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Vignau, with more imagination, stands on the roll of fame as a frank impostor. Champlain, as we have seen, spent the whole of 1612 in France, and it was at this time that Vignau appeared in Paris with a tale which could not but kindle excitement in the heart of an explorer. The basis of fact was that Vignau had undoubtedly passed the preceding winter with the Algonquins on the Ottawa.
The Indians had also, according to Vignau, brought back an English lad, whom they intended to present to Champlain when he made his promised visit to the Upper Ottawa. Champlain probably thought he was at last to realise the dream of his life. Accompanied by Vignau, four other Frenchmen, and an Indian guide, he ascended the great river, with its numerous lakes, cataracts, and islets.
Early in the spring of 1613 the unwearied voyager crossed the Atlantic, and sailed up the St. Lawrence. On Monday, the twenty-seventh of May, he left the island of St. Helen, opposite Montreal, with four Frenchmen, one of whom was Nicolas de Vignau, and one Indian, in two small canoes. They passed the swift current at St.
Of Frenchmen thus trained to woodcraft during Champlain's lifetime the most notable were Étienne Brulé, Nicolas Vignau, Nicolas Marsolet, and Jean Nicolet. Unfortunately the three first did not leave an unclouded record. Brulé, after becoming a most accomplished guide, turned traitor and aided the English in 1629. Champlain accuses Marsolet of a like disloyalty.
His heart was in the enterprise, his reputation was in a measure at stake; and now, when he thought his triumph so near, he shrank from believing himself the sport of an impudent impostor. The council broke up, the Indians displeased and moody, and he, on his part, full of anxieties and doubts. "I called Vignau to me in presence of his companions," he says.
By telling them the facts Champlain hoped to ensure the life of Nicholas du Vignau, as the savages had said, "Give him to us, and we promise that he shall not lie any more." On June 10th Champlain took leave of Tessoüat, after making him presents and promising to return during the next year to assist in the war.
In the year 1613 three interpreters arrived, Nicholas du Vignau, Jacques Hertel, and Thomas Godefroy. In the year 1618 there was only one arrival, Jean Manet, who took up his residence among the people residing on the shores of Lake Nipissing. In the year 1619 Jean Nicolet came to Canada, and won great esteem in the country of his choice.
Champlain requested a merchant of La Rochelle, named Georges, to give du Vignau a passage on his ship, which he did willingly, and he also made an affidavit before a notary concerning du Vignau's Relation. Du Vignau came to Canada, and accompanied Champlain on his visit to the Algonquins. The party, consisting of four Frenchmen and one savage, set out from Ste. Helen's Island on May 27th, 1613.
Among the Algonquin Indians of this district, who lived in rudely-built bark cabins or camps, and were hunters as well as cultivators of the soil, he soon found out that there was not a word of truth in the story which Nicholas de Vignau had told him of a journey to a northern sea, but that it was the invention of "the most impudent liar whom I have seen for a long time."
The hardships of this journey were greatly and unnecessarily increased by Vignau, whose only hope was to discourage his leader. But Champlain, undeterred by portages and mosquitoes, kept on. Some savages who joined him said that Vignau was a liar, and on their advice Champlain left the Ottawa a short distance above the mouth of the Madawaska.
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