CHAMPLAIN, a considerable lake of North America, lying between the States of New York and Vermont, aní penetrating for a few miles into Canada. It is 126 miles in length, and from 1 to 15 in breadth, lying nearly north and south, and contains a great number of small islands, most of which belong to Vermont. The Champlain canal, 63 miles in length, connects it with the Hudson; the Sorel, Richelieu, or St John’s River forms a natural outlet towards the St Lawrence, and the Chambly canal communicates with the ocean. The lake owes its name to Samuel Champlain the French explorer, by whom it was discovered about 1608; and during the War of 1812-1815 it was rendered famous by the defeat of the English fleet in the engagement of September 11, 1814. Large steamboats and vessels of considerable tonnage navigate Lake Champlain from end to end. The scenery along its shores is highly picturesque, and its waters abound in salmon, salmon-trout, sturgeon, and other fish,...
CHAMPLAIN, Samuel de (1567-1635), the governor of the first French settlers in Lower Canada, was born at Brouage, in 1567. His father was a sea-captain, and probably he was already skilled in navigation when, while still young, he entered the army of Henry ΓV. On the conclusion of the war he accompanied a Spanish fleet to Mexico and the West Indies, and on his return wrote an account of the expedition. In 1603, he made his first voyage to Canada, being sent out by De Chastes, on whom the king had bestowed some territory in that country. During 1604-1607 he was engaged, together with De Monts, to whom De Chastes’s privileges had been transferred, in exploring the Canadian coast, in seeking a site for a new settlement, and in making surveys and maps. In 1608 he made his third voyage; and in this year he commenced the formation of a settlement at Quebec. But De Monts’s influence was now waning; he had been deprived of some of his privileges; and the merchants who had ventured in the affair were losing heart. Under these circumstances Champlain prevailed upon the Due de Soissons to interest himself in the matter, and to seek the post of Governor and Lieutenant-General of New France. Under him, and under his successor the duke of Condé, Champlain held the office of lieutenant, which made him in reality governor of the colony. Owing, however, to quarrels with the Indians, the settlement seemed likely to fail; but, under the viceroyalty of the Due de Montmorenci, and still more under that of the Due de Ventadour, it began to flourish. In 1629 it met with a reverse, Champlain being forced to surrender to an English fleet commanded by three brothers named Kirk. He was carried to England, but was restored to liberty in 1632. He returned to Canada in the next year, and died there two years afterwards (1635).
Champlain published several volumes containing accounts of his life work. In 1603 appeared his Des Sauvages; in 1613 and 1619 Voyages, with valuable maps; and in 1632 an abridgment of the first two voyages, with a continuation bringing down his stay to 1629, and appendices containing a treatise on seamanship, and specimens of the Huron and Montagnais languages. In 1870 the whole series of his works was published, with the exception of the very interesting account of his visit to Mexico and the West Indies, which was translated by Alice Wilmere from the MS. kept in the public library at Dieppe, and published by the Hakluyt Society in 1859.
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