Although it was only a small barque, its size was greater than any canoe known to them.

As it seemed to spread huge white wings and to glide silently through the water without the use of paddles or oars, it filled them with surprise and admiration.

They manned all their canoes[14] and came out in a flotilla to express their honour and reverence for the wonderful white men.

But when the French took their leave, it was equally obvious that the natives experienced a sense of relief, for they were disquieted as well as filled with admiration at the arrival of these wonderful beings from an unknown world.
[Footnote 14: It is interesting to learn from his accurate notes that in Massachusetts (and from thence southwards) there were no more bark canoes, but that the canoes were "dug-outs"-- trunks of tall trees burnt and chipped till they were hollowed into a narrow vessel of considerable length.] Champlain describes the wigwams or native huts as being cone-shaped, heavily thatched with reeds, with an opening at the top of the roof for the smoke to escape.

Inside the huts was a low bed raised a foot from the ground and made of short posts driven into the ground, with a surface made of boards split from trees.