VIGNAN, Nicolas, French soldier, born in Saintonge about 1587; died in Canada about 1630. He went to New France with Baron de Poutrincourt in 1606, participated in Samuel de Champlain's second voyage of discovery, and in 1610 volunteered to join the Indians on their homeward journey and winter among them. He embarked in the Algonquin canoes, passed up Ottawa river, and was seen no more for a twelvemonth. In 1612 he reappeared in Paris, bringing a tale of wonders, averring that at the sources of the Ottawa he had found a great lake ; that he had crossed it, and discovered a river flowing northward; that he had descended this river and reached the shores of the sea; that there he had seen the wreck of an English ship, whose crew, escaping to land, had been killed by the Indians; and that this sea was distant from Montreal only seventeen days by canoe. The clearness, consistency, and apparent simplicity of his story convinced Champlain, who had heard of a voyage of the English to the northern seas, coupled with rumors of wreck and disaster (evidently the voyage of Henry Hudson in 1610-'12, when he discovered Hudson straits). The Marechal de Brissac, the President Jeannin, and other persons of eminence about the court urged Champlain to pursue a discovery that promised such important results, and in consequence, earn in the spring of 1613, Champlain crossed the Atlantic again and sailed up St. Lawrence river, accompanied by Vignan as a guide. On 27 May he left the island of St. Helen, opposite Montreal, with Vignan, three soldiers, and one Indian in two canoes. They crossed the Lake of Two Mountains, and advanced up Ottawa river as far as the rapids of Carrillon. Carrying their canoes across the rapids, they passed the cataracts of the Chaudiere, the lake of the same name, left the river at the Fall of the Chats, and crossed to Lake Coulonge, up which they sailed to Tessouat, the village of a powerful Ottawa chief. Here Champlain learned that Vignan had remained the whole winter of 1610-'11 at Tessouat, and that the map he had made of his pretended discoveries was valueless. Vignan fell on his knees, owned his treachery, and begged for mercy. Vanity, the love of notoriety, and the hope of reward seem to have been his inducements, yet, but for this alleged discovery, Champlain would not have been given the means of returning to New France, and thus Vignan's treachery was greatly beneficial to the exploration and colonization of Canada. Champlain pardoned Vignan for these reasons, and the party returned to Montreal, where Vignan engaged in business and afterward rendered efficient services as an interpreter. He died among the Ottawas.