant Point, upon the southern borders of Marshfield. When they left the harbor of Boston, the islands and mainland were swarming with the native population. The Indians were, naturally enough, intensely interested in this visit of the little French barque. It may have been the first that had ever made its appearance in the bay. Its size was many times greater than any water-craft of their own.

Spreading its white wings and gliding silently away without oarsmen, it filled them with surprise and admiration. The whole population was astir.

The cornfields and fishing stations were deserted. Every canoe was manned, and a flotilla of their tiny craft came to attend, honor, and speed the parting guests, experiencing, doubtless, a sense of relief that they were going, and filled with a painful curiosity to know the meaning of this mysterious visit.

Having pa.s.sed the night at Brant Point, they had not advanced more than two leagues along a sandy sh.o.r.e dotted with wigwams and gardens, when they were forced to enter a small harbor, to await a more favoring wind. The Indians flocked about them, greeted them with cordiality, and invited them to enter the little river which flows into the harbor, but this they were unable to do, as the tide was low and the depth insufficient. Champlain's attention was attracted by several canoes in the bay, which had just completed their morning's work in fishing for cod. The fish were taken with a primitive hook and line, apparently in a manner not very different from that of the present day. The line was made of a filament of bark stripped from the trunk of a tree; the book was of wood, having a sharp bone, forming a barb, lashed to it with a cord of a gra.s.sy fibre, a kind of wild hemp, growing spontaneously in that region. Champlain landed, distributed trinkets among the natives, examined and sketched an outline of the place, which identifies it as Plymouth harbor, which captain John Smith visited in 1614, and where the May Flower, still six years later landed the first permanent colony planted upon New England soil.

After a day at Plymouth, the little bark weighed anchor, swept down Cape Cod, approaching near to the reefs of Billingsgate, describing a complete semicircle, and finally, with some difficulty, doubled the cape whose white sands they had seen in the distance glittering in the sunlight and which appropriately they named _Cap Blanc_. This cape, however, had been visited three years before by Bartholomew Gosnold, and named Cape Cod, which appellation it has retained to the present time. Pa.s.sing down on the outside of the cape some distance, they came to anchor, sent explorers on the sh.o.r.e, who ascending on of the lofty sand-banks [47] which may still be seen there silently resisting the winds and waves, discovered further to the south, what is now known as Nauset harbor, entirely surrounded by Indian cabins. The next day, the 20th of July, 1605, they effected an entrance without much difficulty. The bay was s.p.a.cious, being nine or ten miles in circ.u.mference. Along the borders, there were, here and there, cultivated patches, interspersed with dwellings of the natives. The wigwam was cone-shaped, heavily thatched with reeds, having an orifice at the apex for the emission of smoke. In the fields were growing Indian corn, Brazilian beans, pumpkins, radishes, and tobacco; and in the woods were oak and hickory and red cedar. During their stay in the harbor they encountered an easterly storm, which continued four days, so raw and chilling that they were glad to hug their winter cloaks about them on the 22d of July. The natives were friendly and cordial, and entered freely into conversation with Champlain; but, as the language of each party was not understood by the other, the information he obtained from them was mostly by signs, and consequently too general to be historically interesting or important.

The first and only act of hostility by the natives which De Monts and his party had thus far experienced in their explorations on the entire coast occurred in this harbor. Several of the men had gone ash.o.r.e to obtain fresh water. Some of the Indians conceived an uncontrollable desire to capture the copper vessels which they saw in their hands. While one of the men was stooping to dip water from a spring, one of the savages darted upon him and s.n.a.t.c.hed the coveted vessel from his hand. An encounter followed, and, amid showers of arrows and blows, the poor sailor was brutally murdered. The victorious Indian, fleet as the reindeer, escaped with his companions, bearing his prize with him into the depths of the forest. The natives on the sh.o.r.e, who had hitherto shown the greatest friendliness, soon came to De Monts, and by signs disowned any partic.i.p.ation in the act, and a.s.sured him that the guilty parties belonged far in the interior. Whether this was the truth or a piece of adroit diplomacy, it was nevertheless accepted by De Monts, since punishment could only be administered at the risk of causing the innocent to suffer instead of the guilty.

The young sailor whose earthly career was thus suddenly terminated, whose name even has not come down to us, was doubtless the first European, if we except Thorvald, the Northman, whose mortal remains slumber in the soil of Ma.s.sachusetts.

As this voyage of discovery had been planned and provisioned for only six weeks, and more than five had already elapsed, on the 25th of July De Monts and his party left Nauset harbor, to join the colony still lingering at St.

Croix. In pa.s.sing the bar, they came near being wrecked, and consequently gave to the harbor the significant appellation of _Port de Mallebarre_, a name which has not been lost, but nevertheless, like the shifting sands of that region, has floated away from its original moorings, and now adheres to the sandy cape of Monomoy.

On their return voyage, they made a brief stop at Saco, and likewise at the mouth of the Kennebec. At the latter point they had an interview with the sachem, Ana.s.sou, who informed them that a ship had been there, and that the men on board her had seized, under color of friendship, and killed five savages belonging to that river. From the description given by Ana.s.sou, Champlain was convinced that the ship was English, and subsequent events render it quite certain that it was the "Archangel," fitted out by the Earl of Southampton and Lord Arundel of Wardour, and commanded by Captain George Weymouth. The design of the expedition was to fix upon an eligible site for a colonial plantation, and, in pursuance of this purpose, Weymouth anch.o.r.ed off Monhegan on the 28th of May, 1605, _new style_, and, after spending a month in explorations of the region contiguous, left for England on the 26th of June. [48] He had seized and carried away five of the natives, having concealed them in the hold of his ship, and Ana.s.sou, under the circ.u.mstances, naturally supposed they had been killed. The statement of the sachem, that the natives captured belonged to the river where Champlain then was, namely, the Kennebec, goes far to prove that Weymouth's explorations were in the Kennebec, or at least in the network of waters then comprehended under that appellation, and not in the Pen.o.bscot or in any other river farther east, as some historical writers have supposed.