. The Canadian field-naturalist. 106 The Canadian Field-Naturalist [Vol. XXXIII. cause he was without the means—and merely esti- mated the position by dead reckoning from his last observation at Gould's Landing. And now the fatal hour for de Vignau had come. His story of the North Sea seems to have been sug- gested by some vague report he had heard of Eng- lish explorations in Hudson's Bay. But he knew nothing about Hudson's Bay, and in order to give his imaginary sea a local habitation and a name, he connected it with Lake Nipissing, which he had no doubt heard spoken of by his Indian hosts a
. The Canadian field-naturalist. 106 The Canadian Field-Naturalist [Vol. XXXIII. cause he was without the means—and merely esti- mated the position by dead reckoning from his last observation at Gould's Landing. And now the fatal hour for de Vignau had come. His story of the North Sea seems to have been sug- gested by some vague report he had heard of Eng- lish explorations in Hudson's Bay. But he knew nothing about Hudson's Bay, and in order to give his imaginary sea a local habitation and a name, he connected it with Lake Nipissing, which he had no doubt heard spoken of by his Indian hosts as a large body of water not many days' journey dis- tant. Thus Champlain was led to ask Tessouat raised loud cries, and Tessouat said: "You are a downright liar, you know well that you slept at my side every night with my children; if you were among the people mentioned it was while ; For a while the impostor brazened it out, but at last gave in and made full confession. "After meditating by himself he fell on his knees, and asked my pardon, declaring that all he had said both in France and in this country in respect to the sea in question was false, that he had never seen it, and that he had never gone farther than the village of ; His anxiety to return to Canada, he said, had caused him to concoct the story—Cana-. Green lake, near Cobdeii, UuL.; uullcl Hows for canoes and men to visit the "Nebicerine" (Nip- issings). At first agreeing very reluctantly—for they were not on good terms with the Nipissings—at a later council the Indians decided that the road was too hard and dangerous, and refused to go. To over- come these objections, Champlain pointed to de Vignau as a young man who had travelled to the Nipissings without encountermg such great difficul- ties or finding the people so unfriendly. Aston- ished, Tessouat asked: "Nicholas, is it true that you say you were among the Nebicerine?" It was long before de
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