_Where the hemlock bends her tufted head;_ _Where the beaver breeds in the pool;_ _Where the moose-bird chatters his mimic song;_ _And the willowy grilses school;_ _’Neath the feathery arch of the drowsy larch,_ _The birch bark floated and swayed,_ _As the rhythmic paddles dipped and swung,_ _And splashed with the slap of the spade._ _On the rocking waves of the foaming lake,_ _The Frenchman turned and gazed,_ _For he saw a land which was new, which was grand,_ _And his spirit shrank amazed._ _So he planted the flag of King-cursed France,_ _As he waved his sword above,_ _And the waters were called the Lak de Champlain,_ _—’Twas the lake which the redskins love._
UPON the north side of the river St. Lawrence, in Canada, and five hours’ journey by steamer from the quaint old city of Quebec, nestles the little village of Murray Bay. It is a picturesque, peaceful collection of houses, where many of those who have wealth and leisure journey in summer to enjoy the champagne-like air and the rugged scenery. Now a great, modern hotel rises majestically from the hemlock-covered river-bank; but if some of the fashionable guests who frequent it had stood there one brilliant day, many years ago, they would have seen two pigmy vessels holding their course up the lovely St. Lawrence. On board was a pair of venturesome Frenchmen: the Seigneur de Chastes and Samuel de Champlain, the latter a youthful and energetic explorer, who looked forward to adventures in the land of the treacherous redman, the broad-antlered moose, and the moon-eyed caribou.
This brave son of France had been born in the year 1567 in the little town of Brouage, some twenty miles south of the seaport of La Rochelle. Little is known of his family or of his early life. His father, doubtless the son of a fisherman, was a Captain in the navy, and one of his uncles was a sea-pilot of some renown.
In youth Champlain became an excellent seaman, but, as his country was soon embroiled in civil and religious wars, his energies were engaged in martial exploits upon the land, and not upon the foaming Atlantic. Joining Henry of Navarre, he fought for the King with zeal and enthusiasm, although he, himself, was a Catholic, and his sovereign championed the Huguenot or Protestant cause. Champlain, in fact, loved country more than religion, and struggled to save her from dismemberment. His purse was small, his want great, and thus Henry the Fourth, from his own slender revenues, gave him a position as Captain.