Champlain next visited the site of Stadacona, but there was no longer any settlement of Europeans at that place, nor were the native Amerindians the descendants of the Hurons that had received Jacques Cartier.  For the first time the name Quebec (pronounced Kebek) is applied to this point where the great River St. Lawrence narrows before dividing to encircle the Isle of Orleans.  In fact, Quebec meant in the Algonkin speech a place where a river narrows; for a tribe of the great Algonkin family, the Algonkins, allied to the tribes of Maine and New Brunswick, had replaced the Hurons as the native inhabitants of this region.

On the shore of Quebec he noticed “diamonds” in some slate rocks—­no doubt quartz crystals.  Proceeding on up the River St. Lawrence he observed the extensive woods of fir and cypress (some kind of Thuja or Juniper), the undergrowth of vines, “wild pears”, hazel nuts, cherries, red currants and green currants, and “certain little radishes of the size of a small nut, resembling truffles in taste, which are very good when roasted or boiled”.  As they advanced towards the interior the country became increasingly mountainous on the south (the green mountains of New Hampshire), and was more and more beautiful—­“the pleasantest land yet seen”.  Landing on the south bank of the St. Lawrence, west of the entrance of the river of the Iroquois (the Richelieu), he found magnificent forests, which, besides the trees already mentioned, included oaks, chestnuts, maples, pines, walnut-like nut trees,[6] aspens, poplars, and beeches; with climbing hops and vines, strawberries trailing over the ground, and raspberry canes and currant bushes “growing in the thick grass”.  These splendid woods on the islands and banks of the broad river were full of game:  elks,[7] wapiti deer, Virginian deer, bears, porcupines, hares, foxes, beavers, otters, and musk rats, besides many animals he could not recognize.

[Footnote 6:  Of the genera Juglans and Carya.]

[Footnote 7:  The huge deer of the genus Alces.  Elk is the old Scandinavian name. Moose, derived from the Kri language, is the Canadian term, “Elk” being misapplied to the wapiti (red) deer.  Champlain calls the elk orignac, its name in Algonkin.]

At last his little expedition in “a skiff and canoe” had to draw into the bank, warned by the noise that they were approaching a great fall of water—­the La Chine or St. Louis Rapids.  Champlain wrote:  “I saw, to my astonishment, a torrent of water descending with an impetuosity such as I have never before witnessed....  It descends as if in steps, and at each descent there is a remarkable boiling, owing to the force and swiftness with which the water traverses the fall, which is about a league in length....  The territory on the side of the fall where we went overland consists, so far as we saw it, of very open wood, where one can go with his armour without much difficulty.”