r by land, in the region of the Great
Lakes. Bad fortune prevented him from pursuing his course past Martha's
Vineyard to the mouth of the Hudson and Chesapeake Bay. It was no small
achievement to accomplish what he did on the coast of Norumbega, but his
most distinctive discoveries were those which he made in the wilderness,
leading up to his fine experience of 1615-16 among the Hurons.

To single out Champlain's chief literary triumph, it was he who
introduced the Algonquin, the Huron, and the Iroquois to the delighted
attention of France. Ever since the days of Cartier the French had known
that savages inhabited the banks of the St Lawrence, but Champlain
is the pioneer in that great body of literature on the North American
Indian, which thenceforth continued without interruption in France
to the Rene and Atala of Chateaubriand. Above all other subjects, the
Indians are Champlain's chief theme.

To some extent the account of Indian life which is given in the Voyages
suffers by comparison with the Relations of the Jesuits. The Fathers,
by reason of their long residence among the Indians, undoubtedly came to
possess a more intimate knowledge of their character and customs than
it was possible for Champlain to acquire during the time he spent
among them. On the other hand, the Jesuits were so preoccupied with the
progress of the mission that they tended to view the life of the
savages too exclusively from one angle. Furthermore, the volume of
their description is so great as to overwhelm all readers who are not
specially interested in the mission or the details of Indian custom.
Champlain wrote with sufficient knowledge to bring out salient traits
in high relief, while his descriptive passages are sufficiently terse to
come within the range of those who are not specialists. When we remember
the perpetual interest which, for more than three hundred years, Europe
has felt in the North American Indian, the Voyages of Champlain are seen
in their true perspective. For he, with fresh eyes, saw the red man
in his wigwam, at his council, and on the war-path; watched his stoic
courage under torture and his inhuman cruelty in the hour of vengeance.
Tales of the wilderness, the canoe, the portage, and the ambush have
never ceased to fascinate the imagination of Europe. Champlain's
narrative may be plain and unadorned, but, with such a groundwork, the
imagination of every reader could supply details at will.

In all essential res