Samuel De 1567-1635 Champlain

CHAMPLAIN', SAMUEL DE (1567-1635). At about the same time that Captain John Smith was strug gling to keep alive the small English colony of James town, Samuel de Champlain, the " Father of New France," was planting the seed of French power in America at Quebec.

Champlain, the son of a French sea captain, was born in a small town on the shores of the Bay of Biscay, early mastered seamanship and navigation, and for a time fought under King Henry IV in the Huguenot wars. His interest in America was first aroused in 1599 when he commanded a ship which sailed to the West Indies. He visited Mexico City, and in a report to the French king he suggested that square miles, about the size of the city of Cincinnati.

But every available acre is under cultivation or used for pasturage, and the soil produces so abundantly in the delightfully mild climate that immense quanti ties of vegetables, fruits, flowers, and dairy products are shipped to England, about 100 miles away.

Visiting these islands is like sailing back into the enchanted land of yesterday; for few places in the world have retained so many of the customs and laws of the Middle Ages. The ancient charters, framed nearly a thousand years ago by the dukes of Norman dy, still remain largely in force; and much of the land is held under the same old system of tenure that existed in feudal days. One tenant, for instance, still owes his landlord one donkey every year and a cake made from a bushel of wheat. Another is required to pay 18 eels (or the money equivalent) ; another, a chicken with a tail at least one inch long.

These and many other curious survivals testify to the days when the Channel Islands were a part of ancient Normandy, whose ruler, William the Con queror, became master of England. The farmers still speak the old Norman-French, and French is the official language of the courts and the local assembly. The islands are in most respects self governing, and have their own copper coinage, though they are administered by lieutenant-governors sent from England. The people have stubbornly re fused to submit to a system of import duties—a fact which partly explains the cheapness of living.

These sunny islands, where there is a difference of only 20 degrees between the average winter and sum mer temperatures, are • popular vacation spots.

Population, about 100,000.