The era of excellent hunting and fishing on the island of Montreal is long past. It is possible, however, to learn about the so-called utopian life of 1664 as described by Pierre Boucher in his book about the real and natural history of New France, Histoire véritable et naturelle de la Nouvelle-France.
Exactly 350 years after it was first written, Boucher’s book has been edited and published by Christophe Horguelin and Professor Thomas Wien, both from the University of Montreal.
Pierre Boucher, founder of Boucherville, arrived in New France in 1635.
Pierre Boucher was the founder of Boucherville, a city 20 kilometres northeast of Montreal and recognized as the sixth-oldest city in Canada. Boucher was born in Mortagne-au-Perche, France in 1622, the son of a carpenter. He arrived in Canada in 1635 at the age of 13 and quickly rose through the social ranks of New France.
From the age of 15 to 19, Boucher travelled with a Jesuit mission in Huronia where he learned to speak Huron and Algonquin. His proficiency in the garrison and as an interpreter led him to be called twice in front of the governor of Trois-Rivières. Between 1662 and 1667, he was sent before King Louis XIV in France to represent the colony.
When he returned from one of his voyages to France, Boucher wrote his book. While the title may suggest otherwise, the book is not a chronicle of past or current events in the colony. Instead, Boucher devoted a good part of the book to the ambiguous relationship the lieutenant-governor shared with the First Nations. Mr. Wien wrote in the afterward of the book that Boucher was particularly interested in what the country was at the time and what one could find here, and he proposed his personal dream of the colony’s potential.
Boucher’s presentation of a panorama of resources and his description of the “savages’” morals served two purposes.
First, Boucher wanted the king to continue in his resolve to destroy the Iroquois, “our enemy,” and to populate the colony. The second objective was to encourage the French to support the colonisation of Canada.
Mr. Wien suggests the book is like the first post card from Canada.
Great historical value
While Boucher’s account is not as important to Canada’s history as those written by Samuel de Champlain or the Jesuits, he did influence several of his contemporaries, such as Jean Talon, as well as 19th-century historians who benefited from his observations.
This new edition, published by Almanach, includes a table of historic flora and fauna inventoried by Boucher. This inventory provides us with an ecological view of many areas that existed in the 17th century, but are now threatened or have disappeared.
Mont-Royal, qui est la [plus récente] de nos habitations françaises […], est située dans une belle grande île nommée l’île du Mont-Royal. Les terres y sont fort bonnes. C’est terre noire ou pierreuse, qui produit du grain en abondance. Tout y vient parfaitement bien, mais surtout les melons et les oignons. La pêche et la chasse y est très bonne […]. C’est un pays plat, une forêt où les arbres sont gros et hauts extraordinairement […], un pays tout propre à courir le cerf, dont il y a abondance […]»
“Mont-Royal [Montreal], which is the [most recent} of our French settlements […], is located on a beautiful large island called Island of Mont-Royal. The land there is very good. The earth is black or rocky, producing an abundance of grain. Everything grows perfectly well, especially the melons and onions. Fishing and hunting there is very good […]. It is a flat country, a forest where the trees are extraordinarily tall […], a perfect country where the deer run, of which there is an abundance […]” Translation of the above extract from Histoire véritable et naturelle de la Nouvelle-France, p. 29-30.
An article about this book, L’histoire de la Nouvelle-France, vue par Pierre Boucher, rééditée 350 ans plus tard!, on which this blog post is based, is available in the University of Montreal’s online newsleter, UdMNouvelles.
