May,[53] and we went through the strait of Long Island.[54] Not having
found in St. Mary's Bay any place in which to fortify ourselves except at
the cost of much time, we accordingly resolved to see whether there might
not be a more favorable one in the other bay. Heading north-east six
leagues, there is a cove where vessels can anchor in four, five, six, and
seven fathoms of water. The bottom is sandy. This place is only a kind of
roadstead.[55] Continuing two leagues farther on in the same direction, we
entered one of the finest harbors I had seen along all these coasts, in
which two thousand vessels might lie in security. The entrance is eight
hundred paces broad; then you enter a harbor two leagues long and one
broad, which I have named Port Royal.[56] Three rivers empty into it, one
of which is very large, extending eastward, and called Riviere de
l'Equille,[57] from a little fish of the size of an _esplan?_, which is
caught there in large numbers, as is also the herring, and several other
kinds of fish found in abundance in their season. This river is nearly a
quarter of a league broad at its entrance, where there is an island [58]
perhaps half a league in circuit, and covered with wood like all the rest
of the country, as pines, firs, spruces, birches, aspens, and some oaks,
although the latter are found in small numbers in comparison with the other
kinds. There are two entrances to the above river, one on the north, the
other on the south side of the island. That on the north is the better, and
vessels can there anchor under shelter of the island in five, six, seven,
eight, and nine fathoms. But it is necessary to be on one's guard against
some shallows near the island on the one side, and the main land on the
other, very dangerous, if one does not know the channel.

* * * * *

CHAMPLAIN'S DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING MAP.