652 [Assembly 



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established their dominion almost to tjie southern shores of the 

 St. Lawrence. The long and narrow tract of water, known to 

 us as Lake Champlain, was doubtless the war-path of the Huron 

 and IroquoiSj in their mutual hostile and sanguinary incursions. 

 The mind may readily portray fleets of the Indian war canoes, 

 caparisoned in the gorgeous trappings of barbaric pomp, bound- 

 ing over the dark and still waters of the lake, while the paddles 

 kept tune to the cadence of their war songs; or gliding stealthily 

 along the silent shores, upon their mission of rapine and blood. 

 The Indian in reference doubtless to the fact that it afforded an 

 avenue and facility to their reciprocal attacks, gave to the lake' 

 the impressive and appropriate name of " Caniadere-guarante," 

 i. e. ^-The lake that is the gate of the country.'** Anally of the 

 Hurons, Champlain accompanied them in one of these incur- 

 sions and revealed to the civilized world the beautiful lake which 

 has immortalized his owm name. 



Samuel Champlain was one of those remarkable men who 

 seem to stamp an impress of their own characters upon the ages 

 they illustrate by their services and exploits. Champlain was a 

 native of France, of noble lineage. At an early age he was at- 

 tached to the royal marine of that nation. Eminently imbued 

 with tJie impulsive and impetuous spirit of his country, anima- 

 ted by a bold and reckless courage, fearless in encountering dan- 

 ger and toil, his intuitive sagacity enablt-d him to surmourjt the 

 ordinary obstacles tliat his intelligence and prescience could not 

 anticipate and avoid. Enthusiastic, persevering and unyielding 

 in his purposes, he devoted all the powers of his active mind and 

 the energies of his character to the achievement of the great 

 object ol his life, the exploration of the wildernesses of the new 

 world, and the foundation, in their recesses, of a new empire to his 

 country. De Soto discovered the Mississippi, and while he found 

 an appropriate mausoleum beneath its turbulent water, has left 

 no memorial of his name. Champlain, more fortunate, render- 

 ed his discovery a monument, which has perpetuated alike, his 

 services and his memory. 



* Documentary History. 



^'Petaonbough," signifying *^ a double pond or lake bfancbing out into two," is another 

 aboriginal appellation, probably referring to its connection with Lake George. 



R. W. Livingston, Esq. 



